I 


Srom  t^e  fci6rarg  of 

gprofe66or  Wiffiam  %triX2  (Breen 

Q0equeat^b  61?  ^im  fo 
f^e  feiBrarg  of 

nprinceton  S^eofo^icaf  ^eminarj? 
V.  3 


I 


THE 

¥OEDS  OF  THE  LOED  JESUS, 

IHE  RISE!  SAIlOl  Ai  !I1E  MGEIS. 

RUDOLF   STIEE,   D.   T>., 

LATE  CHIEF  PASTOR  AND  SUPEUINTENDFNT  OF  SCHKEUDITZ. 

Translated    By 

KEY.  WILLIAM  B.    POPE. 

Revised  h/ 
JAMES  STEONG,  S.T.D., 

AUTHOR    OF  McCLINTOCK  <£    STSONCTS    CYCLOPJSDIAt 
AND 

EEV.  HENEY  B.  SMITH,  D.D., 

ntOFESSOB  IN  2'HF  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEillNARV,  NEW  YORK, 


COMPLSTE  IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 


YOLUME  III 


FOUI\TH       AyVLERICAN       EDITION, 


NEW  YORK; 

PUBLISHED  BY  N.  TIBBALS  &  SON, 

37    PaIiK   row,    and    U5   NASSAU   STBEET, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  vear  1864,  by 
N  .     T  I  B  B  A  L  S  , 
I  Clerk's  Office  of  the  D'^trict  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  Tor'* 


THE  ¥ORDS  OF  THE  PASSIOI. 


MOST  DIRECT  PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  THE  PASSION. 
(Matt.  xxvi.  2.) 


After  many  intimations  to  his  disciples  of  his  ' 
coming  sufferings  and  death,  beginning  with 
John  ii.  19,  iii.  14,  and  increasing  ia  clearness 
down  to  the  express  and  thrice-repeated  dec- 
larations of  Matt.  xvi.  21,  xvii.  22,  xx.  18,  the 
Lord  once  more,  two  days  before  it  comes  to 
pass,  announces  what  should  befall  him.  This 
Baying  of  Jesus,  preserved  by  Matthew  alone, 
is  "the  commencement  of  the  history  of  the  Pas- 
sion. 

The  first  Evangelist  connects  it  with  what 
he  is  saying,  by  a  striking  transition,  which 
impressively  indicates  the  great  beginning  of 
the  final  catastrophe.  All  these  sayings,  ver.  1, 
is  ordinarily  referred  only  to  chaps,  xxiv.,  xxv.; 
and,  allowing  that  allusion  to  be  included,  it 

E resents  us  with  a  highly  significant  contrast 
etween  the  dread  announcement  of  judgment 
whicli  preceded,  and  the  present  announcement 
of  his  own  humiliation.  "  I  will  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  my  glory,  dispensing  eternal  woe  and 
eternal  life.  Kow  I  give  myself  up  to  be  cru- 
cified." But  if  this  was  t!ie  case  alone,  it 
would  appear  that  afler  two  days  was  really 
spoken  oh  the  same  day,  Tuesday,  or  in  the 
evening  of  it — but  that,  as  we  shall  see,  cannot 
be  allowed.  Moreover,  the  lofty  words  Tcdv- 
ra?,  "  all,"  and  izsXEdev,  "  had  finished," 
point  to  a  higher  and  more  comprehensive 
meaning  of  this  crisis  of  transition.  The  Lord 
had  closed  all  his  tcords — especially  his  public 
discourses  before  his  enemies,  but  also  the 
teaching  and  prophesying  words  which  he 
spoke  to  the  disciples* — when  he  went  forward 
to  the  consummation  of  the  final  judgment. 
He  now  passes  from  the  prophetic  office  to  the 
high-priestlyt — for  this  reason,  that  the  dis- 
courses themselves  have  not  yet  fulfilled  any 
thing.  Such  an  impression  must  be  produced 
in  this  place  upon  the  mind  of  every  simple 
and  devout  reader  of  the  Gospel  (and  for  such 
it  was  written)  :  and  every  one  who  reads  it 


*  For  John  xiii.-xvii,  has  a  perfectly  distinct 
and  peculiar  character,  belonging  to  the  testimo- 
nies given  during  the  Passion  itself. 

•j-  Grotius  remarked :  "  The  office  of  the  Teacher 
and  Prophet  being  lulfilled,  Christ  enters  upon  the 
priestly  office." 

481 


with  the  Church,  or  preaches  from  it  to  the 
Church,  must  feel  disposed,  with  Draseke,  to 
ask — "  What  were  the  words  which  he  had 
finished  ?  " 

This  Son  of  Man,  who  testified  of  himself 
as  the  Son  of  God,  had  given  the  sublimest 
and  purest  witness  to  the  truth  of  God,  in 
union  with  a  holy  life  and  mighty  wonders; 
and,  as  the  Saviour  came  into  the  world,  he 
had  uttered,  moreover,  the  most  urgent  invita- 
tions to  all  convinced  sinners  to  enter  the  king- 
dom of  grace.  "  Never  man  had  spoken  like 
this  man  " — and  so  far  as  by  word  alone  spirit- 
ual influence  could  be  exerted  upon  man,  sliould 
there  not  have  been  corresponding  fruit  ?  But 
here  it  must  be  manifest  that  for  man's  deliver- 
ance something  more  was  wanting  than  tcords, 
albeit  the  perfect  words  of  the  eternal  Word  : 
that  these  could  only  work  preparatorily,  and 
indeed  (as  the  whole  plan  of  John's  Gospel 
shows),  in  no  other  way  than  by  evoldii'j  that 
emni'y  against  God,  which  rejected  and  gave 
over  to  a  shameful  death  his  Son,  the  witness 
to  the  truth.  Once  more,  in  this  same  way  the 
enmity  was  abolished,  the  curse  was  removed, 
and  the  way  of  the  Spirit  prepared  into  the 
hearts  of  reconciled  men  ;  so  that  he  may  now 
unfold  the  words  of  the  Word  down  to  the  end 
of  time,  and  carry  them  with  power  to  human 
hearts.  Thus  not  till  after  the  disconrses  were 
finished,  did  the  proper  accomplishment  and 
fulfillment  of  all  come,  in  the  facts  of  redeeming 
sufferings  and  death.  The  discourses  also  be- 
come naturally  and  necessarily  fewer  and  fewer, 
while  the  Passion  of  the  silent  Lamb  itself 
speaks  forth  all  the  more  impressively  its  owa 
meaning;  not,  however,  that  there  are  no  accom- 
panying and  explanatory  utterances,  for  even 
here  the  Evangelist,  after  the  finishing  of  the 
discourses,  proceeds  to  give  some  further  words 
of  Christ. 

Here  a  very  few  words,  containing  apparently 
nothing  new  or  of  special  moment,  disclose  to 
us  as  it  were  the  scene  of  the  Passion,  before 
we  come  to  the  Last  Supper  and  Gethsemane ; 
they  are  generally  passed  over  by  expositors 
as  a  mere  repetition  of  previous  predictions, 
and  sometimes  as  if  under  suspicion  of  being 
spurious.     But  the  repetition  derives  from  tha 


482 


THE  PASSION  FINALLY  ANNOUNCED. 


time  and  lionr,  as  connected  with  the  narra- 
tive, the  utmost  significance,  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  Matthew  gives  us  to  understand.  G)d\ 
coun-el  and  Chrid's  oliedktics — are  its  two  critical 
points. 

The  former  Matthew  indicates  by  the  then 
which  he  appends  to  the  It  came  to  pass  when. 
The  fruit  of  all  our  Lord's  previous  discourse 
and  active  energy  is — the  conclusive  and  final 
determination  to  put  him  to  death  at  all  costs. 
But  tiiis  counsel  of  men  against  God,  although 
it  had  been  foreseen  from  the  beginning  and 
permissively  confirmed  in  the  counsel  of  God, 
must  nevertheless,  as  man's  evil  device,  be  in 
some  sense  brought  to  contempt.  Before  they 
say,  "  Not  on  the  feast  day  !  "*  the  Lord  had 
announced  that  on  the  feant  day  it  should  and 
it  must  come  to  pass;  and  this  serene,  sublime 
assurance,  with  wiiich  the  Lord  anticipates  and 
meets  the  well-known  design  of  his  enemies, 
cannot  be  too  deeply  pondered  and  felt.  As  in 
the  history  of  manlcind  generally,  which  is  the 
8trug<zle  of  man  to  be  reconciled  to  God  and  re- 
united with  him,  God's  counsel  and  man's  are 
perpetually  striving  against  each  other,  so  is  it 
in  this  great  centre  and  solution  of  human  his- 
torv,  in  the  death  of  the  God-man  for  the  life 
of  the  world.  ^;w;//er  purpose  of  man,  deviseJ 
in  hell  and  suggested  to  Judas  exasperated  at 
Bethany  (hence  in  ver.  14  another  tlicn  in  con- 
clusion), must  bring  it  about  that  what  was  to 
be  done  should  be  done,  according  to  the  word  of 
Jesus,  in  opposition  to  the  decree  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim. The  same  Judas  must  hear  with  the 
rest  what  Jesus  said  vnto  his  diiciples;  in  order 
that  he  may  know  now  at  the  commencement 
(as  afterwards,  ver.  24)  that  even  as  Satan's 
instrument  he  is  no  other  than  the  executor  of 
the  divine  purpo.se.  For  we  find  not  in  Mat- 
thew's account  the  slighlcst  reason  for  doubt- 
ing whether  Judas  was  or  was  not  present ;  on 
the  contrary,  we  agree  with  Pfenninger's  repre- 
sentation of  the  imaginary  scene — that  the 
Lord  expressly  gathered  the  twelve  around 
him,  in  order  that  in  their  full  assembly  he 
might  solemnly  utter  this  declaration. 

The  tiine  is  nipasured  to  our  Lord,  even  down 
to  the  day  and  the  liour;  and  this,  with  every 
the  slightest  detail,  he  sliows  more  and  more 
clearly  that  he  knows.  His  own  simple  word 
bears  impressive  witness  to  that  which  was 
generally  hinted  in  Luke  xiii.  32,  and  most 
plainly  declarod  in  Luke  xxii.  53.  Not  one  ut- 
terance ol  his  lips,  which  was  yet  to  be  spoken, 
should  be  restrained  or  suppressed;  not  until 
he  had  made  a  lull  end  of  aU  his  words,  had 


those  days  and  hours  come  which  the  Gospels 
more  and  more  definitely  mark  off,  until  they 
begin  to  reckon  from  hour  to  hour.  "  Te 
know  that  after  two  days  is  the  feast  of  the  Pass- 
over." Tiic  Lord  thus  begins  with  what  was 
known  to  every  one,  but  goes  on  immediately  to 
add  the  most  concealeil  and  hi/lden  purpose  cf 
God  concerning  this  Passover.  "The  Jews 
were  well  aware  of  the  day  in  their  calendar ; 
br.t  Christ  would  have  them  inscribe  this,  that 
God's  Son  was  now  to  be  tlie  paschal  lamb  " 
(Berl.  Bib.).  One  might  suppose,  as  the  words 
stand,  that  the  betrayal  of  the  Son  of  Man  was 
as  much  part  of  what  they  knew,  as  the  com- 
ing of  the  feast  was ;  and  certainly  the  Apos- 
tles might  be  supposed  to  have  at  least  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  former,  having  been  so  re- 
peatedly forewarned  of  our  Lord's  sulFerings 
and  death.  But  they  had  never  understood  his 
words,  all  his  former  sayings  were  still  hidden 
from  them  ;  the  Lord  knew  this,  and  his  ye 
knew  had  no  such  comprehensive  meaning.  He 
rather  gives  a  revelation,  connecting  the  most 
known  and  the  most  secret  things  together — 
As  ye  know  that  in  two  days  will  be  the  feast 
of  the  Passover,  so  /  know  and  now  tell  you 
\.\\3.i  in  this  Passover  I  shall  be  crucified.  "Is 
betrayetl"  brings  the  future  into  the  present, 
just  like  "is  the  feast;"  and  is  to  be  explained 
by  the  celerity  of  the  action,  as  Grotius  says; 
.\lford  is  wrong,  therefore,  in  thinking  that  the 
separation  of  the  latter  clause  from  the  former 
does  violence  to  the  construction,  and  would 
require  to  be  introduced  by  and  then.  We 
I  doubt  very  much  whether  the  Lord  had  "joined 
these  two  events  (the  Passover  and  his  own 
sufferings)  in  his  announcements  to  his  dis- 
ciples"— for  there  is  no  trace  of  this  throughout 
the  Gospels.  He  might,  indeed,  have  connect- 
ed his  approaching  sufferings  with  the  journey 
to  the  feast,  and  the  course  of  his  proceedings  ; 
but  this  present  indication  of  the  day  itself  is 
something  very  different. 

The  Passover — t6  nd6xcc — must  evidently 
denote  the  first  day  of  the  feast ;  not  the  first 
great  day  according  to  the  usage  which  reckon- 
ed only  the  seven  days  after  the  np3n  n'lj^, 

the  evening  of  the  Passover,  but  the  (natural) 
day  of  theJews'  official  eating  of  the  paschal 
lamb — the  day  on  the  evening  of  which  h  the 
Passover,  ami  simultaneous  with  (properly 
speaking,  already  befoiv)  the  betrayal  and 
crucifixion  takes  place.  For  in  this  coincidence 
of  the  typical  day  with  the  historical  fulfillment 
of  its  meaning,  lies  the  emphasis  of  the  entire 
assurance* — in    which  the  continuous  "and" 


*  These  words  certainly  show  (if  the  New  Tes- 
tament \h  to  liave  as  miuh  weiglit  as  the  Talmiil) 
tliat  there  wa.s  no  s'utute  asaiiist  executions  and 
processes  at  law  durinii  tlie  least ;  il  in  lad  al- 
most looks  as  thou^h,  in  other  ca.ses  the  end  of 
the  festival  was  considered  as  a  tit  time  for  such 
processes,  for  tliey  were  omitted  only  in  case  of  in- 
Burrection.  It  cannot  be  proved  that  their  not  re- 
fers merely  to  the  taknig  and  not  also  to  the  kihing 
as  soou  as  possible  afterwards. 


*  See  the  remarks  upon  this  contested  point, 
John  xiii.  That  ru  Ttaoxoc  yiyerai  here  means 
the  Friday  after  his  ea'iii^  the  paschal  lamb,  ap- 
pears to  us  certain — the  beiiif/  critcijied,  with  the 
final  delivering  up  to  (h-it  end  to  the  Genti'.cs,  must 
loim  tlie  point  of  coincidence  in  the  time.  'Ihis 
•reneial  desisnation,  accordimr  to  the  predom- 
inant cu  torn,  is  open  to  no  objection:  it  is  as  if 
he  had  said  "  Tiie  Passover  of  the  Jews,  my  ene- 
mies."    In  the  oti.tr  case  the  emphasis  would  haTO 


MATTHEW  XXVI. 


13  the  expression  of  a  necessary  consequence, ' 
just  as  on  the  other  occasions  our  Lord's 
"must."  The  word,  therefore,  which  spoke  of 
after  two  daya  could  not  have  been  spoken  so 
soon  as  the  Tuesday,  but  on  the  Wednesday. 
Most  important  in  this  is  the  notification  of 
the  divine  counsel  that  the  death  of  Christ 
should  take  place  at  the  Passover — not  merely, 
that  is,  that  many  subordinate  circumstances 
in  it  would  concur  to  make  the  feast  an  appro- 
priate time,  but  because  of  the  signification  of 
the  day  itself.  The  Lord's  trial  and  judgment 
was  to  be  conducted  publicly,  in  the  presence 
of  the  multitudes  of  the  dispersion  then  as- 
sembled in  Jerusalem  He  was  not  to  fall 
under  popular  frenzy,  like  Stephen  ;  nor  to  be 
destroyed  by  arbitrary  violence  in  secret,  like 
the  Baptist.     Public  proof  was  thereby  to  be 

fiven  that  the  people  were  not  instigated  by 
im  as  his  dependents,  as  the  false  accusation 
ran — with  whatever  else  of  the  same  kind  may 
be  soberly  thought  of.  But  the  distinctively 
critical  point  of  the  connection  between  the 
time  of  the  feast  and  his  being  hetrayel  is  this, 
that  here  where  the  Old  Testament  finds  its 
consummation  and  end  in  the  New,  God's 
counsel  itself  preserves  the  sanctified  Old-Testa- 
ment times  and  seasons,  in  fact,  sanctifying  them 
anew  in  their  New-Testament  meaning.  Inas- 
much as  the  Lord  died  at  the  Passover,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  came  down  at  the  Pentecost, 
the  Passover  and  the  Pentecost  are  given  and  ap- 
pointed by  God  himself  as  the  central  periods 
of  the  new  Christian  year,  of  a  cycle  of  ecclesi- 
astical festivals  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
reality.*  This  will  modify,  against  spiritualist 
misapprehension,  Paul's  doctrine  in  Piom.  xiv. 
6 ;  Cot.  ii.  16,  17. 

We  have  already,  on  Matt.  xvii.  22,  23, 
Bliown  in  what  sense  we  are  to  understand  the 
delivering  up  or  the  betrayal ;  and  why  it 
is  here  the  fact  prominently  mentioned.  It  is 
far  from  being  enough  to  interpret  it — "  De- 
livered up,  rejected  by  the  Jews  that  the  Gentiles 
may  crucify  him;"  but,  as  Judas  the  traitor 
had  previously  given  him  up  to  the  Jews,  so  it 


to  be  placed  upon  the  delivering  up  ;  but  this  would 
not  asree  witli  the  relation  of  h.s  being  killed  to 
the  slaying  of  the  lamb ;  and  hardly  (especially 
on  account  of  the  parallel  yiverat)  with  the 
time,  the  night  already  far  advanced,  in  which  the 
Lord  was  betrayed. 

*  0  Abolisher  of  the  law,  who  desiredst  even  to 
keep  the  Passover!  See  Tertull.  in  Ejrard,  Vom 
Abendm.  i.  p.  289. 


was  the  hand  and  counsel  of  God  under  which 
the  counsel  and  will  of  these  men  betrayed  and 
delivered  him  from  one  to  another  (Acts  ii.  23 
£H8orov).  The  whole  proceeds  to  all  appear- 
ance humanly  and  naturally,  as  if  men  did  to 
him  whatever  they  listed  (Matt.  xvii.  12) — 
but  it  is  not  so,  nevertheless.  All  is  pure 
injustice  and  guilt  from  the  highest  crime  of 
the  betraying  disciple  down  to  the  most  venial 
acts  of  the  crucifying  soldiers — but  in  all  this, 
and  above  it  all,  is  the-  Father's  eood  and 
gracious  will.  Therefore,  before  the  Jews  take 
counsel,  and  Judas  comes  to  them,  the  Lord 
had  already  spoken  these  words.  Finally,  the 
crown  of  the  divine  counsel  is  to  be  sought  iu 
Ei  i  TO  dTavpayOyva  t — in  order  to  he 
crucified — which  needs  not  now  to  be  again 
specifically  interpreted.  Not  beheaded,  not 
stoned,  but  crucified;  a  Gentile  punishment, 
and  yet  the  fulfillment  of  a  Jewish  type  ;  the 
realizing  exhibition  of  all  the  mystery  which 
lay  in  this  hanging  upon  the  wood  of  the  curse 
— as  going  back  to  the  forbidden  tree.  And 
the  Son  of  God,  as  the  Son  of  Man,  gives  him- 
self up  to  this  counsel  of  God,  in  conscious 
voluntary  obedience:  this  is  ih.Q  second  critical 
point  in  his  word,  which  in  the  mere  announce- 
ment of  what  was  coming  expressed  at  the 
same  time,  with  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
lowliness,  his  own  obedience — as  if  self-under- 
stood. This  testimony  to  his  own  voluntary 
self-devotion  was  included  in  all  his  pre-an- 
nouncements,  but  here  most  simply  and  im- 
pressively. The  Lord  does  not  say.  The  Son  of 
Man  will  deliver  himself  up — although  that 
also  was  true— but  he  speaks  in  a  purely  pas- 
sive manner  of  his  Passion.  Nor  does  he  now 
add  any  reference  to  a  resurrection  on  the 
third  day ;  he  goes  not  beyond  the  heing  cru- 
cified, connecting  this,  however,  straitly  with 
the  being  betrayed  by  the  eli  to,  in  order  to 
intimate  how  swiftly  the  whole  will  pass 
through  all  the  forms  of  judgment  to  the  exe- 
cution of  the  sentence.  Swift  in  succession 
were  the  taking  and  killing :  in  this  the  counsel 
of  the  enemies  was  to  hold  good,  still  more 
than  they  thought.  With  all  the  calmness 
with  which  both  voice  and  countenance  of 
Jesus  spoke,  his  words  derived  thence  a  tone  of 
disquietude  and  even  tearfulness,  for  the  dis- 
ciples :  After  two  days,  at  the  Ptssover,  our 
Lord  will  \)Q— crucified!  The  immediate  result 
was  scarcely  other  than  what  Pl'enninger  de- 
scribes—a general  stupefaction  and  silence ; 
until  their  minds,  altogether  unfit  to  look  into 
such  darkness,  gathered  confidence  again  by 
turning  from  the  subject. 


PROVISION  OF  THE  PASCHAL  LAMB. 


(Matt.  xxvi.  IS;  Mark  xiv.  13-15;  Luke  xxii.  8-12. 


In  respect  to  the  chronology,  we  must  refer 
to  the  preliminary  observations  at  chap.  xiii. 
7-20.  To  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Evangelists 
(for  this  we  must  hold  fast,  despite  the  present 
fashion  of  speaking)  all  the  things  were  perfectly 
plain  in  the  peculiar  relation  of  the  two-fold 
paschal  solemnity ;  and  the  two  great  events 
retained  their  distinctive  significance  in  regard 
to  the  typical  time— the  Lord's  Supper,  as  the 
most  direct  fulfillment  of  the  type,  was  insti- 
tuted on  the  legally  correct  day,  while  the  cru- 
cifixion took  place  on  the  Jewish  Passover-day, 
which  had  now  lost  its  validity  and  already 
become  a  mere  shadow.  Hence  as  Jesus  in  his 
previous  announcement  to  a  certain  extent 
acknowledged  this  Passover  of  the  Jews,  so  now 
on  the  other  hand  the  Spirit  in  the  Evangelist 
speaks  more  precisely,  since  in  Matthew  and 
Mark  the  Thursday,  on  which  Jesus  with  a 
certain  number  of  the  Jews,  however  small,  ate 
the  lamb,  is  rightly  denominated  the  first  of 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  It  is  not  ne- 
cessary (with  the  Peshito)  to  supply  the  Jeios 
in  Mark's  wlien  they  hilled  the  Passover,  and  to 
explain  it  as  intimating  a  universal  custom;  it 
should  be  understood  thus — The  first  or  pre- 
paratory day  of  the  feast,  in  which  they,  that 
IS,  the  disciples,  were  wont  with  their  Lord  to 
slay  the  Passover-lamb.  On  this  supposition, 
Luke's  eSsi — must  U  killed — has  the  emphasis 
upon  it  which  we  have  already  discovered; 
containing  a  hint  where  more  precise  informa- 
tion was  not  to  be  given — that  something  might 
remain  to  be  sought  and  to  be  found  in  the 
Scripture. 

Suffice  it  that  this  day  came,  as  Luke  ex- 
presses it,  that  is,  it  dawned ;  and  during  its 
niornin"  or  forenoon  it  was  necessary  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  the  legal  celebration 
of  the  Passover.  According  to  the  two  other 
Evangelists  the  disciples  /nt  remind  the 
Lord  by  a  question  as  the  where,  a  critical 
matter;  but  we  would  not  have  this  two-fold 
authority  so  pressed  against  Luke  as  to  oppose 
their  easy  reconciliation.  It  seems  more  nat- 
ural that  the  Lord  himself  should  begin  with 
words,  now  as  ever  graciously  communicative, 
touching  matters  external, '"' Go  and  prepare 
for  us  the  p.aschal  lamb,  that  we  may  eat  of  it 
together"  (Luke  xxii.  15).  I  cannot  undcr- 
sland,  at  least,  Lange's  notion  of  our  Lord's 
design  to  wait  until  "the  disciples,  in  their 
Jewish  sense  of  propriety,  should  think  the 
time  come  for  thinking  of  the  Passover."  Their 
feeling  of  anxiety  about  the  feast  must  have 
beeu  kept  somewhat  in  abeyance  by  the  Lord's 
484 


announcement  of  his  coming  death  ;  that  is, 
they  were  altogether  confused  as  to  this  present 
Passover,  not  knowing  how  to  understand  its 
relation  to  what  the  Lord  predicted.  Certainly, 
there  is  no  sense  in  that  which  many  allege, 
"  that  they  had  quickly  fallen  into  externality 
again ; "  the  commanded  feast  was  neither  for 
them  nor  for  the  Lord  a  matter  merely  exter- 
nal. But  the  Lord  himself  well  knows  that 
his  enemies  must  leave  him  time  and  opportu- 
nity for  this  holy  meal  (Psa.  xxiii.  5) — he 
knows,  moreover,  what  he  will  do  at  the  feast, 
and  in  sublime  self-possession  follows  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  death  by  a  direction  con- 
cerning the  customary  festival.  Even  after  his 
final  severance  from  the  people  and  the  temple, 
he  adheres  still  to  the  ancient  ordinance ;  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  the  institution  of  the 
Supper,  but  because  he  will  be  subject  to  the 
law  down  to  the  last.  The  disciples  know  now 
from  his  own  lips,  despite  their  own  fears,  that 
he  will  uninterruptedly,  as  aforetime,  keep  the 
feast;  they  know  also,  from  past  experience,  on 
what  day  he  will  keep  it;  there  remains  only 
the  anxious  question — Where  shall  we  keep  it, 
in  peace  and  security?  Such  would  have  been 
its  meaning,  even  if  they  had  spontaneously 
uttered  it ;  but  if  it  was  only  a  reply  to  his  first 
go  and  prepare,  it  has  the  tone  of  an  objection, 
a  slight  remembrancer  that  it  would  not  be 
advisable  or  possible  to  go  "'into  the  city" — 
from  Bethany,  where  they  ihen  abode,  into 
Jerusalem.  At  any  rate,  thej'  say  what  they 
say  in  great  obscurity  as  to  the  counsel  of  God ; 
they  have  but  little  presentiment  of  the  great 
importance  and  necessity  of  the  last  Passover : 
they  would  provide  for  him  to  eat  it — no  more. 
But  he,  whose  design  was  to  make  ready  for 
them  and  for  us  all  the  sacramental  Feast  of 
the  New  Covenant,  speaks  with  all  the  fuller 
assurance,  sublimely  elevated  above  all  their 
confusion. 

We  have  already  in  Vol.  i.  brought  the 
sending  for  the  ass  into  comparison  with  this 
provision  for  the  Passover ;  the  parallel  is  as 
obvious  as  it  is  instructive.  In  the  former  in- 
stance he  would  present  himself  before  the 
people  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  of  the  first 
calling,  as  the  king  Messiah — in  the  present 
case  he  exhibits  himself  to  the  disciples,  and  in 
them  to  the  new  Church,  as  the  true  paschal, 
sacrificial  lamb.  It  was  his  design  not  merely 
to  re-assure  them  beforehand  in  the  institution 
of  the  sacrament,  and  comfort  them,  concerning 
his  certain  death  ;  but  to  promise  them,  and  by 
anticipation  give   them  lu  it  superabundant 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  18. 


485 


salvation  and  life.  If  any  where,  it  was.  here 
appropriate,  that  the  provision  for  it  should  be 
accompanied  by  evidence  of  his  dignity,  and 
testimony  of  his  divine  authority.  We  would 
not  say  with  Bengel  (in  hia  Germ.  N.  T.  on 
Mark),  "  It  was  a  deep  humihation  that  Christ 
ate  the  paschal  lamb,  like  a  common  Israelite  ; 
therefore  he  lets  his  glory  shine  forth  in  the 
provision  for  it;"  for  the  humiliation  of  his 
obedience  was  not  always  connected  with  such 
signs  of  his  dignity,  nor  do  we  find  any  thing 
similar  in  connection  with  those  earlier  Pass- 
overs, which  the  Scripture  silently  relates  or 
assumes.  But  this  lad  feast  derived  from  the 
pre-announcement  of  Matt.  xxvi.  2  an  element 
of  such  anxiety,  uncertainty,  and  fear — for  the 
disciples — that  for  their  sake  and  on  that  accnnnt 
a  testimony  of  the  sublime  security  of  the  Lord 
was  given. 

Orthodox  exposilocs  should  leave  to  such 
men  as  Gabler,  Stolz,  PauUis,  and  Kuinol  the 
supposition  of  a  preconcerted  arrangement  with 
the  househulder  in  Jerusalern.  Equally  un- 
worthy is  such  a  notion  in  relation  to  the  send- 
ing for  the  ass — as  we  have  already  shown.  Yet 
Braune,  alas !  speaks  of  a  preconcerted  sign — 
"Jesus  had  beforehand  made  this  sure  with  the 
master  of  the  house."  The  altogether  mysteri- 
ous form  8i.lva—such  a  man — with  the  pre- 
diction of  the  meeting  him  under  such  circum- 
stances, must  have  produced  in  the  minds  of 
the  disciples  a  verydiflerent  impression  from — 
"  I  have  arranged  it  thus  already!"  Rather 
did  it  mean,  in  a  much  higher  sense — "All  this 
has  been  appointed,  nothing  can  fail,  as  I  now 
predict  to  you."  But  another  circumstance 
ari.ses,  as  giving  a  reason  for  the  form  of  the 
direition — the  keeping  the  place  secret  from  the 
betrayer.  There  is  some  truth  in  the  almo.-;t 
universal  remark  of  the  expositors,  who  make 
this  design  prominent;  lor  our  Lord's  lowliness, 
as  blended  with  his  dignity,  required  that  he, 
whom  all  things  served,  should  observe  the 
ordinary  precautions  of  human  prudence.  The 
one,  here  as  every  where,  qualifies  the  other, 
in  a  marvellous  manner.  Judas,  who,  on  other 
occasions,  took  charge  of  the  purchase  and  pro- 
vision of  all  things,  is  not  sent;  and  then  the 
commission,  given  in  hia  presence,  is  expressed 
in  so  mysterious  a  manner,  that  he  knows  not 
before  the  lime  either  the  place  or  the  nnme. 
This  made  it  manifest  to  him,  the  hypocritical 
enemy  among  tlie  Apostles,  that  the  Lord  had 
likewise  concealed  disciples  among  his  enemies 
in  Jerusalem.* 

Matthew  speaks  indefinitely  of  "the  dis- 
ciples "  as  sent ;  Mark  notes  "  two  of  them  ;  " 
Luke,  finally,  names  them,  Peter  and  John,  the 
two  most  eminent  and  confidential  disciples, 
the  same  two  who,  at  the  Supper,  sat  one  on 
each  side  of  ihe  Redeemer.  The  first  Evangel- 
ist presents  the  Lord's  word  briefly,  as  pre- 
served in  the  more  general  tradition,  until  the 


*  "  As  there  was  amons  his  friends  a  secret  ene- 
my, so  was  there  among  his  enemies  a  secret 
friend  "  (Braune). 


Holy  Spirit  took  care  for  the  addition  of  the 
supplementary  detail  which  gave  prominence 
to  the  main  point.  Matthew  and  Mai  k  place 
first  the  significant  and  decisive  "Go  into  the 
city,"  which  was,  indeed,  included  in  the  "  Oo 
and  prepare"  of  Luke.  But  if  we  read  Mat- 
thew, without  comparing  the  others,  it  might 
appear  as  if  the  Lord  had  actually  mentioned 
the  name  of  the  householder,  which  however 
the  Evangelist  could  not,  or  would  not,  repeat 
after  him.*  But  it  is  as  impossible  that  he 
was  ignorant  of  the  name,  as  it  is  that  he  con- 
cealed it  for  the  sake  of  not  "  compromising  the 
man" — surely  after  so  long  an  interval  this 
paschal  hospitality  could  not  be  still  reckoned 
to  his  disadvantage.  It  is  better,  therefore,  to 
say  that  his  npoi  rdv  Saiva,  "such  an  om," 
expresses  concisely  that  which  the  others  ex- 
press more  in  detail ;  he  thereby  intimates  that 
the  Lord,  without  naming  the  man,  marked 
him  out  in  some  manner.  They  were  to  say, 
The  Master  saith  (in  Luke,  more  expressly, 
saith  unto  thee);  and  this  describes  the  man  as 
a  disciple  of  Jesus,  for  the  obedience  which  our 
Lord  predicts  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  re- 
ceiver of  the  message  would  interpret  those 
words — Our  Master  and  thine,t  so  that  he 
would  acknowledge  the  disciples  at  once,  and 
recognize  him  who  sent  them  as  his  master  and 
teaclier.  The  I\Iaster  bids  us  tell  thee— that  is 
enough  here,  as  in  the  parallel  case,  the  send- 
ing for  the  ass — The  Lord  hath  need  of  it. 
Tims  does  our  Lord  go  on  his  way,  every  thing 
ministering  to  his  foreseen  need;  with  child- 
like serenity  and  ease  (as  Lange  Says)  provid- 
ing for  every  earthly  want.  The  staler  in  the 
fish's  mouth  is  a  remarkable  parallel. 

My  time  is  at  hand — this  word  in  Matthew- 
does  not  refer  to  the  time  of  the  Passover, 
the  period  of  which  all  Jews  well  knetj) ;  there 
might,  indeed,  be  in  it  some  such  meaning  as 
this— I  keep  it  with  those  who  keep  it  this 
day  and  not  to-morrow — were  it  not  that  the 
words  must  have  the  same  significant  reference 
to  his  suffering  and  death  which  they  have 
elsewhere.  The  Lord  never  has  any_  other 
meaning  than  this,  when  he  speaks  oi  his  time 
or  hour — as  we  have  seen  on  John  vii.  8,  and 
elsewhere.  In  this  Grotius  is  right,  who  re- 
minds us  of  the  before  I  suffer,  Luke  xxii.  15  ; 
but  his  opinion  that  the  Lord  thus  gives  a  reason 
why  he  was  constrained  to  anticipate  his  Pass- 
over (to-morrow  I  shall  be  able  no  longer  to 
eat  it !),  cannot  be  sustained,  as  we  have  seen 
before.t     This   pre-supposes  a  very  near  and 

*  For  6  S  sly  a  stands  for  the  name,  just  as  our 
N.  N.  Stolz  translated  "  to  the  well-known  man  " 
—and  certainly  the  Lord  miyJit  have  to  uspd  iho 
expression— To  a  certain  man  well-known  to  me, 
whom  I  name  not  now,  but  will  point  out  more 
specifically  thus,  etc.  But  this  is  a  too  mechan- 
ical combination  of  the  several  texis. 

t  Hence  in  the  Ileb.  N.  T.  it  is  well  trasslated 

X  So  Neander :  "  Because  the  time  of  my  de- 


.4«6 


PROVISION  FOR  THE  PASSOVER. 


confidential  relation  to  the  unknown  man,  since 
it  is  understood  that  he  would  know  the  mean- 
ing of  my  time,  and  be  at  once  moved  by  it  to 
provide  the  guest-chamber  for  our  Lord's  final 
Passover.*  It  is  as  if  the  Lord  told  him  thus, 
what  he  had  already  disclosed  to  the  disciples 
in  Matt.  xxvi.  2.  We  would  observe  one  thing 
more  ;  and  that  is,  that  the  Lord  here  declares 
once  more  his  willingness  to  encounter  his 
death,  terming  the  time  appointed  in  the  coun- 
sel of  God  his  time. 

What  follows  in  Matthew  is  a  more  concise 
expression  of  the  sense,  and  cannot  be  made 
verbally  to  agree  with  the  more  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  two  other  Evangelists ;  but  the 
meaning  is  the  same  in  all.  In  the  itpui  6e — 
at  thy  hause — which  comes  first,  it  is  shown  to 
be  an  expression  of  love  and  a  signal  honor, 
that  the  Lord  should  once  more  invite  himself 
to  this  man's  house.  In  noiElv  to  nd6x<x, 
"  keep  [lit.  do  ]  the  Passover,"  we  hear  the 
expression  of  a  legal  obedience,  according  to 
the  customary  formula  (np3  r\'VV,  Exod.  xii. 

48;  Num.  ix.  4  ;  Josh.  v.  10.)  And  inth  my 
disciples:  for,  they  are  his  family,  and  thus  he 
speaks  as  one  master  of  a  house  to  another. 

But  now  let  us  look  closely  at  the  prediction 
of  the  circumstances  which  the  two  other 
Evangelists  add.  Ebrard,  with  the  ancients, 
says  at  once,  "  In  virtue  of  his  omniscience  " — 
but  we  cannot  agree  with  him  ;  neither,  how- 
ever, can  we,  like  Olshausen,  deny  the  indica- 
tion of  a  miraculous  foreknowledge,  or  the 
worthiness  of  the  end  in  such  a  miracle.  As 
respects  the  former,  it  must  be  undeniably 
plain  to  every  simple  reader  that  the  Evangel- 
ists record  the  Lord's  saying  as  uttered  in 
supernatural  foreknowledge,  seeing  afar,  as  it 
were,  the  course  of  the  most  fortuitous  circum- 
stances. The  predicted  meeting  with  a  man 
bearing  a  pitcher  of  water,  supposed  to  be  a 
servant  fetching  it  at  the  usual  (or  unusual?) 
time,  thus  indicated  with  the  most  exact  speci- 
fication of  time  and  place,!  is  evidently  a  sign 
given  in  supreme  authority  to  the  unbelieving 
anxiety  of  the  questioning  disciples.  In  this 
we  have  an  answer  to  the  second  point.  Jesus 
might  have  been,  in  his  state  of  humiliation  &<■ 
the  Son  of  Man,  no  more  omniscient  than  al- 
mighty or  omnipresent;  but  the  evangelical 


parture  from  the  world  is  nigh,  I  will  io-day  eat 
Ihe  Passover  by  anticipation." 

*  Kahnis  :  "  Thus  he  named  to  them  a  man 
whom  he  kuf^w  to  be  devot.'d  to  himself,  and  ac- 
quainted with  his  coming  de|>arture  "  (Zf/jr«  vom 
Abendm.  p.  5).  "  Named  to  iliem,"  however,  is  in- 
exact; il  should  be  "  de.cribed  to  them." 

f  In  Luke,  "  Bcfto.'d,  when  ye  are  entered  info  the 
city" — thus,  at  tiie  very  entrance,  so  that  the  dis- 
ciples hnd  no  need  to  think  mucli  which  way  to 
take.  The  vessel  is  expressly  described  as  nepd- 
Hiov,  and  then  the  water-carrier  goes  into  the 
right  house — who  can  understand  this  otlierwise 
than  according  to  the  words  of  the  Seer,  1  Sam.  x. 
2-7,  wiiich  we  ttierefore  brought  into  comparison 
already  ou  Matt.  zxi.  2  1 


narrative  so  constantly  attributes  to  him  a 
miraculous  knowledge  of  earthly  circumstances 
entirely  transcending  human  sensible  limita- 
tions, that  it  is  ridiculous  to  enter  into  petty 
questioning,  about  this  or  that  particular  ex- 
ample. Further,  we  shrink  from  the  most 
distant  approximation  to  the  old  habit  of  in- 
quiring into  the  "purpose"  of  every  "miracle" 
which  is  introduced.  One  of  our  preachers 
says,  with  a  good  intention,  "  Jesus  had  here  a 
reason  for  making  use  of  his  omniscience  " — 
but  we  recognize  neither  the  occasional  making 
use  of  an  otherwise  restrained  omniscience  or 
omnipotence,  nor  his  conscious  reflection  upon 
tlie  reason  or  usefulness  of  his  acts.  But  that 
the  Spirit  dwelling  in  the  Lord  might  elevato 
him  into  the  miraculous  region  of  action  or  in- 
sight into  the  power  and  light  of  God,  when  it 
should  be  for  his  own  dignity  and  the  salva- 
tion of  others — we  cannot  but  admit,  and  the 
present  instance  gives  us  an  example.  It  was 
quite  consistent  that,  in  addition  to  this,  the 
Lord  should  have  a  design — if  such  must  bo 
sought — to  encoiirage  and  strengthen  the  weak- 
ness of  his  disciples'  faith.  We  cannot  under- 
stand the  excellent  Olshiiusen's  assertions.  He 
says,  first,  that  the  disciples  on  this  occasion 
betrayed  no  specific  weakness  of  faith;  but, 
apart  from  their  habitual  lendencv,  their  ques- 
tion betrayed  anxious  care.  S'ccondly,  that 
the  actual  sign  would  have  had  no  special 
significance  to  them,  familiar  as  they  had  been 
with  so  many  more  exalted  miracles;  but, 
nothing  could  surpass  the  majesty  of  the  tes- 
timony, "  Behold,  all  has  been  provided  for!" 
Thirdly,  that  then  it  would  have  required  to 
be  added — There  had  been  no  preconcerted  ar- 
rangement. But  this  last  is  the  worst  of  all  ; 
for  how  could  it  ever  have  entered  the  minds  of 
the  disciples  to  think  of  a  "  concerted  arrange- 
ment" on  the  part  of  Jesus  with  a  water-car- 
rier waiting  for  them  at  the  entrance  of  the 
city,  to  guide  them  into  the  house?  Why  re- 
sort to  all  these  by-methods  for  the  explana- 
tion of  the  provision  for  the  feast,  instead  of 
accepting  the  statement  of  such  a  simple  desig- 
nation of  the  house  and  the  host  as  was  a  sign 
to  the  disciples,  while  it  excluded  Judas  from 
privity  to  tliis  plan  ? 

The  question  common  to  the  two  Evangel- 
ists—  Whire  is  the  g>icst-chaml>er,  wh-ere,  etc.— 
would  of  itself,  on  this  view,  intimate  that  the 
prepared  place,  for  which  the  disciples  were  to 
ask,  was  already  ready,  and  could  not  fail  them. 
Ye  ask  anxiously  about  the  where— \\\\i  I  com- 
mand you  only  "to  ask  xchcre  is  it?  for  it  is  al- 
ready prepared.  Matthew's  complementary 
expression — /  will  keqy  tfie  Passover  with  tJue — 
warrants  us  in  regarding  tins  question  not  as 
an  allusion  to  any  thing^preconcerted,  but  as  a 
strongly  expressed  announcement  of  tiie  Lord's 
coming.  The  reading  which  Laciim.  leaves 
undecided  in  Mark — to  MardXviioc  juov 
(Vulg.  refectio  moa) — appears  to  us  a  gloss, 
the  meaning  of  which  is  othr-rwise  in  the  text. 
But  this  guest-chamber,  xcxrdAvua,  is  cer- 
tainly not  here  &  public  ^£yo6oxttoy>  ov  inn,  iot 


LUKE  XXII.  25-30. 


487 


Euch  places  were  not  used  at  the  time  of  the 
Passover;*  nor  is  it,  on  the  other  hand,  "room" 
merely  ;t  l)ut  the  word  corresponds  to  the  Ileb. 
P^O   deversorium,   JiospUium,    lodgment.     "  The 

Jews,  not  resident  in  Jerusalem,  had  at  the 
time  ol'  the  Passover  the  right  to  look  for 
gratuitous  lodgment  and  hospitality  from  the 
dwellers  in  the  city."t  "Unless  1  am  mis- 
taken, this  is  in  the  word  xardXv/na" — says 
Grolius.  That_  the  OLKoSeCitvtrji  of  this 
house  (mark  this  most  precise  definition)  wf.s 
not  to  be  asked  first  by  the  disciples — Wilt 
thou  give  up  thy  already  prepared  chamber  to 
our  Master  and  thine?  but  only  to  be  required 
to  lihmo  wiiere  it  was,  takes  two  things  for 
f,'ranted  :  first,  that  he  held  it  alreadv  prepared, 
in  devout  hospitality,  for  any  guests  whom 
God  might  send  him;  and,  secondly,  that  to 
rone  would  he  more  gladly  surrender  it  than 
to  Jesus  as  soon  as  he  should  announce  him- 
self as  coming  to  it. 

The  upper  room — dvdyatov  (more  correct- 
ly, instead  of  dv&iyEov) — is  frdxiUy  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  vnepcaov,  or  the  proper 
JT^J?  of  the  roof  (although  Hesychius  makes 

them  one)  ;  but  the  Lord  thereby  intimates  its 
suitability  for  a  more  retired  celebiatiou  of  the 
feast.  It  is,  moreover,  Uirge  ;  not  a  mean  place, 
but  providing  more  than  enough  room  for  his 
little  society  ;|  and  it  is  also  even  already/a/'- 
nislied — 4  6  r  p  a)  u  e  V  o  v.\\  This  last  does  not 
intimate  any  thing  like  a  "  stately  "  arrange- 
ment ;  but  only  that  every  thing  needful  was 
already  provided  there.  On  that  account  we 
cannot  admit  the  additional  eromov,  "  ready," 
of  Mark.  This  is  a  heaping  together  of  too 
many   predicates;   an   additional   eroi/nov    is 


either  superfluous,  or  must  intimate  that  the 
sweeping  out  of  the  leaven,  or  whatever  else 
the  ceremonial  required,  was  already  cared  for 
by  the  host.  But  we  think  such  regard  to  the 
minutest  specialty  too  petty  in  our  Lord's 
mouth  at  such  a  (ime.  Von  Gerlach's  expla- 
nation— a  room  in  which  the  feaf,t  was  already 
provided — forgets  that  there  would  be  then 
nothing  left  ior  the  following  there  maks  ready 
(Mark /or  t<.s).  Thus  De  Wette  says — There 
make  ready  (the  repast).  We  afterwards  read 
— x\nd  they  made  ready  the  Passover.  To  this 
prepai-ation  belonged  the  purchase  of  the  lamb, 
its  slaughter*  and  roasting,  the  provision  of  the 
appointed  and  customary  concomitants,  etc, 
All  this  is  included  by  the  Lord,  with  dignified 
simplicity  in  i\\e prepare. 

The  disciples  went  in  perfect  confidence  that 
they  should  find  all  this;  finding  it  all,  they 
did  as  they  were  commanded.  In  solemn  and 
s'lent  order  and  reverence,  with  many  deep 
ponderings,  did  Peter  and  John  perfect  all  the 
preparation  for  the  feast.  But  before  we  pro- 
ceed to  the  prepared  feast  itself,  let  us  once 
more  pause  and  weigh  well  the  appointment 
and  announcement  which  the  Lord  here  makes. 
According  to  Rev.  iii.  20  we  might  discern  in 
this  a  type  of  the  manner  in  which  he  would 
in  future  announce  and  invite  himself  in  the 
case  of  souls  already  devoted  to  him — that  he 
may  hold  the  true  paschal  feast  in  the  prepared 
gue'st-chamber  of  their  hearts.  Yea,  the  ex- 
perience of  those  who  have  to  accomplish  this 
mission,  concurs  further  with  these  words — 
"  Jeous  often  gives,  even  now,  to  his  disciples 
signs  by  which  they  may  know  where  to  apply 
for  and  find  places 'of  entertainment  for  their 
Lord." 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  DISPUTE  FOR  PRE-EMINENCE. 


(Luke  xxir.  25-30.) 


AVe  may  assume  that  Luke  received  his  ac- 
counts of  this  last  meal  at  second  or  third 
hand:  and  hence  (here  are  indications  of  in- 
definiteness  and   inexactness,  which  are  not  to 


*  Tliis  meaning  ot  the  word  genera. ly  is  uncer- 
tain, even  in  Luke  ii.  7. 

tOr  specifically  a  hall  of  eating;,  as  1  Sam  ix. 
22  is  referred  to,  where  nS'J'^  is  translated  xazd- 

Xv/ia. 

t  Friedlieb,  Arclued.  der  Lcidemt/esch.,  p.  50. 
Tills  was  an  ancient  custom  ;  but  the  method  there 
relerred  lo,  of  iiKlemiiifying;  the  man  l)y  ihe  skin 
ot  (he  laml)  and  an  earilien  vessel,  may  be  refer- 
red to  a  later  period. 

()  In  this  chcuinstance  the  simplicity  of  our 
failiers  saw  a  txi'lcal  hint  that  many  would  in  due 
lime  he  summoned  to  the  Supper  of  our  Lord. 

II  The  Lord  speaks  as  if  he  saw  the  room  before 
liim,  jusL  as  it  was. 


be  found  in  the  compressed  exhibition  of  the 
essentials  which  Matthew  and  even  Mark  give'.| 

♦  Probably  in  the  temple ;  not.  however,  that 
he  priests  alone  could  do  it.  The  ritual  of  that 
time  is  very  uncerla'n  as  to  particu'ars.  Fried- 
lieb's  inference  (p  47,  note),  that  the  lamb  was 
slain  at  tiie  appropria  e  time  in  the  temp'e  or  not 
at  all— that  the  Passover  was  celebrated  by  Christ 
w.th  the  Jews,  or  that  it  was  no  proper  Pa.ssover 
—is  not  therefore  a])P  icable  ;  and  it  must  be  cou- 
s  dered  that  if  an  early  cdebrntion  was  recognized 
by  many,  it  must  necessarily  have  been  recognized 
in  ihe  temple. 

t  We  observe  here,  once  for  all,  that  this  admis- 
sion is  by  no  means  inconsistent  with  our  consiant 
denunciation  of  those  by  who.se  "  unwarranted 
assumption  of  indefinite  and  ine.xact  records  the 
Scripture  is  constantly  broken."  There  are  hmita 
plain  enough  to  those  who  will  see  them.  In  par- 
ticular, we  cannot  surrender  the  conviction  that  m 


m. 


DISPUTE  FOR  PRE-EMINENCE. 


In  the  record  of  this  \¥onderful  evening,  the 
raost  prominent,  thing  was  the  sacrament,  as 
occupying  the  first  place  in  the  tradition  of  the 
whole  Church  ;  the  feet-washing  might  be  re- 
nerved — as  belonging  rather  to  the  circle  of  the 
Apostles,  and  as  being  an  almost  esoteric  mys- 
tery in  comparison  with  the  relative  exoteric 
mystery  of  the  Supper — until  ho  came  to  whose 
fjen  it  was  given  to  record  it.  But  there  was 
much  else  both  spoken  and  done  over  this  table  ; 
«nd  in  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  the 
several  Evangelists,  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  di- 
rected them  all,  shows  us,  as  in  a  central  ex- 
ample, in  what  way  he  has  provided  for  us  a 
sure  and  sufficing  narrative,  through  the  agency 
of  the  free  and  manifold  gifts  of  men,  which  we 
again  are  to  arrange  according  to  our  best  dis- 
crimination. Luke  is  distinguished  among 
them  as  the  critical  investigator  and  diligent 
collector  of  things  retained  in  living  tradition. 
Hence,  as  we  shall  see,  he  furnishes  many  pre- 
cious supplemental  details  of  individual  mat- 
ters, from  the  Lord's  desires  in  ver.  15,  to  the 
misunderstood  words  touching  the  sword  ; 
lience,  however,  we  find,  as  we  have  already 
riaid,  a  certain  appearance  of  compilation  which 
sometimes  seems  to  forsake  the  exact  seijLuence 
of  things. 

This  character  of  his  record  is  stamped  most 
plainly  upon  the  'Eyivf-ro  8e  nai— And  there 
v>as  also — a  formula  indefinite  in  itself,  with 
which  he  introduces  the  contention  among  the 
di.sciples  which  occurred  again  on  this  evening. 
We  might  be  astonished  and  incredulous  as  to 
Llie  possibility  of  a  tttrifa  aniong  them  at  such  a 
time,  especially  after  reading  what  has  preceded 
in  Luke;  and  tiiis  very  formula,  entering  into 
our  astonishment,  takes  away  our  doubt  by 
the  a.ssurance  of  the  actual  there  teas.  For  the 
moaning  of  the  nai,  in  close  connection  with 
the  strife,  is  no  other  than  this — And  even  on 
this  evening,  at  this  table  (where  the  hand  of 
the  traitor  was)  took  place,  alas  I  an  actual 
contention.*  Our  doubt  may  be  rendered 
stronger  by  its  appearing  to  have  been  after 
the  institution  of  the  Supper — but,  it  is  not  so 
stated;  for  in  Luke's  habit  of  transposition 
iyevero  may  well  be   regarded  as  tae  later 


the  Jirst  Gospel  Matthew  the  Apostle  is  the  imme- 
diate rejjorter — despite  that  German  criticism 
which  seems  fo  have  exerted  an  evil  influence  on 
the  English  Alford.  His  condemnation  of  my  se- 
vere dealing  with  other  views,  and  his  allegation 
of  inconsi.stencies  (oti  Matt.  xxvi.  1^0;,  do  not  af- 
fect my  honest  convictions. 

*  Tlie  among  thorn  i.s  further  removed,  and  the 
emphasis  should  not  he  laid  upon  it,  as  BenHel 
does — "  Not  only  tlie  traitor,  hid  also  the  IHevcn 
(fonhled  the  Lord."  Considerin<j  the  words  as 
followina  ver.  23,  some  sucli  meaiiinir  as  this  misht 
be  found,  "  Those  wl)o  now  j-o  liunibly  ftsked 
anioni;  themselves  who  should  betray  him,  htu/  bem 
askinn;  among  themselves  who  was  liie  greaiesl." 
Thi.s  i)araliei  and  anlilhosis  may  be  indicated  in 
rt>e  tepet:lion  of  ro,  r/S,"  not,  however,  that  ver. 
24  must  necessarily  have  been  subsequent  in  time, 
*m  that  account. 


record  of  what  had  happened  before.  We  are 
firmly  convinced  that  this  was  his  meaning; 
and  agree  with  the  latter  part  of  Olshausen's 
words :  "  Luke's  account  is  inexact  in  two 
points  ;  creating  the  impression  that  Judas 
partook  of  the  Supper  with  the  rest,  and  also 
that  the  disciples  fell  into  a  contention  after  its 
institution."  As  it  respects  Judas'  undoubted 
participation,  we  shall  nave  more  to  say  ;  and 
as  it  respects  the  latter,  it  does  not  impeach 
the  credit  of  the  reporter,  who  might  say  to  us 
— Why  is  my  lysvaTo  de  nai  necessarily 
taken  in  strict  order  ? 

Neander  deals  far  too  boldly  with  Holy 
Scripture  when  he  assumes  that  the  thought 
of  the  feet-washing  occasioned  the  error  of 
placing  the  earlier  contention  of  Matt.  xx.  in 
the  evening  of  the  Supper.  We  cannot  but 
mourn  over  the  fundamental  principles  which 
permit  such  a  manner  of  reading  what  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  written  for  the  Church ;  on 
their  account  we  have  hitherto  preferred  to 
pass  over  in  comparative  silence  Neander's 
"  Life  of  Jesus" — but  we  cannot  refrain  from 
openly  expressing  our  condemnation  here.  The 
pious  Wesley's  error  is  of  a  different  kind, 
and  more  venial:  "It  is  highly  probable  (?) 
this  was  the  same  dispute  which  is  mentioned 
by  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  consequently, 
though  it  is  related  here,  it  happened  some 
time  before."*  We  think  it  impossible  that 
Luke's  (iii-  ?<•«/.' and  hv  avroi?  can  be  recon- 
ciled with  a  narrative  of  events  so  far  back. 
The  same  and  much  more  may  be  said  against 
the  modified  view  which  identifies  the  contest 
with  that  resulting  from  the  request  of  Zebe- 
dee's  sons,  and  makes  the  Lord  simply  revert 
to  it  at  the  table.  (Grotius  :  "  Christ  is  mind- 
ful of  their  former  contention  ;  and,  going 
away,  would  give  thom  precepts  of  love  and 
humility  founded  upon  it.")  Certainly,  Christ 
would  not  have  introduced  such  a  reproof 
without  an  immediate  occasion  for  it,  and 
Luke  would  not  without  it  have  written  hi.^ 
eyEVETo.  Schleiermacher  accepts  it  as  a  cor- 
rect exposition  of  the  narrator,  that  Christ 
spoke  these  words,  belonging  to  the  feet-wash- 
ing, in  reference  to  their  earlier  contests  ;  the 
compiler,  however,  misunderstood  it,  supposed 
the  contest  to  have  occurred  on  the  same 
evening,  and  so  changed  the  expression.  But 
this  is  of  itself  an  admission  that  the  present 
text  bears  no  other  sense. 

It  is  certain  then  that  the  contention  occur- 
red on  this  evening.!     But  was  it,  as  seems  to 


♦  €omp.  Sepp  to  the  samt»  purpose  (iii.  133), 
who  contounds  the  whole  in  his  Jtlarmony.  Branno 
nlso  has  made  this  section  one  with  M  itt.  xx.  and 
Mark  x.,  thoujjh  he  8j»eaks  very  indefinitely  and 
confu.sedly  about  it. 

f  In  this  we  agree  with  Alford,  on  Luke,  who 
well  puts  the  reason  for  it;  summing  up  all  ihiis  : 
Ai!  the  expressions  allude  to  the  circumstances  of 
this  evening,  to  their  then  employm.^it :  ayaxfi- 
^eyoi — SiariOenai — tdOieir  xai  nivfiy — ty 
TTQ   fia6tkeia   nov.     But   not  ou  that  accoml 


LUKE  XXII.  25-30. 


489 


be  the  case  in  the  order  of  narrative,  after  the 
Supper?  Those  who  so  read  (after  that  old 
uncritical  manner,  which,  however,  in  its 
simplicity  of  taith,  should  be  spoken  of  with 
respect),  have  in  some  cases  taken  no  pains 
to  explain  and  reconcile  this  supposition.  The 
swiftest  way  of  evading  the  difficulty,  is  to 
refer  the  fact  to  a  special  temptation  of  Satan, 
then  more  than  ordinarily  busy.  But  even 
Satan's  suggestions  must  be  in  harmony  with 
psychology  ;  and  our  psychology  at  least  pro- 
tests against  the  possibility  of  such  a  question 
as.  Who  is  the  greatest  among  us?  immediately 
after — Lord  is  it  I  ?  or.  Who  among  us  can  do 
this?  Hence  others  have  exhausted  expedients 
to  find  in  the  circumstances  and  sayings  of  the 
meal  some  point  of  connection  for  it.  The  most 
improbable  is  that  which  connects  it  with  ver. 
23,  and  makes  the  questioning  of  the  disciples 
turn  to  a  protest.  Certainly  not  I !  and  thence 
to  their  individual  boasting  of  fidelity  and 
nearness  to  the  Master.*  Pfenninger's  is  a 
very  far-fetched  expedient,  who  derives  the 
intention  from  the  previous  prominence  of 
John,  and  limits  it  to  the  question  whether 
John  or  Peter  was  the  grmtr.j  So  also  when 
Rieger  says  :  "  There  must  be  subordination, 
and  it  was  apparently  quite  right  that  they 
should  know  whom  to  adhere  to  when  their 
Lord  and  Master  had  gone,"  etc.  For  the  dis- 
ciples did  not  send  their  thought  forward  so 
calmly  to  the  time  of  the  Lord's  departure,  as 
to  be  already  discussing  their  future  precedence 
and  dignity.  Finally,  it  is  altogether  inappro- 
priate to  refer  the  occasion  of  the  contention  to 
the  expressions,  of  Jesus  in  vers.  16  and  18 — as 
Hess  does.  Because  the  Lord  "  had  spoken  so 
definitely  and  confidently  concerning  the  near 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  "  (was  sooi  otov 
really  near .?) — this  excitation  of  their  invete- 
rate notions  of  the  temporal  kingdom  made 
them  insensible  for  a  time  to  every  other  con- 
sideration. We  have  only  to  replv  that  this  is 
unimaginable  and  impossible.  The  question 
with  them  was  not  about  dignity  and  prece- 
dence in  a  future  kingdom ;  but  about  place, 
pre-eminence,  and  service  at  this  meal  in  the 
immediate  present.  Tz?  Soxel  e/Va-?,  that 
is,  who  should  appear  to  have  the  pre-eminence, 
to  be  most  considerable,  and  have  the  right  of 


«fter  the  Supper,  as  Luke  places  it ;  this  we  gain- 
say on  very  important  2round.s. 

*  The  Hirschberger  Bihcl,  and  Richter's,  and, 
Brandt's  all  agree  on  this,  the  last,  expre.ssly  con- 
tradicting the  report  of  the  three  other  Evangel- 
ists (Matt,  exceeding  sorrowful ;  Mark,  ilmj  began  to 
he  sorrowful ;  John,  dcul/ting),  says — "Every  one 
began  to  repel  the  guilt,  sild  vindicate  his  fidel- 
ity." In  this  the  i  lenity  of  M<tt.  xxvi.  22,  with 
Luke  xxii.  23,  is  taken  for  granted,  which  we  dis- 
pute; but,  even  acconling  to  our  view  (of  which 
more  by  and  by)  such  n  ccnnection,  and  such  a 
transition  from  tl:e  trnHor  to — which  was  the  greater, 
appears  mos";  urraiiitable. 

\  This  does  not  agree  with  the  ri?  aCriSy  of 
Luke. 


pj-iority  over  the  others  ;  comp,  oi  fioKovrrs% 
apx^ty,  Mark  x.  42.  M£iX,qov  is  not  equivalent 
to  u£yt6ro<i ;  yet  it  is  not  as  Bengel  says — 
"  Greater,  as  first,  second,  third,  etc.  'The 
question  was  not  about  being  the  greatest 
solely."  For  we  may  compare  Luke  ix.  46, 
where  we  have  the  same  general  expression 
concerning  the  pre-eminence  of  one  over  others. 

This  contest  before  the  Supper  finds  its  easy 
explanation,  as  generally  in  the  solemn  and 
formal  arrangement  of  their  community,  which 
the  institution  of  the  sacrament  required,  so 
particularly  it  may  be  in  the  uncertain  choice 
of  their  places.  The  words  of  our  Lord  which 
compose  the  difference,  form  a  plain  parallel  to 
the  feet-washing;  indeed  ver.  27  can  scarcely 
otherwise  be  understood  than  by  referring  to 
it  the  presentation  of  his  own  example.  Com- 
pare with  it  John  xiii.  13-16,  and  the  harmony 
will  be  immediately  felt.  Thus  the  third  of 
the  Evangelists  seems  to  be  already  alluding  to 
the  more  secret  tradition  of  the  feet-washings 
which  then  John  made  public.  It  is  obvious, 
again,  that  after  the  Lord  had  washed  his 
disciples'  feet,  any  further  contention  among 
the  disciples  was  impossible,  and  therefore 
that  this  took  place  when  they  first  arranged 
themselves  at  the  table.*  But  it  is  equally 
necessary  to  regard  our  Lord's  words  as  spoken 
after  the  symbolical  action  ;  for  they  entirely 
harmonize  with  the  discourses  in  John,  and 
might  easily  have  been  joined  to  it.  They 
refer  in  ver.  27  to  the  serving  of  him  who  now 
once  more  sat  doicn  in  the  midst  of  them. 

We  have  been  somewhat  ditfuse  in  justifying 
the  position  which  we  give  to  the  words  wiiicU 
are  to  be  expounded  ;  the  reader  will  not  take 
this  amiss,  but  attribute  it  to  our  anxiety  to 
give  good  reasons  wherever  a  non  liquet  is  not 
satisfactory.  If  we  now  turn  to  the  words  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  which  compose  this  strife,  they 
fall  at  once  into  three  parts.  First,  he  reminds 
the  disciples,  to  their  shame,  of  former  sayings? 
upon  this  matter,  which  he  now  almost  literally 
repeats,  vers.  25,  26.  He  then  appeals,  in 
transition,  to  his  own  example  of  humility, 
especially  that  which  he  had  purposely  just 
given,  ver.  27.  In  conclusion  he  turns  his  dis- 
course, partly  to  raise  them  from  their  shame, 
and  partly  to  deepen  it,  to  the  high  significance 
of  the  present  crisis — in  which  such  a  conten- 
tion must  appear  to  be  most  perverse.  On  the 
evening  when  the  Saviour  was  to  manifest 
himself  as  the  minister  of  their  salvation, 
when  he  would  in  pure  and  per.''ect  grace  es- 
tablish his  kingdom,  and  make  them  heirs  of 
all  his  gifts — they  were  foolishly  contending 
about  who  should  be  greater!  'But  because 
grace  has  chosen  them,  and  brought  them 
through  to  this  hour,  the  dianOe/uai,  "  1  ap- 


*  AVe  cannot  tolerate  the  idea  of  Von  Gerlach 
and  Ebra  d,  that  the  strife  originated  in  tiie  ques- 
tion who  must  perform  the  service  of  the  feet- 
washing.  We  would,  however,  admit  that  the 
contest  might  have  been  ttie  occasion  of  our  Lord 
performing  that  act. 


iW 


DISPUTE  FOK  PRE-ExMINENCE. 


point,"  is  not.  revoked.  The  Lord  looks  back 
upon  their  previous  fidelity,  sincere  though 
■weak  ;  and  looks  forward  to  the  certainly  pre- 
pared joy  and  honor  of  his  kingdom.  Thus  the 
great,  crisis,  in  the  greatness  of  Avhich  their 
petty  contests  about  what  they  thought  great- 
ness are  swallowed  up,  is  denoted:  by  the 
glance  back  to  the  whole  time  of  their 
previous  discipleship,  ver.  28— by  the  promi- 
nence given  to  the  present  establishment  of 
the  covenant  and  testament,  ver.  29 — by  the 
glance  forward  to  the  final  and  glorious  consum- 
mation, ver.  30.  (In  which  there  is  once  more 
a  repetition  of  Matt.  xix.  28  ) 

Verses  23,  28.  The  constantly-outbreaking 
pride  of  the  disciples  must  hear — and  how 
often  still! — the  same  constantly-repeated  re- 
proof: thrice  had  it  been  administered  before, 
according  to  Matthew — chap,  xviii.  3,  4,  xx. 
25-27,  xxiii.  11.  The  record  of  these  passages 
13  almost  verbally  the  same  as  our  present  text, 
60  that  we  may  refer  to  it  for  the  exposition  of 
its  fundamental  thought.  It  only  remains  to 
say  something  about  single  expressions  which 
are  peculiar  here,  and  then  to  exhibit  the  whole 
in  the  new  light  of  its  present  connection.  The 
title  of  honor  and  flattery,  5i3fp;'f'r;;;5  (benefac- 
tor),* winch  was  not  peculiar  to  the  third  Egyp- 
tian Ptolemy,  but  in  general  use,  is  pertectly 
suitable  therefore  to  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles.  This 
word,  moreover,  had  passed  from  the  Greeks 
to  the  Jews ;  Jewish  Ethnarchs  (Simon,  to 
wit)  were  so  called ;  and  the  praise  of  Onias,  2 
Mace.  iv.  2,  has  some  allusion  to  it,  at  least  in 
the  choice  of  the  expression.  Does  the  Lord, 
however,  blame  or  forbid  this  being  called,  as 
such  '^  Certainly  not,  as  we  have  remarked 
upon  Matthew;  for  lings  and  ruleis  {tcov6td- 
'ovTEi,  here  not  xaT£c,ovriidZ,F.iv  and  xara- 
xi>pif,vsty,  \n  an  evil  sense)  there  must  be; 
and  rank  and  authority  must  be  preserved 
down  to  the  master  of  the  house  who  sits  at 
table,  and  has  servants  to  serve  him  (ver.  27); 
consequently,  rulers  must  be  called  what  they 
are  and  must  be,  in  order  to  the  due  adjust- 
ment of  society  in  this  world.  Nothmg  more 
than  this  fact  lies  primarily  in  the  are  called, 
in  as  far  as  it  is  parallel  with  they  that  exercise 
avth/mly.  It  is,  alas  !  true  that  in  fact  a  mere 
heing  called  is  often  put  instead  of  the  true, 
internal,  moral  worthiness  (Isa.  xxxii.  5)  ;  this 
the  Lord  does  not  deny,  when  he  now  exhibits 
the  humble  form  of  his  externally  powerless 
kingdom,  to  its  servants  and  subjects.  In  this 
view,  the  simple  are  called  assumes  the  character 
of  reproving  irony  :  they  would  be  called  great 
and  greatest  Avithout  diligently  attending  to  the 
prnn'ioe  of  benevolence  in  their  office  and  func- 
tion.)-    Thus  arises  the  meaning  .  xaXovvrai, 


*  See  Grotius  on  Matt.  xx.  :"5,  and  what  he  ad- 
duceH  on  thi.s  passage  fioni  Philo,  Joseplius,  etc. ; 
also  the  collection  in  Wetslein.  The  name  had 
come  to  be  used  in  a  lolly  meanins;  for  eminent 
poisons  as  the  6ojTt/p  xai  euspyarni  applied  to 
Caligula  shows. 

f  Aristot.,  Eth.  viii.  13  :  fiadiXel  npui  rovi 


they  would  be  called,  they  arrogate  this  title 
to  themselves ;  or,  as  Grotius  sets  it  forth  still 
more  strongly,  "  Christ  signifies  that  such  titles 
are  often  affected  by  those  who  m  reality  care 
more  for  themselves  than  for  others'  good. 
They  see  what  is  excellent  (else  they  would 
not  affect  the  name),  but  they  neglect  to  act 
accordingly."  We  might  observe,  as  lying  not 
far  from  the  range  of  our  Lord's  hints,  that  the 
best  titles  of  honor  are  always  those  which  re- 
mind the  exalted  of  their  duties  ;  those  which, 
to  speak  after  the  Hebrew  manner,  show  that  th» 
Wyii  (chiefs)  should  be  D'3n:  (nobles) — which 

almost  corresponds  with  the  Greek  evpysrat 
Von  Gerlach's  notion  is  too  rigorous  :  "  In  liis 
evil  aim  to  be  like  God,  man  would  rather  bo 
gracious  and  benevolent  than  righteous,  or  a  ser- 
vant of  others."  For,  grace  and  benefaction  are 
real  and  honorable  obligations  of  the  typical 
gods  upon  earth  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  ser- 
vos servorum  may  be  perverted  into  a  title  of 
the  utmost  pride.  ^^ 

Thus  the  ovk  ovrosi — not  so — does  not  touch 
the  rank  or  the  name  in  itself,  but  the  whole 
state  of  the  case  as  intimated  in  ver.  25. 
Without,  in  the  region  of  heathenism,  the 
great  object  is  to  exercise  lordship  and  au- 
thority ;  and  many  an  i^ov6tdZ,oi>y  (person  in 
authority)  contents  himself  with  no  more  than 
the  being  called  a  benefactor.  But  ye  shall  not 
be  so;  when  ye  bear  rule  and  guide,  and  must 
needs  receive  the  appropriate  name — the  empty 
name  itself  must  never  jilease  you  ;  but  your 
rule  should  ever  prove  more  and  more  in  the 
.spirit  and  power  of  siixHce*  As  the  disciples* 
desire  for  distinction  of  rank  "  might  talce  re- 
fuge in  the  universal  appointment  of  gradation 
in  the  world"  (as  Rieger  says),  that  is,  make 
that  its  pretext,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Lord 
should  ciefinitely  lay  down  the  opposite  funda- 
mental law  of  Aw  kingdom.  In  placing  but  yt 
emphatically  at  the  commencement,  he  ac- 
knowledges those  whom  he  blames  a?  his  dis- 
ciples and  Apostles,  not  at  once  rejectinj^  thera 
on  account  of  their  worldliness  of  mind.  He 
is  far  from  saying,  with  condemning  severity — • 
Do  so  if  you  will  :  but  then  ye  are  no  longer 
my  disciples. 

'in  he  that  is  great  among  ymj,  and  he  (hat  i» 
chief — r'iyov/iisj'o?,  a  precedence  is  acknow- 
ledged and  confirmed  ;t  but  its  reality  is  to  be 
striven  for,  deserved,  and  approved  by  an  en- 
tiro  denial  of  any  such  distinction  in  Ihoucht 
and  act.     There  must  bo  among  the  disciples. 


/ia6i\Evoufvovi  tpiXia  av  vaapoxi)  fiepye- 
oiai. 

*  This  warning,  reprovins  Not  so !  confutes  the 
strange  notion  of  Menken  tliat  the  (piarrel  was  a 
contest  of  humility,  no  mn>i  willing  to  l)e  the  great- 
est. Lr.ko  would  not  have  called  that  (piXovei- 
xia  (dnak  Xey  in  the  N.  T.),  nor  hnve  spoken  of 
it  just  as  in  chap.  ix.  46.  Nor  would  the  Lord's 
rei)ly  be  suital)le. 

f  Molitor  in  Part  IV.  of  his  Philosophic  der  Ge»- 
thichte  does  not  forget  to  observe  thia. 


LUKE  XXII.  27.  23. 


'4^ 


in  the  Church  of  Christ,  those  who  are  relatively 
oi  vsGOTEpoi,  "  the  younger,"  there  must  ever 
be  vyovnEvoi  and  diaxovovvrs?,  those  who 
bear  rule,  and  those  who  serve.  When  the 
Lord  mentions  these  names,  he  at  the  same 
time  confirms  them  ;  but  a  serving,  humble 
love  will  put  all  ambition  and  pride  far  from 
those  who  are  greater.  The  two  clauses  indicate 
the  two  degrees  of  our  Lord's  evangelical 
requirement.  The  former  (and  apparently  also 
the  la.ter)  says — Let  him  that  is  great  be  and 
comport  himself  as  he  that  is  less:  obviously, 
not  that  a  Christian  who  is  a  king  should 
lay  aside  his  crown  received  from  God ;  not 
that  a  Christian  bishop,  elder,  or  householder, 
should  decline  to  use  the  prerogative  and 
authority  given  him  in  his  office  ;  but  he  is  to 
know  him.-elf  and  evidence  to  others,  that  as  a 
Christian,  before  the  Lord  and  in  his  brethren's 
service,  he  is  not  greater  than  those  whom  he 
serves  while  he  rules  them.  But,  secondly, 
and  it  is  still  more  emphatically  intimated  by 
"  as  he  that  doth  serve" — Let  him  that  is  exalted 
be  all  the  more  anxious,  on  that  account,  both 
tor  his  own  safety  and  in  service  to  others,  to 
condescend  to  acts  of  service ;  and  thus  mani- 
fest his  greatness  by  acts  of  lowliness  which 
maintain  while  they  seem  to  renounce  his  dig- 
nity—according to  the  example  which  our  Lord 
himself  presented  in  his  own  person,  as  we 
shall  see.  The  Apostle  afterwards  exhibited 
this  moat  clearly,  in  1  Pet.  v.  3,  5.  Such  a 
ruler  serves,  and  in  fact  is  the  genuine  type  of 
a  servant;  such  a  servant  rules  in  the  spirit 
and  name  of  Christ,  even  without  title.  The 
self-exaltation  which  opposes  this  is  cured  only 
through  self-humiliation  in  penitence,  the  per- 
petual principle  of  which  for  us  disciples  should 
be — abasement  before  the  awful  example  of  our 
most  high  Master.  Or  we  might  say,  that  our 
first  repentance  brings  the  former,  the  descent 
from  our  false  elevation  in  a  natural  sense  ; 
while  the  example  and  effectual  grace  of  Christ 
produces  the  latter,  the  positive  zeal  of  active 
tumble  service. 

Verse  27.  Gfrorer,  going  to  one  extreme, 
maintains  that  these  words  would  have  no 
meaning,  apart  from  a  reference  to  the  symbol- 
ical feet-washing.*  This  is  an  error;  but  so 
also  is  that  which  goes  to  the  other  extreme, 
and  takes  SiaHovely,  "  serving,"  here  merely 
in  the  general  sense  of  Matt.  xx.  28,  as  refer- 
ring to  the  whole  life  of  Christ.  The  expres- 
sion lam  as  he  thai  serveth,  points,  especially  in 
its  connection  with  ver.  26,  to  specific,  external 
acts  of  condescension,  in  which  the  Lord  had 
placed  himself  on  a  level  with  his  disciples. 
This  is  the  sense  in  which  the  Lord  spoke  the 
word,  and  Luke  might  well  leave  the  matter 


*  This  word  is  of  course  implied  as  ihe  oppo- 
site— "the  less;"  without  requiring  us  to  ask 
whether  a;e.  dignity,  or  time  of  conversion  is  re- 
ferred to.  AVe  may,  with  Grotius,  compare  1  Tim. 
V.  1 ;  and  even_Acts  v.  6,  though  here  probably 
the  latter  usage  stipplied  Luke  with  the  term,  in 
the  sense  of  Jit^p  or  n^y^. 


open,  with  this  ?dnt,  that  something  corres- 
ponding to  this  had  been  done  by  our  Lord  on 
the  present  occasion.  The  saying  connects 
itself  with  household  relations  generally,  and 
Luke  xvii.  7,  8  may  serve  for  an  explanatory 
parallel.  lie  that  'sii'eth  is  the  master  of  the 
house,  who  with  perfect  propriety  places  him- 
self at  the  table,  and  is  ministered  to  by  his 
servants;  the  question  to  the  disciples  "inti- 
mates that  he  as  the  greater  might  properly  lay 
claim  to  this.  The  repetitioli  in—/*  not  he  that 
sitteth  at  meat  ?  refers  the  application  manifestly 
to  Jesus  himself;  as  if  he  had  proceeded — Is  it 
not  true  that  I  as  your  paterfamilias  and  the 
7naster  of  the  house,  as  I  am  now  and  ever,  might 
have  your  service  and  nothing  else?  "But  the 
Lord  had  certainly,  many  times  during  his  li!e, 
assumed  the  place  and  function  of  a  servant; 
we  might  assume  that  this  had  been  the  case, 
and  was  well  known,  and  that  his  appeal  refers 
to  all  such  acts  collectively.  But  the  emphatic 
lam,  especially  with  among  you,  seems  best  to 
correspond  with  a  reference  to  an  example  then 
and  there  given  ;  and,  having  John's  narrative, 
we  may  thus  explain  our  Lord's  words — Behold 
I  sit  in  your  midst,  in  the  seat  of  pre-eminenca 
which  for  you  is  always  where  I  sit* — being 
the  same  who  as  a  servant  washed  your 
feet.  Mark,  however,  how  this  in  the  midst 
seems  to  abolish  precedence  ;  and  that  (accord- 
ing to  Bengel's  subtle  remark),  the  Lord  speaks 
in  the  third  person  of  himself  as  the  master, 
but  m  the  first  person  when  he  speaks  of  him- 
self as  a  servant. 

Verse  28.  This  reproach,  coinciding  with 
John  xiii.  13-17,  put  them  to  the  deepest 
shame  ;  and  their  condescening  Master  will 
again  lift  them  up— before  he  proceeds  after- 
wards to  inflict  upon  them  a  painless  humili- 
ation again,  by  overpowering  them,  despite  the 
unworthiness  they  have  shown,  with  the  pro- 
mise of  the  full  grace  and  honor  of  his  kingdom. 
The  first  i>«<^  ye  contained  in  itself  a  full  ac- 
knowledgment of  them;  but  it  is  followed  by 
something  still  more  emphatically  consoling. 
It  is  not  now  the  time  for  reproaches — he  had 
been  constrained  to  reprove  them  slightly — 
his  whole  purpose  now  is  to  bless  his  disciples 
and  load  his  faithful  ones  with  his  gifts.  Yes, 
his  faithful  ones  they  are,  with  all  their  infir- 
mity and  folly:  elsf  would  he  be  now  si; ting 
thus  in  their  midst,  and  they  thus  sur- 
rounding him?  He  looks  back  upon  the 
whole  term  of  their  pupilage  and  probation  ; 
they  have  been  preserved  in  it  until  this 
day  ;  and  on  the  evening  of  his  new  covenant 
with  his  people,  he  can  speak  to  them  as  ha 
now  speaks.  The  Sianiveiv,  "continuing," 
is  certainly  something  less  than  vnoiteytiv, 
(enduring),  and  was  therefore  well  chosen  by 
Luke;  this  he  can  impute  to  them  in  his  grace, 
though  in  a  sense  which  excludes  the  hypocrit- 
ical traitor.  (Thus  John's  "but  not  all"  is 
again  to  be  understood.)     Jn  my  tempialiom : 


*  So  that  you  measure  the  degree  ot  honor  by 
proximity  to  me. 


m 


DISPUTE  FOR  PRE-EMINENCE. 


the  constant  use  of  this  word  in  Scripture 
teaches  us  that  this  does  not  mean  simply  in 
his  reliM  advcmin,  his  conflicts  and  perils,  but 
during  the  tests  of  his  fidelity,  and  temptations 
to  decline  from  his  work.  This  is  a  solitary 
and  most  weighty  declaration  of  our  Lord  him- 
self, that  his  whole  life  had  been  even  for  him- 
self full  of  temptations  ;  especially  since  that 
first  temptation  of  the  enemy,  after  which  he 
entered  upon  his  conflict  with  the  wicked  world, 
and  calleu  his  disciples  to  be  his  companions  in 
it.  My  temptations — thus  humbly  does  he 
place  himself  in  the  midst  of  the  children  of 
men,  before  he  proceeds  to  apportion  the  king- 
dom and  distribute  the  thrones;  for  he  knows 
it  well  and  they  should  know  it,  that  for  him 
as  for  them  the  way  to  glory  is  the  way  of  vic- 
torious fidelity.  His  temptations  were  already 
in  some  sense  theirs  also,  even  as  we  all  under 
the  discipline  of  the  Spirit  are  to  be  in  all  points 
tempted  as  he  was.  They  had  actually  with- 
stood the  enmity  and  temptation  of  the  world; 
they  had  not  been  oflfended  in  him  as  others 
had  who  left  him  ;  they  could  say  in  truth, 
Behold,  we  have  followed  thee !  He  gracious- 
ly gives  its  full  weight  to  this  ;  and  thus  ele- 
vates his  weak  but  beloved  disciples,  knitting 
them  firmly  to  himself.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
knew  that  the  time  of  their  temptations  would 
not  really  come  until  his  personal  temptations 
were  com.pleted;  yea,  that  in  an  hour  close  at 
hand,  they  would  all  forsake  him  and  flee  ;  that 
at  the  outset  of  his  second,  decisive,  and  great 
temptation  even  his  nearest  disciples  would 
not  watch  with  him  one  hour.  When  the  pow- 
er of  darkness  came  upon  the  Shepherd,  Satan 
would  likewise  scatter  the  sheep  and  sift  them 
like  wheat.  But,  as  he  afterwards  assured 
Peter,  his  intercession  and  preserving  care 
would  interpose;  consequently,  the  truth  is 
that  here  in  ver.  28  he  already  looks  upon  their 
entire  probation.  He  regards  the  slight  mea- 
sure of  their  weak,  preliminary  fidelity  as  the 
type  of  their  future  fidelity,  and  speaks  in  pro- 
leptic  promise,  in  typical  prophecy  of  the  fu- 
ture, even  when  literally  speaking  of  the  past. 
This  relation  of  the  saying  corresponds  best 
with  the  significance  of  the  evening  of  the  sa- 
crament, in  which  the  covenant  was  ratified  for 
the  whole  time  to  come,  and  the  testament  of 
future  grace  and  gift  was  sealed.  Their  to/c 
— to  abide  with  him — lay  yet  wholly  in  the 
future,  but  their  calling  thereto  was  now  con- 
firmed, and  the  full  realization  of  it  was  assured 
to  them  now  by  anticipation. 

Verse  29.  An  orthodox  exegesis  should 
never  have  failed  to  observe  how  closely  this 
carefully  chosen  8i  ar  iQ  e  ^  a  t—I  appoint — 
is  connected  with  the  institution  of  the  sacra- 
ment, which  is  now  about  to  be  entered  upon, 
and  pnoken  of  or  pre-announced  as  if  it  were 
already  taking  place.  JianOedOai  belongs  of 
course  to  Siabj/Hrf—see  Acts  iii.  25  :  Heb.  viii. 
10,  ix.  16 ;  and  is  used  for  ri'"i3  ms,  Gen.  xv. 

18  ;  Deut.  vii.  2  ;  P.sa.  Ixxxix.  4,  etc.  But  as, 
aince  the  xaivTJ  SiaQjJKtf,  "  New  Testament," 


of  the  Lord's  Supper,  fhia  expression  always 
suggests,  in  the  New-Testament  phraseology, 
the  concomitant  idea  of  a  legacy  or  testament, 
of  a  provision  made  firm  by  his  death  for  the 
future  inheritance  of  his  disciples,  so  also  this 
meaning  must  be  regarded  as  already  passing 
over  into  the  corresponding  dtari'Otfiai  of  this 
text.  It  is,  consequently,  no  mere  "  investing 
with"* — no  mere  "promising"  or  assuring; 
but,  as  Luther  well  expresses  it,  an  actual 
apportioning,  giving  over,  bequeathing  in  an 
institution — in  short,  a  testament.  The  "  pa-cin- 
cor"  of  Beza  and  Flaciua  is  also  insufficient; 
Lange,  however,  says  more  accurately  — 
"  Through  an  institution,  the  sacrament." 
Olshausen  remarks,  with  perfect  propriety; 
"  The  comparison  here  with  the  transfer  of 
dominion  from  the  Father  to  the  Son,  directly 
leads  to  the  idea  of  a  xXtjpovouia  (lot),  which 
the  Lord  again  at  his  departure  bequeathed 
to  his  own  as  a  sacred  legacy" — although  this 
x-aOoJ?  SisOezo  not,  "as  he  hath  appointed 
unto  me,"  is  not  the  only  proof  of  such  a 
meaning  in  the  word  ;  it  is  involved  in  the  ex- 
pression itself,  as  used  on  the  evening  of  the 
Supper.  The  objection  of  Grotius,  that  a  testa- 
mentary investing  or  bestowment  would  not 
suit  the  Father's  appointment  to  the  Son — the 
opposite  of  Olshausen's  remark — makes  no 
difference  in  the  argument ;  for  the  figure,  even 
as  respects  Jesus,  is  not  to  be  pressed  so  far 
as  to  make  him  die,  and  dying  bequeath  an 
inheritance,  like  dying  men — but  we  shall  seo 
something  more  in  the«n:0&5;,  "as,"  presently. 
First,  it  IS  safe  and  scriptural  to  say,  that 
Christ  gives  us  the  kingdom  and  the  power, 
even  as  he  received  from  the  Father — Rev.  ii. 
28  being  a  plain  parallel;  and,  then,  Christ'a 
own  portion  is  regarded  in  prophecy  as  being 
an  inheritance  coming  to  him  from  God. 

Theophylact  construed  ia/)/wi?i^  immediately 
and  only  with  thatye  may  eat,  etc  — a^  tlie  Father 
hath  ap})oiided  unto  me  a  kingdom,  being  the 
intermediate  clause.  But  the  kingdom  is  the 
fundamental  idea  here,  the  object  to  which  the 
minds  of  the  disciples  are  pointed,  as  the  expo- 
sition in  ver.  30  shows.  It  is  more  important 
to  leave  first,  and  in  the  transitional  appli- 
cation, /ia(JzA£/'aK,  "  kingdom,"  without  the 
article,  the  sense  then  being — Your  striving  is 
for  dominion  and  power,  after  the  manner  of 
the  world  ;  behold  I  give  you  a  kingdom,  an 
infinitely  higher  authority  than  the  kings  of 
tlie  Gentiles  have,  no  other  than  that  which  the 
Father  hath  given  mo.  I  lift  you  up  into  co- 
regents  with  me.  Thus  is  it  afterwards — la 
my  kingdom  ye  shall  eat  and  drink  and  judge 
with  me.  All  of  them  alike,  without  distinc- 
tion in  equal  dignity,  so  that  no  envious  con- 
tention could  find  place  there — Judas,  the  un- 


•  The  Heb.  N.  T.  inadequately  translates  'riflj  t 
instead  of  which  'niS  might  have  been  used 
without  n^13>  as  in  2  Clirou.  vli.  18,  Sept.  Siedi- 

fXTJV. 


LUKE  XXII.  30, 


faithful  one,  however,  "was  alreadv  excluded  by 
ver.  28,  similarly  to  Matt.  xix.  28.  This  king- 
dom of  the  Lord  is  now  for  the  present  over 
and  within  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world — that 
kingdom,  viz.,  in  which,  having  become  mem- 
bers of  his  body  through  the  participation  of 
hio  flesh  and  blood,  his  disciples  in  the  power 
of  his  spirit  and  of  his  love  serve  while  they 
rule.  But  one  day  it  will  alone  remain,  after 
the  fall  of  all  other  thrones  and  dignities. 

Let  it  not  be  overlooked  that  this  /  appoint 
in  its  first  and  general  meaning  applies  to  the 
•whole  congregation  of  believers,  as  they  are 
represented  by  the  Apostles,  the  entire  little 
flock  of  chap.  xii.  32.  Let  us  drive  out,  by  a 
true  homoeopathy,  all  -unholy  ambition,  by  a 
sacred  aspiration  to  these  high  things  here 
promised  by  our  Lord  ;  for  we  cannot  aim  too 
loftily  for  the  Spirit's  power  and  the  glory  of 
heaven.*  But  we  cannot  too  humbly  ponder 
the  truth,  that  the  Son  himself  in  his  humanity 
received  the  kingdom  of  the  Father  only  on  the 
terms  of  faithful  obedience  in  suiTering,  and  a 
preparatory  self-renunciation.  This  is  in  fact 
the  deep  meaning  of  waOoJ; — as  my  Father; 
and  this  the  holy  sacrament,  instituted  for  our 
fellowship  with  him  m  his  death  and  life,  testi- 
fies likewise,  2  Tim.  ii.  11,  12.  Again,  we  can- 
not with  too  much  confidence  of  faith  look  at 
him  who  here  as  our  Forerunner,  our  king  and 
our  servant,  the  beginner  and  finisher  of  our 
faith,  looks  with  steady  composure  through  all 
his  way  of  sufferings  forward  to  his  and  our 
kingdom— comp.  vers.  16, 18.  A?  one  that  sero- 
eih  even  unto  death,  he  at  the  table  where  he 
must  previously  pre-announce  the  breaking  of 
his  body  and  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  appoints 
that  body  and  blood  to  be  our  future  meat  and 
drink,  and  distributes  his  crowns  and  thrones 
for  time  and  for  eternity. 

Verse  30.  The  thrones  promised  already. 
Matt.  xix.  28,  are  here  preceded  or  accompanied 
by  an  eating  and  drinking — How  are  these  to 
be  understood  and  harmonized?  A  superficial 
method  of  interpreting  all  into  figures,  finds 
here  two  marks  of  co-dominion — honor,  the 
symbol  of  which  is  participation  at  the  royal 
table;  and  power,  in  the  sharing  of  judgment. 
Whatever  truth  there  may  be  iu  this,  we  can- 
not but  feel  that  eating  and  drinking  in  itself 
must  first  s\gniiy  enioyvient  a,nA  satiaf action — the 
honor  of  being  present  at  his  table  being  added 
to  that.  Others  distinguish  thus— Now  in  the 
kingdom  of  grace,  we  are  fed  and  given  to 
drink  by  him  at  his  tahk;  hereafter  in  .the 
kingdom  of  glory,  we  shall  sit  and  rule  upon 
thrones.  There  is  truth  too  in  this,  so  far  as  it 
includes  the  kingdom  of  grace  in  the  promise ; 
but  the  separation  between  things  promised 
alike  for  this  kingdom  and  the  other,  seems  to 
us  to  be  wrong.  Let  us  ask  first,  what  that 
means — at  my  table?  Here  there  is  a  slight 
and  affectionate  allusion  to  the  circumstance 


*  So  Rieser's  H.  T.  characteristically  remarks. 
Col.  iii.  2  tells  us  ia  a  good  sense  zd  vipfjXoc 


that  the  Son  of  Man,  who  had  not  where  to  lay 
his  head,  now  sits  with  his  disciples  in  the 
guest-chamber  of  a  friendly  host — in  opposition 
to  this  he  speaks  of  his  own  table,  which  he  is 
now  preparing  to  arrange,  the  spiritual,  royal 
table  of  grace,  at  which  he  himself  is  the  mas- 
ter and  host,  the  meat  and  the  drink.  The 
interpretation,  therefore — "  Ye  shall  eat  and 
drink  what  I  also  eat  and  drink,  partake  in  the 
blessedness  of  my  glory  " — is  tame,  has  no  cor- 
respondence with  the  Supper,  does  not  bring 
out  the  I aj>point,  and  is  altogether  unworthy. 
The  eatin'j  and  drinJcing  must  primarily  refer, 
as  regards  the  beginning  and  continuance  of 
his  kingdom,  to  the  sacramental  cat  and  drink 
which  he  is  now  on  the  point  of  instituting  for 
them,  and  therefore  means  something  far  more 
specific  than  the  Jewish  figurative  social  feast 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Thus  far  the  pro- 
mise is  universal,  and  embraces  the  whole  timo 
from  the  I  appoint  unto  you  onward.  But  then, 
follows  something  higher,  and  evidently  not 
vouchsafed  to  all  -"for  the  twelve  tribes  oi  Israel 
are  here,  as  in  Matt,  xix.,  the  New-Testament 
and  true  people  of  God  in  their  manifoldness 
and  in  their  untiy- — this  lastclause,  consequent- 
ly, applies  specifically  to  the  Apostles.  This  is  in- 
dicated in  the  change  of  the  construction , 
HaQi'd eaO  £,  "ye  shall  sit,"  being  the  right 
reading,  naOi6r]6tiE,  "ye  may  sit,"  having  been 
introduced,  by  those  who  marked  not  this  crit- 
ical point,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity.  In  Matt. 
xix.  twelve  thrones  were  spoken  of,  notwith- 
standing the  apostacy  of  Judas:  the  number  is 
here,  wUh  evident  design,  omitted,  although 
we  know  it  cannot  be  broken,  and  find  it  re- 
curring in  Rev.  xxi.  12-14.  These  apostolical 
thrones  contain,  as  our  exposition  must  admit, 
a  mystery  of  the  future  manifestation.  The 
Apostles  indeed  even  now  exercise  dominion 
through  the  authority  of  their  writings.  But 
only  certain  of  them;  and  it  would  be  wrong 
to  limit  so  massive  a  promise  to  a  particular 
number  of  them.  The  "  sitting  upon  thrones  " 
is  not  spoken  as  if  for  children,  who  must  have 
figures  for  every  thing ;  but  when  once  "  the 
twelve  Apostles  of  the  Lamb"  (nof'of  Israel") 
"in  the  kingdom  of  reality  rule  over  glorified 
humanity  with  Christ  as  spiritual  powers" — 
the  thrones  also,  according  to  the  relations  of 
the  glorified  state,  will  be  real  enough.  Much 
may  be  asked  upon  this  point,  as,  for  example, 
bv  "Bengel,  "  Judicantes  duodecira  tribus— «m- 
guline  singjilas  (Judging  the  twelve  tribes— o/i« 
each)?  In  any  case,  there  remains  something 
reserved  in  the  background  for  the  future  of 
the  glorified,  revealed  kingdom,  for  the  glory 
of  the  regeneration  (Matt.  xix.  23),  which  J3 
not  yet  clearly  displayed  to  us ;  and  we  cannot 
but  think  there  is  something  similar  contained 


»  "  Formed  according  to  the  type  of  thos© 
twelve  tribes  "—we  said  before,  and  now  add  that 
probably  in  the  rehabilitation  of  Israel  there  may 
be  an  actual  reference  to  the  twelve  tribes; 
though  the  Gentile  world  introduced  into  it  must 
of  course  be  included  in  iU 


m 


OPENING  OF  THE  PASSOVER. 


in  the  former  clause,  which  embraces  the  whole  |  sit  down  in  the  new  world  at  the  Lord'a  table, 
period  of  the  gradual  fulfillment  of  Christ's  i  where  he  himself  will  a.^ain  eat  and  drink  with 
kingdom.  But  we  do  not  pretend  fully  to  un-  them.  We  can  only  point  to  the  fact  that  ac- 
derstand  iiow  it  will  be  with  the  eating  and  cording  to  Matt.  xxvi.  29  this  fruit  of  the  vine 
drinking  of  the  glorified,  when  they  shall  no  will  be  drunk,  by  the  Lord  with  us,  7ieu)  in  iiia 
longer  partake  ot  ChnsL's  body  and  blood,  but    Father's  kingdom. 


INTEODUCTORY  WORDS  AT  THE  LORD'S  PASSOVER. 
(Luke  xxii.  15-18.) 


The  hoar,  the  legal  hour  for  the  Passover, 
has  come;  the  Lord  and  his  twelve  Apostles 
with  him,  have  sat  down.  With  this*  Luke 
immediately  connects  the  words  introductory 
to  the  feast;  and  this  is  consistent  with  his 
peculiar  selection  of  its  proceedings.  But  it  is 
obvious  that  the  feet-washing,  and  all  the  words 
pertaining  to  it,  must  be  interposed  as  having 
preceded.  It  is  equally  certain  that  this  intro- 
ductory declaration  must  come  hefore  the  "  One 
of  you  shall  betray  me."  The  second  portion  of 
the  words,  vers.  17,  18,  introduces  a  ditficulty  ; 
since,  according  to  the  other  Evancrelists,  Jesus 
spoke  a  similar  word  concerning  the  "  no  more 
drinJcing "  a.t  the  conclusion,  after  the  sacra- 
ment. To  many  it  seems  in  the  highest  degree 
improbable  that  Jesus  should  have  repeated 
such  a  mysterious  word ;  and,  looking  at  the 
general  freedom  of  Luke  as  respects  time  and 
order,  they  incline  to  think  that  he  anticipated 
the  second  saying  on  account  of  the  similarity 
of  its  thought.  "But  the  accompanying  cup, 
unless  Luke  adds  this  circumstance  simply  as 
an  invention,  allows  us  no  alternative  but  to 
hold  fast  the  historical  truth  of  his  account  as 
we  have  it. 

Verse  15.  All  those  who  cling  to  the  opin- 
ion that  the  time  of  the  Passover  v;as  anticipa- 
ted on  this  special  occasion  on  account  of  cir- 
cumstances, rest  their  cause  mainly  upon  this 
verse  (Grotius:  "He  gives  a  reason  of  the 
anticipation  of  the  paschal  meal");  but  we 
cannot  see  how  such  a  notion  can  be  based 
upon  the  desiring  of  this  passage,  since  it  pre- 
supposes a  necessity  to  wait  for  the  true  "  hour  " 
of  thTs  Passnvcr.  Moreover,  the  must  of  ver.  7 
in  this  chanter  expressly  testifies  against  such 
a  view.  'The  fundamental  idea  and  substance 
of  this  familiar  and  heartfelt  word  of  Jesus  is 
its  affecting  expression  of  his  human  feeling. 
The  whole  life,  indeed,  of  our  Lord  is  that  of 
the  God-man,  and  his  divine-human  character 
becomes  more  and  more  wonderfully  evident 
down  to  his  death  ;  yet  his  per.'"ect  and  full  hu- 
manity appears  throucjhout.  His  heart  is  a 
human  heart  with  all  its  sensibility,  impluses, 
and  emotions;  with  all  the  sympathies  per- 
taining to  this  life  in  the  body,  so  far  as  they  be- 
long to  the  sinless  condition  of  earthly  human- 
ity. The  remembrance  of  what  he  felt  when 
below,  witu  us  and  for  us,  remains  with  him  still 


in  the  unity  of  his  divine-human  personality,  so 
that  it  may  be  said  concerning  the  High  Priest 
sitting  upon  the  throne  of  God — Hs  ii  able  to 
feel  with  us  in  our  infirmities,  Heb.  iv.  15. 

The  strength  of  the  emotion  which  he  here 
confidentially  exhibits,  is  shown  by  the  desiring 
with  desire,  which  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew 
intensification  by  means  of  the  infin.  abs.  (e)D33 

'nSDDJ),*  comp.  Gen.  xxxi.  30 ;   Num.  xi.  4, 

Sept.  For  what  then  did  he  so  sorely  long  ? 
Were  not  the  sufferings  includedby  which  he  was 
to  redeem  the  world?  Yes,  verily,  this  desire 
was  present  to  him  even  in  the  midst  of  his 
perturbation  at  the  contemplation  of  them. 
But  it  is  not  of  this  that  he  now  speaks ;  the 
last  meal  is  the  specific  object  of  his  desij-e.  First, 
inasmuch  as  this  paschal  feast  was  itself,  and 
as  such,  the  pre-fustival  of  his  passion  and 
death,  and  to  be  glorified  to  that  end  in  the 
sacramental  institution;  but  more  especially, 
as  the  words  plainly  show,  as  it  was  to  be  the 
farewell-fenst  ol  his'love,  the  final  enjoyment  of 
"his  disciples'  society  before  the  separation. 
This  latter  is  made  prominent  in  i\\(i"' with  you," 
and  "before  Isiiffer,"  and  finally  in  (he  declara- 
tion, "  I  will  not  any  more  eat  (and  drink) 
thereof."  That  his  resolute  and  straitened  soul 
longed  icith  j)ain  for  this  festival,  we  admit, 
with  Lange;  but  not  that  "  what  here  chiefly 
moved  his  spirit  was  the  anticipation  of  his 
victory  and  glory."  The  look  forward  to  the 
fruit  of  his  sufferings,  even  to  its  final  con- 
summation in  the  kingdom  of  God,  follows  af- 
terwards;  but  what  moved  his  spirit  first  was 
the  suffering  and  the  not  any  more.\  Even  for 
him,  endowed  with  human  feeling,  there  is  a 
painful  separation,  the  sense  of  which  must  be 
soothed,  both  in  him  and  his  disciples,  by  the 
consolations  of  farewell  love — and  thus  divinely 
to  sanctify  the  human  was  the  deep  desire  of 
his  heart.  For,  with  all  his  anticipations  of 
the  compensating  future,  he  humanly  clings  to 
this  life  in  the  body,  this  confidential  fellowship 


*  There  is  much  force  in  his  reference  to  the 
mournlnl  desire  with  which  on  each  Passover, 
year  alter  year,  ho  would  look  forward  to  the 
last. 

f  This  is  very  emphatically  expressed  by  t>u«rf- 
Tt  ov  Mi' 


LUKE  XXII.  16. 


495 


■with  his  disciples  upon  earth,  this  lifetime 
never  to  return— even  as,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  humanly  shrinks  from  his  sufferings,  and 
therefore  seizes  the  final  consolation  of'  this 
once  more  before  I  svffcr.  Wdh  you.  He  spealvs 
as  the  father  of  the  house  to  his  children,  with 
•,vhorn  he  is  about  to  leave  his  testament;  joyful 
that  he  has  some  who  have  continued  with  "him 
80  long  that  he  can  see  and  address  in  them  the 
future  Church,  the  recompense  of  his  griefs 
(comp.  Matt.  xxvi.  18 — with  my  disciples, 
spoken  in  the  same  meaning).  Alas !  even 
among  them  there  is  a  Judas,  and  this  will 
soon  appear:  for  the  present  he  seeks,  as  it  were 
to  forget  that,  and  to  surrender  himself  to  the 
joy  of  his  love. 

This  is  the  purely  human  side  of  our  incar- 
nate Lord's  relation  to  this  occasion,  as  man 
generally  ;  but  we  must  remember  that  the  first 
words  in  the  sentence  were — Tim  Passover;  and 
upon  this  the  emphasis  must  be  placed.  As  an 
Israelite  he  had,  with  the  bestof  his  people, 
taken  pure  delight  in  all  the  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances appointed  of  God  :  in  his  obedience  to 
them  he  had  found  a  living,  pure,  and  child-like 
joy,  so  that  he  might  well  declare  the  celebration 
of  this  festival  once  more  to  be  an  object  of  deep 
desire.  But  more  than  this :  as  the  perfect 
representative  of  the  longing  spirit  of  prophecy, 
who  looks  through  all  these  things  into  their 
deepest  meaning,  and  perpetually  longs  for 
then  fulfillment ;  and,  further,  as  the  Messiah 
and  Son  of  God  who  is  himself,  and  who  brings, 
that  fulfillment,  he  had  eaten  every  Passova- 
from  the  beginning  with  the  most  internal 
realization  of  its  profound  significance :  but 
how  much  more  momentous  is  this  last  one 
to  his  mind,  when  he  thus  speaks  of  it  with 
deepest  emphasis !  Here,  verily,  may  it  be  said 
with  still  more  truth  than  was  testified  in 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  18 — There  was  no  Passover  like 
to  this  kept  in  Israel ;  neither  did  any  king  of 
Israel  ever  keep  such  a  Passover.  Certainly, 
"  the  priests,  and  Levites,  and  all  Judah,  and 
Israel  that  were  present,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  "  are  not  with  him  ;  but  the  Lord, 
who  is  himself  the  lamb,  keeps  it  with  his  dis- 
ciples before  his  suffering,  and  founds  for  thoni 
at  the  end  of  the  type  the  new  and  essential 
feast.*  Thus  at  his"  farewell  he  pays  all  their 
due  to  human  life  and  to  Israelitish  life;  before 
he  leaves  the  family  and  table-fellowship,  he 
consecrates  it  into  a  symbol  of  spiritual  com- 
munion;  when  he  the  last  time  celebrates  the 
shadowy  rite  he  glorifies  it  into  its  fulfilling 
reality.  With  this  the  word  which  now  fol- 
lows obviously  and  necessarily  connects  itself. 

Verse  16.  The  first  word  spoke  of  his  im- 
mediately impending  sufferings,  and  renewed 


in  the  disciples'  hearts  the  terror  of  this  oft- 
repeated  word,  the  reality  of  which  came  mora 
and  more  near  ;  but  the  second  word  comforts 
them  again,  and  speaks,  as  it  were,  by  way  of 
compensation,  concerning  the  all-restoring  fu- 
ture of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Here  for  tho 
first  time  the  simple  and  absolute  naOalv, 
"suffer:"*  that  was  a  hint  at  the  outset, 
which  said— I  myself  am  the  lamb  I  But  now 
comes  forthwith  a  clear  and  bright  glance  for- 
wards to  the  consummate,  final  fulfillment 
of  that  typical  eating  which  was  now  cele- 
brated for  the  last  time.  In  this  be  fulfilled-- 
TtXTjpooO^j — the  Lord  gives  in  a  certain  sense 
the  programme  of  a  new  institution,  without 
the  substitution  of  which  the  old  might  not  bo 
done  away  with  ;  but  he  at  the  same  time  pene- 
trates into  the  distant  future,  when  he  will 
again  eat  with  his  own.  And  i^  avrov, 
(hereof  is  this  again  of  the  Passover?  Many 
have  referred  it  to  bread,  which  would  corres- 
pond with  the  cup,  ver.  17  ;  but  this  is  no 
more  than  an  inexact  and  gratuitous  assump- 
tion. The  words  themselves  as  they  stand 
must  be  understood  to  mean — of  the  Passover. 
This  of  course  does  not  imply  that  Jesus  would 
then  partake  of  himself  in  any  such  sense  as 
we  now  partake  of  him  in  the  sacrament ;  but 
the  type  of  the  Passover  extends  even  beyond 
■,he  sacrament  itself.  Until  it  he  fu'fi'lM  "must 
)e  understood  to  mean — Until  iif.this  Passover, 
be  fulfilled  (not,  indefinitely — All  that  is  to  be 
fulfilled).  But,  because  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  the  fullest,  most  absolute  sense  of  the  word. 
is  the  end  and  consummation  of  Iho  entire  Old 
Testament,  all  its  types  must  still  go  forward, 
oeyond  their  immediately  corresponding  anti- 
types, into  the  blessedness  and  glory  of  the 
final  fulfillment.  To  that  the  Lord  now  looks 
onward,  comprehending  all  in  one  glance,  while 
he  is  experiencing  the  deep  sorrow  of  the 
"  Ilencefm-th  no  more."  This  "joy  in  grief," 
this  combination  of  the  sadness  of"  separation 
with  the  glad  anticipation  of  a  reunion  to  be 
provided  for  and  pledged  by  that  separation  it- 
self, constituted  the  attraction  of  this  last  meal, 
standing  as  it  did  between  symbol  and  fulfill- 
ment. It  w:.s  for  that  reason  our  Lord  so  ear- 
nestly desired  it. 

The  eating  and  drinking  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  Jesus,  as  it  takes  the  place  of  the 
Passover  in  the  kingdom  of  God  now  existing 
upon  earth — that  is,  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper — is  its  most  obvious  and  direct 
antitype,  but  not  its  full  itXyf)a)6ti,  or  fulfill- 


*  That  this  was  the  final  scope  of  his  desire,  is 
proved  by  the  sequel.  That  he  institued  the  sa- 
crament "  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  with- 
out any  pre-deterrained  plan  " — ne^^ds  no  refuta- 
tion; though  Lijider  lays  too  much  stress  upon 
the  design  of  our  Lord  being  the  emphasis  ot  his 
desire. 


*  Luke  ix.  22,  xvii.  25,  comp.  Matt.  xvi.  21, 
Mark  viii.  31,  sujer  many  thwys— Matt.  xvii.  12, 
mfcr  of  (hem — Luke  xxiv.  2G,  s"fer  these  things— 
n  Luke  xx.v.  46  comes  forward  again  the  simple 
md  strong  suffer,  itaOelv,  involving  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  (For  the  ovtcd^  which  precedes 
ioes  not  properly  belong  to  it.)  Schulthess  for- 
got this  when  he  declared  "  the  absolute  TCocdxeiv 
to  be  a  too  modern  Gospel." 

f  Instead  of  this,  a  strange  reading  has  an  ex- 
planatory— xairdy  /SpooQjj. 


■•^flo 


OPENING  OF  THE  PASSOVER. 


ment.  "  It  had  not  its  full  realization  even  in 
the  essential  blessingrs  of  crrace  which  the  New 
Covenant  introdiiced"  (Von  Gerlach).  But 
the  real  and  eternal  antitype,  to  which  Christ 
poinle-i,  was  "  the  everlasting  feast  of  the 
kingdom  for  his  glorified  Church,  and  the  an- 
ticipatory festival  our  Lord  was  now  about  to 
establish  in  the  sacrament  of  the  New-Testa- 
ment covenant."*  For  as  yet  we  eat  and 
drink  of  him;  but  finally,  as  it  is  here  (and 
Matt.  xxvi.  29)  said,  he  w"ill  eat  and  drink  with 
US — ir;  a  different  manner.  How  then  are  we 
to  understand  this?  That  feast  of  sparing  or 
passing  over,  celebrated  in  Egypt,  was,  at  the 
distant  commencement  of  the  typical  economy, 
no  other  than  a  feast  of  a  redeemed  and  delivered 
j}(;oj)lc — that  was  really  intimated,  though  in  an 
Old-Testament  and  negative  manner,  in  its 
name  nos.  In  the  last  and  most  realizing  ful- 
fillment of  this  name,  the  identity  of  the  re- 
past to  be  enjoyed  with  the  body  of  the  Lamb 
through  whose  blood  and  death  our  redemp- 
tion and  deliverance  come,  will  disappear  ;  and 
the  new  world  will  otfer  to  glorified  human- 
ity, to  the  liead  as  well  as  to  the  members,  a 
new  feast,  with  new  food  and  new  drink,  cor- 
responding with  that  which  was  afterwards  ap- 
pended to  the  original  ceremony.  For  when 
not  merely  all  the  wicked  are  cast  out  like  the 
Egyptians,  and  all  the  good  accepted  and  spared 
like  the  Israelites,  but  also  the  whole  fulness 
ol  God's  gifts  are  poured  out  for  the  saints  in 
Ihe  new  creation,  for  "the  free  enjoyment  and 
plory  of  the  children  of  God  " — then  will  Christ 
keep  the  Passover  in  the  highest  sense  with 
Ins  own,  and  eat  with  them  as  before,  but  in  a 
transcendently  different  sense. f  He  longed  for 
the  Passover  of  that  evening;  but  his  deep  de- 
sire went  forward  to  a  perfected  fiiendship  and 
lellowship  in  the  heavenly-earthly  gratifica- 
tions and  joys  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Until 
this  last  most  blessed  reunion  and  full  rein- 
statement of  fellowship,  he  takes  farewell ; 
looking  lorward  through  all  intervening  time, 
just  as  in  John  he  looks  through  his  death  and 
resurrection  to  his  ascension  into  heaven  and 
return  to  his  people.  It  is  not  enough  to  say, 
with  Tholuck  :  "  If  the  head  could  thus  long  for 
consummate  communion  with  his  members, 
should  not  thef/  long  for  consummate  fellow- 
ship with  each  other  and  with  their  head?" 
But  we  make  bold  to  understand  this  £cj5  otov, 
as  spoken  by  our  Lord  here  in  the  flesh,  to 
mean  that  he  himself  even  in  his  glory  retains 
a  divine-human  longing  for  the  consummation 
of  lellowship  with  his  own,  and  for  the  eating 


*  So  Lanae ;  but  he  spoils  it  by  a  far-fetched 
distinction  between  the  catinjj  and  the  drinking: 
making  tiie  enjoyment  of  the  heavenly  manifesta- 
tion of  C/irisi  correspond  to  the  eating;  and  the 
manifestation  of  tlic  glory  cf  the  Church — for  the 
foij  of  its  Lord,  especially — correspond  to  the  cup 
of  tlianksgivinc 

t  Conipaie  the  allegorizing  passages  in  Philo, 
concerning  the  xpuxiHuv  itd^xoc,  which  Grotius 
adduces. 


and  drinking  with  them  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  at  tlmt  table  which  he  called  his  own  in 
Luke  xxii.  30,  when  he  spoke  in  overwhelming 
majesty  of  their  thrones  by  the  side  of  hia 
throne. 

Verses  17,  18.  AVhether  the  Lord— after  he 
had  thus  embraced  in  q>ayElv  to  Ttadxa, 
"eating  the  Passover,"  the  full  typical  mean- 
ing of  this  feast  of  redemption,  freedom,  and 
victory — included  also  the  cup  which  belonged 
to  it,  and  spoke  the  words  with  which  Luke 
proceeds  ;  or  whether  this  word  is  the  same 
with  that  which  is  recorded  afterwards  by 
Matthew  and  Mark,  is  a  question  which  need 
not  be  left  undecided.  For,  the  cup  which  he 
received  in  order  to  ofTer  it  round*  was  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  Passover  ritual  itself,  and  is 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  sacramental  cup 
after  supper,  ver.  20.  The  other  two  Evangel- 
ists have  a  similar  saying  only,  and  that  after 
the  sacrament.  Consequently,  it  is  not  the 
last  cup,  after  which,  as  still  belonging  to  the 
paschal  meal,  the  sacrament  was  instituted ; 
but  the  frst  cup  with  which  the  meal  was 
commenced.  It  is  evident  that  our  Lord  ob- 
served in  general  all  the  ordinances  and  rites 
of  the  typical  ceremony,  giving  it  all  its  rights 
before  it  was  abolished;  however  doubtful  we 
may  be  as  to  the  petty  and  multiplied  observ- 
ances which  were  introduced  later.  Those  who 
desire  may  see  all  these  described  in  the  Com- 
mentators, especially  in  Friedlieb's  Archaologie 
der  Leidensgeschichte,  where  (p.  54)  the  whole 
series  is  described — the  washing  of  the  hands, 
the  prayers  or  thanksgivings  for  the  fruit  of 
the  vine  and  the  fruit  of  the  earth,  the  dipping 
into  the  dish,  the  eating,  the  distribution,  the 
moving  of  the  table,  the  questioning  and  the 
declaration,  with  "  elevation "  of  the  bitter 
herbs  and  the  unleavened  bread,  the  singing  of 
psalms,  the  eating  of  the  peace-offering  and 
the  paschal  lamb  itself  to  the  last  morsel,  the 
four  or  even  the  five  cups,  each  to  be  mingled 
and  drunk  at  the  prescribed  place,  from  tlie 
first  at  the  commencement  to  the  last  which 
was  allowed.  But  Ben-Maimon's  Commentary, 
and  the  statements  of  the  Talmud,  the  Mishna, 
and  Gemara,  do  not  entirely  agree  in  these 
points.  Who,  however,  can  suppose  that  all 
this  was  rigorously  established  so  early  as  the 
time  of  our  Lord?  The  Evangelists  give  us 
several  hints  which  certainly  coincide  with 
many  particulars  of  this  ritual  (as  "the  fruit 
of  the  vine,"  the  song  of  praise,  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  first  cup  of  benediction)  ;  but  they 
do  not  mention  the  other  cups,  and  we  may 
conclude  that  the  Lord  did  not  observe  every 
petty  ordinance  which  was  current  at  the  time. 
\Vo  must  remember  that  while,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  Lord  recognized  such  usages  as  were 
appended  to  the  divine  law  with  a  sound 
meaning,  he,  on  the  other  hand,  designedly  ne- 
glected the  prescriptions  of  the  Pharisees. 
Finally,  the  transition  from  the  type  to  its  ful- 
fillment made  a  certain  freedom  appropriate; 


*  Je^aM^yoi,  other  than  Xafit^v  afterwards. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  21-25. 


49/ 


and  we  sliall  see  that  the  new  institution,  tak- 
ing the  place  of  the  old  one,  commenced  before 
that  was  fully  ended. 

What  further  may  be  said  concerning  the 
drinking  of  the  great  future,  we  will  reserve 
for  the  saying  which  Matthew  and  Mark  repeat 
more  definitely  at  the  close.  It  must,  however 
be  observed,  that  "  xintil  the  kingdom  of  Ood 
shaU come"  refers  to  the  consummate  kingdom 
of  glory,  the  same  as  in  ver.  16  (afterwards,  7?iy 
Father's  kingdom).  Thus  we  must  not  be  mis- 
led, by  the  generality  of  the  expression,  into 
anticipating  the  term  specified  for  this  drinking 
again,  and  placing  it  in  the  forty  days.  It  is 
also  an  idle  question,  whether  the  Lord  did  or 
did  not  drink  of  this  cup  which  he  gave  to  the 
disciples.  The  word  itself  decides  nothinc;, 
even  if  the  unsupported  reading  and  rov  rvy 
is  accepted  ;  the  saying  "  Take  this,  and  divide 
it  among  yourselves"  might  be  understood  to 
mean,  "  divide  it  entirely,  keep  it  for  vourselves 
alone — for  I  shall  drink  no  more  with  you." 
But  it  might  also  be  regarded  as  testifying  that 
he  had  already  drunk,  just  as  he  certainly  ate 
with  them  the  Passover.  For  when  Sepp 
understands  ver.  16  to  mean  that  he  would  not 
even  this  time  eat  the  paschal  lamb  with  them, 
he  forgets  the  desire  to  eat  it,  expressed  in  ver. 
15.     If  the  cup  which  as  the  Master  of  the 


household  he  received,  that  he  might  mix  ifc 
and  hand  it  round,  was  the  cup  usually  drunk 
at  the  beginning,  he  may  be  supposed  to  have 
drunk  it  according  to  custom, and  then  to  have 
declared  this  to  be  the  last  act  of  his  fellowship 
in  drinking.  For  as  the  eating,  which  was  now 
at  hand,  was  not  excluded  but  pre-supposed  in 
the  henceforth  no  more ;  so  now  the  general 
assurance,  that  he  would  no  more  drink  wine, 
definitely  connected  as  it  is  with  this  cup,  must 
have  a  similar  specific  meaning  (and  this  of 
itself  proves  that  with  regard  to  the  subsequent 
cups  he  did  not  rigorously  adhere  to  the  usage). 
Or  the  words  must  be  understood,  that  the 
Lord  for  a  special  reason  abstained  from  all 
drinking  at  this  Passover.  This  is  possible,  but 
not  probable ;  for  it  was  the  last  celebration  of 
his  human  and  Israelitish  fellowship  ;  as  such  it 
was  the  object  of  his  desire,  and  his  final  re- 
freshment. Let  all  that  has  been  said  serve  as 
an  example  of  the  importance  which  should 
be  attached  to  a  carelul  consideration  of  all 
such  words  as  these,  in  order  to  find  their 
deeper  meaning.  The  too  common  method  is 
to  pass  superficially  over  the  sense,  and  hasten 
to  critical  contention  about  lesser  matters,  in- 
stead of  thoughtSuUy  pondering  every  letter  as 
it  stands  recorded. 


FIRST  INDICATION  OF  THE  BETRAYER. 
(Matt.  xxvi.  21-25;  Mark  xiv.  18-21;  [Luke  xxii.  22];  John  xiii.  21.) 


••I  will  eat  this  Passover  icith  you" — thus 
nad  the  Lord  spoken  at  the  beginning  with  the 
game  meaning  and  the  same  feeling  with  which 
he  had  said, "in  his  message  to  that  unknown 
One,  to  liim  well  known,  in  the  city — "  with 
Biy  disciples."  Judas,  nevertheless,  was  among 
them  ;  and  saddens  this  last  Passover  before 
his  Passion,  even  more  than  he  had  saddened 
that  feast  of  love  in  Bethany.  Although  the 
Lord  would  now  refresh  and  strengthen  his 
spirit  in  this  final  human  and  Israelitish  fellow- 
ship with  his  disciples — in  whom  he  beheld  the 
germ  of  the  new  Church  to  be  established  for 
the  earthly-heavenly,  all-fulfilling  kingdom  of 
God ;  that  end  cannot  be  obtained,  inasmuch  as 
the  sorrow  of  suffering  and  death,  by  which 
alone  this  new  covenant  can  be  ratified,  presses 
more  and  more  closely  upon  his  soul.  After 
the  feet-washing  and  the  accompanying  say- 
ings had  repelled  their  old  notions  of  his  king- 
dom, after  the  sayings  of  Luke  xxii.  15-18, 
which  vibrated  between  the  sorrow  of  separa- 
tion and  joy  of  the  final  reunion — the  lips  of 
the  disciples,  waiting  in  anxious  solemnity, 
were  no  more  opened  in  any  familiar  words ; 
even  the  Master  kept  silence  for  a  space ;  and 
nothing  remain'ed  but  the  silent  observance  of 
the  paschal  meal,  celebrated  in  mysterious  and 
appropriate  twilight.    Luke  xxii.  17  defines,  as 


far  as  we  can  understand,  the  beginning  of  its 
ritual;  but  it  intimates  at  the  same  time  that 
all  its  detail  would  not  be  observed,  for  the 
Lord  makes  an  end  for  himself  with  the  first 
cup.  "  And  as  they  were  eating  " — is  Matthew's 
opening  of  the  scene  which  followed.  "  And  as 
they  sat  and  did  eat " — is  Mark's  more  definite 
language.  Thus  we  have  nothing  here  of  the 
standing,  according  to  the  prescript  of  Exod.  xii. 
11  (which  Aben-Ezra  allows  to  have  referred 
only  to  the  first  meal  in  Egypt).  They  sat  or 
reclined  at  the  table,  and — ate,  almost  in 
silence ;  but  little,  and  that  only  what  was 
absolutely  necessary,  was  spoken  ;  scarcely  a 
word  which  belonged  not  to  the  ceremony. 

In  this  position  of  the  begun  and  proceeding 
meal,  we  hear  that  fearful  word,  which  descends 
from  the  most  distant  future  of  glory  to  the 
deepest  ignominy  of  the  present,  One  of  you 
shall  letray  me*  "While  this  refers  back  to  the 
intimation  long  ago  given  in  John  vi.  70,  and 
was  prepared  for  in  John  xiii.  13,  it  is  mani- 
festly the  first  indication  of  the  traitor  during 
this  mcai/and  it  coincides  historically,  doubt- 
less, with  John  xiii.  21.     How  it  is  related  to 


*  Haw  often  does  the  thought,  and  view,  and 
word  of  the  Lord  bring  into  close  conj  unction  th© 
widest  contrasts  1 


\«96 


FIRST  ALLUSION  TO  THE  TRAITOR, 


John  xiii.  22  we  shall  see,  as  far  aS  the  uncer- 
tainty which  undeniabJy  rests  upon  the  inser- 
tion of  the  sacramental  institution  in  John's 
closely  connected  narration  will  admit.  When 
we  examine  the  synoptical  account,  we  find 
three  distinctive  sayings  of  our  Lord — A  word 
of  soiTow  to  humble  the  eleven  together  with 
the  one;  a  word  of  solemn  declaration,  which 
instructs,  and  at  the  same  time  vindicates 
them,  while  it  is  a  preliminary  condemnation 
for  the  traitor;  finally,  a  most  sublimely  fear- 
ful word  for  the  traitor  alone,  in  which  now 
for  the  first  time  the  judgment  of  his  reprobation 
is  complete — even  as  the  Lord  had  given  him- 
self up  to  his  own  destiny  to  be  betrayed  by 
him.  But  here  we  only  say,/<;r  the  fint  time— 
because  the  final  utterance  follows  in  a  spcond, 
and  more  intense  expression  (John  xiii.  27). 

Matt.  xxvi.  21 ;  Mark  xiv.  18  ;  John  xiii. 
21.  He  teas  troubled  in  spirit  (as  John  xii. 
27) — indicates  certainly  a  disturbed  and  painful 
emotion  ;  and  it  is  not  without  meaning  that 
there  is  added — and  tcstijiel.  The  former  shows 
the  motive  of  our  Lord's  utterance  as  regards 
himself,  the  latter  as  regards  the  disciples  ; 
his  own  grief  will  not  suffer  him  to  restrain  it, 
while  he  speaks  for  a  salutary  testimony  to 
them,  as  also  to  the  future  Church  which  they 
represented.  The  disciples  also  were  exceedingly 
sorrowful,  but  their  emotion  was  far  from  reach- 
ing the  depth  and  strength  of  his  trouble  in 
spirit.  The  tribulation  and  suffering  of  our 
Lord  is  always  and  essentially  a  sorrow  of  s  ml ; 
and  in  that  domain  where  the  spirit  possesses, 
inhabits,  and  pervades  with  its  energy  the  soul, 
and  is  consequently  affected  by  it  in  return. 
Still  more  specifically  is  it  every  where  as  here 
a  sorrow  on  account  of  sin,  and  even  in  its 
highest  intensity  a  divine-human  sorrow.  For 
his  spirit  in  the  unity  of  the  Eternal  Spirit 
knoweth  the  abomination  of  sin,  as  it  appears 
in  God's  sight;  his  so\x\  fee-s  it  also,  in  this 
clear  and  full  knowledge,  even  as  men  feel — or 
rather,  as  no  sinful  man  as  such  can  feel  it. 
Thus  from  the  beginning  had  he  already  suf- 
fered much  through  sin ;  but  now,  the  sin 
of  men  confronts  him  in  its  direst,  severest 
form,  and  is  most  bitter  to  him,  as  exhibited  in 
Judas.  More  severe  and  bitter  was  not  in  this 
Bense  even  the  conflict  in  Gethsemane  and  upon 
Golgotha — the  laying  upon  him  tJce  iniquity 
of  us  all.  Here  in  his  sinrit,  most  internally 
afflicted  by  sin,  that  passion  begins  and  has  its 
root  which  issues  through  Judas  (as  we  shall 
see)  in  his  victoriously  emerging  from  tempta- 
tion— in  Gethsemane  again  his  soul  is  includ- 
ed; upon  Golgotha  finally  his  lo/y,  .soul,  and 
spirit.*  All  the  contradiction  of  frenzy  and 
haired,  of  hypocrisy  and  malice,  of  ingratitude 
and  every  other  bad  passion,  which,  distributed 
among  individuals,  had  fallen  upon  or  should 
fall  upon  him— was  condensed  and   consum- 


*  It  is  to  be  understood,  as  we  have  said,  that 
his  soul  also  sulTered  the  sorrow  of  his  spirit  from 
the  bescinning ;  and  iho  perlui  batiou  ol  his  soul 
was  stiongly  hhared  in  by  his  bodv. 


mated  in  this  one  sinndr  against  him,  this  an* 
happy  traitor.  He  breaks  in  upon  the  nar- 
rowest circle  of  his  won  and  beloved  souls; 
he  defiles  and  disgraces,  in  a  .sense,  the  apostol- 
ical foundation  of  his  future  Church  here  at  its 
very  commencement;  and  brings  to  naught  an 
election  which  had  its  origin  in  his  love,  by  an 
actual  though  partial  victory  of  hell.  Thus, 
alas !  this  son  of  perditim — and  this  is  his 
deepest  grief — compels  him,  even  now  when  he 
would  refresh  his  soul  by  naught  but  love  and 
blessing,  when  he  was  about  to  establish  the 
seal  and  the  pledge  of  an  accomplished  redemp- 
tion and  forgiveness  of  sins,  to  retain  by 
anticipation  the  sin  of  one  awful  exception, 
condemning  him  externally.  But  we  observed 
upon  John  xiii.,  with  reference  to  Mark  iii.  5, 
that  the  Son  of  Man  could  not  otherwise 
manifest  his  wrath  against  evil  than  in  connec- 
tion with  the  perturbation  of  his  sympathizing, 
redeeming  heart;  here,  however,  we  see  that 
the  converse  of  this  proposition  does  not  hold 
good — for  Jesus  is  only  troubled  about  Judas, 
without  wrath.  So  far  we  can  appropriate 
Tholuck's  word,  on  John  :  "  It  is  not  the  leeling 
of  provoked  indignation  which  goes  out  toward 
the  delinquent,  but  that  of  compassionate  sor- 
row;" though  we  cannot  adopt  the  words 
which  follow,  as  applicable  to  the  present  con- 
juncture— "which  always  seeks  anew  to  pro- 
duce in  the  perverted  mind  an  influence  of 
compunction."  This  was  now  over,  as  the  will 
feZray already  festilies.  Where  there  is  human 
anger'-'  in  the  God-man  as  the  reaction  of  love, 
there  is  the  hope  of  love  which  takes  this 
method  to  accomplish  its  purpose  ;  but  where 
that  is  gone,  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  also  for  the 
present  ceases,  and  the  love  is  turned  into  pure 
lamenting  sicfferingoi  the  sin.  That  the  traitor 
had  experienced  no  wrath  beforehand  from  his 
Lord,  on  whom  he  inflicted  the  deepest  grief — 
is  the  cause  of  the  wrath  of  God  which  now 
rests  upon  him,  and  which  will  fall  upon  him 
one  day  as  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,  of  that  same 
incarnate  Judge  of  men  who  in  Gethsemane 
still  called  him  his  friend. 

Why  then  does  the  Lord  utter  that  as  a  tes- 
timony which  moves  his  spirit?  The  testimony 
as  such  applies  indeed  to  the  disciples;  but  not 
exclusively,  as  is  generally  thought,  to  shame 
and  humbie  them,  and  excite  their  true  repent- 
ance. In  this  utterance  of  the  deepest  feeling, 
there  is  primarily  no  consideration  of  the  in- 
fluence which  it  ought  to  exert  and  must  exert 
upon  others  ;  but  it  is  no  other  than  a  lamenta- 
tion of  the  troubled  One,  who  pours  out  his 
complaint  not  merely  before  God,  but  also 
before  man  in  a  hur.'.an  manner.  Assuredly, 
there  is  something  of  human  "  infirmity  "  also 
in  it,  and  the  Lord  cannot  restrain  within  him- 
self the  sorrow  of  his  soul,  nor  retain  it  within 
his  spirit  before  God,  but  must  speak  of  it 
before  his  own  as  afterwards  in  Gethsemane. 


♦  Not,  of  course,  in  the  sense  of  James  i.  20, 
which  contrast,  of  the  Ijuman  and  the  divine  has  no 
ai>;>lication  u>  the  Goi-mau. 


MATTKEV/  XXVI.  21. 


m 


We  must  know  for  our  own  consolation  and  I 
instruction  that  so  it  was  with  his  spirit ;  and  | 
therefore  he  hears  this  witness  to  all  times  in  his  i 
word — as  it  is  also  expressed  in  John's  tfxap- 
TV/jt}6s,  he  testified.    But  then,  there  is  another  1 
element  which  is  never  wanting  in  his  self-tes-  j 
timony ;  the  wisdom  of  love  which  regulates  j 
all  his  speaking  and  not  keeping  silence  ap-  | 
proves  itself  decisively  here  as  it  does  to  the  i 
last,  seeking  always  our  salvation.     We  justly  j 
saia  at  the  outset  that  this  first  word  concern- 
ing the  traitor  had  an  especial  reference  to  the 
others.     The  doom  and  woe  of  the  traitor  is  j 
intimated  more  plainly  to  himself  in  the  second  | 
word,  and  most   expressly  in  the  third ;  but  \ 
now  the  eleven  are  to  know  and  feel,  as  far  as  ! 
it  lies  in   them,  what  the   Lord   knows   and 
feels.      They   are   to  be   fortified   against  the 
awful  event,  when  it  should  take  place,  by  the 
testimony  to  their  Lord's  foreknowledge  of  it 
and  submission  to  it — as  we  have  seen  on  John 
xiii.19.  But,finally — and  this  comes  into  special 
prominence  yi^r  «s — tluy,  as  being  of  the  same 
sinfid   nature,  and,  even   under  grace  capable 
ot  like  sin,  are  to  be  humbled  into  deeper  self- 
knowledge  and  penitence  by  seeing  how  pro- 
foundly the  sin  of  one  among  thera  bows  down 
their   Lord.      This   is  the  just  interpretation 
and  application  of  the  word  which  the  Church 
has  always  held  fast.     It  views  the  Lord  as  in 
this  word   exhorting   fo  contrition  before   he 
celebrates  his  sacrament;  moving  the  disciples' 
hearts  to  humiliation  before  he  institutes  his 
holy  Supper.     There  is  profound  truth  in  the 
observation  which  has  been  made — that  Paul 
derived  from  this  one  among  you  his  impressive 
rule,  But  let  a  man  examim  himself. 

It  is  indeed  only  one,  who  will  commit  this 
fearful  sin;  but  it  is  still  one  of  them;  and 
what  that  means,  we  have  sufl[iciently  shown 
upon  John  vi.  70.  When  one  sins  with  fearful, 
yea,  the  most  fearful  aggravation — the  rest  of 
us  must  not  wholly  acquit  ourselves ;  the 
Lord's  one  word  is  most  grievous  to  him,  to  us 
lull  of  shame  and  humiliation — One  among  you. 
Whatever  differences  there  are  between  the 
several  eleven  disciples  in  disposition  and  feel- 
ing, the  Lord  embraces  them  altogether,  and  in 
one  with  Judas ;  he  still  more  emphatically 
and  comprehensively  refers  its  most  evil  fruit 
in  the  one  to  the  root  of  sin  in  all,  when  he 
afterwards  cries — Woe  io  that  man  I  The  sin 
of  the  one,  most  ripe  for  condemnation,  is  in  a 
certain  relation  the  common  sin  of  humanity, 
a  fruit  which  grew  on  that  tree.  Further  :  Is 
this  Judas  actually  isolated  and  alone  in  his 
sin  ?  Is  he  not  raiher  the  type  and  forerunner 
of  many,  found  in  the  discipleship  and  external 
liellowsliip  of  Jesus,  as  he  was  then?  Hence 
his  warning  figure  stands  at  the  introduction 
o!  every  celebration  of  the  sacrament — "  In  the 
night  in  which  the  Lord  was  hetrayed"  The 
lesson  taught  by  Judas  may  well  intermingle 
its  wholesome  bitterness  with  all  our  Passion- 
devotions.  W-ee  also  to  him  who,  otherwise 
than  the  beloved  disciples,  is  disposed  to  reply 
*— Sucii  can  I  and  will  I  never  be.    The  proper 


reflection  is — Am  not  I  also  a  man,  like  this 
man  of  sin  ?  Is  not  my  human  heart  by 
nature  likewise  evil  and  unbelieving?  Do  I 
submit  to  reproof?  Has  the  love  of  the  Lord 
entrance  in  me,  and  his  truth?  Am  not  I 
treacherous  to  him  in  heart ;  am  not  I  resting 
secure  in  external  fellowship  alone  with  hiia 
and  hi?  ;  is  there  no  Judas-way  in  me? 

All  this  is  not  "  homiletic  application  "  and 
"edifying  remark,"  learned  readers,  but  actual 
exposition  of  the  mind  and  feeling  with  which 
the  Lord  uttered  this  t%  vuwv.  "  One*  of 
you  " — he  adds  now  decisively— wi/Z  Mray  me; 
in  which,  as  in  the  followingwords,  the  oofn6- 
/jEvov,  appointed,  begins  already  to  appear. 
He  speaks  still  in  ttie  future  ;  since  Judas' 
offer  already  made  to  the  Pharisees  (jrapa- 
(5oi3(J(i7)  was  not  the  consummated  betrayal 
itself.  But  he  speaks  in  the  future  absolute  ; 
lor,  the  black  counsel  of  Judas'  heart  stood 
fast,  his  heart  was  no  more  to  be  humbled  and 
shamed— otherwise  the  Lord  would  not  have 
thus  spoken. 

They  were  exceedingly  troubled,  and  began 
every  man  to  say — D^rd  is  it  I?  Judas  is 
obviously  not  included,  because  the  Spirit 
designs  to  give  the  Lord's  word  as  pre-eminent- 
ly directed  to  the  eleven,  and  their  reply  to  it. 
Judas  delayed  till  the  last  his  similar  question. 
The  first  mfluence  of  the  word  upon  him  is 
not  recorded ;  but,  like  the  design  of  his  heart 
throughout,  is  veiled  in  a  night  of  fearlul  mys- 
tery. Lucke  remarks  on  the  apparent  parallel, 
Luke  xxii.  23,  quite  correctly  :  "  Luke  reports 
like  John  ;  "  but  we  accept  this  on  a  very 
diflTerent  supposition  from  his,  to  wit,  that  they 
both  relate  another  circumstance,  the  second 
indication  of  the  traitor  which  took  place  after 
the  Supper.  For  it  is  plain  to  all  who  will  not 
break  the  Scripture  by  assuming  incorrectness 
in  the  narrators,  that  on  the  first  occasion  the 
disciples  say  what  they  say  to  Jesus,  the  second 
time  they  speak  among  thenuelves  {npui  kav- 
roviy  Eli  dXXTJXovS).  The  first  time,  each 
asks.  Is  it  If  the  second  time,  they  inquire 
among  themselves  which  of  them  it  was  that 
should  do  this  thing.  Liicke  thinks  it  "  scarcely 
credible,"  as  recorded  in  Matthew  and  Mark, 
that  each  of  the  disciples  asked  aloud  if  it  was 
himself — but  it  is  literally  recorded  in  these 
Evangelists  ;  and  no  man  has  a  right,  to  mix 
up  with  exposition  his  own  notion  of  what  is 
or  is  not  credible.  The  simple  and  plain  narra- 
tive has  in  various  ways  been  most  unexegeti- 
cally  dealt  with.  Some  have  thought  that  each 
put  the  question,  but  each  with  his  own  in- 
dividual meaning ;  Olshausen  supposes  that 
Peter  and  John,  in  their  more  highly  developed 
consciousness,  would  not  ask — Is  it  I  ?  but 
only— Who  is  it?  (This  gratuitous  assertion 
rests  upon  the  identification  of  the  two  ques- 


*  Matt.  £«a'(Jro5  (another  reading  c/^S— Mark 
tti  xaOeii,  not  naOsli  or  xara  (xai  eito)  eti, 
but  instead  of  xar/  f'ra,  as  in  John  viii.  9,  Rom. 
xii.  5.  The  «a:z  aXXoS'  Mtj-Tt  iyoS  ;  in  Mark  is 
probably  an  addition. 


MO 


FIRST  ALLUSION  TO  THE  TRAITOR. 


tions  and  the  two  accounts.)  Others,  as 
Ebrard,  change  the  recorded  question  into  "an 
anxious  appeal" — It  is  not  If  On  the  other 
hand,  Winer  classes  this  question  with  Mz/rz 
among  those  in  which,  according  to  the  de- 
cision of  the  context,  an  atSrmative  answer 
must  be  supposed  possible.  We  perfectly 
agree  with  him;  and  appeal  to  the  feeling 
of  every  simple  reader,  and  to  the  predomi- 
nant, living  tradition  of  the  Church.  If  the 
context  allowed  the  assumption  that  some 
meant  no  more  than  "  Assuredly  not  I! " 
we  would  rather  join  Nathanael  with  John, 
than  Peter — and  so  on  with  all  the  rest.  The 
emphasis  of  this  most  significant  word  would 
be  lost ;  and  the  subsequent  question  of  Judas, 
the  affirmative  answer  to  which  our  Lord's 
reply  confirms,  would  be  deprived  of  its  simi- 
larity to  the  previous  questions.  Judas  as- 
suredly asked  because  he  was  constrained  to 
do  so,  because  and  in  the  same  seiibe  as  the  others 
asked. 

For  our  own  part  we  regard  that  as  credible 
in  the  highest  degree  which  Matthew  the 
Apostle,  one  present  at  the  transaction,  plainly 
records ;  and,  moreover,  we  can  render  it  per- 
fectly intelligible  and  probable  to  our  own 
minds.  The  truth  in  the  arbitrary  addition  to 
the  narrative  which  we  have  just  noticed  is 
this,  that  each  one  may  have  thought  first 
of  the  others  around  him  ;  but  then  when  he 
saw  not  the  slightest  ground  for  the  supposi- 
tion in  the  case  of  any  other,  he  would  naturally 
direct  the  inquiry  to  himself.  "  Of  whom  can 
I  suppose  that  he  would  do  this  thing?  Most 
fitly  should  I  ask  myself  the  question."  Such 
is  the  course  of  true  humbleness  of  mind  in  its 
pure  simplicity  in  all  similar  cases.  This  pre- 
paration and  reason  for  the  startling  question — 
Is  it  I  (no  other  than,  myself)  ?  the  Evangelists 
have  left  unexpressed,  but  it  is  not  the  less 
obvious  to  every  psychological  reflection :  they 
simply  record  the  result  which,  in  the  swift 
succession  of  emotion  which  went  round  the 
circle,  was  not  long  in  finding  utterance.  We 
are  not  to  think  of  clear  consciousness  and 
calm  pondering  of  what  they  say,  on  an  occa- 
sion like  this,  when  their  word  was  extorted, 
enforced  from  tlie  disciples  by  the  warning 
gjnrit  of  the  word  of  Jesus,  for" a  tt/pical  appli- 
cation in  the  future.  AVe  must  not  coldly 
discuss  it  in  its  antecedents  and  consequences, 
but  take  it  as  it  stands — the  uncalculated  ex- 
pression of  the  effect  which  the  Lord's  dis- 
closure had  upon  their  consciousness  of  sin. 
When  they  thus  suddenly  heard  the  Lord's 
earnest  "  one  of  y<.v,"  every  one,  even  the  most 
consciously  sincere,  must  have  thought  himself 
lor  ono  moment  capable  of  the  most  fearful 
sin.*      This  meaning  alone  gives  a  sufficing 


reason  for  the  exceeding  soirowful  of  Matthew, 
which  is  essentially  different  from  the  sub- 
quent  "doubting  of  whom  he  spake"  in  John. 
After  the  more  rigorous  "  woe  "  pronounced 
upon  the  one,  which  must  have  given  every 
innocent  one  to  feel  that  this  did  not  touch  his 
conscience,  yea,  after  the  atoning  "  for  you"  of 
the  Supper — ;heir  position  and  feeling  with 
regard  to  it  became  different ;  and  the  uncer- 
tain anxious  inquiry  of  every  one  as  to  which 
of  the  rest  could  do  this,  was  tlien  quite  in 
keeping.  The  blending  of  the  two  situations 
and  states  of  mind  into  one  incident,  is  to  be 
excused  only  by  the  fact  that  John's  Gospel 
gives  that  theory  an  apparent  sanction,  unless 
his  Gospel  be  very  carefully  read  and  compared 
with  the  others.  For  certainly,  just  at  this 
point,  between  vers.  21  and  22,  or  vers.  22  and 
23  of  chap,  xiii.,  John  passes  over  the  Supper, 
and  inseparably  joins  what  passed  subsequently 
with  the  first  word  which  gave  occasion  to  it. 
But  he  wrote  thus  only  that  our  investigation 
might  be  stimulated  to  careful  arrangement  of 
the  whole. 

It  was  necessary  thus  carefully  to  observe 
the  word  of  the  disciples,  and  assert  its  only 
true  meaning ;  for  this  alone  will  enable  us 
fully  to  understand  the  design  of  the  preceding 
word  of  our  Lord,  as  well  as  to  trace  the 
progress  to  what  follows.  When  he  expressed 
himself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  involve  their 
whole  circle  in  a  certain  muse  in  the  guilt,  his 
sole  purpose — a  purpose  which  most  blessed- 
ly succeeded — was  tnat  the  beloved  disciples 
should  he  profoundly  abased  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  their  general,  human,  capability  of  sin  ; 
and  that  they  should  be  entirely  divested  of  all 
wrathful,  loveless,  unjustified  rejoicing  in  the 
sentence  of  condemnation  pronounced  upon  a 
fellow-man,  the  traitor  who  now  went  forth 
from  their  midst;  in  short,  that  they  should 
be  brought  to  such  a  state  of  mind  as  to  put 
the  question  which  they  did  put.*  This  ques- 
tion of  the  disciples,  which  was  a  perfect  ex- 
pression of  individual  sincerity,  while  it  on 
that  very  account  proclaimed  all  the  more  feel- 
ingly their  deep  sense  of  sinfulness,  was  to  him 


*  Ililler's  reflection  therefore  is  beside  the  mark : 
"  And  if  lie  named  one,  it  was  tlie  thouijlit  of  each 
that  that  one  might  change  hin  mind."  For  the  will 
betray  had  been  annour;cod  by  Teriy,  Verily. 
Kinmmaclier  more  correctly  paraphrases  iho  sense 
oJ  the  word:  "  Yea,  Lord,  so  corrupt  is  my  heart 


that  I  am  capible  of  any  evil :  and,  if  the  wind 
of  temptation  bk-w  tliat  way,  I  niijiht  by  possi- 
bility betray  thee,  the  highsst  eood,  even  as  thou 
liast  said.  Lett  unguarded  lo  myself,  I  cannot 
stand." 

*  This,  and  nothing  else,  as  wo  think.  Not 
spociflcally,  as  L mgo  prefers,  in  order  ti;at  they 
mi:2ht  be  led  to  repent  of  that  spirit  of  carnal 
ambition  which  had  so  lonj;  troubled  them,  and 
which  liad  nourislied  amonsf  tliom  Iho  serpent  of 
treachery,  and  that  traitor  him-elf  wliom  they 
had  broiisht  to  liim.  There  is  no  trace  of  this 
last  in  all  the  narrative  ;  our  Lord  s  /  hnve  chosen, 
John  vi.  70,  is  a  strong  protest  against  any  .'■uch 
intro('.uctioii  of  ono  Apostle  by  otliera.  That 
they  trusted  Judas  and  did  i.ot  see  ilirough  him, 
was  in  them  a  relative  virtue,  though  spriiijrins 
Irom  their  sin;  and  tlie  Lord  was  iiitiniteiy  better 
satisfied  with  their  Is  it  I?  than  ho  would  have 
been  with  any  uiibecooiiug  "  Id  it  lie  i  " 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  23. 


501 


a  consolation  in  the  midst  of  his  distress.  He 
who  so  asks,  judges  himself  fully — that  he  may 
not  be  judged — as  to  his  part  in  the  awful  guilt, 
BO  far  as  it  is  a  collective  guilt ;  but  he  who 
can  thus  ask,  has  thereby  cleared  himself,  and 
shown  that  he  cannot  be  "the  one  intended,  nor 
fall  under  the  terrific  woe.  Now,  alter  this  dis- 
burdening of  his  own  heart  and  cleansing  of 
the  hearts  of  his  disciples,  Jesus  is  free  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  second  word,  which  with  wonder- 
ful subhmity  embraces  the  whole  of  this  Satanic 
8in  of  an  Apostle — which  unites  in  itself  a 
serene  testimony  of  his  own  obedience  to  the 
counsel  of  God;  an  instructing  assertion  of  the 
guilt  which  was  nevertheless  incurred  ;  a  most 
internal  cry  of  anguish  uttered  by  love  which 
mourns  over  one  who  CAunot  be  saved.  This 
second  word  is,  to  wit,  a  declaration  as  to  the 
self-sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  the  doom 
of  the  man  who  betrayed  him;  but,  for  the 
sake  of  the  transitional  connection,  an  answer  to 
the  Apostles'  question  yet  precedes,  which, 
however,  is  no  new  answer,  but  only  repeats 
and  confirms  the  first. 

Matt.  xxvi.  23  ;  Mark  xiv.  20.  The  suppo- 
sition that  this  answer  of  our  Lord  is  the  same 
■which  John  xiii.  26,  under  another  representa- 
tion and  more  specifically,  records — is  one  of  the 
most  marvellous  and  perverse  misunderstand- 
ings which  have  sprung  from  a  lax  notion  of 
the  so-called  inspiration  of  the  Gospels — not- 
withstanding that  it  is  the  predominant  opin- 
ion, and  now  almost  traditionally  accepted 
even  among  the  orthodox.  We  have  shown 
upon  John,  and  now  more  emphatically  repeat 
it,  that  we  have  m  these  tv.'o  records  two  quite 
different  occasions  and  words.  Here  the  eleven 
ask,  each  for  himself.  Is  it  I?  There  John  at 
Peter's  request,  put  the  question,  Lord  who  is 
it  f  Here  Judas,  like  the  others,  dips  with  the 
Lord  in  the  dish  ;  but  there  the  Lord  dipped 
the  ^op,  and  gave  it  to  Judas.  If  the  word 
intimated  a  specific  and  instant  dipping  on  the 
part  of  Judas,  he  must  have  been  at  once  de- 
tected before  the  eyes  of  all  ;*  consequently, 
the  subsequent  "  Woo  to  that  man"  must  have 
pointed  him  out  as  if  by  name;  then  his  Is  it 
I!  which  followed  afterwards,  showed  senseless 
boldness  in  this  detected  and  condemned  man ; 
and,  lastly,  the  ignorance  of  the  disciples  as 
recorded  in  John,  vers.  27,  29,  becomes  inex- 
plicable— and  an  absolute  contradiction  be- 
tween the  two  eye-witnesses  must  remain.  All 
those  subtle  suppositions,  therefore,  which  are 
based  upon  his  dipping  in  the  confusion,  with 
afiected  candor — and  so  forth — must  be  re- 
nounced, as  confusing  the  scene.  'O  Iftftdtpa?, 
he  that  dijypeth,  in  Matthew  is  not,  as  De 
Wette's  translation  gives  it,  he  that  hath  dip- 


*  For  tht's  answer  to  the  question  ot  all  was  not 
given  softly  by  Jesus,  and  it  was  given  only  to  one. 
If  he  received  the  sop  "  bstore  all  eyes,"  and  dip- 
ped his  hand  into  the  dish,  he  must  hive  been 
pointed  out  andxevealed  to  them  all.  The  impos- 
sibility and  contradiction  ot  this  is  weil  put  by  |  ning 
Krummacher. 


ped   (that  is,  just  now)  ;  bnfc  it  is  aoristical, 
and  equivalent  to  htfjaTtr^ueyo';  in  Mark. 

The  Lord  does  not  and  cannot  intend  to  give 
a  new  and  distinctive  answer  to  the  Is  it  1/  of 
the   several  disciples.     It  was  not   necessarv. 
The  silent  answer  was  now,  after  this  cleansing 
of  their  heart,  understood  of  itself — "  Not  ye, 
my  faithful  ones,  who  have  been  with  mein 
my  temptations,  and  whose  are  still  the  thrones  ; 
but  one  among  you."     Thus  the  Lord  merely 
repeats,  before  he  proceeds  further,  the  former 
word  in  a  more  plainly  intelligible  form  ;  using 
an  expression   which  is   parallel,  on   the   one 
hand,    with   the   earlier-cited   passage   of   the 
Psalms,  John  xiii,  18,  and,  on  the  other,  with 
the  subsequent  word  which  Luke  gives — "  The 
hand  of  the  traitor  is  with   me  on  the  taUe." 
Nothing  can  be  clearer  than  this  relation  of  the 
circumstances,  if  we  only  abandon  the  attempt 
to  make  different  accounts   one,  and  assume 
such  a  repetition  of  similar  transactions  as  the 
recurrence  of  this  dark  element  in  the  meal 
rendered  necessary.     The  "  dipping  in  the  dish," 
was  by  no  means  (as  Lange  maintains)  "  an 
irreijidaritrj  which  their  excitemmit  explains  ;  " 
there  is  no  ground  for  this,  when  we  set  the 
common  meal  plainly  before  our  imagination. 
Henneberg   is   quite   right   in   defending    the 
general  signification  of  the  dippeth  with  me — • 
"  One  of  my  household,  who  daily  eateth  and 
drinketh  v/ith  me."     Olshausen  is  altogf^tiier 
wrong   when    he   asserts   in   opposition,    that 
"  this  was  applicable  to  all  the  disciples,  and 
was  therefore  no  answer  at  all" — for  it  was 
not  to  be  an  answer;  but  only  a  re-assertion 
of  the  one  among  you.     Mark  gives  us  the  plain- 
est evidence  of  the  identity  of  the  two  saying'? ; 
for  in  the  second  he  has  "  one  of  the   twelve." 
and  adds  to  the  first  "one  of  yrm — which  ea'tth 
icith  me."     (This  we  now  first  mention,  because 
here   its   significance  comes   out.)     Thus    the 
Lord  meant  the  first  time — One  of  my  compan- 
ions at  table  ;  and  the  second  time  again — One, 
who  eateth  at  my  table,  like  you  twelve  collec- 
tively.    The  number  twelve,  still  mentioned — we 
connot  but  think  of  the  throne  lacking  for  one 
of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  Luke  xxii.  30— 
designs  to  say  that  the  Lord  reckons  the  fallen 
one  still,  in   testimony  of  his  previous  election 
(John  vi.  70,  you  twelve),  in  order  then  to  sup- 
plant him,  comp.  Acts  i.  17.     Thus  the  several 
passages  of  Scripture  profoundly    coincide  in 
their  one  meaning. 

The  Lord's  silence  pre-supposes — "No,  not 
ye,  who  so  anxiously  ask."  But  who  then? 
He  declines  anv  more  definite  intimation,  and 
adheres  to  his  "first  word.  Matthew's  specific 
the  same  {o  v  r  o  S)  shall  betray  does  not  con- 
strain us  to  suppose  here  a  direct  indication 
of  the  man,  for  it  does  not  outweigh  the  one 
of  the  twelve  in  Mark  ;  this  obroS,  rather,  is 
spoken  concerning  that  one  in  the  same  tone 
of  lamentation  and  reproach  as  afterwards 
6  avOpGJTToi  sHEivo?,  that  man.  One  among 
you:  in  this  there  has  been  from  the  beam- 
ing a  contrast  with  the  remainder  of  the  dis- 
ipies,  who  were  not  so  uear  and  not  in  so  con- 


502 


FinST  ALLUSION  TO  THE  TRAITOR. 


fidential  a  relation.  It  is  in  correspondence 
with  the  word  of  the  Psalm,  "  As  it;  was  writ- 
ten," that  thft  especial  nearness  of  the  twelve 
is  represented  here  as  a  fellowship  at  the  table  ; 
it  further  shows,  according  to  tlie  meaning  of 
that  Psalm,  the  greatness  of  the  guilt  in  which 
this  trusted  one  becomes  a  trait^or — thus  pre- 
paring for  the  woe.  Finally,  the  form  of  the 
expression,  which  makes  the  dipping  into  the 
dish  a  specific  and  most  concrete  designation, 
refers  of  course  directly  to  the  present  paschal 
meal.  For,  the  declaration  would  run  thus : 
That  one  of  tbe  twelve  (he  will  soon  be  re- 
vealed in  his  act!)  who,  like  the  other  eleven, 
lias  been  my  habitual  companion  at  the  table, 
and  is  so  this  day,  who  still  for  a  while  has 
the  character  of  an  Apostle,  is  still  shameless 
and  eats  with  me  (my  bread) — embitters  to 
ine  this  farewell  feast,  enforces  from  me  this 
complaint  and  condemnation,  etc.  Ti}y  x^^ft<^, 
the  hand,  has  the  same  most  concrete  vividness 
in  Matthew  which  the  impious  hand  has  in  Luke 
— that  hand  which  no  protest  of  conscience 
could  restrain. 

Did  Judas  at  this  moment  dip  his  hand  into 
the  dish,  and  thus  make  the  generally  prover- 
bial word  a  specific  sign  for  hmiself?  If  that 
be  supposed  it  must  also  be  assumed  that  the 
disciples  did  not  remark  or  understand  ihe  sig- 
nificance of  the  act.  In  such  a  case  this  word 
would  occupy  a  middle  position  between  the 
altogether  general  reference  which  preceded 
and  the  specific  sign  given  to  John;  and  fur- 
ther, it  might  be  thought  that  this  connection 
"would  show  why  Judas,  thus  partially  marked 
out,  asked  also  his  question.  But  this  coinci- 
dence of  the  immediate  act  with  the  Lord's 
very  general  indication  appears  to  us  alto- 
gether unimaginable;  the  disciples'  not  per- 
ceiving it  (and  they  might  be  supposed  to  have 
instantly  looked  at  the  dish,  under  a  misappre- 
hension) being  in  the  highest  degree  improb- 
able. The  definite  article  before  rpv/iXiov 
shows  that  there  was  not  more  than  one  dish  at 
the  table.* 

Matt.  xxvi.  24;  Mark  xiv.  21  (Luke  xxii. 
22).  We  must  firmly  hold  that  Luke  does  not 
introduce  ver.  21  supplementarily,  thus  plac- 
ing it  incorrectly  in  the  midst  of  the  words  of 
the  sacramental  institution ;  and  it  further 
seems  probable  to  us  that  ver.  22  also  was 
(in  its  simple  reference  to  the  contrast  of  the 
divine  counsel  and  human  guilt)  thus  repeated. 
Yet  we  admit  that  the  historically  correct 
"But,  l/clwhl"  may  have  led  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  ver.  22  as  related  to  it;  and  the  ex- 
pression being  the  same  (in  all  but  one  word), 
we   shall  include  it   in  the  text  here.     How 


*  Hence  we  cannot  accept  Bensrel's  strange 
view,  that  there  was  a  nearer  circle  around  the 
Lord,  within  tlie  twelve.  (Judas  opposite,  as  Peter 
and  Jolm  one  on  each  side  1  But  this  does  not 
suit  tlie  manner  in  which  they  reclined).  Bengel 
(not  in  Ihe  Gnomon,  hnt  in  the  Germ.  N.  T.")  thinks 
that  "  this  at  once  eiouerated  a  large  proportion 
01  the  twelve." 


Judas  comes  against  Jesus,  and  Jesns  endures 
his  temptation,  in  it  victoriously  separating 
himself  from  him — we  see  now  exhibited  be- 
fore us  in  a  spiritually  decisive  and  internal 
process,  before  the  betrayal  itself  is  accom- 
plished as  an  external  act.  We  may  regard 
this  conflict  of  Jesus  with  the  traitor  among 
the  twelve  as  a  temptation  in  regard  to  himself; 
as  even  the  beginning  of  the  last,  greater,  and 
greatest  temptation,  in  which  his  Passion  con- 
sists. -Now  at  the  last  Satan  comes  again  to 
him  immediately,  as  in  the  desert ;  and  even 
more  directly  near,  though  by  the  agency  and 
in  the  form  of  man,  his  instrument.  And  here 
in  Judas  the  sin  of  men  is  concentrated,  or 
rather  he  is  the  concentrated  man  of  sin;  and 
in  this,  that  he  has  to  do  with  such  a  one,  we 
mark  the  greatest  temptation  to  the  Holy  Qiie 
of  God  to  depart  from  the  rigorously-defined 
path  of  his  holiness.  But  the  patient  Endun^r, 
when  be  sutlers  this,  is  only  bruised  on  the 
heel  by  the  heel  of  this  Satan-man  lifted  up 
against  him  ;  over  him  who  would  tread  him 
under  his  feet  in  his  impious  course,  the  self- 
sacrificing  Redeemer  remains  exalted  in  his  un- 
broken victory.  How  this  was  consummated 
in  the  second  conflict  of  this  evening,  we  havo 
seen  already  in  John  xiii.  27;  we  now  see  it 
here  the  first  time.  That  is,  Jesus  abides  ex- 
alted above  Judas  not  immediately  as  God,  but 
in  that  emptied  relation  as  the  Son  of  Man,  in 
which  he  was  capable  of  temptation  ;  he  is  and 
abides,  in  opposition  to  this  man  of  sin,  the 
faithful  man  in  God,  and  recedes  not  from 
God's  purpose,  righteousness,  and  love.  Thus 
we  seize  the  three  critical  points  of  this  utter- 
ance, and  now  proceed  to  exhibit  them  more 
clearly. 

First:  Jesus  remains  exalted  in  the  purpose 
and  will  of  God  above  the  wicked  piirpot-e  and 
will  of  Judas;  for  he  can,  in  his  perfect  and 
sure  obedience,  subordinate  the  suffering  of  this 
lot  to  the  providential  arrangements  of  his. God 
and  Father.  He  holds  to  the  as  it  is  written, 
or,  as  Luke  says  afterwards,  was  determined ; 
for  prophecy  and  predetermination  are  here 
one.  The  whole  counsel  of  God  is  laid  down 
in  the  Scripture  ;  the  plan  of  the  history  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  world,  which  shall  stand  fast 
in  spite  of  the  counsel  of  the  heathen  and  the 
devic-s  of  the  people  (Psa.  xxxiii.  10,  11).  Be- 
fore God,  in  the  book  of  his  mutually-interact- 
ing omniscience  and  almightiness,  all  is  writ- 
ten, down  to  the  hair  of  the  head  which  falleth 
not  without  him — but  who  knoweth  the  indi- 
vidual secret  thoughts  of  his  heart,  before  the)' 
are  made  manifest'in  act  and  history  ?  For  its 
it  was  enough,  that  that  had  been  before  an- 
nounced in  prophecy,  which  wc  must  re':;ard  as 
the  firm  centre  of  all — the  plan  of  redemption 
in  Christ.  In  this  "  The  Son  ofmangodh"  are 
wrapped  up  all  those  thoughts  of  peace  and 
not  of  evil  which  the  Most  lli'di  has  thought 
toward  the  children  of  men,  to  bring  the  good 
end  which  was  expected  by  all  who  in  the  long- 
ing of  penitence  and  faith  waited  for  it  (Jer 
xxix.  11).     iHence  all  the  main  crises  of  that 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  24. 


603 


wonder  of  all  wonders,  of  the  redeeming  Pasyion 
of  Chnst,  were  written  down  before;  and  the 
event  signified  by  this  emphatic  as — the  be- 
trayal by  one  of  his  most  intimate  chosen  ones 
— must  have  been  recorded  too,  because  and  as 
it  was  ordained;  and  here  also  applies  what 
the  faith  of  the  disciples,  Acts  ii.  23,  iv.  28, 
could  profoundly  express.  Nothing  can  break 
or  disturb  this  predetermined  counsel  of  God; 
all  hell,  and  its  power  in  humanity,  is  impo- 
tent against  it,  even  as  the  desperate  malice  of 
Judas  fails  to  disturb  the  repose  and  confidence 
of  our  Lord.  He  abides  sublimely  elevated 
above  his  evil  will,  for  he  submits  to  his  per- 
mitted deed  as  obedient  to  the  good  will  of 
God,  and  goes  on  his  plainly  marked  out  way. 
Certainly,  this  is  contained  in  the  expression 
V  7t  a.  y  E  t,  goelh,  which  here  primarily  indi- 
cates the  process  of  deaUi  as  such,  just  as  in 
John's  discourses  it  comprehends  the  going 
through  death  to  the  Father.  Expositors  usu- 
ally content  themselves  with  making  it  only 
separation  from  the  body,  departure^'frora  this 
life,  as  Tl^Hj  «■  ?•  Gen.  xv,  2;  Josh,  xxiii.  14; 
Psa.  xxxix.  14("Sept.  n^\eYX)n(xyeiv) — but  the 
inner  meaning  and  connection  constrains  us 
here,  as  almost  always  in  John's  vndyeiv,  to 
include  a  voluntary  submission  in  the  independ- 
ent, obedient,  going  this  way  of  death.*  Luke's 
nopEvETai  for  goeth  is  under  the  same  condi- 
tion; indeed,  we  might  compare  John  xiv.  2, 
28  (where  the  TtopsvEdOai  is  distinguished  from 
the  mere  going  away  by  the  blessed  end  of  the 
way  which  is  marked  out)  and  interpret  it 
more  emphatically — The  Son  of  Man  goeth  his 
appointed,  sure,  and  blessed  way  ;  he  fulfilleth 
bis  course,  comp.  Luke  xiii.  33.  This  is  so  in- 
timately connected  with  the  matter  itself,  that 
it  must  prove  its  correctness.  "It  must  be 
so,  because  it  is  written  ;  not  that  this  lays  me 
under  constraint,  I  yield  myself  voluntarily 
and  confidently  to  the  coun.sel  of  God."  Thus 
the  holy  resolution  of  Jesus'  obedience  abides 
exalted  above  the  malicious  purpose  of  Judas, 
even  while  he  does  not  withstand  it.  lie  knows 
that  even  this,  like  all  evil,  will  be  turned  to 
good,  and  that  thus  will  be  effected  the  saving 
of  the  world.  Indeed,  that  which  God  designs 
for  good,  Judas  designs  for  simple  evil ;  but  the 
thoughts  of  God  remain  firm  and  will  have 
their  course.  Even  this  most  terrific  delin- 
quency must  serve  the  accomplishment  of  the 
eternal  purpose  of  love,  even  when  it  is  after- 
wards carried  out  to  its  accomplishment — ^just 
as  even  now  the  word  concerning  the  traitor 
•was  turned  into  a  blessing  for  the  rest.  This 
is  here  in  its  centre  the  same  mystery  of  the 
divine  government  of  all,  which  meets  us  a 
thousand  times,  a  thousand  times  repeated, 
throughout  its  whole  procedure.  We  cannot 
grasp  the  full  meaning  of  what  we  say,  when 
we  spej?^;  of  provideiice ;  but  the  simplicity  of 
our  iaith  in  the  living  God  in  thus  speaking  is 


*  In  Josh,  xjttii.  14,  and  still  more  plainly,  1 
Kings  ii.  2,  something  of  the  same  seli-devote- 
meut  is  involved. 


amply  justified.  But  that  the  holy  Son  of  Man 
thus  simply  subjects  himself  to  this  providence, 
when  the  greatness  of  tliis  devilish  wickedness 
might  bring  the  temptation  to  doubt  whether 
this  also  could  have  been  pre-determined — is 
his  first  victory.  He  does  not  for  one  moment 
think— -Can  it' be  tliat  I  shall  sufi"er  this  from 
such  an  abandoned  apostate?  but  abides  in 
firm  faith  in  the  purpose  of  God,  and  in  the 
oledience  of  this  failh.  Here  serves  him  the  prop 
of  Scripture;  for  all  that  was  written  of  'him 
was  also  written /(^r  him,  to  be  the  light  of  his 
feet,  the  lamp  and  justification  of  his  way.  We 
do  no  more  now  than  point  once  more — aftex 
having  spoken  of  it  at  large  upon  John  xiii. 
18.  and  xvii.  12 — to  Christ's  own  exegesis, 
which  finds  the  treachery  of  Judas  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  which  no  scientific  criticism  of 
our  day  can  invalidate 

It  is  right  before  God  that  this  should  be; 
but  not  the  less  right  before  God  that  the 
wicked  purpose  should  bear  its  guilt.  Conse- 
quently, in  the  second  place,  Jesus  abides  also 
exalted  ill  God's  righteousness  above  the  imputed, 
retained,  and  abiding  guilt  of  Judas.  The  trans- 
ition to  this  tiiougbt  cannot  be  belter  ex- 
pressed than  it  is  in  the  Ilirschberg.  Bid: 
"However  patiently  I  suffer  this,  however 
little  God  will  hinder  it,  however  certainly 
it  was  foreseen  and  pre-announced  that  I 
should  be  betrayed  by  my  own  disciple — yet, 
notwithstanding,  fearful  is  the  temporal  and 
eternal  woe  which  will  fall  upon  him.  It  was 
not  the  pre-announcement  which  caused  him 
to  commit  this  damning  sin  ;  but  his  own  volun- 
tary malignity,  foreseen  only  by  the  all-know- 
ing God,  has  driven  him  to  this  heart-breaking 
crime."  A  second  temptation  for  the  Son  of 
Man  lay  in  this :  He  might  have  yielded — in 
opposition  to  the  righteousness  of  God — to  the 
false  pity  which  should  mourn  over  and  excuse 
the  "  unhappy  Judas,"  as  being  appointed  to 
be  the  instrument  of  such  a  destiny.  Into 
this  temptation  we,  who  know  better,  are  still 
apt  to  fall — not  so  the  Lord,  who  abides  firm 
in  the  testimony  of  the  truth ;  and,  even  when 
he  is  in  the  deepest  subjection  to  the  most  ma- 
lignant wickedness,  forgets  not  for  a  moment 
his  position  as  the  judge  over  all  evil  and  evil- 
doers. 

Woe  to  that  man!  When  the  Lord  thus  calls 
him  a  man,  he  points  once  more,  as  we  have 
said,  to  the  general  sin  of  mankind — which  in 
this  man  of  sin  has  only  reached  its  full  con- 
summation ;  but  the  emphatic  and  exclusive 
iWizVoj,  that  man,  points  to  the  individual 
character  of  this  tremendous  sin  and  guilt. 
"  By  whom  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  " — such 
juxtaposition  with  such  a  man  is  the  deepe-t 
humiliation  of  this  name;  what  inexpressible 
condescension,  to  allow  that  he  belongs  to  one 
humanity  with  this  Judas,  as  one^/"  ns.  We 
might  be  misled  into  regarding  this  as  a  miti- 
gation of  his  guilt,  as  Judas  did  not  after  all 
do  violence  to  and  sin  against  the  known  Lord 
of  glory ;  but  a  profounder  consideration  will 
preserv-e  us  from  that  error,  and  leave  the  wo6 


504 


FIRST  ALLUSION  TO  THE  TRAITOR. 


in  all  its  rigor.  There  is  ample  independent 
reason  why  our  Lord  should  here  throughout 
call  himself  the  Son  of  Man;  but  that  Judas 
was  not  essentially  ignorant  as  io  the  divine 
dignity  of  his  blaster,  and  therefore  did  not  as 
it  were  excusably  sin,  must  be  deduced  from 
the  irremediable  doom  of  damnation  which  is 
60  strongly  pronounced  upon  him. 

The  Lord  does  not  say,  Woe  unto  men,  all 
sinners,  by  whose  hand  and  counsel  I  must 
suffer  and  be  crucified !  But  he  makes  this 
man  prominent,  who  betrayed  him  to  others, 
for  special  judgment.  Again,  he  cannot  now 
say — Woe  to  that  one  of  the  twelve,  or  to  that 
Apostle  who  has  betrayed  his  Lord  and  Master  ! 
It  is,  however,  still  more  rigorous  when  he 
brings  to  mind  that  he  who  had  thus  become  a 
devil — is  a  man  ;  for  his  sin  at  the  same  time 
in  another  sense  transcends  the  measure  of  or- 
dinary  human  sin.  He  was  horn  as  man,  that 
is,  as  no  more  than  sinful  man  ;  sinful,  indeed, 
but  smceptihle  of  truth  and  love,  and  therefore 
of  salvation.  But  now  he  has  feco7?ig  incapable 
of  salvation,  in  direct  opposition  to  truth  and 
love  itself.*  This  solitary  tcoe  denounced  upon 
one  only  head,  in  the  profoundest  patience,  the 
sublimest  tranquillity,  the  keenest  grief,  has  a 
far  heavier  weight,  consequently,  than  the  other 
"  woes  "  which  had  issued  from  the  same  lips  ; 
heavier  than  that  of  the  seven  and  eight-fold 
woes  denounced  upon  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, which  however  were  dictated  by  the 
wrath  of  love;  heavier  even  than  the  "woe  to 
that  man"  by  the  side  of  "  woe  to  the  world," 
Matt,  xviii.  7  (where,  moreover,  there  is  as 
here  a  necessity  for  it  which  does  not  remove  the 
guilt). 

For  concerning  this  Judas  alone  the  lips  of 
truth  say — It  had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he 
had  never  hcen  honi!  Here  Krummacher  ob- 
serves truly:  "This  inscription  placed  over 
the  grave  of  his  unhappy  disciple  by  the  Lord 
himself  is  the  most  fearful  and  affrighting  ut- 
terance of  the  whole  Bible."  This  word,  taken 
in  its  literal  rigor,  closes  eternally  the  door  of 
hope;  it  precludes  all  thought  of  an  ultimate 
salvation,  for  if  there  might  be  a  restoration  of 
his  soul  in  the  distant"  revolution  of  ages,  it 
would  be  better  for  him  to  have  been  born  : 
this  is  so  obvious,  and  has  been  so  deeplv  felt 
from  the  beginn/ng,  that  we  need  not  spend 
many  words  in  establishing  it.  The  best  argu- 
ment for  the  irrevocableness  of  this  sentence  is 
found  in  the  contrivances  resorted  to  for  its 
evasion;  for  instance,  It  had  been  better  ^or 
the  Son  of  Man  if  Judas  had  never  been  born. 


»  Thus  we  find,  and  we  trust  riahtly,  a  diff.-rent 
sense  in  the  avOpcoTtog  here,  from  that  which 
Krumniacher  finds,  wlio  regards  it  as  involving 
"a  rfjectinjr  tone" — ".hulas  has  nothing  more  to 
do  with  tlie  Rpdeenier  !  Je^us  lias  no  other  name 
for  him  than  the  alien  and  cold  one— that  man.' 
Wo  think  of  snch  passages  as  Matt.  xii.  12;  Mark 
ii.  27 ;  Luke  ix.  5G,  and  ask  in  wonder,  How  can 
the  name  "  man  "  be,  in  the  lips  of  the  Son  of 
Man  and  man's  Saviour,  a  term  of  rejection  and 
alieuatiuu  1 


This  construction,  however  plausible  it  msy 
seem  according  to  the  letter,  is  in  the  highest 
degree  artificial,  and  therefore  to  be  rejected. 
It  has  seemed  that  -KaXov  r/v  avroJ,  "It  hatj 
been  good  for  him,"  must  be  referred  still  to 
Christ,  as  the  itEfji  avrov,  "  concerning  him," 
before;  partly,  because  the  Son  of  Man  imme- 
diately precedes,  partly  because  the  conclusion 
with  (hat  man  seems  to  bring  in  a  new  subject. 
But  this  gives  to  the  words  a  tone  of  self-seek- 
ing and  weak  lamentation  which  is  utterly  un- 
worthy of  Jesus,  and  never  heard  elsewhere; 
and  which  is,  moreover,  so  entirely  unsuitable 
to  this  place,  that  on  that  account,  and  in  spite 
of  grammatical  appearances,  there  have  been 
few  who  have  ever  hesitated  to  admit  that  this 
sentence  must  be  the  development  and  explana- 
tion of  the  woe  previously  uttered.  We  repeat 
what  we  said  on  another  occasion  :  "  Such  an 
exposition  we  can  never  assent  to,  because  it 
involves  such  a  direct  contrast  with  the  pre- 
vious suhmission  to  the  counsel  of  God  as  is  quite 
out  of  the  question  ;  still  more,  because — to 
our  feeling  at  least — the  utterance  of  a  vioe 
against  his  enemy  because  he  had  wrought  him 
harm  is  at  this  sacred  crisis  altogether  unworthy 
of  our  Lord  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
worthy  of  him  that  he  should  feel  sorrow  for 
the  destruction  of  that  enemy,  who  had  wil- 
fully plunged  himself  into  ruin."*  But  we  now 
strengthen  those  two  feeble  expressions,  and 
maintain  that  it  must  be  the  feeling  of  every 
man  who  is  not  bent  upon  doing  violence  to  his 
feeling,  that  such  an  exposition  altogether  de- 
ranges the  true  sense  of  the  passage,  and  the 
entire  relation  of  Jesus  to  Judas  ;  that  it  is  al- 
together contrary  to  the  whole  mind  of  our 
Lord  generally,  and  at  this  conjuncture  espe- 
cially, when  his  sublime  elevation  above  Judas 
must  be  manifested,  that  he  should  lower  him- 
self so  far  as  to  make  such  a  lamentation  over 
his  own  lot.  We  cannot  understand  how  any 
man  can  tolerate  the  idea  of  such  a  thought  in 
Jesus'  spirit,  of  such  a  word  on  Jesus'  lips,  as 
— "  Ilaa  not  Judas  been  born,  it  would  for  me 
hav3  been  better."  For  does  not  this  border  on 
that  want  of  resignation  to  the  destiny  of  life, 
which  in  man  has  said — Would  that  I  had  not 
been  born  !  Here,  too,  at  the  table  of  the 
Supper,  after  the  serene  self-sacrificing  words 
— The  Son  of  Man  goeth,  as  it  is  written.  The 
reference  of  the  a;3rcJ,  "  for  him,"  to  the  more 
distant  subject,  instead  of  the  more  immediate, 
is  sufficiently  explained  by  this,  tiiat  this  man 
is  the  main  object  of  the  whole  utterance,  the 
aJrcj  manifestly  being  only  a  repeated  ixsi' 
vco  ;t  and  the  same  holdi  good  for  the  explana- 


*  Lange  :  "  He  mourns  over  the  eternity  ot  this 
man ;  so  much  so  tliat  he  forgets  the  sonow 
which  he  had  wro\ight  for  himself." 

t  Not,  therefore,  according  to  a  mediatin?  ex- 
position :  It  would  be  better  to  tlie  Son  of  M  m  ; 
I  should  much  rather  that  this  unhapjiy  man  had 
never  been  born.  The  Lord  expressly  speaks  not 
of  himself  at  all;  but  only  of  the  coUL.emiial.on 
of  this  man. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  24. 


505 


tion  of  the  repeated  that  man  which  is  thereby 
«Hj;»/«e^/c«%  connected  with  the  tee/i  6orre.  Gias- 
siu-3  observes  that  this  repetition  of  the  sub- 
ject is  according  to  the  emphasis  of  the  He- 
brew,  niS^an  nspin^>  ad  augendam  declara- 

tionem ;  appealing  to  several  Old-Testament 
passages  (Gen.  ii.  19,  xiii.  16  ;  P^xod.  vii.  2, 
XXXV.  5;  Josh.  i.  2;  Jer.  xxxvii.  8  :  2  Sam.vi. 
4),  and  in  the  New  Testament  to  Matt.  xxvi. 
24,  and  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4  {ev  oli — rooy  diti6roov). 
Tiiis  emphasis  in  the  indication  of  this  man  is 
a  sufficient  reason  for  the  expression,  is  in  fact 
the  main  thing  in  it;  but  with  this  may  be 
connected  what  Bengel  finds  in  the  first  exiiva) 
— illi,  de  quo  ipso  etiam  scriptum  ed* 

Thus  it  remains  that  the  Lord  testifies—"  It 
would  have  been  better  for  Judas  never  to 
have  been  born."  But  this  is  not  in  his  lips  a 
sott  and  sentimental  expression  concerning  the 
traitor, any  more  than  it  is  a  mere  sentimental 
lamentation  over  himself.  Nor  is  its  force  to 
be  evaded  or  explamed  away  by  decreeing  that 
it  is  only  a  proverbial  saying  ;  for  Jesus  has 
no  mere  "  manner  of  speech  "  in  what  he  says, 
and  if  he  uses  proverbs  he  uses  them  as  truth. 
It  is  primarily  a  prophecy — It  will  befall  this 
man  to  wish  that  he  could  undo  his  birth  and 
annihilate  his  own  existence  (Luke  xxiii.  29, 
SO;  Ecclus.  xxiii.  14,  nai  SEXtf(j£ii  ei  jur/ 
iyevvt'lOtji).  But  that  which  is  here  predicted 
is  very  dilferent  from  the  anguish  and  transitory 
dePi>ondency  which  made  Job  and  Jeremiah 
curse  the  day  of  their  birth  ;  for  the  emphasis 
rests  upon  this,  that  Jesus  does  not  merely 
predict  a  desire  of  Judas,  but  himself  by  anti- 
cipation confirms  and  utters  this  uaXov  yv — 
il  -were  heller. 

Here,  consequently,  we  have  in  the  second 
clause  of  this  utterance  the  second  mystery 
(if  the  divine  government,  as  it  appears  central 
in  the  centre  of  that  government — the  divine 
counsel,  vvhich  orders  all  things  beforehand,  is 
nol  disturbed  by  the  wicked  purpose  which 
arises;  so  also  God's  justice,  which  condemns 
the  sinner,  is  not  invaded  or  neutralized  by  the 
permissive  appointment.  All  that  comes  to  pass 
ptands  under  and  depends  upon  the  will  of 
G(h1.  The  energies  of  nature,  without  will  and 
Without  organic  power  of  their  own,  work  all, 
down  to  the  slightest,  only  according  to  the 
will  of  the  Creator,  immanent  in  his  own  crea- 
tion. But  in  the  personal  creature  invested 
with  free  will,  in  humanity,  we  must  carefully 


*  On  llie  oilier  hand,  wo  cinnot  admit  what 
Benuel  has  saiil  upon  the  second  this  man — "  Videri 
]>ossiL  pra:dicn(um."  He  corrects  this  videri  pos.iit 
by  anolher  subtile  remark  (probably  too  subtile) 
— "  Ille,  appellatioyrtw  nt  remoti."  i3ut  Lan<je  as- 
sorts that  ue  must  translate — Better  that  he  had 
nol  been  Ikjiii  an  that  man.  This,  however,  is  dan- 
fiprous;  since  Judas  would  then  appear  to  have 
been  born  the  wretch  he  was,  and  Irs  individual 
prosressive  guilt  would  be  carried  back  to  his 
iiinh.  Instead -ftf  laying  upon  his  own  head  his 
iiiiilL,  it  would  assume  a  jiredestinafion  to  it  in  the 
wyiiteiiou*  counsel  which  decided  his  destiny. 


distinguish  between  occurrenM  and  act,  between 
effect  and  loilt.  Whatever  comes  to  pass,  as  far 
as  it  is  event  and  result,  belongs  to  the  divine 
direction,  in  which  the  Lord  turns  the  thoughts 
of  the  people  to  such  and  such  results,  as  his 
own  thoughts  will.  Thus  all  must  serve  God ; 
and  thus  Judas,  who  least  of  all  understood  the 
divine  purpose  of  redemption,  is  an  eminent 
instrument  in  its  accomplishment ;  a  man,  ly 
means  of  whom  something  takes  place  which 
was  to  to  take  place,  and  as  it  was  to  take 
place.  Ilis  purpose,  nevertheless,  meant  it 
very  differently  when  he  became  the  betrayer 
of  Jesus;  and'this  his  act  as  such  falls  there- 
fore as  certainly  under  the  divine  imputation  as 
the  event  falls  under  the  arrangements  of  divine 
providence.  Here  there  is  no  room  for  excuse 
through  predestination  in  the  prescience.  The 
event  is  so  cettainly  defined,  appointed,  and 
interwoven  with  the  great  plan  as  subserving 
the  great  counsel  of  salvation  (a  dpKJuevov), 
that"the  betrayal  of  Judas  as  an  accomplished 
fact  is  already  the  foundation  on  which  the 
sacramental  institution  is  based.*  But,  at  the 
same  time,  as  an  act  this  betrayal  was  so  cer- 
tainly voluntary,  and  independent  of  the  will 
of  God,  that  its  guilt  rests  upon  this  man — 
certainly  not  born  or  created  for  damnation — 
unto  eternal  ruin.  Ten  thousand  times  does 
this  interweaving  of  divine  foresight  and  the 
imputation  of  guilt,  this  combination  of  neces- 
sity and  freed">m,  the  one  not  affecting  the 
other,  recur  in  history  ;  indeed,  the  pro- 
vidential government  of  the  world  is  the  per- 
petual exhibition  of  this  deep  mystery. 

What  now  is  the  guilt  in  which  this  traitor 
has  involved  himself?  Most  assuredly,  he 
sinned  as  man  against  the  Son  of  Man  ;  and 
without  that  dogmatic  knowledge  of  his  being 
the  Son  of  God  which  the  Spirit  afterwards 
gave;  but  this  does  not  affect  the  question,  for 
crime  may  be  committed  against  God  in  man, 
with  the  same  opposition  to  the  truth  which 
those  manifested  who  crucified  to  themselves 
the  Son  of  God  afresh  and  put  him  to  shame 
(Heb.  vi.  6).  God  in  man  had  been  so  near 
and  manifest  to  him  in  the  person  of  this  Son 
of  Man,  that  he  cannot  be  regarded  as  having 
done  evil  only  against  the  Son  of  Man ;  that 
which  the  Lord  says  generally  concerning  the 
Jews  in  John  xv.  "22-25  applies  to  him  as  an 
Apostle  in  the  highest  degree.  He  resisted  the 
truth  as  a  hypocrite  ;  love  only  hardened  him  ; 
from  a  chosen  and  trusted  one  he  had  become  a 
traitor,  and  delivered  his  Lord  and  Master 
over  to  the  enemies  who  sought  his  death — 
for  that  miserable  earnest-money.  He  can  hear 
the  woe  with  which  redeeming  love  bewails 
him,  and  yet  daringly  asks— /s  it  I?  He  can 
eat  and  drink  that  which  the  Lord  presents  as 
his  body  and  blood  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
—and  then  go  awav  to  accomplish  his  deter- 
mined sin,  to  do,  as  the  Lord  had  said,  what  he 


*  This  is  probably  the  reason  why  our  Lord  in 
Luke  xxii.  21  returns  to  it  during  the  Supper,  and 
testifies  that  his  guilt  remained. 


506 


FIRST  ALLUSION  TO  THE  TRAITOR. 


wills  to  do.  "  Woe  to  that  man" — he  was  born 
a  man,  but  he  has  ceased  to  be  one,  and  has 
become  a  devil.  H  s  sin — tliat  of  man  against 
nian — is  nevertheless  in  its  kernel  a  participa- 
tion in  the  presumptuous  impiety  of  Satan 
against  God.  For.  in  the  holiness  of  the  God- 
man  there  was  nothing  which  might  furnish 
excuse,  as  in  the  case  oi'  man's  sinning  against 
sinful  man  ;*  his  hatred  of  love  thereW  passes 
over  the  human  limit  into  the  devilish.  He 
would  betray  his  Lord,  but  he  betrayed  and 
sold  hirmt'Ifio  hell.  In  liim  Satan  had  his  first 
victory  over  the  power  of  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ :  and  the  saying  of  Rom.  vi.  20  is  re- 
vf^rsed  by  a  fearful  exception  to  the  rule — 
Where  grace  was  mighty,  sin  became  mightier 
still.  It  avails  not  to  apologize  for  him  by  re- 
ferring to  the  delusion  of  his  covetousness,  as 
the  handle  by  which  Satan  made  him  his  in- 
strument ;  the  real  handle  was  in  the  depth  of 
his  wicked  heart.  Nor  does  it  afTect  the  case, 
if  it  is  supposed  that  Judas  did  not  really 
expect  the  condemnation  and  death  of  Jesus — 
that  would  make  his  daring  mockery  of  the 
person  of  the  Holy  One  only  the  more  wicked, 
and  complicate  still  further  the  many-sided 
falseness  of  his  iniquity.  After  all,  the  Lord's 
woe  denounced  upon  Judas,  such  as  we  have  it 
before  our  eyes,  is  decisive  evidence  of  the 
abysmal  wickedness  of  his  mind  and  action,  for 
with  that  alone  would  such  a  judgment  accord. 
He  assuredly  is  the  only  one  who  received  his 
sentence  in  person  before  the  last  day  ;  who 
was  given  over  to  destruction  before  the  pre- 
sentation of  that  sin-oflering  which  saves  so 
many  from  destruction. 

It  had  been  better  to  him  never  to  have  been 
born — to  this  man.  Note  that  the  Lord  does 
not  say  simply — It  had  been  ?>eUer.  For,  that 
would  imply — before  God  better;  and  would 
border  on  that  forbidden  question,  which  in- 
vades the  region  of  unexplained  mystery — Why 
then  did  God  permit  him  to  be  born?  For 
the  same  reason,  to  obviate  any  semblance  of 
imputation  on  the  original  purity  and  guiltless- 
ness of  all  creation,  he  cannot  say — Bitter  nev- 
er to  have  been  created.  Mark,  further,  it  is 
not — Better  that  he  should  be  annihilated  ;  for 
while  th'' annihilation  of  an  intelligent  creature 
is  abstractly  possible  to  omnipotence,  so  that  it 
may  be  regarded  as  a  possibility  for  the  lost, 
yet  on  the  other  hand  it  is  impossible  according 
\o  justice.  Therefore  the  Lord's  word  avoids  all 
liability  to  such  application,  and  confirms  in 
the  a  r  r  cJ,  "for  him,"  the  eternal  continuance 
of  this  condemned  one,  to  whom  it  would  be 
better  never  to  have  been.  Jt  would-  he,  that  is 
to  him,  as  he  will  feel  and  wish  eternally — thus 
mourns  his  love,  but  goes  no  further.  His 
righteousness  proclaims — Wq  vas  born,  and  has 
become  what  he  has  bc-come,  throu<zh  his  own 
guilt.  Let  dogmatics  and  speculation  see  to  it 
how  they  deal  with  this  utterance  which  exe- 


*  This  ho  himself  afrerwards  testified  in 
shrinl<ing  an!  pnrtinl  expression,  though  plainly 
eiiouiih,  Malt,  xxvii.  4. 


gesis  hands  over  to  them.  There  are  but  Iwa 
hints  in  addition  which  we  have  to  give.  The 
one  is  thus  expressed  by  the  Berl.  Bihcl:  "  We 
must  distinguish  between  God's  work,  our  own, 
and  the  devil's.  Neither  of  these  affects  the 
other — however  mucii  they  interpenetrate  each 
other — neither  abolishes  the  other's  full  signif- 
icance." The  other  is  this:  Mark  how  even 
the  redeeming  power  of  the  blood  of  Christ 
finds  its  limit  where  the  Satanic  domain  begins 
and  penetrates  the  human  ;  and  that  there  is 
an  actual  abyss,  on  the  edge  of  which  all  sin- 
ners walk,  the  end  of  that  which  had  its  begin- 
ning in  the  fall,  and  into  which  all  those  must 
fall,  who  give  no  entrance  to  redeeming  grace. 
But  is  this  jr.dgment  of  the  Lord  upon  Ju- 
das— with  all  the  majestic  calmness  of  the  eter- 
nal righteousness  of  God  in  which  it  is  spok'^n, 
and  in  his  humanity,  according  to  the  love  of 
God  incarnate  in  him — a  cold  and  rigoroua 
judgment  of  a  condemned  enemy,  bereft  of  all 
sympathy  and  feeling?  Far  be  it!  Rather  is 
it  the  most  affecting  and  melting  lamentation 
of  love,  which  feels  the  woe  as  much  as  holi- 
ness requires  or  will  admit.  Thprefore,  in  the 
third  place,  Jpsus  abides  ali?o exalted  in  the  love 
of  God  over  Judas'  eternal  ruin.  If  the  second 
temptation,  after  the  victory  in  the  first  (that 
is,  alter  the  self-devotvm  to  God's  will),  would 
lead  the  Lord  to  a  weak  and  excusing  sentence, 
in  misapprehension  of  the  divine  counsel,  and 
thus  to  a  false  love — so  now  the  third  tempta- 
tion, after  the  second  victory,  would  lead  hina 
to  a  severely-rejecting  condemnation,  in  mis- 
apprehension of  the  divine  righteousness,  and 
as  if  it,  was  divested  of  all  love — and  thus  to 
false  justice.  From  the  time  when  Jesus  c/wiitf 
this  lost  one,  with  the  design  of  expending  upon 
him  the  strength  of  his  goodness,  patience,  and 
long-suffering,  if  he  might  be  saved  from  the 
darkness  that  threatened  him,  down  to  the 
heart-piercing  appeal  at  the  kiss  in  Gethsem- 
ane — from  tlie  beginning  to  the  end  he  had 
loved  him,  for  the  Father's  sake  and  in  the 
Father's  name,  who  would  have  none  to  perish 
that  have  ever  been  born.  If  he  who  gives 
himself  to  us  in  Christ  as  a  Father  is  still  in  the 
midst  of  redeeming  grace,  the  Righteous  Father 
(John  xvii.  D5),  so  also  his  righteousness, 
which  must  let  the  deserved  woe  have  its  full 
cov«se,  is  inseparable  from  love  :  but  this  Fa- 
ther-love of  God  manifests  itself  in  its  human 
immeasurable  condescension  in  the  Son  of  Man, 
who  is  the  Son  of  God.  In  him  it  gives  its 
abundant  witness  that  God  willoth  not  the 
death  of  a  sinner;  and  with  all  the  more  love, 
in  proportion  as  the  sin  more  wickedly  resists. 
As  the  sin  of  men  is  Chris'/s  grief  generally,  .so 
specifically  is  the  unlmiited  sin  of  the  traitor 
here,  and  his  consequent  unbounded  condem- 
nalion,  and,  further,  the  necessity  that  ho 
should  testify  of  it — the  woe  pronounced  upon 
this  man  bee  mes  the  personal  griof  of  his  own 
high-priestly  heart  as  the  Son  of  Mun  ;  and 
"  this  man  is  a  sorrow  to  him,  back  to  his  very 
birth"  (as  Lango  beautifully  says).  Yes.  verily, 
this  is  the  inmost  meaning  of  the  last  lamenta- 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  25. 


507 


tion,  in  which  we  hear  the  last  cry  of  a  love 
which  goes  in  eympathy  with  the  lost  one  to 
the  extreme  limits  of  mercy,  where  he  must 
be  abandoned  forever.  It  vould  he  better  to 
him — ah  that — it  were  other  than  it  is  !  The 
Lord  thus  speaks  because  he  has  already  entered 
within  the  range  of  the  sacred  passion  ;  and 
because  it  is  now  needful  for  the  fulfillment  of 
the  divine  counsel,  that  in  this  last  heavy 
temptation  to  invade  prematurely  the  wrath  of 
judg'ment,  he  should  assert  in  his  purity  and 
integrity  the  power  of  forbearing  love.*  He 
ha.s  asserted  it  here,  in  a  manner  so  reconcilinrj 
(according  to  every  sense  of  the  term),  against 
and  upon  Judas,  that  every  heart  of  his  true 
disciples  which  might  stumble  at  the  eternal 
condemnation  of  the  lost,  must  be  strengthened 
and  comforted  by  this  original  lamentation  over 
it  poured  out  by  the  Son  of  God. 

But  at  this  fundamental  crisis  is  foreshadow- 
ed what  will  and  must  recur  in  the  history  and 
final  consummation  of  his  Church.  When  that 
second  man  of  sin,  potentiated  into  a  whole 
race,  when  Antichrist  arid  his  hosts  confront 
the  final  Church  of  the  saints,  whose  victory 
must  be  patience  and  faith,  Christ's  people  will 
Lave  nothing  to  do  but  follow  the  example  of 
their  Head  and  Captain — to  abide  patiently 
obedient,  resting  on  the  assurance  that  it  was 
so  written  and  appointed ;  to  maintain  the 
testimony  of  truth  and  righteousness  to  the 
damnation  of  the  ungodly  ;  but  while  doing  so, 
to  hold  fast  their  Ime  down  to  the  final  limit  of 
God's  patience,  until  the  day  of  his  wrath  shall 
come.  "  Fury  is  not  in  ine."  So  according  to 
Isa.  xxvii.  4,  speaks  God's  vineyard,  without  a 
hedge  of  briars  and  thorns,  to  its  enemies. 
"  Fury  is  not  in  me."  So  spake  Jesus,  now  at 
the  first,  the  living  vine,  the  root  and  stem  of 
the  Church.  Thus  did  he  endure,  condemn, 
bewail,  but  not  show  wrath  ;  in  order  that  we 
mav  see  in  him,  the  Son  of  Man,  how  the  love 
of  6od  glories  even  against  wrath,  and  even  in 
judgment  has  its  victory. 

Matt.  xxvi.  25.  The  word  which  we  have 
already  heard,  though  a  cry  of  lamentation, 
might  be  regarded  as  a  fearful  word,  on  account 
of  "the  oljed  of  its  lamenting  love — "Better 
never  to  have  been  born  ;  "  but  this  third  word 
I'hou  sayest  it!  spoken  to  the  traitor  himself, 
may  be  regarded  as  simply  sublimely  awful. 
Matthew  alone  has  preserved  this,  thus  prov- 
ing himself  like  John  an  eye  witness;  and  in 
regard  to  this  low-uttered  colloquy,  more  ob- 
serving, so  to  speak,  than  he.  For  when  John, 
xiii.  28,  records  that  no  man  at  the  table  knew 
the  meaning  of  the  latter  and  last  word  to  Ju- 


das, it  is  obvious  that,  as  he  excepts  himself, 
so  we  may  except  Matthew  too — or  it  remains 
to  suppose  that  John  alone  observed  this  prior 
word  to  Judas,  and  afterward  communicated  it 
to  the  Apostles.  We  leave  all  this  to  the  free 
judgment  of  the  reader  for  adjustment;  only 
stipulating  that  the  trustworthiness  of  each 
evangelical  narrative  must  beheld  unimpeach- 
able.* For  our  own  part,  we  repose  confidently 
upon  the  absolute  independence  of  the  first 
Gospel;  and  regard  it  as  in  the  highest  degree 
probable  that  Matthew  himself  observed  and 
heard  what  in  ver.  25  he  records  to  us  with  the 
same  simplicity  of  an  eye  witness  which  reigns 
every  where  else. 

There  has  been  found  wanting  in  Miirh  some 
hint  as  to  the  way  in  which  Judas  receivt>d 
this  word  of  Jesus  ;f  for  the  traitor  cannot  bo 
included  in  ver  19,  on  account  of  the  1>?ing  sor- 
rowful. The  reason  is  that  he  did  not  record 
what  was  not  certainly  known  to  him.  But 
Matthew  gives  us  a  brief  but  most  pregnnnt 
intimation  of  the  proud  daring  o;  the  miserable 
man.  The  I»  it  I?  of  the  others  did  not  hum- 
ble or  agitate  him,  save  that  he  had  no  spirit 
to  join  with  them — last  trace  of  a  fear  and  con- 
cernment which  soon  was  utterly  to  vanish. 
The  terrific  woe  which  now  followed  without 
restraint,  sounded  into  his  deaf  ears  without 
making  any  impression,  or  producing  any  ter- 
ror. He  remained  cold  and  immovable,  blind, 
deaf,  and  feelingless  in  his  cherished  purpose  ; 
or,  rather,  if  we  may  dare  to  say  so,  strength- 
ened in  it  by  the  decisive  prediction  of  its  ac- 
complishment;  insensible  to  the  thunders  of 
judgment  impended  in  the  woe,  and  to  the 
mercy  which  shone  upon  the  cloud  in  the  la- 
menting "Jietter  would  it  he  to  him!"  "He 
breathed  nothing  but  self  though  surrounded 
by  the  atmosphere  of  eternal  love"  (Lossel). 
Just  as  if  he  had  not  heard  the  sentence  of  woe, 
he  acts  as  if  it  had  never  been  spoken;  and 
adds  to  the  rest,  with  fearful  desperation  con- 
cealed under  the  perfection  of  hypocrisy,  his 
own  delayed  Is  it  I?  Ebrard's  solution  seems 
to  us  altogether  wrong;  for  he  regards  Judas  as 
simply  hjing,  and  saying  by  the  tone  of  his 
question — "  I  cannot  be  the  person  meant." 
The  only  correct  explanation  is,  that  he  puts 
his  question  as  much  as  possible  like  that  of 
the  others  ;  a  question  which  he  had  so  asked  as 
to  wait  for  no  as  the  answer,  could  scarcely  have 
been  answered  by  the  affirmative,  thou  hast  said. 
The  others  are  all  still  absorbed  in  thought,  pon- 
dering the  hard  meaning  of  the  word  of  Jesus 
just  spoken;  on  that  account  they  do  not  observe 
the  question  which  Judas  takes  that  opportu- 


*  This  most  critical  point  in  this  crisis  of  temp- 
tation is  overlooked  by  Lanae.  lie  speaks  of  a 
sinking;  back  into  the  Old  Testament  and  letjal 
wrath  of  zeal,  and  so  forth — but  this  formed  no 
element,  in  the  present  temptation  of  Christ.  Thie 
otheiwi'p  justifiable  tvrath,  which  as  the  meek 
sufferer  he  must  now  avoid,  was  minifp'Jtly  in  the 
future  of  his  judicial  office,  not  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment past. 


*  Nennder  forgets  this  when  (notwithstanding 
the  sop  reached  to  him)  he  regards  the  low  ques- 
tion of  Judas  as  an  impossibihty,  on  account  of 
his  distance:  .ind  tlirn  allows  himself  to  say: 
"  This  is  probably  a  foreign  (that  is,  untruel  par- 
ticular, the  origin  of  which  b  explained  by  the 
true  representation  in  John." 

f  Yet  it  is  he  who  distinctly  testifies— And  they, 
the  twelve,  drank  all  of  the  cup. 


608 


THE  LOPwD'S  SUPPER. 


nity  of  pronouncing  half-abud.  He  intended 
it  to  bp,  us  we  have  said,  like  theirs;  but  there 
is  a  difl'erence  which  is  barJlv  accidental.  The 
others  uttered  in  most  humble  submission  the 
name  Kvpts,  Lord,  which  was  the  answer  to 
tlieir  own  question — that  word  does  not  pass  the 
traitor's  lips,  but  instead  of  it  he  uses  the  cold 
and  ceremonious  *Pafi(ii,  Master* 

Let  us  mark  well  the  contrast  between  these 
two,  and  feel  as  far  as  we  may  the  wilful  pre- 
sumption of  this  question.  In  any  other  saint 
among  the  children  of  men  it  would  have  pro- 
vo'.ced  only  anger — if  we  may  with  reverence  in- 
stitufeany  such  comparison.  Butno  temptation 
to  icrnth,&ioi\\%T  timesmostholy  and  right  even 
in  him,  but  now  forbidden,  finds  access  to  the 
soul  of  Jesus.  Howcan  we  imagine  it  possible 
that  any  thing — that  even  he,  wlxose  everlasting 
punishment  he  now  bewails — could  move  him 
from  the  triumphant  elevation  of  bis  thought 
and  feeling?  His  answer  to  this  question  is 
like  a  flash  from  the  bright  heaven  ;  but  it  is 
only  the  flash  of  absolute  truth,  utierd  as  the 
reply  of  silent  majesty,  and  without  the  thunder 
of  threatening  or  invective.f  The  Lord's  wis- 
dom of  love  still  spares  him  by  an  answer  as 
low  in  its  love  as  his  own ;  but  the  necessary, 
inevitable  word  is  distinctly  audible  to  him — 
Thou  myest  it,  or — Thou  hn&t  said  it  {thyae^f)  ;  a 
form  of  affirmation  similar  to  that  afterwards 
used  to  Caiaphas,  and  at  first  meaning — Thou 
knowest  it  well,  wherefore  askest  thou?  So 
again — Ah  that  thou  hadst  7iot  asked !  ah  that 
]  had  not  to  answer !  ah  that  thou  wast  not  such  ! 
and  what  else  the  mysterious  emphasis  of  this 
word  may  evolve  to  the  thoughtful  considera- 


tion. In  such  words  as  these  definite  exposi- 
tion ceases,  and  pondering  reflection  must  take 
its  place.  Thus  much  we  further  indicate  as 
its  force  to  the  feeling:  "Thou  knowe-t  it,  I 
I  also.  Yea,  I  look  through  thee,  and  canst 
thou  still  doubt  it?  Thou  deceivest  me  not — 
thou  dost  not  mislead  or  move  me.  Thou  dost 
not  shake  me  from  my  submission  to  the  decreed 
purpose  of  God  ;  thou  dost  not  make  meAvaver 
in  my  righteous  condemation  of  thy  sin — but 
neither  dost  thou  move  me  from  my  love — for 
thou  mayest  not  and  shall  not  even  disturb  my 
repose."  The  thou  which  is  directly  given  back 
intimates  what  is  more  strongly  expressed  af- 
terwards in  John's  What  Uwu  dost — Thou  wiliest 
it,  and  thy  will,  which  hurries  thee  to  ruin, 
and,  executed  on  me,  will  subserve  redemption, 
will  neither  by  me  nor  my  Father  be  resisted 
(Ilabeas  tibi — but  in  a  tone  more  mournful  than 
upbraiding). 

Woe,  woe  to  the  man,  who  thus  questions  the 
Lord,  and  must  receive  this  answer  !  Such  is 
the  application  with  which  the  Spirit  interlines 
the  text,  as  it  were,  for  every  reader. 

After  this  interchange  of  these  two  words, 
which  condense  into  one  moment  the  awful 
collision  between  heaven  and  hell,  we  must 
suppose  a  short  pause  to  have  ensued — a  pause 
of  anxious  silence  or  profound  pondering  while 
the  paschal  meal  proceeds.  "  And  as  they  jcera 
eating"  is  Matthew's  new  commencement ;  and 
all  the  three  Evangelists  introduce  now  the  in- 
stitution of  the  sacrament.  To  it,  in  all  its 
immeasurable  importance  and  inexhaustible 
depth  of  meaning,  we  now  turn  our  attention. 


INSTITUTION  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 
(Matt.  xxvi.  26-28;  Make  xvi.  22,  24  ;  Luke  xxii.  19,  20 ;  1  Coe.  xi.  24,  25.) 


The  importance  of  these  words,  which  are 
heard  from  age  to  age  amid  the  most  solemn  of 
all  the  services  of  the  Church,  consists  prima- 
rily in  this,  that  they  appoint  and  establish  a 
sacrament.  The  development  of  the  idea  ex- 
pressed by  this  word  must  be  resigned  to  dog- 
matic theology.  We  have  only  to  observe,  that 
this  idea,  and  likewise  the  word  which  denotes 
it,  belongs  to  the  ecclesiastical  development  of 
doctrine,  and  is  not  found  immediately  in  Scrip- 
ture ;  but  that  it  must  be  classed,  nevertheless, 
among  those  things  which  the  living  tradition 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  Church  pre-supposed  and 


*  Bengal  reminds  us  that  we  nfver  read  of 
Judas'  calling  Jesus  Lord.  That  is  plain  eDou<ib, 
as  rega-  ds  the  Scripture  ;  hut  we  can  easily  sup- 
pose him  to  liave  said  Lord  to  him  whom  ho 
kissed  at  the  end. 

f  IIi<?  love  will  and  his  truth  must  expressly  an- 
swer such  an  Is  it  I?  as  that  of  Judas,  allhouah 
it  seeins  needless.     To  the  /*  it  If  of  the  amazed 


assumed  from  the  beginning,  and  without  the 
recognition  of  which  no  exposition  of  Scrip- 
ture can  fully  accomplish  its  purpose.  We  go 
further,  and  maintain  that  this  ecclesiastical 
idea  (in  the  purest  and  most  legitimate  sense 
of  the  word)  has  its  root  in  the  Scripture,  o: 
may  be  deduced  from  it  ns  a  necessary  conse- 
quence •  and  especially,  that  iiere  at  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Lord's  iSuppcr  wo  are  to  seek  its 
origin.  He  who  would  ground  dogmatic  the- 
ology upon  exposition,  will  not  fail  to  exhibit 
the  root  of  all  sacramental  doctrine  in  this  his- 
torical event;  he  who  would,  with  a  truly  un- 
prejudiced spirit,  expound  from  the  depth  of 
the  words,  as  well  as  of  the  history  with  which 
they  are  connected,  must  necessarily  at  the  very 
threshold  admit  a  proposition  which  will  be  a 
key  to  the  interpretation,  viz.,  that  the   Lord 


guililess  ones  who  question  their  own  innocence, 
no  answer  is  needlul ;  for,  despite  appearances, 
the  question  is  its  own  answer. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


509 


here  contemplated  just  sr.ch  a  sacramental  sol- 
emnity as  his  Church  celebrates.* 

It  is  very  easy  to  hurry  on  with  the  obser- 
vation that  "  the  words  of  institution  can  con- 
tain no  dogmatic  mystery  ;  for  Christ  was  not  a 
man  of  mysteries,  and  of  dogmatic  sentences." 
On  the  contiary,  it  is  perfectly  plain,  that  the 
man  who  is  in  his  own  person  tlie  mystery  of 
all  mysteries  speaks  in  the  highest  degree  mys- 
teriously concerning  the  eating  and  drinking 
of  his  body  and  of  his  blood  ;  he  connects 
with  "Do  this  "in  incontrovertible  authority 
"  This  is,  "  which  necessarily  exhibits  a  dog- 
matic ordinance  as  contained  in  the  insti- 
tution, and  offered  to  our  spiritual  under- 
standing for  its  development.  Or,  are  we  at 
once  to  assume  that  "  This  is"  mrist  be  inter- 
preted in  such  a  manner  as  that  no  mystery  or 
sacrament  shall  arise  out  of  it?     But  the  very 

fjerson  of  him  who  speaks  forbids  this,  as  we 
lave  said  ;  so  does  the  allusion  to  his  doctrine 
in  John  vi.,  concernino;  the  eating  and  drinking 
of  himself;  and  finally  an3  conclusively,  the 
connection  between  this  institution  an4  the 
Old-Testament  Passover. 

Here  as  every  where  it  is  shown  that  the 
New  Testament  cannot  be  rightly  or  adequate- 
ly understood,  unless  justice  is  done  to  its  con- 
nection with  and  derivation  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. We  have  seen  more  and  more  plainly 
in  the  introduciory  words  what  importance  the 
Lord  attached  to  the  Israelitish  Passover,  and 
by  what  degrees  he  prepared  his  disciples  to 
■understand  that  at  this  last  celebration  of  it  a 
new  institution  would  take  its  place,  which 
should  introduce  its  full  realization.  After  he 
had  already  in  the  feet-washing  excited  the 
thoughts  of  the  disciples  to  discern  in  an  exter- 
ternal  trnnsndion  a  ."w/mioZ  of  spiritual  things,  he 
speaks  of  his  sufferings  in  such  a  manner  as  dis- 
tmctly  to  indicate  himself  to  be  the  true  Lamb 
and  then  goes  on  at  once  to  speak  of  a  future 
fulfilment  of  the  prophetic  type.  When  in  this 
connection  he  himself  appoints  another  exter- 
nal ceremony  for  his  people  during  the  inter- 
mediate time  (after  his  departure,  and  until 
his  return  to  their  fellowship),  it  follows — if  we 
contemplate  the  entire  Scripture,  without  re- 
gard to  the  whole  of  which  there  can  be  no 
exposition  of  its  individual  sayings — \\\\ithis 
ceremony  must  correspond  with  that  former 
typical  transaction  as  its  fulfillmtnt,  and  bring 
the  renlity  which  was  shadowed  out  in  it — the 
Do  this,  as  well  as  This  is  my  body,  taking  the 
place  of  the  paschal  ritual.  For,  in  this  way 
we  arrive  at  tue  foundation  of  the  ecclesiastical 
dogmatic  idea  of  the  sacrament,  which,  though 
not  literally  expressed  in  Scripture,  is  certainly 
scriptural  as  involved  in  the  thing  itself— this 
external  transaction,  appointed  by  the  Lord 
himself  for    the  New-Testament  Church,  ac- 


*  In  this  we  flatly  contradict  the  position  of 
Lutz  {Bibel  Dr.gm.  p.  415),  that  the  full  sacramen- 
tal idea  appearsjn  the  N.  T.  only  in  connection 
with  the  doctrine  of  baptism,  and  not  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  Supper. 


tually  brings  and  communicates  the  grace  and 
gift  which  was  only  promised  in  the  mere  rite 
of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  thus  most  obvious, 
at  the  outset,  that  the  Lord  in  the  Supper  con- 
templated such  a  mystery ;  and  proceeding 
from  this,  we  discover  the  analogy  of  baptism 
likewise. 

Yes,  verily :  "  In  the  secret  silence  of  the 
little  circle  of  his  disciples  the  Redeemer  estab- 
lished an  insignificant  act  which  was  to  attain 
to  a  world-wide  interest."  This  is  saying  but 
little.  In  giving  a  morsel  of  bread  to  these 
twelve,  and  delivering  to  them  this  farewell  cup 
to  drink — he  regally  appoints,  and  leaves  be- 
hind him  as  a  testament,  a  miracle  of  his  power 
and  love  which  should  extend  through  all  ages 
to  the  end  of  time  ;  the  most  gracious  mystery  of 
his  internal  union  with  his  believing  people, 
exhibited  in  a  most  open  testimony  thereof  given 
to  the  world — in  short,  all  that  we  can  say 
concerning  the  blessedness  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  sacrament,  in  as  far  as  it  is  an  external 
transaction  and  has  to  do  with  earthly  ele- 
ments, takes  up  into  itself  at  first  the  prophetic 
type ;  for  while  that  was  ordained  of  God  for 
the  sake  of  its  fulfillment,  it  could  not  other- 
wise cease  than  as  continuing  in  a  changed  and 
glorified  form,  one  however  of  a  strictly  cor- 
responding character.  Figure  and  similitude 
therefore  must  obviously  be  retained  even  in 
the  idea  of  sacrament ;  for,  it  is  through  this 
that  the  connection  between  earthly  and 
heavenly  things  is  exhibited.  The  polemic 
theology  which  refused  altogether  to  admit  any 
significance  in  the  interpretation  of  types,  proved 
its  folly,  first,  by  renouncing  the  living  pro- 
gression and  transition  from  the  Old  Testament 
into  the  New,  and  then  by  denying  the  funda- 
mental principle  underlying  the  sacrament — 
the  symbolical  relation  between  nature  and 
spirit  which  pervades  the  whole  world,  and  the 
Scripture  which  interprets  it  to  us.  The  an- 
cient Church  rightly  termed  the  bread  and 
wine  in  the  sacrament,  dvjtifioXa,  dyritvna, 
even  tvtcoi,  species.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  while 
he  discerns  in  them  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  finds  them  there  only  £y  rvKoo  aprov 
uai  oi'vov,  which  must  be  interpreted  in  the 
sense  of  mera  species  into  transubstantiation. 
Calvin  is  doubtless  right  in  his  position — • 
"  First,  bread  and  wine  are  signs — which  repre- 
sent to  us  the  invisible  aliment  which  we  derive 
from  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ." 

But  the  distinctive  point  in  the  sacrament, 
as  in  the  New  Testament  generally,  is  this, 
that  in  and  with  the  figure  the  reality  also  is 
given.  It  is  a  very  improper  confusion  of  lan- 
guage bv  which  such  men  as  Ebrard,  poing  far 
beyond  Zwingle,  and  even  inconsistent  Luther- 
ans, speak  of  the  "sacraments"  of  the  old 
covenant,  which  could  have  had  no  existence 
according  to  the  true  idea  of  this  term  (Ileb. 
X.  1).  We  have  now  the  sigmim  efficax  or  more 
properly  exhibitivum.  A  mere  "  prophesying," 
or  symbolizing,  of  that  which  was  accomplished 
once  for  all  is  certainly  foreign  to  the  New 


510 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


Testament.,  and  its  external  rites  appointed  of 
God ;  even  as  in  the  Old  Testament  there 
could  be  only  ordinances  symbolical  of  the 
future  reality.  The  living,  essential  centre  of 
the  new-covenant  economy  is  the  incarnate 
jterson  of  Christ,  the  Redeemer  himself;  the 
middle  point  of  his  reilecming  tcork,  again,  is  his 
death  ;  not,  however,  as  death  in  itself,  but  as 
it  is  turned  into  life,  and  procures  life  for  us. 
The  fruit  and  tloe  injhience  of  this  death  which 
is  our  life,  of  this  life  which  springs  from  death, 
is  attained  no  otherwise  than  by  the  self-cvm- 
munication  of  the  LyrH  to  vx,  by  which  he  who 
died  for  us  implants  himself  in  us  as  living,  or 
by  which  we  partake  of  him  as  our  meat  and 
drink.  As  far  as  our  partaking  of  salvation 
comes  through  the  living,  efTectual  presence  of 
the  whole  glorified  Christ,  oflered  to  the  appro- 
priation of  simple  faith,  the  Lord's  Supper  has 
a  pre-eminent  significance :  giving  a  bodily 
presentation  to  the  most  spiritual  truth,  in 
liarmony  with  the  corporeity  of  the  glorified 
Redeemer.  It  is  the  sacrament  of  the  New 
Testament  &(?HS7  potiori ;  and  as  such  the  true 
realization  of  that  paschal  sacrifice  which  was 
similarly  placed  at  the  very  head,  or  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  Old  Testament.* 

In  the  appointment  of  the  Passover  we  have 
the  first  ordinance  for  Israel  before  the  giving 
of  the  law  ;  and  this  annual  festal  commemo- 
ration of  their  calling,  redemption,  and  pardon, 
was  actually,  as  Biihr  terms  it,  "  Israel's  birth- 
f<;a3t  and  life-feast."  In  the  solemn  prediction 
of  their  deliverance,  Exod.  vi.,  we  read  these 
words  of  declaration  and  promise — "  I,  the 
Lord,  I  tcill  bring  you  out — I  will  rid  you  of 
their  bondage — 1  will  redeem  you — I  will  take 
you  to  me  for  a  people,  and  be  your  God ;  "  to 
which  four-fold  annunciation  the  four  cups  at 
the  paschal  meal  were  thought  to  have  refer- 
ence. Thus,  the  Lord  had  heard  the  groaning 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  remembered  his 
covenant ;  but  they  heard  bim  not  for  anguish 
of  spirit,  so  that  Moses  objected — "  Behold, 
they  have  not  hearkened  unto  me."  Neverthe- 
less, that  came  to  pass  which  the  Lord  had 
said ;  but  only  in  and  through  the  faith  of 
Moses,  whose  faith  contended  lor  victory  with 
Pharaoh's  wrath,  could  the  whole  of  Israel  be 
led  forth — Israel  finally  heard  this  Moses,  kept 
the  Passover  at  his  command,!  ^i^^l  thus  was 
saved.  But  Moses  was  in  this  partly  the  type 
of  tlie  true  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith  ; 
partlv,  according  to  Ileb.  iii.  5,  a  witness  and 
prophet  of  those  things  which  were  to  be  spoken 
after,  as  fulfillment  in  the  New  Testament. 
But  to  what  did  he  give  testimony  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  that  first  law  of  Israel,  which  at 
the  same  time  contained  the  first  and  most 
comprehensive  prophetic  type  ?      The    Lord 


*  Therefore,  also,  the  first  in<^titiited.  But  not, 
accordinsj  to  that  opinion  of  Lindner,  which  lias 
passed  away  without  leavinij  any  trac\  that  it 
was  to  be  received  before  baptism. 

+  See  Ileb.  xi.  27,  and  our  exposition  in  the 
Hebrderbrief. 


saves,  spares,  and  accepts  Israel ;  but,  because 
Israel  like  Egypt  had  fallen  into  peril  of  the 
destroyer,  saves  them  only  through  Hood,  the 
blood  of  the  slaughtered  lanib.  Tims  we  have 
here  the  first  legal  sacrifice  in  that  special 
divine  economy  which  then  had  its  commence- 
ment; and  this  lamb  is  the  most  general  repre- 
sentative of  all  the  sacrificial  victims  Avhich 
were  afterwards  slain.  The  sacred  text  speaks 
of  it  so  often,  not  only  by  the  (ambiguous) 
verb  naT,  but  under  the  express  name  of  n2T 

{e.  g.,  Exod.  xii.  27  at  the  outset),  that  it  ought 
to  have  been  scarcely  necessary  for  Kurtz  to 
point  to  it,  in  opposition  to  the  embarrassed 
Lutheran  polemics  of  a  former  time.  But  it  is 
not  (as  Kurtz  thoughtlessly  says)  to  be  speci- 
fically classed  among  the  □"'Di'tT'^n^Tj  or  thank- 

oiTerings  ;  it  is  at  the  same  time,  primarily 
rather,  a  true  sin-offering  or  expiatory  sacrifice 
— in  fact,  it  embraces  the  two  species  of  offer- 
ing in  one,  in  harmony  with  its  fundamental 
character.  The  predominant  view,  which  de- 
nies this,  is  certainly  incorrect,  though  it  is  ex- 
pressed with  the  utmost  confidence,  as  for  ex- 
ample by  Lindner:  "We  now  freely  admit 
that  the  paschal  lamb  v/as  ac  expiatory  sacri- 
fice." Ebrard,  on  the  other  hand,  says,  "  The 
Israelites  generally  obtained  a  right  to  the 
covenant  of  grace,  in  circumcision  ;  the  Pass- 
over pointed  to  that  which  was  the  true  char- 
acter of  the  covenant  of  grace  and  salvation — 
an  atonement  for  actual  death-deserving  sin." 
The  np66xv6i<i  tov  n:7/<aro5,  or  sprinkling  of 
Mood,  which  belonged  essentially  to  tlie  Pass- 
over, is  illustrated  by  the  sprinkling  with  hys- 
sop (Psa.  li.  7),  as  purifying  from  sin  ;  hence 
Aben-Ezra,  for  example,  calls  this  blood  sim- 
ply a  -IDS. 

We  agree  with  Baumgarten  upon  Exod.  xii. 
13:  "It  is  a  false  spiritualism,  which  Biihr 
should  not  have  concurred  in,  when  Bochart 
says  that  this  sign  was  not  given  to  God,  but 
to  the  Hebrews,  that  they  might  be  certified 
by  it  of  their  liberation.  P'or  the  sign  is 
properly  for  him  who  sees  it  and  acts  accord- 
ingly ;  but  Jehovah  seeth  the  blood,  as  lie  him- 
self says,  and  not  the  Israelites,  who  sit  in 
their  houses."  And  when  I  see  the  hlood,  1  will 
pass  over  you — in  which  words,  as  in  all  that 
pertain  to  this  matter,  it  is  plain  that  the  pas- 
chal lamb  had  the  virtue  of  a,  propitiatory  sacri- 
fice, with  the  same  typical  rel'erence  to  a  real, 
objective  propitiation,  valid  before  God  as  the 
ground  of  redemption,  which  is  exhibited  in 
various  ways  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
Levitical   economy.*     Hence,    and    moreover. 


*  Ilpnc'tenbera's  views  in  tlie  first  ediiion  of 
the  Chrtstolnfii/  were  erroneous,  but  he  has  since 
corrected  tlicin.  Olshausen,  on  tlie  other  hand, 
j)ropei]y  maintains — ilint  "  tlie  idea  of  snhstitntion 
was  evidently  involved  in  the  sprinklins  of  the 
blood  upon  the  posts  of  the  Israelites'  dwellings, 
in  order  that  tlie  destroy  ins:  an^el  ml^ht  pass 
over,  Exod.  xii.  7.  Hence  it  possessed  a  specific 
chaiacter  entirely   its    own.      That   which    WuS 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


511. 


the  wisdom  of  God  shadowed  forth  in  this  pas- 
chal lamb  many  other  things  which  had  their 
realization  in  Christ.*  We  may  mention  the 
prohibition  to  break  the  bones,  and  John  xix. 
56 — These  things  tcere  done  that  the  Scriptures 
should  1)6  fulfilled ;  and  the  separation  of  the 
lamb  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month,  in  prepa- 
ration for  the  fourteenth,  as  Jesus  on  that  day 
entered  into  Jerusalem  a3  lvxa.(pia6^u%yfor 
his  burial,  and  so  forth. f 

Suffice  it,  that  the  paschal  meal,  and  the 
whole  Passover -feast  which  began  with  it,  had 
a  very  deep  and  full  prophetic  meaning,  which 
no  one  isolated  point,  extracted  out  of  it,  ex- 
hausts. It  was  not  merely  a  "  type  of  the 
gathering  out  of  Christ's  Church  from  the  Gen- 
tiles and  Jews ;  "  but  the  whole  feast  had  a 
very  significant  double  character,  derived  from 
the  connection  between  the  sin  and  thank- 
offering  which  we  have  traced  in  it;  its  two  char- 
acteristics being  interchangeable,  the  one  pass- 
ing into  the  other.  The  remembrance  of  the 
propitiatory  offering  became  a,  feast  nfjoy :  the 
joyous  paschal  feast  of  thanksgiving  on  the 
other  hand,  had  in  it  a  dread  solemnity,  derived 
from  the  remembrance  of  sorrow,  and  even 
pointing  to  trouble  coming  in  the  future.  As 
a  feast  of  the  sjmring,  passing  over,  riDSj  it  ex- 
hibited to  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  Israel  the 
divine  mercy,  through  which  they  had  become 
and  still  were  the  people  of  God  ;  but  as  a 
feast  of  unleavened  hread,  niSkSH  Jn>  it   was  at 

the  same  time  a  remembrance  of  sorrow,  and 
not  merely  of  that  affliction  in  slavery  out  of 
which  the  Lord  had  mercifully  delivered  them, 
butof  another  affliction  also,  which  began  on  the 
day  of  their  leaving  Egypt  and  must  continue 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  their  wander- 
ings in  the  desert.     The  tread  of  affliction,  DPl^ 

^jy,  Deut,  xvi.  3,  is  interpreted  by  Eahr  in  a 


proper  to  the  expiatory  offering,  and  tliat  which 
Avas  proper  to  the  thank-offerini,  alike  entered 
into  it ;  and  it  was  this  that  made  iv  so  impres- 
sive a  type  of  Christ's  sacrifice.  The  paclnl 
lamb,  as  the  first  offering  enjoined  of  God,  com- 
bined in  itself,  as  the  germ  of  all  the  others,  their 
collective  peculiarities."  This  is  better  than  wl:at 
Lange  says :  "  The  proper  Passover  as  a  feast  of 
ihank-rffenng  points  back  to  a  j)ropitiation  already 
accomplished,  in  which  the  sin-offering  and  the 
thank-offering  were  already  presented."  In  this 
all-embracing  type  the;/  ate  of  the  s'^me  lamb  which 
was  at  once  a  sin-ofltering  and  a  thank-offering. 

*  Concerning  this  Ran,  the  opponent  of  all 
typology,  thus  expressed  himself:  "I  must  con- 
fess ihat  the  evidence  for  the  reality  of  this  type 
had  to  my  mind  more  plausibility  than  the  evi- 
dence for  any  other.  It,  made  mo  in  fact  pause 
for  a  long  t  me." 

f  See  Eengel's  Ordo  tcmporum,  2d  ed.  p.  228. 
We  do  not  shrink  from  cont  nuing,  with  Meyer|s 
Typili — "  Yea,  as  the  great  sacrifice  was  separated 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  so  was  he  of- 
fered in  death  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  day  of  the 
world'i  history." 


one-sided  manner,  as  the  "bread  which  re- 
minded them  of  Egypt  and  the  misery  which 
they  had  endured  there,  hut  onhj  as  being  eaten 
alter  their  full  deliverance  from  that  misery  " 
— so  that  this  Jn  was  by  no  means  a  solemnity 

of  penitence  and  sorrow,  but  solely  a  feast  of 
joy.  (This  latter  idea  is  not  necessarily  con- 
tained in  the  word,  for  that  includes  some- 
times even  the  day  of  atonement.)  As  the 
very   significant   appointment  of  the    C^lhO, 

the  bitter  herbs,  was  not  merely,  as  a  symbol 
of  suffering  survived,  intended  to  remind  them 
that,  according  to  Exod.  i.  1-i,  the  Egyptians 
had  made  their  lives  bitter  (such  is  tho  inter- 
pretation of  Maimonides) ;  so  the  very  plain 
riNi*'  P^Sn?  ''?'  ^''"^  contest  forth  in  haite,  does 

not  mean  to  explain  the  bread  of  affliction  to 
be  the  food  eaten  in  Egypt.  There  the  Israelites 
had  eaten  leavened  bread  ;  but  when,  sanctified 
to  God,  they  were  separated  and  purified  from 
the  Egyptian  leaven,  and  by  a  hasty  flight  be- 
took themselves  to  the  way  which  led  to  the 
promised  land — this  unleavened  bread  was 
their  confession  that  their  full  salvation  de- 
manded, in  the  way  to  the  good  land,  hardship 
and  self-denial  still,  with  the  continuance  of 
affliction.  As  in  Deut.  viii.  3,  we  read — He 
humhltd  thee,  ^Sy^l,  and  suffered  thee  to  hun- 
ger (deprived  of  the  bread  of  Egypt),  and 
led  thee  with  manna;  so  in  this  combination, 
in  a  certain  sense,  the  unleavened  bread  coin- 
cides with  the  heavenly  food  for  the  people 
which  was  not  savory  to  the  flesh.  Hence  wo 
may  with  propriety  adopt  Meyer's  words  con- 
cerning the  accompanying  symbols  of  the  pas- 
chal meal :  "  Figures,  which  point  to  sanctifi- 
cation  from  sin,  swift  departure  from  the  land 
of  uncleanness  and  distress,  and  the  transitori- 
ness  of  earthly  life  itself." 

We  have  entered  thus  deeply,  at  the  outset 
into  the  meaning  of  the  type,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare the  reader's  mind  to  anticipate  in  how 
profound  and  many-sided  a  manner  this  type 
IS  glorified  in  the  Christian  sacrament.  Thd 
paschal  institution  dimly  symbolized  that  won- 
derful admixture  of  sorrow  and  joy,  death  and 
life,  grace  and  correction,  which  stamped  its 
character  upon  the  great  evening  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  first,  and  which  still  adheres  to  the  holy 
sacrament  as  the  solemnly  joyous  festival  of  our 
pilgrimage  between  our  accomplished  redemption 
and  the  possession  of  the  inheritance  of  glory.* 
We  bless  God  in  it,  while  we  abase  ourselves ; 
we  abase  ourselves,  while  we  bless  God.  We 
partake  of  the  life  of  him  who  died  lor  us — tliat 
we  may  die  in  and  with  him  in  order  to  live. 
This  is  now  "  the  birth-feast  and  the  life-feast" 
of  the  71CW  Israel.  As  in  its  institution,  the 
circle  of  the  Apostles  was  the  paschal  family 
representing  the  Church  which  took  its  origin 
from  the  death  of  Christ ;  so,  further,  every  lit- 


*  "  The   fruit  of  the  Holy  Supper— C/i^   Jiifrhest 
good  in  the  vale  of  tears"— sls  the  Moravian  hymn 

sings. 


512 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


<le  company  of  communicants  (as  among  the 
Israelites  every  little  number  surrounding  a 
paschal  table)  is  a  real  and  essential  symboli- 
cal representation  of  the  entire  and  complete 
Church,  of  the  many  who,  partakers  of  his  body 
and  of  his  blood,  become  thereby  his  body.* 

Finally  :  the  cups  of  wine  which  were  drunk 
— and  which  the  Lord  here  gate — had  infused, 
in  the  later  ritual,  a  predominant  element  of 
joy  and  nraise  into  the  solemnity  ;  and  we 
shall  see  (hat  the  Lord  acknowledged  and  re- 
tained this  (apart  from  its  perversion),  and 
continued  it  in  the  institution  of  the  Supper  as 
strictly  harmonizing  with  its  predominant  joy. 

After  this  general  preparatory  glance,  we 
approach  tlie  Scriptures  now  lying  befoie  us; 
but  it  is  still  necessary  to  observe  beforehand, 
in  what  way  all  is  arranged  with  reference  to 
the  ritual  of  the  Passover.  It  needs  no  proof 
that  our  Lord,  as  an  Israelite  and  under  the  law, 
observed  all  the  prescriptions  of  God  with  re- 
spect to  the  Passover,  before  it  was  done  away 
forever  by  its  consummation — this  was  already 
intimated  in  the  Itcillke.p  the  Passover  of  Mat- 
thew, and  to  eat  this  Passover  in  Luke.  We 
have  just  said  that  he  would  do  honor  to  every 
custom  and  ordinance  which  had  been  added 
with  a  good  symbolical  meaning.  But  it  is  no 
less  obvious  that  he  would  not  submit  to  every 
detail  of  the  ceremoni.il,  if  it  had  already  as- 
sumed the  petty  and  frivolous  character  into 
which  it  degenerated  in  later  times.  The  trans- 
ition from  the  old  to  the  new,  if  it  is  to  ex- 
hibit a  living  bond  of  union,  appears  to  us  to 
require  that  the  ancient  ritual  should  not  be 
Ctterly  abolished  and  done  away  before  the 
new  is  introduced,  but  that  it  should  melt  into 
it  and  give  place  to  its  new  authority  by  in- 
troducing it.  This  would  be  suggested  to  every 
reasonable  thinker,  and  it  is  justified  by  the 
te::t.  It  is  impossible,  indeed,  to  harmonize  all 
the  individual  details,  partly  because  the  nar- 
rative does  not  record  every  particular,  and 
partly  because  the  ordinances  of  that  period 
are  uncertain  to  us.  In  general,  we  may  re- 
gard the  table  as  arranged  with  all  its  appur- 
tenances according  to  rule;  this  the  Lord's 
prepare  required,  as  Matthew  records  its  being 
accomplished.  As  regards  the  first  cup  we 
have  said  enough  already  on  Luke.  The  ex- 
pression ;K£''''V/'<*  T})i  duniXov,  fruit  of  the 
vine,  Luke  xxii.  18,  Matt.  xxvi.  29,  like  the 
blessing  or  thanksgiving  generally,  corresponds 

firecisely  with  the  formula;  which  have  been 
landed  down,  for  the  bread  or  the  wine,  etc., 
nnX  '?]n2—"  Blessed    art   thou,  0   God,   our 

everlasting  King,  who  hath  brought  forth  from 
the  earth  its  Iruit — who  hast  created  the  fruit 
of  the  vine."  This  do  in  remembrance — eii 
dvd).ivT}6iv — seems  to  be  in  some  sense  an  al- 


lusion to  the  fact  that  in  the  Passover  there 
was  a  remembrance  and  a  showing  forth  or  pro- 
clamation (rrian,  hence  1  Cor.  xi.  26,  xaray- 

yiWETE).  Nor  is  it  without  probability  that 
in  I'his  is  my  body  there  is  something  analogous 
to  a  cus(omaryjciasc/ta^  formula.  Not,  however 
(as  has  been  polemically  alleged),  to  the  words 
concerning    the    unleavened    bread  —  Q*"1V01 

Nj;"ix3  NjnzN  lbs  n  K'jyn  N»ni)  ^5^— but  to 

the  strong  and  emphatic  expression  5)^3  whicli, 
following  the  ordinance  of  Moses  in  Exod.  xii. 
26,  27,  was  probably  substituted  for  nDS"n3T 
Nin — the  body  of  the  Passover.*  Thus  this 
solemn  word  ©f  our  Lord  Jesus  gives  assurance, 
as  its  first  and  direct  meaniHg — "  Th^  paschal 
Lamb  signified  me;  "f  for  he  says  at  the  new  in- 
stitution— Take  and  eat,  this  is  my  body  ;  just 
as  formerly  it  was  said — This  is  the  body  of  the 
Passover.  (Quite  parallel,  then — My  blood  of 
the  new  convenant;  by  which  he  testifies 
that  the  propitiatory  blood  of  the  old  covenant 
was  a  type  of  his  blood.)  These  allusions  be- 
ing admitted,  the  question  has  been  asked 
whether  the  Lord  first  went  through  the  whole 
ceremonial  of  the  Passover  with  all  its  ancient 
formala?,  elevations,  and  announcements,  in 
order  then  to  place  in  ojypositinn  to  it  his  own 
new  institution — appending  the  sacramei.t  to 
the  Passover,  and  not  incorporating  it  with  it ; 
but  we  have  already  intimated  our  dissent  from 
this.  To  us  it  seems  a  discordant  thought,  that 
the  Lord  should  first  complete  the  shadowy 
and  typical  ceremony — the  interpretation  of 
which  must  have  been  pressed  throughout 
upon  his  spirit;  "and  then  quite  independ- 
ently of  the  preceding  solemnity,  once  more 
break  the  bread."  We  confidently  believe  that 
here,  where  the  Old  and  New-Testament  insti- 
tutions met  in  one,  they  must  have  passed  into 
each  other;  consequently  that  the  Lord  utter- 
ed his  "  This  is,"  instead  of  that  customary  one 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  spoken.  In 
this  supposition  we  are  confirmed  by  the  record 
ef  Luke  and  Paul,  according  to  which  the  cup 
was  taken  jtc  e  r  a  to  d  sin  v  7/6  at,  after 
supper — ichen  he  had  supped.  Consequently,  as 
we  understand  it,  the  word  which  now  elevated 
the  b7-ead  into  the  body  of  the  sacrificial  meal, 
belonged  still  to  the  paschal  eatino;:^ — not  so, 
however,  what  followed.  With  this  it  is  in 
accordance,  that  the  cup,  which  Jesus  now 
gave  them,  was  instead  ot  the  customary  third 
cup,  the  naian  Di3>  or  cup   of  blessing ;  for 


*  Hence  in  Exod.  xii.  6  the  whole  assemlli/  of  the 
to^igrcgatwn  is  designedly  tliws  vague  :  it  stands 
for  cv(r]i  Vif'ie  tompnny  around  llioir  l-^mt>,  as  for 
the  u:li0.e  Church  in  its  typical  as  well  as  its  real 
secse. 


*  In  tlie  Mishna  we  find  the  term  of  appellation 
riDS  b^  iSIJ  J    Paulas   and   Scheibel    agree   in 

thinking  that  ro  dco/ud  fiou  corresponds  with  this 
— and  we  must  agree  with  them. 

+  I  nm  the  La:nb  of  God — 'estifled  now  at  the 
end,  as  the  B.iptist  had  testified  in  the  begin- 
ning. 

X  Matt.  V.  26.  'EdOto^'roiv  Se  avrSv  is  not — 
When  they  had  eaten  ;  but  repeating  as  i;i  ver.  21. 
This  is  i.npoitant  for  the  presence  of  iLe  be- 
ti  ayer. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  25- 


513 


this  did  -not  follow  until  the  lamb  was  wholly 
consumed,  and  no  man  might  eat  any  thing 
after  it.*  After  the  word  concerning  "  the 
blood  shed"  no  man  even  drank  anything 
more ;  that  which  usually  took  place  after  the 
third  cup  was  not  observed,  and  the  sublime 
discourses  of  our  Lord  took  the  place  of  the 
usual  continuance  of  their  companionship  into 
the  night. 

So  far,  this  might  be,  so  to  speak,  the  Old- 
Testament  frame  which  is  in  one  sense  the  setting 
of  the  scene  of  this  mystery,  though  in  another 
sense  it  is  aframe  whicli  cannot  hold  it.  But  now 
let  us,  in  the  light  of  the  New  Testament,  ap- 
proach more  nearly  and  penetrate  more  deeply. 
As  belie  vmg  Christians  we  behold  there  illustrat- 
ed the  incarnate  glory  of  Jesus ;  we  behold  his 
divine-human  glory  in  all  the  record  of  this  even- 
ing. As  such  it  is  indistinguishably  one  ;  but 
we  must  in  our  contemplation  discriminate,  and 
rise  from  tlie  human  to  the  divine.  The  Lord 
exhibits  himself  Awman^y  from  the  beginning  in 
the  deep  and  perfect  sympathy  of  his  human 
life,  in  his  farewell  love  to  his  disciples,  in  his 
cry  of  lamentation  over  the  lost  one.  This  last 
calamity  was  his  deepest  sorrow  at  the  meal 
■which  he  had  longed  for  with  such  deep  desire  ; 
but  his  divim-hnmaii  love,  which  might  be 
embittered  but  not  exasperated,  gets  the  vic- 
tory over  this.  The  hand  of  the  traitor  at  the 
table  hinders  him  not  from  remaining  faithful, 
and  fulfilling  his  trust — without  any  external 
exclusion  of  him  who  was  internally  shut  out, 
he  fulfills  his  promised  dianOs/iiat  v/uiv,  "  I 
appoint  unto  you,"  establishes  his  covenant 
and  the  testament  of  redemption  on  the  bor- 
ders of  life  and  death.  AfTectingly  human  is 
the  Forget  me  not;  but  with  divine  sublimity 
is  added — /am  still  with  you,  and  live  in  you. 
He  holds  out  to  them  in  the  Tnie ;  eat  and 
drink,  his  body  and  his  life,  his  heart's  blood, 
himself,  as  corporeally  as  spiritually,  for  the 


offended  at  his  hard  saying  and  turned  back  from 
him  while  they  remained,  was  deeply  impressed 
upon  the  minds  of  the  Apostles  (and  v/ho  can 
doubt  this  ?)— if  we  must  suppose  them  to  have 
many  times  thought  of  the  eating  and  drinking 
which  was  then  so  incomprehensibly  demanded 
and  promised  (and  does  not  that  equallv  fol- 
low ?)— then  must  they  at  this  lime  also  'have 
remembered  it,  when  he  renewed  the  offence  of 
the  incomprehensible  words  with  the  most  gra- 
cious and  self-devoting  love.  They  could  not 
but  discern  in  his  words  a  profound  mystery 
to  be  disclosed  in  the  future,  and  at  the'  same 
time  an  unconditional  command  to  his  own  to 
do  this,  connecting  an  internal  and  wonderful 
receiving  with  the  external  eating  and  drinking. 
Conaequently  the  Lord  must  be  understood  by 
us  as  his  disciples  first  understood  him  ;  though 
with  us  as  with  them,  the  Spirit  must  bring  the 
full  understanding  only  after  the  actual  re- 
ceiving.* 

It  is  perfectly  true,  and  accords  with  the 
words  of  Jesus  concerning  the  new  command- 
ment of  the  new  covenant,  that  this  mysterious 
union  with  him  takes  place  in  the  hve  of  living 
faith,  and  leads  to  the  perfection  of  his  own  in 
this  love.  But  we  must  not,  however,  say  with 
Lange  (the  hyperphysical,  bodily-spiritual  foun- 
dation of  the  mystery  being  thrust  aside),  that 
these  words  of  Jesus  concerning  love  in  John 
"are  the  light  figure  of  the  Supper  according 
to  the  Johannean  view."  For  it  is  far  too  little 
to  say — "The  most  essential  characteristic  of 
the  Supper  being  this,  to  bind  the  disciples  to- 
gether in  love  through  the  exhibition  and 
sealing  of  the  love  of  Christ — and  therefore  this 
was  to  be  the  mark  of  distinction  (symbol  =  sa- 
cramput?)  of  the  disciples  of  Christ."  We 
think  that  love  is  life,  but  life  comes  to  us 
through  the  self-impartationof  him  who  is  giv- 
en for  us  and  in  us;  and,  further,  this  self-com- 
I  munication  is  sealed  to  us  (and  is  not  merely 

glorifyincr  future.     He  gives  himself  to  all,  even  I  exhibited )  as  the  giving  to  us  of  his  actual  flesh 

to  tlie  false  one;    and  comforts  his  own  heart  j  and  blood. _  Luther  says  well— Where  the  for 

by  the  thought  of  the  many  who  will  in  after 

times  partake  of  him.     But  all   this  is  abun- 


dantly developed  in  the  divine-human  mystery 
of  this  ordained  and  promised  eating  and 
drinking,  which  rests  upon  the  atoning  For  you, 
and  consists  in  the  distributing  This  is,  connect- 
ing with  the  earthly  element  the  highest  gift 
of  the  heavenly  life. 

What  then  is  this?  My  lady  and  my  Uood. 
Here  we  are  directly  reminded  of  the  discourse 
in  John  vi.,  without  reference  to  which  no  ex- 
positor should  approach  the  words  of  institu- 
tion. We  must  refer  therefore,  as  far  as  we 
can  avoid  repetition,  to  all  that  was  there  said 
touching  the  literal  meaning  of  the  words  con- 
cerning flesh  and  blood,  and  the  true  interpre- 
tation of  John  vi.  51,  53,  63.  If  we  must 
suppose  that  that  critical  time,  when  many  were 


giveness  of  sins  is  there  is  also  life  and  salva- 
tion ;  and  we  may  with  perfect  propriety  in- 
vert the  sentence — Only  where  there  is  life  in 
and  from  the  living  Saviour  of  the  world,  is 
there  an  abiding  forgiveness  of  sins.  In  t!ie 
New  Testament,  we  repeat,  no  mere  assurance 
and  announcement  of  the  "  For  you"  is  sufH- 


*  We  have  nothing  to  do  here  with  the  Gentile 
eastern  of  drinking  a  ceneral  farewell  (up  after 
the  tables  were  cleared,  thoug'a  it  may  be  biough: 
into  comparison. 


*  Consequently— \o  refer  to  this  at  once  and  do 
justice  to  all  sides— the  splritualizina  of  the 
Quakers,  that  is,  their  utter  rejection  of  the  sa- 
crament, is  decidedly  and  altoaether  an  error.  It 
understands  here,  as  in  John  vi.,  the  body  or  fle.sh 
and  blood  to  be  onlr  the  "heavenly  seed"  of  the 
nature  of  Christ,  "  but  net  tl/at  body,  or  temi.io 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  born  of  the  Viru:n 
Mary,  and  in  which  hewalkel,  lived,  rnd  suireicd 
in  the  landof  Judea"  (Barch.y's  Jpolojtj,  \>vo\). 
xiii.).  He  goes  on  to  say :  "  The  ])roles.sois  ol 
Christianity,  IV r  want  of  a  trne  spiritual  under- 
standing, have  sought  to  tie  this  Supper  of  the 
Lord  to'that  ceremony  used  l.y  Christ  before  his 
death,  of  breaking  bread  aud  dnnk.ng  uiite  wUli  bis 
disciples." 


614 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


cient:  that  is  still  only  the  preparation  instead 
of  the  liilfiUing  reality.  There  must  be  and 
there  is  a  true  and  real  "In  you." 

This  is  what  the  Supper  teaches  us,  this  is 
the  testimony  of  the  words  of  institution,  to 
which  we  are  drawing  more  and  more  nt^ar. 
We  are  far,  however,  from  asserting  with  an 
opponent  of  Calvin  in  Hamburg,  that  "  there  is 
in  all  the  Scripture  no  passage  which  more 
plainly  declares  that  the  bread  is  his  body." 
We  would  rather  say  with  the  profound  and 
careful  Pcttersen  :*  "  It  is  much  to  be  lamented 
that  men  over-zealous  foi'  tlie  Lutheran  doctrine 
make  so  much  stir  about  t!;e  words  of  institu- 
tion. These  word  may  contain  the  Lutheran 
dogma,  but  do  not  o/i/unn^IvLS  exegetically  cwi- 
strairi  its  acceptance  ;  and  that  doctrine  is 
rather  to  be  first  derived  from  the  «««%?/ of 
the  tohob  of  Scripture!  and  of  the  whole  faith, 
ar.d  therefore  to  be  received  as  the  genuine 
sense  of  the  words  of  institution,  notwithstand- 
ing that  other  methods  of  exposition  might  be 
found — but  this  evangelically  rcientific  method 
is  too  much  lost  sight  of  in  the  heat  of  argu- 
ment and  assertion."  We  are  by  no  means 
insensible  to  the  ecclesiastical  and  scientific 
iniportance  of  a  sound  understanding  in  th-i'se 
matters,  as  demonstrated  by  the  contests  and 
divisions  of  the  Church  :  but  we  would  not 
forget  the  words  of  Luther,  among  the  best 
which  he  wrote  on  the  subject — "  It  is  a  great 
and  marvellous  thing  to  be  a  Christian,  and  God 
lavs  more  stress  on  that  than  on  the  sacrament. 
Fur  the  Christian  is  not  made  for  the  sakeot  th« 
sacrament,  but  the  sacrament  was  instituted  for 
the  sake  of  the  Christian."  We  shall  take  the 
utmost  pains  to  exa;T;in'i  as  dupifjaii  as  is 
possible  and  fit,  the  Wdrds  of  institution ;  in 
order  *hat  we  may  rightly  distinguish  what 
they  cannot  say — what  they  incontrovertibly  do 
eav — wliat  they  might  on  the  one  side,  but  also 
what  they  might  on  the  other,  say,  according 
to  the  point  from  which  exposition  views  them. 
Here  there  is  the  freedom  of  a  diverse  accepta- 
tion, and  liberty  for  evory  man  to  avow  and 
testify  for  which  view  his  entire  system  of  faith 
and  understanding  of  Scripture  impels  him  to 
decide.  We  shall  avail  ourselves  of  this  liber- 
ty ;  but  lest  we  should  fail  perfectly  to  discrim- 
inate between  a  possible  and  certain  meaning 
of  any  of  these  words,  we  have  only  to  remind 
our  readers  beforehand,  that  with  all  the  exe- 
gete's  striving  after  objectivity,  the  higher  the 
object  is  the  more  surely  will  his  exposition  be 
more  or  less  subjective. 


Now  for  tJte  words  of  institution.  There  is, 
however,  yet  one  preliminary  question — How 
did  the  I/n-d  utter  tlum?  which  of  the  sayings 
in  the  four  records  are  the  authentic  words  of 
Lis  moulh  ?     We  take  it  for  granted  that  the 


♦  Die  Lehre  von  dcr  Kirche,  bk.  iii.  p.  445. 
f  We  maybe  permitted  toa'.d — from  the  whole 
emNcciion  iu  which  the  words  were  first  spoken. 


reader  has  the  four  accounts  in  juxtaposition 
before  him — that  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians 
being  included.  We  set  out  with  the  indisput- 
able critical  canon  that  omissions  and  abbrevia- 
tions in  each  narrator  are  of  no  moment ;  and 
allow  that  addition  contrary  to  the  truth,  every 
so-called  extension  and  working  up  of  the 
account,  is  objectionable  in  proportion  to  tl'.e 
importance  and  solemnity  of  the  record  thus 
dealt  with.  But  this  canon  can  be  applied  in 
all  its  rigor  to  the  Gospels  ;  with  regard  to  the 
latter  jiart  of  it  we  allege  our  faith  in  their  full 
inspiration,  and  plead,  further,  the  transcendent 
and  inccnr:parab!e  importance  of  these  sacred 
words.  Only  thus  can  we  obtain  a  secure  and 
comprehensive  foundation  for  the  combination 
of  all  the  words  which  our  Lord  certainly 
spoke.  Every  word,  which  any  one  may  omit, 
but  another  records,  must  be  accounted  valid; 
and  the  whole  runs  thus — "  Take,  eat,  this  if 
my  bo-ly,  which  is  given  (broken)  for  you,  Do 
this  in  remembrance  of  me — Drink  ye  all  of 
this,  lor  this  (thisntp)  is  my  blood,  of  the  New 
Testament  (the  New  Testament  in  my  blood), 
which  is  shed  for  many  (for  you)  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins — This  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it, 
in  remembrance  of  me."  Here  it  is  very  ob- 
servable that  in  "this  is  my  body"  all  four 
are  perfectly  at  one.* 

But  whali  of  the  variations  of  the  same  words  ? 
Did  the  Lord  say — Given  for  you  (as  Luke  has 
it),  or — Brolcen  for  you  (as  Paul  says  after- 
wards) ?  Did  he  say — This  is  my  blood  of 
the  New  Testament  (as  in  the  first  two  Evangel- 
ists), or — IVie  New  Testament  in  my  Uood  (as 
Luke  and  Paul  agree  in  saying)  ?  Finally,  did 
he  say — Shed /or  ma;)!)' (according  to  the  first 
two)  or — For  you  (according  to  Luke)  ?  It  is 
hard  to  suppose  at  first  that  all  these  can 
historically  accord.  The  old  assumption  of 
simple  faith  we  find  in  Richter's  UauMbel  : 
"  The  Lord  prd^nbly  repeated  several  times  the 
words  of  distribution,  and  in  explaining  his 
meaning  used  interchangeably  one  or  the  other 
form  of   expression."    ^In  this   Krummacher 


*  Much  may  be  said,  and  satisfactorily,  as  to 
the  omission  of  this  and  that  word  by  one,  and  its 
retention  by  anotlier  ;  but,  in  this  matter,  it  is  not 
wise  to  demand  absolute  certainty  anvl  seek  to  ex- 
plain every  thing.  Tiiose  who  do  .so  fall  into 
frreat  extravasai.cies.  It  is  possible  that  the 
Gncclzing  Luke  mii-ht  put  eixetptdrsly  for 
evXoyeiy,  though  we  shall  give  a  difterent  ac- 
count. But  wiio  will  believe  that  ho  omitted 
Aafiere,  cpnyers  because  it  was  a  Ilebrai.sra, 
and  betUT  Qro  k  to  avoid  tlie  repetition  of  Aa- 
/icrc  in  ver.  17  ]  It  has  no  more  value  than  mere 
assertion,  to  say — tliat  Luke,  more  esjiccially  re- 
prcsentina  Jesus  as  llic  Saviour  of  sinners,  was 
coiistra  lied  to  add  "  given  for  you,"  and  Ihcrcfort 
also  "  in  reniemljranco  of  me  " — that  JLattliew, 
keepinji  i)romiiient  tlie  King  of  Israel,  gives  the 
word  of  tiijunction  IUete — that  Luke's  Oiajcisra 
explains  tho  paraphrastic  character  of  the  words 
touching  the  cup — and  that  the  nepL  noXXaiv  m 
Matthew  and  ]\Iark  is  a  mere  Hebraism  (D'31  for 
a  great  uuraber). 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


615 


decisively  occurs.  We  must  needs  admits  that 
this  is  pomhk  ;  but  none  of  its  advocates  has 
gone  beyond  its  "  probability  ;  "  to  us,  how- 
ever, any  such  repetition  as  this  theory  sup- 
poses, and  especially  any  such  changing  of  the 
exnression,  seems  highly  improbable  at  so 
solemn  and  important  an  institution.  The 
sacrament  sinks  thereby  into  something  too 
much  like  a  mere  human,  confidential,  com- 
munication. Pfenninger  strives  to  make  it 
more  acceptable  by  representing  the  Lord  as 
turnine  to  the  right  hand  and  to  the  left,  speak- 
ing the  words  on  the  side  of  John  in  one  man- 
ner, and  on  the  side  of  Peter  in  another.  We 
have  no  contention  with  those  who  can  thus 
satisfv  themselves  :  it  is  a  matter  of  feelmg 
and  taste.  But  far  better  than  this  solution, 
wliich  p'aces  the  variation  in  the  original 
utterance  of  our  Lord,  is  the  theory  which  as- 
sumes a  later  variation  of  the  expression  in  its 
liturgical  use  in  the  Church.  There  arc  some 
who  have  said,  If  Moses  (not  without  design) 
lias  slightly  changed  the  text  of  the  Decalogue 
in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  so  also  the  free 
Spirit  permitted  a  like  deviation  from  the 
exact  words  of  the  sacramental  institution,  the 
same  sense  being  strictly  preserved.  Those 
who  think  so,  would  assign  the  highest  histori- 
cal authority  to  Matthew,  whom  Mark  almost 
entirely  follows  :  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of 
TTO/lAcjK,  "  many,"  instead  of  which  the  v/naiv, 
"  you,"  might  easily  afterwards  have  been  sub- 
stituted. For,  supposing  vjnajy  to  have  been 
the  original  word — who  would  have  dared  to 
substitute  TtoXXt^v  ? 

But  we  are  not  content  with  this,  and  there 
is  much  higher  ground  to  be  taken.  We  read 
in  the  synoptical  tables  of  Sommer,  in  con- 
formity with  the  prevalent  view,  upon  Luke — 
"  This  was  probably  the  ecclesiastical,  liturgical 
form  in  the  Pauline  congregations."  What- 
ever truth  there  may  be  in  this,  it  is  altogether 
wrong  to  attribute  whatever  is  peculiar  in 
Luke  to  a  subsequent  human  liturgical  arrange- 
ment. Even  if  vn^v  might  have  taken  the 
place  of  itoWaJv,  surely  the  SifionEvov, 
"given"  (or  y^Xa^'tsvov  f)  must  have  been 
spoken  by  our  Lord  ;  its  addition,  on  any  other 
supposition,  would  have  been  presumption. 
So  the  do  this  must,  according  to  oar  feeling, 
have  come  from  the  Lord  himself,  especially 
when  connected  with  the  in  rememlrrance  of  me. 
Finally,  the  change  between  the  words  hlood 
and  testament  would  never  have  been  thought 
of  by  any,  without  the  highest  authority.  We 
are  therefore  driven  to  an  assumption  which 
we  are  fully  warranted  by  the  Scripture  in 
holding  fast.  The  fact  before  us  is,  that  in 
this  solitary  instance  Paid  expressly  quotes  a 
word  of  our  Jjord  which  deviates  from  the 
Evangelists,  and  quotes  it  most  definitively  as 
the  Lord's,  in  a  connection  which  lavs  all"  the 
stress  upon  that  circumstance.  We  cannot 
but  ask  for  his  authority  for  such  a  version  of 
the  Lord's  sayings.  Now,  he  anticipates  that 
question,  and  assures  us — I  received  it  from  tJie 
Lard.    The  reader  who  believes  in  the  fact  that 


revelations  were  ever  vouchsafed  to  the  Apos- 
tle, will  be  all  the  more  iirraly  convinced  the 
more  he  thinks  of  it ;  and  here,  on  so  important 
an  occasion,  when  he  is  citing  the  words  and 
acts  of  our  Lord  on  that  night,  he  cannot  be 
referring  to  the  intermediate  tradition  of  mere 
eye  witnesses.*  We  cannot  account,  on  that 
supposition,  for  this  particular  appeal,  this 
/  instead  of  We,  and  this  empljatic  from  the 
Lord;  the  dno  which  we  agree  with  Nitzsch 
in  regarding  as  equally  emphatic  with  the  naftd 
which  Schulthess  finds  wanting,  because  in 
connection  with  eyoo  yxp  ncxpeXafiov,  "fori 
received,"  it  musi  be  understood  as  standing 
m  contrast  with  any  mere  human  information^^ 
received  at  second  or  third  hand— just  as  in 
Gal.  i.  12.t  The  Apostle  is  certainly  nut  ap- 
pealing, in  this  specific  matter  of  the  sacra- 
ment, to  that  one  general  revelation  through 
which  he  was  converted  ;  for  we  cannot  see  the 
distinctive  force,  on  that  supposition,  of  such 
a  strenuous  and  special  reierence  to  it.  We 
say,  therefore,  with  Von  Gerlach,  that  "  he  re- 
ceived it  from  the  Lord  in  such  a  manner  as 
the  others  had  not  received  it,  so  that  he  could 
present  it  to  the  Church  as  his  own  revelation 
with  apostolical  authority  ;"  and,  with  Olshau- 
sen,  "  Accordingly  we  have  here  an  authentic 
declaration  from  the  Risen  Lord  himself  as  to 
the  meaning  ot  his  sacrament,  and  the  Church 
has  always  regarded  this  passage,  thus  viewed, 
as  the  important  New-Testament  explanation 
of  the  Lord's  Supper."  Hence  this  expositor, 
in  his  comment  upon  the  Gnspels,  cites  this 
Pauline  passage  as  the  main  ttxL ;  and  we  have 
shown  our  own  opinion  by  placing  the  passage 
on  a  level  with  the  Gospels  in  the  text  of  our 
exposition. 

By  this  authentic  explanation  from  above 
of  tile  meaning  of  the  sacrament  to  be  cele- 
brated in  the  Church — which  of  course  would 
fix  forever  the  liturgical  form — the  Lord  did 
not  pronounce  the  other  records  of  what  he 
spoke  upon  earth  to  be  spurious.  He  did  no 
more  than  "give  his  authoritative  decision  as 
to  the  particular  form  of  administering  the  sa- 
crament," which,  moreover,  may  be  regarded 
"  as  a  combination  and  exposition  of  the  actual 
words  of  Jesus,  likewise"  (Nitzsch).  He  has 
confirmed  the  ?)i86nEvoi',giccn,^.\\<\  strength- 
ened it  by  TiXooi-teyoVylroken ;  he  has  made 
the  New  Testament  prominent;  and  added  a 
second  and  most  distinctively  imperative  Do  this. 
Such  a  supplementary  change  is  an  incompar- 
ably more  becoming  supposition  than  that  of 
a  variation  at  the  time  of  the  institution  itself. 


*  Especially,  if  it  should  appear  that  this  tradi- 
tion was  not  the  more  correct, 

f  We  ncree  with  him,  further,  in  wlr.t  he  jjoes 
on  to  say:  "  Tliere  might  ai)pear  to  lollow  IVoui 
this,  a  similar  relation  to  the  entire  histo:y  of 
Christ  " — for  it  would  have  been  almost  uiiapos- 
tolical  for  one  who  was  so  mightily  confirmed  as 
equal  with  the  Apostles  to  have  been  under  the 
necessity  of  informing  himself  after  the  manner 
of  Luke. 


516 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


The  Bread.  Matthew  alone  uses  the  ar- 
ticle, roK  aprov*  and  thereb\'  defines  it  to 
have  been  the  unleavened  bread  then  present 
on  the  table;  the  other  accounts,  which  have 
merely  "  bread"  or  "a  bread,"  serve  probably 
a  two-fold  purpose  thereby.  They  intimate, 
first,  that  hread  simply  as  such  was  sufficient 
for  an  ordinance  which  was  not  bound  to  the 
paschal  ceremony,  which  was  not  limited  to  Is- 
rael, and  which  had  a  far  higher  meaning  than 
the  mere  continuation  of  the  Old-Testament 
rite;t  and  then,  by  the  generalization,  which 
forsakes  the  historical  style,  they  prepare  for 
the  observance  of  that  mystery  in  wiiich  even 
common  earthly  bread  was  so  marvellously 
sanctified. 

He  blessed  it — gave  thanks.  Luther 
has"dankete,"  gam  thanks,  wilhont  distinction, 
for  both  the  £vXoyjj6ai  of  the  first  two  Evan- 
gelists, and  the  £vx(xpi6r7t6ai  of  Luke  and 
Paul  (and  a  var.  reading  in  Matt.).  The  two 
are  in  a  certain  sense  one,  and  were  expressed 
by  the  same  word  or  prayer.  The  one  idea 
sufficiently  included  the  other;  and  to  have 
put  them  one  after  the  other  would  have  been 
out  of  harmony  with  the  sublimity  of  the  style 
generally,  and  the  unity  of  the  whole  act. 
There  is,  notwithstanding,  a  distinction  ;  not, 
however,  that  the  one  is  a  more  Hebrew, 
the  other  a  more  Greek,  expression.  Christ 
gives  thanh  to  God  for  the  food,  but  in  this 
thank-sgiving  he  blesses  the  food  itself;  and  in 
this  latter  meaning,  the  evAoyj/dcx?,  "and 
Vensed,"  refers,  like  tool-,  brake,  and  gate,  to  the 
accusative  firead.  Both  meanings  are  contained 
in  the  Hebrew  7]"i3,  and  they  pass  into  each 

other  In  the  account  of  the  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand,  the  first  two  Evangelists  use 
ihXnyeU'  for  the  thanksgiving  uttered  with 
eyes  lilted  to  heaven;  Luke,  however,  has 
Ev\6yrf6Ey  avTovi,X  he  blessed  them,  the 
loaves,  comp.  1  Sam.  ix.  13;  John,  again,  writes 
simply  Euxapi6r?'/(}a?,  but  ascribes  in  ver.  23 
a  wonderful  blessing  to  this  giving  thanks. 
But  the  distinction  is  clearly  recognized  in  this 
identity;  for  Paul,  who  is  accustomed  to  dis- 
tinguish the  two  words,  in  1  Cor.  x.  16  makes 
prominent  in  zchich  toe  h'.ess  the  consecrating 
virtue  of  the  evXoyia,  the  blessing,  uttered 
over  the  cup.  That  our  Lord  did  not  adhere 
simphj  'dnd  fully  to  the  customary  ritual  prayer, 
although  connecting  his  word  and  act  Willi  it, 


*  We  cannot  acknowledge,  T,-it'i  Tisch.  and 
Laclini.,  tlie  omission  of  the  arlicle  to  be  ctisiti/  e.\- 
])lained  on  that  account. 

f  The  earlv  Church,  therefore  (.\cts  ii.  46,  in 
the  daily  celebr.aion>,  used  the  common  daily 
bread  (;wHM  ttsitatits) — until  the  Romis'.i  ordinances 
(Pope  Alexander  1.)  brought  buck  iu  this  the  Old 
Te.stainoMt. 

f  Some  Codd.  have  Irr''  a^ro??,but  that  is  only 
a  cloas.  ConsPijiientiy  here  and  in  the  plain 
which  ue  hicss  of  1  Cor.  x.  IG,  there  is  ample  letu- 
tat'on  of  Schu  z's  assertion — ilmt  the  N.  T.  has 
no  trace  of  the  coiisccia.  (;n  or  blessing  of  dead 
things. 


is  plain  from  the  new  significance  of  this  broad, 
the  consecration  of  wnich  required  a  new  and 
free  expression.  The  old  form  of  prayer  and 
thanksgiving  referred  merely  to  the  bread  of 
the  earth  ;  but  the  Lord  contemplates  and  con- 
secrates in  his  prayer  himself  in  this  bread, 
the  gift  of  heaven  for  the  life  of  the  vk'orld. 
Grotius:  "At  this  time  and  place,  he  poured 
out  his  thanksgivings,  not  for  the  old  creation 
and  its  gift  alone,  but  also  for  the  new  cre- 
ation for  the  sake  of  wh'^h  he  came  into  the 
world — for  the  redemption  of  the  world,  now 
contemplated  as  accomplished."  He  can  give 
thanks  by  anticipation,  for  he  beholds  his  body 
already  broken  like  this  bread  ;  he  gives  him- 
self thus  to  his  disciples  for  their  life.  But 
this  thanksgiving  uttered  in  the  love  of  the 
Son  of  Man  in  his  humiliation,  is  the  germ 
and  beginning  of  the  blessing  of  divine  miracu- 
lous power  to  be  pronounced  upon  the  bread 
of  all  communions — a  blessing  which  should 
go  beyond  the  first  benediction  of  the  Creator. 
There  has  been  a  foolish  contention  about  the 
relation  of  the  blessing  and  the  thanksgiving  (in- 
correctly considered  as  apart  from  and  inde- 
pendent of  each  other),  as  to  their  antecedence 
and  consequence  respectively.  Our  opinion  is 
just  this.  The  former,  with  which  the  Lord 
commences,  as  connected  with  the  sacred  cus- 
tom of  the  old  feast,  is  certainly  the  simple 
though  comp-ehensive  thanksgiving  for  the 
earthly  fruit,  the  bread  ;  but  he  does  not  on 
this  occasion  limit  himself  to  that;  he  con- 
nects with  it  a  thanksgiving  for  the  new  cre- 
ation, for  redemption  (as  Grotius  said).  In 
the  Spirit  he  gives  himself  up  to  the  Father, 
and  for  the  Father's  sake  to  men,  while  he  him- 
self thanks  the  Father  for  his  own  self-sacri- 
fice. But  such  thanksgiving  as  this  was,  ut- 
tered with  direct  reference  to  the  sacrament 
now  to  be  instituted,  cannot  but  attach  a  con- 
secration to  the  creature — bread — here  exhib- 
ited, which  would  give  its  character  to  the 
myntcry  which  it  was  the  Redeemer's  purpose 
to  connect  in  future  with  this  bread.  Hereby 
not  only  was  bread  blessed  anew  (as  in  the 
former  thanksgivings  of  Christ  who  ate  it)  ; 
but  in  particular  tlie  bread  of  the  Supper  was 
blessed  to  the  end  of  time.  What  and  how 
great  that  blessing  is,  we  do  not  consider 
now  ;  but  the  most  frigid  interpretation,  of 
the  most  sober  expositor  who  really  believes 
in  him,  must  allow  that  a  certain  power  of 
blessing  was  derived  to  the  sacramental  ele- 
ments from  this  last  thanksgiving-prayer  of 
our  Lord.  Meyer's  exclusive  declaration — 
"  The  blessing  was  not  for  the  bread  or  the 
wine,  but  for  the  person  who  through  their 
benediction  was  to  be  blessed  " — is  very  ques- 
tionable for  this  reason,  that  this  first  ci'^api- 
6tb1v  and  et-Xoyelv  actually  concerned  the 
bread  and  wine,  even  as,  in  the  analogy  of 
lower  things,  there  is  a  certain  sanctification 
of  our  food  through  our  thanksgiving.  Thus, 
the  thanksgiving  lor  and  over  the  bread  effects 
a  blessing  of  the  bread;  but  the  blessing  is  here 
ail  the  more  eignificant  in  proportion  as  the 


MATTHEW  XX Vi.  26-28. 


517 


thanl^sgiving  was  moro  comprehensive  and 
pertained  to  the  hi<;hest  objects.  At  this 
third,  and  concluding  crisis,  the  Lord  gives 
thanks  for  the  blessing  which  he  had  prayed 
for  and  obtained  i'rom  the  Father. 

All  this  lays  the  foundation  for  the  profound 
sense  in  which  the  whole  sacrament  has  from 
the  beginning  been  ca. led  the  Euchnrid  ;  and 
for  the  sake  of  this  we  have  entered  so  fully 
into  the  subject.  While  this  name  finally 
indicates  the  spiritual  thank-offering  which 
Christians,  partaking  of  the  sacrament,  offer  in 
their  consecration  of  themselves  to  God  and 
Christ,  it  nevertheless  took  its  rise  (as  we  find 
in  Irena^us  and  Justin)  from  the  sanctification 
of  earthly  gifts  of  God  by  thanksgiving  and 
their  higher  hallowed  use.  Bread  and  wine 
are  regarded  in  the  sacrament  as  the  first-fruits 
of  the  gifts  of  nature  presented  to  the  Lord — 
not  without  allusion  to  the  fact  that,  in  the 
Passover,  the  beginning  of  the  religious  year 
coincided  with  the  beginning  of  the  harvest, 
the  budding  of  new  life  in  nature,  the  month 
2'2N.     So  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  "  thankgiving 

for  the  grace  of  creation,  and  thanksgiving  for 
the  grace  of  redemption,  concur  ;  "^'"  there  is  in 
it  "a  sanctification  of  earthly  enjoyment  into 
means  of  grace  in  the  new  covenant."  This 
last  idea  is  presented  in  the  daily  commemora- 
tion of  the  earliest  Church;  but  we  are  not  to 
press  it  so  far  as  to  conclude  that  every  eating 
of  bread  an<l  drinking  of  wine  may  be  made 
a  sacramental  participation  of  Christ — the  seal 
and  witness  of  his  life-giving  death.  This 
extravagance  was  far  from  the  Apostle's  spirit 
when  he  said — As  oft  as  ye  eat  oUhis  bread. 

For  the  Lord  took  bread,  specifically,  and 
elevated  it  into  a  sacramental  symbol  of  his 
body  sacrificed  and  to  be  eaten  ;  not,  as  might  a;)- 
]>enr  to  be  the  case,  the  flesh  or  the  body  of  the 
proper  Passover — and  this  for  many  reasons. 
First,  for  the  sake  of  releasing  the  new  from 
the  old  by  a  free  change ;  the  opposite  might 
have  had,  to  the  Gentiles,  a  tincture  of  Judaism 
in  it.  Then,  and  connected  therewith,  for  the 
sake  of  consecrating  the  most  universal  and 
simple  nourishment  of  life,  common  almost  in 
every  land  among  all  people,  and  thus  making 
the  fieavenly  head  of  life  appear  as  the  manna 
prepared  for  all  the  world.  Further,  in  order  to 
obviate   every   carnal   and    grovelling   notion 


*  As  Von  Gerlach  says  on  Matthew.  Justin's 
words  are  :  "  Tliat  we  may  at  once  praise  God  for 
the  creation  of  the  world  and  all  in  it  for  mnn's 
sake,  and  for  delivering  us  from  all  the  evil  into 
wliich  we  have  sunk."  With  this  the  words  of 
the  iiucient  Latin  ma.ss  coincide — and  they  are 
not  in  tliemselves  to  he  despised,  for  their  deep 
llio'.ish  partial  sense  of  truth  puis  to  shime  many 
of  our  modern  Protestant  sacrnnieiital  Joimu'a- 
ries.  But  the  notion  of  the  new  English  Api  sties 
cannot  be  Justified,  who — in  order  to  establish  an 
oblation  alter  the  analogy  of  the  m.^ss — teach 
that  the  Eiicharietic  thank-offerins  must,  as  the 
first  pait  of  the  ceremony,  precede  tlie  proper 
communion. 


touching  his  flesh,  which  might  have  been 
brought  in  some  way  into  analogy  with  animal 
flesh.  Finally,  to  make  it  manifest  that  there 
could  be  in  it  no  repetition,  or  even  continu- 
ance, of  the  propitiatory  offering  ;  inasmuch  as 
that  is  forever  reproduced  only  in  the  fmit  of 
the  seed  that  died  (John  xii."24),  as  a  thank- 
offering.  The  eating  of  the  lamb  would  have 
carried  over  the  imperfect  one-sidedness  of  the 
typical  animal  offering  into  the  New  Testa- 
ment, just  as  if  it  was  the  eating  of  the  dead 
and  sacrificed  Christ  as  such  ;  therefore,  in  the 
Supper  of  our  Lord,  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
bread  and  wine,  are  instituted  instead  of  the 
flesh  of  animals — the  eating  of  which  generally 
had  been  intermediately  introduced  for  only 
fallen  humanity,  after  his  paradisaical  state  was 
forfeited.  And  thus  is  fulfilled  the  prognostica- 
tion of  the  Jews — that  when  the  Messiah  should 
come  as  a  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek, 
all  (typical  animal)  sacrifices  should  cease,  and 
only  the  (thank)  offering  of  bread  and  loine 
should  remain,     (See  in  Sepp,  iii.  410.) 

And  brake  it — ExXads ;  this  is  the  same 
in  all  the  four,  and  must  be  of  importance.  To 
say  that  ''the  bread  of  that  time  required  to 
be  broken  in  order  to  be  distributed,  and  that 
is  all  which  is  here  signified,"  is  foolish, 
thoughtless,  and  most  dishonorable  to  the 
sacramental  idea.  Why  then  is  it  so  specifi- 
cally mentioned,  not  merely  here,  but  also  in 
every  reference  to  the  Church's  breaking  bread? 
What  then  is  the  force  of  the  breaking  of  bread, 
Acts  ii.  42,  and  the  bread  tohich  ice  break,  1  Cor. 
X.  16?  Even  in  the  paschal  ritual  the  break- 
ing of  the  bread  had  its  specific  place  ;  the  ex- 
planation was  added  in  due  course  of  time,  that 
as  the  bread  of  affliction  it  might  be  eaten  only 
in  fragments,  broken  previously  in  an  unwont- 
ed manner,  and  not  blessed  till  broken.  Fried- 
lieb,*  at  least,  tells  ns  so;  and  if  that  was  the 
case,  then  the  blessing  of  the  bread  in  this 
Supper  before  the  breaking  would  be  a  testi- 
mony, in  opposition  to  that  ordinance,  that,  in 
the  new  covenant,  our  participation  in  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  in  all  the  tribulation  which 
to  us  also  is  appointed  in  our  Christian  pro- 
bation, has  been  previously  blessed  from  the 
beginning,  springs  solely  from  the  blessing  of 
God,  and  should  be  matter  of  thanksgiving  be- 
forehand. With  this  is  connected,  in  the  ad- 
vancing development  of  the  meaning,  tlie  con- 
sideration of  the  "Uhrality  of  Christ,  inviting 
us  to  the  communion  of  all  those  good  things 
which  were  to  be  obtained  for  us  through  bis 
cross."  (So  Grotius,  alluding  to  the  fact  that 
breaking  bread  in  the  0.  T.  means  to  make  others 
sharers  of  it,  Isa.  Iviii.  7  ;  Lam.  iv.  4,  and  in  a 
similar  sense  wlien  Ihrake  to  the  five  thousand, 
Mark  viii.  19.  The  Lord  "  breaks  bread  to  us," 
when  he  devotes  himself  to  that  end.  Thus 
the  ceremony  itself,  before  he  begins  to  speak 
and  interpret  its  meaning,  says  as  it  were  the 

*  Archaologie  der  LcidcnsgescMchtc,  p  56.  But  we 
are  not  able  to  confirm  it  by  our  own  appeal  to 
his  authorities. 


51-8 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


same  Ta'ke,ent,  which  in  Luke  xxii.  17  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  Divide  it  among  yoursdik's  ;  but 
with  this  difference,  that  he  does  not  give  tliem 
to  talce  the  whole  mass  of  the  thing  lo  be  dis- 
tributed. Tlie  biuike  it,  therefore,  in  the  final 
form  given  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  may  represent 
the  omitted  ami  gate  unto  them.  But  that  form, 
&H  we  sliall  see,  teaches  us,  in  tiie  alteration 
"br  ken  for  yon,"  the  profound  symbolical  mean- 
ing of  this  breaking,  which  the  Apostle  de- 
scribes as  a  custom  adhering  to  the  giving  of 
the  bread,  just  as  he  makes  prominent  the 
blessing  in  regard  to  the  cup.  Moreover,  it  is 
— Which  xce  break  ;  for  then  one  gave  to  an- 
other in  the  place  of  Christ  (not  necessarily 
one  separated,  and  consecrated,  for  that  pur- 
pose). But  the  omission  of  the  breaking  in  the 
Lutheran  communion  (as  the  improper  word  i 
host,  which  falls  back  into  the  Old  Testament) 
must  be  mourned  over  and  condemned,  while 
we  are  speaking  of  the  ceremony  itself.  The 
early  contests  about  this  did  not  concern  a  mat- 
ter altogether  indifferent ;  The  Lutherans  were 
in  some  error  when  they  declared  the  breaking 
of  Irread,  which  is  alike  scriptural  with  the 
benediction  and  consecration,  to  be  a  merely  pre- 
parafonj  action,  ministering  to  the  dislribation ; 
and  thence  deduced  that  it  was  indifferent 
whether  the  bread  was  divided  into  certain 
portions  before  or  during  the  administration,  and 
whether  it  was  done  by  the  minister  of  the 
Church  or  by  any  other  Christian.*  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Confesnio  Marchica  in  Art.  xi. 
xiii.,  protests  against  this,  and  maintains  the 
inviolable  importance  of  the  breaking. 

T.vKE  E.\T.  Thus  did  the  Lord  assuredly 
speak  his  first  plain  word,  which  directly  ac- 
companied the  breaking  and  distribution,  while 
it  laid  the  foundation  for  the  immediate  inti- 
niatif  n  as  to  what  lie  appointed  that  they 
should  take  and  eat  therein.  No  stress  is  to  be 
laid  on  the  lacl  that  (pdyatE  is  uncertain  in 
Mark,  and  that  in  Luke  Aoc/Jere,  q>cx.ytrE  are 
altogether  wanting,  and  even  in  Paul  almost 
certainly  spurious.  For,  according  to  the  first 
canon  which  we  laid  down,  that  is  authentic 
which  even  one  alone  surely  records  :  in  this 
case  it  is  the  Apostle  Matthew,  or,  if  it  so  please, 
the  first  and  most  direct  tradition.  Th€ir  omis- 
sion by  Paul  had  certainly  no  design  to  take 
away  these  words,  indispensable  in  the  cele- 
bration (and  therefore  inserted  in  his  text  from 
the  liturgical  form) ;  but  they  are  pre-supposed, 
and  not  specified,  in  order  that  he  may  come 
at  once,  and  so  much  the  more  emphatically, 
to  the  This  is  and  I'his  do  ye.  Moreover,  it  is 
evident,  much  more  certainly  here  than  in  the 
previous  diviiU  it  among  yout  selves,  that  the  Lord 


*  So  Riidelbach  :  "Not  Ihnt  f/r  must  brenk  it 
wlioii  partaking  of  tlie  Lord's  iSupper,  Imi  that 
broken  bread  must  always  be  used"  (as  if  the  en- 
tue  loaf  could  be  taken.  Or  is  this  in  opposition 
to  the  cutting  the  bread?).  Kahnis  says,  "  Tlie 
breaking  of  the  bread  is  its  consecration  to  its  sa- 
cramental character,  perfectly  parallel  with  the 
blessing  of  the  cup." 


could  not  join  with  them  in  eating  and  drink- 
ing  of  that  which  he,  though  only  in  anticipa- 
tion, called  his  body  and  his  blood.* 

It  must  be  a\\ovfed,Jirst  of  aH,  that  both 
words  naturally  apply  to  the  bread,  and  signify 
— XdfitTS  scil.  manibus  (et  ore) — qidyEre  toil. 
<re ;  talce,  eat,  xoith  the  bodily  hands  and  viauth. 
There  are  those  who  receive  these  words  in  so 
entirely  common  a  sense  that  no  exegesis  can 
bring  them  further  than  the  mere  letter;  but 
to  all  spiritual  and  more  profound  exposition 
it  is  matter  of  confident  assurance  that  there  is 
in  them  a  symbolical  meaning  which  must  go 
beyond  that.  With  the  intention  to  appoint 
something  which  was  to  be  repeated  in  the 
future,  the  Lord  sees  in  these  twelve  all  who 
should  afterwards  receive,  and  to  them  he 
would  say  that  and  /twc  they  should  "  receive 
and  eat."  Still  more  :  When  he  presently  says 
of  this  bread  that  it  is  something  else,  we  must 
take  his  whole  word  in  its  unity,  and  conse- 
quently refer  this  graciously-proffering  com- 
mand itself  also  to  his  body.  Thus  it  is.  Take 
and  eat  that  which  I  give  to  you  hereby — 
what  ye  shall  presently  know.  Then  we  ask, 
Why  is  it  thus  circumstantially  two-fold,  since 
for  the  external  meaning  one  of  the  two  would 
seem  to  be  enough?  (For  the  mere  appoint- 
ing that  every  one  should  take  the  broken 
bread  into  his  hand  before  he  ate  it  with  his 
mouth,  is  surely  an  inadequate  reason,  quite 
below  the  height  of  a  mystery  in  which  such 
e.xternalities  in  themselves  are  indifferent  mat- 
ters.) But  in  the  profunder  sens3  this  two- 
fold saying  has  its  meaning  secured  to  it — and 
may  be  itself  placed,  for  the  present,  in  a  two- 
fold" light.  Either  the  take  intimates  prepara- 
torily the  modvs  spirituaHs  of  the  participath 
corjw7-is  Chritsi  qi/cB  ore  fit,  as  testified  in  the 
eat,  thus  giving  this  meaning  for  the  future — 
Receive  in  faith  what  I  give  unto  you,  so  shall 
ye  eat  not  merely  this  bread,  but  my  body  ;  ye 
shall  receive  it,  even  as  ye  eat  the  bread.!  Or, 
conversely,  the  taking  bread  might  be  the  ex- 
ternal eating  (as  tiErocXaufiaveiv  rpocpT/?, 
Acts  ii.  46,  or  Xafioiv  aprov,  Acts  xxvii.  35 
— according  to  this  latter  our  Xa/u^ocvEiv  is 
the  correlative  of  the  first  Xaficov  of  Jesus) ; 
but  in  the  eat  follows  the  more  essential,  mys- 
tical eating — thus  giving  this  meaning.  Re- 
ceive with  hand  and  mouth  this  bread,  but  eat 
something  other  than  it,  my  body.  It  is  obvi- 
ous that  the  view  which  we  bring  with  us  to 
the  understanding  of  this  is  free  to  decide  for 
itself,  and  that  here  already  Calvin  and  Luther 
have  occasion  to  separate  ;  indeed,  we  may  say 


*  Though  some  of  the  Fathers  thou  "-lit  so. 
Chrys. :  He  drink  his  own  blood.  Schulihe.s.s  de- 
rives it  from  M.itt.  xxvi.  20,  and  say-i  that  it  be- 
lot^ged  to  the  ijricc  of  the  who  e  action  that  he  in 
this  least  of  love  should /;««  taste. 

I  Krumniacher :  In  the  takiiig  ihpre  is  a  »«>w- 
motis,  in  the  ent  ttt  a  ptom>.te  also.  The  take  refers 
not  merely  to  the  hand,  luit  much  more  to  the 
hfftrt.  It  demands  susceptibility  and  appropri- 
ation in  living  faith 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


fflt 


preliminurily,  that  fhe  one  sens3  lays  the  em- 
phasis upon  the  taking  as  ftpintuale,  the  other 
upon  eating  as  orale.  We  of  course  incline,  on 
account  of  the  reference  to  John  vi.,  where  the 
Lord  himself  has  laid  such  strong  emphasis 
upon  the  eating,  to  regard  him  as  similarly 
speaking  here — E.it  herewith  dXTjOoDi,  receive 
as  nourishment  into  yourselves  my  body.  In- 
asmuch as  this  "eating"  coincides  with  the 
eating  of  bread,  and  is  liere  on  that  account  so 
termed,  are  we  to  regard  the  "taking"  as  al- 
together one  and  the  same,  and  are  both  to  re- 
fer, as  externally  to  the  bread,  so  symbolically 
and  internally  "to  the  bo'iy?  We  certainly 
think  this  conjunction  of  the  two,  after  that 
former  doubtful  distinction,  to  be  the  true  and 
certain  sense  of  the  words;  and  that  the  ab- 
sence of  and  between  them  itself  intimates  that 
it  is  so.*  But  again,  to  what  end  is  the  em- 
phasis of  the  two-fold  expression  ?  Tlie  double 
word  has  its  deep  truth  and  meaning  in  this, 
that  it  is  a  proffering  imperative,  and  pre-sup- 
poses  in  us  something  corresponding  to  it  as 
such,  without  which  it  doLS  not  take  effect. 
The  receiving  and  partaking  are  thrown  back 
ultimately  upon  our  own  will,  as  well  as  upon 
the  divine  gift — and  this  meaning,  when  all 
things  are  weighed,  best  proves  itself  exegetic- 
ally.  For,  while  a  man  can  receive  nothing 
except  it  be  given  him  from  above,  it  is  equally 
certain  that  nothing  can  be  given  to  him  from 
above  except  the  man  receive  it.  What  we  mean 
corresponds  with  Olshausen's  too  partially  de- 
veloped thought.  "  In  these  words  {take,  eat, 
drink)  the  rece;  tivity  on  the  part  of  the  disciples, 
who  represent  the  Church,  is  brought  out. 
Christ  is  the  distributor,  who  satisfies  with  him- 
self our  spiritual  hunger  and  thirst."  Here  we 
find  in  our  Lord's  lips,  as  soon  as  we  apprehend 
him  aright,  the  great  condition  which  was 
found  wanting  in  the  Solida  Dedaratio  "  si  cre- 
dideritis."t     For  while   the  taking  to  ourselves 


*  But  that  mu^t  be  carefully  observed,  which 
Buddeus  in  the  name  of  his  Church  admits: 
Probe  discrimen  inter  manducationeni  oralem  et 
nrrtnrdlcm  teiiendum  est.  Etsi  enim  oralem  man- 
ducationeni adseranius  atque  propugneiiius,  uatu- 
rahiu  tnmen  nou  ailmittimus. 

\  Ed.  Rech.nl>..  p.  732,  "  Quia  Christus,  m» 
dixit:  Si  credidcritis,  aut  dii^iii  fueritis,  turn  in 
coeiii'i  sacra  corpus  et  sancruinem  meum  prasscntia 
hab>'bitis,  scdpo'ius  ait:  Accipite,  cditc  ac  libite" — 
as  if  the  later  did  not  necessarily  imp'y  the 
jovmer.  Wtien  it  goes  on,  "  Verba  Christi  hoc 
volunt:  sive  di^nus  s  ve  indijinns  sis,  babes  hie 
in  coena  Christi  rorpus  et  sanuuinem  " — it  is  as 
micli  as  to  say,  whi^ther  with  or  wilhout  fa'th,  if 
thou  literally  eatest  and  d  inkest  the  bread  and 
the  wii  e  fhou  rcceive.st  me,  the  fellow-^hip  of  my 
de»th  and  lif  ,  my  gloiified  corixtreily  :  ntiy,  de- 
spite John  vi  ,  with  lUt  faith,  eternal  hfe  !  Guerlcke 
says  that  oilicrwise  it  sliould  have  been  Believe,  in- 
stead of  T'ike  iu  order  lo  obviate  tbe  thotieht  that 
Juias  part!H)k  o1  the  bofly  of  the  Lord.  But  did 
Judas  ii  tve  any  b*Hiefit  in  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
which  however  cannot  be  separated  fiom  the  This 


comes  at  last  to  our  own  decision,  it  is,  like  all 
spiritual  blessings,  metliated  by  our  faith.  Al- 
though his  love  and  power  "declares  in  this 
word,  most  gracious  as  it  is  mo-t  imjsterioiis— 
Here  am  I ;  take  me  ;  eat  and  drink  me  ;  yet 
when  he  pronounces  this  most  gracious  iaks 
and  this  most  mysterious  ent,  it  is  not  here,  any 
more  than  in  the  rest  of  Scripture,  an  enforc- 
ing, compulsory,  imperative.  Overlooking  this, 
men  have  deduced  from  this  centre-mystery 
the  dogma,  contradictory  to  nature — Ye  ma}', 
shall,  and  must  eat  my  flesh,  nolentes  volentes. 

So  much  for  the  worJs  with  which  the  svm- 
bols  are  presented,  in  their  anticipated  connec- 
tion with  all  the  sequel  ;  we  now  turn  to  the 
word  of  declaration,  in  which  the  mystery 
is  solved  only  to  be  sealed  again  in  its  mvs- 
teriousness— 7'/i«  is  mij  hodij. 

This  is.  But  first,  that  we  may  go  step  by 
step,  the  little  word  Tkis,  tovto'.  The  stress 
which  Luther  laid  upon  it,  equally  with  the 
£(?rz,  is  well  known, \nd  for  the 'most  part 
amply  justified — for  it  is  essential.  His  scorn 
and  mockery  were  pardonable  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  contest,  when  Carlstadt  perverted 
the  first  little  word  into  a  negation  of  the 
entire  character  of  the  sacrament.  Perversion 
it  certainly  was  to  say  that  Christ  in  this  tovvo 
pointed  with  his  finger  to  his  body  ;  for  6(^ua 
being  neuter,  and  aproi  masculine,  the  tovro 
must  refer  to  the  former  and  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  latter.  Luther  correctly  pointed 
first  to  the  fact  that  we  naturally  u.se  the  neuter 
when  speaking  of  a  thing  which  lies  before  us; 
and  then  more  convincingly  still,  brought 
against  his  opponent  the  parallel  of  the  cup  : 
"  Tell  me  then,  good  Peter,  to  what  the  second 
touto  refers,  which  follows  immediately  alter- 
vvard.  If  the  second  this  must  refer  to  Christ, 
and  yet  here  expressly  points  to  the  cup 
(rovro  TO  Ttoryfjioy,  do(^s  your  faith  call  the 
blood  of  Christ  or  Christ  himself  the  cup?" 
He  unsparingly  ridicules  all  such  arbitrary  in- 
terpretation :  "Thus  Christ  would  be  made  to 
say.  Take,  eat,  for  I  say  unto  you  that  here  sits 
my  body,  which  is  given  for  vou ;  "  and  so 
forth.*  ■ 

If  anv  thing  is  certain  in  regard  to  this  mat- 
ter it  is  the  sober  word  of  Bengel,  which  is 
faithful  to  t!ie  simple  letter  and  has  become 
classical — "Hoc  quod  vos  sumere  jubeo"  (this 
which  Icomin'nid  you  to  take)  ;  in  which,  more- 
over, he  designedly  omits  to  say  fully  at  once 
what  is  obvious  in  the  text — "Sumere  ac 
edere  "  (to  take  arid  eat).-f     Guericke,  not  satis- 


*  Carlstadt  introduced  as  analoaica).  "  Thou  art 
Peter,  and  on  fhi<  rock  (that  is  myself)."  an  inter- 
pretation whicli  unhappily  his  opponents  admit- 
ted. But  this  exegesis  is  itselt  equally  incor- 
rect. 

f  So  some  of  tho  Lutheran  doamat's's  miin- 
taiu  this  alove—"  Hoc,  (juod  edere  vos  vo!o — hoc, 
quod  vos  bibere  voU>."  They  are  right,  but  the 
question  is  now  as  to  what  kind  of  eat'ng  and 
drinking  is  meant  in  connection  with  and  after  the 
taJitnff.  "Luther  said,  against  Carlstadt:  "  If  there 


520 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPPEK 


fied  v;ith  Hengstenber;:^'g  almost  Lutheran  ap- 
proval Oi  this  formula  of  Bengel, blames  this  in 
the  latter  ;  and  thinks  that  he  should  have  said 
more  definitely  and  rigorously — "  Quod  vos 
siimere  et  conicda-e  juheo."*  Bi:t,  in  opposition 
to  I  he  idea  which  lurks  under  this,  we  must 
:)iaintain  that  there  is  good  reason  why  our 
J:ord  does  not  say  with  the  precision  and  ab- 
sdluteness  which  is  thought  to  be  necessary — 
<yi  ros  u  a/jToi,  this  bread.  He  not  merely 
tiiereby  obviated  all  misunderstanding,  just  as 
lie  explains  the  second  rovro  not  by  this  wine, 
but  by  this  cup,  of  which  more  anon :  but,  more- 
over, he  did  not  say  what  could  not  have  been 
said  with  any  intelligible  meaning.  His  words 
preserve,  with  most  measured  siraplicity,  the 
fine  in  which  the  earthly  and  heavenly  agree 
in  one,  in  a  symbolical  and  real  unity,  without 
being  however  (which  were  impossible)  identi- 
eal.\ 

But  now  for  the  little  word  Is,  the  much 
contested  'E2TL  First  of  all,  it  is  probable 
that  in  the  Lord's  language,  in  which  subject 
and  predicate  are  united  without  the  expres- 
sion of  the  copula,  it  had  no  existence.  Scheibel 
indeed  thinks  that  there  would  be  an  emphatic 
NVT  nt  or  even  a  mere  XIH,  corresponding  to  it ; 

but  Meyer  has  shown, J  in  opposition  to  him, 
that  the  connection  NIH  ni  is  unusual  in  the 

Old  Testametit,  and  that  if  any  thing  it  would 
be  N^n  :  yet  that  nothing  would  be  wanting, 
in  any  case,  if  even  that  was  absent,  as  it 
exerts  no  direct  influence  upon  the  literal  or 
figurative  meaning.  This  being  the  position 
of  the  question,  either  tcJrz  having  been  unex- 
pressed by  our  Lord,  or  if  expressed  its  mean- 
ing wavering  between  a  copulative  and  sub- 
stantive sense,  exegesis  must  lay  no  stress  upon 
it,  but  discover  the  interpretation  by  the  help 
of  the  subject  and  predicate  alone.  The  sub- 
ject is  thai  which  was  gwen,^  which  was  to  be 
taken  and  eaten  ;  and  is  neither  the  Lord  who 
handed  it  to  them  himself,  nor  (as  Zwingle 
quotes  from  Thomas  and  Scotus) — "Vos,  qu' 
hoc  convivio  interestis"  {ye  who  are  with  me  in 
this  fead).  But  the  predicate  follows  more 
plainly. 

Mt  body.     This  is  the  cardo  rei.  the  hinge 


be  nny  meaning  in  words,  it  is  plain  that  that  is 
h.S  body  whch  he  holds  out  and  bids  them  cat." 

*  Der  Calcinismus  Uniomvehikel  und  Kirchcn- 
Jiiuckc,  p.  31. 

t  Rodntz,  indeed,  thinks  that  if  the  Lord  had 
Tittered  such  a  rontradctio  m  adjccto  as  "  this  bread 
ia  luy  body,"  our  human  reason  should  bow  befoie 
the  (livir.e  reason.  But  all  thought  would  be  at 
an  end  in  faitii  like  tlii.s ;  and  wo  niiglit  ask  wliy 
(ho  Lord  spoko  any  thins  at  aU  to  us  in  human 
lannua^e,  the  medium  of  thoughts  wliicli  may  be 
apprehended. 

XJahrb.  der  Sheol,  Feb.  1824,  also  Gcsammette 
Kritiach.  Kraicsen,  j).  306. 

^  Kot  the  bread  as  brend  ;  for  that  two  ex-sting 
thin78  should  be  identilied  by  meaus  of  a  copula, 
k  not  a  necessity  of  logic. 


of  all.  If  the  Lord  when  he  thus  offere(3  to 
them  the  bread  with,  "  Take  and  eat,"  spoke  ol 
his  body,  that  is,  of  himself  bodily,  as  he  was, 
incarnate,  and  lived  before  them — let  this  be 
our  starting  point — he  pointed  in  i\\\s  fareitiell- 
mml  first  of  all  to  his  whole  past  earthly  fellow- 
ship with  them,  in  which  they  had  his  body 
ever  with  them  and  near  them  ;  but  he  also 
pointed  by  anticipation  to  a  future  fellowship  in 
which  they  should  possess  him  again,  or  rather 
still  continue  to  possess  him — as  he  had  said 
repeatedly.  And  more  than  that,  for  we  must 
now  connect  this  solemn  formula  with  the  rite 
of  the  Passover,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken.  Most  certainly,  if  we  would  translate 
back  his  words,  he  did'not  say  '''\p2,  for  then 

the  Greek  would  have  been  dapS  fxov — and 
it  is  as  little  probable  that  he  said  n'lS  or  even 

ni3.    Thus  it  is  most  probable  that  he  used 

^S^a  or  '•V^  '•a^a  (according  to  the  emphasis  of 

the  l-iov  standing  first  in  Paul),  as  they  spoke 
of  the  Pjia  of  the'npS,     But  it  does  not  follow 

from  this  that  he  spoke  only  in  figurative  rep- 
resentation, as  and  because  in  the  Old-Testa- 
ment formula  it  was  said  of  the  lamb — This  i» 
the  Passover  or  the  body  of  the  Passover.* 
The  typical  reference,  rather,  modifies  the 
meaning  of  the  roiro  into  this — What  I  noio 
offer  to  rjoii,  that  is,  what  I  appoint  therein  and 
establish  for  you  in  the  future  to  partake  of, 
instead  of  the  lamb.  Bengel  rightly  says, 
before  the  words  already  quoted,  "  This  is  is 
opposed  to  the  old  shadows,  and  means  Te 
Imve  myself."  We  may,  therefore,  for  the  elud- 
dation  of  this  meaning,  invert  the  clause,  so  far 
as  it  contains  in  it  this  point — My  body  is,  I 
myself  am  your  paschal  lamb.  But  it  is  alto- 
gether wrong  and  is  refuted  by  the  analogy  of 
the  words  spoken  with  the  cup,  to  maintain 
rashly  that  tiie  Lord  uttered  his  words  merelj' 
in  the  sense  of  such  a  transposition  oftlie  suljecL 
and  predicate'^ 

Similarly,  there  is  another  inversion  of  the 
clause  which  an  unbiassed  consideration  must 


*  The  persistent  straining  of  the  analogy  with 
nin!?  ^^'l^  nD2,  as  we  find  it  in  Ebrard  after 
Zwing'e,  involves  the  fiindanienta!  error  of  mis- 
apprehending the  realty  of  tlie  New-Testament 
sacrament  in  opposition  to  the  Old-Testament  sym- 
bolical act. 

t  Such  is  Scldeiermacher's  artificial  tr.rn  given 
to  the  sentence.  This  b:ead,  not  the  lamb,  is 
henceforth  the  Fasm-er  wliic'i  I  ir.sfituto,  my  P|r|3, 
So  Tliicss  formerly,  but  11.  Stephani  shows  it  in 
its  most  meaningless  form  :  "  Jesus  declares  bread 
and  wjio  to  be  the  symbols  of  the  new  covenant., 
insto.id  of  the  llesli  and  blood  of  tlio  animal  sac- 
rifice." Ebrard,  in  like  manner,  though  nrotest- 
ing  against  that :  "This  unleavened  bread  of  the 
Passover  (predicate  !)  is  vv/  body  (subject !),  which 
is  to  be  broken  lor  you  ;  tiiat  is,  my  body  broken 
for  you  is  the  true  nD3 — ^  ""*  ^hc  true  Passover  sao' 

rifice."    Cut  ho  has  since  rclracLed  this. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


021 


reject.  Acc>ni\1m^  fo  Scliwenlcfeld  and  those 
who  followed  him,  the  words  must  be  under- 
stood backward— My  flesh  is  in  truth  a  bread 
or  a  food — my  body  is  that  which  I  now  here 
offer  to  you,  that  is,  a  true  bread,  and  my  blood 
is  a  real  drink.  Thus  Christ  is  regarded  as 
intending  no  more  than  to  teauih  what  his  body 
and  blood  would  be  to  us  after  his  death,  our 
meat  and  our  drink  ;  he  confirms  or  repeats  only 
(with  an  accompanying  symbol  to  give  it 
emphasis)  what  he  had  said  already  in  John 
vi.  The  Tovro  becomes  a  roiovro — this  be- 
comes such — and  that  as  a  predicate,  moreover, 
in  a  so-called  spiritual  sense,  and  this  interpre- 
tation of  his  words  is  what  the  Lord  Christ 
himself  taught.  But  the  natural  sense  of  the 
language  rebels  against  such  a  perversion, 
■while  the  rovro  to  nori'jpiov  afterwards 
utterly  refutes  it ;  and  we  have  nothing  to  do 
but  to  accept,  in  wondering,  huaible  inquiry, 
the  undeniable  fact,  that  the  same  Lord  who 
did  indeed  once  say — My  hotly  or  ficah  is  meat, 
now  inverts  the  words,  and  testifies  while  he 
presents  bread  to  his  disciples — Thai  (which  ye 
Jiere  take  and  eat)  is  my  hody. 

That  he,  moreover,  asserts  for  the  present  and 
promises  for  the  future,  a  presence  and  a  recep- 
tion of  his  body,  only  after  he  had  preceded  it 
by  a  talce,  eat ;  and  that  thus  the  this  is  (be  its 
meaning  what  it  may)  attains  to  its  full  reality 
only  within  the  limits  and  under  the  conditions 
of  the  actual  fartaJdn<]  already  spoken  of — is  a 
remark  which  is  very  obvious,  and  which  we 
make  now  preparatorily,  m  order  that  nothing 
necessary  may  be  omitted.  It  is  not  first  said, 
this  is  my  body,  take  and  eat ;  but  then  first, 
when  the  takmg  and  eating  takes  place,  the 
wonderful  "this  is"  follows  in  all  its  force. 
This  is,  as  we  are  now  prepared  to  think,  only 
where  faith  truly,  internally,  and  spiritually 
takes  &nA  eats.  AVhen  the  Papists  act  as  if  it  was 
said,  Behold  it,  exhibit  it,  and  carry  it  round, 
adore  it — the  voice  of  truth,  however  in  vain  to 
multitudes,  must  often  proclaim  to  them  what 
the  convert  Henhoffer  so  well  expressed  in  his 
confession  of  faith — "Jesus  cannot  possibly, 
according  to  all  our  e.xperience,  have  designed 
to  establish  this  tabernacle- Christ  and  its  honor; 
otherwise  he  would  have  contradicted  himself, 
would  have  subverted  his  own  kingdom,  and 
plucked  down  with  one  hand  what  he  had  set  up 
or  would  set  up  with  the  other."  The  New 
Testament  knows  no  institution  of  a  magical 
spectacle  to  be  wondered  at,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  no  mechanical  exhibition  of  empty  symbols 
on  the  other.  It  would  not,  as  the  Komish 
Church,  which  reached  its  perfection  in  the 
middle  ages,  did,  "  divert  the  view  from  the 
Saviour  in  heaven,  to  the  corpus  Christi  in  the 
hands  of  the  priests."  Firm  and  secure  abides 
the  sense,  "  Ilere  have  ye  my  body,"  which  I 
give  and  appoint  you  to  take  and  eat.  But  this 
"ye  have"  is  as  far  from  the  possessing  in  our 
hand  or  upon  the  table  a  transformed  wonder, 
as  from  theempty^fignrative  sense  which  others 
have  applied  to  it.  The  Lord  bequeaths  to  us 
his  body  and  Jiis  blood,  not  to  exhibit,  carry 


about  and  adore — not  merely  to  invcsligate, 
speculate,  and  dogmatize  upon — but  to  eat' and 
drink.    Thus  sets  out  Luther's  Catechism. 

The  Lord  says  now  body,  and  not  flesh,  as 
before  in  Capernaum.  He  spoke  on  the  former 
occasion  as  teaching  (John  vi.  59)  and  laying 
the  first  foundation  of  his  doctrine  and  testi- 
mony, taking  pains  to  establish  in  the  most 
definite  manner  the  substantiality  of  the  flesh 
as  well  as  the  blood  ;  but  here  that  is  pre-sup- 
posed,  and  the  actual  giving  being  now  the 
question,  he  adapts  his  expression  to  a  two-fold 
design:  to  show  forth  the  unity  of  his  whole 
bodily  person  as  one  in  itself,  and  that  com- 
munication and  participation  of  his  whole  body 
which  leads  to  a  similar  unity  with  himself  anil 
and  with  one  another.*  The  one  refers  to  him- 
self, the  other  to  us.  For  the  former  we  appeal 
to  the  universal  meaning  of  dca/na  (and  Wy  in 
all  languages)  even  in  its  frequent  figurative 
use — a  whole,  an  organism  complete  in  itself; 
for  the  latter  we  appeal  to  the  fact  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  called  his  "body."  The 
Apostle  Paul  himself  in  1  Cor.  x  17  gives  this 
interpretation  by  the  Holy  Ghost;  laying 
emphasis  upon  the  word  body,  and  assigning  it 
in  its  integrity  to  the  Church.  Olshausen 
deviates  from  this,  and  reduces  the  force  of  the 
word,  when  he  says  that  the  expression  body 
was  imperatively  required  only  by  the  adjunct 
expressions  yiven  and  broken.  "  The  Pipdeemer 
thus  likened  the  entire  mass  of  the  bread  which 
he  broke  to  his  body.  He  did  not,  however, 
give  to  each  the  body,  the  (jc^/.ta. ;  but  as  he 
gave  a  part  of  the  mass  of  bread,  so  he  gave  a 
part  of  the  body,  that  is,  ^flesh.  6apl.  Accord- 
ing to  the  meaning  ot  the  whole,  dap-  might 
just  as  fitly  have  been  used  ;  but  on  account 
of  the  symbolical  reference  to  his  death,  Jesus 
chose  Oc^Moc,  equivalent  to  Fi'3,"  Here  we 
must  oppose  in  both  these  sentences  the  one- 
sideness  which  fails  todo  justice  to  the  pregnant 
sense  of  the  symbol  and  the  mystery.  For,  as 
certainly  as  on  the  one  hand  the  individual 
uXa'djica,  the  portion  of  bread  received  by  each, 
represented  to  him  his  portion  in  the  grace  and 
gilt  of  Christ ;  so  certainly,  on  the  other,  does 
Christ  in  an  equally  true  sense  live,  as  the 
ichole  Christ,  in  each  of  those  who  are  by  such 
participation  united  with  him.f  Even  in  John 
vi.  the  flesh  referred  not  so  much  to  pnrticulas 
quasdam  a  singulis  edendas,  as  to  the  substance 
of  the  glorified  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  as  a 
whole  in  its  integrity.  Yet,  again,  the  eat 
refers  immediately  to  the  body,  as  respects 
the  individuals  ;  and  the  objection  that  (jgom^x 
or  body  is  never  and  no  where  the  object  of  eat- 
ing, altogether  and  wilfully  forgets  that  the 


*  DelitJisch  :  "  To  obviate  the  misunderstanding 
that  he  distributed  his  flesh  in  portions." 

t  In  Olshausen  we  have  the  sti!!  more  dubious 
explanation  that  according  to  his  conviction,  not 
llie  whole  Christ,  and  as  he  died  upon  ths  cross,  is 
partaken  of  in  the  Supper,  but  an  operation  and 
influence  Iroui  him,  and  that  as  the  •'  Ilideemer 
siorified." 


522 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


eating  here  in  question  is  absolur^''--  nlone  in 
its  kind.  Theom  breal  is  exhibile.t  i  the  one 
body  in  the  many  who  receive  it  ;*  and  the 
J.IETEXEIV  of  every  individual  is  a  partaking  of 
that  one  bread.  So  far  we  proceed  with  the 
Apostle  ;  but  if  we  press  i\\e  figure  beyond  the 
limits  within  which,  as  such,  it  presents  the 
comparison,  we  go  astray  and  fall  into  frivoli- 
ties wh-'ch  are  here,  if  any  where,  unbecoming. 
The  comnarison  extends  forward  to  the  break- 
ing of  tliat  bread,  which  however  as  a  broken 
and  distributed  whole  is  still  regarded  in  the 
TovTo  as  a  whole  in  its  integrity  ;  but  we  can- 
not pursue  it  backward  to  the  manner  in  which 
it  became  one  Iread,  and  press  the  figure  in 
that  direction. t 

Nor  of  course  can  we  accept  the  subordinate 
sense  in  which  the  body  of  bread  represents 
the  Chtirch  gathered  into  one  in  Christ,  as  the 
only  one — This  breaking,  giving,  taking,  and 
eating,  this  entire  procedure  sets  forth  my  body, 
which  is  or  which  will  be  my  Church.  In  this 
hyderon  without  a  froteron  where  would  be  the 
strictly  connected  cjiun  for  you  ?  We  must 
hold  that  the  body,  equally  with  the  blood, 
must  have  a  real  signihcation  ;  consequently  it 
is  neither  the  body  of  the  Church,  nor  the  figure 
of  my  body  (according  to  (Ecolampadius  who 
quotes  and  perverts  Tertullian's^^'/m  corporis 
mei).  Consequently,  it  is  simple  folly  to  main- 
tain that  "  6cjua  can  in  no  case  signify  flesh, 
nor  be  parallel  with  6ap^  /"  and  it  is  most  wil- 
ful folly  to  maintain  this  here,  where  anta 
strictly  corresponds  with  the  6dpi  xai  aljucx 
of  .John  vi. 

Which  is  giveit  for  yott.  Thu.=?  is  it  first 
in  Luke,  according  to  a  doubtless  genuine  tra- 
dition. The  omission  in  the  first  two  Evangel- 
ists of  this  seemingly  essential  clause  is  only  an 
apparent  omission  ;'  for  that  offering  up  of  his 
body  which  took  place  in  the  death  that  brake  it 
can  be,  and  must  be,  understood  in  Tovro  tu 
6(Suoi  uov,  thisismy body, and theparallelin  the 
shed  afterwards  abundantly  confirms  this.  Not 
the  less  on  that  account,  however,  did  the  Lord 
speak  plainly  to  obviate  all  misunderstanding, 
uttering  for  us  at  theinstitution  the  SidofCF.rov, 
given,  and  in  his  own  subsequent  explanation 
the  xXr3/tsvoy,  broken.  There  are  those  who 
are  so  insensible  to  the  simple  assurance  of  the 


♦  This  is  the  true  rcdupUeafio  multipHcativa,  and 
not  wliat  scholasticism  lalsely  so  called. 

t  By  this  we  reject  the  interpretation  givon  in 
Clrys.,  Ana.,  and  even  in  the  litursy  of  th'» 
Const.  Ap.:  to  wit,  that  the  bread  is  the  produce 
of  miny  crains  of  wheat  (something  like  the 
words  of  I  jnatiiis  at  his  mariyrdom),  as  the  wine 
is  the  produc3  of  miiiy  grapes.  This,  if  carried 
out,  brings  us  to  a  body  o:  Christ  which  rises  in 
and  out  ot  tho  Church,  inste.id  of  a  holy  given 
in  and  for  us,  and  whch  covild  never  have  been 
the  produce  ot  manv  piemen's.  And  thus  it 
would  coinc  de  with  Zwin:;!e's  interpretation  of  1 
Cor.  X.  IG  which  makes  tho  Apostle  say,  "  I  me.nn 
not  that,  I  he  cup  is  tha  hlood,  or  the  liread  is  the 
body  of  Christ;  but  that  we  all.  partnkeis  of  the 
bread  and  cup,  arc  the  blood  and  body  of  Christ.'^ 


mysterious  words  that  they  make  the  brolen  ao 
argument  for  referring  the  given  also  rather  to 
this—ihQ  bread— and  thus  infer  that  tii  ^Lxva- 
Tov,un'o  death,  [%  not  to  be  supplied.*  JDut 
they  gain  nothing  by  this  ;  the  direct  and  plain 
words  concerning  the  body  are  perverted  or 
lost  sight  of  by  those  who  are  obliged  to  con- 
fess, after  all,  that  both  senses  (thi.^  bread 
which  is  given,  or  the  body  which  is  given)  are 
really  the  same  at  bottom,  since  the  terms 
given  and  shed  are  used  concerning  the  bread 
and  the  cup  only  as  far  as  they  arc  or  represent 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 

Thus  the  body  is  given,  that  is,  devoted  nnto 
death.  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  may  refer 
those  to  whom  it  is  necessary  to  what  was  said 
upon  the  5gjcjcj  of  John  vi".  51 — though  that 
passage  itself  is  quite  sufficient.  That  which 
was  their  future  is  now  come  near;  the  night 
of  betrayal,  the  anguish  of  death,  the  judg- 
ment which  doomed  him,  has  already  begun, 
so  that  what  was  immediately  impending  might 
be  spoken  of  as  already  present.  Winer,  ac- 
cordingly, gives  a  better  solution  than  the  old 
ennllage  temporis,  "which  was  now  on  the  point 
of  being  given."  This  kind  of  expression,  how- 
ever, instead  of  the  absolute  future,  was  strict- 
ly necessary:  as  giving  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
stitution itself  the  strongest  possible  assurcmce, 
and  as  making  the  great  fact  present  again  at 
every  future  celebration.  We  well  know  how 
dimly  the  Apostles  apprehended  the  pre-an- 
nounced  death  of  the  Lord,  down  to  the  last ; 
it  is  on  that  account  that  he  gave  them  the 
most  absolute  assurance  of  that  death  as  a 
present  fact,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  repress  all 
doubt  at  least  during  that  sacred  hour  :  and  it 
is  on  that  account  that  he  further  gave  the  dec- 
laration concerning  its  propitiatory  significance 
and  power.  (But  not  the  "  first  and  sole"  such 
declaration,  as  Ebrard  says;  for  see  John  vi. 
51,  X.  12;  Matt.  xx.  28.)  But,  again,  as  the 
Lord  is  uttering  a  formula,  we  might  almost 
=ay  a  formulary,  for  the  futnre  celebration  of 
the  Supper,  he  cannot  speak  of  it  as  a  past 
transaction  otherwise  than  as  present.  For  a 
symbol  must  necessarily  -preientiate ;  and  the 
sacrament,  which  distributes  its  blessing  and 
spiritual  influence,  abolishes  all  historical  dis- 
tinction of  time.  What  Luther  says  of  the 
blood,  holds  good  of  the  body  :  "  When  we 
contemplate  the  liistorical  act  by  which  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  was  obtained,  that  had  not 
taken  place  at  th'i  sacrament ;  but  now  it  has 
taken  place,  and  is  past.  But  when  we  regard 
the  communication  of  forgiveness,  there  in  no 
notion  of  time ;  it  was  a  thing  done  from  the 
foundation  of.  the  world. f     Now,  as  the  body 


*  They  then  ray  that  it  is  the  same  with  the 
rovzo  TO  noTijinov  ;  that  which  was  presented 
beincr  the  subject  in  both  clauses.  li.it  that 
Luke's  TO  v-xip  vitc.jv  hcxwoitevov  does 
not  refer  simply  to  lo  the  cup,  is  yV.nn  from  tho 
ahia  iHXvyoi-tBvoy — of  the  other  two  Evangel- 
ists. 

t  Add — And  goes  on  to  the  end  of  tiraa.  • 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-2S. 


523 


and  blood  of  Christ  are  necessary  to  all  who 
have  sinned,  and  are  to  be  forgiven,  it  is  for 
ever  true  that  he  is  always  being  given  for  ihem. 
For,  althouf;h  the  event  has  taken  place,  yet  as 
long  as  its  blessing  is  not  dispensed  to  me,  it  is 
as  if  it  were  yet  to  take  place  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned."  This  ideal  i^resentiation  of  the 
event,  which  is  contained  in  is  given,  and  is 
shed,  proves  itself  as  a  reality.  In  this  we  have 
the  ground  of  that  double  sense  of  those  two 
words,  in  relation  to  our  present  reception, 
which  Ebrard  rejects. 

However  emphatically  this  present  might 
sound  in  their  ears,  the  disciples  could  not  have 
interpreted  roiJzo  l6rt  of  that  body  which  at 
the  same  time  sat  living  before  them  ;  but  they 
must,  on  the  other  hand,  have  thought  of  the 
requirement  and  promise  which  he  had  laid 
down  in  John  vi.  We  infer  therefore  necessarily, 
that  the  actual  participation  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  was  even  then  still  in  the  future, 
and  that  it  had  its  beginning  at  the  time  which 
John  vi.  62,  63,  expressly  specifies  for  that  pur- 
pose. We  cannot  regard  our  Lord  as  intend- 
ing to  say  any  thing  which  it  was  utterly  out 
of  the  question  that  the  disciples  should  under- 
stand ;  or  to  represent  himself  as  offering  to 
Ihcm  any  thing  which  their  whole  habit  of 
thought  would  revolt  against.  We  must  there- 
fore guard,  both  on  the  right  and  left,  against 
error.  We  must  not  assert  that,  at  this  insti- 
tution itself,  the  disciples  actually  ate  and 
drank  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  ;*  nor 
must  we,  on  that  account,  deny  the  real  par- 
ticipation in  after  times  as  contrary  to  the 
original  sense  of  the  words.  The  former  error 
is  inconsistent  generally  with  all  deeper  views 
of  the  subject,  and  is  re'uted  by  the  letter 
itself,  since  they  could  not  have  received  the 
body  given  and  the  blood  poured  out,  while  the 
Lord  was  actually  sitting  before  them  and 
speaking  to  them.f  In  this  case,  the  great 
weakness  of  the  disciples,  which  continued  af- 
terwards just  as  it  was  before,  would  be  wholly 
inexplicable.  But  it  has  been  constantly  main- 
tained, and  with  truth,  that  at  the  very  insti- 
tution of  the  sacrament,  the  blindness  and 
weakness  of  the  other  disciples  (independently 
of  Judas)  was  specially  brought  to  light.  Yet 
if  that  which  they  ate  and  drank  was  actually 
to  be  the  real  and  full  sacrament  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  it  would  appear  that  it 
hud  no  power  even  in  its  first  celebration,  but 
declared  itself  to  be  almost  useless — and  how 


*  Most  Lutherans  think  most  indistinctly  and 
inconsistently  upon  this  subject,  violatin";  their 
own  doftma  of  the  heavanlv-glorified  character 
and  preyence  of  tlie  corporeity  of  Chiist.  Christ 
"was  then  already  glorifiei  latently,"  they  say, 
and  0:shau.sen  thus  speaks  of  a '  glorification 
which  becomes  gradually  consummate. 

+  Alford  indeed  observes :  "  The  Passion  had 
Rh-eady  beaun ;  iu  lact  the  who'o  life  on  earth 
was  this  civiiig  *nd  breaking,  consummated  by 
his  d;^a;h."  But  we  ask,  Was  there  already  any 
$Jiedumg  of  his  biood  i 


could  we  expect  great  things  from  it  now  ?  All 
that  the  later  Lutherans  have  said  concerning 
the  full  import  of  the  celebration  of  the  Supper 
at  the  hour  of  its  institution,  appears  to  me  to 
be  a  series  of  assertions  v/hich  are  inconctivable 
and  self-contradictory. 

If  our  Lord's  this  is  had  involved  a  bodily 
change  of  the  substance,  "  there  would  be  here 
a  new  Christ,  and  that  a  dead  one  created  by 
the  side  of  the  living,"  as  Lange  says  roughly 
but  truly.  But  he  is  not  equally  right  vrhen 
he  rejects  all  "substantial  presence"  from  the 
words  of  institution,  on  the  ground  that  Christ 
as  still  living  distributed  his  body  and  his  blood 
in  the  bread  and  wine  to  his  disciples  then  pres- 
ent. He  here  falls  into  that  other  error,  one 
which,  however  strange  it  is,  has  been  received 
very  generally  with  unthinking  facility :  to  wit, 
that  It  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  in- 
stitution can  mean  nothing  more  than  it  meant, 
or  than  took  place,  at  the  time  of  its  institution. 
This  leads  him  to  a  very  remarkable  statement 
of  the  case  •.  "  Their  participation  was  not  only 
brought  to  them  in  his  presence,  but  his  pres- 
ence was  their  participation — he  communicated 
to  them  his  living  breath,  his  living  influence 
— they  partook  of  him  together  in  his  essential 
life" — that  is  to  say,  though  it  is  most  oppo- 
site to  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  not  in  any  sense 
a  bodily  participation ! 

0,  no ;  and  again  no !  All  this  is  not  "  the 
body  which  is  broken — the  blood  which  is  shed." 
As  certainly  as  our  Lord  did  thus  expressly 
sneak,  while  yet  their  taking  and  eating  of  his 
body  and  his  blood  was  not  a  thing  possible,  so 
certainly  did  the  Lord  speak  the  words  of  in- 
stitution for  the  future,  and  promise,  as  in  a 
general  present,  what  they  and  all  his  disciples 
should  always  receive  when  they  should  do 
this.  The  formula  of  distribution  which  did 
not  really  distribute  must  be  regarded  in  the 
same  light  as  that  in  which  the  salvation  and 
deliverance  of  the  people  out  of  Egypt  is  re- 
garded as  already  accomplished,  at  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Passover,  Exod.  xii.  27,  xiii.  14,  15. 
A  still  more  decisive  parallel  we  have  in  the 
words  of  John  xx.  22,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ! 
— a  final  symbolical  expression,  sealing  to  them 
a  promise  which  could  not  and  was  not  fully 
granted  to  them  until  theglorification  of  our  Lord 
after  his  ascension  ;  see  John  vii.  39  compared 
with  chap.  vi.  62,63.  Justasthis  final  "Receive 
ye ! "  is  here  related,  on  the  one  side,  to  the  re- 
ception of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  did  not  follow  till 
afterwards,  and,  on  the  other,  to  all  the  oft-re- 
peated promises  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  had 
preceded — so  is  it  with  this  final  word  of  pro- 
mise and  institution,  as  connected  with  that 
bodily  impartation  oi  Christ  which  should  take 
place  when  his  body  was  glorified  and  had  be- 
come crtpnhJe  of  communication.  This  glori^/ictl 
corporeity  itself  is,  once  more,  something  very 
different  from  that  which  many  hypotheses  have 
substituted  for  it.  Richter,  for  examnle,  thus 
strangely  expresses  himself:  "Luther  is  right; 
we  receive  his  true  body  and  his  true  blood, 
that  is,  the  living,  heavenly  part  of  his  nature.. 


524 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


which  was  sentient  and  operative,  in  the  fibres 
and  nerves  of  his  (sometime)  body,  and  ani- 
mated his  pure  and  guiltless  blood."  Hahn's 
"scriptural  representation"  is  quite  below  the 
subjf.'Ct,  whelher  viewed  in  relation  to  specula- 
tion in  the  light  of  revealed  truth,  or  to  the 
letter  of  the  words  of  institution,  when  he  says, 
"  He  gives  the  assurance  that  bread  and  wine 
now  in  this  Supper  took  the  place  of  his  body 
and  blood ;  and  that,  as  he  had  been  previously 
with  them  in  flesh  and  blood,  so  henceforth 
bread  and  wine  should  be  the  organic  channel  for 
his  spiritual  fellowship  with  his  disciples." 
According  to  the  Scripture  (John  vi.),  the  Lord 
was  to  be"  in  us  and  with  us  also  in  flesh  and 
blood  after  his  ascension  ;  yea,  then  first  truly 
60.  His  heavenly  flesh  and  blood,  pervaded  by 
spirit,  and  which  have  become  spirit  and  life, 
these  are  the  true  "mediating  organs"  oi  that 
fellowship  which  is  as  really  bodily  as  spiritual ; 
and  the  bread  and  the  wine  are  the  mediating 
gr/mlols  of  this,  in  the  second  degree.  Were  there 
not  for  the  Church  of  the  Lord  an  actual  re- 
ception of  his  flesh  and  blood  provided,  it  could 
have  no  life  in  itself,  it  never  would  be  or  could 
be  his  Church,  that  is,  his  lody.  If  this  recep- 
tion was  not  at  the  same  time  (not,  indeed, 
exclusively,  but  especially)  mediated  by  an 
external,  earthly  corporeal  element,  the  Church 
of  the  New  Testament  would  have  no  sacra- 
ment; its  worsJiip  would  therefore  lack  the  real 
centre  and  exhibition  of  consummate  fellowship, 
and  the  whole  word  of  evangelical  preaching 
upon  earth  (Matt.  xxvi.  13)  its  conclusive  sea/. 
If  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  were  not 
for  us,  when  we  eat  and  drink,  in  the  bread  and 
wine,  the  sacrament  in  the  sacrament  v/ould  be 
Avanting;  and  the  seal  of  the  v;ord,  instead  of 
confirming  its  highest  and  most  wonderful  pro- 
mise, would  retract  it,  and  send  us  back  into 
the  region  of  everlasting  difference  between 
flesh  and  spirit — leaving  a  chnsm  forever  un- 
filled between  our  corporeity  (which,  however, 
is  itself  to  be  glorified  in  a  resurrection)  and 
the  "  spiritual  fellowship  "  of  the  head  with  his 
members.  Schulthess,  opposing  the  e'ycjdi?, 
says  that  in  Scripture  filesh  and  qiirit  are  the 
two  most  irreconcilable  things — without  rec- 
ognizing that  victory  of  the  spirit  v.'hich  recon- 
ciles the  two  by  glorifying  the  flesh. 

Christ  is  the  high  priest  of  the  coming 
rood  things  (Heb.  ix.  9,  11),  the  author  and 
dispenser  of  all  that  v/as  future  under  the 
Ola-Testament  economy  of  shadows  :  and  not 
only  80,  of  all  that,  even  to  us,  will  be  per- 
fect only  in  the  final  glorifying  and  renova- 
tion of  all  things,  although  its  reality  begins 
v.'ithin  us  from  the  time  that  the  glorified  comes 
to  make  his  abode  within  us.  He  acted  and 
spoke  as  the  high  priest  </«/;7/ia^i5( to  use  Oetin- 
ger's  expression)  oven  upon  earth,  and  in  the 
land  of  death,  when  ho  said — This  is  my  body 
which  is  given  for  you — thus  it  is  my  will  to 
give  it,  and  I  will  give  it  to  you.  He  conld 
not  have  instituted  this  mystery  first  at  the 
time  of  its  great  fulfillment,  for  then  must  he 
have  como  agaia  from  heaven   expressly  for 


that  purpose.*  He  could  not  and  would  not 
institute  the  Supper.after  his  resurrection,  dur- 
ing that  interval  which  drew  nearer  to  his  glo- 
rification and  was  in  some  sense  an  anticipation 
of  it.  For  it  was  to  retain  its  necessary  con- 
nection v;ith  his  own  and  the  old  economy's 
last  Passover — moreover,  he  would  assure  them 
by  instituting  it  before  his  departure  by  death 
that  hisjyresence  tcith  them  would  be  just  as  real 
as  it  had  been  before  his  resurrection — and, 
finall}'-,  he  thus  obviated  all  (Zoceiic notions,  such 
as  would  have  easily  attached  themselves  to  a 
sacrament  instituted  during  the  forty  days.f 

How  then,  does  he  promise  and  give  us  in 
the  S3.ci-a.ment  his  body  ?  as  dead  ov  as  living? 
It  is,  indeed,  the  body  given  up  to  death  for 
us  ;  and  the  continuous  presence  of  the  power 
and  energy  of  this  death  so  works  in  us  that 
Vi'c  ever  anew  die  v;itli  him  unto  sin,  in  sacra- 
mental union  with  him;  nevertheless  v/e  know, 
and  it  needs  no  proof,  that  this  death  is 
life,  and  gives  life,  and  becomes  to  us  the  nour- 
ishment of  life  simply.  Were  it  not  so  there 
would  remain  only  the  appropriation  of  his 
justifying  death  through  the  "  re.-nembrance  "  of 
faith;  there  would  be  no  living  communication 
of  the  Christ,  no  longer  dead  but  living,  with- 
inus.J  But  while 'the  oiSu'isvov  assuredly 
brings  forward  tlie  death  into  the  present,  and 
asserts  the  identity  of  the  body  which  is  given 
v.'ith  that  which  died  upon  Golgotha,  the  v:rsf3 
vHcjy,  "for  you,"  which  is  added,  testifies  that 
the  same  body  is  given  as  living,  as  the  bread 
of  life  within  us — because  the  eating  (as  the 
very  word  necessarily  implies)  takes  away  the 
merely  external  sense  of  this  "for  us,"  elevates 
and  interprets  it  into  the  "  in  us." 

The  BROKEN,  finally,  which  the  Lord's  au- 
thentic exposition  has  substituted  for  given,^ 


*  Yet  in  the  revelation  to  Paul  there  was  a  con- 
firmatory supp.ement  added  from  heaven. 

f  Then  he  «•«»  latently  or  initiatorily  glorified — 
not  before  his  death. 

■^  Breitenstein  {Sendschreibe  an  IlarTietncTce,  Mar- 
burg, 1822)  starts  from  the  Syr.  trans,  lia,  and 
renews  a'l  the  old  Ziiinsfianism  of  an  appropri- 
ation shnply  of  the  crucified  Lord,  symbolized  by 
eatin?.  Mever  thoroughly  well  answered  him 
(Bl.  fiir  hoh.  'if.  v.  136)  that  this  would  bo  a  ha'/- 
Chris",  find  not,  therefore,  by  any  means  the 
Christ  whom  wo  must  have.  There  would  bo 
then  no  difierenco  between  the  Jewish  sacrifice 
and  our  sacrament,  sav.-)  in  tlie  outward  form, 
and  in  the  circumstance  that  tlio  former  was  of- 
fered in  expectation,  the  latter  celebrated  in  re- 
membrance. 

^  For  the  omission  of  7c\a>ttsvov,  a"?  in  Lach- 
maim's  text,  cannot  be  approved,  tluni^ii  Schul- 
thess  can  appeal  to  Bengel  on  that  side ;  the  sim- 
ple TO  viZEf>  vn(2y  is  without  meaning,  and 
arose  from  the  micertainty  between  SiS.  or  x\., 
as  Nilzsch  has  said.  But  when  he  prefers  5i5u- 
^Evovy  and  asserts  jiXoiitevov  to  be  spurious, 
as  having  originated  honi  1  Cor.  x.  16  or  later  no- 
tions of  the  breakins  of  tlie  boJy,  wo  cannot 
ajTree  with  him,  but  hold  the  latter  with  Schulz 
as  doubtless  genuine.    The  parversion  of  vKsp 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


523r 


shonld  by  no  means  throw  us  back  upon  a 
Dne-sided  view  ot  the  dead  body,  bat  con- 
firm to  us  the  d'JuUe  mcaninr/  of  the  given, 
as  being — For  you  to  death,  and  thereby  in  yon 
'.0  life.  For  both  these,  not  excepting  the  lat- 
ter, must  this  K/l  cJ/f  c  r  or,  as  partaining  to 
zuXaCt,  embrace.  It  is  true  that,  first,  it 
defines  the  breaking  of  the  body,  the  dissolution 
of  the  organism,  its  (transitoi-y)  disruption  as 
1  lo'ly  by  death.*  Guericke,  for  the  sake  of 
withstanding  the  "  Union-Siiibboleth"  of  bread- 
breaking,  asserts  that  the  body  of  Christ  gener- 
ally was  not  broken  at  all ;  but  what  would 
the  authentic  expression  here  given  then  mean  ? 
We  think  at  once  of  N3*10,  incised,  Isa.  liii.  5, 

and  ils3"1,  ver.  10  (comp.  N31~IJ?j  Psa.  xc.  S), 

wbicli  is  more  intense  than  ppH^D — not  merely 

pierced  or  wounded  to  the  flowing  of  the  blood, 
but  bruised,  crushed,  broken  to  pieces  as  a, 
living  body ;  just  as  in  Isa.  xxxviii.  13,  n_3C>' 

\^i?0VJ?"^3j  he  will  break  all  my  bones,  is  par- 
allel with  maJce  an  end  of  me ;  and  as  in  1 
Kings  xiii.  28  (not  so  certainly  Dan.  viii.  25  ; 
Ezeii.  xxs.   S ;    Jer.  xxii.  20)  "^yy,  to  break, 

occurs  in  the  ssnso  of  TciUing.  Even  Zwingle 
allowed  this,  though  he  made  it  rather  too  gen- 
eral— "Frangi  pro  pati  aut  perire."  Nitzsch's 
objection  to  the  broken  body  we  think  altogether 
unfounded.  But  when  the  same  broken  body 
is  afterwards  given  as  a  (jGj/<ato  be  broken  for 
Va^wfood,  the  other  meaning  which  v.'e  alluded 
to  above  comes  out — Christ  breaks  to  us  the 
bread,  gives  himself  to  us  as  the  nourishment 
of  life.  (The  tradetur  of  the  Vulg.  may  express 
this;  and  Ezek.  xviii.  7,  in  allusion  to  Isa. 
Iviii.  7,  uses  \y^  for  Di2\)      For  our  UW^,  our 

restoration  and  perfect  soundness,  comes,  ac- 
cording to  Isa.  liii.,  from  the  propitiatory 
Si3ip,  our  healing  from  his  stripes — his  blood 

poured  out  in  death  becomes  the  medicine  of 
life  to  us.  If  this  is  mystical  exegesis,  it  is  the 
only  one  with  which  we  can  satisfy  ourselves 
when  dealing  with  the  words  of  a  mystery ; 
every  distorted  and  one-sided  view  of  this  cen- 
tral sacrament,  in  which  all  lines  converge  to 
the  unity  of  the  death  and  life  of  Christ,|  is 
unsatisfactory  and  misleading. 

We  may  be  permitted   to  recapitulate  in 
Meyer's  excellent  words.  J    "  The  natural  sense 


■uixa)V  into  "which  bread  represents  you,"  is  ri- 
diculously forced.  Nitzsch  still  asserts,  against 
me,  that  the  h\^uevov  is  a  reading  "  more  than 
uncertain;"  but  I  must  ho'd  to  its  genuineness, 
and  say  with  Kahnis,  that  "  the  expression  is  much 
too  concrete  .and  oilginal  for  any  later  hand  to 
have  been  bold  enough  to  insert." 

*  Hence  in  some  Codd.  the  gloss  ^pvTiro'nt- 
vov. 

+  So  in  the  Passover  the  sin-ofTering  and  thank- 
offering  were  blended  typically. 

X  Blatter  fur  hoh.  Wahrhcit,  xi.  226  fl. 


of  the  expression  will  allow  at  first  this  two- 
fold meaning:  Represent  to  yourselves  by  tliis 
my  body  and  my  blood,  as  they  are  sacrificed 
for  3-0 u  ;  and,  represent  to  yourselves  by  this 
ray  body  and  my  blood,  as  they  are  essentially 
partaken  of  by  you,  or  enter  into  you,  and 
must  enter  into  you,  if  ye  would  have  immortal 
life,  as  I  have  already  (John  vi.)  said  unto 
you.  But,  since  no  occasion  and  no  means  can 
be  conceived  more  effectual  for  the  setting 
forth  of  this  mystery  in  believers,  than  the 
celebration  of  that  rite  in  which  bread  and  wine 
were  blessed  and  partaken  of  in  devout  remem- 
brance of  the  Lord  and  his  sacrificial  death,  tka 
third  meaning  must  necessarily  be  added  :  'Ob- 
serve this  bodily  partaking  of  bread  and  wine, 
internally  contemplating  me,  and  with  a  believ- 
ing desire  to  be  united  to  me  in  spirit,  soul,  and 
body,  to  belong  to  me  through  a  new  birth,  to 
have  me  as  an  indwelling  Saviour,  and  to  obtain 
through  this  my  being  within  you  a  spiritual 
and  eternal  life — observe  this  partaking  of 
bread  and  wine  as  the  fulfillment  and  sealing 
of  this  your  wish  itself;  I  give  myself  herewith 
for  you  to  eat  and  drink,  just  as  1  mj'sterioasly 
spoke  before,  to  the  offence  of  many.'  " 

Do  THIS  !  This  is  not  a  liturgical  addition 
which  had  dated  bach  the  appointment  of  the 
then-customary  celebration  to  the  Lord's  mouth ; 
but  it  is  his  own  word,  from  which  alone  tho 
celebration  could  have  taken  its  rise.  It  was 
hardly — as  Nitzsch  suggests — added  first  after 
the  resurrection.  This  second  rovro  with 
TtoisltF.  is  much  plainer  than  the  former  v.'ith 
idri;  but  it  is  important,  nevertheless,  to  im- 
press a  definite  idea  of  it  upon  our  minds.  Are 
we  to  imderstand,  Do  this  as  that  lohich  I  nozo 
do,  and  interpret  it  as  meaning — Give  ye  my 
Apostles  one  to  another,  and  let  all  who  follow 
you  give  to  others  the  bread  in  mv  place,  and 
with  the  words  which  I  now  use?  Certainly 
not,  for  that  which  all  believers,  to  whom  long 
before  the  institution  his  flesh  and  blood  had 
been  promised,  were  to  do,  was  said  before, 
TaJce,  eat.  Luke  and  Paul,  indeed,  have  not 
these  -words;  and  again  Matthew  and  Iilark 
have  not  the  Do  this;  but  this  omission  on 
both  sides  is  plain  proof  that  tho  expressions 
mutually  correspond  with  and  imply  each  other. 
"Thus  it  rather  means  Do  after  this  manner,  that 
which  I  now  command  you,  this  eating  (and 
drinking)  which  I  now  elevate  into  a  mys- 
terious communion  with  myself.  Decisive  evi- 
dence of  this  follows  imm'ediately  in  tho  ad- 
dition—«s  o/i  as  ye  drink.  That  the  disciple.", 
when  he  should  be  no  longer  visibly  present 
with  them,  but  give  them  internally  his  broken 
body  and  shed  blood,  would  externally  give 
one  to  another  the  bread  and  the  wine,  was 
self-understood,  and  moreover  in  itself  so  in- 
diff"erent  a  matter  that  in  the  Ttoteiy  here  ap- 
pointed to  the  disciples  the  main  matter  of  tha 
sacrament  must  be  regarded  as  meant.  Paul, 
in  1  Cor.  xi.  26-29,  does  not  otherwise  ex- 
plain it ;  four  times  after  the  vdd^ni,  as  oft  as, 
we  find  meationed  the  eating  of  the  bread 


526 


THE  LORD'S  SUri'ER. 


and  11io  drinking  of  the  cnp*  He  appropri- 
ates it  to  the  Corinthian  Christians  as  well  as 
1o  the  Apostles,  to  every  "  man  who  would  be- 
long to  the  Lord  and  his  Church  "  (comp.  Exod. 
.\:i.  'iSit  Li  this  New-Testament  sacrament, 
in  the  Old-Testament  type  of  which  the  whole 
community  acted  as  priests,  there  can  certainly 
lie  no  room  for  exclusi'/e  prerogative  of  ofBce 
ami  position. 

Further  (and  as  Paul  has  shown,  1  Cor.  5-7), 
the  Bo  this  corresponds  emphatically  to  tiie 
sense  in  which  the  Lord  declared,  as  we  have 
seen,  his  l,ody  to  be  the  true  Passover;  conse- 
quently we  may  regard  it  as  certain  that  it 
contains  his  commandment  to  let  this  festival 
take  the  place  of  the  2'>'^schai  lamb  (as  pre- 
viously rozoJ  rc»  ■Kd6xc(. ;  Schulthess  in  this  is 
right — Tioitlvy  nti'V,  of  festal  acts).  There- 
fore, obviously  as  the  Passover  was  observed 
for  a  memorial  and  setting  forth  of  that  deliv- 
erance and  passing  ovei-,  so  now — In  my  re- 
mcmlirance.  In  my — this  contains  the  substi- 
tution. In  my  remembrance;  that  is,  in  the 
future,  when  I  am  no  longer  thus  with  you ; 
for  what  was  then  done  needed  no  dvdjiiytfdii 
for  those  who  were  present. 

"  Not  in  the  days  of  his  exaltation,  but  in 
the  days  of  his  humiliation,  he  laid  this  great 
injunction  on  believers;  it  was  as  the  request 
Of  a  friend  and  not  as  a  commandment  for  ser- 
vants that  he  pronounced  his  last  wish. "J  Very 
true,  but  what  majesty  of  most  sacred  injunc- 
tion is  there  in  this  almost  entreating  word  of 
him  who  is  about  to  depart  through  suffering! 
In  rcmemhrance  of  me  has  a  tone  at  once  of  most 
affecting  and  condescending  entreaty,  as  if  a 
Iricni  were  to  say— Forget,  me  not  f  But  as 
certainly  as  his  own  could  not  and  would  not 
ever  forget  him — as  certainly  as  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  find  ihe  mighty  testimony  of 
the  Spirit,  what  ho  had  done  would  be  an- 
nounced throughout  all  the  world  in  memorial 
of  him — £0  certainly  must  something  much 
higher  be  contained  in  this  final  request,  which 
hides  its  dignity  in  a  lowly  form.  The  memo- 
rial must  have  yet  another  meaning  ;  it  was 
his  design  to  establish  in  it  a  work  of  his  own 
miraculous  power,  of  which  more  anon  ;  and 
the  Bo  this  is  all  the  more  assuredlv  no  less 
than  a  most  sacred  commandment.l     llarabach, 


*  Yet  in  chap.  x.  IC  he  had  pro-supposed  that  in 
connection  with  the  Do  this  tliere  was  the  K^.'ssing 
and  hreakins,  just  as  at  iho  institution  the  Lord 
had  done. 

t  This  remark,  otherwise  needless,  is  rendered 
necessary  by  the  Romanist  doctrine  that  "  the  in- 
stitution of  the  holy  sac;  anient  of  orders  "  was 
inclmled  in  tlie  "  most  lioly  sacr  fico  of  tlie  miss." 
"  The  last  words,  I)o  this,  are  a  command  to  th? 
Apostles  to  celebia'o  the  sacrament  from  that 
t.ine  in  his  Church,  and  Jesus  tliereby  consecrated 
them  i):iests"  (Ailioli's  Dibel). 

X  Nitzsch,  Trcdi'fftsammMitg  von  1819,  p.  20O. 

()  The  Qinkcis  therefore  are  in  most  manifest 
enor.  Tiieir  inward  I'ght  puts  them  to  shims 
through   the  most    uuiatelligent    perversion  of 


I  therefore,  .says  quite  correctly :  "Christ  insti- 
tuted the  Supper  in  statu  exinanitionis,  indeed, 
but  not  in  actu  exinanitionis  ;  the  institution 
of  the  sacrament  was  a  work  of  divine  authority 
and  power,  hence  Paul  calls  Christ  in  connec- 
tion with  it  uvftioi,  Lord,  most  emphatically." 
Nevertheless,  we  must  remark  the  humble  and 
unostentations  form  in  which  this  work  of 
power  and  wonder  was  wrapped  up;  and,  more- 
over, the  New-Testament  freedom  which  ho 
permits  even  in  connection  with  this  undoubted 
command.  On  the  one  hand,  although  accord- 
ing to  John  vi.  faith  through  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  mav,  even  without  the  bread 
and  wine,  partake  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood* 
— yet  he  now  appoints  and  declares,  that  this 
participation  should  as  a  rule  be  bound  to  the 
participation  of  the  bread  and  wine,  even  as 
the  Spirit  pre-eminently  and  ordinarily  works 
through  the  word.  On  the  other  hand,  again, 
he  appoints  Avith  the  utmost  simplicity  only 
the  most  essential  matter  to  that  end.  That 
the  Church  should  possess  this  sacrament  is  firm- 
ly settled,  and  the  external  essential  is  expressly 
defined  in  the  Bo  this  ;  but  all  else  is  left  un- 
defined and  free,  as  becomes  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
Spirit  in  the  Church  would  take  order  for  the 
salutary  ceremonial  of  the  service;  but  ho 
himself  gives  beforehand  no  legal  specification 
which  should  always  and  absolutely  be  bind- 
ing. (This  freedom  and  simplicity  shines  out 
conspicuously  in  contrast  with  the  Old-Testa- 
ment prescription  for  the  Passover.)  What 
persons  should  in  the  future  assume  the  dis- 
pensation in  his  stead — with  what  words,  pray- 
ers, and  rites  the  elements  should  be  blessed 
and  consecrated,  and  the  devotion  of  believers 
be  quickened — what  relation  tJds  eating  and 
drinking  should  sustain  to  other  eating  and 
drinking,  yea,  whether  this  should  be  done  neces' 
sarily  in  a  body  or  sometimes  by  individuals 
alone — on  all  these  points  there  is  no  word  and 
commandment.  "We  regard  it  as  conformable 
with  the  Lord's  meaning,  who  would  have  all 
things  done  decently  and  in  order  (1  Cor.  xiv. 
40),  that  the  appointed  stewards  of  God's  mys- 
teries (1  Cor.  iv.  1)  should  take  the  lead  as  in 
Christ's  place,  in  the  sacrament  as  well  as  in 
the  word  ;  but  this  exception  in  the  universal 
priesthood  is  left  free.     Nothing  seems  to  us 


words,  when  they  persist  in  denyinsf  the  obliga- 
tion of  Christians  to  tlicso  "  ceremonies."  So  we 
find  in  Barclay :  "  And  as  for  that  expression  of 
Luke,  Do  this  in  rcmemhrance  of  mc,  it  will  amount  to 
no  more  tlian  this,  that  this  being  the  last  time  that 
Christ  did  eat  with  his  disci plrs,  he  de>ircd  them 
that  in  their  eating  and  drinking  they  night  have 
regard  to  him,  and  by  the  romenib?ring  of  that 
opportunity  be  the  more  stirred  up  to  fallow  hira 
diligently  through  sufTerings  and  death,"  etc. 

*  Even  in  connection  with  the  onor  wli'ch  re- 
jects the  institution,  if  that  does  not  spring  from 
the  heart's  opposition  to  the  Lord  ;  for  who  would 
deny  to  many  Quakers,  who  are  so  evidently  and 
inwardly  iu  CLirist,  this  spiritual  supper  of  the 
Lord  ] 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  2G-2S. 


527 


mnre  appro]. 'in fe  than  to  commenco  with  the 
solemn  repotition  of  the  words  ot  instil iilion, 
and  then  tosivnctify  the  eatine  and  drinkincr  to 
its  sacramental  character.  Yet  (as  no  conse- 
cration is  commanded  in  the  i>y  this)  all  such 
addition  to  the  sacrament  itself  might  poFsibly 
be  inwardly  completed  ;  nor  can  we  deny  the 
validity  of  the  sacrament  to  those  who  silently 
partake  with  their  believing  minds  directed  to 
the  words  of  the  Lord.  So  with  the  public 
and  common  character  of  the  breaking  of  one 
bread,  and  the  drinking  of  all  from  one  cup. 
For  the  freest  spirituality  pervades  the  Mew- 
Testament  "Do  this." 

In  remembrance  of  me.  It  has  often  been 
said  that  this  word  cannot  contain  the  great 
essential  matter  of  the  institution,  because 
Luke  alone,  the  more  removed  reporter,  adds 
it,  while  in  the  "This  is"  all  the  accounts 
agree.  There  is  some  truth  of  course  lying  et 
the  bottom  of  this,  otherwise  the  omission  in 
the  other  two  Evangelists  would  be  inexcus- 
able, or  not  to  be  thought  of.*  But  we  are 
warned  nou  to  press  this  too  far  by  the  circum- 
stance that  the  subsequent  revelation  to  Paul 
gives  prominence  to  this  "  remembrance " 
twice,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  adds  also  an  expla- 
nation of  it  through  the  Apostles'  teaching. 
This  explanation  is  very  different  from  the 
Zuinglian  or  the  Eationalistic  view,  according 
to  which  the  Lord  is  merely  said  to  have  used 
such  and  such  words,  as  self-understood.  The 
condescending  word  certainly  begins  with  what 
may  be  termed  the  simple  thinking  upon  his 
person,  his  past  connection  with  them,  not  ex- 
cluding the  affectionate  remembrance  of  this 
last  farewell-meal,  and  that  night  of  his  be- 
trayal which  it  would  forever  make  present  to 
their  minds.  But,  after  all  that  the  rovro 
idn  has  already  said,  who  can  content  himself 
with  understanding  the  a j'a'/i/r7;(jtS  in  such  a 
bare  superficial  sense  as  utterly  opposes  that 
former  word?  He  who  does  this,  because  he 
has  no  faith  in  a  livingly  present  Saviour, 
workmg  mysteriously  upon  and  witliin  us,  and 
therefore  turns  ono  word  of  institution  against 
another,  has  in  reality  no  sacrament  at  all,  and 
deceives  himself  when  he  says  that  he  brings 
the  Lord  to  his  remembrance.  Bat  he  who 
with  sincerity  of  heart  and  honesty  of  faith 
enters  into  this  memorial  of  the  Lord  and  his 
death,  will  find  and  experience  in  it  all  else 
that  we  have  spoken  of — even  though  his 
theoretical  view3  and  expressions  may  do  in- 
justice to  the  sacrament  as  a  whole. 

We  say  first,  with  confidence,  that  the  re- 
membrance is  not  defined  in  the  clause  to  be 
the  substance,  the  essential  matter,  of  tho  J)o 
this,  which  points  directly  to  the  eating  and 
drinking  of  the  body  and  blood;  but  the  ap- 
pended eli  indicates  the  original  purpose,  the 
accompanying  disposition,  the  immediate  influ- 


ence, of  the  true  participation  in  the  act.  If  our 
exposition  has  hitherto  been  in  any  degree  cor- 
rect, we  have  already  refuted  the  Socinians  and 
others  who  would  'understand  it  only  of  an 
external  eating,  as  a  mnemonic  rite,*  but  who 
understand  neither  what  his  remembrance  is 
as  spoken  of  bv  the  Lord,  nor  what  is  his  body 
and  blood.  The  error  is  not  removed  by  lay- 
ing the  emphasis  upon  rerafmbrance  o^'  me,  but 
by  rightly  understanding  the  remembranca  it- 
self. Already  in  the  Old  Testament  it  had  a 
deeper  and  a  real  meaning  :  when  the  Lord 
spoke  of  the  remembrance  of  his  name,  and 
appointed  any  rite  or  any  place  to  be  a  memo- 
rial in  which  his  name  was  recorded — there  he 
actually  would  come  to  his  people  and  bless 
them  (Exod.  xx.  24).  Even  then  the  living 
God  was  not  in  such  sense  absent  that  he  was 
to  be  merely  remembered — but  what  does  the 
remembrance  of  Christ  signify,  tha  remem- 
brance of  that  God-man  who  gives  us  in- 
wardly his  body  and  his  blood  ?  Are  we  to 
suppose  the  same  Lord,  who  had  so  often  testi- 
fied to  his  disciples  that  he  would  be  with 
them,  among  them,  and  within  them  in  the 
time  to  come,  to  speak  here  of  remembering 
himself  as  an  absent  person  who  was  no  longer 
there  and  only  an  object  of  remembrance  ?  He 
does  not  say  kv  zrj  Ijit^  dvauvy6Ei,  in  remem- 
brance of  me — that  would  signify  the  remem- 
brance and  devotion  which  the  observance 
itself  would  bring  with  it,  and  which  it 
already  pre-supposed  as  the  first  impulse  to 
the  doing  thin.  But  he  appoints  and  at  the 
same  time  promises,  that  through  this  doing 
the  remembrance  should  be  strengthened, 
made  more  inward  ;  that  a  remembrance  or 
memorial  of  himself  should  be  wrought  in 
real  and  living  fellowship  Vv'ilh  him.  All 
thinking  of  the  past  is  in  a  certain  sense  a 
making  it  present;  but  if  he  whom  we  think 
of  remains  absent  and  separated  from  us,  such 
bringing  the  pa'^t  back  can  only  turn  to  an  all 
the  more  bitter  feeling  of  the  separation  :  and 
can  we  suppose  this  to  be  intended  here?  Can 
the  Lord  be  supposed  to  expect  of  our  weak- 
ness that  we  should  rise  in  faith,  through  this 
remembrance,  above  the  separation,  into  spir- 
itual fellowship  with  him?  Can  this  be  the 
decisive  and  main  element  in  an  institution 
which  concentres  in  itself  all  the  mighty  bless- 
ings and  influences  of  New-Testament  grace? 
"  As  respects  the  Christ,  who  is  with  us  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  in  our  midst  when  we 
are  met  in  his  name,  all  is  not  so  much  made 
to  depend  upon  our  weak  energv  of  faith,  an 
uoon  his  mighty  presence"  (Von  Meyer), 
ilis  word  rather  contains  the  real  promise— 


*  But  according  to  Justin,  Apol.  i.  66  the 
aTtonvrjuoyFvimra  t(Sv  (iito6r6Xa)v'\\&i\  also 
this  first  TovTO  itoisltE  eii  zi)y  dydi.ivr]Giv 

fiOV. 


*  "  Christ  the  Lord  would  have  a  remembrnnce 
and  proclamation  of  the  violent  deaih,  which  ho 
sufTered  for  us,  kept  up  in  his  Chiiicli  throu£;h  a 
solemn  rite,  to  the  "lory  of  hi.s  own  name." 
Schulthess  has  even  instituted  a  comp:  riso.i  wi'h 
the  vsKvdia  of  the  Greeks,  the  festivals  in  raera- 
orj  of  the  dead;  and  that  in  a  very  difterent 
sense  from  Theophylact's,  whom  he  quotes. 


51i8 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


If  ye  do  this  in  believing  remembrance,  then 
will  I  remember  you,  and  come  to  you,  and  work 
within  you  a  true  memorial  of  me,  that  is,  a 
more  than  mere  remembrance.  "  In  dvd- 
fivijcSi?  and  dva/umvr/cSHEiv  there  lies  not 
merely  the  passive  idea  of  not  forgetting,  but 
the  active  idea  of  the  revival  of  emotion,  the 
renewal  and  bringing  back  again  of  some- 
thing." This  remark  of  Schulz  is  quite  cor- 
rect ;  but  he  does  not  go  on  to  say  from  who7?i 
and  by  what  means  such  living  remembrance 
can  come. 

This  13  the  subjective  side  of  the  word,  but 


ly,  and  more  than  this:  the  living  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  through  the  Holy  Spirit  finds  its 
last  and  strongest  seal  first  in  the  memorial  of 
the  communion.  As  it  is  the^first  oliject  of  the 
sacrament  to  nourish  and  enkindle  the  remem- 
brance of  Christ  beginning  in  us,  as  a  disposi- 
tion of  mind  accompanying  its  celebration;  and 
as  it  is  then  its  immediate  effect  to  make  this 
a  living  remembrance  through  union  with  him  ; 
so  is  it  in  fact  in  a  certain  sense  the  last  and 
highest  aim  of  the  sacrament  forever  to  pro- 
claim to  the  world  the  death  of  the  Lord,  wiiich 
has  exerted  its  power  in  ourselves.     CommemO' 


there  is  an  objective  side  which    inseparably   ratio  and  prediau  o  become  one  in  the  power  of 


belongs  to  it.  Hence  Paul  emphatically  sub 
stitutes  a  wider  expression  :  not,  Te  remember 
his  death,  but,  Te  do  shoio  forth  his  death  (with 
allusion  to  the  m2 


him,  who  testifies  himself  to  be  present.    Thus 
the  sacrament  goes  back  into  the  word  and  be- 
comes itself  an  intenser  word  as  being  its  most 
2n,  or  proclamation  in  con-    impressive  fulfillment;  thus  the   communion, 
.,,   ^,       '"  X      mi         ■  -L     -ii.-      as  it  is  the  crown  of  worship  within  the  Church, 

nection  with  the  Passover).  The  spirit  within  ^^  j^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^j  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^.j.  ^f  preaching 
us  teaches  us  to  find  even  in  this  word  an  in-  ^^,^^-^^^^  ^j^^g  q^^^^.^^^  ^^^.^.j^g  ^^^  ^V^  confidently 
timation,  first  o.  alj,  that  we  must  in  our  hearts  j  ^^-^^^^  ^^^^  ^j^j^  j^^^  -!  plainly  contained  in  the 


show  him  to  ourselves,  or  "enter  with  all  our  \ 
faculties  and  powers,  and  with  the  whole  might 
of  our  will,  into  his  death."  But  the  funda- 
mental meaning  of  that  additional  word  goes 


absolute   and   objectively-laid   down    sii  rrjv 
enifv  dvdi.ivr]6ty  (instead  of  vi-uv  c/?  aVa'- 
l.ivi]6iv  hirjy),  in  order  to  the  remembrance, 
^    ,,  ,    ,  ,,    ,  1  •     .•     1     ^         not,  ^0  Wii  for  my  remembrance.     It  is  thereby 

further  and  shows  that  our  subjectively-true  ^.^lared  that  the  Lord  would  make  this  ap- 
remembrance,  which  becomes  through  our  re-  j^tnient  of  what  his  disciples  were  to  do  ji 
ception  a  living  remembrance  of  our  Lord-  ,  ^,^^^^,^1  to  the  world  of  his  redeeming  act— 
this  ayauy7;6,?  within  us— must  also  epeak  ;  •  ^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^  .^^^  ^^^  Qjj.rp  stament  typo 
and  work  cJyjsctiveiy  and  outwardly,  before  the  i  :L^^ 

Church  and  the  world.  "  Thus  Jesus  did  not  I  Likewise  also  he  took  the  cnp.  That 
merely  sav  that  the  communicants  at  the  Sup-  \  ■  ^^^^  appointed  and  customarv  cup  at  the 
per  should  think  of  hira  ;  but  that  the  Supper  !  co\iclusion  of  the  Passover.  The  absence  of 
should  be  an  announcement  and  a  memoria  of  [  ^j^^  j^^^^^g  ^^^^^,^  Ttorvpiov  in  ^lark,  according 
his  death  to  all      (Scheibel).     les,  verily  the  ,  ^^  another  reading,  has  no  other  significance 


life-imparting  death  of  the  Lord  of  glory,  which 
should  bring  forth  much  fruit,  was  to  be  other- 
wise shown  forth,  and  to  have  another  kind  of 
memMrial,  than  any  other  death  of  one  who  had 


g,  lias  no  otner  signi 
than  what  we  have^already  remarked  in  con- 
nection with  the  dprov.  The  emphatic  and 
striking  'flcSavrooi,  likewise,  of  Luke  and  Paul, 
which   infers  a  similar   taking,   thanksgiving, 


died.  From  the  night  of  his  betrayal  onward  j  ^lessin^  and  giving,  testifies~to  the  indivis- 
to  the  great  day  when  he  will  come  agam,  his  , -^jg  character  of  \he  sacrament,  as  essen- 
own  proclaim-as  in  their  whole  life  derived  |  ^-^^j,  ^^^  notwithstanding  its  two-fold  form. 
from  and  spent  in  him,  so  pre-eminently  as  ,  r^j^^  ^^^^^^  ^^.^^.^g  of  institution,  in  connection 
often  as  they  publicly  and  solemnly  commemo-    ^^j^,^  ^[^^  ^^.^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  mutually  confirm 

rate  him  in  the  sacrament— Z?/e  z;i  his  dealh.    and  illustrate  each  other :  he  who  would  super- 
ficially or  falsely  interpret   the  one,  is  shown 


rate  him  in  the  sacrament — Lift 
They  bear  witness  of  it  to  each  other  and  to 
the  world.  They  bear  testimony  with  the  ut- 
most power  as  worthy  and  sanctified  commu- 
nicants, such  as  he  would  have  them.  be.  But 
even  the  mere  external  celebration  itself,  when 
it  is  no  more  than  that,  is  the  continuous  tes- 
timony and  confession  of  the  Church.  Even 
where  preaching  has  ceased  to  proclaim  the 
sin-ofTering  for  the  world,  the  "  For  you"  pre- 
serves the  remembrance  of  his  atoning  work  ; 
and  "  2'liis  u"  bears  persistent  witness  to  a 
Bervice  which  ehould  be  and  shall  over  be  the 
means  of  living  communion  with  him.*    Final- 


•  As  lon2,  tha*  is,  as  the  words  of  Christ  are 
fpoken  ill  ilio  colebratiou  of  the  Lorl's  Supper, 
llufiiastel  of  Frankfort,  ii  deed,  preferred  as  the 
formula  of  distribution,  "  Partake  of  th's  bread! 
The  spirit  of  devoti(  n  rest  upon  thee  with  its  full 
blessin?.  ParU.ke  of  a  little  wine!  No  virtue 
lies  in  it :  tint  lies  i»  Due,  iu  llie  diviue  teachiug, 
and — 1;»  God." 


what  "is  right  by  the  other.*  The  Lord  instituted 
the  sacrament  under  a  two-fold  form;  and  Von 
Gerlach  gives  the  most  obvious  and  most  super- 
ficial reason,  iu  these  simple  words,  "  For  he  con- 
nected it  with  the  two-fold  bodily  need  of  man, 
food  and  drink  "  and  we  have  shown  upon  John 
vi.  that  there  also  hunger  and  thirst  embraced 
all  the  necessities  and  all  the  desires  of  man  in 
their  utmost  comprehensiveness.  But  to  this 
there  corresponds,  as  Von  Gerlach  admits,  "a 
two-fold  nourishment  and  refreshment  of  the 
inner  man,  corresponding  to  those  of  the  body ;  " 
and  we  then  first   understand  this  when  we 


*  TertuUian  :  "  In  calicis  nientione  testnmentum 
constituens  sanguine  suo  obsignatun,  subtantiara 
coporis  confirmavit.  Nullius  enim  corpc-ris  san- 
guis potest  esse,  nisi  carnis."  In  this  more  it 
said  conceruiug  the  Supper  than  Ebrard  finds  in 
it. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  2G-2S. 


^ 


learn  from  tlio  word  in  faith  tliat  Christ  also  is 
objectively  presented  to  us  in  a  two-fold  form, 
and  gives  himself  to  us  that  we  may  eat  and 
drink  The  bread  is  only  his  hodtj  ;  hence  he 
must  also  give  us  his  blood  in  the  cup.  When 
Von  Gerlach  places  in  the  middle,  "  He  would 
thereby  point  to  the  separation  of  the  body 
from  the  blood  poured  out,  in  his  death,"  we 
have  nothing  to  object;  for  it  is  most  evident 
that  this  separation  does  refer  to  the  death,  and 
consequently  this  is  a  testimony  that  he  speaks 
of  the  same  body  which  died.  Delitzsch  would 
satisfy  the  inquiry  by  saying  that  it  is  a  gra- 
cious condescension  to  our  weakness,  to  the 
end  that  he  might  exhibit  plainly  to  our  faith 
the  two-fold  character  of  the  gift ;  but  we 
would  ask  all  Lutherans,  who  do  not  regard 
the  sacrament  simply  as  a  condescension  to  our 
intirmity,  but  insist  upon  a  reality  in  what  is 
presented  to  their  eyes — What  is  then  oljectively 
this  twofold  character  of  the  gift?  We  must 
penetrate  deeper  into  the  mystery,  and  regard 
it  as  demonstrating  the  separation  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  which  continues  even  after 
his  death  ;  so  that  in  the  sacrament,  where  he 
who  died,  nevertheless  gives  himself  to  us  as 
the  living,  the  same  separation  as  it  wore  con- 
tinues. i''or  this  we  may  refer  tlie  reader  to 
John  vi.,  and  our  exposition  of  it.^'  Finally, 
even  this  is  not  enough,  but  there  is  a  two-fold 
character  in  the  human  nature  (which  here  ap- 
pears only  in  its  glorification)  corresponding  to 
the  dualism  of  the  flesh  and  blood,  according  to 
which  the  one  indivisible  glorified  God-man 
nevertheless  dwells  and  works  in  his  Church  in 
a  two-fold  way.  Paul  points  to  this,  when  in 
1  Cor.  xii.  13,  after  having  spoken  of  the  one 
body  into  which  we  are  baptized,  and  which 
consists  in  the  one  spirit,  he  yet  refers  the  f/5 
ev  Ttv  E  V n  a,  into  one  spirit,  to  the  cup  of  the 
sacrament,  by  tb.e  we  have  drunk.  We  shall  say 
more  concerning  this,  upon  the  Lord's  require- 
ment that  all  should  drink  of  it. 

It  must  not  be  overlooked,  at  the  outset,  in 
this  transition  from  the  eating  to  the  drinking, 
that  there  is  in  the  latter  an  extension  of  the 
fulfilling  of  the  sacrament  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  Old-Testament  type.  The  Lord  in  adding 
the  cup  to  his  solemnity  adheres  to  the  later 

Easchal  ritual,  because  that  corresponds  with 
is  design.  He  does  not  shrink  from  establish- 
ing the  joyful,  quickening,  cheering  character 
of  his  institution,  by  sanctifying  God's  gift  of 
wine  in  connection  with  the  breadt — and  that 
notwithstanding  the  misuse  of  God's  creature 
throughout  the  world.  But  what  a  deep  mean- 


*  This,  however,  overturns  Ebrard's  too  confi- 
dent remark,  "  No  one  would  ever  think  of  a  glo- 
rified blood  together  with  a  glorified  body."  We 
are  quite  sure  that  not  only  Paul,  Ileb.  xii.  24, 
but  also  our  Lord  himself  in  ihe  ins  itution  of  the 
sacrament,  did  so  speak.  The  bloodlessness  of 
the  risen  body  is,  as  we  shall  see,  attested  as  a 
fact.  - 

t  Like  Melchlzodek,  otherwise  than  Moham- 
med. 


ing,  and  what  a  necessary  truth,  wag  involved 
in  this,  we  le^rn  only  when  we  contrast  it  with 
the  divine  ordinance  of  the  Old  Testament,  in 
which  there  was  not,  there  could  not  be,  any 
drinking  of  wine  at  the  Passover,  or  at  any 
sacrificial  meal.  The  heathen  drank  wine  at 
their  sacrificial  feasts  ;  yea,  they  actually  drank 
blood — to  which  Ezek.  xxxi;c."l9,  20  in  angry 
irony  refers,  and  probably  also  Psa.  xvi.  4,  cer- 
tainly Zech.  ix.  7  ;  but  throughout  the  entire 
Levitical  economy  it  is  a  forbidden  abomina- 
tion to  drink:  the  blood  of  atonement*  Such  an 
ordinance  as  that  now  given  by  Christ  himself 
was  so  entirely  new — violating;  the  law  and 
differing  from  the  type  while  in  inmost  reality 
fulfilling  both — it  was  so  decisive  a  distinction 
between  the  old  and  the  new  covenants,  that 
even  thereby  (as  also,  according  to  Heb.  xiii. 
11, 12,  by  another  connected  circumstance)  the 
new  Church  was  separated  from  the  old.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  no  one  could  have  thought  of 
such  a  thing  as  this  if  the  Lord  had  not  ap- 
pointed it.  That  he  appointed  it,  that  he  even 
only  in  a  symbolical  sense  should  have  said. 
Drink — nnj  hlnod,  is  in  fact  just  such  a  contra- 
diction to  the  Levitical  law  as  Schulz  refers  to, 
in  opposition  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  words. 
"  The  personal  appropriation  of  the  saci'lfce  was 
very  significantly  in  the  typical  economy  only 
partial;  eating  the  body  of  the  animal  was 
partaking  of  half — and  thus  men  stopped  short 
in  the  recognition  that  the  blood  of  goats, 
calves,  and  lambs  could  not  give  life."  "Where 
blood  is,  there  is  also  the  lii'e  or  the  soul ;  and 
what  will  the  circumstance  (that  we  now  drink 
the  blood  of  an  offering)  say,  but  that  we  partake 
not  now  of  a  dead  sacrifice,  such  as  the  Israel- 
ites ate,  but  of  a  living,  the  life  and  immortal 
communication  of  which  was  not  attained  to 
in  the  old  covenant? "  (Von  Meyer).  Thus 
marvellously  does  the  symbolism  of  the  sacra- 
ment turn  "from  one  side  to  the  other ;  and 
he  who  does  not  apprehend  its  depth  and  preg- 
nancy of  meaning  must  be  rendered  incorrigible 
by  his  wilful  determination  to  find  but  one. 
Scarcely  has  the  blood  as  shed  testified  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  death  of  the  body  which  was  given 
and  broken,  when  the  blood  as  drunk  assures 
us  again  that  in  this  death  is  our  life.  Thus  it 
is  not  merelv,  as  Luther  at  one  time  thought 
— Flesh  is  life,  blood  is  death.  Rather  the 
reverse,  as  Clement  saw  in  the  blood  the  life, 
the  spirit.  Nor  is  the  wine  of  joy  merely  (as 
Krummacher  says)  an  ingredient  of  super- 
abundance, but  it  is  based  upon  a  correspond- 
ing reality  in  thfe  living  Christ. 


*  Though  only  as  following  from  the  ennct- 
ment  thit  something  else  should  be  done  with  it, 
and  from  tlie  analosiy  with  the  prohibition  of  ent- 
ing  the  blood  with  the  fiesh  :  but  this  it  sufficient- 
ly decisive.  The  question  is  difFcrent  in  the  case 
of  those  pissages,  Lev.  iii.  17,  vii.  2G,  xvii.  10; 
Deut.  xii.  16,  23  (comp.  Gen.  ix.  4  an  I  Acts  xv. 
20),  which  speak  des  gnedly  only  of  "  eatins,"  to 
allow  for  the  far-distant  dr.nkmg  in  tlie  New  Tes- 
tament. 


530 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


Our  next  qnestion  is  now  the  requirement  to 
driiik.  But  before  that,  we  have  a  parentheti- 
cal remnrk  cr  two  to  make  concerninsj  the  ex- 
ternal element  in  the  wine.  It  is  well  known 
that  in  Palestine  red  wine  was  the  main  growth, 
and  as  such  served  best  for  a  symbol  of  the 
blood  ;  but  of  course  it  must  be  understood 
that  this  is  not  an  essential  point;  for  in  the 
general  notion  of  antiquity  every  juice  of  the 
grape  was  as  it  were  the  blood,  life,  and  spirit 
of  the  noble  fruit.*  Sepp,  who  disports  himself 
freely  in  all  these  figures,  says  very  justly — 
"The  ear  (corn)  is  as  it  were  the  flesh  of  the 
earth,  and  the  vine  its  blood."  Tertullian  calls 
the  wine,  sanguinis  vetiis  figura.  Another  cir- 
cumstantial is  the  customary  mingling  of  the 
wine  with  water,  which  according  to  later 
sources  had  been  prescribed  in  the  Passover. 
Presuming  that  Christ  had  done  so  himself,  the 
first  Christians  (inconsistently  more  exact  than 
in  relation  to  the  unleavened  bread)  acted  ac- 
cordingly in  their  Ttori'unov  vSazoi  xai  upd- 
/iiaroi,  temperamentum  calicis,  mixsJ,  ctip  ;j 
and  they  further  applied  to  it  a  new  and  un- 
justifiable interpretation,  such  as  we  find  in 
Cyprian  (Ep.  63  ad  Ccecil.) — the  water  being 
the  people  with  whom  Christ  now  united  him- 
self, as  the  wine  mingled  itself  inseparable  with 
the  water, J  Against  this  we  must  maintain 
that  the  custom  alluded  to  is  very  uncertain, 
and  that,  even  if  the  ritual  of  that  day  pre- 
scribed the  mixing,  it  is  in  the  highest  degree 
probable  that  Christ  did  not  mix  the  wine  with 
water;  in  that  as  well  as  in  Uesxinrj  the  bread 
before  it  was  broken,  diflTering  significantly  from 
the  custom.  For  it  appears  to  us  that  only  the 
"  pure  juice  of  tlie  vine"  v.'as  worthy  to  become 
the  symbol  of  the  all-holy  blood  ;|  and  that 
here  there  was  provided  for  us,  in  the  figure  as 
in  the  reality,  a  feast  of  pure  wine,  in  which 
there  was  no  water  (Isa.  xxv.  6).  Otherwise, 
it  miglit  have  been  expected  that  (according  to 
the  analogy  of  the  bread)  the  mixing  of  the 
cup  would  be  recorded ;  hence   Origen   made 


•  See  on  John  xv. 

f  Concerning  this,  as  well  as  the  relation  of  the 
R  >man  and  Greek  Churches  to  the  qupslion,  fur- 
tlier  jiart'culais  must  be  souslit  elsewhere. 

X  Odiors  found  in  it  a  symbol  of  the  insepar- 
able union  between  the  divinity  and  the  human- 
ity. 

^  VoUaire  launtinaly  referred  to  lands  wliere 
no  wine  srow,«> ;  and  Schulthess  is  not  ashamed  to 
say  that  it  was  not  the  will  of  Jesus  that  where  no 
vine  grows  it  should  be  brought  from  far  at  great 
cost.  We  would  not  adopt  Lindner's  answer  that 
in  that  oa<;e  water  wouM  suffi'-e;  nor  Marten- 
sen's,  "It  is  necessary  that  bread  and  wine,  or 
faiiine  tbem  whatever  naturally  takes  their  i)lace, 
sliould  be  distributed  and  partaken  of."  Excep- 
tions sucli  as  may  be  c:>m;)arcd  willi  2  Chron. 
XXX.  18,  19  (rightly  translated)  beins;  admitted, 
the  rule  for  the  sacrament  requires  the  obedient 
ob<^ervance  of  the  prescribed  elements.  Isolated 
and  distant  churches  of  Christ  need  never  lack 
tliem.  liavins  fellowship  witli  all  Cliristendom  ;  ns 
the  Moravian  mission-stations  in  Greenland  show. 


this  his  prominent  argura'^nt  for  deciding  in 
favor  of  the  unmixed  cup,  anparov. 

Deink  ye  all  of  it.  As  Jiir  as  drinlc  cor- 
responds with  the  previous  eat,  all  that  was 
said  there  applies  here.  But  there  must  be 
some  additional  significance  in  the  fact  that  all 
are  bidden  to  drink  of  it  expressly — this  must 
be  taken  for  granted,  for  every  recorded  expres- 
sion and  circumstance  must,  as  we  have  seen, 
have  its  emphasis  of  meaning.  It  is  true  that 
Matthev/ alone  records  this  requirement;  but 
then  he  does  so,  as  an  Apostle  and  eye  wit- 
ness, and  that  !Mark  instead  of  the  injunction 
specifies  that  all  did  act  accordingly,  seems 
to  make  the  matter  more  certain  and  more 
significant.  We  may  first  say,  as  Bengel  re- 
marks upon  the  likewise,  that  in  the  Drinhye, 
strongly  emphasized  after  the  eat,  our  Lord 
gives  his  testimony,  "  that  we  must  not  separate 
the  two  parts  of  the  Supper,  nor  confound  them  ; 
as  if  the  bread  should  suffice  without  the  cup, 
or  the  blood  be  regarded  as  already  received 
with  the  body.  The  two-fold  and  yet  one  in- 
stitution must  not  be  abridged  or  divided;  and 
therefore  the  ndvrsi  here  spoken  by  our 
Lord  was  an  anticipating  denunciation  of 
the  denial  of  the  cup,*  uttered  for  all  who 
should  be  content  to  submit  themselves  to 
his  word  alone.  This  testimony  is  so  clear 
that  even  the  Concilium  non-ohtaiitiense  did  not 
intend  its  non-olistante  to  have  an  exegetical 
force  ;  but,  rather,  boldly  avowed  its  deviation 
from  the  ordinance  of  Christ.f  The  proiiibition 
of  the  cup  to  the  laity  is  a  very  different  mat- 
ter from  the  "eucharistia  intinda"  which  the 
early  Church  permitted  for  special  cases  (the 
bread  saturated  with  the  wine; — and  cannot  be 
regarded  as  other  than  an  impious  rending  of 
the  sacrament;  not  but  that  the  great  patience 
and  faithfulness  of  our  Lord  may  supply  that 
of  which  they  are  unjustifiably  deprived  to 
sincere  communicants  who  know  not  their  loss. 
There  is  a  second  thought  which  the  profound 
Bengel  here  adds,  in  his  Germ.  New  Test.:  "  It 
is  not,  Eat  ye  all.  But  after  they  all  have  eat- 
en, it  is  said.  Drink  ye  all.  T/ie  eating  is  left  to 
our  freedom — but  after  our  eating,  the  drink  is 
not  so  left."  This  says,  once  more,  that  no 
man  must  divide  or  halve.  As  far  as  this  is 
true,  it  must  appear  that  with  regard  to  Judas, 
to  whom  the  Take,  eat  could  not  possibly  have 
been  commanded  at  the  beginning  (hence  not 


*  Calvin  :  "  Thirdly,  wliy  did  he  say  concerning 
the  bread  simply  that  they  should  eat,  but  of  the 
cu])  that  they  should  oil  or'nk  ]  li  was  as  if  h<? 
had  intended  to  jtiotest  beforehand  against  the 
cunning  of  Satnn." 

\  "  Or  if  one  kind  was  sudiclent,  it  should  be, 
rather,  the  cup  " — says  Iienn;el  speak, ng  after  the 
manner  of  men.  Rome,  to  mask  her  denial  of  the 
cup,  has  resorted  to  interpolation  in  the  words  of 
institution  ;  so  that  we  find  the  mass  at  the  conse- 
cration of  the  bread — "  accipite  et  m^nducate 
ex  hoc  oinnes;"  whde  there  is  inserted  at  tho 
cup — mysterium  fiilci."  Learned  Catholics  art;  not 
ashamed  to  say  th.it  those  addition*  originated  in 
a  tradition  of  St.  Peter's. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-23. 


531 


eat  ye  all,  leaving  liim  room  to  abstain  in  fear), 
inasmuch  as  he  had  eaten,  he  must  also  as  his 
condemnation  drink  likewise.  But  this  subtle 
observation  must  not  be  pressed  too  far,  or  it 
will  soon  vercre  on  error.  For,  in  another  sense, 
it  may  be  said  inversely,  that  this  requesting 
injunction  upon  all  permits  a  greater  freedom  to 
all  in  the  case  of  the  cup  than  in  the  case  of 
the  bread.  As  the  cup  is  handed  round,  and 
every  one  is  permitted  to  drink  of  it  as  much 
or  as  little  as  he  will,  v;e  find  another  aspect  of 
the  matter  symbolized:  When  the  Lord  has 
himself  given  with  his  own  hand  the  bread 
which  represents  our  substantial,  fundamental 
union  with  his  body,  he  leaves  it  more  to  the 
determination  of  every  individual,  how  much 
of  the  life,  of  the  Spirit  which  corresponds  with 
the  body  of  Christ  he  will  appropriate  to  him- 
self. But  we  cannot  understand  this  until  we 
penetrate  deeper,  and  recognize  what  in  its  in- 
most truth  is  the  body,  and  what  is  the  blood, 
of  our  Lord.  The  remarks  of  Von  Gerlach  on 
John  vi.  53  seem  to  us  so  excellent,  tliat  we 
will  let  them  speak  for  us.  As  the  blood  is  the 
soul  in  the  flesh,  in  the  substance  of  the 
body,  so  according  to  him  the  drinking  and 
eating  have  this  two-fold  reference:  "The 
spiritual,  like  the  natural  man,  needs  for  his 

{)re.servation  as  well  the  continual  renewal  of 
lis  substance,  as  the  quickening  and  invigora- 
tion  of  that  personal  life  of  the  soul  which  gives 
this  general  human  substance  a  distinct  per- 
sonality. Jesus  creates,  through  the  partaking  j 
of  his  flesh,  a  new  man  in  him  ;  and,  through 
his  blood,  the  personal  life  of  love ;  he  gives 
him  a  living  personal  part  in  himself."  Again 
he  says ;  "  Those  who  withhold  the  cup  from 
the  laity  rob  them  of  their  personal  free  fellow- 
ship of  life  with  Christ,  and  of  their  spiritual 
priesthood;  they  degrade  them,  as  far  as  they 
can  do  it,  to  a  general  mass  of  Christian  people 
who  are  to  be  directed  and  ruled  by  a  few  whole 
members  of  the  Lord's  body."  This  is  not  a 
wild  imagination,  but  the  full  and  deep  mean- 
ing of  the  memorable  Drink  ya  all  of  this  ;  that 
is,  "  Let  every  man  take  with  direct  unqualified 
freedom  his  pergonal  part  in  the  full  pervasive 
power  of  my  life." 

This  freedom — which  at  the  same  time  is  no 
other  than  a  necessity  that  all  who  were  pre- 
sumptuous enough  to  eat  unworthily  should 
proceed  with  the  sacrament — was,  alas  !  a  per- 
mission to  Judas,  and  sealed  his  condemnation. 
The  historical  relation  ol  the  ndvvEi,  and  its 
typical  meaning  as  a  historical  circumstance, 
is  made  prominent  by  Mark,  when,  instead  of 
narrating  the  injunction  of  our  Lord,  he  says — 
And  they  all  drank  of  it.  Most  expositors  set 
out  by  "  taking  it  for  granted  that  Christ's  de- 
sign was  to  remove  Judas  before  he  instituted 
the  Slipper  :"  but  we  must  utter  our  protest  in 
the  name  of  the  Scripture  which  cannot  be 
broken.  Other  occasions  have  required  us  al- 
ready, especially  on  John  xiii.,  to  declare  our- 
selves on  this  qu^estion.  Luke's  lehold  the  hand, 
chap.  XX.  21,  will  have  yet  to  be  considered; 
we  now  abide  by  the  first  firm  testimony  to  the 


traitor's  participation  in  the  sacrament.  For 
this  we  may  adduce  a  goodly  cvisensus  patrum 
et  doctorum  ercZei/tE— Cyprian,  Origen,  both  Cy- 
rils, Jerome,  Augustine,  Chrysostom,  Theodoret, 
etc. ;  then  Calvin,  Bucer,  Biillinger  (in  a  specif- 
ic treatise),  and  Lampe  (yet  more  elaborate- 
ly) ;  remarkably  enough  more  on  the  Reformed 
side,  though  of  course  Lutherans  (such  as  Wie- 
land,  G.  Meier)  are  not  wanting.  There  is  no 
force  in  what  the  moderns  say  (as  Olshausen) 
that  "  the  idea  of  the  sacrament  renders  it  most 
probable  that  Judas  did  not  partake  of  it,"  af- 
firming with  great  boldness  that  "  it  would 
have  been  contrary  to  the  love  and  compassion 
of  the  Lord,  to  suffer  the  traitor  by  partaking 
of  the  Supper  to  aggravate  his  guilt."  After 
the  utterance  of  the  woe  there  is  nothing  to  be 
said  of  the  aggravation  of  guilt;  but  it  has 
not  been  contrary  to  the  idea  of  the  sacrament, 
and  as  little  contrary  to  the  mercy  of  our  Lord, 
that  in  all  ages  the  most  unworthy  have  found 
admission  to  it — and  we  should  be  rather  in- 
clined to  suppose  that  this  would  be  typified  at 
the  original  institution.  The  question  is  not, 
however,  of  our  supposition,  but  of  Avhat  tho 
Scripture  says.  Luke  records  a  word  of  our 
Lord,  which  declares  him  to  have  beheld  the 
traitor  at  the  table,  after  the  words  of  institu- 
tion. In  Mark,  ver.  17,  the  Lord  comes  wiih 
the  twelve — "  as  they  sat  and  did  eat "  is  followed 
by  words  concerning  the  betrayer,  present  and 
eating  with  the  rest;  without  the  slightest 
hint  of  the  departure  of  this  one.  Ver.  22 
proceeds — As  they  did  eat — he  gave  to  them — 
they  all  drank  of  it.*  Similarly  in  Matthew 
the  "as  they  were  eating"  of  vtr.  26  is  a  plain 
resumption  of  ver.  21  which  was  introduced 
by  "the  twelve;"  con-sequently,  "he  gave  to  the 
disciples"  in  his  account,  and  the  Lord's  "Brink 
ye  all  of  it"  must  be  necessarily  understood  in- 
clusively of  Judas.  We  cannot  conceive  how, 
in  spite  of  this,  Lange  can  say,  "  But  we  may 
assume  (though  nothing  is  said  of  it)  that  he 
had  gone  away  by  this  time" — compare  his 
gratuitous  interpolation,  "The  traitor  now  van- 
ishes." Equally  incomprehensible  is  Olshau- 
sen's  remark,  that  "  the  traitor's  participation 
corresponds  neither  with  the  narrative  of  Mat- 
thew and  Mai'k,  nor  with  the  idea  of  the  sacred 
transaction."  We  hold  with  the  Bcrlenh^  Bibel, 
which  presses  the  resumption  of  ver.  26  from 
ver.  21 :  "  For  something  had  come  between, 
and  the  Evangelist  now  resumes.  Christ  pro- 
ceeds to  the  matter  before  him  without  further 
hindrance  or  restraint  on  account  of  that  which 
had  intervened.  This  teaches  us  no  lioiht  les- 
son ;  the  Lord  gives  not  up  the  good  because 
of  the  evil.  We  poor  mortals  make  too  much 
ado  of  any  thing  evil  coming  between,  and  give 
up  our  Gospel  work.  But  in  Psa.  xxiu.  the 
table  is  spread,  though  enemies  are  in  presence. 


*  On  this  Glassius  says  rightly  :  "  The.se  words 
were  written  in  anticipation.  For  tliey  had  pre- 
viously heard  tlie  command  of  Christ,  D.  ink  ye  all 
of  it;  this  is  my  blood,  etc.  Obeying  this  com- 
mand they  all  drank  it." 


632 


THE  LOBD'S  SUPPER. 


Here  we  see  in  Jesus  the  right  frame  of  mind  : 
he  lets  not  the  unfaithfulness  of  Judas  hinder 
him  in  this  work." 

This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament. 
So  in  Mat'.hew  and  Mark  alike,  only  that  the 
former  has  an  additional  and  strengthening 
yap,  "for,"  arising  out  of  the  dmik  ye;  and 
sometimes  the  second  to  is  wanting  in  the 
Codd.  (a  mattpr,  however,  of  no  import). 
Tlih  crip  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood.  So 
Luke  and  Paul  alike,  only  that  the  £dri,  "  is," 
is  wanting  in  the  former,*  and  in  the  latter 
ificD,  "  my,"  emphatically  precedes  a'l'iitari, 
"  blood,"  just  as  previously  it  was  rovro  \.lov 
l6Ti  TO  6ojjua,  "  this  is  my  body."  It  has 
already  been  observed  that  the  first  form  prob- 
ably gives  us  the  words  which  our  Lord  used 
originally,  and  that  in  the  other  we  have  his 
own  revealed  and  authentic  explanation.  It 
follows  from  this,  that  exposition  must  make 
both  its  text;  but  that  it  must  primarily  set 
out  from  the  "iVeio  Testainnit"  subsequently 
brought  into  prominence.  Concerning  the  sec- 
ond "this  is" — the  reality  of  the  blood,  and  its 
relation  to  the  wine — all  that  was  said  upon 
the  body  and  bread  must  be  the  more  fully  re- 
garded as  holding  good. 

Great  and  emphatic  is  this  word,  xaivi)  8ia- 
Ot'/XJ^,  "  New  Testament,"  in  this  place.  The  new 
covenant  is  here  pre-annoiince  I  in  its  near-ap- 
proaching instant  establishment;  and  it  is  also 
offered  for  all  futurity  to  every  one  who  would 
be  a  fellow-partaker.  Bat  it  is  made,  confirm- 
pil,  and  instituted  (which  idea  of  tlie  Siari- 
OaoOai  is  unexpressed,  but  understoodof  itself  in 
the  diaOTJKf^)a-nd  that  can  be  only  by  a  blood 
which  truly  propitiates,  in  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  himself  As  "  viy  body  "  was  opposed, 
in  the  sense  of  being  its  fulfillment,  to  the  body 
of  the  typical  paschal  lamb,  so  now,  in  the  ex- 
tended meaning  which  the  sacrament  introduces 
by  the  cup,  tlie  emphatic  "  my  blood  "  takes  the 
place  of  all  blood  of  atonement  which  the  old 
covenant  exhibited — hence  it  is  hlxlv7]  SiaOijnri, 
and  not  merely  Haivdy  nd^xtXy  or  new  Pass- 
over. This  latter  indeed  is  included,  in  virtue 
of  the  parallel;  but  the  Lord's  meaning  in 
this  comprehensive  expression  is  very  full. 
First,  that  the  blood  of 'the  paschal  lamb  (as 
we  said  above)  had  been  a  comprehensive  type 
of  the  blood  of  atonement  generally  ;  then,  that 
the  entire  old  covenant  really  had  its  funda- 
mental and  cen-.ral  mediation  in  blood  ;  further, 
that  in  this  typical  "without  blood-shedding 
no  remission"  (Heb.  ix.  22)  there  was  a  truth" 
on  account  of  which  it  here  follows  "  for  the 
remission  of  sins;"  finally,  that  tiiis  reality  of 
tl:ee.ssential  fullillment  of  the  prophetic  typical 
economy  has  been  brought  and  is  imparted  in 
his  blood.  Wherever  in  the  Old  Testament,  or 
in  healhr-nism  as  the  result  of  still  extant  truth 
perverted   into  friglitful  delusion,  the  blood  of 


sacrifice  and  propitiation  flowed  or  still  flows— 
the  Lord  brings  the  great  falfillment  and  says, 
"My  blood  alone."  In  tliis  most  comprehen- 
sive sense  the  sacramental  word  speaks  now  to 
New  Zealanders  and  Brahmins,  as  it  spoke, 
according  to  the  development  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  to  the  Jews  of  that  day. 

But  in  an  especial  manner  the  Lord  refers,  in 
this  decisive  word,  to  two  principal  passages  in 
the  ancient  Scripture — to  a  historical  passage 
at  the  commencement,  and  to  a  prophetical  at 
the  close.  The  historical  is  found  in  Exod. 
xxix. ;  where,  after  the  beginning  of  the  insti- 
tution of  the  law  upon  Sinai,  a  second  funda- 
mental testimony  concerning  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  is  added,  upon  the  same  mountain,  to 
the  first  which  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb 
contained  ;  and  where  we  have  the  real  and 
proper  commencement  of  that  sparing  and  re- 
conciling covenant-institution  in  Israel,  which 
was  now  to  find  its  great  fulfillment  in  a  new 
and  better  covenant  embracing  the  world.  Yet 
before  the  establishment  of  a  proper  priest- 
hood,* 5;irwi-o;ff/-irtgrs  a^cZ  thanh-offerings  (per- 
fectly comprehending  all,  as  in  the  Passover) 
were  presented  ;  with  their  blood  the  altar,  the 
book  of  the  covenant  (the  commandments),  and 
the  people  themselves,  were  sprinkled ;  and  in  a 
solemn  declarative  word  (the  meaning  of  which 
we  learn  in  Heb.  ix.  18-22),  this  blood  was 
pronounced  to  be  the  blood  of  the  covenant  It 
forces  itself  irresistibly  upon  our  thoughts, 
when  we  contemplate  the  direct  reference  of 
the  new  covenant  to  the  old  as  it  is  here  con- 
centrated, that  our  Lord  designedly  alludes  to 
this  saying  of  Exod.  xxiv.  8.  Even  then  al- 
ready the  blood  was  present,  at  least  in  its 
type,  and  a  fellowship  with  it  was  indicated  by 
the  sprinkling;  but  now  its  real  presence  in 
the  sacrament  far  transcends  the  typical  sym- 
bol, and  the  fellowship  becomes  a  sprinkling  of 
the  inner  man — a  drinking.  Moses  [.\\q\'q  j>oint- 
ing  externally  said,  n^"!3n"DT  nSH,  Sept.  iSov 

TO  ai/ua  TT/i  diaO)'/Kr}i,  Behold  the  blood  of 
the  covenant ;  but  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  substitutes  a  tovto,  this  is,  for  the 
New-Testament  sacramental  word  is  connected 
with  it  in  the  thoughts. f  When  the  Lord 
says,  "of  the  new  covenant" — he  makes  the 
first  old  and  abolishes  it,  as  we  are  taught  in 
Heb.  viii.  13.  But  it  is  also  true,  on  the  other 
side,  "of  the  new  covenant — then  is  the  old 
placed  by  its  side,  as  if  not  to  be  forgotten  " 


*  Th^s,  on  the  one  liand,  shows  that  tlie  words 
were  spoken  fii^iHTtHMi,  and,  on  the  otlier,  justi- 
fies our  remark  upon  the  iCti  being  originally  un- 
expressed. 


*  Hence  young  men  of  the  children  of  Israel  of- 
ficiate ;  that  is,  not,  as  Onkelos  and  Jonathan  sup- 
pose, tlie  first-born,  but  choson  roprosenlatives  of 
the  priestly  people ;  and  Moses  himself,  as  chief, 
•sprinkled. 

f  So  we  have  observed  in  th^^  exposition  of  that 
Epistle,  "  Certainly  for  i.o  oilier  reason  than  to 
point  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  typ->,  to  t!ie  sublime 
word  of  institution  which  corresponds  to  fho 
Mosaic  word — ThU  is  my  blood,  of  the  Ne.v  Tes- 
tament." This  is  a  liint,  too,  that  the  Apostlo 
was  we'l  awaro  of  the  original  historical  formula 
toCtu  i6rt. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


(Braune).  It  is  however  fulfilled  in  its  abo- 
lition ;  and  the  unintelligent  horror  of  the 
blood,  which  unbelief  in  the  truth  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament  has  created,  is  here  done  away 
in  the  centre  of  the  Christian  worship,  in  this 
most  gracious  bond  of  love  between  Christ  and 
his  own  ;  for  even  in  this  we  still  find  hlood  and 
covenant  essentially  connected.  (See  Zech.  ix. 
9-11,  in  that  remarkable  Messianic  promise — a 
new  Uood  of  the  covenant.) 

The  other,  the  prophetic  passage,  which 
Christ  had  also  certainly  in  his  thoughts,  since 
in  it  alone  a  "new  covenant"  is  predicted,  Ave 
have  in  Jer.  xxxi.  31-3i.  (Comp.  again  Heb. 
viii.  8  seq.)  We  there  read — "  Not  according  to 
the  covenant  made  with  their  fathers  when  I 
led  them  out  to  Egypt ;  "  so  that  the  allusion 
to  this  passage  is  very  plain  and  significant 
liere,  where  a  new  Passover  is  instituted. 
There  we  find  the  chief  blessing  and  the  found- 
ation of  the  new  covenant  to  be  the  now  actual 
forgiveness  of  sins  ;  and  in  ver.  34,  the  "  for  " 
has  no  other  meaning  than  this,  that  the  new 
spiritual  lawgiving  in  the  heart,  the  general 
enlightenment  unto  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  all  the  glorious  blessings  which  the  new 
covenant  possesses  and  brings  to  man,  should 
take  their  rise  from  that  one  "For  I  will  for- 
give their  iniquity."  We  feel  at  once  how  ap- 
propriate is  all  this  here.  AVe  read  further, 
oy  no  means  as  a  mere  parallelism,  "And  1 
will  remember  their  sin  no  more" — for  the  old 
covenant  with  its  typical  sacrifices  and  pro- 
pitiations did  no  more  than  perpetually  bring 
to  remembrance  abidmg  sin,  Heb.  x.  3.  But 
now  the  new  covenant  takes  the  place  of  the 
old,  and  in  it  there  is  a  remembrance  of  the 
full  and  perfect  atonement,  of  the  one  high- 
priestly  sacrifice,  from  which  grace  and  strength 
are  derived,  from  age  to  age,  in  ever-renewed 
and  living  application. 

But  we  must  look  more  closely  at  the  word 
d  taO  17H rj,  and  observe  how  we  arrive  at  the 
idea  of  Testament,  which  indeed  the  SiariOsfiai, 
Luke  xxii.  29,  had  slightly  pre-announced. 
Von.  Gerlach  pre-supposes  as  certain  that  the 
word  used  was  the  Aramaic  D^p,  but  this  ex- 
pression less  plainly  contains  the  idea  of  Testa- 
ment ;  and  we  mus"^t  confidently  assert,  even  on 
account  of  the  reference  to  the  passages  already 
cited,  that  the  Lord's  word  must  have  at  any 
rate  proceeded  from  n^"i3.  Either  this  expres- 
sion itself  was  (and  we  may  easily  suppose  so) 
extant  still  in  the  living  language;  or,  if  an- 
other was  substituted,  as^  in  the  Chaldee  Para- 
phrases, it  could  be  used  by  our  Lord  only  in 
its  strict  connection  with  the  D'lSof  the  sacred 

text.  What  then  is  the  meaning  of  this  word  ? 
Primarily,  it  is  certain,  that  offaiilus*  as  a  com- 


*  So  the  Vulcr.  translates  it  thiourrhout  the  0. 
T.,  and  in  the  N.  T.  always  tcstamoitnm.  But  not 
accoidins  to  the  ctyrao'ogy  which  derives  it  from 
the  cutting  of  the  sicrifice ;  rather,  as  Ilofmann 
teaches  uf,  from  ^{^2  with  the  meaning,  to  place 


pact  between  two  parties ;  from  this  the  con- 
descension of  God  sets  out,  when  he  establishes 
a  covenant  with  men,  such  as  Noah,  Abra- 
ham, Israel.  Bat  it  is  obvious  that  even  in 
the  Old  Testament  two  things  were  prominent 
in  connec.i)n  with  V. — the  initiative  on  the  side 
of  God  ;  and  the  mediation  of  a  propitiating 
Uood.  When  God  is  regarded  as  coming  down 
to  men  with  such  condescension  as  to  enter  into 
covenant  with  them  as  with  his  equals,  it  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  it  is  God,  nevertheless, 
who  first  proposed  and  established  the  cove- 
nant, and  laid  down  its  conditions  and  promises. 
The  condition  of  the  Sinaitic  covenant  in  par. 
ticular  is  the  law  ;  hence  the  book  of  the  cov- 
enant,  Exod.  xxiv.  7,  and  most  specifically  th& 
words  of  the  covenant,  the  ten  commandments, 
Exod.  xxxiv.  28,  and  the  tables  of  the  cove- 
nant, Deut.  ix.  9,  and  so  forth.  But  still  more 
emphatically  prominent,  as  the  initiative  of 
God,  is  the  promise  given ;  so  that  n^"]3  a  -parte 

potiorl  simply  signifies — not  the  rcapayysXia, 
but  the  ETCdyyeXia  of  him  who  offers  peacg 
and  friendship,  for  which  it  would  be  enough 
(with  Gesenius)  to  cite  Isa.  lix.  21.  See,  more- 
over, the  covenant  with  David  (entirely  equiv- 
alent to  promise),  2  Sam.  xxiii.  5 ;  Psa.  Ixxxix. 
4,  35,  2  Chron.  xiii.  5.  All  this  of  itself  would 
prepare  the  way  for  that  meaning  of  n^-i3,  which 

is  almost  identical  with  institution,  testamen- 
tary disposition.  But  this  transition  in  the 
idea  for  the  nao  covenant  (in  which  the  Old- 
Testament  not'on  of  a  mutual  covenant,  partly 
anthropomorphical,  partly  legal,  must  alto- 
gether drop),  is  found  in  the  mediating  blood 
of  the  covenant — not  without  hlnod — which  has 
its  fulfillment  in  the  blood  of  him  who  makes 
us  heirs  of  all  the  blessings  purchased  by 
that  death,  who  gives  them  to  us  as  an  in- 
heritance, making  us  heirs  or  co-heirs,  partak- 
ers in  fellowship  of  his  new  life,  prerogative, 
and  kingdom.  Thus  the  Apostle  unfolds  it, 
Ileb.  ix.  15-18,  very  plainly,*  and  "so  connects 
the  death  which  has  now  taken  place  with  the 
ancient  words  concerning  inheritance,  that  the 
conferring  of  the  inheritance  shows  itself  now 
to  be  an  actual  legacy,  in  the  similitude  of  a 
human  testament."  He  is  not  playing  upon 
any  enforced  double  meaning  of  the  Greek 
diaQi'iKtjy  which,  while  it  was  used  by  the  Sept. 
as  synonymous  with  duvOt'/m^,  was  in  the  form 
of  ^p^n^T  already  in  use  among   the  Jews  in 

the  sense  of  a  proper  legacy ;  but  the  new  turn 


any  thing  that  it  may  be,  or  that  it  may  bo  thus ; 
consequently  not  etymolosically  a  covenant  at 
once,  but  something  laid  down  or  established,  a 
dtaOyHrj.  It  does  rot  depend,  however,  upon 
any  possible  etymology ;  but  upon  the  meaning 
of  the  phraseology  as  the  Scripture  itself  make? 
it  plain. 

*  See  my  exposition  of  the  Hebrews  {IlchrSer- 
bricf,  i.  316-333),  in  which  it  is  shown,  and  I  hope 
satisfactorily,  that  no  sophistry  can  avail  to  take 
away  the  idea  of  a  testament. 


534 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER 


given  to  the  expression  in  the  new 
only  corresponds  with  a  reality  in  the  matter 
itself.*  Similarly,  the  same  Apostle,  Gai.  iii. 
15,  compares  the  promised  gift  to  the  firm  tes- 
tament of  a  man,  and  it  is  not  an  arbitrary  com- 
?arison.  The  authorization  of  the  idea  "  New 
estaraent,"  developed  now  from  the  n^na  and 

coming  forward  in  the  SiaOvurj,  lies  in  the 
Lord's  words  of  institution  connected  with  the 
cup,  even  as  we  have  already  seen  that  Heb. 
ix.  20  alluded  to  them.  Assuredly,  the  simple 
and  plain  meaning  of  this  word  of  institution 
is  just  as  if  it  had  been  said,  "  Behold  I  die  for 
you — and  live  nevertheless — I  thus  give,  be- 
queath myself  to  you — in  this  ye  have  me,  in 
my  death  and  blood,  so  that  ye  may  live  in  me, 
because  I  live  in  you.'  Thus  understood,  the 
for  of  Matthew  assumes  a  strong  emphasis — 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  this, /or  it  is  indeed  my  blood 
in  which  I  ofTer  to  you  all  the  covenant,  and 
eeal  the  the  testament,  and  give  it  you."  Simi- 
larly, the  significant  opposition  in  the  juxta- 
position of  the  words—"  that  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament;" as  pointing  to  the  new  element — 
"  AT//  own  blood  makes  the  promise  to  you  a 
iestament  of  him  who  dies  for  you." 

It  needs  no  further  remark  to  show  that 
this  is  in  its  construction  with  my  blood  is  to  be 
understood  as  in  the  case  of  the  bread.  The 
change,  however,  in  Luke  and  Paul  which 
msikea  "  the  New  Testament"  into  a  predicate, 
requires  not  merely  this  is  for  the  subject,  but 
by  a  similar  change — this  cup.  For  the  wine, 
indeed  (or  that  which  was  given  in  the  wine), 
is  the  blood;  but  only  the  cup  can  be  called 
the  testament  in  the  blood.  (Luther's  transla- 
lation  in  Luke — this  is  the  cup — is  manifestly 
incorrect.)  On  the  one  hand,  however,  this 
amounts  to  the  same ;  for  the  cup  stands  for  its 
contents — "that  which  I  give  you  in  it,"  as  it 
were,  *'  this  drink,"  non'jpiov  almost  equiva- 
lent to  Ttofxa,  itodi?.  (As,  in  connection  with 
the  bread,  we  may  say,  with  Schulthess,  rouro 
8cil.  xPVi^'^y  ftptana — except  that  it  must  be 
understood  concretely,  and  not  merely  this  eat- 
ing or  drinking.)  But  then,  since  it  does  not 
now  follow — is  my  blood,  but — is  the  New  Testa- 
ment, we  must  understand  it — "  This  my  giving 
of  the  cup  and  your  drinking  of  it,  this  fellow- 
ehip  in  the  cup  is  for  you  the  New  Testa- 
ment; "  that  is,  "  your  reception  and  appropri- 
ation of  it,  your  acceptance  into  the  heirship."! 


But,  in  my  blood,  again,  must  not  be  interpreted 
as  merely  per  sanguinem  meum,  through  ray 
blood;  this  is  forbidden  by  the  sacrament  thi$ 
is,  for  which  the  other  form  is  only  a  substitu- 
tion. But  it  retains  the  sense  of  a  real  impar- 
tation — "  The  testament  betwixt  me  and  you 
becomes  a  reality  through  the  blood  drunk 
from  this  cup,  consists  in  the  blood,  it  being 
common  between  me  and  you — the  drinking  ia 
the  obtaining  of  the  testament,  because  that 
which  is  drunk  is  the  blood."  Compare  the 
protest  against  the  superficial  connection  as 
maintained  by  the  Eelormed  Church  (as  if  \t 
was  the  New  Testament  which  is  in  my  blood 
merely),  in  Kahnis,  and  his  con-ect  solution — 
"  This  potion  is  my  blood,  which  is  the  new 
covenant ; "  or — "  is,  as  my  blood,  the  new 
covenant." 

Which  is  shed  foe  many.  Shed  like  given 
makes  the  future  prfesent;  the  effundetur  or 
fundetur  of  the  Vulg.,  therefore,  is  wrong,  al- 
though, in  Luke  at  least,  dntxir  is  more  correct- 
ly substituted,  n^pi  in  Matthew,  and  vKip 
in  Luke  (and  in  Mark  as  a  various  reading), 
are  not  to  be  distinguished  ;  they  go  not  be- 
yond the  simple  for,  as  this  was  not  the  ex- 
press place  for  the  decisive  nVr/of  substitu- 
tion.* Nevertheless,  the  latter  is  involved  in 
the  former,  as  far  as  the  life  of  Christ  poured 
out  in  his  blood  enters  into  us  as  our  life.  We 
need  not  be  dubious  as  to  the  incorrect  dis- 
placement of  icoWdjy  in  favor  of  itccvToyf — 
all  instead  of  many.  First  of  all,  the  many 
might  point,  in  opposition  to  the  Jewish  cere- 
mony, to  the  "  multitude  of  those  who,  though 
strangers  to  the  old  paschal  lamb,  were  now 
invited  : "  and  this  of  course  leads  to  the  most 
universal  inclusion  of  mankind.  That  the  blood 
of  Clirist  was  shed  for  all,  in  the  sense  of  suf- 
ficient merit  and  general  grace,  is  testified  in 
the  Scripture  generally,  and  here  decisively  by 
Luke's  vnip  vf-icov,  for  you,  which  certainly 
includes  Judas. t  The  "many"  might  be  in- 
tended as  in  the  ordinary  interpretation  of  Rom. 
V.  15,  18,  19,  the  "  many  all"  who  spring  from 
Adam,  in  opposition  to  the  One  who  redeems 
them.  (Comp.  1  Cor.  x.  17,  ol  noWoi,  oi  nciv- 
rc5.)     But,  strictly  speaking,  even  in  Rom.  v., 


*  There  is  a  half  truth  in  what  Ber.gel  says  : 
"The  words  JT-12  and  6iaO//«?/  rfi/lv,   and  have 

such  a  difTvTence  as  marvellously  corresponds  with 
the  nature  of  the  cas3.  For  ri^"l3  is  more  con- 
gruous with  the  old  economy,  which  had  the  form 
of  a  covenant;  StaOt/xt;  with  the  new  economy, 
which  has  the  form  of  a  testament."  This  differ- 
ence, however,  is  but  a  unity  in  the  great  develop- 
ment. 

f  Also  in  a  continually  repeated  renewal  of  the 
eacred  and  firm  Siantettat,  in  the  future;  as 
Calvin  says — "  For  the  covenant  which  he  once 
sanctioned  in  bis  bipod,  he  iu  a  certain  sense  re- 


news or  rather  cont  nues — as  often  at  he  ofifera  to 
us  that  sacred  blood  poured  out." 

*  The  arbitrary  notion  of  Schulthess,  that  Inx^- 
vo^tvov  is  equ'valent  to  eHxvrov,  pavruv, 
payrrjptov,  and  vTtep  equivalent  to  upon,  ^y — 

that  in  Mark  the  idea  of  the  covenant-blood  is 
only  the  blood  of  sprinkling — needs  no  refutation 
for  our  readers,  who  have  discerned  the  whole 
clear  connection.  AVe  cannot  but  respect  iho 
spirit  in  which  Ebrard  proposes  the  Pauline  for- 
mula, which  he  expounds  one-sidedly,  as  th*»  de- 
c's, ve  explanation  of  rovro  t6Ti ;  but  our  ex- 
position of  the  sacramental  words  must  still  inaln- 
tain  the  whole  fulness  of  meaning  in  this  sncied 
and  mysterious  discourse,  as  we  have  set  ii  forth, 
f  For  Kahnis  has  no  reason  for  saying  that  this 
word  could  not  have  been  used  in  the  prespuce  of 
Judas:  it  is  Bufficient  to  refer  to  2  Pet.  ii.  I. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


535 


(Tip  voWoi  are  not  the  waVrc?>  but  in  the 
promised  result  only  those  for  whom  the 
redemption  finally  avails,  oi  Xanfidvovzei, 
tiiose  who  receive  it  (John  i.  12).  We  there- 
fore regard  the  contrast  between  Matthew's 
"  drink  yeaZ^of  it,"  and  the  "  many  "  {itoXXa^v, 
not,  altogether  the  same  as  rajv  TtoXXtav^,  as 
intimaiing  that  only  in  the  case  of  many  (Isa. 
Lii.  11,  12)  does  this  blood  prove  itself  as  quoad 
etficaciam  shed  for  them.*  Under  one  aspect,  as 
Braune  expresses  himself,  "  there  is  something 
fearful  in  the  subtile  but  manifest  intimation 
in,  Drink  ye  all  of  it — shed  for  many  ;  where- 
fore not  then  for  all?  because  thus  also  the 
Hood  of  Jesus  cries  out  against  some."  Fear- 
ful, that  is,  is  the  protest  and  exclusion  pro- 
nounced against  the  same  Judas  who  was  bid- 
den to  drink  with  the  rest,  and  whom  the 
varying  expression  in  Luke  includes — so  that 
this  dreary  mystery  within  mystery  in  the  sa- 
crament is  exhibited  in  the  two-fold  formula. 
But  under  another  aspect,  the  comprehension 
in  one  body  of  the  genuine  sacramental  com- 
pany— the  correlative  of  that  exclusion — is 
most  gracious.  The  ma?iy,  saved  and  sanctified 
by  this  blood,  are  represented  (as  was  said 
above,  concerning  the  Passover)  by  every  little 
company  of  communicants.f 

But  in  Luke  to  xjitip  vucav  eKXWu/.iEvov, 
"shed  for  you,"  follows  Iv  r&j  aJ'yuari,  "in 
[my]  blood;"  and  how  is  this  peculiarity  ol 
construction  to  be  explained?  It  has  been  re- 
ferred back  to  the  cup,  simply ;  and  the  remark 
has  been  made,  just  as  if  alua  anxwoixEvov 
in  the  two  other  Evangelists  was  spurious  or 
of  no  importance,  "  that  very  little  blood  was 
usually  shed  upon  the  cross."  As  regards  this 
last  point,  we  think  that,  in  most  certain  and 
necessary  exception  to  the  rule,  Christ  actually, 
that  is,  physically,  poured  out  all  his  blood ; 
and  that  there  is  a  mystery  in  this  which 
corresponds  to  the  idea  of  the  sacrament,  and 
is  indicated  in  it — we  would  not,  however, 
make  this  a  stumbling-block  to  any,  but 
simply  remark  that  it  may  and  must  be  said 
in  a  correct  sense,  that  he  poured  out  his 
blood  (as  respects  its  virtue  and  influence  as 
good  as  all  of  it)  for  us.  That  the  shed  in 
Luke  does  not  alone  or  even  primarily  refer  to 
the  cup  (in  contradiction  to  Matt,  and  Mark), 
is  clear  from  Bengel's  saying — "  Nam  poculum 
plenum  non  effunditur,  sed  ebibitur."  Con- 
sequently, the  transition  to  the  nominative 
here  is  to  be  explained  thus :  Luke  had  previous- 
ly spoken  like  Paul,  or  according  to  the  form 
handed  down  by  him  ;  but  he  then  returns  to  the 
synoptic  account,  in  order  to  connect  with  the 
former  the  main  word  of  the  original  tradition 
— hence  the  nominative.  It  is  a  construciio 
Ttfjoi  TO  6T]naiv6nEyov,  since  in  the  essence  of 
the  communication  and  appropriation  which  is 
here  concerned,  diaOr/ntf  kv  rqj  ainan  and  to 


*  As  we  said  already  on  Matt.  xx.  28. 

t  We  must  leav(H;o  itself  the  idea  of  Grotius, 
that  there  is  an  allusion  to  Dan,  ix.  27,  dvvajuai- 
6€t  Sia^tiMTjv  noXXoli., 


aiixa  ryi  diaOi'ixriZ  are  one  an  d  the  same.  But,  on 
that  account  it  is  plain,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
enxvyo/ne/uov  also  refers  to  the  cup  (or  strictly 
speaking  to  the  wine  m  it) ;  not  in  the  exter- 
nal sense,  but  in  that  symbolical  sense  which 
now  first  passes  over  from  the  shedding  of 
the  Mood  to  the  pouring  out  of  the  wine. 
The  citp  in  a  certain  sense  points  (sym- 
bolically) to  the  unity  of  the  whole  blood  of 
Christ,  and  is  therefore  parallel*  with  the 
whole  mass  of  the  bread,  or  the  body  ;  conse- 
quently the  tHxvviJuEyov  must  lead  us  to 
think  of  the  wine  presented  to  be  drunk,  just 
as  the  8lS6^£vov  and  hXcoiievov  of  the 
bread.  As  the  body  is  broken  for  us  when  we 
eat  of  it,  in  the  perfect  unity  of  the  death  and 
the  life  which  comes  from  it ;  so  is  all  the 
poured-out  blood  of  the  Lord  sacramentally  in- 
cluded in  this  cup,  and  is  from  it,  when  we 
drink,  "  poured  out"  as  to  its  efficacy  for  us, 
that  is,  in  us — in  the  analogy  of  the  pouring  out 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  is,  his  abundant,  full 
communication.  Here  we  see  a  new  reason,  in 
the  profound  symbolism  of  the  whole,  why 
Christ  could  say — Drink  ye  all  (the  cup  of  the 
sacrament  is  provided  like  universal  redemption 
for  you  all) — but  could  not  say  that  the  blood 
contained  in  it  was  livingly  poured  out  for  all 
who  do  no  more  than  presumptuously  and  ex- 
ternally drink  of  the  cup. 

Foe  the  remission  op  sins.  This  added 
clause  is  by  no  means  spurious  :  it  is  certainly 
omitted  in  all  but  the  first  Evangelist,  and  even 
in  Paul's  form  ;  but  the  omission  says  no  more 
than  that  it  was  already  understood  in  the 
blood  of  the  covenant.  When  the  Lord  expressly 
thus  spoke,  he  brought  into  special  prominence 
(with  further  allusion  to  Jer.  xxxi.  34)  the 
main  blessing  of  the  New  Testament  as  now 
sealed  to  us  in  the  blood  of  atonement.  To  the 
old  covenant  belongs  the  ndpE6ii,  to  the  new 
covenant,  essentially  and  properly,  the  a  q>  e- 
<Ji5,  dnapri(kjy,  Rom.  iii.  25  (Acts  xvii. 
30);  Eph.  i.  7.  "  For  what  is  the  New  Testa- 
ment? Certainly  it  is  the  promise  of  there- 
mission  of  sins  and  reconciliation  through 
Christ."  We  may  set  out  with  these  words  of 
Melancthon ;  but  must  follow  them  up,  as 
Luther  does — Where  forgiveness  of  sins  is, 
there  is  also  life  and  blessedness.  Luther's 
controversy  with  those  who  would  have  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  through  Christ  sought  at  the 
cross,  and  not  in  the  sacrament,  is  well  known. 
He  says,  "  We  deal  with  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
after  a  two-fold  manner.  First,  as  it  has  been 
obtained  and  must  be  sought  by  us;  and  sec- 
ondly, as  it  is  dispensed  a.nd  given  to  us.  Christ 
obtained  it  for  us  on  the  cross,  most  assuredly; 
but  he  has  not  distributed  or  given  it  on  the 


*  So  Ignat.  ad  Philad.  means  in  the  well-known 
passage :  /iiia  yap  6dpb, — uaj  ev  noryptov 
Eii  kvcocjiv  rov  awaroi  avTuv.  Similarly, 
L'ionys.  Areop^.  (quoted  and_^  perverted  by  Schul- 
thess),  t6v  ddiaipETov  aprov  fiieXojv—rcai 
ro  Eviaiov  tuv  nozrjpiov  ndoi  Kuranepi' 
6ai. 


sm 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER 


cross.  He  did  not  obtain  it  for  ns  in  the  Supper 
or  sacrament,  but  lie  did  there  through  the  word 
distribute  and  give  it,  as  also  in  the  Gospel  in 
which  it  is  preached.  If  I  would  have  my  sins 
forgiven,  I  must  not  run  simply  to  the  cross,  for 
I  do  not  find  it  dispensed  there  ;  I  must  not,  as 
Carlstadt  will  have  it,  simply  bring  to  mv  me- 
mory and  dwell  upon  the  sufferings  of  Christ, 
for  neither  do  I  find  it  there ;  but  I  must  go  to 
the  sacrament,  or  to  the  Gospel,  and  there  I 
find  the  word  which  proffers,  gives,  and  dis- 
penses to  me  my  privilege  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sins."  Luther,  therefore,  has  rightly  taught 
that  whoever  has  a  guilty  conscience  may  go 
and  find  comfort  in  the  sacrament;  not  in  the 
bread  and  wine,  not  in  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  but  in  the  word  which  in  the  sacrament 
presents  and  gives  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  as  given  and  shed  for  me.  Is  not  that 
clear  enough  ? 

We  make  bold  to  answer  this  question,  No. 
Yet  it  must  be  maintained,  with  Luther,  that 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  also  imparted  in  the 
Gospel,  as  here,  through  the  word ;  we  may 
say,  further,  that  the  first  sacrament,  baptism, 
had  already  communicated  forgiveness  to  the 
participants  of  the  Supper  ;  yea,  it  must  not  be 
overlooked,  that  a  preparatory  word  of  absolu- 
tion had  bepn  pronounced  upon  those  who  now 
partook — Ye  are  clean;  and  so,  according  to 
the  old  saying.  Holy  things  were  for  the  holy. 
But  what  Luther  intended,  though  he  did  not 
plainly  enough  on  this  occasion  express  him- 
self, was  the  truth  that,  in  the  sacrament,  the 
word  given  for  the  appropriation  of  faith  re- 
ceives its  stronger  assurance  and  guarantee 
through  the  accompanying  real  communication 
of  the  body  and  blood.  Thus  it  is  not,  properly 
speaking,  lor  forgiveness — the  word  concerning 
which  we  already  believe — but  for  the  assur- 
ance and  confirmation  of  it,  that  we  fly  to  the 
strong  consolation  of  the  sacrament.  Hence 
"  the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  not  derived  from  the 
participation  of  the  wine  and  the  bread,  but 
from  the  shedding  of  the  blood  upon  the  cross" 
(Krahner).  Most  assuredly,  therefore,  this 
forgiveness  cannot  be  the  essential  and  distinc- 
tive blessing  which  is  received  in  it.  But  that 
blessing  is  confirmed  in  the  sacrament :  first, 
because  we,  by  the  believing  reception  of  the 
elements,  place  ourselves  ever  anew  upon  the 
objectively-certain  ground  of  the  accomplished 
redemption,  of  the  established  testament  ;*  and, 
further,  because  we  thereby  receive  anew  in 
the  body  and  blood  forgiveness  unto  sanctifying 
influence.  All  progress  in  sanctification,  all 
increase  of  strength  in  the  inner  man,  is  con- 
ditioned by  an  appropriation  of  justification  in 
ever  new  and  living  power:  therefore  and  to 
that  end  Christ  gives  to  us  on  every  renewal  of 
the  sacrament  a  new  and  mighty  consolation  of 


•  Hence  Luther,  not  cloarly  penetrating  the 
mnity  o{  tlie  divine  gift  and  the  glorified  corpo- 
reity, spoke  of  "  the  most  noble  and  precious 
p'mife  and  sent"  of  the  j)roniise  of  the  covenant. 
SeeKiiUler,  D.itler  Luth.  Kiteck-  ji.  17i. 


forgiveness  as  the  food  and  invigoration  of  the 
soul  which  is  first  necessary.  With  this  view  ha 
added  the  word,  which  speaks  of  such  remiaaion 
of  sins ;  and  anticipating,  moreover,  that  all 
communicants,  as  they  would  bring  weakness, 
so  also  would  bring  sin  requiring  forgiveness  to 
this  table. 

According  to  Paul  the  Lord  added  a  second, 
This  do  ye  in  reirwrnbrance  of  rm,  strengthening 
it  by  the  additional  As  oft  as  ye  drink  it. 
It  scarcely  needs  proof  that  this  itivTjre  is  not 
"  As  oft  as  ye  drink  "  (and  eat,  respectively) ; 
but,  "  As  oft  as  ye  drink  this  cup."*  As  oft^- 
this  is  not  to  be  perverted,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  Do  this,  into  an  entire  surrender  of  the 
sacrament  to  our  own  option.  Barclay  says, 
"These  words  (as  often)  import  no  more  a 
command,  than  to  say,  As  often  as  thou  goesfc 
to  Rome,  see  the  capitol,  will  infer  a  command 
for  men  to  go  thither."  He  carelessly  and 
wilfully  forgets  that  this  repetition  at  the  cup 
itself  fre-supposes  the  first  injunction  to  Do  this. 
The  6  6  dm  i,  as  oft,  plainly  enough  intimates 
that  Christians  are  not  to  eat  and  drink  thus 
once  or  a  few  times  in  their  lives  :  there  is  to 
be  in  their  hearts  a  deep  desire  for  it.  But 
how  often  is  left  in  evangelical  freedom  ;  this 
last  expression  abolishes  all  limitation  to  any 
definite  festival-season,  as  in  the  old  economy.! 


The  renewed  importance  given  to  the  old 
sacramental  controversy  in  our  own  times,  is 
a  sufficient  apology  for  the  disproportionate 
length  of  our  exposition  upon  the  words  of  that 
institution  whicii  is  so  closely  connected  with 
the  union  projected  among  our  churches.  We 
cannot  close  without  entering  into  a  dogmatic 
and  pacificatory  consideration  of  the  contro- 
versy. 

What  was  said  concerning  the  feet-washing 
may  be  applied,  even  in  a  higher  degree,  to  our 
Lord's  act  and  injunction  in  the  sacrament — 
Ye  do  not  yet  know  and  understand  what  I 
do,  but  ye  shall  know  hereafter.  The  disciples 
could  not  at  that  moment  properly  understand 
the  Lord ;  the  experience  of  the  enjoyment 
here  promised,  and  the  illumination  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  afterward  expounded  the  mystery 
to  their  minds,  so  far  as  being  a  mystery  it  was 
capable  of  it.  The  further  doctrine  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  concerning  the  sacrament  pre- 
sents itself  to  us  With  the  most  definite  precis- 


*  That  Luther's  "  es"  it.  bad  the  b!ood  for  its 
object,  is  only  a  charoe  of  SchiiUhess. 

f  "  It  was  added,  because  no  would  have  the 
sacrament  free  and  not  bound  to  any  fixed  time, 
like  tlie-Jewi.sh  Passover;  as  if  he  would  say.  I 
a|v])oint  unto  you  a  pnsch.il-festivity  or  supper, 
which  yo  are  not  merely  to  celebrate  yearly  on  the 
eveninii  of  this  day,  but  to  enjoy  of  en,  when  and 
as  oft  as  it  shall  he  proper  and  for  your  jjood,  tied 
in  that  particular  to  no  place  or  time  "  {Catech. 
Maj.  p.  601).  Quite  opposed  to  this  is  the  strange 
opinion  that  in  this  as  oft  as  a  yearly  and  public 
ceremonial  like  tlie  Pasaover  was  appointed. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


537 


ion,  simply,  and  without  affording  any  pretext 
for  baseless  sublilties.  The  Apostle  John  points 
only  to  its  mystical  depth  in  the  brief  and  sud- 
den hint  of  i  John  v.  6-8.  The  words  of  the 
apostolical  fathers,  despite  the  commencement 
of  the  human  dogmatizins:,  retain  as  a  whole 
the  same  simplicity.  So  with  the  early  fathers 
who  followed  them  ;  nntil  graduiUi/  the  over- 
straining of  the  words  written  in  the  Scripture 
led  to  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  Then 
came  the  reaction  of  a  manifold  protest  against 
euperstition,  which  was  early  prepared  for,  and 
which  (though  not  yet  complete)  in  and  after 
the  Reformation  approached  its  maturity,  and 
•will  re-establish  true  concord  in  the  living  ap- 
prehension of  the  true  faith. 

The  testimonies  of  the  Fathers,  from  Igna- 
tius, Justin,  and  Irenseus  downward,  are  well 
known  to  those  who  study  this  subject.  The 
oftoXoyely,  or  confession,  of  the  Church  stands 
firm  against  all  heresy.  "  The  Eucharist  is  the 
flesh  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  which  suf- 
fered for  our  sins,  and  which  the  Father  in  his 
loving-kindness  raised  again."  It  runs  most 
decisively,  "We  do  not  receive  these  as  com 
mon  bread  or  coramoa  wine — we  have  received 
and  been  taught  that  they  are  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  made  fiesh."  To  explain  away 
this  eommyn  faith  of  the  Church  from  the  be- 
ginning requires  sophistry  and  artifice;  while 
to  con  radict  it  in  our  greater  wisdom  is  in  it- 
self at  least  suspicious.  TertuUian  proves  the 
"truth  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  not 
BO  much /or  the  sacrament,  which  bears  its  own 
clear  testimony  to  itself,  as  by  means  of  it. 
Distinction  was  carefully  made  between  the 
iTtiyeov  and  the  oUpoivioy  npayna,  as  by 
Irenasus  ;  between  the  visible  species  of  the 
elements  and  the  invisible  flesh  and  blood  ;  be- 
tween the  sacrament  and  the  matter  of  the  sa- 
crament, as  by  Augustine.  In  proportion  as  the 
contradiction  of  unbelievers  brought  into  prom- 
inence the  individual  details  of  the  question, 
the  faith  of  the  early  Church,  destitute  of  apos- 
tolical illumination,  was  obviously  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  deviating  to  the  right  or  to  the 
left  from  the  exact  truth  of  the  sacramental 
mystery.  But  it  is  most  perverse  to  place  in 
the  fine  balances  of  a  later  dogmatic  termin- 
ology, the  indefinite  and  simple  words  in 
which  a  pure  faith  expressed  its  views — wheth- 
er as  testimony  to  the  transcendent  character 
of  the  sacrament,  or  in  positive  defence  of  its 
certainty,  or  in  profound  contemplation  of  its 
wonderful  meaning.  If,  for  instance,  we  meet 
with  Iv  TVTtcp  ovfigura  corporis,  that  is  not  at 
once  to  be  explained  as  bearing  Zwingle's 
meaning:*  on  the  other  hand,  corpus  in  pane 
and  ocftzot  6w'u\  yevu^jevot  do  not  mean 
precisely  what  Paschasius  Radbertus  and  Lan- 
franc  made  out  of  them,  or  what  may  be  termed 
now  trans-elemenlation,  after  the  early  nera- 
SdX\E6Q'Xiy  juEra7toi£760aj.  Would  that  men 
had  adhered  to  their  simplicity,  instead  of  im- 


puting to  them  the  petty  exactitude  of  ex- 
pression which  better  befits  scholastic  disputes, 
than  devout  contemplation  !  Alas !  that  the 
unhappy  controversy  should  ever  have  been 
kindled,  in  the  course  of  which  "  polemical 
paper  enough  has  been  consumed  to  build  a 
fortress ! "  This  sigh  is  warranted,  as  far  as 
the  controversy  has  a  deplorable  side ;  but 
sighing  will  not  settle  it.  It  will  not  suffice 
that  simplicity  of  spirit  would  retreat  betore 
the  presumption  of  reasoning  ;  the  great  dogma 
must  be  pursued  into  all  its  developments, 
until  the  true  simplicity  of  faith  is  reconciled 
with  the  profoundest  investigation  of  science. 
The  concise  exposition  and  paraphase  of 
those  who,  following  the  first  Helvetic  confes- 
.<!ion  (second  of  Basle),  would  solve  every 
thing  by  sayins,  "His  body  and  his  blood,  that 
is,  AJ»«S(3^,"  is exegetically  incorrect,  and  contains 
the  germ  of  heretical  opposition  to  the  simple 
words  of  our  Lord.  It  is  not  only  permitted, 
but  absolutely  necessary,  that  we  should  pro- 
test against  this,  and  point  to  his  simple  ex- 
pressions again.  But  that  ecclesiastical  doc- 
trine or  theology  is  utterly  to  be  rejected,  as  no 
better  in  this  matter  at  least  than  Rationalism, 
which  reduced,  as  in  Zwingle's  teaching,  the 
presence  of  our  Lord's  body  into  "a  realizing 
contemplation  of  faith,  .and  thankful  recog- 
nition that  the  Lord  had  truly  suffered  in  the 
flesh,"  and  did  not  scruple  to  deny  altogether 
the  presence  of  the  actual  and  natural  body, 
declaring  this  to  be  "a  looking  back  to  the 
flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  and  an  erroi'  which  op- 
poses the  plain  word  of  God  "*  What  Zwingle, 
who,  alas  I  went  back  at  last  to  the  mere  empty 
tokens  of  an  ab.sent  body,  retains  of  mere  cere- 
mony and  typical  teaching,  is  not  only  far 
from  being  enough,  but  is  itself  in  flat  contra- 
diction to  the  words  of  our  Lord.f  That,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  Calvin  not  only  avows, 
but  confidently  maintains,  is  a  testimony  to 
the  true  faith  which  must  be  hailed  with  joy. 
He  thus  retorts  the  objection  which  Rationalism 
had  urged  against  him — "  Is  it  a  dictate  of 
common  sense  that  the  immortal  life  of  the 
soul  should  be  sought  in  the  human  flesh  of 
Christ?  Does  our  poor  reason  tolerate  it,  that 
that  vivifying  energy  of  the  body  of  Christ 
should  proceed  forth  from  heaven,  and  flow  into 
and  pervade  our  souls  upon  earth?  Is  it  in 
harmony  with  our  philosophical  speculations 
that  a  dead  and  terrestrial  element  should  be 
the  efficacious  organ  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?     Can 


*  Even  TO  ahta  oivoi  aXXtfyopelrai  in  Clem. 
Alex,  does  not  exclude  the  mystery. 


*  Zwingle's  Glauhenshekenntniss  von  1630,  art.  21, 
d.  22,  Sola  contemplatione. 

\  Thus,  rs  his  doctrine  contends  aaainst  tb« 
deeper  view  of  the  corporeal-spiritual  mystery,  wo 
cannot  agree  with  Ebiard  that  "  what  Zwingle 
says  is  not  the  full  truth,  but  it  is  altogether 
true."  Ebrard  himself  traces  in  his  words  the  first 
step  in  the  downward  progress  toward  a  denial  of 
all  life-union  with  Ciirist;  and,  for  our  own  part, 
we  regard  the  doctrine  of  this  most  unmysiical 
teache"ras  having  beeu  wrong  from  the  outset  and 
fundamentally. 


538 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


it  be  deduced  from  natural  principles,  that  any 
emblems  and  words  of  the  minister  should  be 
the  channel  lor  the  impartalion  of  Christ? 
Most  assuredly,  if  the  holy  sacrament  was  not 
to  be  a  cele-tial  mystery,  we  should  not  attri- 
bute to  it  effects  so  marvellous  and  soincrettible 
to  carnal  reasoning;."*  He  must,  on  calm  con- 
sideration, be  contessed  to  be  in  a  certain  sense 
right,  when  he  thus  urges  his  aggressive  polem- 
ics against  those  whose  affirmations  go  beyond 
this — "  If  they  would  explain  the  meaning 
thus — tha'.  while  the  bread  is  being  offered  and 
given,  the  exhibition  of  the  body  is  annexed 
thereto,  because  the  truth  is  im^jyiraUe  from 
its  sign,  I  should  not  much  quarrel  with  them. 
But  wher  they  locate  the  body  itself  in  the 
bread,  and  assign  to  it  an  vJnqjiity  contrary  to 
its  nature  ;  when  in  their  's»/i  pane'  they  would 
have  it  to  be  latent  there — it  becomes  necessary 
to  vindicate  his  lips  from  all  such  ineptitudes."! 
The  dist-inction  here  introduced  suggests  mis- 
understanding and  exaggeration  of  words  on 
Itoth  sides  of  the  question  ;  and  it  is  the  prob- 
lem of  a  later  age  to  adjust  the  points  and  rec- 
oncile them.  But  Calvin's  zeal  goes  much  too 
far  when  he  says,  "  I  speak  not  of  Papists, 
whose  doctrine  is  more  tolerable,  or  at  least 
more  modest,"  He  is  altogether  too  keen  upon 
that  commnnicatio  idiomntum  which  enters  so 
essentially  into  all  Christology,  and  requires 
such  careful  dealing,  when  he  protests,  "  As  i( 
indeed  that  union  Sad  produced  out  of  the  two 
natures  some  third  thing  we  know  not  what, 
neither  God  nor  man  !  "%  But  they  gave  him 
ample  occasion  for  this — the  truth  lies,  ac- 
cording to  our  firm  conviction,  in  the  middle; 
though  it  may  not  be  easy  to  find  express 
terms  by  which  to  define  it. 

Tiie  doctrine  of  vhiqnity — we  say  with  Hag- 
enbach§  and  many  Lutherns — "  was  in  fact 
only  a  product  of  embarrassment,  and  formed 
the  shadow,  as  it  were,  of  the  doctrine  concern- 
ing the  bodily  presence  in  the  bread.  But  its 
worst  feature  is  its  untenableness."  The  abso- 
lute ubiquity  of  the  body  of  Christ,  which  has 
been  taught, ||  Mohler  Justly  regards  as  a  "  mar- 
vellous notion  ;"  and  the  protest  of  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse  says  appropriately,  "  We  have 
not  been  able  to  find  Ihtue  paradoxes  about  the 
ubiquity  and  nnlocalhntwn  of  the  body  of  Christ 
in  the  Bible."  Our  present  exegesis' must  ad- 
mit that  Luther  was  wrong  in  asserting,  in  the 
relation  which  is  here  in  question,  that  "  the 
Scripture  teaches  us  not  to  regard  the  right 
hand  of  God  as  a  particular  place,"  etc. f  In 
this,  the  truth  of  the  spiritual  immanence  of  God 


'  in  all  creatures  is  confounded  with  something  ' 
quite  different,  concerning  which  the  Scripture 
gives  us  sufficient  intimation  to  render  it  car- • 
tain  that  there  is  a  locality  opposed  to  this  • 
earth  into  which  Christ  has  a»ceiul&i  and  from 
which  he  will  come  again.  Luther's  impetuous 
fallacy  would  prove  far  too  much  :  "  Christ's  ■ 
body  is  at  the  right  handof  God.  But  the  right 
hand  of  God  is  every  where  in  the  universe. 
It  is  therefore  also  in  the  bread  and  wine  upon 
the  table.  Where  the  right  hand  of  God  is, 
however,  there  mtist  be  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ."  If  he  was  speaking  merely  of  Christ's 
corporeality  so  far  as  participating  in  the  divine 
omnipresence  that  it  also  cofdd  be  where  it 
woidd — it  would  be  quite  correct.  But  tli© 
"  must "  says  too  much,  as  does  the  "  a'.no  in  the 
bread  and  wine ;"  for  where  is  then  the  specific 
presence  in  the  sacrament,  and  how  could  w© 
then  avert  the  fanatical  extreme  of  spiritualiz- 
ing which  would  enjoy  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  in  all  the  world  as  Christ-pervaded? 
— not  yet  to  mention  the  distinction,  that  only 
in  those  united  to  him  by  faith  the  Lord  bodily 
as  well  as  spiritually  enters  and  dwells.  It  does 
not  obviate  this  objection,  to  allege  in  feeble 
retraction,  that  "  no  where  but  in  the  sacrament 
can  ice  say,  Here  is  Christ;  since  concerning 
that  alone  he  has  given  express  assurance. 
God  is  here  is  one  thing,  God  is  here  to  thee  is  an- 
other ;  the  latter  iollows  only  when  it  is  said — 
Here  shall  thou  find  me."*  For  the  reply  is  ' 
obvious — What  right  hast  thou  to  say.  He  is 
every  where?  It  is  plainly  a  perversion  to 
allege,!  "  For  the  personal  union  and  the  union 
at  the  right  hand  of  God  testify  the  presence 
(omnipresence?)  of  the  body;  but  tlio  institu- 
tion and  the  wonls  of  the  sacrament  testify  it.s 
dispensation."  The  Scripture,  rather,  testifies 
that  Christ  is  in  heaven,  in  the  sense  of  a 
bodily  circumscribed  presence ;!  while  the  sac- 
rament assures  us  that,  and  how,  he  will  be 
present  also  upon  earth.  We  are  free  to  admit 
liiat  we  must  here  hold  with  the  Hessian  di- 
vines— "  Thus  we  determine  and  teach,  that  al- 
though Christ  is  and  remains  true  and  natural 
man,  it  does  not  follow  that  his  body  and  blood 
cannot  be  distributed  and  received  in  the  sa- 
crament; but,  since  the  humanity  of  Christ  is 
assumed  by  the  Eternal  Son  of  God,  and  is  thus 
indivisibly  united  with  the  divinity,  it  follows 
and  is  irrefragably  proved  that  Christ  as  omnip- 


"  y.ueitc  Lefemton  gtgen  Wcstplial,  p.  675,  G76. 

+  InsMutt.  iv.  17,  16. 

X  Imlitutt.  ^  30. 

<)  SfHd.  u.  Krtt.  1854,  i.  37. 

II  To  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  poxni- 
bi.t/i/ of  hciun  present  evoiy  wlipip,  particii  arly 
ill  tiie  Church,  from  the  xpiriiunhias  =  ubiquttas, 
wliicli  we  have  already  admitted. 

II  With  tills  tlie  Formtd.  Concord.  aj;rees,  that 
"  tlie  right  Land  of  God  is  eveiy  where." 


*  "  Christ  is  around  us  and  in  us.  Allhonsh  he 
is  every  where,  in  all  creatures,  and  I  might  find 
him  in  the  fire  and  in  tl:e  water,  since  he  is  tliere; 
yet  it  is  not  his  will  that  I  seek  him  without  the 
warranty  of  his  word,  and  throw  myself  into  the 
fire  or  the  wa;er.  He  is  every  where,  but  he  wills 
not  that  we  ^hould  srope  after  h;ra  every  where; 
unly  where  his  word  is." 

f  As  in  tlie  Declaration  of  the  Wtlrtemberg  di- 
vines." 

\  As  tJie  second  Helvetic  Confession,  which  else- 
where sjieaks  with  jirecision  concerninu  (he  fle.sh 
;ind  blood  of  Christ,  cting  John  xiv.  2;  Acts  iii. 
-1.  Au2ustine :  "In  some  place  of  heaven,  ac*. 
corditiy  to  the  manuor  ol  a  true  body." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


ytent  and  true  God  can  be  present  in  his  body 
wherever  he  will."  This  "multivoUprcBsentia" 
or  this  "  ttbicunque  vuli,"  with  which  the  Fann. 
Concord,  (pag.  787,  Rechenb.)  agrees,  is  much 
more  correct,  more  conformable  to  Scripture 
and  the  thing  itself,  than  the  doctrine  that  his 
body  also  nmst  be  there  as  omnipresent. 

Can  an  absolutely  every  where  present  body 
• — not  merely,  that  is,  dynamically  present  ac- 
cording to  the  design  and  influence  of  the 
Spirit  m  it,  but  fcc«%  present  in  the  manner  of 
corporeity  generally — be  a  hodyf  No  more 
than  that  immaterial  something  which  others 
are  in  our  time  content  to  attribute  to  the 
glorified  Christ.  Why  then  is  the  Church  of 
Clirist  specifically  his  body  ?  Why  specifically — 
that  touches  the  one ;  why  his  body — that 
strikes  at  the  other.  Even  Petersen  says,  in 
his  careful  manner,  "  It  has  ever  been  a  iunda- 
mental  article  that  the  Son  of  God  became  true 
man,  and  even  in  his  exaltation  remains  true 
man  ;  this  is  the  precious  treasure  of  our  faith 
conoeraing  the  abidingly-true  and  efficient  hu- 
niariity  of  our  Saviour,  which  neither  Zwingle 
nor  Qilcolampadius  wished  to  renounce,  though 
Luther's  exaggerated  doctrine  of  ubiquity  gave 
them,  not  without  reason,  trouble  upon  the 
subject."  He  then  quotes  the  words  of  the 
latter,  "  To  exhibit  the  body  of  Christ  ddx^fjuoc- 
Ti6rov  xai  dTtEpiypocnroy  xai  (XTpoitov  xai 
ifoXvTpoTCoVy  what  is  it  but  to  assert  a  Christ 
imaginary  and  not  real?  "  and  the  right  prin- 
ciple in  which  they  both  concurred,  "  that 
nothing  should  be  determined  which  might  op- 
pose the  real  humanity  of  Christ,  as  Luther's 
doctrine  threatens  to  do."  Augustine's  words 
are,  "  We  must  take  care  not  to  build  up  the 
divinity  of  Christ  in  such  a  manner  as  to  take 
away  the  truth  of  his  flesh.  For  when  the  flesh 
of  our  Lord  was  on  earth,  certainly  it  was  not 
in  heaven  ;  and  now  that  it  is  in  heaven,  it  is 
not  on  earth."  In  this  we  have  at  the  same 
time  the  necessary  protest  against  ;OT^a/i  crea- 
ture-deification. Through  the  exaggerated  doc- 
trine of  ubiquity  the  individuality  of  Christ  is 
volatilized  away  ;  the  personal  Christ  of  grace 
and  salvation  is  resolved  into  a  pantheistic  na- 
ture-Christ ;  and  thus  in  the  end  all  is  turned 
into  one  great  sacrament.  But  we  may  main- 
tain the  true  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  in 
the  full  Lutheran  sense,  and  yet  join  Calvin 
and  Beza  in  rejecting  the  overstrained  Luther- 
an argument  for  it.  This  is  shown  in  the  eight 
counter-questions  which  the  Anhalt  divmes 
Bent  to  the  Elector,  after  they  had  replied  in  a 
clear  affirmative  to  the  first  six  which  they  had 
received.  Let  those  critical  counter-questions 
be  pondered,  as  they  are  given  in  Planck.*  The 
first — Whether  heaven  is  a  place  distinguished 
from  the  earth?  The  second — Whether,  so  far 
as  the  partaking  of  the  true  body  of  Christ  in 
the  sacrament  is  concerned,  there  is  a  difference 
between  that  which  was  celebrated  on  the  night 
of  institution,  and  that  which  is  celebrated 
now  ?     The  sixtlt-^Whether  the  original  words 


*  Frolest.  Lehrhcgr.  \\.  fif.S., 


of  institution  are  not  sufficient  for  the  hin- 
drance of  all  sacramental  fanaticism?  The 
eighth — Whether  the  human  nature  of  Christ 
in  its  majesty  remains  not,  nevertheless,  a crea- 
ture  of  like  nature  with  ours?* 

We  can,  indeed,  be  quite  at  peace,  and  com- 
municate, with  those  who  will  not  let  the 
Spirit  teach  them  more  than  Calvin  asserts. 
"  Nor  do  we  say  that  any  thing  is  exhibited 
which  is  not  truly  given.  The  Lord  commands 
us  to  receive  bread  and  wine;  meanwhile  he 
declares  that  he  gives  the  spiritual  aliment  of 
his  body  and  blood.  We  do  not  say  that  it  is  a 
fallacious  figure  of  this  which  he  sets  before 
our  eyes  ;  but  a  pledge,  with  which  the  thing 
itself,  its  realization,  is  conjoined."  Again 
(and  often  similarly),  "since  the  Lord  is 
the  truth  itself,  we  cannot  doubt  that  he  will 
fulfill  the  promise  which  he  there  gives  and 
add  the  truth  to  the  figure.  Wherefore  I 
doubt  not  that,  as  he  testifies  in  words  and 
signs,  he  makes  us  partakers  of  his  sub- 
stance, by  which  we  are  united  with  him  in 
one  life."  The  reformed  confessions  from  the 
Heidelb.  Catech.,  which  is  superficial  enough 
in  other  respects,  downward,  are  right  in  this 
point,  that  they  put  first — Although  Christ  is 
now  in  heaven. 

But  now  we  can  confidently  go  further. 
With  Luther,  we  can  believe  and  avow  and 
teach,  obliged  by  the  words  of  institution,  that 
he  upon  earth  also,  that  is,  in  the  believing  re- 
ception of  the  bread  and  wine— not  merely 
operates,  but  bodily  is.  That  is  a  presump- 
tuous word,  and  to  be  rejected,  which  Beza 
uttered,  "  The  body  of  Christ  is  as  far  removed 
from  the  holy  sacrament  as  heaven  is  from 
earth."  According  to  1  John  v.  8  the  blood 
witnesses,  like  the  Spirit  vpon  earth.  _  In  Acts 
iii.  21  we  read,  oy  SeZ  ovpavov  /uiv  Se^a60at  : 
Christ  must  receive,  possess,  rule  over  heaven  ; 
not,  that  heaven  must  receive  him^  in  any 
such  sense  as  that  he  should  be  locally  con- 
fined and  bound  to  it.  For,  in  the  sacrament 
Christ  comes  down  to  us;  we  are  not  taken  up 
to  him  in  heaven.  The  latter  contradicts  the 
plain  meaning  of  the  words  of  institution,  and 
is  a  mere  human  device,  like  the  false  ubiquity. 
The  mere  operative  presence  does  not  suffice  to 
the  perfect  recognition  of  the  mystery  in  the 
plain  letter,  whether  as  spoken  at  the  sacra- 
ment or  in  John  vi.  In  the  hard  saying  of  the 
latter,  Christ's  flesh  and  blood  are  spoken  of; 
not  a  mere  effluence  or  influence  of  them,  not  a 
mere  vivifying  vigor,  and  the  like.  Concern- 
ing these  we  "do  not  say  eal  and  dritik  S^ill 
less  does  it  speak  merely  of  a  virtue,  operation, 
or  merit  of  the  absent  body— as  perilous  the- 
ories weaken  it  more  and  still  more.     Here  we 


*  In  (his  last  question  touching  the  creatareli- 
ness  or  the  man  Jesus  his  divine-humanity,  i.s,  after 
the  manner  ot  the  Reformed  Church,  not  enough 
consiviereil. 

t  Ben^el  calls  this  a  violent  interpretation,  and 
opposed" to  the  exaltation  of  Christ  above  aU 
heavens. 


540 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


must  take  our  stand,  according  to  Melanc- 
thon's  later  words,  quoting  Cyril  on  John 
(Loc.  Com.),  "  It  is  to  be  considered  that  Christ 
is  not  in  us  only  through  his  love,  but  by  our 
natural  participation  ,  that  is,  he  is  with  us 
not  only  in  his  efficacy  but  in  his  substance." 
Calvin's  words  cannot  be  vindicated  from  a 
cej-tain  vacillation,  when  he  says,  at  one  time, 
with  Luther,  "  Under  the  symbol  of  bread  we 
may  eat  his  body,  xinder  the  symbol  of  wine 
we  may  drink  dintinctively  his  blood,  so  as  at 
length  to  receive  him  entirely  ;"  and  then  turns 
round,  "The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  so  cir- 
cumscribed but  that  he  can  diffuse  its  power 
wherever  he  pleases,  in  heaven  or  earth  ;  but 
that  he  can  manifest  his  presence  in  its  poicer 
and  virtue  otherwise  than  as  present  in  body  ; 
but  that  finally,  he  can  feed  us  with  his  own 
body,  the  fellowship  of  which  by  the  virtue  of 
his  Spirit  he  can  communicate  io  us.     On  this 

Erinciple  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  ex- 
ibited  to  us  in  the  sacrament."  The  virtue 
of  the  Spirit  is  indeed  there  ;  but  the  otlurwise 
than  as*  is  far  from  reaching  the  meaning  of 
TovTo  t6ri,  understood  according  to  the  anal- 
ogy of  the  whole  Scripture  and  of  the  whole 
faith,  and  is  far  from  the  sense  of  the  great 
mystery,  Eph.  v.  30.  When  Calvin  says,  "  As 
if  indeed  we  should  not  equally  enjoy  his  pres- 
ence, if  he  call  us  up  to  himself,"  we  may  re- 
ply to  the  question,  But  why  speak  of  our 
being  taken  up  to  him?  This  is  as  if  he  had 
not  said  that  he  would  descend  to  us.  So  Von 
Meyer,  admitting  almost  too  unreservedly 
"  Luther's  happy  medium  between  Tridentin- 
ism  find  Zuinglianism,"  says  excellently,  "  Be- 
tween Zuinglianism  and  Lutheranism,  Calvin 
again  wavers,  but  has  found  an  unhappy 
medium."  This  is  true ;  but  Lindner  ex- 
presses himself  too  strongly  with  regard  to 
Calvin :  "  He  makes  of  the  one  sacramental 
act  two  distinct  matters ;  of  which  the  one  is 
empty,  and  the  other  full  of  meaning."  For 
he  does  expressly  maintain  the  unity,  and  not 
merely  the  "  simultaneousness "  of  the  two 
acts,  as  actio  in  actione,  actus  in  actu. 

This  much  is  certain  to  the  penetration  of 
our  faith,  that,  although  (as  we  have  repeated- 
ly expounded,  and  as  follows  from  John  vi.) 
the  Lord  can  give  and  does  give  his  flesh  and 
blood  iiulepiendently  of  the  sacramental  bread 
and  wine,  this  participation  of  his  glorified 
corporeity  is  nevertheless  something  different 
from  that  which  we  receive  through  faith  in  his 
ioord  and  as  the  operation  of  the  Uoly  Spirit.^ 


*  So  aaain,  "  AUhoush  the  very  flesh  of 
Christ  does  not  enter  into  us."  The  Ilunsar. 
Confess,  say.s,  "  J]ut  he  ui  not  bodily  present,  as  lie 
was  jircvent  in  the  womb  of  his  mother,  in  Judea, 
in  the  8e|iulchre.  For,  as  he  rose  again  and  as- 
cended, he  is  not  here  and  must  bo  in  heaven, 
till  tlie  day  of  judgment."  Tanquam  carcere  in- 
cluKus ! 

I  Consequf  ntly,  not  the  question,  but  the  an- 
swer, is  alto<ielher  wron^  in  llie  G  -iiova  Cate- 
chism: "Do  we  attain  to  this  communiwUion  only 


On  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  eertaJn — and 
here  we  come  to  tlie  second  point  on  which  the 
union  must  deviate  from  rigid  Lutheranism, 
the  ubiquity  being  the  first — that  the  proffen;d 
flesh  and  blood  of  Christ  cannot  possibly  be 
received  by  unbelievers  in  the  same  sense,  in  tho 
same  truth  and  actualitv,  as  by  believers.  That 
Christ  corporeally  glorified,  and  as  he  cssentialiv 
dwells  in  believers,  should  by  means  of  any 
manducatio  oralis  only  for  one  moment  enter 
into  unbelievers  ;  and  thus  that  it  should  be 
possible,  as  Luther  says,  "  for  the  flesh  of  Christ 
to  be  bodily  eaten  in  the  sacrament  without 
faith" — we  protest  against  as  a  horrendum 
dictu,  and  a  thing  utterly  unimaginable,  in  the 
assertion  of  which  the  Lutheran  doctrine  has 
overstepped  the  limits  of  all  intelligent  under- 
standing of  all  words  of  Scripture.*  If  even 
— we  would  say  in  the  spirit  of  concession^ 
this  could  for  a  moment  take  place,  then  either 
Christ  must  become  in  them  a  consuming  fire, 
or  their  immediately-following  rejection  or  cast- 
ing forth  of  Christ  (things  simply  unimaginable 
in  themselves)  must  extend  at  once  to  their 
eternal  condemnation.  Neither  the  Scripture 
nor  experience  knows  any  thing  of  this. 
"  We  never  read,"  says  Calvin,  "  that  men 
bring  down  upon  themselves  death  by  un- 
worthily receiving  ;  but  rather  by  rejecting  him 
again."     The  confession  of  John  Sigismund  ap- 

Jeals  (Article  ix.)  with  perfect  propriety  to 
ohn  vi.  54  and  47,  in  affirmation  that  un- 
believers do  not  partake  of  the  real  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  The  twenty-ninth  article  of 
the  English  Church  utters  the  simple  truth  ; 
"  But  rather,  to  their  condemnation,  do  eat  and 
drink  the  sign  or  sacrament  of  so  great  a 
thing."  _ 

On  this  point  Petersen  does  not  preserve  his 
clearness  of  apprehension  and  statement.  His 
explanation  of  the  condemnation  of  unworthy 
recipients — that  "  because  they  receive  bodily 
and  not  at  the  same  time  spiritually,"  therefore 
it  becomes  to  them,  as  Luther  said,  "  poisonous 
and  deadly  " — appears  to  us  itself  inexplicable. 
Here  we  ask  boldly  with  Calvin,  "  Who  does 
not  see  that  Christ  would  become  exanimate, 
and  be  by  a  sacrilegious  divorce  sundered  from 
all  his  spirit  and  virtue  ?  "  For  then  must  the 
flesh  and  blood  of  Christ,  that  which  has  been 
penetrated  throughout  by  spirit  and  life,  bo 
capable  of  existing  also  without  spirit  and  life, 


through  the  sacrament]  No;  for,  according  lo 
the  tesiimony  of  Paul,  Christ  imparts  himself  oi.io 
through  the  Gospel."  For  thus  all  flows  vagu^Ij  and 
undefinedly  into  one,  into  the  communication  of 
Christ  to  us, 

*  Calvin  :  "  To  receive  Christ  without  faith  is  no 
more  possible  than  for  a  seed  to  perminate  in  the 
fire."  Wo  say  that  in  the  sacrament  the  Jit-  kh 
becomes  an  i>»  us ,  and  thus  that  there  is  here 
no  other  in  us  to  be  thouoht  of  than  the  for  m* 
which  is  so  applied.  In  Ebrard's  excellent  words 
"The  most  real  unity  of  the  gratia  forenss  ami 
gratia  ined-cinilni.'^  (Gbrard  however  incovrf'cliy 
excludes  both  Christ's  body  and  oura  liom  Una 
mcdicinalis.) 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-28. 


m 


in  a  bodily  sense  alone* — and  wliat  would  this 
leail  to?  The  true  body  of  Christ  without 
spirit,  and  now  a  poison  unto  death — let  him 
who  can  conceive  this,  and  bring  it  into  har- 
mony with  John  vi.  Petersen  in  a  contradic- 
tory manner  goes  on,  "  Where  Christ's  body  is, 
there  is  also  his  Spirit,  even  with  and  in  the 
unbelievers,  that  is,  iti  the  absolute  objectivity 
of  a  judicial  presence;"  but  our  hard  under- 
standing derives  not  the  slightest  help  from 
this  addition.  Such  "absolutely  objective 
judicial  presence"  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
which  at  the  same  time  comes  into  a  man  in  a 
bodily  sense,  we  no  more  find  in  Scripture  than 
we  find  the  poisonous  and  deadly  influence  of 
his  living  and  life-giving  flesh  and  blood. 
Least  of  all  have  we  scriptural  ground  for  the 
utterly  inconceivable  notion  of  Kahnis,  that 
"  the  unworthy  recipient  desecrates  and  as  it 
were  destroys'  and  puts  to  death  tlie  body  of 
Christ  by  receiving  it  into  his  impure  personal- 
ity." 

"  A  state  of  faith,  an  existing  commence- 
ment of  the  new  man  generally,  is  thus  the 
condition  for  the  essential  virtue  of  the  holy 
sacrament,"  we  say  with  Ebrard  ;  and  apply  to 
this  what  he  has  maintained  with  regard  to 
baptism,  "The  Scripture  knows  nothing  of  a 
magical  influence  of  Christ  which  is  independ- 
ent of  a  free  and  conscious  faith  in  the  word, 
operating  upon  the  passive  and  unconscious 
side  of  human  nature."  Luther  has  here,  at 
the  topstone  of  hi."?  superstructure,  strangely 
forgotten  the  foundation  of  faith  which  he 
had  so  well  known  how  to  lay.f  The  doc- 
trine of  a  like  reception  on  the  part  of  un- 
believers retains  in  it  a  kind  of  oj)m  opera- 
turn,  if  not  with  regard  to  the  distributor 
and  receiver  on  earth,  yet  with  regard  to  the 
almighty  Christ,  who  is  thus  held  to  connect 
his  body  and  blood,  for  life  or  death,  with  the 
external  act,  in  a  manner  which  is  utterly  op- 
posed to  the  spirit  of  his  kingdom. J  Indeed, 
to  this  we  may  apply  witli  greater  propriety 
what  Ilardenberg  said  concerning  the  not  in- 
tentionally wrong  "  under  the  form  of  bread  and 
wine  " — This   has  an  odor  of  transubstantia- 


*  With  Ebrard :  "The  body  and  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  disjoined  violently ;  the  former  being  con- 
ceived not  as  living  and  quickened,  but  as  an  in- 
dependent, separate,  and  indiflferent  subslance." 
We  agree  with  Nitzsch  that  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
cm  only  then  be  maintained  when  it  gives  up  the 
absolute  ttbiquHy,  and  "  renounces  any  such  pres- 
ence of  the  body  and  blood  as  cannot  be  other 
than  an  absence  of  the  full  presence  of  Christ.'^ 

f  Yet  we  find  him  often  using  expressions  in- 
consistent with  his  rigid  doctrine,  such  as  "  The 
sacraments  are  nothing  but  signs  which  minisler 
to  faith;  nor  are  they  of  any  use  without  that 
lailh." 

t  Credimus  —  quel  nullum  opns  humanum, 
neque  ulla  ministri  Ecclesiae  pronuntiatio  pre- 
sent as  corporis  et  sanguinis  Christi  in  ccen/i  causa 
sit,  sed  quod  ho^_soH  omnipotenti  virtiiti  Domini 
r.ontri  Je  u  diristi  sit  tribueuduoi  (Formuia  Cone. 
Epit.  Tii.  p.  509J. 


tion.*  The  objection  arising  from  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  body  of  Christ!  is  not  decisive  ;  for 
the  Lord  does  certainly  in  other  ways  hold  in- 
tercourse with  the  impure,  and  expose  himself 
to  be  contemned  without  any  disparagement 
of  his  honor.  But  the  natureof  the  case  itself 
does  not  suffer  it :  the  objectively  almighty 
power  of  God,  present  for  all,  cannot  distribute 
even  in  the  sacrament  the  body  and  spirit  of 
Christ  where  there  is  no  corresponding  grace 
with  which  it  may  connect  itself;  but,  being 
utterly  rejected,  all  its  operation  must  be 
withheld.  Calvin,  in  reply  to  Westphal,  says, 
keenly  but  truly,  "  God  does  not  cease  to  send 
down  his  rain  because  the  rocks  and  stones  do 
not  imbibe  it;  mira  vero  slupiditas,  quod 
coenae  effedum  incredulis  ipse  adimens.  non  ex- 
pendit,  hanc  primam  effectus  esse  ][jartem,  quam 
illis  vindicat." 

It  is  most  important,  at  this  culminating 
point  of  the  controversy,  clearly  to  fix  in  our 
minds  these  two  things — What  the  glorified 
corporeity  of  Christ  really  is,  that  is,  spirit  and 
life  according  to  Johnvi.  63  ;  and  ih&t  our  faith 
is  throughout  and  alone  the  mediating  condi- 
tion on  our  part  of  every  reception  of  the  Lord's 
grace  and  gift.  Paul  does  not  teach  that  as 
oft  as  we  eat  of  this  bread  and  drink  of  this 
cup,  all  receive,  and  eat  and  drink  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ;  nor  does  he  by  any  means  say 
that  the  unworthy  eats  and  drinks  the  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord  to  his  own  condemnation. 
He  merely  teaches  what  we  read  in  his  own 
wordsX — although  Luther,  the  Form.  Cone,  and 
many  Lutheran  theologians,  have  failed  to  read 
it  aright,  and  have  most  unjustifiably  cited  1 
Cor.  xi.  27  or  29,  as  proof  of  their  doctrine. 
"  The  strict  exegetical  requirement  of  the  pas- 
sage "  is  only  the  presence  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  but  by  no  means  the  participation  of 
the  unworthy.  The  latter  is  implicitly  denied. 
To  the  question  How  can  he  partake  of  the  mere 
elements  to  his  condemnation  ?  there  is  answer 


*  Planck.  Hence,  Guericke  assures  us  that 
there  is  so  important  a  basis  common  to  the  Cath- 
olic and  Lutheran  doctrines,  that  the  superaddi- 
tion  of  transubstantiation  almost  vanishes  into 
nothing  (!) — and  that  the  Lutheran  is  infinitely 
nearer  to  the  Catholic  than  to  the  Calvinist.  So 
Kahnis  teaches  that  "a  great  truth  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  (the  concomi- 
tantia  lying  beneath  the  denial  of  the  cup).  We 
mi:;ht  say  that  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  erroneous,  indeed," 
etc.  (p,  265).  This  is  very  different  from  the 
"  vermaledeiten  abgStterei "  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism. 

f  Culvin  stated  this  in  the  strongest  form  :  "  If 
a  filthy  whoremonger,  a  perjured  min,  a  robber, 
a  poisoner,  one  stained  with  worse  crimes  if 
possible  than  these,  or  a  half-heathen,  approaches 
the  holy  Supper,  and  brings  with  him  there  un- 
limited defilement  of  vice  and  superstition — they 
prostitute  to  such  a  man  the  body  of  Clirist." 

X  Yet  at  a  very  early  age  the  idea  was  inconsid- 
erately substituted — Whoso  eateth  aud  drinketh 
unworthily  the  body  of  the  Lord, 


542 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


enough  to  be  given.  Of  what  kind  is  the  ex- 
egesis of  the  Formula  Concwdioe,  which  confi- 
dently argues  from  the  KoivGovia  of  1  Cor.  x. 
16 — "  Uoc  est,  qvii  hunc  panem  edit,  corpus 
Christi  edit ;  "  without  reflecting  whether  these 
unbelievers  can  belong  to  the  sy  6wjita,  "  one 
body,"  of  ver.  17.  For  the  rest,  we  have  abun- 
dantly shown  that  the  assumption  of  a  parti- 
cipation of  unbelievers  does  not,  as  Ebrard 
thinks,  stand  or  fall  with  the  assumption  that 
the  bodi/  and  hlood  of  Christ — in  or  apart  from 
the  sacrament — are  really  received. 


We  have  thus  seen  that  while,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  honest  and  zealous  defence  of  the 
mystery  is  exaggerated  through  human  infirm- 
ity into  dangerous  error  and  ofTence;  on  the 
other  hand,  a  deficient  apprehension  of  it  may 
be  sincere  in  itself,  and  express  much  that  is 
undeniably  true.  For  ourselves,  we  ra-e  not 
disposed  to  lay  any  such  stress  upon  exactitude 
of  doctrine  and  statement  as  would  divide  the 
Church.  When  the  adorable  Saviour  uttered 
precisely  these  words  in  the  institution,  he  cer- 
tainly represented  to  us  a  mystery  which  was 
to  be  received  in  simplicity,  to  be  magnified  in 
faith,  to  be  investigated  by  the  humble  boldness 
of  enlightened  intelligence.  But  he  never  in- 
tended that  the  blessing  of  the  sacrament,  fel- 
lowship with  himself  and  his  Church,  should  be 
made  to  depend  upon  the  degree  of  our  under- 
standing. As  all  our  intelligence  must  neces- 
sarily in  general  be  matter  ol  degree,  this  holds 
good  yet  more  strongly  in  such  a  mystery  as 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord.  It  may  be  said  with 
truth  that  as  the  Lord  has  plainly  given  some- 
thing fur  cick  stage  of  understanding,  while  he 
has  left  the  kernel  of  the  mystery  unexplained 
and  undisclosed  in  the  shell  which  he  created 
for  it — it  wac;  his  intention  that  we  should  dis- 
cuss it  in  lovo,  though  not  contend  over  it  in 
divisions.  That  which  he  will  have  us  finally 
acknowledge  in  faith  he  does  not  express  in 
plainer  words  (which,  as  the  Church  shows, 
was  possible)  ;  but  he  intimates  it  so  definitely, 
that  we  may  and  we  should  press  forward  to 
it.  The  Lord's  Supper  itself— in  its  profundity 
of  meaning,  which  the  Church  can  apprehend 
only  by  degrees;  in  its  comprehensiveness  of 
meaning,  which  gives  even  the  weak  something 
to  lay  hold  of — it  a  declaration  of  the  union- 
princi/ile:  union  in  the  participation  of  Christ, 
according  to  the  degree  of  the  knowledge  of 
each,  apart  from  any  formularized  dogma.-*^' 
For,  as  the  v.'ords  of  institution  provoke  difler- 
ence  of  opinion,  so  also  they  tolerate  it;  and 
the  gracious  "for  you,"  embracing  each,  will  al- 


*  "  A'l  breathes  here  of  lovo,  all  fends  to  union, 
communion,  communication."  So  S.irtorius,  bet- 
ter than  wliat  we  read  in  tho  LuLlieran  historian 
Mahzan — "  Tlie  doctrine  of  the  sacrnment  was 
a'ways  (and  rislitly,  a'*  the  ko:  nel  ot  tho  Gospel) 
the  point  of  dlsliuciiou  ani  separalioa  iu  tho 
Church." 


ways  make  peace  and  secure  the  acceptance,  by 
ihehen7-t  which  longs  for  salvation,  of  the  v/on- 
derful  "  this  is."  If  the  Lord  did  not  so  purpose, 
but  would  hedge  about  the  institution  with 
rigorous  and  Sinaitic  enactment,  wliy  did  he 
fpeak  precisely  thus,  that  is,  in  words  which, 
as  the  history  of  all  ages  shows,  may  be  so  va- 
riously expounded  bv  various  men  all  equally 
believers  in  him  ?  \Vhy  did  he  not  rather  ap- 
pend to  this  union-rite— in  the  truest,  sublime'st 
sense  of  the  term — an  authentic/or?n?/Za  concor' 
dice,  the  solida  dcc'aratio  of  his  own  lips? 

We  hear  much  said  about  three  stages  or 
critical  points  in  sacramental  views — we  ought 
rather  to  say,  in  the  celebration  and  reception 
of  the  sacrament — but  the  first  point  is  for  the 
most  part  very  incorrectly  defined.  It  is  not 
to  be  found  in  the  theory  which  rests  upon 
"this  signifies,"  and  the  reception  of  mere 
"  signs : "  that  must  be  regarded  as  itself  a 
symptom  of  an  essential  deficiency  at  the  very 
outset.*  That  which  is  really  the  first  essen- 
tial, and  which  becomes  error  only  when  wo 
fail  to  go  beyond  it,  is  the  obedience  of  Christ's 
word — Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.  Who 
dares  to  empty  this  word  of  its  significance, 
and  make  it  mean  nothing  in  the  ordinance? 
Who  does  not  feel  that  he  must  complete  even 
Paul's  and  Luke's  accounts  by  introducing  this 
word  as  the  necessary  introduction  to  all? 
Who  can  approach  the  sacrament  otherwise 
than  as  remembering  Christ,  thinking,  that  is, 
of  his  death,  testifying  and  at  the  same  time 
strengthening  this  remembrance  by  the  act 
appointed  by  the  Lord?  It  is  something,  in- 
deed, to  show  forth,  in  the  true  earnestness  of 
faith,  the  death  of  our  Lord  ;  to  commemorate 
it  festally,  to  renew,  seal,  and  confirm  our  fel- 
lowship as  members  with  the  head.  But  the 
more  emphasis  we  lay  upon  "  the  true  earnestness 
of  faith,"  the  more  certainly  must  we  be  led  on 
to  that  exposition  of  the  "remembrance"  which 
we  have  given  above.  Zwingle  set  out  with  a 
perfectly  correct  fundamental  principle,  and 
spoke  of  it  sometimes  warmly  and  excellently  ; 
but  he  was  rigorously  condemned  without  any 
attempt  to  assist  the  development  of  his  views 
by  gentleness,  and  thus  led  through  an  unhappy 
offence  to  establish  a  one-sided  system  of  aoc- 
trine  on  this  great  subject.  The  solemn  "  this 
is"  was  at  once  explained  to  be  "  this  signifies;" 
and  the  whole  celebration  was  reduced  to  a 
simple  declaration  of  faith  in  Christ  :  polemics 
then  drove  hira  back  so  far  as  to  deny  even  the 
strengthening  of  faith  to  the  sacrament.  The 
truth  would  have  been :  I  receive,  according  to 
the  divine  institution  as  it  is  first  understood, 
a  fledge,  in  the  symbol  that  Christ  died  for  me, 
as  certainly  as  the  bread  and  the  cup  are  put 
in  my  hands.  Meyer's  excellent  words  apply 
to  this:  "Every  true  Christian  will  admit  that, 


*  Ebrard  has  the  merit  of  havin^r  clparly  shown 
the  historical  process  of  Zwincle's  iiisuflQcipnt  e.^- 
esesis  of  the  words  of  institution ;  nnd  how  that 
which  was  correct  at  the  first  naturally  pioceeded 
into  error. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-23. 


543 


In  the  participation  of  the  visible  bread  and 
wme,  the  spirit  works  grace  in  every  one  wlio 
worthily  receives.*     For  wherefore  else  should 
we  seek  this  invigoration  ?     And,  if  it  was  even 
merely  the  blessed  feeling  of  grateful   reme.ai-  j 
brance  and  brotherly  fellowship,  this  of  itself  is 
from    a  divine   influence,  a  joy    in    the    Holy 
Spirit."     Yea,  we    would  add — The  body  and 
blood  would  be  received  even  in  this  commemo- 
ration, whether  we  acknowledge  it  or  not.     But 
instead   of    this,   Zvvingle's    excited    polemics 
went  so  far  backward   as   to   say,  "  The   sacra- 
ments  are   signs   and   ceremonies,  let  me  say 
with  all  deference  to  all,  by  which  a  man  ap- 
proves himself  to  the  Church  to  be  a  candidate 
or  soldier  of  Christ;  and  they  rather  make  the 
whole  Church  sure  of  thy  laith,  rather  than 
thyself."     This  pre-supposes  the  existence  of  a  ! 
"faith  "  which  is  quite  self-sufficient ;  unintel-  ■ 
ligently  denies   all  grace   and  gift  in   the   sa-  j 
crament,  which  nevertheless    has    eating  and  | 
drinking  for  a  symbol ;  makes  the  last  meaning  j 
of  "  remembrance  "  the  first  and  the  only  one  ; 
and  yet  takes  away  its  own  justification,  since  I 
he  who  thus  commemorates  in  sincere  fuith  i 
must  wait   upon   the  Lord  and  ask — "  Make  ; 
thou  me  stronger  and  more  assured,  work  thou  ! 
in  me  a  living  remembrance,  and  give  thyself] 
to  me."  i 

He  who  apprehends  this  as  the  object  of  his  ; 
deep  desire,  will  soon  reach,  in  the  "this  is"  j 
which  comes  as  a  present  gift  to  meet  that  desire,  \ 
the  second  stage  of  the  mystery — even  as,  thank  < 
God,  most  of  the  Reformed    Churches  rtached 
it.f      There    is    no   real   fellowship    with    the 
death    of  Christ — even   though   al   first   only  • 
through  the   appropriation  of  faith,  beholding  j 
the  figure  in  the  symbols — which  must  not  lead  | 
further  to  the  "fellowship   of  his   life."     The' 
plain  words  of  our  Lord   must  be  understood 
through  the  heart's  experience  to   mean   that 
he  who  died  for  us  actually  comes  into   us  as 
he  who  liveth,  that  he  gives  us  to   eat  and 
drink   of    himself.     (So    Ebrard   states    very 
plainly  this  transition  from  Zwingle  to  Calvin.) 
This  second  critical  point  contains  the  third 
within  it,  even  more  essentially  than  the  first 
led  the  way  to  the  second.     All  who  are  sincere 
should  go  on  and  say,  as  the  formula  expresses 
it,  "The  external  particiption  signifies  the  in- 
ternal;  but  it  effects  it  also  while  it  signifies 
it."     As  certainly  as  the  Lord  appointed  not 
the  bread  to  be  merely  broken  betore  our  eyes, 
nor  the  cup  to  be  merely  poured  out  "  in  the 
manner  of  a  libation,"  but  instituted  as  eating  j 
and  drinking,  speaking  therein  of  his  body  and  I 
blood,  so  certainly  is  he  in  this  our  meat  and 
our  drink. 

It  is  now  essential  that  we  should  proceed 
to  the  sacramental  community  which  there  is 


between  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified  ;  as 
also  to  the  testimony  that  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  that  which  was  broken  and  that 
which  was  shed,  are  imparted  as  vicifying* 
But  histead  of  this,  men  wander,  through  a 
one-sided  misapprehension  of  this  second  criti- 
cal point,  into  a  certain  spiritualistic  interpreta- 
tion, the  beginnings  of  which  were  seen  as 
early  as  the  Alexandrian  school  (according  to 
their  distinction  of  the  a/cOr/ruv  and  the  vo?;- 
roy).  In  Origen's  detailed  application  of  this 
to  the  sacrament,  it  is  a  6c^na  tvtiihuv  xai 
6v/.ifioXtx6v  (typical  and  symbolical  body) 
of  that  which  7[yevj.tariTo5<;  ;f/'jz(jrzaKz?0Kr£S 
(spiritual  Christians)  inwardly  experience  ;  al- 
though he  attributes  even  to  the  external 
symbol  a  marvellously-quickening  energy  as 
being  a  vyz}}  npoOsdii  for  the  6ooiiiariKc3i 
XpKjriaviZoyrei.  This  last  thread  of  connec- 
tion with  spiritualism  being  broken,  he  loses 
or  denies  the  mystery  which  it  was  sought  to 
obtain,  the  q)dp).iaKov  dOayadiai,  (pvXaHT?/- 
pioy  Eli  dyddradiv,  which  the  ancient  and 
original  faith  of  the  Church  found  in  it;  then 
at  last,  while  spiritualistic  expressions  are  used, 
the  corporeity  of  Christ  is  altogether  lost  sight 
of,  and  our  incorporation  into  him,  according  to 
his  and  our  perfect  humanity. f  Guarding,  on 
the  other  hand,  against  this  spiritualism,  we  go 
on  at  once  to  the  una  cum  pane  et  vino,  in  which 
a  part  of  the  Eelormed  Churches  have  so  clearly 
concuired  that  there  is  no  room  for  opposing 
them  on  the  ground  of  a  third  and  higher  criti- 
cal point — for  this  una  cum'xs  that  third  point  % 
So  tlie  confession  of  Basle:  "  In  which  icith  t!ia 
bread  and  wine  of  the  Lord,  the  true  body  and  t  he 
true  blood  of  Christ  are  by  the  ministers  of  the 
Church  ?,ymho\\ze'\  ami  offered."  The  declaration 
of  Thorn  also:  "  By  means  of  and  on  account  of 
the  sacramental  union,  which  consists  not  in  the 
one  signifying  the  other,  but  in  the  united 
though  difierent  bestowment  of  the  earthly  and 
theheavenly  elements."  Thisissimpleandmod- 
rate  exegesis,  as  even  Durandus  said,  "  If  the 
Church  had  not  decided  otherwise,  we  might 
very  well  understand  it — Contentum  est  sub  hoc 
corpus  meum." 

Here   then  we  may  very  properly  oppose 


*  That  is,  in  believing  and  earnest  remembrance 
of  the  Lord's  atoning  death. 

t  For  on'y  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  talies  the 
superficial  viewrand  l!i  t  snvs  nnicli  moe  tlian 
Zwingle;  a  Zwinghan  Chuicii,  bU.cily  speaking, 
there  lis  not. 


*  Calvin's  caro  vivifica  goes  as  far  as  tliat,  and 
is  therefore  condemned  by  the  ultra-Zwingliau 
Schultliess. 

t  Yet  this  is  and  must  be  the  decisive  point  of 
completeness,  wliich  even  the  Lutiieran  dogmatics 
have  failed  to  set  forth  fully,  though  tliey  spealc 
so  expressly  of  the  bodij,  and  regar.l  the  sacra- 
mental forgiveness  of  sins  as  only  a  f  nit  of  its 
reception.  It  is  very  observable  that  most  of  the 
anciei.t  doctors  of  the  Church  attribute  to  tliis 
heavenly  food,  besides  the  nourishment  of  .s])ir- 
itual  lile,  a  wonderful  influence  also  upon  liie 
bodies  of  those  wlio  partook.  This  was  not  an 
old  materialistc  notion;  but  all  true  m?taphys.cs 
must  lead  to  it,  if  the  meaning  of  cirporeity  is 
rightly  understood,  and  the  word  of  Christ  is  ac- 
knowledged. 

t  The  three  essential  points  we  tluis  appre- 
hend :  the   remembraiue  of  the.  redeeming  death 


544 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


Calvin's  words  about  our  (joinr^  up  to  CJirist'*' 
instead  of  his  coming  down  to  us  ;  liere  we  may 
in  the  spirit  of  peace  dispute  about  the  locality 
or  ubiquity  of  the  Lord's  body,  as  far  as  this 
may  do  any  good.  But  these' scholastic  conten- 
tions carry  hachcard  instead  of  forward  the 
ecclesiastical  and  practical  doctrine  of  the  sa- 
crament. We  see  in  this  question  no  ground 
for  the  Lutheran  wratli  which  was  poured  out 
unon  the  enthusiasts  of  1527,  and  in  the 
'Short  Doctrine  of  the  Supper"  in  1544.  Hav- 
ing reached  this  point,  they  should  have  been 
contented  to  rest  on  the  Wittenberg  agreement, 
which  did  not  renounce  the  fellowship  of  those 
who  difTcred.  So  Luther  in  1537  wrote  peace- 
ably and  mildly  to  the  Swiss  States :  "  We 
leave  the  manner  how  his  body  and  blood  are 
given  in  the  Supper  to  the  divine  almightiness; 
we  think  of  no  ascent  to  him  or  descentof  him, 
but  hold  to  his  own  simple  and  plain  words." 
And  so  he  goes  on  concerning  the  necessity  of 
avoiding  all  anger  and  wrath,  of  giving  scope 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  firmly  establishing 
concord  and  love — of  taking  care  to  avoid  all 
suspicion  of  each  other,  and  so  forth.  Or,  as 
in  1531  to  Bucer:  "Let  us  commend  our  cause 
to  God,  preserving  meanwhile  as  far  as  in  each 
lies  his  peace,  and  holding  fast  that  concord 
which  we  have  reached  by  agreeing  that  the 
body  of  our  Lord  is  truly  present,  and  ofTered 
to  the  believing  soul — feremus  discordiara  min- 
orem  cum  pace  minore."  Here  Father  Luther 
exhibits  himself  as  the  patron  of  all  true  union. 
It  was  quite  otherwise  in  the  Formula  Con- 
cordicc,  which  came  less  from  the  heart  than 
from  the  head,  and  which  condemns  its  oppo- 
nents in  mass  (like  Luther  the  "fanatics") 
as  saying  all  that  they  said  deceptively  and 
with  reservation.  Were  not  these  Lutherans 
bound  to  confess,  as  the  confession  of  Basle 
declared,  that  the  natural  and  true  body  of 
Christ  teas  not  included  in  the  bread  and  wine  ? 
or,  as  it  ran,  that  there  was  no  unio  mbstan- 
iialis,  and  no  unio  localis  ?  Assuredly  a  unio 
sacrameiitalis  must  be  admitted,  for  the  apostol- 
ical Kotycovia  is  certainly  no  sodalitas,  com- 
munity, or  fraternity  established  by  the  eating 
and  drinking,  but  it  is  the  common  participa- 
tion, Moivj)  iiETciXj^ipii,  of  a  third  element, 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  community  in 
partaking  of  this  object.  So  Luther  avows  "that 
"this  one  word  had  been  the  living  medicine 
of  his  soul  amid  all  the  contentions  about  the 
sacrament."  (Melancthon,  also,  in  the  celebra- 
ted response  to  Pfalz  :  "The  Apostle  does  not 
eay,  like  Hcssluisius,  that  the  bread  is  the  true 
body  of  Christ,  but  that  it  is  the  xoivcaviav, 
that  is,  that  by  which  is  produced  the  fellow- 


(quickenins),  brou^lit  thtis  into  the  present ;  the 
actually  entering  into  the  f  ■llowsliip  of  Christ  {re- 
tciiing  himself  anew) ;  tlie  eatins  and  drinking  his 
body  and  blood,  not  merely  bread  and  wine. 

*  This  was,  moreover,  taught  in  no  Coufesnon 
of  the  Rpfo:  nied  Church ;  but  may  be  capal)le  of  a 
pood  modification  through  its  conuectiou  wi;h  the 
old  Sursum  corda. 


ship  with  the  body  of  Christ.")  But  this  «a- 
cramental  union  is,  as  the  name  shows,  some- 
thing which  is  incapable  of  further  definition  ; 
although  many  subtle  attempts  have  been 
made  to  clothe  it  scholastically,  m  all  variations 
of  suMantiado  and  ovdia  (not  azov(}ia,  not 
ii'ovGia,  not  CvTovGia,  not  tierovdia,  but 
iraoovGia'^ — see  in  Gerhard  and  Qnenstedt. 

How  is  it  then  ?  The  peremptory  Shibboleth 
"  in,  tcitJi,  and  under"  is  in  fact  also  inappropri- 
ate,* because  this  formula  aims  to  say  something 
which  however  says  nothing.  "  When  Luther 
makes  what  is  partaken  by  the  mouth  avail 
only  for  spiritual  life,  or  only  as  spiritual 
nourishment,  apply  to  the  whole  man  in  pro- 
portion to  his  faith,  he  in  a  certain  sense  abol- 
ishes the  importance  of  the  oral  participation 
(and  knows  not  really  what  he  contends  for)  ; 
and  when  he  refuses  to  admit  that  the  sacra- 
mental union  is  a  consubstantiation,  or  an  ira- 
panation,  or  as  a  physical  admixture,  and 
presses  the  formula  in  into  sub  and  cum,  nothing 
but  negation  is  gained,  and  that  which  is  as- 
serted is  simply  unintelligible"  (Nitzsch  in 
reply  to  Mohler).  Even  the  excellent  Richter 
(in  the  Haicdjibel) ,  who  was  throughout  a  rigid 
Lutheran,  said  :  "  The  words  in,  with,  and  under 
direct  the  view  to  the  bread  as  much  as  the 
false  explanation — This  bread  signifies.  There- 
fore adhere  to  Christ's  words,  and  pray,"  etc. 
Yes,  indeed,  with  all  the  protest  against  im- 
panation  the  view  is  too  exclr.sively  fixed  upon 
the  bread,  weakening  the  force  of  Christ's  word 
which  was  rovro  not  ovto?  u  a/3ro?,  this  not 
this  bread.  Else  how  came  it  that  the  mild 
Melancthon  could  complain  about  the  certamen 
TCSfti  apToXarpEioci,  and  of  an  actual  artolati-y 
on  the  part  of  the  Lutheran  zealots  ? 

The  manducatio  sacramentalis  may  be  called  a 
manducatio  oralis  in-  a  certain  sense  rightly 
understood — propter  unitatem  actus ;  since 
through  the  energy  of  the  operative  word 
(Spirit  rather)  of  Christ,  his  body  and  blood 
have  a  fellowship  with  that  bread  and  wine 
which  we  receive  with  our  mouth.  But  with 
this  kind  of  language  we  should  be  very  cau- 
tious ;  for  Calvin's  words  are  not  likely  to  be 
rejected:  "Take  with  the  hand  the  bread  and 
by  faith  my  body ;  drink  with  the  mouth  the 
wine,  and  by  faith  my  blood." 

Justin's  words — r?}y  Si  evxt/?  X6yov  toxj 
Tiap  avrov  tvxocpidrr]0E'i6ay  Tpoepriv — are 
as  profoundly  as  simply  expressed,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  results  of  our  exegesis. 
But  when  the  Lutherans  lay  such  stress  upon 
the  consecration  (which  now  is  performed  by 
man),  terming  it  indeed  only  a  consccrntio  desti- 
nationix,  but  connecting  with  it  a  confecra'ia 
unifionis  taking  place  simultaneously  with  the 
pronunciation  of  our  Lord's  words — when  they 
assert  a  preliminary  sacramental  union  or  total 


*  Yet  Banm<Tarton  explains  it  to  the  utmost 
advantage:  "In,  diuin^  the  act  and  no  lonser; 
cum,  at  the  same  time  with  the  visible  thing,  when 
bread  and  wine  are  given;  sub.  h,-  means  ot 
these,  iu  the  recepticn  of  these  visible  elemeuts." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  26-23. 


545 


consecration  "in  tbese  words,"  -whicli  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  partial  consecration  at  the  indi- 
vidual distribution — tlien  their  doctrine  ap- 
proaches too  nearly  that  of  the  Papists,  for 
in  consistency  with  that  view  there  must  be 
a  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  Jc/o^e  and 
independent  of  the  personal  partakincr.  He 
whose  conscience  revolts  against  these  danger- 
ous advances  tov/ard  error,  and,  in  his  horror 
of  superstition  and  human  additions,  would 
keep  at  the  u.most  possible  distance  from  that 
transubstantiation  by  which  men  upon  earth 
dare  to  be  "  creators  of  the  Creator  " — he  who, 
standing  upon  Scripture  and  upon  faith,  without 
any  further  ecclesiastical  development,  finds  in 
the  sacrament  the  essence  of  the  New-Testa- 
ment gifts  of  grace,  the  enjoyment  of  salvation 
through  the  living  and  effectual  presence  of  the 
glorified  Christ,  appropriated  by  faith,  or,  more 
briefly,  the  self-communication  of  Christ  in  us 
— is  fully  vindicated,  and  lias  his  place  and 
privilege  in  the  evangelical  Church.  Thus  we 
return  to  the  point  with  which  we  set  out ; 
and  have  expressed,  as  we  hope,  a  clear  and 
undeniable  formula  of  union.  If  any  man  is 
not  content  with  this,  we  must  declare  him  to 
be,  either  ?<  v.'ilful  disputant  who  arbitrarily 
holds  fast  points  of  contention,  or  one  who  in 
this  matter  is  narrovr  in  his  spirit,  and  inca- 
pableof  distinguishing  the  essence  of  the  matter 
from  the  words  and  notions  which  represent  it 
— the  word  and  meaning  of  the  Lord  from  the 
exposition  and  ordinance  of  man. 

At  the  limit  where  we  shrink  back  in  fear 
and  horror  from  the  "  tabernacle-Christ  "  which 
all  Church  history  declares  to  be  an  idol — it  is 
yet  permissible  to  speak  of  a  great  "  transforma- 
tion" in  this  mystery.  But  what  is  it?  Is 
that  which  we  partake  of  changed  in  i(s  effect 
into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  not  indeed 
by  the  hand  of  the  priest  or  in  the  mouth 
of  the  partaker,  but  in  the  inner  man  of 
the  communicant?  By  no  means,  for  bread 
and  wine  remain  bread  and  wine;  and  such 
a  change,  with  all  ils  idealism,  is  but  an 
"  ideal "  expression,  a  nonentity.  This,  rather, 
is  the  simple  and  true  "transformation."  that 
through  tlie  energy  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  our  flesh  and  blood  becomes  partaker  of 
immorality,  is  preparatorily  glorified  in  the 
germ  of  the  resurrection.  Thus  probably  we 
must  understand  Justin's  well-known  words — 
Tpoqjr'iy  y  kS,  7/5  amoc.  7{al  6dp\  7cavd  n  e  v  a- 
/3  oi}}   rpE(povrai  i/jLicjy. 

But  we  would  ask  in  conclusion.  Does  the 
free  and  abundant  blessing  of  our  Lord,  offered 
in  the  sacrament,  require  in  the  partakers  of 
his  table  an  apprehension  of  all  these  doctrines 
and  words  ?  Most  confidently  we  answer,  No  ! 
The  reception  of  Christ's  grace  and  gift  is,  in 
the  sacrament  as  in  all  Christianity,  independ- 
ent of  the  development  of  knowledge,  of  the 
more  or  the  less  of  light  in  the  understanding. 
If  only  the  love  of  desire  be  there,  he  will  re- 
spond to  it  v/ho_  can  (and  will)  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  nndersiand 
(Eph.  iii.  30).  Are  not  true  Lutherans  willing 


to  agree  with  the  devout  Calvin,  "I  am  not 
ashamed  to  confess,  that  the  mystery  is  greater 
than  my  thoughts  can  grasp  or  my  words  set 
forth,  and  must  be  rather  experienced  than  under- 
stood?" And  will  they  not  accept  the  words 
of  Zwingle  himself,  when  he  unconsciously 
goes  beyond  his  theory,  that  "  Christ  is  to  be 
eaten,  but  in  a  wonderful  manner,  which  the 
believer  should  not  too  anxiously  scrutinize?" 
The  Holy  Spirit  preserved  Luther  in  the 
smaller  Catechism  from  making  tovto  Idrt  a 
fence  of  terror  around  the  Mount  Zion  to  which 
we  have  come ;  liis  language  is,  "  The  word  for 
you  requires  nothing  more  than  helieving  hearts." 
Let  us  cling  to  that.  For  a  man  may  contend 
with  very  high  or  very  deep  words  for  the 
true  doctrine  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in 
the  sacrament,  while  he  is  much  less  worthy  to 
receive  than  a  sincere  and  unintelligent  Zwing- 
lian.  We  quote  once  more  the  excellent 
Meyer :  "  The  participation  of  the  Eedeemer  in 
his  Supper  is  matter  of  experience  ;  consequent- 
ly of  tliat  most  real  gnosis,  without  which  all 
mere  speculation  of  the  understanding  is  un- 
fruitful, whether  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
The  Christian  is  a  man  of  the  heart.  What 
avails  it  me  to  say  with  Luther  that  I  '  orally ' 
eat,  if  I  have  no  'heartfelt'  influence  there- 
from? But  he  who  has  this  heartfelt  influence 
is,  to  my  mind,  whatever  his  head  may  think 
about  it,  a  man  who  lives  in  Christ  and  in 
whom  Christ  lives."  The  Lord  himself  says — 
If  ye  eat  not,  ye  have  no  life  in  you  ;  but  he 
does  not  say — If  ye  believe  not  and  know  not 
hoio.  And  we  can  appeal  to  Luther  again,  on 
this  all-important  point:*  "Therefore  take 
heed.  It  is  more  necessary  that  thy  faith 
have  regard  to  the  spiritual,  than  that  it  have 
regard  to  the  natural,  body  of  Christ;  for  the 
natural  without  the  spiritual  availeth  not  in 
this  sacrament :  there  must  be  a  iransuhtaniia- 
Hon  wrought  through  love."  This  is  the  real 
Koiva)via  and  the  true  transubstantiation,  the 
working  of  which  through  the  spiritual  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  can 
solve. 

Let  the  mystery  remain,  a'^  it  stands  in  the 
not-vain ly-sp"oken  words  of  Christ.  Let  every 
man  investigate  it  with  earnest  solemnity; 
and  avow  and  teach  with  power,  liglit  and  love, 
what  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  him  to  understand. 
We  regard  nothing  here  as  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence, but  would  not  suffer  scholastic  terms  to 
divide  the  Church.  The  real  truth  which  is  in 
the  expression  of  the  Swabian  Syngramma — 
though  wrongly  applied  at  the  time — Verbuni 
ad  panem  fert,  id  quod  in  se  continet  (scil.  to 
dcajiid  1.10V,  TO  aljiicc  /zou)— we  would  accept 
and  rest  in,  rather  than  sin  against  the  weak, 
and  throw  a  stumbling-block  between  their 
souls  and  the  body  of  the  Lord  which  is  given 
also  to  them. 

Let  tis  content  ourselves  with  the  tenth 
article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  as  a  sym- 
bol of  union—"  Quod  corpus  Christi  vere  adiint 


*  In  his  seraaon  on  the  sacrament,  1519, 


5i6 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


et  distribnantnr  tearentUnii ;"  leavincr  Ibis  vcf^cen- 
tibm,  like  the  vere  before  it,  to  ireo  interpreta- 
tion, without  any  further  theological  inquisi- 
tion. Nor  is  there  any  danger  or  impropriety 
in  (he  softened  cxhibeantur,  since  it  is  connected 
■with  cum  pane  et  vino  ;  and  the  "  improbare  secus 
docentes"  may  fall  back  if  it  is  thought  to  por- 
tend a  damnare.  On  the  other  hand,  the  et 
mhstantialiter  added  in  the  apology,  as  also 
the  "  exhibeantur  cum  illis  rebus,  qnw  viden- 
tur,"  is  certainly  very  true;  but,  as  scholastic 
terms  going  beyond  the  letter  of  Scripture  they 
are  also  very  doubtful,  and  as  inappropriate  as 
it  would  be  to  make  the  formula  of  distribution 
go  bej-ond  the  Lord's  word — "This  is  the  true 
body" — and  so  frighten  away  instead  of  allure 
those  whose  weak ''faith  goes  as  yet  no  further 
than  doing  it  in  remembrance  of  him.*  We 
have  sufficiently  shown  that  the  words  in  the 
Smalkald  Articles  are  altogether  unwarranted 
— "  Et  non  tantum  dari  et  sumi  a  piis,  sed 
etiam  ah  impiis  Christianis  ; "  as  also  those  of  the 
Forrmda  Concordia — "  Ore  suraantur,  ab  omni- 
bus illis  qui  hoc  sacramento  utuntur,  ska  difjni 
sint,  slve  indigni,"  etc. — there  cannot  be  many 
•who  with  firm  hearts  and  any  thing  like  clear 
insight  subscribe  them.  For  the  disputants  of 
our  {imes  are  not  thorough  theologians,  nor  are 
they  independent  investigators;  but  they  have 
unlurled  the  old  banner  on  principles  Vhich 
can  scarcely  be  understood,  being  partly  good 
and  partly  evil.  The  more  livingly-practical 
is  the  view  which  is  taken  of  the  thirteenth 
article  in  the  evangelical  Church — De  vsu 
sacramentorum — the  more  plainly  must  it  be 
seen  that  its  "  ore  sumi  ab  omnibus  qui  sacra- 
mento viunlnr,"  stands  in  contradiction  with 
its  "  ita  ut  tides  accedat."  Or,  to  speak  other- 
wise, that  "  independently  of  the  right  use  there 
is  no  sacrament " — as  Ursinus  explained.  John 
h  Lasco  made  this  prominent ;  and  deduced  his 
fourth  position — that  "  we  can  be  partakers  of 
the  ^Tace  and  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  are  symbolized  and  offered  in  the  sacra- 
ment, onhj  through  faith" — from  this  thirteenth 
article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  as  if  it  stood 
there,  "  Nam  hac  fide  accipimus  promissam 
pratiam."  "  It  is  plain,"  ho  inferred,  "  accord- 
ing to  the  sense  of  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
that  the  nourishment  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  is  there  exhibited  tchcre  we  seek,  behold, 
and  apprehend  Christ  himself  by  faith — and 
that  it  IS  not  to  be  regarded  as  inhering  in  the 
earthly  elements." 

We  must  then  deeply  pondor  Melancthon's 
"  Christus  adest  propter  hominem,  non  propter 

ftanem  ;"  and  consequently  retreat  from  the  vio- 
ent  exaggeration  of  the  dogmatic  expression, 
without  in  any  sense  giving  up  the  mystery. 
We  must  retreat  back  to  that  sense  which  Lu- 
ther expressed  in  his  earliest  sermon  on  the 
sacrament:  "The  holy  Facrament  of  the  altar, 
and  of  the  true  body  of  Christ,  has  three  points 
■which  must  be  noted.     The  first  is  the  sacra- 


•  This  tubstaniialitrr  as  eorporalitcr  in  the  Apology 
approaches  Loo  nearly  the  Romanist  error. 


ment  or  sign.  The  second,  the  signification  of 
that  sif  n.  The  third,  the  right  faith  toward 
those  two.  These  three  things  must  go  to- 
gether in  every  sacrament.  The  sacrament 
must  be  external  and  visible,  in  a  bodily  form 
or  appearance.  The  signification  must  be  inter- 
nal and  spiritrtal,  in  the  spirit  of  the  man.* 
Faith  must  unite  both  for  man's  good  and  en- 
joyment." But  he  goes  on  in  his  careless  sim- 
plicit}',  "  It  is  nothing  but  the  receiving  a  sure 
sign  of  fellowship  and  incorporation  \i\(\\  Christ 
and  all  his  saints  "f — and  then  combines  together 
in  one  transubstantiation  and  spiritualism :  "At 
the  same  time  as  the  bread  is  changed  into  his 
true  natural  body,  and  the  wine  into  his  true  na- 
tural blood,  so  truly  are  we  taken  and  changed 
into  the  spiritucd  lody,  that  is,  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  Christ  and  all  his  saints."  We  must 
retreat  back,  that  is,  not  to  these  indistinct 
words  of  a  not-yet-clearly  apprehending  know- 
ledge, but  to  the  practical  sense  of  these  w^ords, 
as  it  hits  the  real  decisive  point  of  the  question, 
without  urging  it  too  far.  For  as  tlie  excel- 
lent Meyer  (one  of  the  oldest  and  best  wit- 
nesses for  the  union,  whom  the  Church  has  al- 
most overlooked)  said:  "  It  would  be  better 
not  to  speak  about  the  feast  of  love  than  to 
besin  new  quarrels  about  it."  And  again: 
"  We  condemn  no  man  who  with  a  sincere  heart 
thinks  thus  or  thus  concerning  the  sacrament. 
For  we  know  that  he  who  gives  himself  to  be 
received  in  the  Supper  can  do  more  than  the 
recipients  ask  or  are  able  to  conceive.  No 
believer  goes  to  the  Lord's  table  without  de- 
siring the 'forgiveness  of  sins,  li^e,  and  salvation. 
Let  the  idea  he  sets  before  his  mind  be  what  it 
may,  it  is  given  unto  him  according  to  the 
desire  of  his  faith.  For  the  Lord  looks  at 
the  heart.J  The  sacrament  of  the  altar  may 
be  worthily  received  in  every  Christian  Church ; 
it  is  not  an  imperfect  doctrine,  but  the  con- 
demning of  him  who  partakes,  which  is  con- 
demnable.  We  do  not  by  this  leave  every 
man  to  his  error ;  but  we  know  that  it  is  the 
perversion  of  the  will  which  is  the  hindrance 
to  salvation  ;  and  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
heart  to  enlighten  or  to  darken  the  mind.  Let 
therefore  every  man  understand  according  to 
his  best  lights;  and  if  he  lack  wisdom  let  him 
ask  of  God  and  he  shall  receive  it." 

We  hold  with  Jul.  Miiller,  that  "as  to  the 
effect  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Luther  and  Calvin 
entirely  agree."     But  we  do  not  demand  this 


*  Then,  as  some  infer,  a  tpiritualia  and  not  an 
ornlis  manducatio.  So  Luther  pre'^^ently  qno'es, 
without  any  apprehension,  Augustine's  crede  ct 
manducasd. 

\  Mark  w?ll  this  last,  according  to  which  the 
incoipoiation  is  into  that  true  "body"  of  Chi'ist, 
the  members  of  which  are  only  the  saints. 

\  This  is  right,  and  let  us  teach  and  act  accord- 
ingly. But  it  is  miserably  wionc,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  m.iintain  the  participation  of  unboUevers, 
and,  on  the  other,  to  disturb  the  enjoyment  of  true 
beUev.'is,  and  refuse  their  fellowshii>,  on  account 
of  di0erences  cf  exposition  and  views. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  29. 


m 


agreement  in  doctrine  from  all,  provided  only 
they  in  the  living  faith  of  the  heart  seek 
Christ  in  the  sacrament,  and  thus  seeking  find 
him. 

We  would  affectionately  bear  with  error,  for 
the  sake  of  tl;  ^  truth  which  adheres  to  it  and 
on  which  it  rests  ;  the  truth  which,  if  we  have 
patience,  will  make  itself  heard.  We  do  not 
surrender  the  mystery,  but  we  acknowledge  it 
with  love  which  helps  the  understanding.  We 
want  no  union  on  such  ground  as  that  of 
Hahn,  in  1828  :  "  Luther  was  in  error  when  he 
asserted  that  in,  with,  and  under  the  bread  and 
wine,  the  true  body  which  suffered  for  us,  and 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  which  was  shed  for  us, 
are  communicated."  For,  the  words  of  Christ 
assert  this  very  thing.  The  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  IS  not  merely  "  his  personality,  after  the 
removal  of  the  actual  body  " — as  Nitzsch  once 
broadly  avowed.  The  doctrine  of  the  corporeal 
body  in  the  Supper  was  not  (as  Ebrard  says) 
"  honorably  and  decently  buried  with  the  per- 
son of  Luther ; "  but  it  lives  in  the  words  of 
Christ  himself,  and  is  constantly  revived  as  the 
self-testimony  of  him  who  lives,  in  all  who 
with  an  enlightened  apprehension  receive  the 
corporeity  aright.  Thus  we  want  no  Luther- 
anism  as  such ;  but  the  truth,  and  the  truth  in 
love.  We  wish  to  oppose  to  every  evident 
contradiction  of  our  Lord's  words  the  impro- 
bamnA,  but  not  the  condemnation  or  the  ban  of 
the  Church's  testimony  ;  and  we  would  guard 


in  our  exposition  against  all  exaggerated 
teaching.  Let  Von  Meyer  speak  once  more  : 
"  The  matter  is  and  must  ever  be  a  sacrament, 
that  is,  a  mystery,  which  cannot  be  set  forth  in 
any  formula  of  words.  He  who  can  understand 
the  union  of  the  divinity  with  the  humanity  in 
the  man  Jesus,  can  understand  the  union  of  the 
glorified  humanity  of  Jesus  with  the  external 
elements  of  the  Eucharist.  Luther  has  preach- 
ed, and  laid  down  his  doctrine  ;  it  is  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  us  true  knowledge 
of  the  great  mystery.*  Words  are  of  no  use, 
if  they  become  not  in  us  spirit  and  life.  Now 
it  often  happens  that  the  vehemence  of  contro- 
versy affrights  back  those  who  are  groping 
their  way  toward  the  truth.  They  who  receive 
Christ  as  the  sole  ground  of  their  salvation  ac- 
cording to  the  Scripture,  and  who  would  be 
justified  and  saved  through  his  blood,  must  be 
at  one  in  this,  that  just  as  Christ  is  not  a  figure 
but  a  reality,  so  his  communication  of  himself 
in  the  sacrament  is  not  a  mere  figure  of  speech 
but  a  literal  truth.  But  he  could  not  make 
himself  intelligible,  in  human  language,  and 
to  man's  weak  understanding,  concerning  the 
mfinner  of  this  communication ;  and  hence 
there  has  been  contention  about  it  from  the 
beginning.  But  from  this  we  should  learn  the 
insufficiency  of  all  our  ideas,  and  all  our  words; 
and  that  the  words  and  the  things  of  God  are 
spirit  and  life." 


FINAL  WORD  CONCERNING  THE  FRUIT  OP  THE  VINE. 
(Matt.  xxvi.  29;  Mark  xvi.  25.) 


No  satire  will  shake  our  conviction,  as  already 
expressed,  that  this  word  of  our  Lord,  which 
the  first  two  Evangelists  not  merely  record  at 
the  end  of  the  Supper,  but  connect  immediately 
with  the  words  of  institution,  was  really  spoken 
twice  by  him.  To  us  it  is  unimaginable  that 
both  the  Evangelists — led  by  the  "  mention  of 
the  cup,"  as  is  irreverently  said — introduced 
afterwards  what  had  really  been  said  before. 
As  they  have  not  mentioned  the  paschal  cup  at 
all  (not — As  they  did  eat  and  drink),  so  they 
cannot  be  supposed  to  intend  that  this  supple- 
mented word  should  be  understood  as  having 
accompanied  another  and  a  former  cup.  But 
it  13  not  hard  to  suppose  that  our  Lord,  as  at 
the  opening  of  the  meal,  so  also  now  at  its 
solemn  close,  spoke  of  the  final  and  full  realiza- 
tion of  it  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  For,  till 
then  even  the  sacrament  remained  but  a  type, 
and  it  was  quite  appropriate  that  this  should 
be  _  once  more_certified  after  its  institution. 
This  testimony  may,  indeed,  be  said  to  have 
been  a  necessary  supplement;   as  significant 


now,  as  it  was  before  in  connection  with  the 
prophetically  longing  desire  to  eat  the  Pass- 
over, f 

We  have  now  to  add  to  what  was  said  upon 
Luke  the  more  specific  observations  for  which 
now  first  we  are  prepared.  By  yEvvi'inatoi 
(or  yery'/jiiaro';)  r?/S  d/uneXov,  "  fruit  of  the 
vine,"  the  Lord  designates — as  in  the  pun  ^"}3 

in  the  thanksgiving-formula — the  ph3''sical 
wine  then  present  and  used,  though  without 
mentioning  the  word.  Whether  we  regard  the 
fruit  here  as  the    specific  grape,  or  (as   tho 


*  To  teach  us  some  happier  medium  betwepn 
Luther  and  Calvin,  by  which  in  catholic  love  we 
may  hold  communion  wilh  Zwingle  too. 

f  Kahn's  thinks  that  as  the  word  concernins 
the  glorified  e;  joyment  relers  to  the  Passover,  not 
to  the  Supper,  its  pLice  is  more  appropriate  in 
Luke.  But  it  does  refer  naturally  and  neces.'sarily 
also  to  the  Supper ;  and  this  is  to  us  a  sufficieaf, 
reason  why  our  Lord  spoke  it  at  the  beginning 
and  also  at  the  eni. 


548 


THE  FUTURE  FRUIT  OF  THE  VINE. 


analogy  of  the  pSH  '13  renders  more  probable) 
the  whole  plant  and  produce  of  the  vine,  so 
expressed  (Deut.  xxii.  9,  Q^sn  nxnn)— affects 
not  the  question  ;  rovrov  tov  yEvvjjuato^, 
this  vine,  expresses  more  emphatically  than 
Luke's  first  word  its  identity  with  that  which 
now  grows  as  wine.  This  rovrovy  "  this," 
contradicts  every  notion  of  an  olvov  vorjruv, 
an  imaginary  figurative  wine,  and  of  a  meta- 
phorical drinking  ;  as  does  the  previous  "  I  will 
not  drink  henceforth."  Von  Gerlach  well  re- 
marks that  this  word  shows  the  consecrated 
wine  to  be  wine  still ;  but  we  cannot  regard  it 
as  conceivable,  that  Jesus  himself  partook  of 
that  which  in  the  institution  of  the  sacrament 
he  called  his  body  and  blood.  Olshausen  says, 
very  properly  :  "  We  should  carefully  note  that 
the  Lord  does  not  say  Ih  rovrov  r  ov  n  or  rj- 
piov,  but  TOV  y£yv7fjuaro?:  the  ovroi 
evidently  forms  an  antithesis  with  naivoi,  and 
therefore  the  reference  in  these  words  is  to  the 
meal  generally."  This  last  is  not  however  to 
be  understood  as  if  there  were  no  reference  to 
the  paschal  wine  consecrated  to  the  sacrament; 
the  Lord  embraces  the  whole  together — Of  this 
earthly  fruit  of  which  I  drank  with  you  in  the 
paschal  feast,  and  which  I  have  now  consecrated 
for  your  drinking  (of  me  but  not  tcilh  me). 
Consequently,  he  "  distinguishes  not  the  matter, 
but  the  time;"  and  speaks  strongly  and  defi- 
nitely of  that  drinking  as  to  recur  in  a  final 
futurity.  Nothing  here  must  be  explained 
away  ;  the  Lord  speaks  quite  otherwise  in  John 
iv.  32-34,  for  instance,  concerning  spiritual 
food. 

He  does,  indeed,  distinguish  the  neio  wine 
from  this  present  wine  ;  but  this  naivoy  is  by 
avTo,  "it,"  made  no  other  than  a  predicate 
of  the  present  wine.  Thus  it  is  not  merely,  I 
will  drink  it  "  quite  otherwise"  with  you — ''  a 
wine  of  a  higher  nature  " — and  so  forth.  He 
had  spoken  of  the  New   Testament;  he  now 

Eromises  new  upon  new,  because  all  things  will 
e  finally  made  new  (Rev.  xxi.  5) — the  creature 
will  be  glorified  and  re-established  in  its  funda- 
mental forms  upon  the  renewed  earth,  apart 
from  the  Lord's  body,  the  Church.  He  who 
thus  understands  Rom.  viii.,  and  the  Apocalypse 
generally,  and  the  earlier  prophets,  will  find  no 
difficulty  in  thinking  of  the  Lord's  drinking 
with  us  upon  the  now  earth.  Iicill  drinlc  icitli 
you — thus  clearly  does  he  speak  ;  not  meaning 
the  sacrament  in  which  we  only  cat  and  drink 
of  him,  but  a  further  and  transcendent  heaven- 
ly-earthly fellowship  of  glorified  bodily  enjoy- 
ment, in  which  the  paschal  lamb  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  will  have  their  last  fulfillment. 
We  must  not  interpret  the  "  new  fruit  of  the 
vine"  as  merely  a  new,  higher  community  at 
the  table  or  family  fellowship — as  Hofniann 
does,  who  "  cannot  be  convinced  that  the  Lord 
means  here  any  reality  of  eating  and  drinking 
in  his  kingdom."  Tiiat  such  men  can  so  ox- 
press  themselves  is  a  lamentable  ])roof  how  far 
we  have  wandered  away  from  reality  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture. 


In  my  Father's  Icingdom  :  this  expression 
decisively  refers  to  its  condition  of  future  glory 
— see  the  plain  parallel  in  Matt.  xiii.  43;  and 
it  corresponds  with  "in  my  kingdom"  else- 
where, as  Luke  xxii.  30;  Matt.  xili.  41.  And 
it  is  very  consistent  with  this,  that  not  only 
Luke  xxii.  18,  but  even  Mark  xiv.  25,  substi- 
tutes for  the  present  word  the  more  general 
kingdom  of  Ool;  but  we  must  interpret  the 
more  general  by  the  more  specific  expression, 
and  not  conversely.  Hence,  if  Christ  had 
drunh  with  his  disciples  after  the  resurrection* 
(as  is  supposed  by  some,  through  a  wrong 
punctuation  of  Acts  x.  41),|  it  could  not  have 
been  wine,  certainly  not  paschal  wine.  If  this 
be  supposed,  and  the  fulfillment  of  his  words 
found  thus  c*rly,  the  truth  of  Matthew's  record 
is  contradicted,  as  well  as  that  of  the  two  other 
Evangelists,  since  he  would  then  have  drunk 
with  them  again  before  the  future  of  his  king- 
dom. "  That'explanation  of  this  passage  which 
refers  to  our  Lord's  companionship  with  his 
disciples  after  his  resurrection  (which  Theoph- 
ylact  first  broached),  is  altogether  untenable; 
since  that  period  was  never  termed  the  king- 
dom of  God"  (Olshausen).  But  in  Luke  xxiv. 
42,  43,  he  only  ate  ;  certainly  he  did  not  drink 
during  the  forty  days  (however  this  may  be 
inconsiderately  asserted) — much  might  be  said 
about  this  in  relation  to  the  blooXlless  body 
(Luke  xxiv.  39). 

The  drinking  here  promised  will  take  place 
when  Luke  xxii.  29,  30  (which  must  be  con- 
nected with  ver.  18  of  that  chapter)  is  fulfilled. 
The  wine  corresponds  as  being  paschal  wine 
with  the  eating  of  the  Passover,  Luke  xxii.  16  ; 
although  i|  avTov  there  cannot  be  intended 
of  the  eating  of  flesh,  for  in  the  new  world 
animals  will  no  longer  be  slaughtered.  The 
eating  of  the  broiled  fish  was  the  last  conde- 
scension to  the  economy  of  killing.  The  Old- 
Testament  Passover  typified  the  one  sacrifice 
of  death  for  man's  liie  ;  the  New-Testament 
Supper  substituted  for  it  bread.  But  that  eat- 
ing and  drinking  are  not  incompatible  with  the 
condition  of  the  risen  body,  is  evidenced  by  the 
eating  of  the  Risen  Lord.  He  himself  here  tes- 
tifies that  the  partaking  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth — not  for  necessity  of  preservation,  but  as 
a  cultris  of  joy  to  the  honor  of  God,  to  which 
all  nature  will  then  be  ministrant  in  his  saints 
— is  not  inconceivable  in  relation  to  the  blessed 
in  the  Father's  kingdom  upon  the  earth,  where 
all  things  will  be  heavenly  and  new.  He  who 
will  not  separate  between  this  authentic,  pro- 
found, and  sublime  word  of  his  mouth,  and  the 
Chiliai^tic  dreams  and  expectations  of  earlier  and 
later  times  (such  as  Irenteus  relates  of  the 
vines  with  ten  thousand  branches,  and  so  forth) 
— must  bear  the  consequences  of  his  own  wil- 

*  Ilenco  it  is  wrong  to  say  of  the  con'^ecrated 
cup — This  is  the  wine  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

t  Since  o'/'rzKf? — (xvt(^  belongs  on'y  to  I'/fdv, 
and  points  to  the  earlier  fellowship  of  tlie  Aiiostles, 
to  whom  he,  the  self-same,  ajipearcd  alter  his  rjs- 
urrectiuu. 


LUKE  XXII.  21.  22. 


^49 


fnlness,  which  seals  his  understanding  against 
the  truth. 

As  regards,  finally,  the  necessary  position 
which  this  concluding  word  of  our  Lord  holds 
in  relation  to  the  Supper,  we  entirely  agree 
with  the  beautiful  observations  of  Thiersch  : 
"  The  Holy  Supper  points  not  only  back  to  the 
past,  but  also  forward  to  the  future.  It  has  not 
only  a  memorial,  but  also  a  prophetic,  signifi- 
cance. We  not  only  show  forth  the  death  of 
our  Lord  in  it,  until  become;  but  we  have 
also  the  time  to  think  upon  when  he  will  come, 
to  celebrate  anew  and  in  another  manner  his 
sacred  meal  with  his  own,  in  the  kingdom  of 
glory.  Every  celebration  of  the  sacrament  is 
a  type  and  prophetic  anticipation  of  the  great 
marriage-supper,  which  is  prepared  for  the 
Church  at  the  re-appearing  of  Christ.  This 
significance  of  the  sacrament  is  set  forth  in  the 
Lord's  words — I  will  not  drink  henceforth,  etc. 
These  words  should  never  be  omitted  in  the 
sacramental  liturgy."  Yes,  truly,  for  this  "until 
that  day,"  eooi  riji  t^juepai  k>caiv7ji,  this  goal 
of  the  new  futurity  expressly  dehned  by  the 
prophetic  term,  includes  (as  1  Cor.  xi.  26)  that 
terminus  in  which  the  interval  of  separation 
will  cease,  and  the  eating  and  drinking  ap- 
pointed for  the  present  time  will  be  done  away, 
or  pass  over  into  another.     It  is  as  if  the  Lord 


had  said — Do  this  in  the  meantime,  until  I  am 
again  with  you.  The  sacrament  is,  looking 
back,  a  commemorative  feast;  in  the  present 
it  is  a  receiving  and  partaking  of  the  Lord,  tlio 
true  possession  of  himself;  nevertheless  in 
prospect  of  the  end  it  is  itself  something  pre- 
liminary and  transitory,  an  essential  type  and 
effectual  pledge  of  that  feast  which  in  the  great 
and  permanent  morning  of  the  renewed  world 
— in  that  day,  which  is  ever  the  one  great  day 
— Christ  will  provide  for  his  own.  Let  us  bo 
on  our  guard  against  a  false  anticipation,  which 
would  bring  forward  the  final  consummation 
into  our  present  New-Testament  condition,  and 
refer  all  this  eating  and  drinking  to  the  Lord's 
Supper;  for  the  sacrament  which,  on  account  of 
our  sin,  receives  us  into  the  fellowship  oi  death, 
must  ever  be  in  contrast  with  that  other  eating 
and  drinking  •.  it  is,  otherwise  than  that,  sanctified 
to  us  by  our  accompanying/a«<J«<7  and  prayer. 
But  we  must  also  be  on  our  guard  against 
thinking  of  that  final  feast  as  a  continuous  and 
unceasing  eating  and  drinking  of  Christ — for 
how  then  would  it  be  fulfilled  in  himself? 
When  we  become  as  he  is,  then  will  he  be 
again  as  we  are  ;  he  will  eat  and  drink  with  U3 
the  new  fruits  of  the  new  world  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  an  eternal  enjoyment  of  the  renovated 
creation  of  the  Father. 


SECOND  INDICATION  OF  THE  BETRAYER. 
(Ltjke  XXII.  21,  22;  John  xin.  23-29.) 


Certain  it  is  that  our  Lord  spoke  again  con- 
cerning the  traitor  after  the  Supper  ;  and  John 
records  this  in  a  way  which  shows  that  it  is 
quite  different  from  that  of  the  Synoptics  in 
connection  with  the  question  Is  it  I?  See 
what  we  have  said  upon  this  on  John  xiii. 
To  us  the  idea  is  utterly  inconceivable  that 
any  Evangelist  or  reporter  would  be  bold 
enough  to  work  up  tho  notice,  that  Jesus 
so  expressed  himself  in  the  presence  of  Judas, 
into  an  "addition"  of  this  kind.  No,  we  read 
submissively  what  we  find  written  ;  and  as,  ac- 
cording to  the  first  two  Evangelists,  the  Lord 
repeated  the  words  concerning  the  vine  after  the 
words  of  institution,  it  is  quite  consistent  with 
this,  that  if  not  immediately — yet  afterwards, 
he  made  renewed  mention  of  the  betrayer.  It 
is  at  least  probable,  too,  that  Luke  xxii.  22  was 
now  spoken  once  more,  as  we  have  remark- 
ed upon  Matt.  xxvi.  24.  On  the  other  suppo- 
sition, that  is,  if  Luke,  ver.  22,  is  a  return  to 
an  earlier  word,  then  it  becomes  almost  certain 
that  Luke,  ver.  23,  is  one  and  the  same  with 
the  first  In  it  If*     But  this  is  opposed  to  the 


*  This  Bengel  supposes,  on  account  of  they  be- 
gan, which  coukl  not  have  been  said  of  a  repeti- 
tion. But  this  yp^avro  must  not  bo  pressed  too 
much;  and,  moreover,  there  is  no  repetition  in 


letter  of  the  narrative ;  for  r/?  apa  enj,  who 
it  should  be,  is  manifestly  the  introduction  to 
Peter's  demanding  of  John,  rii  av  sitf,  who  is 
it?  Thus  the  Lord  did,  after  the  institution 
of  the  sacrament,  more  or  less  literally  repeat 
vers.  21  and  22  in  Luke ;  the  former  verse  w.e 
have  already  expounded,  and  it  only  remains 
to  make  a  remark  upon  the  latter. 

The  meaning  of  the  antithesis  in  7t\7jv  is 
what  we  have  first  to  observe  upon,  and  it  is 
two-fold.  It  is  first  the  utterance  once  more 
of  that  sorrowful  complaint  which  the  Lord 
does  not  yet  give  up— "  Behold  I  give  my 
body,  I  pour  out  my  blood  for  you  ;  behold 
that  with  anticipating  thanksgiving  I  instituto 
for  you  and  my  whole  Church  this  feast — yet 
behold  !  even  now,  even  yet,  the  presence  of  the 
wicked  and  lost  one  follows  and  troubles  me." 
This  is  undeniably  its  fundamental  meaning ; 
but  it  does  not  exclude  another,  which  J.  Von 
Miiller's  short  note  expresses,  "  He  seems  al- 
most to  except  this  one."  To  except  him,  that 
is,  from  the  for  you  of  the  sacrament;  and, 
when  we  take  Matthew's  full  saying,  from  tho 
forgiveness  of  sim.  That  Judas,  while  in  one 
sense  Christ  died  also  for  him,  yet  in  another 


the  case,  since  they  did  really  now  beffin  to  ask— 
what  other  it  could  be. 


550 


PETER'S  FIRST  WARNING. 


is  excepted  from  the  benefit,  we  found  already 
in  the  original  "  for  many,"  itepi  TtoXXwv ; 
and  this  justifies  our  present  acceptation  of  the 
meaning — Yet  liehold  !  there  is  the  unhappy 
one,  for  whom  my  death  is  in  vain. 

It  stands  in  connection  with  this,  that  our 
Lord  here  specifies  only  the  daring  external 
fellowship  of  the  traitor  with  himself,  and  does 
not  unite  him  with  the  rest.  Bengel,  in  his  N, 
T.,  makes  the  subtle  remark  upon  ^ET  ijiiov, 
with  me — "  He  does  not  say,  with  us  (or  with 
ymi).  Thus  he  distinguishes  the  traitor  from 
the  faithful  disciples  ;  and  shows  that  he  alone 
has  to  do  with  him  henceforward,  and  that  as 
an  enemy." 

"  This  daring  sinner  presumes  to  be  with  me, 
and  even  until  now,  as  my  betrayer — andieAoW 
I  suffer  it ! "  This  idov  is  obviously  no  external 
indication ;  but  it  is  quite  appropriate,  since 
the  disciples  know  and  see  that  they  are  twelve 


sitting  around,  and  therefore  that  the  one  of  the 
twelve,  although  they  know  not  which,  must  be 
there,  as  eating  with  him.  This  pointing  to  him 
and  yet  not  pointing,  this  seeing  him  on  the 
Lord's  part  and  yet  not  disclosing  him  on  the 
disciples',  is  presently  made  more  intense  and 
definite  by  the  emphatic — Behold  the  fiand ! 
This  embraces  in  one  the  whole  accomplishment 
of  the  hypocritical  act  with  which  this  hand 
is  concerned,  as  if  he  would  say — This  hand, 
which  yesterday  received*  the  reward  of 
treachery  and  to-day  dippeth  with  me  into  the 
dish,  receiveth  the  bread  and  the  cup  of  mys- 
tery !  But  as  the  hand  is  specially  mentioned, 
ini  TTJi  rpane^iji  does  not  mean  at  the  table 
during  the  meal  {eni  being *w6  de  tempore,  and 
TpdnEZ,a,  the  meal) ;  but  literally,  upon  the 
table,  in  daring  hypocrisy,  serving  with  the 
rest.  Ah  !  this  hand  wrenched  his  heart,  and 
therefore  he  thus  spoke  of  it. 


FIRST  INTIMATION  OF  THE  DENIAL. 
(Luke  xxii.  31-34;  John  xii.  36-38. 


For  the  harmony  of  these  two  Evangelists 
see  our  exposition  of  John  xiii.,  where  Luke, 
ver.  34,  is  shown  clearly  to  coincide  with  John, 
ver.  38.  The  questioning  of  the  disciples 
among  themselves  led  to  the  questioning  of 
Peter  through  John  ;  the  Lord  gave  the  con- 
fidential answer  by  means  of  the  sop  :  Satan 
then  entered  into  Judas,  and  our  Lord  having 
dismissed  him,  spoke  more  freely  to  the  others 
concerning  his  glorification,  and  the  new  com- 
mandment. Hereupon  came  the  question  of 
Peter,  Whither  goest  thou?  with  the  assur- 
ance, I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  thy  sake — all 
as  it  is  related  by  John,  down  to  ver.  37.  Now 
first  comes  the  warning  Simon  !  Simon  !  at  the 
,  same  time  with  its  gracious  promise.  But 
Peter  receives  no  warning,  undervalues  the 
promise,  afiirms  still  more  strongly  in  his  con- 
fidence— I  am  ready  ;  and  thus  as'it  were  con- 
strains his  Master  plainly  and  expressly  to 
predict  his  denial. 

Those  who  are  not  disposed  thus  to  connect 
the  whole  are  free  to  accept  a  more  indefinite 
view,  according  to  which  each  of  the  two  nar- 
rators deviates  a  little  from  the  original  literal 
version ;  but  we  do  not  see  any  reason  for  pre- 
ferring this.  Certainly  the  historical  truth 
consists  with  the  special  selection  in  ref^-rence 
to  which  each  narrator  has  recorded  the  cir- 
cumstance. What,  therefore,  Luke  records 
from  ver.  25  to  ver.  38,  may  be  embraced,  in- 
dependently of  its  historical  connection,  which 
was  certainly  dififerent,  in  one  connection  of 
thought,  according  to  the  design  of  the  guiding 
Spirit.  He  who  thus  simply  reads  it  will  not 
do  wrong.  The  Lord  has,  according  to  ver.  25- 
27,  suppressed  the  pride  of  the  Apostles,  which 
had  snown  itself  even  at  (that  is,  hejore)  this 


Supper.  He  had  pointed  them  to  his  own  pro- 
cedure through  ministering  humility  to  great- 
ness. Hereupon  he  shows'them  (what  belong- 
ed to  the  same  discourse  at  the  feet-washing), 
in  ver.  28-30,  their  future  dignity;  and  then 
(later,  but  returning  to  this),  in  ver.  31-38,  the 
way  thereto  through  test  and  danger.  These 
are  indeed  two  separate  discourses  ;  between 
them,  as  they  were  spoken,  the  whole  of  John 
xiv.-xvii.,  and  Matt.  xxvi.  31-34,  must  be  in- 
terposed ;  nevertheless,  in  their  meaning  they 
are  connected  in  one,  just  as  Luke  here  joins 
them  one  to  the  other.  For,  the  discourses  of 
our  Lord  admit  of  diverse  combination  ;  he 
who  seizes  their  connection  as  any  Evangelist 
exhibits  it,  is  more  secure  of  the  main  point — • 
the  right  understanding  and  appropriation  of 
what  is  spoken — than  he  who,  neglecting  this, 
troubles  himself  over  much  about  the  chrono- 
logical harmony,  which  after  all  is  subordinate. 
Thus,  that  we  may  anticipate  and  introduce 
th.e  subsequent  word  concerning  the  sword 
into  our  preliminary  glance — the  Lord  shows 


*  For  e6rTf6ay,  Matt.  x.xvi.  15,  does  not  mean 
"  They  promised  to  give  "  (Vulg.  con.stituerunt, 
Luth.  ap;)ointed  or  promised,  for  which  1  Mace, 
xiii.  38  is  compared) — but,  as  Meyer  corrects, 
"  They  counted  to  him  "  (as  earnest-money,  before- 
hand) :  Stolz  the  same,  and  De  Wette,  They  iveighed 
out  to  him.  Though  the  parallel  passajics  in  Mark 
and  Luke  speak  only  of  promising  and  agreeing, 
we  must  understand  Matthew  of  reckoning  out ; 
since  '{6t7]hi,  .'cil.  CraOncp  occurs  in  IL^rod., 
Xenoph.  and  others,  as  it  also  does  in  the  Sept. 
for  ^pt^  (Dan.  v.  27;  Job  xxxi.  6;  Isa.  xl.  12; 
Jer.  xxxii.  10 ;  2  Sam.  xiv.  26),  especially  in  ths 
corresponding  prophecy,  Zech.  xi.  12,  comp.  Ecclua, 
xxi.  25. 


LUKE  XXII.  31. 


551 


to  his  disciples  tho  way  to  future  dignity,  as  it 
leads,  according  to  his  own  example  (as  the 
Father  hath  appointed  me),  through  internal 
testings  and  external  perils.  There  is,  however, 
this  difference  between  him  and  us.  He  goes 
first  and  alone,  as  in  perfect  humility,  so  in  his 
own  strength  of  perfect  righteousness;  we  fol- 
low his  pattern  and  in  his  strength.  Only  in 
him  has  Satan  nothing  by  right,  although  he 
Cometh  even  to  him;  we,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  under  the  power  of  the  tempter  through  the 
right  which  our  weakness  and  sinfulness  give 
him.  He  alone  has  no  counter-protection,  gives 
himself  vp  for  the  world's  redemption,  but  goes 
before  as  victor  both  internally  and  externally  ; 
we,  on  the  other  hand,  are  sustained  in  temp- 
tation by  his  intercession,  and  receive  permission 
to  use  the  sword  (in  what  sense,  we  shall  see) 
in  danger,  for  the  question  is  our  salvation  and 
purification.  This  we  endure  with  him  (of 
which  ver.  28  was  a  feeble  type)  in  his  tempta- 
tions, inasmuch  as  he  graciously  attributes  to 
our  temptations  a  fellowship  with  his  own  ; 
thus  this  endurance  is  itself  our  dignity,  for 
the  kingdom  is  appointed  to  us  as  led  through 
these. 

The  Lord  speaks,  vers.  31-34.  concerning 
internal  testings,  or  the  inevitable  sifting  by 
Satan,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  Peter,  who 
would  prematurely  grasp  at  dignity,  and  thinks 
himself  already  a  persevering  disciple,  an  exam- 
ple for  all.  Concerning  external  perils  in  their 
way  through  an  evil  world  he  speaks,  vers. 
35-^8,  to  all  in  common — intimating  another 
and  more  severe  future  which  must  come  after 
he  has  been  reckoned  among  the  transgressors  ; 
and  pointing  them  to  the  use  of  the  sword,  in 
a  sense  which  they  indeed  do  not  understand. 
In  the  former  section,  which  now  lies  before  us, 
the  Lord  proceeds  from  the  more  general  in- 
struction of  the  collective  Apostles  (or  disciples) 
to  the  more  special  humiliation  of  Peter,  who 
would  stand  out  from  the  rest,  and  contradicts 
the  Lord's  word.  "  The  enemy  wills  to  have 
you  all,  and  comes  to  you  all.  Mark  this  thou, 
O  Simon — to  thee  especially !  But  to  thee  I 
also  especially  promise  strengthening,  protect- 
ing grace — and  when  thou  shalt  have  experi- 
enced it,  then  be  mindful  of  thy  apostolical 
office  and  priority."  But,  because  all  this  is 
not  received,  he  says  emphatically — "Thou 
Peter  wilt  fall  beforehand  so  deeply  as  to  deny 
me  thrice  in  a  short  space,  overlooking  my  first 
warning." 

Verse  31.  He  who  reads  the  whole,  as  pen- 
etrating the  great  subject  of  this  generally- 
symbolical  instruction,  in  one  connection,  can- 
not go  astray,  as  we  have  said;  but  more  exact 
observation  will  correct  the  error  of  supposing 
that  it  was  actually  such.  This  is  opposed  by 
the  "  and  the  Lord  said  "  of  ver.  31,  "  and  he 
said  unto  them"  of  ver.  35:  the  sudden  out- 
break of  the  address,  Simon  !  Simon  1*  cannot 


*  The    Sixt.  and'Peshito   (piypC'f')   leave  but 
one  vocative ;  but  this  no  more  than  an  explan- 


be  conceived  after  ver.  SO ;  nor  can  we  under- 
stand it  at  all  in  a  discourse  at  the  Supper» 
unless  Ave  suppose  some  special  occasion  given 
for  such  a  warning.  We  feel  that  this  is  pre- 
supposed though  not  recorded  by  Luke ;  but 
I  cannot  find  a  more  approoriate  point  of  con- 
nection for  such  a  warning  and  awakening  ap- 
peal than  John  xiii.  36,  37.  "Thou  wilt  go  with 
me  at  once  into  heaven  through  death  ;  thou 
art  ready  to  give  up  thy  life  for  me,  before. I 
have  given  up  my  life  for  thee  and  the  world. 
Hast  thou  reached  so  far?  Simon,  Simon,  be- 
think thyself  who  thou  art,  and  how  iL  stands 
with  you  all!"  From  the  rash  contradiction 
at  the  feet-washing,  followed  by  the  repetition 
of  curious  questioning  about  the  betrayer,  down 
to  this  hasty  and  absolute  affirmation  of  zeal 
to  be  with  the  Lord,  as  John  describes  it,  he  is 
the  same  Simon  throughout  this  evening  as 
the  entire  course  of  his  previous  probation 
had  exhibited  him.  Nevertheless,  their  faith- 
ful Alaster,  clamly  contemplating  and  looking 
through  the  whole,  has  not  to  do  with  him 
alone,  but  connects  with  the  emphatic  personal 
address  to  Simon  the  general  word  "  you  ;  "  for 
he  was  indeed  addressed  only  as  the  leader  and 
representative  of  all.  It  is  certain  that  in  one 
sense  he  is  to  be  or  become  the  first  and  the 
greatest  among  the  Apostles  ;  but  only  in  the 
strong,  confessing  faith  which  grace  will  enable 
him  to  maintain,  after  his  fall  into  the  deepest 
weakness  of  denial.  At  present  he  is  the  first 
only  in  his  own  unreasonable  ambition,  and  ren- 
ders it  needful  that  the  general  warning  should 
be  addressed  to  him  in  particular. 

At  the  time  of  his  former  glorious  confession 
of  faith  the  Lord  had  addressed  him  with 
"  Satan,"  because  he  neither  understood  nor 
would  understand  the  way  of  the  cross  to  glory  ; 
but  here  this  word  is  qualified  and  changed, 
expressing,  however,  very  plainly  what  was 
there  signified.  Because  his  thought  was  on 
that  occasion  human,  springing  simply  from 
flesh  and  blood,  Satan  would  tempt  even  tl» 
Lord  through  him  to  shrink  from  the  cross; 
and  here  the  same  human  character  of  the  nat- 
ural Simon  is  a  handle  for  the  enemy,  whereby 
to  seize  at  least  all  the  rest  of  the  Apostles. 
Therefore  he  is  addressed  only  by  this  name  of 
his  natural  birth,  here  alone  emphatically  spok- 
en twice — see  what  was  said  upon  Matt.  xvi. 
17,  in  comparison  with  John  i.  43.  Besides 
these  instances  this  return  to  the  old  name 
significantly  occurred  thrice— with  its  gentlest 
meaning  in  Matt.  xvii.  25,  where  his  private 
thought  was  in  question  ;  much  more  severely 
in  Mark  xiv.  37,  at  his  sleeping  in  Gethsemane  ; 
and  finally,  when  he  was  humbled  by  a  reference 
to  the  past,  John  xxi.  15-17. 

The  Lord  speaks  here  of  Satan,  not  for  Peter 
only,  but  for  all  his  disciples  in  all  time — for 
he  knows  hini  well,  and  all  his  desire,  and  all 
his  deeds.  The  history  of  the  Passion  exhibits 
around  the  Holy  One  of  God  the  pure  wicked- 


atory  variation.     The  original  has  certainly  not 

2i:.iooyt. 


Wi 


PETER'S  FIRST  WARNING. 


ness  and  sin  of  man,  penetrating  even  the  circle 
'nearest  to  him  ;  but  it  exhibits  also  the  cause 
of  and  tempter  to  sin,  whom  the  Conqueror 
alone  reveals  to  us,  as  an  enemy  overcome,  but 
stni  strong,  subtle,  and  dangerous.  Satan  de- 
sires the  souls  of  men  without  measure  or  end  ; 
he  is  insatiable  to  have  and  keep  all.  If  he 
dared  to  assail  the  "  Son  of  God,"  how  can 
we  be  secure  from  his  assault?  If  he  broke 
into  the  circle  of  the  Apostles  with  success, 
how  anxiously  should  every  one  of  us  receive 
the  Lord's  warning,  when  "he  is  addressed  of 
tho  Lord  by  the  name  of  his  birth.  As  King 
Herod,  after  killing  James,  proceeded  also  to 
take  Peter  (Acts  xii.  2,  3),  so  Satan  is  not 
content  with  Judas  (Luke  xxii.  3:  John  xiii. 
27) ;  he  destres  them  all.  But  we  must  under- 
stand this  word,  thus  loosely  translated,  ac- 
cording to  its  meaning  in  the  original — He 
demanded  Ihem,  on  the  ground  of  a  right;  he 
challenged  in  a  certain  sense  their  delivery  to 
himseh.*  We  must  think  of  the  prologue  of 
the  generally-typical  book  of  Job,  to  which 
'the  expression  seems  to  refer;  and  of  all  that 
is  there  taught  concerning  the  necessity  of  a 
Dermitted  test  under  the  righteous  eye  of  the 
oupreme,  in  the  congregation  of  the  heavenly 
children  of  God,  among  whom  the  accuser  en- 
ters with  his  demand  that  the  pious  upon  earth, 
if  their  claims  are  to  be  valid,  may  not  be 
spared.  This  holds  good,  as  our  Lord  here 
testifies,  all  the  more  expressly  of  those  who 
are  already  in  near  communion  with  Christ,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  approved,  and  become 
worthy  of  their  dignity — and  at  the  same  time 
with  reference  to  their  significance  in  relation 
to  all  others.  Therefore  is  Peter  the  first  of 
the  Apostles,  the  first  in  the  temptation,  and 
must  take  precedence  of  the  rest  as  an  example 
of  sifting.  Bengel:  "This  whole  saying  of  our 
Lord  pre-supposes  that  Peter  was  the  first  of 
the  Apostles,  in  whose  standing  or  falling  the 
others  would  be  less  or  more  endangered." 
This  Satan  knew,  and  would  through  Peter's 
fall  offend,  weaken,  and  overcome  the  others. 
Braune  expresses  this  too  strongly:  "He  was 
the  heart,  hand,  and  mouth  in  the  apostolic 
circle;  while  Thomas  was  its  head,  and  John 
its  soul " — for  the  heart  was,  rather,  John,  who 
hence  in  his  innocence  led  Peter  to  the  fire  of 
coals.  But  Peter  was  the  mouth  and  the  cour- 
age of  a  confessivg  faith;  hence  this  a,ssault 
upon  all  in  his  person.  That  he  must  thus 
take  the  lead  in  trial  was  his  real  prerogative ; 
and  something  very  different  from  that  which 


•  The  Midrl.  f$atrs760at,  here  alone  occurrinrj 
in  (he  N.  T.,  means  propf>rly  to  demand  ano:her 
for  oneself;  someiimes  in  llie  sense  of  a  request 
for  deliverance  and  mercy,  but  also  for  the  deliv- 
ery to  justice  of  a  transgressor — which  lattor  oc- 
curs es|)ccially  in  l^airt/dii.  But  that  L^V^V- 
6ato  intimates  the  obtain  ng  of  what  was  .sought 
(as  Alford  thinks),  we  cannot  admit.  AVe  do  not, 
indeed,  u'lder.^tand  this  interpretation  ;  for  Satan 
demanded  not  merely  the  sifting,  but  the  Apostles 
themselves  (v>uaS). 


his  Romish  successor  arrogates — concerning 
which  Bengel  says  vigorously,  Totus  misere  in 
crihnim  incvlit. 

Satan  would  /ia»?,  would  retain  the  Apostles, 
and  yet  yield  them  to  the  Lord  his  conqueror 
— this  lies  first  in  i^7^n',daro  vfcdi,  hath  de- 
sired you;  then  follows  the  closer  definition  of 
h\s  pm^ose  Tov  dvvtd6at,  to  sift  you.  This 
infinitive  of  design  (particularly  usual  with 
Luke)  is  not  so  much  to  be  explained,  "that 
he  may  sift  you  " — for  if  he  already  hrt»  them, 
that  was  no  more  needed — as  in  the  liglit  of 
an  accompanying,  modifying,  explanation — 
While  he  will  sift  you,  cast  you  into  the  sieve 
of  test.  The  sifting  is  granted  and  takes  place ; 
but  the  intercession  of  the  Redeemer  stands  in 
the  way  of  the  attainment  of  the  accuser's  en- 
tire demand.  The  word  in  its  condensed  sig- 
nificance intimates  that  Satan  at  first  demands 
their  temptation  as  his  right,  but  with  the  un- 
derstanding at  the  same  time  that  he  will 
thereby  obtain  them  for  his  own;  just  in  the 
sense  of  that  daring  but  infatuated  word — What 
avails  it  that  he  will  bless  thee  to  thy  face  (Job 
ii.  5)?  So  thinks  he  still,  having  learned  no 
better;  but  is  in  manifold  ways  mistaken, 
since  the  permitted  sifting  does  no  harm  to  the 
wheat  of  God.  He  would  "  mightily  over- 
whelm you,  cast  you  into  apostacy  and  despair 
through  my  suflferings,  so  that  ye  may  be  (in- 
dividually) as  chaff."  Thus  IMeyer's  note  gives 
the  design  of  the  enemy ;  but  Christ  interweaves 
his  protest  when  he  says,  like  wheat.  He  does 
not  mean  merely  that  Satan  lays  claim  to  the 
sifting  of  the  wheat,  if,  peradventnre,  chaff 
should  be  in  it,  or  it  should  be  nothing  but 
chaff;  but  he  has  a  further  two-fold  meaning. 
The  sifting  m.ust  not  be  refused  to  him — and 
the  wheat  will  stand  the  test.  Does  he  not 
declare  his  beloved  disciples  to  he  his  wheat  f 
Does  he  not  allude  to  the  winnowing-fan,  which, 
according  to  the  Baptist,  he  himself  would  also 
use,  to  purge  out  all  the  chaff?  The  sifting  is 
the  same  as  the  winnowing,  but  with  an  inten- 
ser  meaning  of  terrifying  and  affripht.  No 
company  of  the  disciples  is  so  united  and  so 
near  to  the  Lord  as  not  to  go  through  this 
test;  but  when  Satan,  the  sieve-holder  of  God, 
thinks  to  obtain  them  collectively  as  cliafT,  God 
has  provided  that  no  grain  of  wheat  should 
fall  to  the  earth.  See  Amos  ix.  9,  the  only 
place  in  which  the  figure  occurs,  and  to  which, 
according  to  his  word,  the  Lord  mayjefer.* 

Verse  32.  The  Lord  now  by  his  'Kyoo  8e, 
But  I,  majestically  opposes  Satan,  as  retain- 
ing his  own  supremacy  over  his  disciples. 
That  he  must,  though  but  for  a  season,  give  up 
his  beloved  ones  to  the  tempter,  and  behold 
the  fall  of  Peter,  is  a  part  of  his  own  suffering. 


*  Certainly  liiy  in  Amos,  as  elsewheie,  Inpil'iis, 

is  equivalent  to  grannm,  not  by  any  means  "  ver- 
Lniidenes,"  as  lien2steiil)era:  {Christ,  iii.  2:^6) 
thinks.  Wo  slated  this  to  be  the  only  i)lace  iit 
Scripture  which  spealis  of  sifting  as  a  iisnie,  and 
the  separation  of  ijie  <i;rains  of  corn  j  lor  it  is  in- 
correct to  iulerpret  Isa.  .\.\vii.  12  in  this  sense. 


LUKE  XXII.  32. 


553 


yea,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  temptation  for  him- 
eelf';  but  he  abides  in  his  serene  self-possession 
the  conqueror,  he  performs  his  part  for  victory, 
and  bears  witness  to  it.  With  that  most  gra- 
cious tempering  of  majesty  by  humility,  which 
we  every  where  see  in  his  actions  and  words, 
he  opposes  the  proud  and  in  some  sense  justi- 
fied desire  of  the  enemy,  by  a  request  on  his  own 
part.  For  the  evil  one  has,  indeed,  some  show 
of  right,  but  mercy  triumphs  over  justice,  and 
"  the  holy  supplication  of  mercy  countervails 
before  God  the  daring  appeal  of  the  accuser" 
(Lange).  Christ  had  already  prayed — not,  as 
has  been  unthinkingly  expounded,  before  Sa- 
tan's demand,  as  if  anticipating  him — but  the 
intercession  of  the  Mediator  (apart  from  the 
eternal  counsel)  comes  actually  into  that  later 
time  when  he  prominently  declared  himself 
our  intercessor,  and  specifically  took  place  after 
Satan's  desire  was  seen  through.  The  Lord 
plainly  means  hia  intercessory  prayer,  John 
xvii.,  in  which,  as  the  Son  in  the  Father's  pres- 
ence, he  nevertheless  humbly  says — I  auk  for 
them.  He  had  not  uttered  this  when  he  spoke 
to  Simon  ;  but  he  anticipates  it  with  reference 
to  the  future  sifting :  tlien  will  it  be  said  and 
atrail,  I  have  jnuyed  for  thee. 

For  iliee!  This  is  the  transition  to  Simon 
alone,  and  foretells  to  him  a  special  sifting  be- 
fore that  of  the  others.  Moreover,  it  is  to  be 
understood  that  in  thus  making  him  prominent, 
the  promise,  like  the  warning,  holds  good  of 
all.  Wliat  then  was  prayed  for?  The  sub- 
stance of  the  intercession  is  not  stated,  because, 
as  it  may  be  said,  it  also  is  self-understood ;  yet 
we  may  take  'iva  for  Zvt  as  in  John.  (See  in 
Luke,  e.  g.,  chap.  i.  43.)  In  any  case  the  mean- 
ing is  nearly  the  same,  whether  we  take  the 
Bustentation  of  his  faith  as  the  matter  of  the 
intercession,  or  as  its  design  and  result.  Of 
\\\s,  faith — for  the  translation  "  that  thy  fidelity 
may  not  fail "  is  contrary  to  the  phraseology 
of  the  Evangelists.  Christ  here  ascribts  also 
the  decision  of  the  matter  to  fnilh.  Faith 
alone,  that  is,  in  God  and  in  him  (John  xiv.  1) 
settles  the  contest  with  Satan;  in  faith  alone 
are  we  strong  and  stand  ;  through  faith  alone, 
when  it  is  still  present,  we  arise  from  our  fall. 
The  most  evil  element  in  every  sin  of  believers, 
even  in  those  which  are  called  lesser  sins,  is 
this,  that  in  sinning  their  faith  is  each  time 
weakened,  because  the  unbelief  present  with 
it.  and  from  which  the  sin  proceeded,  obtains  a 
new  power.  This  unbelief  may,  if  it  be  not 
checked,  go  on  gradually  from  sin  to  sin ;  and 
in  a  feariul  fall  it  may  proceed  to  a  total  cessa- 
tion of  faith.  Let  it  be  carefully  noted  in  op- 
position to  all  false  teaching  that  our  Lord 
declares  an  eHXeixeiv,  a  defcere  in  totum,  an 
utter  extinction  of  faith,  not  only  to  be  pos- 
fiible,  but,  without  something  intervening,  to 
be  certain— and  even  in  the  case  of  an  Apostle, 
of  Peter.  But  the  Father's  grace,  prayed  for 
by  tne  Son,  defends  from  this  ruin  ;  and  not 
only  so,  but  the  superabundance  of  his  grace 
makes  the  experience  thus  gained  of  our  infirmi- 
ty and  impotence  the   means  of  strengthen- 


ing  our  faith  when  we  are  delivered.  Christ 
did  not  pray  that  from  the  silting  or  in  the 
sifting  we  should  be  spared  ;  but  that  we  might 
not  through  perfect  unbelief  become  chaff  which 
must  fall  through.  The  fulfillment  of  his  sup- 
plication takes  place  in  that  he  can  strengthen 
our  faith,  and  preserve  and  revive  the  spark 
which  was  ready  to  be  extinguished,  through 
that  prerogative  of  grace  which  is  of  more 
avail  before  God  than  the  demand  of  the  ac- 
cuser. Christ  names  not  his  unbelief,  which, 
however,  was  strongly  manifested  in  Simon's 
denial ;  but  his  faith  which  was  very  weak  and 
near  to  failing,  which,  however,  was  conse- 
quently sustained  and  not  utterly  extinguished. 
Again,  where  there  has  been  from  the  begin- 
ning no  faith,  there  can  be  no  room  for  such 
intercession  of  Christ  for  its  preservation  ;  it 
cannot  therefore  be  said  with  regard  to  this  in- 
tercession, that  Judas  was  included.  To  his 
case  is  applicable  all  that  we  have  explain- 
ed in  John  xvii.  concerning  the  distinctive 
intercession  of  Christ  for  his  own.  However 
specificallv  the  word  of  our  text  refers  to  the 
person  of  Feter,  it  has  a  universal  significance; 
the  general  rule  comes  out  only  in  particular 
instances.  We  all  have  cause  to  be  mindful 
of  Satan's  desire  for  us ;  and  to  invigorate  our 
failing  faith  by  the  comforting  thought  of 
Christ's  intercession,  when  we  fall  into  the 
enemy's  sieve.  But  we  must  not  beforehand 
and  independently  rely  solely  upon  it.  We 
should  learn  what  conflict  goes  on  in  the  invis- 
ible world  about  our  poor  souls,  which  so  often 
like  Peter  forget  themselves  ;  we  should  "never 
forgot  how  often  the  hand  of  Jesus  has  saved 
us  from  falling  into  hell,  that  we  may  encourage 
others  to  put  their  trust  in  the  intercession 
and  help  of  Jesus"  (Pvieger).  The  more  pre- 
eminent thou  art,  as  the  guide  and  represen- 
tative of  others,  the  more  carefully  shouldst 
thou  guard  against  all  self-confidence,  and  all 
boasting  beforehand  of  thine  own  strength; 
learning  what  this  word  of  Christ,  and  the 
history  which  it  underlies  and  which  is  ex- 
plained by  it,  is  intended  to  teach.* 

If  the  previous  clause  generally  and  indefi- 
nitely predicted  a  fall  of  Peter,  down  almost 
to  the  verge  of  total  loss  of  faith ;  what 
follows  contains  in  it  mighty  consolation,  as 
taking  it  for  granted  that  he  would  remain  an 
Apostle,  and  discharge  apostolical  functions 
afterwards  all  the  more  etfectually. 

In  a  future  when  {note),  he  will  come  lack 
from  his  wandering  and  error,  and  rise  all  the 


*  It,  is  enough  to  mention  in  a  note  the  melan- 
choly perversion  of  the  Romanist  exegesi.s — that 
Peter  was  specially  prayed  for,  because  all  was  to 
depend  upon  him  as  the  head;  and  that  the  sub- 
ject of  the  praj-er  was  that  the  confession  of  the  true 
Christ  should  never  fail  in  the  chief  head  of  the 
Church,  or  in  his  successors.  But  thejaith  which 
Peter  even  in  his  denial  never  utterly  lest,  was 
somethinn;  very  diflferent  from  externally  true  doc- 
trine. The  word  ol  Chrii^t,  here  r^  in  Matt,  xvi., 
has  nothing  to  do  with  "  successors." 


554 


PETER'S  FIRST  WARNING. 


more  vigorons  from  his  fall.  Or,  are  we  to  inter- 
pret l7r/6rp£tl>a?  adverbially — Then  strengthen 
them  again  as  I  have  strengthened  thee?  It 
does  indeed  occur  in  this  sense  (in  the  Sept., 
e.  g.,  Psa.  Ixxxv.  7)  ;  and,  after  Beda,  Maldo- 
natus,  Grotius,  Bengel  (who  incorrectly  com- 
pares Acts  vii.  42),  Van  Hengel  has  lately 
defended  this  view.  But  there  is  something 
unbecoming  in  such  a  comparison  between 
Peter's  strengthening  his  brethren  and  the 
Lord's  strengthening  him,  for  there  is  a  great 
distinction  to  be  observed ;  and,  moreover, 
even  if  this  be  explained  away,  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  New  Testament  too  generally  and 
distinctively  employs  tTti6Tpi<peiv  and  knt- 
6Tpe<pE6Bai  to  signify  return  from  sin,  conver- 
sion to  God  (as  in  Matt.  xiii.  15) — see  it,  as 
used  by  Luke  himself,  Acts  xi.  21,  xiv.  15, 
xxvi.  18,  iii.  19,  ix.  35,  etc.*  When  the  Lord, 
in  this  preparatory  ^•o??z's^,  which  included  a 
requirement  that  his  Apostle  should  do  what 
David  promised  in  Psa.  li.  and  honestly  did. 
speaks  of  his  Eni>}TpecpEiv  or  returning,  he 
makes  his  meaning  perfectly  plain.  On  the 
one  hand,  Peter's  deep  fall  is  more  definitely 
predicted  as  first  to  take  place  ;  and  then,  on 
the  other,  the  condition  is  made  prominent, 
on  which  alone  the  fulfillment  of  ihe  promise 
is  suspended.  Only  to  this  end  has  he  pre- 
served in  Peter's  heart  even  in  the  midst  of 
his  denial  a  secret  faith,  that  this  laith  may  be 
strengthened  into  full  return  and  conversion, 
might  take  courage  to  return  to  him  Avho 
should  forgive  such  sin,  and  strengthen  his 
disciple's  faith  through  the  experience  of  such 
grace.  (And  whoever  has  already  been  con- 
verted to  God,  must  after  every  fall  renew  this 
returning.)  The  Lord  prays  for  all  who  have 
any  faith  ;  but  not  all  return  back  to  him,  to 
receive  the  virtue  and  fruit  of  his  intercession, 
which  constrains  none,  but  "props  up  those 
alone  who  receive  the  prop."  Thus  while  ?fAf?i 
thou  hnst  turned  is  a  certain  prediction,  it  is  at 
the  same  time  a  direct  imperative  to  Peter. 

Then  strengthen  thy  brethren.  Then  shalt 
thou  be  able.  There  is  a  reason  why  God  per- 
mits us  to  fall  for  our  own  ^deeper  knowledge 
of  ourselves  ;  that  our  sin  may  be  turned  into 
a  blessing  to  ourselves  and  to  others.  When, 
humbled  and  encouraged,  we  understand  the 
ways  of  the  Lord,  we  can  from  the  resources 
of  our  own  experience  warn  others  of  the 
power  of  the  enemy  and  encourage  them  to 
rely  upon  the  victory  of  grace— knowing  the 
voice  of  tlie  wolf  and  the  voice  of  the  "shep- 
herd, the  cunning  of  the  one  and  the  fidelitv 
of  the  other,  we  can  teach  others  to  know 
them  also.  Although  the  Lord  afterwards 
terms  the  disciples  his  brethren,  he  cannot 
here  say,  "  Strengthen  my" — or  even  "our — 
brethren."  For  the  Apostle  was  to  strengthen 
and  encourage  those  who  were  exposed  to  sim- 
ilar defect  of  faith  as  himself — thus  hia  own 
brethren.     The  word  extends  assuredly  beyond 


*  Hence  also  kntCrpoqiv,  chnp.  xv.  3,  not  the 
converfcaJon,  but  the  conveision  of  the  Gentiles. 


them,  but  Peter's  fellow- Apostles  are  prima- 
rily meant;  and  the  intimation  is  given  that 
all  his  brethren  would  waver  likewise.  The 
fall  of  the  first  of  them,  of  him  who  had  been 
the  most  courageous  confessor,  must  be  a  stum- 
bling-block to  the  faith  of  all.  Finally,  it  is 
observable  that  Peter  is  to  strengthen  his 
brethren  m  their  brother;  no  such  primacy 
awaited  him  as  should  change  his  brotherly 
relation.  When  he  afterwards  wrote  1  Pet.  v. 
8-10  he  remembered  this  word  of  the  Lord,  as 
almost  all  his  expressions  show.  The  disper- 
sion was  strengthened  by  these  his  Epistles ; 
for  chap.  i.  12,  iii.  17,  in  the  equally  genuine 
second  Epistle,  have  the  same  tone. 

But  now  as  yet  he  is  the  old,  lofty,  but  weak 
Simon,  who  knows  not  himself,  whom  we  have 
learned  to  know  in  John  xiii.  36,  37.  Most 
unbecomingly  he  contradicts  the  scarcely  re- 
ceived word  of  his  Master — "  Thy  intercession 
for  me  is  not  so  necessary,  I  have  a  true  and 
strong  faith ;  I  am  ready,  I  will  abide  with 
thee  and  follow  thee  wherever  thou  goest,  so 
that  I  shall  never  need  to  return  back  again! 
If  they  put  thee  into  j:)rison  " — that  is  the  first 
thing  which  he  can  think  of;  what  follows 
he  hardly  meant  in  full  earnest — "  anil  vnto 
death."  (If  it  should  go  so  far  as  that  thy 
body  should  be  offered  up,  thy  blood  be  shed.) 
Vain  as  is  the  impotent  self-confidence  which 
expresses  itself  in  these  words,  there  is  no 
hypocrisy  in  them ;  at  the  moment  when  he 
uttered  those  strong  feelings  there  was  a  real 
truth  in  his  willing  readiness.*  Therefore  his 
heart,  which  truly  hangs  upon  the  Lord,  puts 
first  the  warm  and  resolute  Kvpie,  uerd  6ov, 
Tjord,  with  thee.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  something  very  blameworthy,  self-willed, 
and  blind  in  his  continuing  his  contradiction 
after  a  similar  rash  assertion  had  given  the 
Lord  occasion  to  anticipate  every  further  ex- 
cess of  presumption  by  the  warning  rebuke  of 
his  Simon!  Simon  ! 

Verse  34.  What  remains  to  the  repelled 
Master  but  to  utter,  in  sorrowful  afll'ection,  the 
more  definite  prediction  of  all  that  he  fore- 
saw down  to  Its  minutest   detail  concerning 


*  Niemeyer  carries  ihis  too  far,  and  is  too  indul- 
ireiit  to  tho  flesh  when  he  finds  here  "  the  voice  of 
n  noble  and  reso'utesp'rit — honorable  ambition  (?) 
— the  warm  feelinij  of  love — )iot  excess  of  pre- 
sumption— n  t  mere  words — but  the  eenerous  out- 
burst of  the  biavest  d''C  sion,  as  noble  at  the  mo- 
nietit  as  the  act  itself."  Dijiseke  is  more  correct: 
"  Man  is  always  bolter  than  his  evil,  and  n-orsa 
than  lis  good,  imi)ulse  and  humor:  in  other 
words,  no  man  in  as  good  as  moments  of  clorions 
inspiration  exhibit  him  ;  and  no  wicked  man  is  so 
wicked  as  he  ai>peirs  in  the  outbreaks  of  wretclied 
spjl-oblivion."  Uut  we  may  ask  if  this  g  orious 
inspiration  is  not  also  wretched  self-oblivion. 
Ivrunimachcr  wishes  for  us  all  a  similar  zeal  for 
thpi  Mas' er,  and  snys  that  "  no  self-exaltation  is 
moi»o  tolerable  and  ])ardonnble  than  tl)at  which 
springs  from  such  nn  enthusiasm  lor  the  Saviour." 
Cut  the  Siviour  bimsplt  deals  more  severely  with 
this  not  thoroughly  well  grounded  devotion. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  31-34. 


555 


him  ?  "  I  yiy  unto  tTtee — because  thou  dost  en- 
force it — and  wilt  thou  contradict  this  also?" 
Now  in  gentle  irony — "  Unto  thee,  the  supposed 
Peter  !  Thoa  didst  in  the  name  of  all  confess 
thy  faith  in  me,  and  then  thou  wert  Peter ;  but 
thou  wilt  soon,  to-day,  deny,  and  say  that  thou 
hast  never  known  rae.  "*  (This,  according  to  ver. 
37,  compare  Mark  xiv.  68,  71 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  72, 


74,  was  literally  fulfilled.)  "  Even  thrice  in  per- 
sisting blindness  and  increasing  guilt — until  at' 
last  the  cock-a'owing  will  awaken  thee  in  thy 
deep  night,  and  bring  back  to  thy  remembrance 
my  slighted  Simon!  Simon!"  What  more 
might  be  said  upon  this  must  be  reserved  lor 
the  immediately-following  repetition  of  the 
same  most  memorable  word  of  Jesus. 


SECOND  INTIMATION  OF  THE  DENIAL. 
(Matt.  xxvi.  31-34;  Maek  xiv.  27-30.) 


According  to  John,  with  whom  Luke  well 
agrees,  the  Lord  predicted  the  denial  of  his 
professor,  after  the  Supper  indeed,  but  lefore  the 
final  discourses  of  John  xiv.-xvii.,  before  the 
going  forth  in  chap,  xviii.  1.  But,  according  to 
Matthew,  with  whom  Mark  almost  verbally 
coincides,  the  Lord  said  the  same  specifically- 
predicting  words  after  the  actual  going  forth,  in 
the  way ;  in  a  connection  quite  different  from 
that  which  John  plainly  gives,  and  constrained 
by  a  similar  yet  still  different  word  of  Peter, 
to  express  himself  so  distinctly.  Nothing  is 
clearer  than  that  their  accounts  are  diverse; 
nothing  more  certain  than  that  both  must  be 
true  ;  nor  does  any  thing  prevent  our  assum- 
ing a  repetition  of  the  word  which  Peter  re- 
jected the  first  time,  when  such  an  occasion  as 
we  shall  find  demanded  it.  We  therefore  pray 
all  believing  expositors  of  Scripture,  all  Passion- 
preachers  especially,  to  give  up  the  attempt  to 
make  these  two  distinct  sayings  one.  The  then 
of  ver.  31  in  Matthew  (consequently  also  the 
and  of  ver.  27  in  Mark)  cannot  possibly  go 
back  to  something  said  at  an  earlier  time,  as  an 
indefinite  formula — ahout  that  iiine.  It  must 
indicate  the  succession  of  time  after  they  went 
forth.  As  John  makes  it  plain  that  the  dis- 
courses and  prayer  of  chaps,  xiv.-xvii.  were 
uttered  before  that  going  forth,  it  follows  that 
the  words  which  we  have  now  to  consider  were 
spoken  after  all  this,  even  after  the  high- 
priestly  prayer.  And  it  is  a  superfluous  con- 
firmation of  this  that  Matt.  xxvi.  31  only  again 
takes  up  what  had  been  once  declared  imme- 
diately before  the  prayer  in  John  xvi.  32. 

It  remains  to  be  asked,  in  what  connection 
of  time  the  singing  is  to  be  placed.  As  this 
solitary  recorded  instance  of  Christ's  singing, 
vMVElv,'\  must  refer  to  the  customary  psalms 
which  were  sung  over  the  fourth  paschal  cup 
at  the  close  of  the  ceremony, J  it  is  plain  that 


*  The  fiif  after  <x.itapvy6^  is,  as  frequently,  a 
reduplicat  d  negation:  see  chap.  xx.  27. 

f  Not  merely,  They  uttered  a  song,  or  the  song 
of  praise — but  an  actual  rec  tative  .song.  The 
only  lime  that  we  find  our  Lord  sanctifying  singing 
by  his  own  ex.-  mple. 

X  The  so-called  Hallel,  or  great  HaHel,  Psa.  cxiii., 
cxiv.,  having  been  sung  during  the  meal,  Psa. 


it  here  forms  the  close  of  the  paschal  meal ; 
yet  so  that  the  sacramental  institution  is  re- 
garded as  in  part  taking  the  place  of  the  old 
rite.  If  we  would  strictly  connect  the  singing 
with  the  going  out,  our  Lord  must  be  represent- 
ed as  returning  again  to  Old-Testament  words, 
after  John  xiv.-xvii.,  that  is,  after  the  sublime, 
a'U-fulfilling  and  all-glorifying  prayer— and 
this  is  to  us  at  least  quite  unimaginable.  No 
one  who  enters  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  will  suppose  this ;  and  nothing  can  be 
more  violent  than  Grotius'  perversion,  who 
thinks  that  the  high-priestly  prayer  itself  was 
intoned  as  a  hymn  1  Thus,  after  John  xiii.  23- 
38,  and  Luke  xxii.  31-34,  all  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  meal,  the  customary  hymn  was 
sung  to  calm  the  spirits  of  all,  fitly  to  close  the 
feast,  and  to  give  the  first  signs  of  the  approach- 
ing going  out.  But  the  discourses  in  John 
(luring  the  delay  of  setting  forth  must  be  inter- 
posed between  the  singing  and  the  going  out. 
The  connection  of  these  two  in  the  first  two 
Evangelists  only  declares  that  this  part  of  the 
paschal  rite  was  not  omitted;  and  that  they 
did  not  set  forth  before  they  had  sung. 

ITiis  night — thus  does  the  Lord  noio  begin 
again,  as  he  goes  forth  accompanied  by  his 
disciples  through  the  night,  and  sees  in  his 
spirit  how  soon  they  will  fly  from  him,  be  scat- 
tered as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and  leave 
him  alone  (John  xvi.  82).  This  is  the  hour 
already  come,  in  which  the  night,  must  enter  in 
a  deeper  sense,  in  which  the  power  of  darkness 
will  break  in  upon  the  light  of  the  world.  All 
the  powers  of  hell— as  of  heaven— are  excited; 
the  whole  world  of  spirits  is  stirred  up  to  the 
decisive  conflict;  and  in  the  world  of  men 
around  the  Lord  there  is  such  concentration  of 
suspense,  such  confusion  and  darkness  of  mind, 


cxv.-cxviii.  followed  as  a  closing  doxoloay.  The 
book  of  Wisdom,  chap,  xviii.  9,  dates  this  back  to 
the  first  Passover  of  the  fathers.  Certainly  the 
Lord  did  not  omit  tl.ese  most  appropriate  Mes- 
sianic psalms  ;  they  were  prophecies  prepared  for 
him  an<l  his  present  hour.  But  we  must  endeavor 
to  realize  his  thoughts  in  singing  them,  to  gettherr 
wonderful  meaning ;  to  understand  how  he  sang 
"  in  the  confident  exjiectation  of  the  glorious  songs 
which  would  be  born  of  his  sufferings." 


*56 


PETER'S  SECOND  WARNING. 


as  baffles  all  attempt  at  human  description. 
The  Lord  alone,  now  as  heietolore,  is  serene 
and  collected  ;  he  looks  through  the  whole,  lets 
his  light  shine  forth  \waI  the  final  crisis,  and 
eeeks  still  to  bring  his  disciples  to  thoughtful- 
ness,  and  arm  them  against  the  confounded 
powers  of  the  night.  For  this  prediction  of 
fall  and  offence  is  itself,  connected  as  it  here 
is  with  words  of  gracious  consolation,  a  defence 
against  their  perlect  fall  and  continued  offence 
for  they  would  afterwards  remember — He  fore 
told  va  this  ! 

What  6Hav8aXit^E6Boii,  their  leing  offended 
is,  we  have  seen  from  Matt.  xi.  6,  down  to 
Matt.  xxiv.  10;  so  that  no  explanation  is  far- 
ther wanting.  "  All  ye  still  remaining  around 
me" — this  comes  prominently  first  in  contrast 
with  the  "one  among  yo\i,"  this  one  being  now 
removed.  Observe  how  that  appears  here 
again  to  be  taken  for  granted.  Tliey  have  re- 
ceived the  praise  of  continuing  with  him  hith- 
erto (indeed  only  in  a  typical  reference  to  the 
future),  and  great  promises  in  addition;  but 
their  weakness  must  first  become  manifest,  that 
weakness  which,  however,  has  not  restrained 
him  from  instituting  with  them  the  sacrament. 
In  all  these  relations  we  find  pure  generalities, 
as  typically  as  historically  presented ;  the  design 
of  the  icords  of  our  Lord  which  are  recorded  is 
no  other  than  to  make  prominent  these  funda- 
mental points  in  the  whole  procedure,  and  thus 
to  point  out  to  his  future  Church  the  way  of 
a  perpetual  application.  Shall  be  offeivled  in 
me — this  is  almost  in  direct  antithesis  to  the 
betraying  of  that  one;  it  is  far  from  meaninc; 
what  De  Wette's  translation  suggests,  "  Be 
apostates  from  me,"  but  only  intimates  the 
perilous  beginnings  in  that  direction.  Yet  it 
IS  no  other  than  a  sinful  weakness  in  all  the 
Apostles ;  and  if  not  one  of  them  was  excepted, 
BO  there  are  no  disciples  of  any  time  to  whom 
the  niglit  of  offence  will  not  come.  His  words 
are  piercing  and  deeply  humbling,  but  they  are 
also  consolatory,  since  the  Lord  so  calmly  and 
conciliatingly  speaks  of  it  in  this  night  of  atone- 
ment. One  has  betrayed  him,  one  has  denied 
him,  all  have  forsaken  him  :  here  we  have  three 
degrees ;  but  the  two  latter  are  dillVrent  only 
in  their  external  manifes'ation.  Hence  the 
Lord,  if  we  compare  his  words  elsewhere,  in- 
cludes the  de.nal  of  Peter  with  the  general 
offence  of  the  eleven  who  remained  with  him. 
Positive  denifd  indeed  is  in  its  actuality  much 
more  than  the  negative  forsaking  or  leaving. 
Yet  both  are  in  principle  one,  and  are  thus  re- 
lated :  the  offence  is  opposed  to  a /rti</i  which 
adhere.^,  wails,  holds  out,  and  follows;  the  de- 
nial IS  opposed  to  an  avowal  of  that  faith. 

For  their  stronger  consolation  the  Lord  gives 
them  his  prediction  with  a  yiypaitrai.  It  u 
tentten.  We  know  how  precisely  his  quotations 
of  Scripture  are  to  be  understood.  The  notion 
that  he  occasionally  derived  a  figure,  or  a  pro- 
verb, or  a  striking  say. ns?  from  tiie  Scriptures, 
without  reference  to  the  real  connection  in 
which  it  originally  stood,  is  altogether  un- 
worthy every  where,  but  especially  inappropri- 


ate to  the  holy  solemnity  of  the  season  of  the 
Passion.*  We  have  not  one  solitary  instance 
of  any  such  unbefitting  use  of  a  scriptural 
word.  Von  Gerlach's  remark  is  here  strictly 
appropriate  :  "  Jesus  no  where  so  often  as  in 
his  sufferings  quoted  or  alluded  to  passages  of 
holy  Scripture,  as  fulfilled  ;  so  in  the  desert  he 
repelled  thereby  the  assaults  of  the  devil,  and 
obviated  the  offence  of  his  disciples,  as  if  some- 
thing unexpected  had  befallen  him."  Conse- 
quently, this  reference  to  the  prophet  Zecha- 
riah  is  to  be  taken  as  a  precise  quotation  ;  and 
thus  that  passage  secures,  to  a  believing  expo- 
sition, its  only  true  meaning. 

The  last  chapters  of  the  prophet  are,  aa  is 
well  known,  very  obscure,  through  their  pro- 
found and  often  designedly-paradoxical  expres- 
sion ,  but  the  Christian -reader,  at  least,  is  per- 
fectly sure  that  they  refer  to  the  Messiah  and 
his  time.  It  is  for  us  now,  assuming  this, 
humbly  to  investigate  them;  and,  avoiding 
the  presumptuous  arbitrariness  which  can  only 
confuse  our  understanding,  to  let  the  light  of 
fulfillment  shine  upon  the  path  of  investigation. 
We  now  give  the  view  which  we  believe  that 
in  this  manner  we  have  found. 

The  collection  of  Zechanah's  prophecies  con- 
sists (according  to  the  preface,  chap.  i.  1-6)  of 
two  main  sections,  the  iormer  of  which  (down 
to  the  end  of  chap,  viii.),  bases  upon  the  then 
renewed  typical  Jerusalem,  a  prospect  of  the 
essential  nem  Jerum'em.  In  chap.  vi.  we  have 
the  new  temple,  a  living  temple,  growing  up 
from  its  foundation,  which  the  man,  the  branch 
builds,  who  unites  the  kingly  and  high-priestly 
crowns — the  typical  circle  of  prophecy  thus  at 
the  end  returning  into  and  coinciding  with  its 
beginnings  in  2  Sam.  vii.,  and  Psa.  ex.  See 
further  the  high  consummation  of  the  prophet 
viewed  in  the  realized  glory  of  Jerusalem,  chap, 
viii.  But  with  all  this  we  have  not  particu- 
larly to  do ;  the  second  section,  chap,  ix.-xiv., 
more  directly  concerns  us  here.  This  pictures 
the  future  new  Jerusalem  without  any  typical 
connection  or  basis;  but,  instead  of  that^  with 
a  comprehensive  glance  over  the  history  of  its 
preparations  in  the  counsel  of  God  down  to  its 
full  establishment;  a  glance,  however,  dim  be- 
fore its  great  fulfillment.  Chapters  ix.  and  xi. 
prophesy  especially  of  its  prcjMiratiom,  give  us 
first  a  most  general  glance  at  the  plan  of  the 
Lord's  government,  whicli  looks  upon  men  and 
upon  all  the  trilxit  of  Imiel  (chap.  ix.  1),  that 
is,  embraces  mankind  as  in  its  centre  Israel ; 
and  then  disclose  tons  purifying  judgments  in- 
flicted unon  the  nations,  the  peculiar  protec- 
tion of  the  house  and  people  of  God,  the  con- 
summation of  the  kingdom  of  peace  for  the 
Gentiles  and  for  Israel.  In  chap.  x.  the  pro- 
phet is  more  limited,  having  reference  rather 
to  Israel  after  the  flesh,  which  will  be  restored 
at  the  end.  Chap.  xi.  gives  almost  historically, 
in  the  manner  of  Daniel,  the  history  of  Israel 


*  But  that  notion  lies  at  the  root  of  the  very 
false  suppo.sition  of  Grotius,  that  Zecliariah's  sub- 
ject is  "  de  aliquo  non  Lotto  pa^toro." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  31-34. 


557 


down  to  the  days  of  Christ,  and  even  beyond.* 
This  exclusion  of  those  who  rejected  as  rejected 
themselves,  this  laying  waste  and  abandon- 
ment of  the  old  Jerusalem  and  of  carnal  Israel, 
takes  place  first:  but  in  chap,  xii.-xiv.  we  have 
the  founding  and  building,  the  establishment, 
of  the  true  and  new  Jerusalem.  Chap.  xii. 
glances  forward  preliminarily  to  the  time  when 
Jerusalem — which  is  to  be  a  burdensome  stonp, 
a  test  for  all  nations — shall  return  from  its 
blindness  and  misery,  the  spirit  of  grace  de- 
scending upon  it  so  that  its  people  shall  mourn 
as  for  an  only  child  in  whom  was  and  in  whom 
is  their  life.  Chap.  xiii.  gives  us  several  spe- 
cific glances  backward,  yet  only  as  from  the 
final  consummation ;  predicts  the  open  foun- 
tain for  all  sin,  the  destruction  of  all  false  pro- 
phets and  unclean  spirits,  it  then  describes, 
suddenly  returning  to  the  very  centre  of  the 
time  of  foundation,  how  the  shepherd  goes  be- 
fore into  condemnation  and  the  death  of  atone- 
ment ;  how  the  entire  flock,  even  the  true  flock 


*  We  cannot  abstain  from  endeavoring  to  set 
right  the  perplexities  of  Ebrard,  llitzig,  and  also 
Hofniann  on  this  sul)jec  ;  but  a  few  words  only 
must  be  permitted.  Aniioehns  had  destroyed  and 
laid  waste,  vers.  1-3.  Then  in  ver.  4  tlie  pro[)het 
conies  forward  in  the  name  ot  the  Shepherd  of  God, 
the  Messiah,  who,  before  his  manitestations  in  the 
flesh,  was  the  true  slieplierd  of  this  people,  this 
flock  of  slaugliter  (and  liere  belongs  Acts  viii.  34). 
To  him  are  opposed,  in  ver.  5,  the  wiclced  shep- 
herds who  possess  and  devour  them — then  follows, 
in  ver.  6,  as  a  punishment,  tae  giving  tliem  up, 
which  tollowed  as  n  John  xi.  48,  xix.  15.  I  will 
no  more  pily  and  save  them,  as  many  t.nies  be- 
fore— but  why  1  For  tliey  have  rejected  the  best 
Shepherd,  myself,  when  I  came  unto  them  !  This 
sad  history  tlien  proceeds  more  in  detail.  Not  as 
if  (according  to  Ebranl)  the  "  tiock  of  slau  :hter  '' 
was  the  community  of  peoples,  and  he  who  took  pity 
on  the  fiock,  tlie  peop:e  of  Israel ;  tliis  introduces 
a  misconception  wliich  would  run  through  the 
whole  chapter.  The  people  of  God,  who  are  to  be 
judged,  are  called  generally  and  as  a  whole  the 
flock  of  slaughter,  yet  some  among  tliem  are 
genuine  and  liumble  sheep.  For  the  sake  of  these 
last,  they  are  all  pasluivd  ;  but,  beco.use  one  staff" 
is  not  enough,  with  alternate  gentleness  and  woe. 
(For  this,  and  not  bands,  we  hold  to  be  the  inter- 
pretation of  D'^j^n.)     Thus  had  God  dealt  with 

this  peoi)le  from  the  beginning,  and  down  to  the 
last  period  of  history  (ver.  8) — but  all  in  vain: 
the  manifestation  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  the 
person  of  Christ  turns  to  the  cutting  off  of  Israel, 
and  the  abolition  of  the  covenant  for  a  time — 
vers.  9,  10.  Israel's  treatment  by  means  of  the 
heathen  had  been  hitherto  gentle  enough  !  But 
only  the  sheep  who  marked  the  prophetic  word 
of  the  Lord  know  the  Missiah  in  tlie  lulfllled  pro- 
phecy, ver.  11.  How  then  1  In  severe  in)ny, 
whicii  embraces  the  l.teral  accomplishment  in  the 
general  flj[iire,  it  is  so  described  as  if  the  Shepherd 
of  God,  even  the  God  of  Israel  himself,  when  he 
laid  down  his  slaff  and  his  oflSce,  demanded  his 
hire  !  As  if  he  haxl  served  for  reward,  like  the 
false  shepherds!  They  weigh  out  to  him  the 
slave-price  of  thirty  pieces  of  stiver.'  Are  not  these 


knew  him  not  at  first;  but  how,  finally,  his 
true  people,  after  separations  and  purifyings, 
shall  come  forth  at  last.  Chap.  xiv.  finally 
closes  the  specific  prophecy  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (for  Malachi  gives  rather  a  retrospective 
postscript);  and  shows  in  the  dim  futurity  that 
which  the  Apocalypse  alone,  itself  interpreted 
according  to  the  prophets,  can  interpret — the 
last  conflict  and  victory,  vers.  1-3;  the  future 
coming  of  Christ  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
vers.  4-7;  the  new  Jerusalem,  vers.  8-11  ;  the 
feast  of  Tabernacles  for  all  nations,  vers.  12- 
19,  the  sanctification  of  entire  Jerusalem,  the 
bells,  and  tiie  pots,  and  the  bowls,  being  like 
the  high  priest's  breast-plate,  holiness  unto  the 
Lord. 

The  rightly-disposed  reader  will  accordingly 
expect  our  Lord's  citation  to  be  exact;  he  will 
observe  that  Zechariah  contains  many  distinct 
Messianic  prophecies;  and  will  perceive  at  the 
outset  that  the  shqiherd  of  chap.  xiii.  7,  in 
whom  Christ  now  discerns  himself,  can  be  no 
other  than  the  same  who  in  chap.  xi.  was  sold 
for  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  whom  in 
chap.  xii.  10  they  pierced.  Itumediately  before 
our  passage,  there  is  something  obscure  in  ver. 
6,  where  we  may  hang  in  doubt  concerning  the 
wounds  between  the  hands  (according  to  Mau- 
rer,  who  compares  2  Kings  ix.  24,  on  the 
breast).  Whether  these  refer  to  the  marks  of 
idol-worship  (which  is  not  clear  to  us)  or,  as  we 


the  high  priests,  when  the  Lord,  as  it  were  by  the 
(juesiioh  of  the  traitor,  askod  them — At  what 
price  do  ye  value  mel  In  mockery  they  sell  the 
Lord  as  a  slave,  while  they  buy  him ;  and  Judas  is 
the  seller  as  the  representative  of  the  whole  of 
wicked  Israel,  which  rejected  him.  Tlien  says  the 
Lord  in  his  counsel  wrathlully — To  the  potter  with 
it !  Mire  and  clay,  to  be  redeemed  by  tins  price 
of  shame  and  mockery!  But  this  potters  field 
lay,  according  to  Jeremiah  (chap.  xix.  2,  hence 
the  reading  in  Matt,  xxvii.  9),  in  the  valley  of 
Hinnom  ;  and  by  a  frightful  requital  tor  the  re- 
jected price  at  which  they  estimated  their  Shep- 
herd, Jerusalem  becomes  as  To])het  (Jer.  xix.  12; 
Isa.  xxx.  33).  Thus,  "to  the  potter!  "  is  equiv- 
alent to  "to  the  tormentor!"  or  "to  Gehennah 
with  it!  "  And  yet  Judas  thiew  the  money  first 
in  the  temple.  He  does  this  for  a  witness  in  his 
despair,  lor  the  temple  itself  is  a  place  of  scorn. 
Their  rejection  of  the  "  price  of  Llood  "  avails  rot 
to  the  hypocrites  ;  their  counsel.  Matt,  xxvii.  7, 
only  fulfills  the  counsel  of  God.  The  price  of 
blood  is  to  perform  a  work  of  chaiity  "  tor  the 
bunal  of  strangers  " — but  who  was  first  buried 
there  1  According  to  Acts  i.  18  Judas  himself. 
The  field  ot  blooJ  becomes  a  name  notorious; 
and  the  guilt  of  Judas,  to  whom  they  say,  See 
thou  to  it!  (as  Pilate  again  to  them,  Matt,  xxvii. 
24),  falls  hack  upon  them  ;  so  that  soon  the  whole 
ot  Jerusalem,,  of  whose  doom  the  field  of  blood 
was  the  last  p'ophetic  symbol,  l)ecame  one  wide, 
waste  grave,  where  to  this  day — strangers  are 
buried  in  spiritual  death.  For,  according  to  vers. 
15-17,  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  wicked  shep- 
herds over  Israel,  now  rejected,  goes  on  (as  is 
here  darkly  int  mited)— they  are  given  up  to 
blinded  leaders  and  oppressive  loids. 


558 


PETER'S  SECOND  WARNING. 


prefer,  lo  the  stripes  of  the  parents* — in  any 
case  there  is  a  transition  in  the  parallel  of  niSO 

and  ^n^3n,  ver.  6,  with  the  T]n  of  ver.  7,  which 

signifies — "  In  a  quite  different  sense  will  the 
tt'ue  prophet  and  shepherd  svffir  for  the  guilt 


of  others,  let  himself  be  smitten  by  them  who 
hate  him  because  he  loves  them."  (For  this 
transition  to  bitter  lamentation,  as  the  under- 
tone, CT  p3   must  mean  the  hands  literally.) 

What  now  follows  in  ver.  7  consists  of  three 
clauses:  the  death  of  the  shepherd  marvellous- 
ly decreed  of  God  ;  the  immediate  result  of  this 
paradox,  a  rejection  of  the  whole  flock,  which 
knew  him  not  and  refused  him  ;  and,  thirdly, 
the  leading  back  of  the  true  and  humble  sheep 
by  the  hand  and  power  of  God. 

"  Ml/  shepherd  " — thus  in  this  prophecy  the 
Messiah  is  plainly  termed — He  whom  I  have 
promised  and  will  give,  whom  I  have  set,  comp. 
rsa.  ii.  6.  But  he  has,  besides  this  first  name 
(which  unites  in  one  the  title  most  appropri- 
ately and  in  the  highest  sense  of  God's  own, 
with  the  closest  relationship  to  God,  as  in  Psa. 
ii.  lung  and  Son),  yet  another  term  applied  to 
him,  and  here  alone  in  the  Old  Testament.  He 
is  a  "133,  that  ii,  a  man  pre-eminently,  a  human 

hero — how  else  could  he  suffer  the  death  which 
is  here  recorded  ?  But  God  calls  him  "'JT'py  "123, 

the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  and  this  most  lofty 
word  of  the  Old  Testament  says  more  in  its 
anticipatory  letter  than  our  New-Testament 
dogmatics  allow  to  it.  Gensenius  gives  the 
wonl  in  this  passage  its  first,  indefinite,  and 
slemierest  meaning  of  felloirship,  but  without 
autlioiity.  For,  even  admitting  that  the  phrase 
was  originally  derived  from  this  etymon,  why 
must  we  in  this  single  passage  of  the  later 
Zechariali  return  to  its  most  general  funda- 
mental meaning?  The  word  is,  as  much  as 
any  one  word,  a  fixed  term  from  Moses  down- 
ward ;  besides  tiiis  place  it  occurs  only  eleven 
times  in  the  Pentateuch  for  -neighbor,  fellow- 
man,  n\->i6iov — thus  in  the  same  meaning  as 
appears  in  the  related  root  of  noy?  and  T\tpV, 

jiixta.  jiaritrr  nc,  equal,  by  the  side  of.  Certain- 
ly, ^ri'DJ?  in  the  giving  of  the  law  is  equivalent 

to  tfiy  equal;  and  1st  it  be  well  considered 
what  it  means,  when  Jehovah  terms  a  man  his 
n^cy,  his  fcllmc-man,  at  the  same  time  his  fel- 
low-G(hI  Hofmann,  who  better  understands 
chap.  xiii.  7,  and  on  the  whole  hits  the  point 
well,  declares,  however,  that  "this  is  far  from 
declaring  a  connection  of  the  divine  and  human 
natures,  but  rather  a  community  of  spirit,  one 
r  Inted,  to  God,  his  Son."  He  is  right  as  far  as 
that  the  doctrinal  statement  is  not  yet  unfold- 


ed :  but  it  is  undeniable  that  in  the  Mosaic 
n^oy  equality  is  more  prominent   than   mere 

fellowship  or  relationship — thy  neighbor  is  on 
tl^e  same  level  with  thyself,  is  as  good  as  thou.* 
Consequently,  ^n'py  "123,  the  man  nuj  fellow, 

is  stronger,  and  nearer  to  the  plain  "  God  and 
man,"  than  for  example  the  rather  tvpical 
'!\TT2\  B^'iS,  man  of  thy  right  hand,  of  Psa.'lxxx. 

17.  And,  moreover,  we  hear  in  Isaiah  of  a 
child  born,  which  bears  the  high  names  of  God  ; 
in  Micah  of  him  whose  goings  forth  were  from 
everlasting  ;  in  Jeremiah  of  the  name  of  Jeho- 
vah given  to  the  Messiah  ;  in  Ezekiel  that  tJie 
Lord  himself  will  come  as  the  promised  sJiep- 
herd  (chap,  xxxiv.  11-16,  23,  30).  In  Zech. 
xii.  8,  as  God  is  strictly  parallel  with  as  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  ;  and  in  ver.  10  Jehovah  says, 
Me  whom  they  have  pierced.  Thus  this  man, 
the  fellow  of  Jehovih,  is  at  the  same  time  dis- 
tinguished from  all  his  hosts  as  being  one  equal 
to  himself. 

Christ,  indeed,  very  significantly  and  de- 
signedly left  out  in  his  citation  this  name  of 
high  dignity,  given  to  the  shepherd  .surrendered 
to  death,  because  his  primary  object  was  to 
speak  of  the  slieep  ;  but  it  was  necessary  that 
we  should  thus  perfectly  explain  the  passage, 
and  place  the  man  my  fellow  in  its  true  light, 
that  we  may  rightly  estimate  the  blindness  of 
our  recent  Christian  commentators,  who,  like 
the  darkened  Rabbins,  interpret  this  shepherd 
to  be  a  common  man.f 

Most  wonderful  and  paradoxical  is  the  divine 
counsel  concerning  this  man,  his  fellow,  that 
the  sword  should  awake  against  him  and  smite 
(that  is  slay)  him.  Instead  of  the  protecting 
legions  which  the  Lord  of  hosts  might  have 
provided  for  his  fellow,  he  calls  for  the  sword.. 
But  the  sicord  is  primarily  a  general  designa- 
tion of  death,  as  in  Psa.  xxii.  21.  (The  cross 
could  not  yet  appear  in  the  Old  Testament.) 
But  then,  looking  closer,  it  signifies,  not  indeed 
"  the  power  of  this  world,  in  its  judicial  rigor," 
although  God  did  accomplish  his  purpose  by 
that,  but  still  a  judicial  infliction,  comp.  Zech. 
xi.  17,  and  see  the  normal  passage  Job  xix. 
29.t      The  sword    of    God   had,   as   it    were, 


*  For  see  ver.  3.  Thus  it  i,s  not,  as  Kimchi 
tliinks,  a  punishniont  f(tr  idleness  in  youtli ;  but, 
n.s  .Jerome  scmu'd  to  discern,  a  chastispment  for 
false  proi)hesyiiis,  which  the  humble  delinquent 
acknowledges  as  a  tebtimony  to  truth. 


*  This  was  so  clear  to  the  Targumist  that  lie 
preferred  to  ninke  the  one  ]»eison  into  two  :  Con- 
ceniinj;  the  King  and  the  Prince  his  fellow,  who 
is  as  he  and  equal  to  him — Hv  'DTI  n^TTlDl. 

•f-  Jarclii  makes  him  the  king  of  Moab ;  both 
Kinichis  another  Gentile  kintj  who  devastated 
Jerusalem  ;  other  commentators  an  Israelite  Itero 
or  king,  Judas  Maccabajus,  Jehoiauhini,  or  tlie 
like. 

X  Luther's  translation,  thonsh  no*,  literal,  hits 
the  sense,  that  by  the  sword  jiidunients  fall  up<m 
evil  deeds.     ForVlori  does  nut  mean,  as  the  Jews 

expounded  it,  the  wrath  of  the  wrath-provoking 
contention  of  the  friends  of  Job.  who  would  thus 
fall  under  the  sword-deserving  flijiiy..     ^^^^-  'ht-re 

is  an  anger  (of  God),  which  rest-i  upon  ilie  mis- 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  31-34. 


559 


tested  and  slept  till  now;  this  suffering,  this 
death,  this  judgment  had  yet  been  in  arrear ; 
but  now  a  ^"liy,  a  sword,  is  called  for,  and  the 

shepherd  is  slain  for  the  sheep. 

Now  its  hnmediale  result.  This  is  very  nat- 
nral  as  its  consequence,  but  yet  another  para- 
dox. The  flock  is  scattered  instead  of  being 
collected  together ;  the  sheep  flee  as  if  there 
were  no  longer  a  shepherd.  Thus  is  it  again  a 
starved  and  dispersed  flock  ?  Assuredly,  but 
only  as  the  first  result  and  only  in  part.  The 
shame  of  the  death  of  condemnation  into  which 
the  shepherd  falls,  cannot  be  other  than  a 
stumhling-block  (the  offence  of  the  cross.  Gal. 
V.  11)  to  the  ichole  flock,  Jxsrn — it  turns  away 

from  its  shepherd,  not  being  able  to  discern 
him  in  such  a  form  and  condition.  What,  ac- 
cording'to  the  meaning  and  connection  of  the 
prophecy,  is  this  flock  ?  Certainly  ri'm  the 
people  of  God,  all  who  belong  to  this  shepherd 
as  his  flock,  not  merely  Israel,  but  mankind 
(Ezek.  xxxiv.  31).  The  unbelieving  are  dis- 
persed, turn  away  from  the  smitten  one  down 
to  this  day  (Jsa.  liii.  1-3,  1  Cor.  i.  2  ;)— but  so 
are  also  at  first  those  who  believe,  as  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  ill  the  night  of  his  delivery  to 
his  enemies.  Even  John,  who  lay  upon  his 
breast  and  apprehended  his  heavenly  discourse 
as  no  other  did,  is  offended  ;  and  through  the 
faithful  heart  of  Marv  the  sword  passes.  It  is 
finished  with  him.  Thus,  when  at  this  season 
of  crisis  and  decision  all  forsake  him,  so  that  he 
is  left  alone,  it  first  becomes  plainly  manifest 
that  the  flock  would  be  utterly  lost  without 
the  return  of  this  shepherd. 

But  now  comes  the  third  point,  the  solution 
of  the  mystery.  Thus  is  the  counsel  of  God 
.lecomplished  ;  and  in  a  sudden  transition,  we 
have  as  a  further  result  his  return  and  the 
gathering  together  of  his  faith. ul  ones.  Thus 
or  then  wdl  I  turn  my  hand  vpon  lite  Utile  ones, 
saiili  the  same  Lord  of  Hosts.  Let  it  be  caie- 
fuUy  observed  :  Not  they  first  of  themselves 
turn  back,  but  the  hand  and  power  of  God  in 
the  risen  Shepherd,  restored  from  death,  is 
turned  upon  them  and  gathers  th"m  togetiier. 
This  is  what  the  Lord,  without  direct  "literal 
citation,  means  in  the  words  which  follow. 
Mark  farther  :  Not  all  the  dispersed  flock  ;  but 
tliat  difference  is  now  made  manifest  which 
existed  from  the  beginning,  The  remnant  re- 
main in  dispersion  ;  they  still  more  and  other- 
wise are  ofl'ended,  and  deny  yet  more  wickedly 
their  Lord  and  Shepherd.  The  whole  of  Israel  is 
first  fully  scattered,  and  in  their  flight  from  the 
cross  they  are  perpetually  followed  by  the  un- 
believing part  of  the  called  nations  of  man- 
deeds  (deseivinst)  of  the  sword.  Such  sins  as 
your.i  will  be  avengpd  by  (he  sword  (dealt),  thnt 
Ifius  ye  may  know  that  tliere  is  a  juclament.  We 
would  not  therefore  remove  the  judicial  elrment 
from  the  work  of  atonement;  but  it  is  another 
question  whether  the  common  view  whch  the  ju- 
ridical theory  of  substitution  takes  is  justified  by 
such  passages  of  Scripture  as  this. 


kind.  But  the  little  ones,  plainly  distinguished 
from  the  whole  fiock,  are  his  true  sheep  from 
the  beginning;  not  merely  the  "  needy,"  but 
the  INJfn  V.jy— the  poor  of  the  fiock,  chap.  xi. 

7,  11 ;  that  is,  the  miserable,  the  humble  onea> 
who  wait  upon  the  word  and  the  hand  of  God, 
just  as  >JJ?  has  this  signification  included  in  it 

in  the  Psalms,  ihx)se  who  ask  for  the  Le/rd,  Psa. 
xxii.  25. 

Thus  is  the  great  distinction  made  through 
the  death  and  return,  the  cross  and  the  resur- 
rection, of  the  Shepherd  ;  they  are  his  sheep 
among  the  great  flock  called  back  from  the  first 
universal  offence  and  brought  to  him.  This  pro- 
gressive purification  and  separation  pX)Ti523 

(that  is,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  actual  type — 
in  all  the  land,  throughout  the  whole  earth),  is 
finally  predicted  by  the  prophet  in  vers.  8,  9. 
"The  shepherdless  flock  is  "indeed  scattered- 
but  Jehovah  himself  fetches  back  his  little 
sheep.  The  greater  part  of  the  peoples  is  in- 
deed sifted  away,  but  what  remains  is  the  true 
people  of  Jehovah." 

Let  it  now  be  observed  how  far  this  prophecy 
is  from  being  a  mere  prediction  of  the  isolated 
contingent  circumstance  of  the  disciples'  leaving 
Jesus  on  this  night.  The  prophecy  does  not  in- 
deed speak  merely  of  this  night  and  of  these 
disciples,  but  of  the  general  destiny  of  disper- 
sion which  was  to  befall  the  entire  flock,  so 
that  no  restored  one  should  ever  be  able  to 
boast  that  he  had  been  exempted  from  this 
offence  and  this  general  turning  away  from  the 
Shepherd  who  was  slain.  This  is  made  espe- 
cially prominent  in  the  addition  found  in  Mat- 
thew— TLX  itpdliavtx.  zyi  Ttoii-ivyjiy  the 
sheep  of  the  flock.  The  specific  fulfillment  in 
this  one  historical  event  is  thus  here,  as  it  is 
often,  itself  an  embodied  prophecy,  a  type  of 
the  universal  fulfillment.  It  is,  as  remarked  on 
Luke  xxii.  31,  an  allusion  to  Amos  ix.  9.  As 
the  whole  of  the  genuine  house  of  Israel  must 
be  sifted  without  the  loss  of  a  single  grain  of 
corn,  so  is  it  with  the  first  family  of  the  dis- 
cipleship,  the  Apostles.  What  Zechariah  pro- 
phesies of  the  entire  flock  has  its  luminous  ful- 
fillment in  the  first  and  nearest  circle  of  the 
sheep.  Bengel  :  "  The  disciples  were  like  the 
whole  flock  to  be  afterwards  collected  by  them." 
Less  correct,  and  only  looking  at  one  side  of 
the  matter,  is  Von  Gerlach's  note :  "  When 
the  Jewish  people  had  rejected  their  last  Shep- 
herd, the  judejinsnt  of  dispersion  fell  upon 
them  ;  this  was  as  it  were  foreshadowed  in  the 
dispersion  of  the  disciples  upon  the  death  of 
Christ,  just  as  their  final  deliverance  and  salva- 
tion was  foreshadowed  in  the  bodily  deliverance 
of  the  disciples  when  Jesus  was  taken,  John 
xviii.  9."  For  although  this  is  really  connected 
with  it.  yet  the  dispersion  of  the  disciples  did 
not  typify  the  judgment  of  unbelievers,  but 
the  preliminary  and  apparently  equal  offence 
of  all  believers. 

The  translation  of  the  Seventy  was  not  to  be 
used  on  this  occasion  ;  for  it  did  not  perfectly 


560 


PETER'S  SECOND  WARNING. 


understand  the  passage,  having  given  itouis-  \ 
yoci  twice  in  the  plural,  and  similarly  nard- 
^ETE — xai  EK6xddcxrE.*  Thcrelbre  we  have 
the  quotation  according  to  the  original,  and 
with  certain  alterations  which  are  strictly  ap- 
propriate.! The  first  person  icard'u},  /  will 
unite,  beciime  necessary  when  the  invocation  of 
the  sword  and  all  the  first  part  was  omitted, 
because  it  was  not  the  Lord's  purpose  to  speak 
of  himself  now  as  the  fellow  of  God,  but  simply 
that  he  was  t/ce  Shepherd  of  the  flock :  hence 
also  we  have  not  rov  itoiuEva  nov,  "my 
Shepherd,"  continued  from  the  previous  words. 
But  Grotius  is  quite  wrong:  "Nor  does  that,  7 
wiil  smiti,  indicate  a  certain  person,  but  the  first 
person  is  put  for  any  indefinitely ; "  for  Ood  is 
the  subject  of  the  verb,  as  afterwards  in  the  / 
iclll  turn  my  hand  of  the  original  text,  and 
thereby  the  whole  is  defined  to  be  a  divine  de- 
cree and  purpose.  And  after  the  resurrection 
Jesus  appears  again,  John  xxi.,  in  the  figure  of 
a  iuepn6r<l:  he  is  the  centre  and  rallying- 
poinl  of  all  liis  own  ;  all  who  forsake  him  are 
scattered  every  one  to  his  own  (John  xvi.  32), 
like  tlie  foolish  wandering  sheep,  Isa.  liii.  6. 
In  the  Apostles  themselves,  as  th«  future  shep- 
herds, this  must  first  become  manifest. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  consolation 
in  ]\Iatt.  xxvi.  32  was  derived  also  from  the 
prophecy  of  Zechariah,  and  is  no  other  than  an 
interpretation  of  what  followed  there.  As  there 
the  Lord  God  was  to  turn  his  hand  to  his  little 
ones,  so  now  Ciirist  comes  to  that  end  in  his 
own  person,  that  the  moaning  of  the  whole 
may  be  conclusively  established.  In  the  after  I 
am  risen  he  refers,  as  if  it  would  be  self-under- 
stood, to  all  his  earlier  predictions.  Ho  teaches 
all  investigators  of  his  word  to  understand  that 
here  in  Zechariah  (as  often  elsewhere)  the  res- 
urrection of  him  who  was  given  up  to  death, 
and  yet  retains  his  kingdom,  is  silently  pro- 
jihcnied  as  the  necessary  transition.  The  go- 
ing before  is  consistent  with  the  fiijure  of  the 
Shepherd :  I  will  then  first  truly  be  your 
Shepherd,  and  gather  you  around  me  after 
your  dispersion.  In  this  the  forgiveness  and 
removal  of  their  offence  is  necessarily  to  be 
understood — Yc  forsake  me,  I  Ibrsake  not  you. 

That  Galilee  is  made  the  rallying-place  (the 
same  Galilee  where  he  began  his  teaching,  and 
for  the  most  part  continued  it),  we  cannot  re- 
gard, with  Schleierniaclier, as  "  highly  improb- 
able and  a  later  addition."  Tliis  does  not  ex- 
clude our  Lord's  intention  to  see  his  disciples 
more  than  once  in  Jerusalem;  it  rather  con- 
firms it:  Dif'ore  yc  return  from  the  feast  to 
Galilee,  I  will  as  risen  be  with  you,  and  lead 
you  in  the  way  thither.  The  direction  is  con- 
tained in  it,  that  they  should  not  set  forth 
alone,  but  remain  in  Jerusalem  until  ho  had 


*  Not  to  speak  of  t'.;e  unintelligible  noXivjjv 
uov,  which  falls  away  from  tiie  citation, 

f  Not  a>bif>(rry,  to  brinji  out  what  w.is  suitable, 
as  D()i)ke  tlviiks;  who,  moreover,  refers  to  the 
asreemout  of  Barnab;;s,  £p.  cap.  6  with  Mat- 
Uiew. 


risen.  But  the  same  intimation,  that  not  Jeru- 
salem (now  rejected  !)  but  the  still  and  distant 
Galilee  should  be  the  place  of  meeting  for  the 
regathered  flock  (the  place  for  the  last  commis- 
sions to  the  Apostles,  Olshausen  more  doubt- 
fully adds),  is  repeated  by  the  angel  at  the 
sepulchre,  and  immediately  afterwards  by  the 
Risen  Lord  himself,  Matt,  xxviii.  7,  10,  16. 

Peter,  to  whom  (according  to  our  view  of 
the  whole)  Luke  xxii.  31-3i  had  already  been 
spoken,  will  hear  nothing  of  being  scattered 
and  offended,  at  least  as  far  as  concerns, him- 
self- the  all  is  said  to  no  purpose.  With  that  un- 
charitableness  which  is  always  inseparable  from 
presumption,  he  admits  it  as  regards  the  re- 
maining all;  but  concerning  himself  he  makes 
the  unconditional  boast,  extending  far  beyond 
this  same  night  that  had  been  spoken  of,  / — 
nevsr.  He  makes  himself  stronger  than  a 
whole  company  of  men,  and  knows  not  how 
soon  the  question  of  women  will  turn  him  from 
his  mind.  Then  he  receives  for  the  second 
time  the  emphatic  notice  which  he  still  rejects, 
'A  /1 7/  y  Xsyoa  dot,  I  kave  told  thee* 

Mark  on  this  occasion  gives  us  from  Peter's 
lips  the  exact  words  which  were  spoken  by 
Christ ;  he  alone  has  the  two  cock-crowings, 
and  he  alone  the  swift  succession  of  predictions 
as  they  reach  their  climax,  "Thou — to-dav — 
tliis  night — before  the  cock  crows  twice.  IViou 
— who  sayest,  I  will  not — and  for  that  very 
reason."  This  day  (as  Luke  xxii.  34),  because 
the  day  was  reckoned  from  the  evening. 
"  Even  in  this  already-commenced  and  fearful 
night  of  the  universal  confusion  and  tumult 
around  me."  Finally,  the  most  exacD  definition 
of  the  time,  as  a  previously  given  sign  of  the 
prediction  ;  the  second  crowing  of  the  cock,  the 
mystical  warner  and  crier  of  the  night.  Baum.- 
Crus.  is  quite  wrong  in  his  indefinite  interpre- 
tation of  the  thrice  denying.  "  Thrice,  indeed — 
who  knows  how  often  ?  "  For,  apart  from  the 
recorded  fulfillment,  and  the  fitness  that  a  pre- 
diction thus  enforced  should  be  thus  convinc- 
ingly specific,  the  twice  and  thrice  oi  Mark  indi- 
cate that  we  are  to  take  the  reckoning  as  exact. 
Denying  is  the  acted  expression  of  offence ; 
both,  as  we  have  already  said,  are  the  same  in 
principle  and  feeling,  ye  tone  alone  iciU  deny, 
as  one  alone  betray ;  but  he  is  the  confessor 
pre-eminently,  and  he  denies,  warned  and  yet 
unwarned,  thrice  ! 

The  mention  of  the  cock-crowing  might  be, 
first  of  all,  a  simple  definition  of  time;  as  in 
Mark  xiii.  35  the  dXEHToftO(pa}via,  elsewhere 
al.<;o  dXEHzpvoqioovia,  the  Latin  gnilicinium, 
among  the  Hebrews  I33n  DXn;?.     The  cock 

crows  once  at  midnight ;  then  again  toward 
morning,  that  is,  very  early,  midway  between 
midnight  and  morning.  The  first,  the  earliest 
crowing,  is  not  heard  by  most,  hence  the  cock- 
crowing  generally   signified   tho  second  ;t  yet 


*  In  John  also  the  first  time,  Verily,  Verily. 
f  According  (o  Censorinus,  follows  the  cont\ 
turn,  cum  conticuere  gaiit. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  31-34, 


961 


we  also  find  gaUidnium  secundum  mentioned. 
Hence  in  Aristophan.  Ecc.  the  expression,  ore 
TO  dfvrEpov  aXeHtpvoav  etpOeyysro — and 
tlie  like  in  Heliodor.,  Synesius,  Juvenal,  etc. 
Hence  the  proverbial  saying  adduced  by 
Erasmus,  jrpzV  7)  to  devTspov  dXeurpvoov 
icpSeyyero.  We  may  accordingly  say,  with 
Meyer's  note,  "  What  elsewhere  (in  Matt.)  and 
even  here  seems  to  be  only  a  general  definition 
of  lime,  was  a:t,erwards  literally  fulfilled."  But 
this  admits  that  it  only  appeared  to  be  a  pro- 
verbial expression,  and  consequently,  as  the 
result  sliowed,  was  meant  literally  at  first ;  and 
the  latler  is  all  the  more  important,  as  the 
time  of  the  cock-crowing  was  not  invariably 
fixed.  But  here,  as  the  climax  given  above 
shows,  the  exactitude  of  the  prediction  was 
designed  for  Peter's  especial  conviction. 

But  there  is,  in  addition  to  this,  something 
mysleri  us  which  envelopes  the  mention  of  the 
cock  in  this  place.  It  is  a  strange  and  signifi- 
cant creature;*  its  crv  as  a  nocturnal  watcher 
(vigil  r.octurnus  in  Pliny)  is  a  specific  token 
among  men.  Cicero,  De  Biviji.  lib.  2,  records 
it  as  a  saying  of  Callisthenes,  that  the  gods  had 
given  to  cocks  the  sign  of  their  crowing.  Its 
voice  affrights  even  lions,  as  was  observed  in 
very  early  times  with  wonder.  "  In  the  crow- 
inst  of  a  cock,"  says  the  venerable  Bochart 
(Ilieroz  icon,  in  the  chapter  de  galli  cantu), 
"  there  are  two  things  remarkable  ;  one,  that 
BO  small  a  creature  should  cry  with  so  loud  a 
voice,  as  to  be  heard  at  a  vast  distance ;  the 
other,  that  it  sings  at  stated  ho>;rs,  and  at  such 
time  as  other  birds  are  silent  in  sleep."  That 
is — He  is  the  watcher  and  crier  in  nature.  As 
such,  the  ancient  Christians  often  referred  to  it, 
in  relation  to  Peter's  history.  Ambrose  mag- 
nifies the  cock  even  as  the  comforter  who  pro- 
claims mercy  to  those  who  return  from  their 
sin.  In  the  hymn  yE erne  rerum  condit^r  the 
cock  is  said  to  cry  to  us  not  to  deny  our  Lord. 
In  that  ol  Prudentius  Ad  galli  cantum  the  cry 
of  the  cock  is  represented  as  driving  away  the 
evil  sj)ii-its  of  the  night. f  Though  all  this 
arose  after  the  fact,  yet  it  points  back  to  a 
typical  sienificance  of  the  cock  in  nature,  of 
which  antiquity  had  a  universal  feeling,^  and 


*  Their  namps  in  all  languni2:>s  (tis  Au^usti, 
in  his  treatise  concerning  rcclesiaslical  animals, 
shows)  are  very  diverse  and  obscure.  T  le  deri- 
vation in  Eu'^la'.hius  seems  pi  tin  ;  bnt  as  far  as  it 
regards  aXsHrajp  alone — w!>o  goes  not  to  led,  the 
wakeful. 

f  We  are  told  that  a  figure  of  the  cock  which 
cvowed  at  Peter's  denial  is  had  in  reverence  in  one 
of  tlie  Armeni.in  convents  (BaseUr  3Ii  sions-Mag. 
1847). 

+  Those  who  are  fond  of  the  like  may  find  the 
Rabbinical  fables  about  the  gigantic  gallus  silves- 
tris  in   Luxtorf,  Zfa;.     T«?;».  s.  v.  piJ^inj   and  in 

Bochart,  Ilieroz.  1.  c.  the  Arabian  myths  about  the 
wliite  cocli  by  the  throne  of  God,  whose  voice 
gives  the  sisnal  tCTa'l  the  cocks  upon  earth.  We 
do  not,  how  ver,  refer  to  these  fables,  but  to  the 
Iundan»ental  feeling  from  which  they  sprang. 


which  the  Lord  in  his  word  to  Peter  recognized. 
It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  "  Thetoatclier  in  the  night 
will  finally  awaken  thee,  yet  (as  in  the  case  of 
most  who  sleep  and  hear  not)  not  till  the 
second  crowing  in  this  night;  although  thou 
bodily  watchest — and  sinnest — the  first  cry 
will  be  in  vain,  and  the  second  find  thee  already 
a  triple  sinner."  All  Christian  people  should 
learn  to  be  sober  and  watchful  while  God  is 
making  his  cock  crow  in  our  ears.  Tliere  are 
many  appointed  to  confess  his  name  who  deny 
it,  and  the  very  cock  on  their  church-tower's 
should  remind  them  of  Peter.  But  the  ques- 
tion has  been  asked — Were  there  cocks  in  Jeru- 
salem ?  It  is  certainly  strange,  since  their  con- 
nection with  Egypt  might  have  led  us  to  ex- 
pect otherwise,  that  the  Jews  from  the  begin- 
ning seem  to  have  known  nothing  of  fowls; 
in  the  Old  Testament  at  least  they  are  unmen- 
tioned.*  But  that  may  be  explained  as  a  for- 
tuitous circumstance,  like  many  other  words 
and  things  which  do  not  hnppen  to  occur. 
Further,  the  Mishna  records  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem,  and  the  priests  everywhere, 
could  not  possess  them,  because  they  scraped 
up  unclean  worms.  Accepting  this  in  good 
faith,  many  have  resorted  to  the  strangest  ex- 
pedients to  account  for  Peter's  cock  ;t  but 
Winer  may  well  say  that  the  saying  in  the 
Talmud  has  no  force  against  the  evangelical 
narrative.  Certainly,  a  cock  might  crow  at 
any  rate  outside  the  city,  or  in  the  Roman  pre- 
cincts (we  do  not  find  "the  definite  article,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  in  any  of  the  four 
Gospels),  and  we  may  say  with  Bengel  :  "  Be- 
cause cocks  were  unusual  among  the  Jew.s, 
though  the  Romans  could  not  of  course  be  pre- 
vented from  having  them,  so  much  the  more 
wonderful  was  the  prediction  of  our  Lord."  But 
we  prefer  to  seek  the  wonderful  or  the  more 
wonderful  not  so  much  in  these  externalities, 
as  in  the  natural  significance  of  the  cock-crow- 
ing generally;  and  connected  here  with  the 
precise  appointment  which  showed  that  in  the 
divine  counsel  all  was  arranged  for  the  awaken- 
ing of  Peter  at  the  hour. 

The  crowing  of  a  code  (and  in  how  many 
ways  has  nature,  overruled  for  our  salvation, 
provided  such  cock-crowings),  may  suddenly 
awaken  the  deafened  sinner,^  but  only  when  a 


*  The  o'.d  translations  so  termed  the  collective 
VnT>  P™^-  ^^^-  ^1'  ^'^^  "'1^??''  '^'^^-  -'^•^^^■'''-  ^'^' 
but  this  was  incorrect.  The  Chaldee  Talniudical 
nameis^iJJ-in,  N^Jpn  (of  doubtful  derivation); 
the  cock  was  also  called  123  (the  man),  and  the 
hen  TT'in?. 

\  As,  that  dXsHTOop  was  the  Roman  Bnccinntor, 
or  the  watciimanof  the  Jewish  court  of  judgment, 
or  some  other  human  watch— see  AViner  in  Jtcallcx. 
On  the  other  hand,  Sepp  (iii.  477)  refers  as  to 
nnan  n^''-\\>,  as  also  to  the  other  Rabknical  sny- 
ings,  which  imply  that  there  were  cocks  in  Jeru- 
salem. 

X  Hiller  :  Jesus  might  have  astounded  him  with 


562 


THE  SWORD. 


vxrr'l  has  preceded  wliidi  it  impresses  upon  the 
mind.  Again,  the  most  powerful  and  con- 
vincing word  may  be  in  vain,  as  we  see  here  in 
Peter.  He  is  not  to  be  instructed  by  mere 
word?,  even  from  the  lips  of  his  Master  ;  he 
goes  bevond  his  Master,  as  he  goes  beyond  him- 
self, in  assurances  of  his  fidelity.  As  according 
to  Luke  and  John  he  had  once  already  spoken 
in  contradiction,  he  does  so  now  again.  The 
Ih  niipi66ov  in  Mark  (another  reading  exTtE- 
pz66aii)  may  mean  the  strength  of  his  affirma- 
tion, and  the  repetition  of  what  he  mid  ;  but  it 
may  also  mean  yet  nnce  more,  with  a  hint  that 
this  waa  not  the   first  time.     Yet  we  prefer, 


comparing  Mark  vi.  51,  the  former,  connecting 
it  with  fiaXXov — the  more  determinately  the 
Lord  had  spoken,  the  more  express  was  his 
contradiction.  The  rest  will  not  be  worse  than 
i  he,  but  suffer  themselves  to  be  led  away  into 
equal  presumption.  All  the  disciples,  that  is, 
all  who  remained  (for  Judas'  removal  is  silent- 
ly taken  for  granted  since  ver.  61),  say  the 
same.  The  Lord  says  nothing  more,  but  leaves 
them  the  last  word,  till  the  approaching  hour 
shall  convince  them  of  their  folly;  and  also  (as 
Wesley  remarks)  that  he  might  not  provoke 
them  to  greater  guilt. 


CONCERNING  THE  SWORD. 


(Luke  xxii.  35-38.) 


The  Lord  spoke  yet  one  serene  word  to  his 
di.sciples,  before  the  anguish  of  his  soul  began : 
and  at  the  time  of  their  going  forth.  For  his 
muid  and  heart  was  full  to  the  last  of  all  that 
he  had  to  say  to  them  at  his  departure :  and  he 
continually  poured  out  of  that  fulness  by  de- 
grees, as  they  might  bear  it.  His  own  des- 
tiny less  occupied  his  soul — what  self-renunci- 
at:on  ! — than  the  future  trials  and  dangers  of 
his  disciples  in  the  world,  which  would  begin 
w.th  the  withdrawal  of  Ins  earthly  presence. 
This  great  bul.  ainc  is  ever  before  his  eyes  in  its 
aspect  toward  tliem,  and  it  presses  upon  his 
heart  as  the  critical  hour  approaches — the  less 
they  anticipate  its  issue,  the  more  constrained 
is  he  to  speak  of  it.  He  had  already  spoken 
of  their  impending  ttmpta/iim  and  sifting,  and 
therein  of  their  spiritual  perils,  with  the 
melancholy  fall  of  the  denier;  it  remains  now 
that  he  should  utter  a  warnmgof  their  coming 
eMo-nal  dingers,  exh'ihiied  by  a  few  emphatic 
touches.  He  thus  returns  to  the  theme,  varia- 
tions upon  which  had  been  heard  in  John  xv. 
18-21,  xvi.  1-4;  but  now  with  moat  decisive 
explanation  of  his  meaning,  bringing  into 
sharp  prominence  the  contrast  between  their 
previouf  and  tlicir  future  condition.  This  is 
ihe  saying,  so  raturaliy  to  be  expected,  which 
Luke  presorvee  The  "  and  he  saiil  nnfo  than," 
as  a  formula  (or  the  indefinite  compilation  of 
the  various  sayings  of  thi:s  evening  (as  in  ver. 
31),  leaves  ua  quite  free  to  place  these  words 
either  here  or  there;  but  we  liMve  found  the 
order  of  time  hitherto  so  specifically  marked 
that  we  may  probably  regard  this  word  con- 
cerning the  sword  as  the  last  before  Gethsem- 
ane.  It  thus  actually  followed  (after  a  pause 
in  the  going  forward)  upon  the  second  predic- 


tbuii'ler.     But  bis  love  wakened  him  by  gentler 
lueaus. 


tion  of  the  denial,  as  it  stands  here  in  Luke 
after  the  fir?t.  But  if  Matthew  and  Mark  are 
right  that  that  second  intimation  of  the  denial 
took  place  when  the  going  forth  had  already 
begun,  ver.  39  in  Luke  must  be  a  supplemen- 
tary notice  that  this  also  concerning  tlie  sword 
was  spoken  during  the  continuous  journey. 
Nor  do  we  see  any  thing  to  oppose  it ;  lor  Luke 
does  not  write  xai  or  rorc  or  raCra  einaov 
kzijXOs  (as  John  xviii.  1),  but  rather,  nat  kieX- 
Oooy  (a:ter  thus  speaking  he  had  gone  forth) 
knopevOtjy  etc. 

We  saw  before,  when  giving  Luke's  sum- 
mary, how  perfectly  the  words  harmonize  with 
the  position  of  things  at  the  time,  and  with  the 
circle  of  thought  in  which  the  Lord's  discourse 
moves.  He  had  predicted  to  them,  in  contrast 
with  their  previous  circumstances,  and  especial- 
ly with  their  earlier  mission,  a  time  of  need  arvl 
danger  for  his  disciples  ;  he  gives  the  reason  for 
this,  ver.  37,  in  his  own  going  before  to  a 
shameful  death.  But,  as  we  saw  before  and 
shall  now  see  again,  while  there  is  a  similarity, 
inasmuch  as  the  enmity  of  the  world  will  be 
shown  against  his  followers  even  as  it  was 
against  their  leader,  there  is  yet  also  an  impor- 
tant difference — he  alone  surrenders  himself 
to  pure  suffering  ;  they  may  use  foresight  and 
prudential  defence.  When  the  disciples  mis- 
understand liis  strong  and  sharply-defined  word 
— as  if  it  referred  to  the  present  time,  and  the 
question  was  his  own  defence — he  breaks  off 
sorrowfully  and  abruptly.  For  the  experience 
which  will  teach  them  all  is  as  near  as  the  de- 
nial of  Peter. 

Verse  35.  It  must  be  admitted  that  their 
wise  teacher  docs  all  that  he  can  to  awaken  his 
disciples'  attention  and  understanding.  It  is 
his  intention  to  tell  them — But  now  it  will  be 
otherwise.  He  therefore  requires  them  to  say 
how  it  had  been  before.     lie  catechizes  them 


LUKE  XXII.  36. 


563 


upon  their  past  experience,  just  as  in  Mark 
viii.  19.  The  when,  with  its  backward  refer 
ence,  points  to  something  distinctive,  "  icTien  I 
sent  you  forth" — not,  as  Luther  translates,  a.s 
often' as  For  he  had  sent  forth  disciples  gene-  j 
rally  only  twice,  and  the  twelve  only  that  once 
whicli  Luke  reports  in  chap.  ix.  3,  and  to 
which  llierefore  the  reference  here  is  plain. 
The  Lord  does  not  ask  them  if  icith  him  they 
had  ever  sufifered  want;  ior  prmmites  eos  aluit 
Dominns,  as  Bengel  says,  and  there  had  been 
always  something  remaining  for  the  poor. 
But,  "  when  I  sent  you  away  from  me  into  the 
world  (as  the  lype  of  the  mission  now  ap- 
proaching), without  provision  and  with  the 
express  prohibition  to  make  any* — had  ye  need 
of  any  thing?"  Mark  that  not  to  have  need 
was  then  at  the  outset  enough ;  superfluity 
was  to  tlie  Lord's  disciples  too  much.  He  may 
with  confidence  so  ask  ;  for,  although  in  that 
itineration  there  might  occasionally  have  been 
mockery  and  rejection,  slight  necessity  and 
self-dfiiial,  yet  on  the  whole  they  never  really 
lacked  any" thing;  certainly  they  were  never 
in  absolute  want  and  peril.  His  accompanying 
protection,  his  Father's  providence,  had  gently 
led  them  through  all,  protected  them  sufficient- 
ly, and  cared  for  all  their  necessities.  It  would, 
indeed,  have  been  no  wonder  if  these  preachers 
of  repentance  and  of  faith  in  a  kingdom  of  God 
which  came  without  observation,  and  in  a 
MesHitdi  different  from  the  general  expectation, 
taking  nothing  with  them,  moreover,  had  fallen 
into  great  necessity  :  and  thereibre  the  Lord 
points  to  the  wonder  of  their  successful  course 
when  he  dent  tham.  The  disciples  perfectly  well 
undM-s1*and  him  in  this;  and,  unlike  those  who 
have  complaints  always  ready  that  this  or  that 
has  been  wanting  to  them,  they  admit  joyfully, 
thankfully,  sincerely,  and  in  the  same  sense  in 
winch  they  were  asked— NiAhing.  No  Christian 
but  may  and  must  forever  make  this  symboli- 
cal word  iiis  own,  even  in  the  hardest  times, 
and  "  looking  back  upon  his  past,  whatever 
may  have  been  its  character,  utter  nothing 
but  contentment,  thankfulness,  and  praise" 
(Nitzsch).  The  Lord  has  been  our  shepherd, 
we  have  wanted  nothing — see  further  Psa. 
xxxiv.  10,  11,  Ixxxiv.  12.  The  Lord  sends  us 
and  leads  us  all  at  first  in  such  a  manner  that 
this  admission  is  rendered  easy  ;  many  so  gen- 
tly and  graciously  that  they  may  go  furiher 
and  be  disposed  to  think  that  they  have  been 
lacking  in  no  spiritual  gift  (1  Cor.  i.  7).  But 
this  IS  only  the  discipline  of  children;  the 
sterner  sequel  must  follow. 

Verse  36.     The   Lord  does  not  proceed  as 

Crobably  many  expected — And  so  shall  it  still 
e,  ye  may  still  reckon  upon  the  same.  Oh, 
no ;  fivin  this  time  they  are  not  only  to  use 
pursti  and  scrip,  but,  before  all  things,  even  if 
at  the  cost  of  their  garments,  they  are  to  have 
a  sinord.     How  can  this  be  meant'?     Certainlv 


not  in  the  special  literal  sense  which  the  word 
seems  to  bear,  and  which  has  found  its  tame 
and  unworthy  explanation  in  Seller's  remark — 
"The  Apostles  would  now  have,  in  part  at 
least,  to  travel  far  beyond  Judea,  and  in  regions 
where  they  would  require  provision  of  susten- 
ance and  even  weapons  to  defend  them  against 
robbers  and  murderers."  He  who  has  in  any 
degree  entered  into  the  spirit  of  these  last  say- 
ings of  our  Lord  will  pre-suppose  a  more  com- 
prehensive and  profound  meaning  in  these 
words.  It  is  obvious  that  there  is  a  correspon- 
dence between  the  preliminary,  typical  "  ichen 
lient  ymi"  and  the  now  approaching  period  of 
their  new  and  proper  mission,  as  Apostles; 
consequently,  the  Lord  speaks  here  of  the  en- 
tire future  of  these  Apostles  and  of  his  disciples 
in  common,  of  that  new  and  different  time 
which  should  follow  the  noio  of  his  death;  and 
in  the  same  symbolical  and  general  sense  as  he 
hfid  spoken  to  them  on  their  first  mission.  It 
is  still  more  certain  that  he  does  not  speak 
concerning  the  few  days  immediately  at  hand. 
Hitherto  there  had  been  no  lack  even  in  exter- 
nal things,  but  an  easy  well-cared-for  course, 
with  resl  and  protection  from  above  ;  but  now 
their  way  would  need  provision  and  prudence, 
and  would  even  involve  conflict,  in  which  they 
themselves  must  provide  for  themselves  pro- 
tection and  defence  :  this  is  the  plain  meaning 
in  general.  Thus  will  it  go  on,  before  ye  (ver. 
30)  sit  at  my  table,  and  on  your  thrones. 
That  must  be  said  in  some  form  as  the  comple- 
ment of  his  farewell  discourses;  as  we  shall  see 
if  we  take  this  occasion  to  glance  over  the 
whole. 

We  must  now  observe  the  individual  ex- 
pression a  little  more  closely,  in  order  to  pro- 
ceed more  safely  in  the  investigation  of  the 
meaning  of  the  whole  clause.  The  he  that  hath 
seems  to  intimate  that  there  will  be  many  who 
will  not  have  purse,  and  scrip,  and  shoes  ;  thus 
preparing  the  way  for  what  follows — that  there 
will  be  something  else  still  more  needful  to  them. 
But  he  that  hath  these  must  not  leave  them  at 
home,  as  was  enjoined  formerly,  but  must  tale 
them  tcith  him  as  prudent  provision  against  lack. 
This  interpretation  of  dpdroa  is  plainly  demand- 
ed by  the  antithesis;  it  was  only  an  exegetical 
necessity  on  account  of  the  /.ir)  exoov,  "that 
hath  not"(which  can  be  much  betterexplained), 
that  gave  birth  to  the  artificial  rendering— Let 
him  who  hath  purse  or  scrip  take,  that  is,  sell 
these  to  procure  a  sword.  It  was  scarcely 
needful  lor  Olshausen  to  remark  that  the 
weighty  contrast  with  ver.  25  would  in  that 
case  be  lost :  it  may  be  added  that  evei-y  thing 
would  then  be  made  to  depend  upon  or  be  sub- 
ordinate to  the  sword.  He  that  hath  not  must 
sell  his  garment  and  buy  a  sword  instead  !* 
The  saying  is  thus  made  very  singular,  and 
there  is  some  difficulty  in  the  first  words  of  it 


*  See  the  explaflation  on  Matt.  x.  9,  10.  Ba- 
\dvTiov  (there  8,odvtj)  stands  here  for  the  pro- 
vision of  money  in  the  purse. 


*  Bengel  prefers  the  reading  nai  ayopa'det, 
which  would  make  little  difierence,  even  if  ad- 
missible :  he  takes  that  for  afuturum  comccutivwn 
as  in  Mark  iii.  27,  and  adduces  several  examples. 


504 


THE  SWORD. 


fir)  excav.  Many  take  it  to  be,  He  that  hath 
no  purse,  consequently  7W  money.  So  Grotius: 
"  He  who  hath,  that  is  to  say,  no  such  purse 
as  those  carry  who  have  money."  Similiarly 
Bengal,  "  No  money  wherewith  to  buy  it." 
This  seems  very  simple,  but  is  not  correct ;  for 
that  concerning  the  scri'p  is  not  simply  inter- 
posed ;  the  "likewise  his  scrip"  must  also  be 
completed  by  "  he  that  hath,  let  hini  take." 
But  the  interpretation  of  the  /<?/  ex^iv  by  the 
following  dyopdZ,Eiv  (he  who  hath  not  what  is 
necessary  in  order  to  buy)  is  forced,  and  forgets 
that  6  Exayy  preceded.  Equally  forced  seems 
the  other  method  of  solution,  "He  that  hath 
no  sword,"  ]et  him  buy  one  at  any  cost;  al- 
though the  Peshito  translated  at  once  r\)>  D^^T 

^n^p,  which  is  followed  by  Stolz,'De  Wette, 

Van  Ess,  and  confirmed  by  Lange,  "  He  who  is 
not  yet  provided  with  a  weapon."  Olshausen 
hits  the  right  medium,  and  gives  the  o.nly  true 
sense,  according  to  which  o  ju^  exoov  is  as  it 
must  be  the  antithesis  of  o  £.^gjk,  but  without 
any  further  specific  reference  to  scrip,  purse, 
and  shoes.  The  contrast  is  now,  he  that  hath 
and  he  that  haih  not;  consequently,  //;/  exoov 
is  equivalent  to  ov8ev  Excay,  having  nothing. 
Lange  says  correctly.  He  that  is  not  provided 
beforehand  :  but  it  is  to  be  supplied  by — with 
that  which  is  necessary  or  commanded.  There 
is  thus  ?t.  sudden  advancement  of  the  thought — 
To  him  I  will  recommend  something  still  more 
needful,  yea,  the  thing  most  medful  ;  let  him  by 
all  means  take  care  to  have  a  sword  !  For  that 
he  may  even  sell  the  garment,  that  which  was 
otherwise  necessary — for  such  is  the  meaning 
of  TO  i/Ltdrioy  avrov,  and  it  docs  not  merely 
refer  to  "decency"  which  must  be  made  sub- 
ordinate. Consequently:  A  time  is  now  at 
hand,  when — in  certam  circumstances — it  may 
be  more  necessary  for  you  to  have  with  you 
weapons  of  defence,  than  to  have  gold  or  bread 
and  be  fitly  clothed,  etc.* 

Thus  the  Lord  speaks  in  startling  contrast 
with  Luke  ix.  3  or  Matt.  x.  9.  10.  But,  as  we 
saw  tiiere  that  the  prohibition  of  any  equip- 
ment and  provision  for  the  way  had  a  meaning 
for  all  times  and  all  circumstances,  so  also  the 
direction  now  decisively  changed  must  be  un- 
derstood in  consistency  with  that.  And  there 
must  be  a  mediating  interpretation  sought  here, 
as  in  all  those  places  where  the  Scripture,  and 
the  Lord  in  the  Scripture,  teaches  thus  para- 
doxically by  .rigorous  contrasts.  If  ho  now 
says,  to  his  disciples,  "  Hencel'orward  under- 
stand not  my  former  words  in  their  strict  lit- 
erality" — without  thereby  contradicting  the 
spirit  which  was  in  that  letter;  so  we  must  be 


*  Fn:ally,*tliat  /.idxotipoc  stands  here  in  its  com- 
mon acceptation  lor  a  sword,  is  incoiitrovcrliuJe 
from  tlic  fiiadation  in  the  sentence,  and  its  con- 
nection with  tlie  sulisi  (inent  swords,  and  espo- 
cialiy  that  of  Peter.  It  is  only  throuuh  dv-'spairiurr 
of  tiie  meaning  that  the  idea  of  a  "  saciific  al 
knife"  as  necessnry  in  travelling  could  have  en- 
tered into  the  miud. 


similarly  on  our  guard  in  the  present  case  lest 
we  take  the  words  in  their  strict  literality 
alone. 

It  must  be  perfectly  plain  to  every  on«  who 
understands  our  Lord's  manner  of  speakuig, 
that  he  does  not  intend  literally  to  ordain  that 
whoever  among  his  disciples  had  no  sword 
must,  even  at  the  cost  of  selling  his  garmenl, 
procure  one.  What  then  does  he  mean?  He 
expressly  and  concretely  says,  "  Henceforth  be 
it  not  merely  permitted,  but  my  command,  that 
ye  avail  yourselves  of  all  natural  means  of  pro- 
vision and  defence  in  your  way  through  an 
opposing  world  and  all  its  oppression"  All 
this  is  very  well,  if  we  not  content  ourselves 
with  such  fleeting  generalities;  but  when  tiie 
expression  is  so  sharply  defined  as  it  is  here,  it 
must  retain  its  literal  significance.  But  how 
is  this  to  be  defended  in  connection  with  the 
obvious  truth  that  Christ's  disciples,  as  such, 
and  in  his  affairs,  are  not  to  bear  or  use  the 
sword?  Orthodox  expositors  have  witli  one 
consent,  from  Chrys.,  Theoph.,  Enthym.,  down- 
ward to  the  present  day,  explained  it  as  by  a 
firm  tradition,  that  the  Lord  spoke  figurative- 
ly or  proverbially  concerning  spiritual  armor. 
"  Using  a  proverbial  and  figurative  mode  of 
speaking  very  H^miliar  in  those  days,  he  intend- 
ed to  say — It  will  now  be  as  when  men  in  times 
of  perils  are  won:,  to  say,  thinking  of  their  de- 
fence. Whosoever  has  a  purse  with  money,  etc." 
Thus  runs  the  confident  comment  of  the  Hirsch' 
herger  Bibel.  Plenninger,  too,  regards  this  as 
the  evident  meaning:  "We  know  already  that 
he  by  no  means  designed  to  put  swords  into 
the  hands  of  his  disciples  for  defence.  Tiiis, 
therefore,  is  one  of  his  bold  and  penetrating 
sudden  turns,  and  expresses  the  fundamental 
idea — Danger  must  now  be  provided  against 
by  all."  If  we  think  no  deeper,  nothing  seems 
clearer  than  this;  for  although  the  external 
sword  has  its  proper  place  and  occasion,  yet  it 
cannot  be  used  in  the  affairs  of  Christ,  and  l)y 
his  messengers  as  such,  who  are  here  especially 
spoken  of  It  is  altogether  inconceivable  that 
the  Lord  would  give  svch  counsel  to  every  dis- 
ciple who  was  not  so  provided. 

Yet,  when  we  look  more  closely,  every  thing 
is  against  this  cursory  spiritual  interprelalion. 
Not,  indeed,  be.-au.se  it  might  be  asked — How 
could  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  be  bought?  for 
Rev.  iii.  18  would  answer  that.  But  first:  If 
the  Lord  meant  spiritual  defence  against  an 
evil  time,  he  used  a  very  perilous  word  to  sig- 
nify it,  and  one  which  was  neco.s.<;arily  open  to 
misunderstanding.  It  has,  indeed,  l)een  solved 
thus:  "The  heaviest  persecution  was  now  about 
to  begin;  enemies  were  at  l;and  with  swonls 
and  scourges;  so  that  if  a  man  should  wish  to 
depend  upon  human  defence  and  take  care  of 
himself  in  the  manner  usual  among  men,  he 
could  not  do  better  than,  selling  all  things, 
provide  himself  with  a  sword.  By  this  sign, 
therefore,  was  given  to  be  understood  the  thing 
signified.  By  the  necessity  of  the  sword  he 
syuibolically  intimates  the  greatness  of  iheii 
impending  danger."     But,  to  our  feeling,  it  ia 


LUKE  XXII.  36. 


665 


strange  and  perfectly  unjustifiable  to  introduce 
this  "  if  a  man  should  wish "  where  such  a 
wish  was  to  be  forbidden ;  and  this  "  usual 
manner"  where  it  was  to  have  no  place;  and 
the  "  iiecessiiy  oi  the  sword  "  as  explaining  gred 
danger.  We  ask,  If  the  Lord  will  have  no  use 
of  the  external  sword,  why  does  he  speak  to 
people  already  too  much  disposed  to  it  in  a 
manner  so  misleading?  Lange  gives  an  acute 
answer,  which  does  not  seem  to  put  the  full 
force  of  the  question  :  "  lie  knew  that  Simon 
had  already  been  thinking  of  the  means  of  of- 
fence and  defence,  and  that  his  heart  was  set 
upon  the  evil  method  of  physical  violence. 
This  he  would  now  bring  to  light.  He  used 
the  expression  «w»yZ  when  he  exhorted  them  to 
the  use  of  spiritual  armor,  in  order  to  make 
them  disclose  and  exhibit  their  provision  for 
earthly  violence."  However  ingenious  this  is, 
it  is  mani'estly  wrong.  Who  would  not  imme- 
diately reply  that  Christ  could  rebuke  the  dis- 
ciples' hankering  after  the  sword  in  a  much 
more  fitting,  intelligible,  and  piercing  way  than 
by  the  use  ot  such  irony  as  must  fail  of  its  ob- 
ject? Again,  who  can  imagine  that  even 
Simon,  not  to  say  others  with  him,  would  pro- 
vide secretly  swords  against  the  enemies  of  Jesus 
— and  moreover  precisely  two  swords  ?  Accord- 
ing to  this  view,  they  produce  their  weapons 
triumphantly,  and  their  "  leho'A  Lord"  means, 
thou  hast  rightly  spoken,  and  we  have  already 
cared  for  this.  I  confess  that  this  is  to  me 
perfectly  irreconcilable  with  the  whole  character 
and  relations  of  the  disciples;  and  hold  that 
their  wise  Master  could  never  have  corrected 
their  great  error  by  a  seeming  requirement, 
masking  a  spiritual  meaning,  to  provide  them- 
selves swords — and  then,  when  they  have 
shown  the  swords  they  had,  have  said  merely. 
It  is  enough!  In  truth,  he  must  have  foreseen 
not  merely  the  misunderstandmg  of  his  "pro- 
phetic, figurative  words,"  but  also  the  utter  in- 
sufficiency of  his  rebuke — and  therefore  could 
not  have  spoken  in  this  sense.  "  It  is  true 
(says  Von  Gerlach)  that  the  misunderstanding 
nad  evil  results;  but  it  was  better  that  they 
should  be  produced,  and  the  roots  of  the  evil 
thus  disclosed  and  corrected."  And  did  the 
Lord  then  speak  in  anticipation  of  Peter's 
drawing  and  using  his  sword,  that  so  he  might 
be  condemned?  How  can  it  be  so  easily  for- 
gotten that  this  rash  u.?e  of  the  sword  was  a 
heavy  disgrace  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  as 
such  a  not  insignificant  element  in  his  Passion? 
Most  certainly,  this  will  not,  any  more  than 
the  other  methods,  warrant  our  supposing  the 
Lord  to  have  spoken  of  "  spiritual  equipment." 
But,  secondly  :  As  the  scrip,  and  shoes,  and 
purse  are  to  be  understood,  so  and  not  other- 
wise must  the  sword  be  understood.  But  these 
things  are  in  Matt,  x.,  and  here  also,  promi- 
nent examples  of  many  other  things  of  the  like 
kind;  figures  therefore  which,  however,  repre- 
sent external  provision  for  need,  corporeal  re- 
sources, unless  the  whole  connection  of  thought 
is  thrown  into  confusion.  (Or  are  we  to  think 
of  heavenly  treasures  which  are  current  in  the 


kingdom  of  God,  of  provision  in  spiritual 
purses  of  spiritual  virtues?)  To  this  corres- 
ponds only  external  corporeal  defence,  though 
"sword"  as  the  strongest  expression  of  it  in- 
cludes very  much.  As  the  Lord  permits  from 
this  time  forward,  yea,  in  a  certain  sense  com- 
mands, that  all  the  earthly  good  which  a  man 
has  should  be  used  in  his  service  against  7ieed, 
just  so  he  appoints,  yea,  command^,  the  pro- 
vision of  external  defence  against  threatened 
enmity.  For  need  through  enmity  even  against 
life — is  the  climax  of  the  lac/c  which  they  did 
not  experience.  Olshausen  indeed  contends,  in 
order  to  bring  out  a  fully  consistent  meaning, 
that  sword  must  be,  like  purse  and  scrip,  taken 
in  a  figurative  sense;  Lange  carries  that  inter- 
pretation so  far  as  to  make  it  Fay,  "  What  is 
now  requisite  is  an  entire  relinquishment  of 
and  departure  from  the  old  world."  But  how 
does  this  suit  the  directions  of  Matt,  x.,  from 
which  the  whole  discourse  takes  its  rise  ?  It 
must  be  maintained  that  the  resources  of  pro- 
vision are  primarily  external  against  earthly 
need,  consequently  the  resources  of  defence  are 
similarly  against  earthly  danger.  Thirdly,  and 
finally  :  The  entire  development  of  the  connec- 
tion, as  we  have  laid  it  down  at  the  outset, 
carries  us  not  back  to  spiritual  armor  for  spirit- 
ual conflict,  which  had  been  already  spoken  of 
in  vers.  31,  32,  but  leads  now  to  a  warning 
word  of  counsel  as  to  the  external  danger  ot 
need,  yea,  rather  of  persecution.  This  critical 
point,  which  has  its  essential  importance  and 
reality,  would  be  altogether  omitted  in  the 
farewell-discourses  of  our  Lord  to  his  disciples, 
if  these  last  words  are  interpreted  simoly  in  a 
spiritual  sense.  Hence  we  can  perceive  how 
precipitate  is  the  conclusion  of  Lange,  who 
generally  is  so  peculiarly  penetrating  and  orig- 
inal, but  here  falls  in  with  the  predominant  ex- 
position— "  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe 
that  the  words  can  be  understood  only  in  a 
figurative  sense."  When  he  mentions  his  only 
reason,  that  "  in  this  late  evening-hour  no  man 
could  think  of  buying  a  sword  in  the  proper 
sense,"  this  does  not  by  any  means  hit  the 
point.  For  it  is  plain  enough  in  any  case  that 
the  Lord  is  not  speaking  of  a  defence  on  this 
same  night;  this  was  the  specific  misun  ler- 
standing  of  the  disciples.  Between  the  refer- 
ence to  his  disciples'  appeal  to  the  sword  in 
that  which  mud  yet  be  accomplished  in  him*  and 
the  mere  inculcation  of  spiritual  defence  for 
all  his  future  disciples,  there  lies  much  which 
must  be  his  only  true  meaning.  That  they 
were  to  arm  themselves  with  faith,  pi-.-^-yer,  pa- 
tience, and  wise  provision  generally  for  all 
spiritual  emergency  (Matt.  x.  16,  17),  was  not 
the  thing  which  he  intended  in  this  connec- 
tion by  the  mention  of  the  sword. 

*  Sword,  awake  against  my  Shepherd !  This 
word  our  Lord  had  siill  in  his  thought,  from  the 
former  discourse.  This  gives  a  new  exi>lanatioa, 
how  he  came  to  express  it  here  so  strongly,  and 
also  a  new  evidence  that  he  did  not  mean  it  sim- 
ply of  spiritual  weapons. 


566 


THE  SWORD. 


"When,  however,  the  Lord  speaks  thus  strongly 
of  the  sword  alone,  all  kinds  of  defensive  armor 
being  in  question — when  he  plainly  declares,  as 
it  were,  that  every  one  at  every  cost  must  pro- 
cure a  sword — this  must  be  referred  to  the  pro- 
verbial, vivid  tone  of  the  expression,  to   the 
living  feeling  and  profound  earnestness  with 
which  he  would  bring  into  contrast  the  evil 
time  coming,  as  well  as  the  necessity  of  being 
armed  against  it.     Such  a  proverbial  character 
of  expression,  from  the  mere  letter  of  which  a 
spiritual  interpretation  has  something  to  deduct, 
is  quite  in  harmony  with  our  Lord's  manner  of 
teaching  elsewhere;  but  this  cannot  be  said  of 
a  spirit  ual  sense  alone,  excluding  all  externality, 
when  the  words  and  theentire connection  pertain 
to  external  things.     It  must  be  especially  re- 
marked that  the  progression  of  his  words  even 
to  their  most  rigorous  climax  has  led  him  to 
this  buying  of  the  sword — and  this  indicates  the 
worst  contingency,  of  course,  not  the  ordinary 
rule.     In  fine,  the  Lord's  very  remarkable  say- 
ing concerning  the  sword,*  as  far  as  our  most 
careful  and  well-considered  exegesis  can  appre- 
..  bend  it,  is  intended  providently  to  recognize 
and  appoint  for  the  future  of  his  disciples  the 
employment  of  earthly  means  of  protection  and  de- 
fence, in  opposition  to  what  we  may  call,  for 
brevity's  sake,  the  Quakerish  view.     Is  there 
any  thing  untrue  or  needless  in  this  ?     It  is 
of  itself  perfectly  plain  that  the  death-dealing 
sword    has  nothing  to  do  with  the  things  o! 
Christ's  kingdum,  the  spread  of  his  Gospel  and 
Church  (however  earth.y  power  may  be  sancti- 
fied to  its  preservation  and  defence)  ;  it  is  no 
other  than  a  wilful  misunderstanding  to  think 
that  the  Lord's  word  has  any  the  most  distant 
Mohammedan  sense.    This  is  manilestly  shown 
alterward  in  the  case  o!  Peter  in  Gethsemane 
(as  we  shall  devolope  the  consequences  of  his 
word),  and  still  more  expressly  in  John  xviii. 
3G.     And   it  is   equally  self-evident  that   the 
counsel  or  commandment  of  our  Lord  must  be 
followed  in  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  com- 
mandment  not  to  resist   evil,  in    Matt.    v.  39 
(which,  however,  itself  leaves  room  for  counter- 
defence,  see  vol.  i.).     To   this  Bengel's  subtile 
remark  in  his  Germ.  N.  T.  points  :  "A  sword, 
not  (so  much)  to  kill  any  other,  but  to  k^ep 
another's  sword  in  its  sheath."     in  other  words, 
for  defence  always  and  only,  never  for  the  first 
assault ;  the  sword  as  the  necessity  of  a  traveller. 
Kevertheless,  when  we  have  made  all  due  con- 
cessions and   deductions   as   to   the   sense   of 
this  concrete  and  progressional  utterance,  the 
actual  mention  of  the  actual  sword  remains  as 
a  testimony  of  Christ  to  us  all— that  his  dis- 
ciples,  servants,   and  messengers  in   this  evil 
aiul  un:nendly  world  must  no  longer  reckon 
upon    that  miraculous    protection  and   gentle 
course  whicii  his  Apostles  experienced  on  their 
first  trial  mission,  but  that  they  must  for  their 
personal  protection  of  the  life  which  belongs  to 
the  service  of  Christ  (that  alone  is  here  spoken 


*  Its  paradoxical  form  is  proof  of  itself  of  the 
authenticity  of  Luke's  traditioa. 


of),  in  certain  circumstances  and  times  of  in- 
tenser  danger,  even  have  recourse  to  the  equip- 
ment of  the  sword.  The  sword  here  stands  on 
the  same  level  with  the  purse  and  the  shoes, 
and  is  in  certain  cases  the  most  pressingly  ne- 
cessary of  all.  As  we  must  not  neglect  care  of 
the  exchequer  (and  the  Moravian  Brethren 
understand  now  better  than  they  did  how  im- 
portant is  the  care  of  the  finances),  as  manifold 
provision  for  the  pilgrim's  need  in  the  service 
of  Christ  is  by  no  means  unimportant,  when 
the  necessity  of  that  high  service  is  studied 
alone,  and  there  are  many  ■vTtoSi'ifxara  which 
might  assist  and  expedite  his  way  through  the 
world;  so  it  is  right  and  proper  that  he  should 
be  armed,  not  only  when  he  carries  the  peace 
of  Christ  among  the  wild  Battas  of  Sumatra — 
where  the  fate  of  Munson  and  Lynian  are  ex- 
amples— but  even  in  carrying  the  Bible  through 
Christian  Spain.  Generally  speaking,  every 
one  should  consider  that  the  promised  protec- 
tion of  the  Lord  is  vouchsafed  by  him  ordinarily 
according  to  the  course  of  this  world ;  and 
where  his  life  is  in  danger,  he  may  confidently 
and  without  scruple  defend  it,  since  it  is  the 
Lord's  commandment  that  he  should  not  throw 
his  life  undefended  away. 

Verse  37.  The  first /<>;•,  which  connects  the 
new  clause,  shows  that  the  Lord  is  here  giving 
the  reason  of  what  he  had  said,  and  we  under- 
stand it  at  the  outset .  "  For  with  myself  the 
way  leads  to  dire  ignominy,  through  the  bitter- 
est enmity  raging  against  me;  thence  learn  to 
estimate  how  much  hatred  ye  may  expect  from 
the  world  as  the  followers  of  one  thus  singled 
out "  (John  XV.  18).  This  is  the  first  time  that 
the  Lord  himself  directs  us  to  the  fifty-third 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  that,  pre-eminent  anil  com- 
plete te::t  of  the  Passion ;  but  it  will  scarcely 
be  expected  by  our  readers  that  we  should 
here,  as  in  the  case  of  Zechariah,  investigate 
the  Messianic  character  of  the  entire  section, 
and  show  the  connection  of  this  individual 
passage  in  the  [unity  of  the  whole  prophecy. 
That  would  lead  us  into  too  discursive  disqui- 
sition ;  and  if  any  where  it  is  here  permitted  to 
us  to  fall  back  upon  the  ecclesiastical  and  scrip- 
tural interpretation  which  has  prevailed  frora 
the  beginning.  The  later  theology,  after  all 
its  investigations  of  the  ni.T  121?,  and  its  occa- 
sionally useful  correction  of  the  one-sideness 
and  disjointedness  of  former  views,  must  needs 
come  back  to  the  old  reference  to  the  Messiah, 
Call  it  type  or  prophecy,  and  develope  the. ulti- 
mate meaning  as  it  points  to  a  fulfillment  in 
the  New  Testament,  as  you  will — but  do  not 
.contradict  the  supreme  authority  of  him  who 
between  the  sacramental  Passover  and  Geth- 
semane places  this  ysypaui-isyov  among  the 
prophecies,  of  which  he  decisively  says— r  a 
n  E  pi  I  n  ov,  ih^t  is,  in  this  connection,  ?A« 
thin^/f  written,  sjtoJcen,  ajypoinled  concerning  me. 

Chaps,  xlix.-lv.  of  Isaiah  announce  most 
clearly  to  all  open  eyes  God's  jilan  of  redemp. 
tion,  according  to  which  he  acquires,  pre. 
pares,  and  glorifies  his  true  Israel  in  l/ie  Messiah, 


LUKE  XXII.  S7. 


567 


and  by  tli'^  /leans  of  his  atoning,  regenerating 
sufferings.  Israel  is  God's  servant,  but  only 
because  tlie  Coming  One  is  himself  the  true 
Israel  (chap.  xlix.  3).  Thrice  in  progressive 
development  we  have  exhibited  oefore  our 
eyes  the  conflict  and  victory,  th<?  sufferings  and 
the  glory,  of  the  Future  One ;  then  the  follow- 
ing of  his  people  in  the  same  way,  and  the 
covenant  of  grace  thus  established.  The  third 
of  these  recurring  sections  embraces  chap.  lii.  13 
— to  the  end  of  chap.  Iv.  The  same  Lord  and 
God  who,  according  to  chap.  lii.  12,  is  in  the 
van  and  rearward  of  his  people's  new  deliver- 
ance, accomplishes  this  prudently  hy  his  servant, 
in  whose  person  he  comes  and  is  himself  with 
them  (chap.  lii.  6).  He  who  was  deeply  abased 
is  nevertheless  exalted ;  his  suiFering  is  an 
ofTence  and  cause  of  rejection,  but  his  suffering 
heals  the  offence  ;  after  tlie  patient  endurance 
of  a  sacrificial  death  he  lives  again  in  many. 
This  great  transition  appears  under  three  points 
of  view  ;  The  despised  root-shoot  grows  up  to 
a  rich  harvest  of  seed  ;  the  labor  of  his  soul  ob- 
tains the  fulness  of  recompense  ;  he  who  con- 
quered in  death  carries  with  him  his  great 
booty.  So  in  vers.  10-12,  the  exaltation  of  him 
who  was  humbled  is  described  specifically  at 
the  close — he  bears  and  takes  away  the  sin  of 
many,  himself  dying  the  death  of  a  sinner;  he 
enters  as  mediator  and  intercessor  for  evil- 
doers, even  as  he  is  reckoned  one  with  them. 
This  is  the  crown,  the  rsXoi  of  this  chaoter, 
compact  in  itself.  To  the  sublimely  comprehen- 
sive yjD^  D^yra^  corresponds  finally,  as  the 
way  and  means,  nJD3  D^i?"*2"nX.  As  certain- 
ly as  the  same  y'3a%  which  in  the  most  general 

and  fullest  sense  means  "lie  interposed  for*  the 
transgressors,"  v/as  specifically  and  visibly  ful- 
filled in  his  intercession  upon  the  cross;  even  so 
was  it  concretely  fulfilled  that  he  was  reckoned 
among  the  transgressors  (Niph. :  11",  submitted  to 
he  reckoned,  parallel  with  the  NfJ>3,  J?^il2%  P.^f!!'' 
nnj?n,of  his  own  personal  act),  when  in  hiscruci- 

fi.tion  he  was  placed  between  the  two  murderers 
as  the  third. t  Therefore  the  Lord  himself  cites 
this  word,  too,  in  the  same  manner  as  that  other 
in  Zechariah.t  When  he  says,  ert  tovzo, 
"  this  yet"  (this  addition  must  be  accepted  as 
genuine),  he  makes  prominent  the  disgrace 
thrown  upon  him  as  the  climax  of  his  sufiering 
in  its  external  manifestation.  It  must  be  ac- 
complished in  him,  because  it  is  written.  But 
what  means  the  apparently  superfluous  second 
clause  with  its  repeated /or  .*      Tekoi  «^£ij', 


*  The  continuous  future  of  his  exalted  state,  the 
tvrvyxdyeiv  ot  Heb.  vii.  25  parallel  with  the 
\2.  yspn,  ver.  6. 

f  Although  the  fulfillnxent  already  beains  in 
John  xviii.  30 ;  )L.deed,  still  further  back,  John  ix. 
24,  vii.  48,  etc. 

X  Again  //era?  dvojucoy,  more  exact  than  the 
Sep  .  iv  droMoii. 


have  an  end,  is  generally  regarded  as  one  and 
the  same  with  TEX£6Q))vai,  he  accompluhed,  aiid 
this  again  is  made  the  same  as  TtXi}pov60ai,  be 
fulfilled  ;  but  all  this  is  flat  tautology— It  must 
be  fulfilled  because  it  is  fulfilled.  The  turn  of 
expression  receives,  indeed,  another  sense  when 
TO.  nepi  £fiov  is  emphasized  as  meaning  all 
things  concerning  me — Because  all  that  was 
written  concerning  me  must  be  accomplished 
down  to  the  last,  this  also  is  accomplished,  the 
last  word  of  that  most  eminent  prediction  of 
the  Passion.  This  gives  the  words  their  true 
meaning;  only  that  reXoi  exsiv  must  have  a 
more  exact  application — If  this  vovro  is  yet 
accomplished,  because  all  must  be  accomplish- 
ed, then  the  fulfillment  of  all  has  thereby  an 
end.  It  is  useless  here  to  make  the  petty  ob- 
jection that  many  later  circumstances  of  the 
Passion,  and  many  things  concerning  the  resur- 
rection and  ascension  of  our  Lord,  were  also 
predicted,  and  that  therefore  the  reckoning 
among  the  transgressors  could  not  be  the  last 
thing.  Nor  should  this  objection  itself  be  ex- 
plained away  by  weakening  the  force  of  the 
simple  expression,  as  if  it  meant  only  that  all 
things  tended  thus  to  the  end,  and  when  this 
took  place  were  not  far  from  the  final  close. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Lord  speaks  here,  aa 
is  evident  from  the  significant  ^del,  must  (which 
always  has  this  reference),  only  of  his  sufferings; 
and,  on  the  other,  the  being  reckoned  among  the 
transgressors  continues  the  abiding  indignity 
even  to  the  end,  is  itself  the  climax  of  his  re- 
proach, the  lowest  depth  of  his  humiliation. 
The  TtjXeoQijyixi  had  already  implied  this;  and 
the  words  concerning  fulfillment  here  must  be 
taken  in  the  same  sense  as  the  rsTdXedrat 
upon  the  cross. 

But  we  must  now  look  more  closely  into  the 
two-fold/or  and  the  end,  in  order  to  bring  out 
what  most  expositors  have  overlooked.  If  it 
is  rightly  regarded  as  saying  generally  at  first 
— "  Prepare  yourselves  for  danger  and  enmity, 
think  of  protection  and  detence,  for  your  Lord 
must  die  the  death  of  a  malefactor;  "  we  must 
add  that  il/us  "  lor  "  plainly  intimates  also — 
"  But  not  on  my  account,  to  protect  and  save  me, 
provide  your  weapons."  That  was  so  plain 
that  the  misunderstanding  of  the  disciples  can 
only  be  explained  by  their  habitual  tendency 
to  overlook  all  the  announcements  of  the  Pas- 
sion. That  which  must  be  accomplished  in  hirli 
cannot  be  averted  by  any  sword  of  theirs. 
Thus  it  is  in  the  future  and  for  themselves,  as 
the  disciples  of  a  rejected  Master,  th.at  they  are 
to  provide  defence  ;  and  for  this  the  second  "  for  " 
brings  a  new  reason,  and  plainer  explanation. 
For  if  all  that  was  written  concerning  the  Pas- 
sion has  primarily  its  end  in  the  personal,  pa- 
tient, and  passive  atoning  sufferings  of  Christ, 
it  follows  that  we  are  by  no  means  appointed 
to  a  similar  perfect  renunciation  of  all  defence 
and  resistance,  as  if  all  was  binding  upon  us  aa 
by  an  equal  /?£?,  and  therefore  to  be  passively 
submitted  to.  Pre-supposing  and  admitting  ail 
that  fellowship  of  reproach,  and  suffering,  and 
patience,  which   is  our  badge  as   disciples  of 


668 


THE  SWORD. 


Christ,  there  is  yet  a  dhlindion  which  is  h^re  sig- 
nified. Concerning  ua  this  or  that  has  not  been 
specifically  written,  and  therefore  at  once  to  be 
yielded  to  with  submission,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Lamb  who  was  led  to  the  slaughter  and  opened 
not  his  mouth.  If  our  Lord,  according  to  the 
special  and  sole  decree  which  was  upon  him, 
was  under  the  necessity  of  devoting  himself  to 
the  sufferings  of  redemption,  that  had  its  end 
in  himself;  we,  who  suffer  not  for  atonement, 
but  for  our  own  purification  and  the  good  of 
our  brethren,  may  and  ordinarily  should  spare, 
protect,  and  even  defend  our  life — that  so  we 
may  spend  it  the  longer  and  the  more  effectu- 
ally in  love  for  our  brethren,  and  make  it  a  sac- 
rifice in  the  only  way  which  is  permitted  to 
us.  It  will  be  seen  what  light  now  falls  upon 
the  words  concerning  the  sword  ;  the  Lord  aoes 
not  speak  of  spiritual  things,  but  certainly  of 
need  and  danger  to  befall  his  disciples,  just  as 
of  his  own  sufferings  and  death  ;  he  does  not 
mean  how  they  are  to  defend  him,  but  how 
every  one  is  in  due  time  to  preserve  and  take 
care  of  himself.  Ke  has  in  view  the  great  and 
important  distinction — that  while  he  yields 
himself  to  the  sword  which  God  had  summoned 
against  him,  his  disciples  are  in  the  future  in 
his  name,  in  his  spirit,  and  his  service,  to  contend 
against  an  evil  world,  and  in  cases  of  stern  ne- 
cessity to  resort  to  the  defence  which  his  king- 
dom of  grace  justifies — swcn'd  against  sword. 


The  disciples  do  not  understand  their  Mas- 
tor  ;  they  seize  the  word  concerning  the  sword, 
but  without  perceiving  the  whole  connection 
and  meaning  of  his  wliole  saying:  "When  it 
concerns  natural  things,  man  is  apt  and  prompt 
enough  " — says  the  BjH.  Bibel.  Their  gross 
misunderstanding  is  the  opposite  extreme  to 
the  "spiritual  interpretation"  of  the  later 
Christians.  But  their  misunderstanding  did 
not  lie  in  their  assuming  that  actual  swords 
were  meant,  but  in  the  supposition  that  he  was 
referring  to  the  present  night  and  the  defence 
of  his  person;  therefore  they  produce  the  two 
swords — See  here  they  are — thus  givin"  him  to 
observe  that  they  already  have  them*  This  has 
introduced  a  needless  difficulty  in  accounting 
for  the  disciples'  being  provided  with  swords. 
Chrysostom.  though  he  regards  the  Lord  as 
«peaking  of  a  sword,  thinks  that  the  instru- 


*  Certninly  net  now  first  procured,  or  even 
hroimht  in  ihe  strict  .sense — this  is  oj)posed  by 
thn  simple  and  theij  said.  Tliey  bad  the  two 
Bwordi  with  them,  aiul  merely  said,  See,  wo  have 
them  already  !  Thus  the  narrative  was  not  in- 
t**nded,  as  Schleiennacher  thinks,  to  account  for 
Peter's  liaviug  the  .sword  when  lie  atterwards 
ined  it ;  though  it  does  nivo  rise  to  the  natural 
question — Whence  and  wlieroforo  they  had  them. 
Friedlieb's  remark  that  P.-ler's  haviii<;  a  sword  in 
Qelhseniane  was  the  result  of  their  having  misun- 
derstood the  Lord's  words,  m'ght  be  true,  if  those 
words  had  not  been  uttered,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
the  way. 


ments  of  the  disciples  were  large  sacrificial 
knives  for  the  Passover.  Bengel  first  states  as 
more  probable  what  is  in  the  highest  degree 
improbable — "  which  they  had  found  in  the 
chamber  ;  "  but  then  he  adds,  "  or  had  brought 
with  them."  Nothing  is  to  be  objected  to  the 
latter,  since  the  Galileans  (a  quarrelsome  race) 
were  accustomed  and  necessitated  to  travel 
armed.  The  road  between  Jerusalem  and  Jeri- 
cho was  never  safe  from  robbers  and  murderers 
(Luke  X.  30)  ;  and,  according  to  Josephus,  even 
the  peaceful  Es^enes  bore  arms.*  This  the 
Lord,  as  we  see  here,  had  silently  permitted  to 
the  disciples — a  new  confirmation  of  the  mean- 
ing of  his  word  concerning  the  sword.  Thus, 
both  swords  were  brought  with  them  from  Gal- 
ilee ;  Peter  (as  we  might  expect,  and  the  se- 
quel in  Getbsemane  shows)  had  one ;  and  so  had 
another  disciple — hence  the  question,  Shall  we 
smite  with  the  sword?  Thus  all  is  clear.  But 
the  notion  that  the  disciples  had  provided 
themselves  now  first  with  weapons  against  the 
threatening  enmity  of  Jerusalem,  and  for  the 
defence  of  the  Lord's  person,  is  far  more  unrea- 
sonable than  that  they  should  now  impetuous- 
ly and  without  reflection  produce  the  weapons 
which  they  already  had.  But  we  cannot  at- 
tribute to  them  the  folly  of  supposing  them- 
selves sufficiently  provided  in  this  little  arse- 
nal ;  the  explanation  of  Hess  seems  more  cor- 
rect :  "  Alas !  Lord,  would  that  we  were  now 
better  provided — but  here  we  have  only  two 
swords!"  (What  are  these  against  so  many 
threatening  thee  and  us,  in  such  a  time  of 
danger  as  thou  speakest  of  with  such  ever-in- 
creasing earnestness  ?) 

It  is  probable  that  the  Lord's  answer  con- 
nects itself  with  this  meaning  of  their  ha-e  are 
two  so  far,  that  is,  as  his  answer  has  an 
ironical  reference  to  the  swords.  Indeed,  the 
fundamental  force  of  'Inavov  i6rt,  It  i» 
enough,  is  by  no  means  that  which  is  given  by 
the  London  Heb.  New  Testament — jn'^^T.:  for 

that,  standing  alone,  would  be  quite  insuf- 
ficient to  express  the  Lord's  regret  at  the 
lamentable  misapprehension  of  his  profound 
and  far-reaching  word.  But  with  look  and 
tone  of  sorrow  he  breaks  off  apd  says,  "  It  is 
already  enough  of  this:  I  will  no  further  speak 
of  this,  since  ye  are  so  entirely  without  under- 
standing, ye  will  better  apprehend  it  soon." 
This  is  in  harmony  with  the  use  of  the  phrase.f 
comp.  Deut.  iii.  26,  ^^"31,  Sept.  ixayoveOoo 


*  See  Sepp,  Leben  Chrtsti,  iii.  40.  Corapnre  also 
Grotius,  De  jure  bc.'li  ac  pacis,  lib.  i.  cap.  3,  ft  3, 
No.  4. 

f  Hut  hiiihly  artificial  is  the  interpolation  of 
Grotius — "Satis  ad  siynijkationem,"  the  two  are 
sufficient  to  illustrate  my  parable  concerning  spir- 
itual weapons.  Not  much  better  is  Langa's  turn : 
"  Enough  to  bring  to  light  your  ignorance,  to  ex- 
plain your  approaching  fall,  to  brmg  me  into  sus- 
picion with  my  enemies,  as  if  my  cause  was  con- 
nected with  that  of  tho  transgressors."  This  is  a 
plentiful  exposition  of  these  short  words  1 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42. 


569 


<fof.  ir  it  is  not  just  the  "common  oriental 
form  of  speech,  when  any  one  has  said  any 
thing  very  distasteful  or  palpably  lalse,"  yet  it 
is  the  common  style  of  breaking" off  a  subject, 
in  some  circumstances  with  anger,  as  here  in 
Borr&w — Enough  of  it !  let  it  be  so  !  We  need 
not  asiv  f(jr  what  it  was  enough  ;  the  word  of 
our  Lord  ceases  to  speak  and  to  explain,  be- 
cause the  disciples  do  not  cease  their  misunder- 
standing and  perversion.  Inasmuch  as  this  It 
i&  enough  is  his  last  recorded  expression  before 
Getlisemane  (followed,  if  not  by  perfect  silence, 
yet  probably  by  only  monosyllabic  utterances), 
it  may  be  regarded  as  involving  the  generally 
significant  meaning — "Enough  of  speaking  and 
not  uiiilerslanding ,  now  follows  the  accomjdish- 
ment  of  all,  and  all  things  will  develope  and  ex- 
plain themselves  !  "  iStdl  more:  In  those  two 
swords  the  Lord's  all-comprehendinw  ghince 
beholds  all  the  misunderstanding  and  perver- 
sion which  will  lead  to  the  use  of  ihe  sword  on 
the  wrong  occasion,  and  as  Lange  very  perti- 
nently says  (more  to  the  point  than  the  note 
just  quoted)  :  "  It  is  enough — this  is  a  sigh  of 
the  God-man,  which  sounds  as  a  wail  of  lamen- 
tation over  the  Pi.omish  swords  and  stakes,  over 
the  Paulician  and  Hussite  butcheries,  over  all 
the  terrois  of  civil  power  which  his  religion 
should  witness." 

Further,  although  he  thus  means  in  sorrow 
— "Enough  of  speaking  in  vain,  enough  of 
misunderstanding  !  (enough,  alas!  of  all  that 
your  swords  show  me,  as  typical  for  the  fu- 
ture)," yet  he  also  knows  that  the  disciples  had 
signified,  when  they  exhibited  them,  Are  these 
two  swords  enough  ?  or  rather,  alas  !  these  two 
are  not  enough.  Therefore,  when  in  his  reply 
he  uses  such  an  expression  as  this,  it  seems 
obvious,  as  Olshausen  says,  that  "  the  phrase 
it  is  enough  involves  a  sort  of  douUe-meaning , 
since  tliey  might  refer  its  meaning  to  the  two 
swords — Two  swords  are  suthcient !  as  well  as 
to  the  whole  matter  in  hand — It  is  enough  of 
this  subject,  I  see  ye  do  not  yet  understand 
me."  But  on  two  points  we  differ  from  Ols- 
hausen ;  we  view  the  former  as  only  the  second 
and  coacomitant  meaning,  and  we  do  not  hesi- 


tate to  call  the  other  what  it  really  is,  a  sacred 
irony.  As  such  it  retains  its  most  solemn  ear- 
nestness, since  the  insufficiency  of  even  a  gene- 
ral equipment  of  the  disciples  against  the  Lord's 
enemies  was  at  the  same  time  prtwf  that  he 
could  not  have  spoken  of  his  own  present  de- 
fence. 

Finally,  the  Lord  does  not,  as  some  might 
have  expected,  peremptorily  repel  them,  and 
command  the  swords  to  be  "left  at  home  or  to 
be  taken  away.  But  his  patiently  breaking  off 
with  It  is  enough  seems  to  permit,  or  even  re- 
quire, them  to  take  the  swords  forward  to 
Gethsemane.  The  Lord  thereby  acted  in  the 
spirit  of  his  own  words  ;  for  he  thus  teaches  in 
act  and  symbolically  that  he  would  not  have 
every  sword  unconditionally  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  his  disciples.  He  leaves  it  for  the 
present  till  the  consequences  of  their  misunder- 
standing will  appear,  and  give  him  occasion  to 
interpose  more  intelligently  in  word  and  deed. 
He  did  noi  speak  from  the  beginning  with  in- 
tent to  bring  out  that  future  act ;  but  he  now 
keeps  silence,  in  expectation  of  it.  Thus  the 
history,  as  we  know  it,  brings  fresh  light,  and 
in  view  of  it  we  may  reflect  upon  the  words  of 
Jesus — Yes,  verily,  the  two»swords  were  enough 
for  our  Lord's  protest  against  the  violent  mis- 
use of  them.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  his  first 
word  concerning  the  use  of  the  sword  was 
necessary  in  order  to  prevent  the  subsequent 
words,  Put  up  thy  sword  into  its  pkicel  from 
being  pressed  beyond  their  legitimate  limits. 
Before  the  actual  commencement  of  our  Lord's 
Passion,  where  all  defence  was  utterly  forbid- 
den, there  was  given  a  word  which  intimatea 
to  us,  his  disciples,  another  course  than  thi« 
unqualified  all-sufifering  submission.  But,  be- 
cause the  right  understanding  of  this,  the 
drawing  the  line  between  commanded  and  for- 
bidden self-defence,  and  the  giving  the  sword 
especially  its  proper  place,  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  things  to  our  ignorance,  and  never  can 
be  taught  in  words — therefore  the  other  saying 
is  given,  which  points  us  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Spirit  in  actual  experience. 


THE  CONFLICT  IN  GETHSEMANE. 


(Matt.  xxvi.  36-42;  Mark  xiv.  32-39;  Luke  xxii.  40-42,  46.) 


The  synoptic  record  of  Gethsemane  now  fol- 
lows, in  strong  contrast  with  the  seventeenth 
chapter  of  John — a  contrast,  however,  which 
has  its  Christoiogical,  that  is,  its  theanthropo- 
logical  propriety.  A  mediating  transition  be- 
tween these  two  extreme  limits  of  his  divine- 
human  emotion  we  have  already  seen  in  the 
going  from  the  chamber  of  the  testament  to 
the  place  of  betrayal ;  he  who  can  in  a  rever- 
ent spirit  go  out  of  himself  and  transpose  him- 
eelf  into  the  humanity  of  the  Lord,  will  under- 


stand what  we  mean.  Hence  the  words  which 
were  spoken  in  the  way  strictly  correspond 
to  this  character  of  transition:  this  night,  out 
into  which  all  things  now  go,  is  the  preliminary 
fundamental  theme  which  gives  its  aspect  to 
all,  even  as  the  glorification,  had  been  before. 
The  shepherd  must  be  smitten  that  "  the  Scrip- 
ture may  be  fulfilled  "—and  its  dark  counsel, 
particularly  as  respects  the  lost  one,  is  pres- 
ent even  to  the  high-priestly  prayer,  as  ita 
gloomy  background.    Before  the  glorificatioQ 


570 


GETHSEMANE. 


in  heaven  can  fake  pkce,  it  mnst  come  to  pass, 
as  the  end  to  be  accomplished  upon  earth,  that 
the  holy  one  be  reckoned  among  the  trans- 
gressors— not  merely  before  men  in  appearance, 
but  in  harmony  with  divine  justice,  which  has 
in  this  a  profound  truth.  If  the  question  is 
still  asked — and  to  ask  is  the  prerogative  of 
the  wise  as  well  as  of  fools — why  John  has  not 
recorded  the  mysterious  and  profound  conflict 
which  preceded  the  Lord's  captivity,  there  is 
at  least  answer  enough  at  hand  to  convict  all 
doubts  about  the  truth  of  the  synoptical  ac- 
count— utterly  inexplicable  as  an  invention 
without  historical  ground — of  bang  the  off- 
spring of  wilful  perverseness.  If  it  is  sought  to 
reconcile  the  contradiction  which  has  been 
needlessly  found  between  the  first  three  Evan- 
gelists and  John,  it  only  requires  to  be  ob- 
served that  the  latter  gives  in  chap.  xii.  27  the 
oft-repeated  beginning  and  prelude  of  the 
agony  ;  and,  moreover,  in  chaps,  xiv.  SO  and 
xvi.  21,  records  the  plain  prediction  of  what 
was  impending ;  and  even  chap.  xvii.  19,  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  glorification-prayer,  ut- 
ters the  Lord's  own  sonsciousness  as  to  how 
he  would  mnctify  himself  for  his  own.  Yet 
the  Synoptics  have  sufficient  anticipations  and 
prospects  of  that  glory  which  would  follow  the 
Passion,  introducing  the  consummate  feast,  and 
the  kingdom  received  and  bestowed  after  his 
conflicts  should  be  past. 

Suffice  it  tliat  there  is  so  much  deep  reason 
for  the  historical  truth  of  the  soul-contiict  in 
Gethsemane — at  least  to  every  true  believer  in 
Christ — that  we  may  leave  all  discussion  about 
it  to  the  unbelievers.  All  right  understanding 
of  tlie  pievious  life  of  Jesus  is  prepared  to  ex- 
pect that  when  the  hour  of  suffering  comes, 
that  hour  of  which  John  also  was  not  ignorant, 
his  suflering  would  have  an  internal  commence- 
ment before  the  assault  from  without  began, 
and  that  the  perfect  obedience  of  the  spirit  in 
the  flesh  would  thus  prove  itself  after  sharp 
conflict.  For  our  own  part,  and  to  speak  as 
fools,  we  would  sooner  be  able  to  doubt  the 
elevation  of  his  conscitusness  which  the  high- 
priestly  prayer  exhibits,  than  its  depression  as 
shown  in  "Gethsemane.  Yet,  when  we  look 
into  it,  this  word  is  itself  a  foolish  one,  for  what 
appears  to  be  dopiession  is  only  the  same  pro- 
found intensification  of  inward  emotion  which  be- 
fore appeared  as  elevation  ;  and  the  two  feelings 
are  represented  as  necessarily  alternating  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  true  humanity.  As  Langc 
has  excellently  said,  "  the  same  spirit  which 
uttered  there  the  high-priestly  prayer,  brings 
here  the  liigh-priestly  sacrifice." 

Thi.')  proper  comtuencement  of  the  sacrifice 
is  thereiore  indicatt-d  in  that  most  apostolical 
commentary  upon  Gethsemane  which  we  have 
in  Heb.  v.  7,  8;  in  which  words,  although  they 
at  the  same  time  embrace  "  all  the  days  of  his 
fle.^h,"  there  is  an  undeniable  reference  to  a 
known  and  acknowledged  event,  the  strong 
crying  and  tears  of  Gethsemane.  The  high 
priest  is  tempted  at  all  points  like  ourselves,  in 
the  weakness  of  tho  flesh  a.ssunied  in  fellow- 


ship with  us.  Otherwise  than  in  this  infirmity 
he  could  not  undergo  atoning  sufferings  ,  he 
could  neither  be  crucified  (2  Cor.  xiii.  4),  nor 
consummate  that  obedience  which  alone  was 
the  internal  and  essential  validitv  of  the" sacri- 
fice of  the  cross.  And  here  there  is  nothing 
of  the  wrath  of  the  Father  against  his  beloved 
Son,  nor  of  any  sinfulness  in  the  Just  One. 
Nor  can  there  be,  in  the  sense  of  the  old  theol- 
ogy, any  divine  anger  and  pains  of  hell  for 
him  who  still  cries  Abba  in  Gethsemane,  and 
even  upon  the  cross  My  God.  But  "  the  grief 
of  the  Holy  One  over  sin  takes  the  place,  in  the 
Saviour,  of  condemning  wrath  " — as  Ebrard 
'"-ays.  And  this  recoil  of  the  human  nature 
rom  the  cup  of  sorrow  is  no  disobedience,  nor 
s  the  weeping  in  which  the  obedience  of  faith 
found  its  expression  unbelief;  but,  as  Luther 
once  said,  "  Christ  loved  his  Father  with  all  his 
powers;  but  these  agonies  being  beyond  his 
powers  so  oppressed  his  guiltless  infirm  human 
nature  that  it  was  constrained  to  sigh  and  fear 
and  cry;  just  as  when  a  beam  is  tested  beyond 
its  strength  it  gives  way  because  of  the  weak- 
ness of  its  nature,  not  through  any  thing  want- 
ing in  itself" 

Thus  might  even  the  willing  ff»'rit  of  the  man 
Jesus  not  have  conquered  the  Jleiih,  which  re- 
coiled by  reason  of  weakness,  and  the  over- 
powered iOfd  might  have  given  way  to  an  in- 
ternal death  before  the  external  dtath  of  the 
body,  had  not  a  strengthening  accession  of 
divine  power  into  his  human  nature  (according 
to  that  right  of  r/rare  which  avails  for  every 
graying  man,  and  found  place  even  here)  been 
earnestly  sought  in  yrayer.  But  that  prayer 
cries  most  loudly.  Strengthen,  me,  Father'  while 
it  follows  the  question  of  anguish  perniitted  to 
the  Son,  Is  it  then  truly  thy  will?  by  the  most 
entire  filial  resignation  to  that  will.  J'he  way 
lo  Golgotha  leads  by  GetJisemane.  So  was  it  with 
Christ  himself,  as  the  way  of  voluntary  surren- 
der of  himself  to  the  deepest  agony  of  soul 
;n  sympathy  with  our  sin  and  our  consequent 
death — and  thus  Gethsemane  teaches  us  to 
understand  Golgotha.  Similarly  is  it  with  us, 
as  the  way  of  fellowship  with  his  sufferings, 
through  that  faith  in  him  which  brings  down 
even  into  our  flesh  that  power  ol  the  Spirit 
which  he  has  obtained  for  us — and  thus  we 
surrender  ourselves  also  to  the  inevitable  con- 
flict, without  which  the  redeeming  judgment 
in  our  fallen  human  nature  cannot  be  brought 
forth  unto  victory. 

Thus  much  belbrehand  for  the  general  direc- 
tion of  our  thoughts  of  the  wonderful  and 
transcendent  object  of  exegesis  which  now  lies 
before  us.  If  we  look  more  closely  at  the  three 
records,  wo  find  the  most  sulficing  agreement. 
It  is  only  natural  that,  in  relation  to  such 
words,  and  words  which  no  man  at  the  begin- 
ning could  clearly  hear,  there  should  be  found 
a  certain  variation  ;  but  the  reminding  Spirit 
has  given  the  essential  substance  to  the  record 
of  the  Evangelists  with  jierfect  and  unqualified 
certainty  ;  and  the  difl"erenccs  of  the  independ- 
ent narratives  is  itself  a  new  proof  of  their 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42. 


571 


tmtli,  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men.  We 
shall  see  in  detail  that  the  first  two  Evangelists 
nnitually  supplement  and  agree  with  each 
other;  Luke's  peculiarity  here  (as  in  the  Sup- 
]<ev  and  elsewhere)  regards  the  whole  without 
•'xact  relation  to  the  order  of  time,  which  must 
be  supplied  from  the  others.  He  records  in 
brief  and  in  the  most  general  manner  the  roords 
which  the  Lord  spoke  on  this  solemn  occasion, 
but  he  retains  the  three  essential  points  to  which 
they  may  be  reduced — the  prayer  which  passed 
:rom  a  supplication  to  be  spared  into  an' act  of 
entire  resignation ;  the  word  which  exhorted 
the  disciples  to  like  prayer  ;  the  final  "  Rise, 
let  us  be  going."  He  lacks,  indeed,  the  first 
"  Tarry  here ; "  the  selection  of  the  three 
nearer  witnesses,  the  immediate  prediction  of 
the  agony,  the  three-fold  repetition  of  the  same 
prayer;  and  that  which  he  in  vers.  40  and  46 
places  both  at  the  beginning  and  the  end,  has 
probably  lost  its  riglit  place.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  we  may  not  be  misled  as  to 
his  authority  as  an  Evangelist,  Luke  at  one 
remove  from  an  eye  witness,  add*  those  most 
important  facts  in  the  historical  record — the 
removal  to  the  distance  of  a  stone's  cast,  the 
strengthening  angel,  and  the  bloody  sweat. 

He  has  also  at  the  beginning  the  important 
word,  "  Jesus  went  as  he  was  wont,  to  the  Mount 
of  Olives" — see  chap.  xxi.  37,  and  compare 
John  xviii.  2.  This  wont  misht  refer  imme- 
diately to  these  last  days,  in  which  he  retreated 
before  his  enemies  until  his  hour  came,  and 
took  refuge  there;  but  there  is  also  something 
more  in  it,  which  is  not  on  that  account  to  be 
overlooked  or  denied.  The  Lord  knew,  more 
or  less  clearly  and  specifically,  and  felt  in  the 
presentiment  of  his  spirit,  that  here  was  the 
appointed  place  of  the  commencement  of  his 
sufferings  ;  and  therefore  he  had  consecrated  it 
beforehand  by  many  assemblings  with  his  dis- 
ciples, and  by  many  seasons  of  solitary  prayer. 
To-diiy  at  least  he  knows  in  the  strictest;  sense 
all  that  should  befall  him  (John  xviii.  4)— and 
therefore  does  not  go  directly,  at  sot  late  an 
hour,  to  Bethany,  as  if  to  "  sleep  and  take  his 
rest,"  or,  as  on  other  occasions,  to  watch  and 
]tray  there  ;  but  he  turns  aside  to  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane,  under  the  Mount  of  Olives.  He 
not  merely  knows  that  the  betrayer  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  place,  and  would  seek  him 
there  to  deliver  him  up,  but  he  experiences  also, 
as  his  first  word  shows,  a  presentiment  of  that 
agony  which  awaited  him  before  God,  previous 
to  his  being  delivered  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies.  John  gives  significant  prominence  to 
the  brcok  Cedron  which  they  passed  over — the 
dark  brook  in  the  deep  valley,  over  which 
David  went  in  his  deep  humiliation  on  account 
u[  his  sin,  and  where  m  old  time  the  abomina- 
tions of  idolatry  had  been  thrown  (1  Kings  xv. 
L3:  2  Kings  xxiii.  4,  6,  12),  as  in  later  times, 
according  to  Jewish  accounts,  it  had  carried 
av/ay  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  and  the  refuse 
01  the  temple.  From  Gethsemane  to  Siloam 
stretched  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  place 
oi  graves  and  of  judgment.    Thus,  surrounded 


by  such  memorials  and  typical  allusions,  the 
Lord  descends  into  the  du-t  of  humiliation  and 
anguish,  as  his  "glorification"  had  taken  place 
upon  the  top  of  the  mountain.  Matthew's 
emphatic  Tute  spxerai,  "  ih^n  he  cometh  " 
(comp.  chap.  iii.  13,  tote  itapayivEzai),  de- 
signs to  give  prominence  to  the  place  as  well 
as  to  what  took  place  there;  Luke,  although 
he  first  spoke  indefinitely  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  expresses  it  still  more  plainly,  indicat- 
ing a  well-known  trandition  concerning  Geth- 
semane— "  and  when  he  was  at  the  flace," 
ETti  z  ov  T  6n  ov  (where  this  mystery  was 
to  take  place,  and  where,  as  is  well  known,  it 
did  take  place) — he  stood  on  the  scene  o/"his  mys- 
terious conflict.  Let  us  then  now  enter  into 
the  holy  place.  "  And  his  disciples  also  follow- 
ed him."  Not  all  indeed  are  prepared  to  follow 
Christ  hither  even  in  devout  reading  and  pene- 
trating apprehension  of  the  words  ;  still  fewei 
in  the  fellowship  of  his  suffering  way.  May 
the  divine  Spirit  make  me  and  my  readers  fit, 
and  guide  us  into  both  the  right  understanding 
and  the  spiritual  fellowship  of  this  scene  I 


Matthew  and  Mark  give  us  the  first  word  on 
coming  to  the  place  in  almost  the  same  terms; 
the  latter  being,  however,  more  concise,  and  the 
former  more  exact,  even  to  the  ditEXOc^v  and 
EKEi.  The  Lord  feels  the  near  approach  of  his 
anguish — so  much  is  plainly  expressed  ;  buf 
the  Berleriberger  Bibel  gives  a  too  human  ex- 
planation of  the  choice  of  a  place  apart  from 
the  disciples  :  "  Those  who  are  in  deep  anguish 
go  here  and  there,"  etc.,  etc.  Oh,  no;  with  all 
the  commencing  anticipation  of  his  conflict 
when  he  came  i  7t  i  r  ov  t  6  7t  ov,  was  at  t/u 
place,  there  is  to  be  observed  the  most  calm 
collectedness  ;  as  this  first  word  testifies,  and 
the  selection  of  the  three  witnesses  before  hi? 
beginning  to  be  exceeding  sorrowful.  KaBi- 
6are  obviously  includes  their  sitting  down  and 
waiting  ;  it  does  not,  however,  mean  this  sit- 
ting as  such,  but  corresponds  to  the  /uf/vars 
of  Matt.  ver.  38.  In  this  meaning  uaOiXfiv 
occurs  sometimes  in  the  Sept.,  as  the  transla- 
tion of  2y^'  and  similarly  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Luke  xxiv.  49;  Acts  xviii.  11.  Luke 
(as  we  shall  see  further  on)  represents  the  Lord 
as  already  bidding  them  pray;  and  we  must 
therefore  understand  that  he  did  not  enjoin 
upon  his  disciples  to  sit  peacefully  down,  while 
disquietude  and  horror  were  assailing  himself. 
Draseke  confuses  the  scene  when  he  describes 
the  Lord  as  having  first  entered  into  a  hmise 
(whereas  we  read  ;<:'^'V''0''>  ^o^o';,  HK7to'^),a.nd 
then  says,  "  Here  in  the  dwelling  of  faithful  and 
devoted  friends  Je.^us  counselled  his  disciples  to 
take  their  rei^t.  He  himself  must  go  again  into 
the  open  air."  Tarry  ye  here — 1  will  and  I 
must  go  forth  apart :  this  is  the  sole  meaning; 
avrov  being  in  Matt,  instead  of  oiSe,  avroOE, 
according  to  the  well-known  phrase  (as  ov  for 
where),  comp.  Acts  xviii.  19,  xxi.  4.  Tarry — 
sit  ye  down  if  ye  are  weary — here  wait  for  me 


672 


GETHSEMANE. 


— "this  is  now  the  best  that  ye  can  do,  I  must 
myself  go  for Lh  alone."  He  gives  it  plainly  to 
be  undei-stood  that  something  earnest  and 
solemn  awaits  him,  and  therefore  that  the 
question  was  not  about  simple  rest  for  them- 
selves— until  (or  while)  I  pray  ;  in  Matt,  more 
distinctly — Going  apart  pray  there.  This  is 
now,  as  his  seclusion  from  them  shows,  an 
altogether  different  praying  from  that  which 
they  had  heard  immediately  before  their  setting 
forth.  As  knowing  all  things  that  should  come 
upon  him,  the  Lord  certainly  had  a  special  pre- 
sentiment and  anticipation  of  every  thing  as  it 
came  ;  he  could  not  be  taken  by  surprise  or  be 
overcome  suddenly  by  any  thing  :  hence  he 
DOW  knows  the  approach  of  the  conflict,  and 
orders  all  things  with  regard  to  it  in  the  fittest 
manner,  and  with  the  utmost  collectedness. 
But  that  which  he  now  feels  to  be  approaching 
he  speaks  of,  and  with  perfect  propriety,  as  his 
going  generally  to  jn-ay  ;  this  was  the  gentlest 
expression  for  it,  and  used  in  order  that  the  re- 
maining true  disciples,  whom  he  designs  at  this 
time  to  keep  further  from  the  mystery,  might 
not  be  at  once  affrighted.  We  cannot  but  be 
involuntarily  reminded  of  that  similar  word, 
which  the  Lord  doubtless  had  in  his  thought, 
on  occasion  of  the  offering  up  of  Isaac.  As 
there.  Gen.  xxii.  5,  the  faith  of  Abraham  term- 
ed the  sacrifice,  looking  forward  already  to  its 
being  given  back,  an  act  of  worship,  so  in  like 
manner  does  the  Lord  speak  concerning  his 
own  bitter  soul-conflict  at  the  commencement 
of  that  sacrifice  in  which  not  the  Father  binds 
him,  but  he  lays  himself  upon  the  altar,  uniting 
in  himself  both  the  faith  of  Abraham  and  the 
resignation  of  Isaac. 

Tarnj  here!  was  said  at  first  to  all  ;  but  in 
the  going  yonder,  deeper  into  the  recesses  of  the 
garden,  lie  calls  three  to  accompany  him,  those 
kJiXtHcwv  tH\EKToTEfjovi,  tliose  elect  of  the 
elect,  who  had  been  witnesses  of  the  transfigu- 
ration, and  had  been  otherwise  distinguished  : 
Peter,  who  would  know  nothing  of  falling  in  the 
time  of  trial;  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee,here 
80  termed  in  allusion  to  his  former  prophecy  to 
them  of  a  fellowship  in  his  cup  instead  of  the 
places  of  honor.  And  what  was  it  that  they 
might  have  expected  ?  Certainly  no  scene  of 
high  revelations  and  glory,  for  the  evening  of 
the  Supper  had  not  pointed  that  v/ay,  nor  did 
the  words  of  the  Lord  while  I  jrray  ;  but  rather 
Boniething  in  harmony  with  the  prayer  of  John 
xvii.,  and  which  they  should  have  the  privilege 
of  seeing  and  hearing.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
sacred  event  must  have  witnesses  for  the  future 
of  the  Church;  and  on  the  other,  the  Lord 
would  not  in  his  tribulation  be  left  quite  alone. 
Both  lie  at  the  Ibundalion  of  the  selection  of 
the  three  ;  but  we  must  give  the  pre-eminence 
to  the  latter,  as  the  Lord  afterwards  plainly 
says — Watch  with  me,  could  ye  not  watch  with 
me  ?  The  others  he  left  behind  in  their  weak- 
ness, but  from  those  three  ho  expects  some- 
thing more,  or  rather  might  have  expected 
something  more;  and  to  bring  this  to  their 
bumbled  consciences,  their  impotence,  which 


deceived  his  expectation,  is  made  manifest. 
We  must  be  on  our  guard  against  laying  an 
undue  and  exclusive  emphasis  upon  either  of 
the  two  things  which  here  seem  to  be  opposed, 
but  are  strictly  consistent — the  Lord's  design 
to  solace  himself  with  the  presence  and  devo- 
tion of  these  his  nearest  disciples,  and  his  fore- 
knowledge at  the  same  time  that  he  should 
look  for  comforters  but  find  none  (Psa.  Ixix. 
20).  Indeed,  the  latter  thought  is  not  strictly 
and  entirely  true;  for,  this  passage  in  the 
Psalm,  which  is  so  often  adduced,  prophesies 
only  of  his  enemies.  We  think  it  is  very 
obvious,  that  the  three  loved  disciples,  the 
nearest  to  him  of  those  whom  the  Father 
had  given,  were,  notwithstanding  their  weak- 
ness, an  actual  consolation  and  strength  to 
him  by  their  being  at  hand.  He  could  pour 
out  his  soul  to  them  in  the  intervals  of 
his  prayer,  and  make  their  very  unsucepti- 
bility  strengthen  him  in  his  devotion  and 
resolution  to  offer  his  sacrifice  for  mankind  ; 
and  in  this  we  have  reason  enough  for  the 
wisdom  which  permitted  them  to  accompany 
him.*  Although  he  must  now  urge  his  prayer 
alone  before  the  Father,  it  belongs  to  his  humil- 
iation in  our  likeness  that  he  should  seek  and 
take  with  him,  if  not  companions  in  prayer,  at 
least  companions  and  helpers  in  his  watching. 

Before  iheeye^of  these  men  thus  taken  with 
him,  and  at  a  distance  from  the  rest,  he  began 
to  be  sorrowful  and  exceedingly  dismayed.  Tliis 
r/ftqaro,  he  began,  has  here  an  impressive 
emphasis :  Now  as  never  belore,  as  no  man  had 
previously  seen  him.  At  the  same  time  there 
is  some  intimation  here  of  his  own  predomi- 
nant voluntary  energy  in  relation  to  the  suffer- 
ings which  came  upon  him.  Not  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  Rambach  carries  it,  resting  on 
the  words:  "  In  the  expression  'lie  l>egan  to  he- 
come  sorrowful,'  we  have  the  active  &r\d  the  pas- 
sive together.  The  Redeemer  is  exhibited  as 
one  who  in  suffering  acts,  and  in  acting  suffers; 
and  this  pervades  the  whole  Passion."  But 
the  thing^  itself  is  correct,  and  may  be  so  far 
lound  in  the  began  as  this  would  say — "  He  did 
not  begin  io  surrender  himself  io  the  pressure  of 
his  anguioh  -until  place,  time,  circumstances, 
witnesses,  and  all  tilings,  were  appointed  and 
ready." 

The  expressions  which  indicate  hia  emotion 
are  at  the  outset  exceedingly  strong,  exhibit- 
ing after  all  something  sudden  and  most  ve- 
hement.     The  translation    "sore  amazed  and 


•  See  Dr;i<;eke's  original  sermon  on  Gethsemano 
concernins  Christian  deportment  in  soul-confltctn. 
Rambach  (whose  valuable  reflections  upon  the 
Passion  generally  we  shall  henceforward  amply 
quote)  makes  n  sound  application  hero :  ho  would 
consecrate  and  hallow  Christian  fellowship  as  a 
means  of  consolation  and  strength  in  suffering. 
'  Tliose  who  too  studiously  sek  retirement  in  Uieii 
lieavy  conflicts  act  not  wisely,  especially  it  they 
despise  theencourag'ment,  consolation, and  prayer 
of  other  ch  Idren  o*  God — resolved  to  flght  their 
battles  aUo"etlior  alone." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36- 


573 


very  heavy  "  might  seem  in  Mark  to  refer,  one 
to  the  body  and  the  other  to  the  soul,  while 
Matthew's  "sorrowful  and  very  heavy,"  might 
seem  to  refer  only  to  the  soul.  But  in  the  orig- 
inal both  speak  only  of  the  soul  ;  although  its 
emotions  would  obviously  exhibit  themselves 
in  the  body  also — how  otherwise  could  they 
have  been  discerned?  AvrtelcOai  takes  the 
lead  as  the  most  general  expression,  corres- 
ponding to  the  Lord's  own  word  (My  soul  is 
exceeding  sorrowful) ;  but  as  the  Lord  had 
strengthened  even  that  word,  so  Matthew  adds 
an  intenser  expression.  Mark  in  his  vivid  and 
graphic  manner  places  first  tKOajjfJeiGOai  (see 
his  chap.  ix.  15,  xvi.  5,  6),  which  might  repre- 
sent amazement  as  i/ in  the  presence  of  some 
thing  unexpected,  a  manifest  shuddering  and 
recoil — though  not  terror  or  horror  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense.  The  second  expression,  common  to 
both,  leads  us  deeper  into  the  reality,  but  re- 
quires to  be  carefully  examined.  'ASTj/noyeiv 
(Phil.  li.  26)  does  not  mean,  "  to  feel  oneself 
forsaken  ;"*  but  the  word  is  derived  through 
dStj/Lioay  from  ddso),  to  be  weary,  exhausted, 
primarily  (ce-iet  me.  Thence  it  signifies  any 
deep  anguish  and  extremity  of  soul  generally  ; 
Suidas  explains  it  by  Xiav  \v7tou/tai,  dnop(2; 
Hesych.  by  dyooviai ;  Eustath.  gives  it  thus 
fully  :  dSr)ucjy  6  l^  dSov  6  edri  uvpov  rtvoi 

TJ  XvTtTfi   dvanEltVCDHGOi.      ddyjlLlOVELV  To  dX- 

veiv  xai  duvxoc^f'^^-  Aquila  puts  it  for 
DK^J  (Niph.  of  DD'i^),  Job  xviii.    20.      Sym- 

machus  for  J?*C^J,  Eccles.  vii.  17,  ^^V>  Psa. 
Ixi.  3,  ran,  Psa.  cxvi.  11.  Thus  this  latter 
is  equivalent  to  not  knowing  where  to  get  help. 
But  the  former,  as  well  in  its  lower  degree 
XvitEtedai  as  in  the  more  express  EuOa/n- 
/3sl60ai,  indicates  the  positive  reason  of  this 
negative  abandonment  of  spirit.f  So  Bengel 
says,  incitrsvm  oltjedi  horribilis  ;  and  Lange,  very 
properly,  "  The  experience  of  a  positive  oppos- 
ing influence,  which  restrains  and  oppresses 
the  soul  in  its  living  energies,  as  if  it  would 
take  away  the  spiritual  breath.  The  first  re- 
sult of  this  is  grief;  the  last  anguish,  kd^xivA, 
amazing,  and  vehement  wrestling  of  the  soul 
with  the  evil."  This  last,  being,  notwithstand- 
ing its  negative  character,  a  positive  counter- 
influence  of  anguish,  is  the  ddr/novrlv.  For 
the  rest,  we  shall  soon  see  in  the  unfolding  of 
our  Lord's  own  words,  what  was  the  diject  of 
horror  which  at  this  time  came  upon  him. 

He  said  to  them,  that  is,  to  the  three — My 
soui  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death. 
As  he  had  been  accustomed  to  reveal  to  the 
men  who  wore  around  him  similar  emotions  of 
his  soul,  so  now  he  bears  te.-timony  in  their 
presence  to  th«  experience  of  his  beait  at  this 


*  Accordng  to  Br.ttnian's  falso  ftyinoloiry  from 
diinoi  and  the  privative  o; ;  "  rrim.arily  the  leel- 
iiio  ol'  beins  lar  iVoin  home  and  country  and 
tViends,  generally  Iho  foclinj;  <»l'  boiiig  forsaken, 
spiritlessness" — thus  "the  cx^jericnce  of  a  ne^a 
five  opposition  "  (Lanso). 

\  My  heart  hath  jaiLd  me,  I'sa.  xl.  13. 


crisis.  In  silence  and  in  secret  he  had  often 
suffered  and  wrestled  ;  and  he  who  would 
picture  to  himself  the  Lord's  internal  life  of 
prayer  as  equally  tranquil  and  even  with 
his  external  life  of  word  and  deed,  does 
not  estimate  rightly  the  true  humanity  of 
the  God-man.  That  which  he  teaches  us 
concerning  being  instant  in  prayer,  came  as- 
suredly from  his  own  inmost  experience.  Thus 
the  Lord  had  been  accessible  from  the  begin- 
ning to  sorrow  for  sin  and  death  :  that  which 
Mark  iii.  5  records  of  his  grief  over  the  hard- 
ness of  their  hearts,  and  John  xi.  33-35  of  his 
anguish  over  the  curse  of  death,  are  only  iso- 
lated examples  which  testify  to  the  deep  re- 
serve of  his  soul's  emotions,  whence  many 
other  such  mighty  exhibitions  proceeded.  Nev- 
ertheless, all  this  was  but  the  slight  prepara- 
tion for  the  fulness  and  strength  of  that  suffer- 
ing, of  which  his  word  now  gives  evidence. 
What  a  most  simple  testimony  is  this  declara- 
tion of  his  horror  and  amazement ;  and  yet 
how  profound  in  his  lips,  and  how  sufficient  a 
witness  of  the  inexhaustible  depths  of  his  an- 
guish !  A  thousand  time.s  before  and  since 
have  men  uttered  this  word,  expressing  it  still 
more  strongly  in  their  immoderate,  sinful  la- 
mentation, or  in  their  insincerity  ;  but  how 
dillerent  is  this  simple  word  as  he  utters  it  in 
all  its  fulness  and  unfathomable  meaning  I 

It  has  a  proverbial  character ;  but  it  would 
be  simple  folly  to  understand  it  as  used  by  him 
in  its  common  proverbial  meaning.  There  are 
to  be  found  echoes  of  this  lament  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, especially  those  which  refer  typically 
and  prophetically  to  the  suffering  Messiah ;  but 
it  appears  to  us  needless  and  inappropriate 
on  this  occasion  to  refer  the  Lord's  immediate 
and  most  simple  expression  of  his  internal 
emotion  to  any  one  word  ol  Scripture,  con- 
sciously appropriated.*  It  is  more  important 
to  understand  in  their  fullest,  deepest  solemnity 
of  truth,  the  two  things  here  expressed — the 
amazement  of  his  soul,  and  that  even  unto 
death. 

Only  in  John  xii.  27  and  here,  does  the  Lord 
say  concerning  himself.  My  soul.  He  thereby 
avows  himself  to  be  a  true  human  person,  in 
the  likeness  of  ourselves,  just  as  he  afterwards 
speaks  of  his  spirit  and  of  his  jlesh,  according 
to  the  scriptural  trichotomy  of  human  nature. 
We  therefore  are  justified  in  speaking  of  a  soul- 
conflict  and  of  soul  sufferings  at  Gethsemane. 
Assuredly  in  a  certain  sense  every  suffering  is 
soul  suffering,  inasmuch  as  bodily  pain  affects 
the  soul,  and  is  experienced  only  through  the 
soul;  and,  further,  the  most  spiritual  anguish 
passes  over  to  the  as' it  were  bodily  feeling  ot 
the  soul  which  mediates  between  spirit  and 
body,  and  constitutes  the  personal  conscious- 
ness. Nevertheless  we  rightly  distinguish,  as 
to  its  pre-eminent  seat  and  origin,  the  srtfer- 
ingsof  the  soul  both  from  bodily  pain  and  anx- 


*  Thus  the  Lord's  word  is  not  taken  from  Psa. 
xviii.  6,  cxvi.  3,  or  from  Psa.  xlii.  6,  7  (Sept.  ivart 
itEpiXvzoi  Ell)  xl>vxv  ixov),  or  from  I'-sa.  xl.  13, 


574 


GETHSEMANE. 


iety  of  spirit:  and  all  which  follows  shows 
that  such  a  distinction  must  here  be  main- 
tained. In  John  xii.  27  it  was  simply  ?/  tpvxf} 
MOV  TtrnpaHTai  (it  was  this,  rather,  which 
might  have  been  taken  from  Psa.  xlii.  7,  Sept.) 
— but  here  it  is  more  intense,  TtEpiXvndi  'e6ti. 
This  word  (in  Mark  vi.  2S  concerning  Herod, 
and  Luke  xviii.  23,  24,  concerning  the  rich 
young  man)  is  not  to  be  rigorously  and  liter- 
ally interpreted — surrounded  with  difficulty  and 
sorroio  (as  in  Psa.  xviii.  6  ^J133D,  nspiEHvHXoa- 

6dv  /<«)— but,  although  the  signification  of  this 
frequent  zepi  intensive  starts  from  the  "  round 
about"  or  "  wliolly  and  entirely,"  tliis  mean- 
ing is  not  to  be  pressed,  as  classical  Greek 
phraseology  shows,  and  the  Sept.  for  nnin'^n 

in  Psa.  xliii.  But  this  intense  expression  of 
exceeding  sn-.ow  is  followed  by  one  yet  more  in- 
tense— even  iinto  death.  This  is,  at  the  outset, 
not  the  same  as  the  n.'l^'ny  of  human  oppres- 
sion and  despondency — Oh  that  I  might  at  once 
die'  though  the  expression  in  Jonah  iv.  9, 
<jcp65pct  XelvTtrjiiiai  kyoo  £co?  ^avdrov,  has 
been  inappropriately  compared — but  see  its 
explanation  in  vers.  3,  8.  Such  a  sense  is 
sell-evidently  unworthy  of  Jesus ;  but  the 
analogy  of  the  ordinary  phrase,  as  in  Judg. 
xvi.  IG,  n^'oh  1-'D3  1VP^1»  ^'^  ^''"^  w"^  '>^cxed 

vnto  death,  comes  nearer  to  the  point,  as  also 
that  of  Ecclus.  xxxvii.  2 — a  sorrow  bitter  as 
death,  grief  like  the  anguish  of  death.  This 
hitlernexH  of  death  however  must  have,  as  re- 
gards Jesus,  a  quite  sp-^cific  sense;  and  his 
agony  (Luke  xxii.  44)  must  not  be  understood 
as  in  the  case  of  a  sinful  man. 

Luther  rightly  supplied  the  meaning  of  that 
dyoavia  as  his  contention  with  death — for  Heb. 
V.  7  speaks  of  his  being  saved  from  death.  But 
how  is  this  to  be  understood?  It  lias  been 
generally  referred  to  painful  anticipation  of 
death,  the  shrinking  of  nature  from  dying  ;  and 
there  is  truth  in  this  at  the  outset,  as  represent- 
ing the  Lord's  feeling  when  he  said — My  an- 
guish is  as  if  I  was  about  (now  already)  to 
die.  This  is  the  most  obvious  meaning  of  the 
Eay,.  Death  is  to  every  one  that  lives,  through 
the  opera;  ion  of  a  law  of  nature,  an  object  of 
shuddering  and   fear;  how  much   more  to  the 

Jure,  mighty,  find  infinitely  susceptible  life  of 
esus.  against  whom  death  came  as  a  strange 
thing  and  a  perfect  contradiction  !  Moreover, 
there  was,  wliat  we  must  not  forget,  the  shame 
of  his  approaching  death,  as  numbered  among 
the  transgressors,  as  also  the  grief  that  he 
was  to  Ue  given  over  to  death  by  the  hand 
of  sinners  (see  afterwards  Matt.  xx.  45).  All 
this  must  have,  humanly  speaking,  mightily 
moved  iiim,  mm  that  it  has  coine  near,  nolwitli- 
etanding  that  he  had  long  contemplated  it  in 
spirit,  and  liad  already  overcome  it  all  in  per- 
fect resignation.  For,  as  Lange  says,  "  there 
is  a  great  diiference  between  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  same  victory  in  the  soul's  actual  en- 
durance of  it."    Those  who  are  stoutest-hearted 


and  strongest  in  the  courage  of  faith  often  find 
their  heaviest  trial  just  when  it  comes  home  as 
as  an  actual  reality.  And  such  experience  ia 
by  no  means  inglorious,  as  arguing  any  defi- 
ciency of  strength  or  courage;  it  is  rather  a 
clearer  consciousness  of  the  object  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  opposition,  and  the  process  of  the 
victory,  as  the  mocker  Voltaire  said — "  C'est  la 
vraie  grandeur  de  I'ame,  courir  h  la  mort,  en  la 
rebutant."  Or  still  better  Beck  :  "  It  is  divine 
heroism,  to  feel  and  to  see  the  whole  burden 
and  danger,  and  yet  not  to  shrink  from  it,  or 
evade  it."  But  all  this — the  anticipation  of 
death  bitter  in  itself,  and  thrice  bitter  to  the 
holy  and  loving  Saviour  as  a  death  of  shame 
and  unrighteous  suffering — is  far  from  satisfac- 
torily explaining  the  deep  emotions  of  his  soul. 
All  that  might  have  excited  in  him  grief,  the 
Xv!tEl60aty  but  not  the  exceeding  amazement 
and  anguish  of  the  inOaufJeTGOai  and  ddrjuo- 
vElv  ;  that  could  not  have  driven  him  to  the 
extreme  in  which,  as  his  prayer  illustrating  hia 
word  reveals  to  us,  he,  recoiling  from  the  cup, 
asks  that  it  may  be  removed.  While  we  con- 
cede in  his  case  the  universal  human  shrinking 
from  death,  we  must,  on  the  other  hand,  expect 
from  his  consummate  typical  human  virtue, 
and  much  more  from  his  divine  q)povElv  rd 
rou  ^Eov  (sentiment  of  the  things  of  God)  that 
he  would  not  encounter  death  with  less  courage 
and  power  than  many  sinful  men  have  actually 
exhibited.  Bat  here  there  is  exhibited  an  anxie- 
ty, an  amazement,  a  horror  of  an  altogether  pe- 
culiar kind  (EvXa^Eia,  Heb.  v.  7),  for  which  aa 
altogether  deeper  reason  is  to  be  sought.  Fear, 
again,  in  the  sense  of  unbelief  or  the  feeling  of 
guilt,  can  have  no  place  in  relation  to  this 
Holy  One  ;  hence  the  Apostle  lakes  care  not  to 
speak  in  regard  to  him  as  in  regard  to  us  of  a 
fear  of  dM(h  (Heb.  ii.  15).  Bu't  still  there  is 
the  dismay  and  anguish  ;  and  what  is  then  its 
specific  ground?  Assuredly  no  other  than  sin, 
the  penalty  of  which  is  death,  the  judgment 
upon  the  sin  of  men  in  man's  death.  If  that 
is  the  significance  and  meaning  of  the  atoning 
death  upon  Golgotha,  it  must  apply  also  to  the 
internal  commencement  of  that  death  m  Geth- 
semane  :  this  alone  must  be  the  sting  of  the 
"  absolute  grief  of  his  soul "  through  experience 
of  sin.  Tlie  Lord  does  not  say — My  soul  is 
sorrowful  on  account  of  my  death,  or  in  prospect 
of  my  dying,  in  dismay  at  encountering  it ;  but 
he  declares  himself  by  the  ffa?  to  be  already 
translated  into  the  5ttVaro?.  What  this  in- 
volves and  includes  as  respects  him,  we  must 
learn  from  the  entire  tenor  of  Scripture. 

We  quote  the  words  of  Kleuker  against  the 
rigid  juridical  theory  of  wrath  and  satisfaction  : 
"  Away  with  the  thought  that  Gethsemane 
was  the  hell  of  the  Son  of  God — horrible  no- 
tion !  God  measures  not  with  such  measure 
as  thi«."  But  we  cannot  go  on  with  him  :  "  It 
was  his  deep  emotion,  that  the  members  of  his 
body,  which  he  had  kept  pure  and  undefiled 
for  God,  should  be  put  to  sname  by  the  hands 
of  an  adulterous  generation."  Our  protest 
against  the    false    eatisfactioa    theory   which 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42. 


575 


pours  out  wrath  and  the  condemnation  of  hell 
upon  tlie  beloved  Holy  One  of  God,  in  virtue 
ot  an  impossible  substitution  of  persons,  must 
not  rob  us  of  the  irremovable  truth  that  in  an- 
other and  much  more  real  sense,  in  the  only  ac- 
tual and  possible  sense,  the  sin  of  the  loorlil  lay 
upontheLambofGod.  This  holds  good  ofGeth- 
semane  as  the  beginningr  of  the  great  hour  of  the 
Passion,  of  the  soul-sufferings  in  Gethsemaneas 
the  first  drops,  giving,  however,  the  entire  and 
full  taste  of  the  cup.  The  Lord  felt  the  bitter- 
ness of  death,  he  Uisted  it  as  the  tcagesofsin  ;  and 
this  alone  is  the  bitterness  of  death — not  as  his 
own,  but  so  much  the  profounder  and  keener 
as  the  sin  of  the  whole  world.  Thus  it  was  to 
him  more  hitler  than  to  any  believer ;  for,  as  the 
Lord's  pure  and  perfect  bodily  life  (in  which 
sin  had  never  introduced  corruption)  would  re- 
sent bodily  death  in  an  immeasurably  higher 
degiee  than  our  organism,  invaded  and  marred 
by  sickness,  so  the  same  holds  good  of  his  holy 
sinless  soul  in  its  experience  of  the  condemna- 
tion and  judgment  of  sin.  The  words  of  Eb- 
rard  may  be  too  intense  :  "  Li  the  deepest  in- 
ternal suffering  that  we  know,  in  the  torment 
of  conscience,  which  is  a  smart  for  sin,  thei-e  is 
mingled  a  minimum  of  complacency  in  sin  ;" 
but  those  of  Lange  are  true  and  striking:  "  As 
the  death  of  an  unanxious  child  in  the  house  is 
related  to  the  death  of  a  man — he  being  the 
head  of  the  house — so  is  the  death  of  Christians 
related  to  the  death  of  Christ."  For,  the  child 
is  without  care  either  through  ignorance,  or,  as 
in  this  application  to  believing  Christians,  be- 
cause it  IS  conscious  of  being  well  cared  for  in 
the  bosom  of  parental  love,  and  has  no  anxiety  ; 
but  Christ,  as  the  father  of  the  bouse,  who 
had  to  take  the  place  of  entire  humanity, 
which  he  carried  in  his  bosom  for  its  regenera- 
tion, contended  in  anguish  for  that  peaceful 
victory  which  we  enjoy.  In  this  he  did  not 
and  could  not  by  any  means  feel  what  the  woe 
is  of  him  who  is  condemned  for  his  own  guilt  ; 
but  more  ki-enly  than  any  damned  soul  in  hell 
did  he  in  his  purity  feel  the  righteousness  and 
the  judgment  of  God.  Ilis  horror  in  the  pres- 
ence of  death  was  a  pure  and  absolute  hoiior 
in  the  presence  of  sin  ;  and  this,  finally,  was 
at  the  same  time  no  other  than  the  purest, 
deepest  awe  and  reverence  before  God,  the 
righteous  Judge  and  Father;  hence  in  Heb.  v.  7, 
the  religious  evAa/Jsia,  the  same  which  occurs 
again  in  chap.  xii.  28.*  Thus  alone,  but  thus 
truly,  he  takes  the  place  of  us  evil-doers,  in  an 
equality  ot  condemnation  ;  in  his  voluntary 
love   submitting   to   be   reckoned   amonsj   the 


*  Luther's  translation,  Daniin  dass  tr  Goit  in 
Tihren  hattc — Xhoreiove  becnuse  he  liod  Gel  in  rever- 
ence, is  absolutely  iticonect  in  the  Barum,  and  re- 
la;  ivelj'  incorrect  in  erecting  a  subordinate  into 
the  princip.al  idea.  The  passage  is  untranslal- 
at)le ;  inasmuch  as  it  declares  that  Chri.st,  in  this 
his  horror  and  amazement  at  death  and  sin,  of- 
fered to  the  rinlrteous  God  the  deepest  reveren- 
tial fear,  intensitied  into  the  ojuoioj/tix  of  our 
fear. 


transgressors  by  a  death  of  shame  in  the  Fa- 
ther's presence.  This  was  so  overpoweringly 
hard  to  him,  that  he  recoils  with  fear  through 
tlie  weakness  of  the  flesh.  In  this  mysterious 
fellowship  with  us,  and  interposition  for  us, 
there  remains  something  judicial;  hence  in 
Isa.  liii.  8,  distress  and  judgment  come  together, 
where,  despite  the  being  delivered  by  God 
(ni?^),  the  same  God,  according  to  ver.  10,  im- 
posed upon  him  this  tSStt^OI  "l^ij?,  even  as,  ac- 
cording to  Heb.  ii.  9,  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
tasted  death  for  all.  Justice  in  mercy  requires, 
since  not  otherwise  was  it  possible  to  redeem 
mankind,  that  the  Mediator  should  enter  into 
this  judgment;  grace,  with  and  before  the 
judgment  which  is  here  exhibited,  heareth  the 
supplication  of  the  humbled  Son,  and  strength- 
eneth  him  to  endure. 

He  was  troubled  even  vnto  death.  Not  only, 
that  is,  would  an  ordinary  man  have  succumb- 
ed and  died  in  such  anguish,  but  he  himself, 
according  to  his  humanity,  must  have,  before 
die  time,  become  the  victim  of  death  had  he 
not  been  strengthened  from  above.  This  is  the 
deep  significance  and  necessity  of  the  angel's 
appearance,  as  in  Luke.  In  receiving  this 
grace  the  Lord,  on  the  other  hand,  humbles 
himself,  as  we  have  already  said,  to  be  partaker 
of  the  right  of  appeal  which  every  petitioner 
jas  to  the  help  of  God;  but, on  the  other  hand, 
le  receives  in  his  own  person  for  us  all  the 
highest  and  most  decisive  of  all  ministrations 
of  help  from  above.  In  the  wilderness  the 
angels  ministered  to  him  only  after  the  first  and 
lighter  victory;  but  here  the  messengers  of 
heaven  appear  in  the  very  midst  of  the  conflict. 
And  why ':'  That  he  miglit  be  enabled  to  wrestle 
and  to  pray  tnrsviijrepoy,  the  more  earnestly. 
But  how  and  by  what  means  did  the  angel 
strengthen  him?  Was  it  by  holding  out  to 
iiim  the  prize,  or  by  a  "  message  and  assurance 
from  the  Father  at  this  point  concerning  the 
necessity  of  his  Son's  sufferings  and  his  own 
complacency  in  them,"  the  Lord  being  at  this 
luncture  in  darkness?  This  mayor  may  not 
be;  but  the  main  thing  which  Luke  intimates 
by  strengthening  him  (comp.  Acts  ix.  19),  was  a 
ra'iraculous  accession  of  strength  in  body  and 
soul,  or  rather  a  summoning  up  of  this  strength 
from  its  concealed  and  oppressed  spiritual 
ground,  by  the  heavenly  manifestation.  For 
this  appearance  of  itself,  without  word  or  mes- 
sage, would  at  such  a  crisis  have  this  influence.  • 
•^A  ministration  like  that  after  the  temptation, 
which  served  to  invigorate  his  sinking  bodily 
energies.  All  the  previous  and  subsequent 
ministrations  of  angels  chiefly  referred  to  the 
condition  of  his  bmlj/."  So  Hess,  and  again 
very  excellently:  "  This  strengthening  had  ref- 
erence to  the  physical  part  of  this  deadly  con- 
flict—it was  an  augmentation  of  power."  We 
cannot  understand  Pfenninger's  "  tcor.ls  of  con- 
solation and  power"  which  the  languishing 
soul  of  Jesus  eagerly  received  from  the  angel'a 
mouth. 
Before  this  heavenly  strengthening  (between 


576 


GETHSEMANE. 


the  first  and  the  second  prayer)  came,  the  Lord 
felt  his  weakness  and  need  of  help  so  sorely, 
that  he  not  only  sought  his  consolation  in  an- 
nouncing beforehand  his  coming  agony,  in  the 
pouring  cut  of  his  heart  to  the  three  disciples, 
but,  moreover — like  a  brother,  weak  and  sup- 
plicating help — seeks  to  take  refiige  in  the 
sympathizing  neighborhood  of  the  men  whom 
he  loves,  an^l  by  whom  he  is  beloved.  This  lies 
in  the  added  clause — Tarry  ye  here  and  watch 
tr  th  me.  The  repeated  usiyars  aiSe  is  in  con- 
trast with  the  previous  xaOidare  code — But 
remain  ye  here,  near  to  myself,  leave  me  not. 
Your  presence  is  a  stay  to  me  in  my  tribulation. 
But,  because  he  feels  in  his  own  soul  what 
power  of  darkness,  obscuring  and  oppressing,  is 
breaking  in  upon  the  scene,  and  will  on  his  ac- 
count invade  his  disciples  also,  he  adds  the 
strong  exhortation  to  tliem  to  ablile  watchi7ig. 
This  tcatch  vests  at  first  of  course  upon  its  phys- 
ical meaning;  for  the  disciples  sank  into  bodily 
sleep;  but  the  bodily  waking  or  sleeping  was 
only  the  outward  expression  and  figure  of  the 
wakefulness  or  sleep  of  the  soul.  The  watch- 
fulness here  first  required  already  includes  the 
praying  which  he  afterwards  added  ;  but  it  very 
properly  stands  alone  at  the  first  as  the  funda- 
mental word  of  that  exhortation  to  his  present 
and  future  disciples  which  springs  from  this 
conflict  of  their  Master. 

Watch  with  me — thus  we  have  it  fully  in 
JIatthew.  They  had  all,  like  Peter,  promised 
to  die  with  him.  As  here  the  three  are  brought 
forward  into  symbolical  prominence,  so  there 
are  times  ever  recurring  when  some  elect  spirits 
are  called  belore  others  to  watch  with  the  Lord 
in  his  confiicts  in  his  Church.  That,  however, 
does  not  affect  its  universal  meaning  for  us  all ; 
his  meek  request — with  me — becomes  a  most 
mighty  exhortation  and  a  most  precious  promise 
— Sec  llica  how  I  watch,  ami  thus  abide  icith  me* 
He  does,  indeed,  mean,  as  we  have  said,  to  in- 
clude their  praying;  but  here,  where  the  em- 
pliasis  falls  upon  "  with  me,"  he  cannot  add 
that  v/ord,  for  he  could  not  be  supposed  to  say 
—  Watch  ami  pray  with  me.  There  could  be  no 
strict  lellowship  and  equality  between  him  and 
sinful  men  in  relation  to  his  prayer  generally, 
and  especially  in  regard  to  this  prayer  of  Geth- 
semane.  "  He  hail  never  prayed  with  his  dis- 
ciples, nor  could  he  ;  he  challenges  them  not  to 
pray  with  him  in  his  sharp  cunflict  in  Geth- 
Ecmane,  but  only  to  watch  with  him."  Least 
*  of  all  could  he  summon  them  to  share  his  amaz- 
nient  and  horror.  That  is  never  matter  of  re- 
quirement or  exhortation;  so  far  as  it  is  de- 
manded by  our  communion  with  his  sufferings, 
it  comes  of  itself  at  the  appointed  time;  but 
only  so  that  his  mediatorial  redeeming  pre-em- 
inence remair.s  alone  and  without  parallel. 

Tarry  here— in  my  neighborhood,  indeed, 
but  at  the  same  time  as  it  had  been  said  belore 
to  the  others — Follow  me  no  further.  For,  his 
prayer,  to  which  he   now  has  recourse  in  the 

*  II.  L6ssel :  "  To  waich  Kdh  htin  is  watching  in- 
deed." 


extremity  of  his  soul,  needs  separation  even 
from  thethree,  and  perfect  solitude  with  God. 
Hence  the  note  of  separation  ff/aoeASojr  (an- 
other reading  in  Matt.  itpo6EX0oDv)  /.iixpov — 
the  same  whicli  Luke  records  in  dnECTtda^tj 
dri  aurojj'.  For  although  he  does  not  spe- 
cify the  selection  of  the  three,  his  narrativo 
being  more  concise,  he  cannot  mean  by  this 
aTtoGnaijOrjyai,  being  tcithdraicn  from  them, 
the  same  as  that  first  dirsAOEiy  of  Matt  xxvi. 
36,  which  took  place  in  perfect  tranquillity. 
The  former  word  does,  indeed,  occur  as  a  Greek 
phrase  in  the  enfeebled  meaning  of  a  mere 
going  aicay  or  departing ;  but  its  connection  here 
gives  it  the  emphasis  of  a  violent  and  vehement 
rending  himself  away:  compare  the  impetuous 
dno6na6QEyra<i  of  Acts  xxi.  1,  on  which  Gro- 
tius  says,  as  iftvn  away  byfoi-ce.*  It  is  here, 
therefore,  opposed  to  the  icith  me  which  clung 
to  them  before;  and  now  we  perceive  that  fluc- 
tuation of  anguish  which  the  Bsrlenh.  Bihel 
assumed  too  soon:  he  had  just  asked  them  to 
tarry  and  watch  with  him — he  must  then  im- 
mediately tear  himself  from  them  to  pray.  The 
removal  a  stone's  cast  appears  to  he  more  exact 
than  the  little  of  the  others ;  but  both  are  per- 
fectly accordant,  since  Luke's  proverbial  ex- 
pression means  only  as  far  as  a  stone  goes  whea 
thrown  without  any  force  or  design.  For,  it  is 
plain  in  the  whole  narrative  that  the  disciples 
heard  his  words ;  and  even  saw  his  knees  bent, 
and  his  bloody  sweat.t 

This  was  a  very  diflfcrent  prayer  from  that 
which  John  records  as  having  gone  before. 
But  it  proceeds  from  the  same  spirit,  from  the 
same  Son  of  God  and  Redeemer  of  men.  The 
glorification  already  begins  in  the  Passion,  as 
we  have  been  prepared  to  find  it  since  he  first 
began  to  speak  of  the  coming  hour.  His  power 
over  all  flesh  manifests  itseli  irst  as  the  power 
of  his  contending  and  victorious  spirit  over  his 
own  flesh,  by  means  of  which  he  belongs  to  us. 

The  Licarnate  Son,  who  had  already  )rayed 
himself  up  to  the  Father  and  into  heaven,  now 
first  truly  experiences  that  he  is  still  in  the 
world,  that  its  prince  is  coming  against  him, 
and  that  the  righteous  Father  had  ai^  pointed  to 
the  Son  that  he  should  sanctify  and  offer  him- 
self for  his  own.  With  what  other  incense 
could  the  great  offering  be  presented,  than  ivch 
a  prayer?     If  it  had  not  been  rf.orded,  our 


*  Schftttgpn  :  Tney  are  said  aitodndcQat  or 
dno6na60t}yai,  who  are  hardly  withdrawn  flora 
the  cmliraces  of  llie'.r  friends.  But  ho  incor- 
con-ectly  assorts  that  in  Luke  xxii.  41  it  must  be 
taken  according  to  a  common  usage,  simply  for 
XCjpiCOi'fyixt,  to  be  separated. 

f  I  aslced  in  the  first  edition.  And  why  not  that 
they  saw  the  an^el  ?  Hofminu  {Sc/irtfibeivcis.  i. 
348)  ajijiears  to  me,  however,  to  .-jo  too  far :  Tho 
fact  could  not  have  been  recorded,  unless  the  d;s- 
cii)les  had  witnessed  it.  The  appeared  indicates  a 
plain  nianitestation,  but  the  to  him  seems  to  ex- 
clude the  disciples.  How  then  did  Luke  know  it  1 
May  it  not  be  that  this  among  other  things  was 
told  to  tho  disciples  during  the  forty  days  1 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42, 


577 


own  profoimder  understanding  of  the  person 
and  work  of  Christ  must  have  led  us  to  assume 
9uch  an  internal  conflict  in  the  sanctuary  of 
his  soul.  But  it  isrevealed  tons  ;  and  we  have 
only  to  read  and  mark  it,  that  we  may  follow 
our  Forerunner. 

"  He  prayed" — thus  is  it  twice  in  Mark  and 
Luke,  and  thrico  in  Matthew,  preceded  too  by 
while  Iprai/,  and  with  pray  ye  also  intervening. 
"  This  word  is  so  often  repeated  in  the  history 
that  it  might  seem  as  if  the  Evangelists  had 
concerted  it  that  no  man  should  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed with  this  prayer  of  our  Lord"  (Ram- 
bach).  It  IS  very  natural  that  these  words  of 
awful  prayer  should  not  have  been  literally 
heard  or  retained  in  their  exact  form  by  the 
affrighted,  sleep-oppressed  disciples,  themselves 
sorely  harassed.  Yet,  the  Spirit  has  given  to 
usin'their  divine  records  the  three  principal 
elements  in  it,  w^th  perfect  unanimity;  the 
preliminary  and  confident  appeal  to  the  Father ; 
the  urgent  mpplication  of  the  first  recoil;  the 
instant  and  entire  resignation  to  the  Father's 
will,  which  closed  all. 

Luke  has  merely  Father  ;  Matthew,  my  Fa- 
ther ;  Mark  preserves  (as  his  wont  is)  the  very 
language  of  Jesus,  Abba,  with  Father  then  added. 
Not  that  he  thereby,  as  Grotius  thinks,  indi- 
cates a  redoubled  cry  as  a  testimony  of  deep 
passion  ;  and  certainly  not.  as  the  Berlenberger 
BiOel  inappropriately  says,  because  he  appealed 
to  God  as  a  Father  in  his  two-fold  nature. 
No,  he  does  not  give  either  the  Abba  or  the 
Father  as  repeated  ;  but  only  interprets  for  the 
reader  the  filial  voice,  which  still  urged  its 
claim.  In  this  present  obscured  humiliation, 
with  which  the  Passion  commenced,  there  is 
still  "  a  ray  of  filial  confidence,"  otherwise  than 
at  Golgotha,  in  the  noontide  darkness,  when 
the  consciousness  of  Christ  passes  entirely, 
through  the  my  God  of  the  Psalm,  into  the  level 
of  unity  with  mankind.  But  here  the  Son  ap- 
proaches still  the  Father,  though  in  deep  pros- 
tration :  when  he  takes  the  edge  of  the  cup  to 
his  lips,  this  first  taste  of  bittorness  throws  him 
upon  his  kiiees,  as  Luke  reports  the  commence- 
ment— upon  his  /ace,  as  Matthew  proceeds — 
upon  the  earth,  as  Mark  most  impressively 
closes.  "  The  only  Sor.  of  the  Eternal  Father  is 
now  found  in,  the  d'/it — the  Supreme  Good  is 
weighed  down  with  our  weak  flesh  and  blood." 
Yet  in  his  profouna  weakness  there  is  still  the 
clear  consciousness — 3Iy  Father.  He  who  lies 
as  a  worm  upon  (ne  earth,  nevertheless  appeals 
to  the  Almighty  as  a  Son.  Thus,  let  it  be  ob- 
served, there  is  here  no /ear  of  a  punitive  justice 
as  in  our  stead,  nothing  of  this  Father's  zcrath 
against  the  person  of  his   beloved   Son.*     We 


*  This  protest  does  not  contrarrct  what  was  said 
before  of  tlie  mysterious  mediatorial  fellowship 
with  us  in  the  condemnation  ot  God.  There  is 
e.xliibitcd  even  here  in  the  depth  of  the  mystery, 
the  rigorous  distinction  according  to  which  the 
Mediator  sorrows  f5>-,  feels,  bears,  and  even  appro- 
priates the  sin  ofthi  world,  but  still  as  the  sin  of 
tlie  woridf  tor  its  ty^ati/n.    There  13  indeed  judg-  | 


wonder  at  Beck's  lapse  into  the  old  error  of  an 
unsound  theology,  when  he  says:  "  When  that 
is  taken  away  from  a  man  which  ia  the  sole 
dependence  of  his  heart,  that  in  which  he  lives 
and  moves,  his  heart  and  spirit  is  broken.  The 
soul-conflict  of  Christ  in  Gethsemane  could  have 
no  other  ground  than  this,  that  here  that  was 
taken  from  him  which  was  the  treasure  of  his 
heart,  that  in  which  his  whole  heart  rested,  that 
wherein  he  lived  and  moved — the  love  of  his 
Father,  unity  tcith  him — the  feeling  that  the 
Father's  complacency  was  in  him,  and  that  he 
was  in  the  complacency  of  his  Father.  This 
was  to  Christ  as  indispensable  as  his  breath." 
How  can  that  vital  breath  be  regarded  as  taken 
from  him,  when  at  the  beginning  it  vehemently 
cries  3Iy  Father!  and  still  more  victoriously 
cries  at  the  end  in  submission  Aathouicilt! 
Verily,  in  this  "Abba"  the  Father's  compla- 
cency is  retained  and  not  lost ;  in  this  "  Not  as 
I  will,"  unity  with  the  Father  is  preserved  ab- 
solutely inviolate.*  We  see  here  at  least  that 
the  full  feeling  of  what  sin  is  in  all  its  conse- 
quences before  God — this  assuredly  was  Christ's 
experience — consists  strictly  with  the  con- 
sciousness. But  I  am,  and  I  remain  thy  Son. 
And  then,  through  the  communication  and  im- 
planting of  his  Spirit,  we  also  may  adopt  the 
same  cry  of  Abba  Father  in  the  midst  of  the  sor- 
row and  condemnation  of  our  sin:  hence  we 
regard  the  apostolical  sayings,  Rom.  viii.  15, 
and  Gal.  iv.  6,  as  having  direct  reference  to  the 
perso.ial  example  of  Christ,  and  probably  even 
to  the  scene  of  Gethsemane. 

To  the  Father  he  might  freely  put  his  request, 
even  though  with  strong  crying — not  merely 
with  desire  and  conjldence,  but  in  the  profoundest 
urgency  of  need.  But,  because  the  Almighty 
Creator  is  the  Father  of  Christ,  his  faith  places 
first  the  appeal  to  the  almightiness  of  this  Fa- 
ther, that  it  may  be  the  foundation  and  the 
sole  restriction  of  his  request.  We  must  now, 
m  considering  the  Avhole,  invert  the  order  ;  and 
hear  first  what  the  request  is,  in  order  that  we 
may  then  understand  in  what  sense  he  makes 
his  appeal  to  God's  omnipotence,  as  able  or  not 
to  grant  the  request.  Thus  the  Son  of  the 
Almighty,  come  into  the  world  in  order  to 
suffer  and  die  for  mankind,  asks  the  Father 
now,  when  the  crisis  is  coming,  out  of  the  dust 
— for  what?  That  this  cup  may  pass  away 
from  him,  may  be  taken  away,  that  he  may  not 
drink  it.  So  wonderful  is  this  when  we  hear 
it  first  that  we  may  vi'ell  ask  in  doubt — What 
can  here  be  the  meaning  of  this  cup  ?     Mark 


ment  here  and  punishment ;  but  not  as  only  puni- 
tive, not  cs  wrath  which  rests  upon  tlie  Son  per- 
.sonaliy,  who  can  still  say  "  Father."  AVe  must 
once  more  say.  The  vial  of  wrath  in  Rev.  xi\'. 
10  is  very  difterent  from  the  cup  of  Gftliscmane. 
*  "  The  llcssedness  of  his  life  in  unity  with  the 
Father  was  absorbed  through  his  ansuish  lor  sin" 
(as  Ebrard  more  cautiously  say.s),  but  rot  tlio 
unity  itself;  its  feehng  was  invaded,  but  its  cmt- 
sciousness  was  far  from  being  obscuied,  rather  was 
it  brightened. 


578 


GETHSEMANE. 


gives  us,  before  he  introduces  that  word  of 
Christ,  the  first  tone  of  which  is  so  incompre- 
hensible to  many,  an  introductory  explanation 
— mentioning  the  hour,  and  moreover  that  the 
request  was  urged  only  if  it  were  possible. 
That  explanation  is  certainly  most  important 
and  decisive  ;  but  it  must  not  be  interpreted  in 
any  such  way  as  to  separate  the  present  hour 
of  anguish  from  the  coming  suffering  of  death, 
and  oppose  the  one  to  the  other. 

Does  then  the  Lord  here  shrink  from  suffer- 
ing and  dying  for  the  world?  Would  he,  at 
this  crisis,  be  delivered,  if  it  were  possible,  from 
the  sacrifice  of  death,  or  does  he  pray  only  for 
the  taking  away  of  the  present  overpowering 
burd-en  of  his  soul's  anguish  ?  Thus  must  the 
question  stand  at  first,  until  its  right  answer 
corrects  the  question  itself,  and  makes  it  intel- 
ligible. The  predominant  opinion  among  prac- 
tical orthodox  expositors  may  be  seen  by  the 
following  quotations:  "It  was  not,  most  as- 
suredly, a  supplication  for  the  turning  away  of 
tiiat  which  had  been  long  predicted,  and  which 
he  had  tilways  known  to  be  essential  to  his  one 
vocation  ;  but  it  was  a  prayer,  urged  by  deep 
distress  for  the  taking  away  of  that  which  jmt 
now  pressed  so  heavily  upo'n  him."  Or  again, 
more  plainly  still:  "'l  will  wUlinrjly  suffer,  if 
only  I  may  be  delivered  out  of  this  anguish, 
and  this  suffering  be  shortened."  Again  : 
"  Thus  he  does  not,  properly  speaking,  ask  it  of 
the  Father  that  he  might  he  saved  Irom  his 
Passion  as  a  whole:  but  he  only  supplicates 
for  an  alleviation  and  shortening  of  his  internal 
anguibli  in  the  present  hour,  of  that  terror  and 
fear  which  he  lelt,  and  which  might  have  been 
an  offence  to  the  disciples,  who  understood  not 
the  mystery."  In  support  ot  this,  they  appeal 
to  all  the  previous  definite  predictions  of  our 
Lord,  and  to  the  impossibility,  which  he  there- 
fore knew,  that  his  Passion  "should  pass  away 
from  him  ;  and  further  to  the  fact  tliat  it  must, 
according  to  Heb.  v.  7,  have  been  a  supplication 
that  might  be  heard,  and  therefore  that  this 
cup  must  be  no  other  than  "  the  present  feel- 
ings of  anguish  which  the  wrath  of  God  excited," 
or  whatever  else  may  be  substituted.  Hess 
carries  all  this  to  its  climax  when  he  savs  : 
"  Tiie  Lord  prays  for  the  removal  of  this 
anguish,  even  in  order  i\\Ai  he  might,  le  ahle  to 
suffer ;  as  the  physical  element  in  this  feeling 
took  such  lorni  as  he  could  not  struggle  against, 
and  would  if  it  continued  render  iVimpossible 
that  he  should  sustain  the  remainer  of  his  Pas- 
sion with  the  composure  and  dignity  which 
were  required  of  him.  For  supposing  him  to 
be  thus  full  of  anguish  before  Caiaphas  and 
Pilate,  would  he  not  have  assumed  tlie  appear- 
ance of  one  consciously  guilty,  or,  in  a  sense 
inconsistent  with  his  character  and  work,  fear- 
lui  of  death  ?  " 

But  such  a  view  of  the  matter  is  altogether 
wrong,  whether  put  in  this  most  rigorous  form, 
according  to  which  the  prayer  would  mean, 
"  Father,  give  me  back  only  the  strength  and 
dignity  necessary  for  the  drinking  of  that  cup 
Which  it  is  my  will  to  drink/'  or  in  any  otht-r 


application  of  it  whatever.  For  the  Lord 
had  himself  just  declared  his  sorriAO  to  be  the 
beginning  and  the  fearful  approach  of  death; 
and  he  had  spontaneously  given  that  offence  to 
his  disciples  by  exhibiting  his  anguish.  But 
what  now,  to  be  more  definite,  is  the  meaning 
of  the  hour  and  the  cup  ?  We  have  already 
seen  that  by  "  the  hour,"  John  xii.  27,  nothing 
else  is  to  be  understood  but  what  the  Evangel- 
ists, like  the  Lord,  from  the  beginning  call  by 
that  name — his  entire  suffering  of  dedth.  And 
here  in  Gethsemane  the  Lord  himself  testifies 
in  his  word  of  invigoration  after  the  anguish 
(Matt.  ver.  45,  Mark  ver.  41 — thus  in  the  same 
Mark  who  previously  explained  the  hour),  that 
the  hour  had  not  passed  away,  but  drew  near 
still,  and  was  come.  Further,  in  John  xviii.  11, 
he  describes  his  passion  as  the  cup  which  he  is 
to  drink  of;  consequently  his  prayer  means 
the  same  cup  of  the  suffering  of  death  which 
now  is  at  hand  after  he  had  appointed  to  his 
disciples  its  fruit  and  benefit  through  the  insti- 
tution of  another  cup.  Finally,  as  respects 
the  decisive  parallel,  Matt.  xx.  22,  in  which  he 
similarly  spoke  of  the  cup,  we  must  appeal  to 
what  was  said  there  in  exposition  ;  only  adding 
Bengel's  note:  "When  baptism  is  mentioned 
with  the  cup,  the  cup  is  the  internal  Passion, 
baptism  the  external.*  When  the  cup  alone  is 
mentioned,  the  universal  Passion  is  to  be  under- 
stood ;  but  so  that  under  the  internal  is  also 
included  the  external  Passion."  That  which 
God  offers  to  men  to  taste  in  suffering,  is  called 
a  cup  in  the  ancient  Scriptures;  that  which  the 
Father  presents  to  the  Son  to  suffer  is  the  cup, 
concerning  which  Christ  speaks  here  as  else- 
where. This  suffering  is  an  indivisible  unity, 
so  prepared,  mingled  and  presented  in  the  cup 
by  the  Father,  that  it  must  be  drunk  and 
altogether  drunk  by  the  Son. 

Certain  it  is,  that  the  question  is  here  of 
drinking  it  altogether  awl  all.  But — and  we 
now  recognize  the  truth  in  the  error  which  has 
been  mentioned — this  recoil,  which  revokes 
while  it  expresses  its  own  utterance,  refers,  in 
its  declining  to  drink  the  cup,  to  i\\e  present  ex- 
pcri^nce  of  its  first  drops.  And  having  tasted — 
he  would  not  drink.  In  "  thisn/;),"  rv  Ttovi'ipiov 
rovro  (which  rouro  Mark  still  more  emphati- 
cally isolates),  so  much  is  condensed,  that  in 
the  present  anguish  of  his  commencing  Passion 
and  death,  the  entire  cup  is,  as  it  were,  pre- 
sented to  the  Lord.  Is  it  then  such  suffering, 
must  all  this  come  upon  me?  Father  spare 
me !  would  my  soul  fain  cry.  Thus  the  dis- 
tinction in  the  former  question — either  the  suf- 
fering of  death  itself,  or  the  present  hmtr — was 
baseless,  lor  the  latter  retains  with  the  former 
its  distinctive  force  and  meaning.  It  is  the 
will  of  the  Son  to  be  saved  by  the  omnipotence 
of  the  Father  from  death  (to  him  that  was  ahle 
to  save  him  from  death — is  the  word  of  tho 


*  This,  however,  as  we  have  shown  upon  Mat- 
thew, must  be  more  deeply  understood  and  fun- 
damentally distinguished,  than  might  seem  to  b« 
the  meaniHg  here. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42 


579 


Apostle)  :  this  is  marvellous,  but  natural  for 
liiiii  wlio  is  the  life,  the  Son  of  the  Almighty. 
But,  according  to  the  feeling  of  his  soul,  which 
urges  him  to  this  strong  crying  and  supplica- 
tion, he  beholds  and  e.xperiences  death  now- 
only  in  this  horror  of  death  which  falls  upon 
him.  When  the  Father  strengthens  him,  and 
takes  away  this  anguish,  his  request  is  as- 
suredly heard  and  answered  ei6aMov6(j£ii  dito 
TTJi  £vXafJ£iai);  but  he  is  equally  heard  in 
that  the  Father  accepts  and  fulfills  his  cry  of 
resignation — "As  thou  wilt."  As  a  present  op- 
pressive burden  the  time  of  suffering  generally 
IS  called  the  hour,  and  so  is  it  now  in  specific 
reference  to  this  particular  present.*  Hence 
the  language  of  the  request,  to  which  Mark's 
explanatory  phrase  points,  TtapEAOsrcD,  iva 
TtapeXOjj  (which  must  mean  no  other  tlian 
pass  hi)  or  pass  over,  notwithstanding  the  from 
me  connected  with  it ;  lor  Mark  joins  it  with 
the  hour) — napivKyuE,  ncxpF.vsyHElv  in  the 
same  meaning.  The  cy;>  rhust  be  drunk,  inter- 
nally tasted  in  voluntary  acceptance  of  it — that 
now  takes  place,  and  this  accepting  obedience 
is  consummated  in  the  struggling,  lamenting 
prayer  which  urges  the  conditional  petition  in 
the  prerogative  of  a  Son.  As  in  this  prayer 
the  whole  Passion  appears  as  it  were  condensed 
in  the  present  anguish  (sub  interna  passione 
connotatur  externa),  so  aiterwards  in  John 
xviii.  11  the  word  of  victorious  resignation 
embraces  in  the  drinking  of  the  cup  the  be- 
ginnings even  of  the  external  Pas'ion. 

If  v,'e  -have  thus  far  apprehended  with  any 
clearness  the  meaning  of  our  Lord's  petition,  it 
will  be  still  further  cleared  irom  all  objection 
by  going  back  again  and  observing  that  it  is 
olfe:ed  only  under  a  i  coming  condition.  Accord- 
ing to  Matthew,  the  Lord  before  he  laid  the  let 
xt  pass  from  me  upon  the  Father's  heart,  had 
said — If  it  be  possible.  Mark  begins  with  the 
same  expression,  and  in  the  prayer  itself  makes 
the  Lord's  word  still  stronger — All  things  are 
possible  with  thee.  We  will  not  distract  our 
understanding  of  the  words  by  the  gratuitous 
question,  How  and  with  what  precise  words  did 
the  Lord  speak?  No  single  word  literally 
pressed  would  sufnce  for  the  profound,  im- 
measurably concentrated  meaning  of  this  pe- 
tition ;  the  Holy  Spirit  therefore  teaches  us  by 
Mark  to  unite  and  .spiritually  to  understand  a 
double  formula.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  all  things 
are  possible  unto  thee,  as  an  urgent  appeal  to 
the  Father's  omnipotence,  only  makes  the  pe- 
tition the  more  intense — Alniighty  Father,  is 
not  then  this  possible  to  thee?  yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  urgency  carries  with  it  its  own 
humble  limitation,  as  Mark  has  already  given 
it — If  it  be  possible  to  thee !     Again,  this  if 


*  Else  \vp  may  s-ay  general!  7:  Ihe  Passion  is 
called  his  hour,  first  a.s  one  definte  and  measured 
suirering;  secondly,  as  the  final  and  most  deci- 
sive suffering  (passio  cxirema  as  distinsuished  from 
the  passio  incho'i(a)  of  his  wliole  life;  thirdly,  as 
transitory,  though-while  it  lasts,  an  0^^:  cssive  prcs- 


itself  is  an  urgent  appeal,  and  has  for  its  under 
tone,  And  before  thee  all  things  are  possible 
Whether  the  Lord  said  the  one'  or  the  other,* 
in  either  case  both  are  implied.  Luke's  words 
are  certainly  not  intended  to  be  verbally  exact 
—If  thou  be  willing  to  remove.  That  might 
be,  as  Grotius  says,  0  that  thou  wouldst !  But 
this  would  introduce  an  element  of  fearful  de- 
sire, almost  unworthy  of  Christ,  into  the  con- 
fident petition  of  the  Son  to  the  Father;  it 
would  further  interfere  with  Luke's  perfect  ac- 
cordance with  the  other  Evangelists,  which 
depends  upon  the  like  signification  of  thei/  in 
them  all;  and  it  would  remove  from  his  record 
one  of  the  three  main  points,  the  conditional 
strengthening  of  the  prayer  or  its  strengthen- 
ing condition.  We  cannot,  therefore,  agree 
with  this  utinam — oh  that — and  the  reading 
TtapEvsyuE  shows,  at  least  as  a  gloss,t  the  true 
explanation.  That  is,  it  is  either  the  infinitive 
for  the  imperative,  as  Bengel's  Gnomon  at  first 
preferred,  and  as  Luther  translates — If  thou  be 
willing  remove  ;  or,  as  we  prefer,  there  is  an 
ajwsiojiesis  of  the  verb  TCaoevtyxE,  by  which 
Luke  would  express  the  "  meek  submission  of 
Jesus  toward  his  Father."  So  Bengel  in  his 
Germ,  trans. :  If  thou  wilt  remove  this  cup 
from  me  (the  conclusion  is  withheld) ;  and 
similarly,  De  Wette  marks  the  aposiopesis  by 
a  line.  But  what  is  it  that  we  learn  from 
Luke's  words  thus  taken?  That  most  impor- 
tant truth,  which  first  solves  the  whole,  and 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  teaches  as  the  truth, 
though  it  seems  to  differ  from  the  rest,  viz., 
that  the  Lord's  if  it  he  possible  really  meant  if 
thou  tcilt,  and  spoke  of  the  Father's  almighti- 
ness  only  under  this  modification.  Christ's  not 
suffering  was  indeed  absolutely  possible,  if  ho 
had  not  voluntarily  laid  down  his  life  (John  x. 
IS),  but  had  called  in  the  legions  of  angels; 
but — as  he  then  said  himself — how  would  then 
the  counsel  of  God  have  been  fulfilled?  Thus 
that  possibility  alone  was  intended  which  was 
relative,  and  within  the  scope  of  this  counsel. 
This  variation  of  the  word  is  its  interpretation  ; 
the  Lord  speaks  of  no  other  possibility  to  God 
than  is  consistent  with  his  will  and  decree — But 
let  all  be,  if  and  as,  thou  tcilt,  which  the  subse- 
quent cla'use  fully  brings  out.  Thus  this  fol- 
lowing word  of  entire  resignation  was  already 
included  in  the  first  utterance  of  the  petition , 
and  the  TrX?}^'  or  dXXa,  but,  contains  no  direct 
antithesis,  If  it  be  possible  in  thy  toill,  let  this 
cup  pass  away  ;  for  my  will  is  not  other  than 
thine,  even  though  I  will  otherwise  than  what 
now  befalls  me.  Grotius  says  very  correctly  : 
If  thy  counsels  admit  that  in  any  other  way 
thy  glory  and  man's  salvation  may  be  consult- 
ed and  attained.  Thus  the  Lord's  thought,  in 
these  words  of  shrinking,  does  not  border  on 


*  Scarcely  both  in  succession  :  such  an  unfold- 
ing of  the  thought  would  bs  contrary  to  the  ve- 
hemence of  the  condensed  petition,  as  it  is  well 
preserved  by  the  Evangelists. 

f  For  the  more  difficult  infinitive  is  certainly 
genuine. 


GETHSEMANE. 


the  idea  that  humanity  xvas  not  to  be  redeemed  ; 
this  great  decree,  this  wdloi  the  Father  and  of 
the  Son  alike,  is  rather  jire- supposed  in  if  it  ie 
possible,  if  thou  wilt.  Tiie  petition  ashs  only 
with  urgency — Is  tho  accomplishment  of  thy 
counsel,  0  Father,  is  the  redemption  of  man- 
kind not  otherwise  possible  than  by  my  thus 
Buffering,  my  drmking  this  cup?  Such  a  ques- 
tion and  such  a  petition  were  possible  to  Christ 
through  the  hard  conjlict  under  the  pressure 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  of  which  his 
otherwise  clear  insight  into  God's  counsel,  into 
the  thus  it  must  he  (Matt.  xxvi.  54),  was  for  the 
moment  obscured.  Braune  is  right,  that  in 
the  "  Father,  is  it  possible,"  there  is  the  ex- 
pression of  tcavei-ing,  more  awfully  strange  than 
in  his  previous  dismay  ;  but  however  strange 
it  is,  it  13  perfectly  intelligible  through  the  op- 
pression of  our  Lord's  humanity  under  the 
dread  weight  of  his  present  suffering,  which  he 
must  endure,  that  he  rhay  learn,  prove,  and 
consummate  his  obedience. 

lie  was  and  continued  obedient.  It  was  not 
otherwise  possible  to  redeem  the  world  than 
through  the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God  in 
human  nature — this  testiiies  Gethsemane.  The 
Son  had  no  other  will,  in  the  unity  of  the 
Father,  even  here  where  this  human  /opposes 
itself  in  order  perfectly  to  submit — this  is  tes- 
tified by  the  closing  clause  of  his  prayer.  Here 
again  we  have  a  three-fold  phraseology  which 
retains,  while  it  varies  the  expression,  the  same 
fulness  of  meaning  in  all.  Luke  gives  the  most 
general,  and  for  us  all  prototypical,  form  of  it 
in  the  abstract,  the  accomplishment  of  the  loill ; 
and  thereby  anticipates  the  repetition  of  the 
prayer  which  passed  into  that  expression  (Matt, 
ver.  42).  Matthew  and  mark  preserve  the 
original  aposiopcsis  of  the  y^eveCOoj,  and  place 
the /and  'Thuu  in  living  and  concrete  oppo- 
sition ;  the  former  adding  the  as,  and  the  latter 
the  iohat,  both  including  comprehensively  every 
appointed  specialty  in  the  decreed  and  inevit- 
able suffering. 

As  or  tohat  irill — most  profoundly  signifi- 
cant words  in  this  place,  which  must  not  be 
qualified  away !  The  Lord  does  not  say  mere- 
ly— A?  my  ficxh  v.'ill ;  for  that,  strictly  regarded, 
would  be  saying  too  much,  and  would  assume 
even  in  him  such  a  dividing  antagonism  of 
the  contradicting  flesh  as  could  not  exist  in  the 
harmony  of  his  sinless  human  personality. 
But,  although  the  velle  non  fuli,  or  non  vcUe 
pnti  proceeds  from  tho  weakness  of  the  flesh, 
vet  this  $£Xco  or  2s\Tjfux  (will)  is  mediated 
by  the  soul,  which  unites  flesh  and  .spirit  in  the 
per.-onality,  in  tho  entire  iyoo,  "  1."  Hence 
Lange  says  truly,  "  The  exclusion  of  Monophy- 
Eite  and  Monolhelite  heresy  Ironi  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church,  finds  litre  its  firmest  founda- 
tion." Two  wills  declare  themselves  here  in 
Christ:  the  one  full  will  of  the  particular  hu- 
man I  ;  but  at  the  same  time  another,  distin- 
guished from  tho  former,  as  its  contrast,  and 
yet  one  with  it  in  the  unity  of  the  one  praying 

£erson,  which  says — As  thou  wilt;  that  is,  let  it 
»;  that  ia,  I  wiU.    Although  this  last  /  teill 


obtains  and  preserves  the  victory,  the  first  is 
not  on  that  account  to  be  reduced,  with  Grotius, 
to  the  level  of  a  mere  SeXoijui,  I  viight  wish* 
for  see  the  same  full  opposition  of  a  continually 
renounced  will  as  the  universal  law  of  Christ's 
life  in  John  vi.  38  ;  and  compare  the  law  for 
his  followers  in  John  xxi.  18.  That  may  be 
termed,  on  the  one  hand,  a  merely  negative 
passive  will,  a  not  willing  of  the  flesh,  of  nature, 
which  the  spirit  must  endure  ;  yet  there  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  so  much  of  positiveness  in  it 
as  to  make  it  an  opposition  to  be  overcome,  a 
contradiction  to  be  resisted.  It  is  not  the  in- 
dividual personal  will,  which  every  personal 
creature  (and  therefore  the  true  humanity  of 
the  second  Adam)  has  and  must  have,  that 
is  sinful ;  but  the  power  of  that  individual 
will  in  act,  then  first  man's  own  will,  against 
the  will  of  God.  The  natural  tendency  to 
shrink  from  suffering,  and  specifically  the  hor- 
ror which  life  has  of  death,  is  in  itself  sinless 
and  innocent;  and  must  have  existed  in  Christ, 
in  order  that  he  might  truly  suflfer  and  die — 
only  in  us  is  "the  touch  of  original  sin  connect- 
ed therewith."  Suffering  and  dying  is  "a 
strange  work,  and  one  for  which  human  nature 
in  the  beginning  was  not  created  ;  "  therefore 
it  was  all  the  more  abhorrent  to  the  pure 
humanity  of  Christ.  "  Death  was  to  Christ  a 
total  contradiction  of  nature,  so  that  his  sancti- 
fied soul  must  have  experienced  the  deepest 
woe  in  the  taste  of  death  ;  it  must  have  been 
all  the  more  fearfully  such,  because,  his  con- 
scious spirit  penetrated  the  mysterious  affinity 
and  connection  between  death  and  the  wrath  of 
Godf  and  the  power  of  darkness  ;  moreover,  be- 
cause of  the  dominion  of  wickedness  and  hatred 
to  which  his  soul  must  now  ofTer  an  extreme 
submission  in  his  death.  It  is  the  sacred 
spiritual  energy  and  power  of  his  own  holy 
human  nature  that  is  roused  upj  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  appropriation  of  the  curse  and 
death  of  sin  as  Ins  own,  resisting  as  it  were  the 
surrender  of  his  own  flesh  to  this  dark  power 
of  nature.  Thus  he  had  to  reconcile  the  two 
things,  his  great  vocation  to  lay  down  his  life 
as  a  Saviour,  and  his  horror  of  death. "g  Thus 
the  flesh,  or  more  strictly,  the  /in  the  flesh,  so 
far  as  that  had  become  flesh  or  man,  wills 
otherwise  than  the  Father,  wills  not — nega- 
tively— to  drink  tlie  cup  ;  but  at  once  and  atlhe 
same  time  his  spirit  (the  creaturely  human 
spirit),  in  unity  with  the  Eternal  Spirit,  with 
God  as  his  Father,  takes  that  cup  ;  the  /  will  is 


*  Or,  with  Lan20  (iii.  510),  distinguish  artificially 
3eA.tf/ia  from  S£'A;/<Jz5  (which  occurs  in  ilieN.  T. 
only,  lleb.  ii.  4),  as  the  natural  willing.  For  is  not 
the  same  SeXr/ua  used  of  the  Father's  ct/iinal 
counsel  1 

f  Wo  ni'cht  ronturo  to  say:  Christ  tnstod  tho 
wrath  of  God  as  death,  under  tho  form  and  ex- 
perience alone  possible  to  liim  of  death  ;  the  un- 
reconciled sinner,  on  the  contrary,  tasiesof  death 
as  the  tvrath  of  God. 

^  That  is,  appears  as  weakness  in  relation  to  thii. 

^  Bick,  Lehiwissmschaft,  p.  514. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42. 


581 


uttered  only  as  preceded  by  not  as,  not  what,  and 
thus  ia  denied  and  renounced.  Thus  he  sancti- 
fies and  offers  Ai;«sc// in  an  entire  self-surrender 
to  God  on  nfian's  behalf,  such  a  resignation  as 
was  not  disturbed  but  rather  glorified  by  that 
dreadful  conflict;  and  the  issue  is — As  thou 
wilt.  "  For  our  heart  is  as  a  vessel  full  ol 
water,  at  the  bottom  of  which  there  lies  mud 
and  uncleanness  that  rises  to  the  top  when 
the  vessel  is  ktirred.  Thus  the  impurity  of  our 
original  sin  clinging  to  us,  it  needs  only  some 
slight  agitation  or  temptation,  and  all  that  we 
do^is  rendered  impure.  But  the  soul  of  Christ, 
which  knew  no  sm,  is  as  a  crystal  vase  ol 
purest  water.  No  agitation,  temptation,  or 
disturbance  can  make  it  impure,  or  in  the 
slightest  degree  trouble  it"  (Rambach).  That 
is  to  say — The  counad  of  God  may  become  ob- 
scured to  him  to  such  an  extent  as  to  allow 
the  question  wnether  he  must  thus  awfully 
suffer,  but  this  only  brings  outfrom  the  spiritual 
ground  of  the  disturbed  soul  its  unshaken  unity 
with  the  will  of  God.  Again,  as  the  subsequent 
word  teaches  us,  not  the  less  was  the  whole 
power  of  the  spirit,  wrestling  in  watchfulnes> 
and  prayer,  necessary  for  this  great  victory,  for 
the  firm"  fidelity  of  the  spirit  under  the  assault 
of  the  weak  flesh.  For,  voluntary  suffering  de 
mands  more  energy  of  the  iyefxuviKoy,  the 
ruling  spirit,  than  acting,  as  contradistinguish- 
ed fiom  It ;  patient  resignation  is  itseif  the 
strongest  adion  of  the  spirit. 

This  first  word  of  jjraycr,  which  we  have  now 
slightly  considered,  is  followed  by  ix  lowrd  of  in- 
utrudioii,  which  is  added  in  order  to  be  the 
ground  and  confirmation  of  our  apprehension 
of  the  former.  In  all  essentials  Matthew,  vers. 
40,  41,  agrees  with  JMark,  vers.  37,  38,  and 
literally  as  respects  the  fundamental  word ; 
but  Luke  has  only  the  abbreviated  foundation 
for  the  saying  as  repeated  in  quite  another 
position,  vers.  40  and  46.  If  his  account  is 
chronologically  exact,  the  Lord  must  have  said 
these  words  twice,  at  the  beginning  and  at  the 
end  of  the  whole  transaction  ;  moreover,  as  the 
others  give  it  in  its  certain  connection,  a  third 
time  between  his  prayers.  This  miglit  have 
been  the  case,  but  it  is  scarcely  probable;  since 
the  plain  motive  cause  of  the  saying  appears  m 
the  connection  which  they  give,  and  the  words 
which  begin  and  end  the  transaction  in  Matthew 
and  Mark  are  quite  different.  We  may  there- 
fore set  this  to  the  account  of  Luke's  less  im- 
mediate record;  but  a  spiritual  insight  will 
justify  h!s  statement,  inasmuch  as  in  ver.  36 
and  vers.  45,  46  of  Matthew,  the  same  pray  ye 
appears  as  the  ground-tone  of  the  whole. 

We  have  now  first  the  specific  reproof  of  the 
disciples,  Peter  especially,  Jbr  their  sleeping  at 
this  time — then  a  general  word  of  instruction 
for  all  the  future  ot  all  his  disciples,  the  Lord's 
exhortation  to  all  his  own  given  at  Gethsemane 
in  word  and  act.  This  resolves  itself  to  our 
consideration  into  three  parts:  the  matter,  the 
design,  and  the  reason  of  the  exhortation.  Or, 
what  we  should  do  (watch  and  pray)  ;  to  what 
end  we  should  do  this  (that  we  enter  not  into 


temptation) ;    and  wherefore  so  (because  the 
spirit  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak). 

According  to  Matthew,  the  Lord  (as  Luke 
xxii.  31)  turned  to  Feter,  but  spoke  in  the  plu- 
ral for  all;  according  to  Mark  (which  seems 
the  more  exact),  he  addressed  in  the  singular 
Simon,  not  Peter  now.  He  returned,  alter  the 
first  prayer,  to  his  disciples ;  partly  to  see  how 
it  was  with  them,  and  partly  to  strengthen  him- 
self in  the  interval  by  their  presence.  He  can- 
not and  will  not  be  entirely  sundered  from  them, 
and  continue  thus  separate  in  prayer — this 
interchange  of  praying  and  returning,  as  we 
said  above,  shows  us  both  the  necessity  of  his 
weakness,  and  withal  the  zeal  of  his  love. 
For  when  he  finds  them  sleeping,  with  what  was 
indeed  deep  sorrow,  he  does  not  omit  to  utter, 
from  the  depth  of  his  own  need,  a  stimulating 
word  of  exhortation ;  so  that,  as  Rieger  says, 
"  the  labor  of  his  soul  in  the  obtaining  of  our 
salvation  never  forgets  the  solicitude  for  the 
appropriation  of  it  to  the  hearts  of  his  own." 
Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour?*  Many 
whole  nights  they  had  toiled  with  their  nets; 
but  m  this  night  of  temptation  they  are  stupe- 
fied and  smitten  down  by  an  invisible  power — 
even  Simon,  who  made  such  lofty  pretensions, 
and  John,  who  so  profoundly  loved!  The 
ovTcoi,  "thus,"  in  Matt,,  as  the  immbling 
reference  to  their  sleep,  corresponds  in  its  mean- 
ing to  the  sltejicst  tliou?  of  Mark:  it  is  to  be 
translated,  with  ErasmiUS,  by  adeo,  as  in  Mark 
vii.  18,  Gal.  lii.  3.  Are  ye  .w  very,  to  such  a  de- 
gree, sleepy,  so  impotent  in  body  and  soul  for 
that  "  watching"  which  I  asked  of  you  ?  Phys- 
ical is  here  only  the  expression  and  figure  of 
internal  sleep  ;  hence  he  connects  with  it  at 
once,  by  such  a  transition,  bis  mighty  Watch 

AND   PEAY  ! 

This  he  saj-s  assuredly  first  for  the  immediate 
present,  with  reference  to  the  temptation  which 
was  coming  upon  these  disciples  ;  but  this  word 
of  instruction  reaches  out  to  all  the  future  of 
his  Church,  represented  to  his  eyes  by  these 
disciples.  It  is  remarkable  that  v/e  understand 
it  naturally  enough  and  without  any  explana- 
tion, when  we  are  spoken  to  about  "  watciiing  " 
in  oiher  than  a  bodily  sense;  we  thereby  ac- 
knowledge the  sleepfuinessand  the  slumbering 
of  our  souls.  What  this  essentially  is,  and  on 
what  principles  it  proceeds,  are  questions  which 
belong  to  the  most  diflScult  investigations  of 
psychology,  or  rather  of  tlie  nosology  of  the 
natural  man.  For,  as  in  the  physical  domain, 
so  also  in  the  internal,  sleep  is  connected  with 
the  weahiess  of  the  flesh  :  this  is  evident  in  us 
all,  though  not  alone  and  not  necessarily,  as 
the  exarnple  of  Christ  shows.  Put  to  proceed 
with  this  is  not  the  province  of  exegesis,  which 


*  We  very  much  doubt  whether,  as  many  think, 
an  actual  and  full  hour  had  transpired  in  Geth- 
semane. It  is  rather  a  general  e.xpression  for  the 
present  period  of  his  trial ;  and  so  far  an  involun- 
tary prophetic  utterance  of  the  p:esentiraent  of 
his  hope,  that  this  would  be  no  more  than  a 
\  ti  ansitory  hour. 


m 


GETHSEMANE. 


has  here  to  do  only  with  the  signification  of  the 
expression  in  its  general  applicalion.  It  may 
be  rentarked  that  in  the  entire  Old  Testament 
we  have  but  few  references  to  "  watching"  in 
the  sense  here  intended  by  Christ.*  The  watch- 
ing and  keeping  of  Ezra  viii.  29  (Tpl**),  the 
wakeful,  watchman-like  observation  of  other 
persons  and  tilings,  which  is  often  alluded  to 
(and  anthropomorphically  of  the  Lord  himself, 
Jer.  i.  12,  xxxi.  28),  as,  e.  </.,  in  the  case  of  the 
watchmen  appointed  by  God,  is  essentially  very 
different  in  its  idea  from  absolute  "  watchful- 
ness and  sobriety  "  in  the  sense  of  reoollected- 
ness,  readiness  of  spirit,  self-conscious  and  self- 
ruling  determination  of  mind  toward  the  good 
and  tlie  right.t  It  is  on!y  in  a  few  passages, 
such  as  Pria.  Ixiii.  2,  Ixxvii.  5  ;  Isa.  xxvi.  9,  and 
particularly  the  significant  Cant.  v.  2,  that  the 
Old-Testament  phraseology  seems  to  border 
upon  the  New-Testament  injunction  of  v7';q)Eiy 
Hal  yiiiiyopny,  be  sober  and  vigilant,  1  Pet. 
V.  8  (i.  13),  1  Thess.  V.  6. 

Watching  and  prajjing  are  here  set  before  us 
as  two-fold  ;  but  they  are  essentially  one,  and 
inseparably  united.  To  watch  is  first  of  all  not 
the  same  as  to  wake  (Eph.  v.  14  comp.  kuvij- 
<pEty,  1  Cor.  XV.  34),  and  is  required  only  from 
him  whose  being  awake  is  already  pre-sup- 
posed.  When  our  eyes  are  opened  (Acts  xxvi. 
18),  then  it  imports  us,  and  then  most  solemn- 
ly, to  k'^ep  them  open.  But  the  inability  of 
man  in  himself  for  such  continued  watchfulness 
is  exhibited  in  the  disciples  as  types  ;  hence 
the  Lord's  universal  word,  with  the  reason  of 
it  first  given — Could  ye  not?  We  cannot  watch, 
however  much  the  injunction  may  be  pres.sed 
upon  us — V/'atch  ye!  Therefore  the  essential 
and  inseparable — Pray  !  Again,  he  who  shall 
pray,  and  thus  lift  up  his  soul  to  God,  must  as- 
suredly be  already  awake.  Thu«,  for  what  do 
ye  watch  ?  That  we  may  be  able  to  pray. 
{Be  ye  so-jiV  and  watch  itnto  iprayer,  1  Pet.  iv. 
7.)  For  what,  and  wherefore  are  we  to  pray? 
Thut  we  may  continue  watchful  through  help 
from  above.  Hence  in  Eph.  vi.  18,  watching  and 
praying  are  blended  and  .interchangeable,  eii 
avzo  TovTo  and  cf  LxCrai'  tovto).  Prayer 
without  watchfulness — what  is  that  but  self- 
deception  and  a  vain  thing,  improperly  so 
called  ?  An  imaginary  watchfulness  without 
prayer — what  is  that  but  a  delusion  and  a 
dream  ?  Thus  we  may  say — Prayer  to  God  is 
itself  the  true  and  perfect  wakefulness  of  man 
in  the  spirit.  (I  'Koke  unto  tliee,  P.sa.  Ixiii.  2, 
with  my  ypirit  within  me,  Isa.  xxvi.  9.)  Only 
when  the  spirit — to  anticipate  the  following 
word — watches  in  and  unto  God,  that  is,  prays, 
will  the  flesh  inclined  to  sleep  remain  wakeful. 
The  two  are  in  their  reciprocation  one;  for  the 


♦  So  he  had  paved  tlie  way  for  liis  words  in 
Gethsemaue  by  the  parables  of  the  householder, 
his  servants,  the  virgins,  etc.,  see  particularly 
Mark  xiii.  87. 

f  Hence  in  Isaiah  xxix.  2D,  comp.  Micah  ii.  1, 
the  watching  unto  iniquity  can  be  ironically 
ipoken  oU 


commencing  watchfulness,  which  must  be  pre- 
supposed, sees  the  danger  and  remembers  the 
weakness,  and  the  prayer  which  follows  brings 
down  help  and  power  lor  watching,  then  beconie 
perfect.  But  we  may  further  i^Cy— Gethsemane 
provokes  and  awakes  the  soul'  but  Golgotha 
first  gives  confidence  and  power  to  pray  in  the 
name  of  him  who  hath  obtained  for  us  the  filial 
cry  of  Abba,  Father.  Gethsemane  coming  be- 
fore has  for  its  fundamental  word  the  exhorta- 
tion Watch!  for  it  shows  us  how  needful  it  is 
in  the  heavy  conflict  of  the  Lord  himself.  This 
thought  prepares  the  way  for  the  right  under- 
standing of  what  is  afterwards  said  concerning 
the  flesli  and  the  spirit. 

It  is  however  introduced  through  the  medium 
of  the  transitional  clause — that  ye  enter  not 
into  temptation.  (This  saying  is  singled  out  by 
Luke,  and  impressively  placed  at  the  be^'inning 
and  the  end  of  the  whole  scene  of  Christ's  pres- 
ent trial — its  superscription  and  postscript  at 
once.)  Thus  this  is  primarily  the  important 
matter,  this  is  iho  first  object  and  reason  of  tho 
necessary  watching  and  praying — Temptation 
is  near,  and  will  draw  us  into  itself.  When 
the  tceakness  of  the  flesh  is  afterwards  spoken 
of,  we  are  to  understand — It  is  too  weak  {ovh 
l6xvei)  to  stand  in  the  temptation.  Indeed, 
the  temptation  which  assails  us  is  something 
different  from  and  more  than  the  wenlcness  which 
it,  alas  !  finds  in  us.  But  wiiat  is  the  tempta- 
tion of  which  the  Lord  here  speaks,  and  why 
does  he  thus  speak  of  it  here?  He  himself 
was  assuredly  at  the  time  in  heavy  temptation  : 
consequently,  this  word  spoken  to  the  disciples 
out  of  his  own  present  experience  and  condition 
gives  us  a  new  explanation  concerning  the 
trouble  and  anxiety  of  his  soul.  The  hour 
which  came  upon  the  Lord  was  from  this  time 
forward  specifically  the  time  of  the  assault  of 
the  poirer  of  darknfss  (Luke  xxii.  53),  of  the 
prince  of  this  tcorld  (John  xiv.  30).  The  temp- 
tation came  not  to  him /)wn  the  flesh,  as  it 
comes  to  us  in  whom  the  tempter  has  something 
already ;  but  it  assaulted  him  in  the  flesh, 
which  he  had  in  common  with  us  even  in  its 
weakness.  Yea,  it  fell  upon  him  as  the  Cham- 
pion, with  whom  Satan  now  decisively  con- 
tended for  the  world,  all  the  more  vehemently  ; 
not  only  as  human  temptation,  but  according 
to  the  righteousness  of  God,  as  the  temptation 
of  tho  God- man.  The  tempter  who  was  per- 
mitted thus  to  come  to  Christ,  and  desires  us 
all,  is  the  enemy  against  whom  we  have  in 
watchfulness  and  prayer  to  stand  on  our  guard  ; 
and  what  is  the  evil  and  hurt  from  hmi  which 
wc  have  to  fear?  Not  temptation  in  itself, 
for  that  came  upon  Christ,  and  being  overcome 
issued  in  the  salvation  of  the  world;  we  must 
all  enter  <he  sieve,  as  we  have  already  heard 
Thus  the  emphasis  must  not  be  laid  upon  temp- 
tation in  the  interpretation  of  that  ye  may  not, 
as  if  we  were  to  pray  for  the  removal  of  temp- 
tation, or  our  exemption  from  it;  but  upon  the 
entering  into,  which  all  the  Evangelists  have  re- 
markably retained,  and  Luke  has  strongly  em- 
phasized.   Thus   tho  preachers  do  wrong  to 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  36-42. 


683 


•short  that  we  should  pray  against  the  coming 
of  temptation,  and  that  it  should  be  altogether 
Bpared  to  us  ;  tor  its  inevitableness  is  demon- 
strated in  the  example  of  Christ.  His  word  to 
the  disciples  is  i'ar  from  saying — I  alone  con- 
tend and  get  the  victory  for  you,  that  ye  may 
be  under  no  such  necessity.  It  says  precisely 
the  contrary.  But  what  means  the  emphatic 
entering  into  temptation,  t\\Q  falling  into  it,  or,  as 
it  assuredly  indicates,  the  falling  in  it:  how 
can  that  be  entering  into  temptation  ?  Nean- 
der's  note  is  not  enough,  "  That  external  may 
not  become  internal  temptatioji  to  you.  For  a 
tn^r^'/y  external  temptation  would  be  none;"  and 
to  Christ  himself,  though  it  sprang  from  with- 
out, it  became  internal ;  and  Neander,  in  the 
parallel  place  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  to  which  he 
refers,  says,  "  Save  us  frorn  or  out  of  the  inward 
temptation  through  the  might  of  the  evil  one." 
Thus  Ei6spx£<5Qat,  "to  enter  into,"  does  not 
mean  the  coming  of  temptation  or  the  being 
tempted,  which  is  altogether  independent  of 
our  watching  and  praying,  but  the  falling  into 
it  or  being  involved  with  it  in  such  a  manner 
as  not  to  come  out  of  it;  the  remaining  in  it 
and  falling.  Grotius  compare  I  very  pioperly 
the  £/u7ti7ir£iy  of  1  Tun.  vi-  9,  fulling  into 
temptation  and  a  snare,  the  end  of  which  is 
the  I/ei7ig  drowned,  f3vOi!I,e60ai.  We  have  given 
our  explanation  upon  the  sixth  petition  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  referring  there  to  these  words  : 
this  that  ye  enter  not  is  in  fact  an  interpretation 
of  that  lead  us  not  into*  However  near  the 
enemy  may  come  to  us,  and  however  seduc- 
tively he  may  come  even  in  us,  he  can  overcome 
us  only  if  our  will  make  common  cause  with 
him  ;  that  is,  if  we  "  enter  into"  his  mind  and 
•will,  as  our  own  idiom  very  appropriately 
speaks.  But  we  enter  into  it  and  are  victims, 
not  merely  v/hen  we  despair,  but  in  the  far  more 
perilous  circumstance  of  our  thinking  ourselves 
secure  and  strong  when  we  are  not.  Thus  the 
Lord,  who  well  knew  our  nature,  the  loeakness 
of  which  at  least  he  had  experienced,  does  not 
counsel  us  to  make  ourselves  (that  is,  to  think 
ourselves)  strong — but  the  very  reverse.  To 
know  our  weakness  in  sincere  and  wakeful 
thoughtfulness,  to  bring  it  before  God  in  self- 
renouncing  prayer  and  supplication  for  strength, 
this  and  this  alone  is  the  perfecting  of  our 
strength,  2  Cor.  xii.  9,  10.  Wake  and  continue 
awake  to  prayer — then,  but  only  then,  tempta- 
tion brings  no  fear.  At  once  to  pray — and  to 
sin — is  impossible.  Wlio  could  with  a  wakeful 
and  recollected  spirit  say  unto  God — Not  as 
thou  wilt?  Who,  when  the  word  of  Jesus  bids 
us  watch,  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  teaches  us  to 
pray,  may  answer  him  and  say — Lord,  but  I 
cannot,  1  am  too  weak. 


*  Wit>)us,  On  the  Lord's  Prayer,  p.  859  (Clark's 
Bibiiral  Cabinet,  vol.  x.xiv  )  :  "To  enter  into  tempta- 
tion sionities  to  be  so  involved  in  snares  and  dan- 
gers as  not  to  be  extricated  from  them.  The  Hebrew 
phrase  expres^ses  it  more  lully,  to  enter  into  the 
hand  of  lemplation,  that  is,  into  its  jiower  and 
d  .million,  so  as  to  i>e  bubjugated  and  absorbed  by 
it." 


All  this  has  sufBciently  paved  the  way  for 
the  third  word  concerning  fU.sh  and  spirit  by 
which  the  Lord's  saying  profoundly  closes, 
opening  up  to  us  the  inmost  of  the  matter. 
To  itvEvna,  J/  6dpl,  the  spirit,  the  flesh,  it 
runs;  not  my  and  not  your  spirit  and  flesh. 
Which  of  these  are  we  to  supplement?  does  the 
Lord  speak  of  himself,  or  primarily  of  these 
disciples  and  then  of  us  all?  It  is  sufficiently 
evident  that  in  the  obvious  connection  a  reason 
is  given  here  for  cntr  watching  and  praying  ; 
and  the  application  of  the  assertion  therefore 
to  ourselves  is  not  to  be  controverted.  But  at 
the  same  time  we  must  unconditionally  reject 
as  erroneous  and  misleading  the  common  opin- 
ion which  confines  the  reference  of  our  Lord's 
words  to  others,  to  sinful  men.  Of  course,  if 
the  words  are  so  interpreted  as  to  be  a  defini- 
tion of  our  natural  fallen  and  corrupt  condition, 
the  Lord  could  not  have  intended  to  refer  them 
to  himself:  but  this,  as  we  shall  show,  is  wrong 
in  more  than  one  aspect.  At  the  outset,  is  it 
natural  or  conceivable  that  he,  after  his  own 
sharp  temptation,  and  speaking  to  us  of  temp- 
tation, would  altogether  in  the  conclusion 
forget  and  omit  himself?  No;  although  he 
appropriates  the  saying  to  us,  he  speaks  it 
on  the  ground  of  his  own  condition  and  feel- 
ing ;  consequently  we  must  admit  that  he  pre- 
eminently and  in  the  first  place  refers  to  that 
wliich  was  just  now  made  manifest  in  himself, 
of  the  willingness  of  the  spirit  and  the  weak- 
ness of  the  fle.'sh.  Once  more,  this  final  word 
gives  an  explanation  of  the  reason  why  his  soul 
was  so  troubled,  how  death  could  thus  assault 
him,  in  what  the  conflict  consisted,  which  they 
had  marked  in  him  and  his  "praying" — in 
order  that  thev  might  not  be  offended  in  him 
or  doubt  of  the  willingness  of  his  spirit,  but  at 
the  same  time  that  they  might  definitely  know 
his  own  experience  that — tlie  fiesh  was  weak. 
He  by  no  means  speaks  this  word  as  a  gentle 
apologi/  for  their  sleep  (it  rather  urges  watch- 
fulness), as  if  he  would  say — I  see  how  it  is 
with  you,  that  your  spirit  is  indeed  willing, 
etc.  For  in  strict  fact,  as  we  shall  see,  that 
was  not  true  of  the  disciples.  But,  conversely 
— Behold  ye  in  me,  how  it  is  and  must  ever  be, 
even  supposing  the  utmost  willingness  of  spirit, 
with  you  men.  Thus  he  presents  himself  to 
us  as  a  type  and  pattern;  he  says  no  more 
than  what  the  event  itself  says,  but  interprets 
to  us  bv  this  word  the  nature  and  character  of 
his  conflict  in  this  temptation.  My  soul — thus 
he  had  spoken  in  full  appropriation  ;  but  he 
does  not  now  expressly  say  my  flesh — for,  it  is, 
properly  spea:king,owr  flesh — alien  to  the  spirit 
in  him— which  he  had  taken  on  himself,  see 
Rom.  viii.  3.  Neverthel-^ss,  as  certainly  as  the 
spirit,  which  was  absolutely  willing,  can  be 
onlv  his  own,  so  also  the  flesh  is  now  intended 
of  his  own  person.  The  interpretation  of  this 
Gethsemane-word  has  been  very  loosely  dealt 
with  even  by  profound  thinkers,  and  the  fatal 
habit  of  superficial  exposition  has  led  most  of 
our  commentators  astray.  Daub  supposes  that 
this  was  said  at  the  same  time  of  "  eoery  mor- 


m 


GETHSEMANE. 


tal,"  but  this  in  his  case  is  an  inadventency. 
Jul.  Miiller  appears  to  refer  this  saying  of  the 
willing  spirit  and  the  weak  flesh  to  the  disciples 
alone ;  though  he  rightly  admits  that  spirit 
here  is  not  to  be  understood  as  in  John  iii.  6. 
It  is  not  the  spirit  of  God,  but  evidently  a 
constituent  part  of  human  nature.  We  found 
on  this  admission  the  question — If  Christ  is 
true  man,  does  he  not  speak  all  this  of  him- 
self? Nor  are  we  content  with  the  form  in 
which  Rieger  admits  the  truth:  "The  Lord 
Jesus  at  this  solemn  time  experienced  even  in 
himself  the  difference  between  the  willing  spirit 
and  the  weak  flesh."  We  maintain,  rather, 
that  in  the  pure  experience  of  this  distinction 
without  admixture,  he,  the  sinless  man,  stands 
alone ;  and  the  reference  of  this  subsequently 
to  ourselves  can  hold  good  only  through  the 
impartation  of  his  own  Spirit. 

Gethsemane  gives  its  most  specific  and  strong 
testimony  to  the  true  humanity  of  Christ ;  and 
his  own  words  plainly  declare  the  same.  He 
had  said  before — my  soui ;  and  when  he  now 
adds  spirit  and  Jlcsk,  we  have  complete  the 
scriptural  trichotomy  of  human  nature  and 
personality;  for,  although _^<'isA  is  not  altogether 
gynonymous  with  body,  it  has  an  undeniable 
reference  to  body.  We  would  add  that  docp^, 
flesh,  has  a  somewhat  different  meaning  here 
from  that  which  it  has  in  all  those  passages 
which  connect  with  it  the  idea  of  sinfulness. 
It  is  assuredly  only  that  "  constitutent  part  of 
human  nature"  in  itself,  which,  though  un- 
affected as  in  our  case  by  the  fall  and  sin,  be- 
longed to  the  second  Adam.  The  Lord  there- 
fore means  no  more  than  to  say — M'/  spirit, 
which  ye  shall  receive  from  me;  your  flesh, 
which  I  also  have  received  from  you.  Bengel's 
words,  relative  to  i\\Qsecond  clause, "  This  saying, 
Bin  being  taken  away,  held  good  also  of  Jesus," 
are  wrong  in  the  assumption  that  sin  must  first 
be  conceived  to  be  removed  in  the  clause  the 
flesh  is  weak.  It  is  no  more  involved  in  this, 
than  in  the  former  concerning  the  spirit  ;  it  is 
more  correct  to  say  concerning  both  clauses 
together — This  saying  apart  from  sin  in  us,  aUo 
holds  good  now  of  ourselves. 

How  can  then  the  natural  man  as  such  goon 
at  once  and  say  tlia''.  his  spirit  is  willing?*  In 
Jude,  ver.  19,  we  read  of  sensual  men  having  not 
gpirit,  that  is,  whose  human  7tvev/icx  is,  through 
entire  separation  from  the  divine,  no  more  than 
as  if  not  existing.  Even  the  Ss^-siv,  the 
willing,  of  Rom.  vii.  18  is  far  from  meaning  the 
nvevfia  rrpoOvfiuv,  the  nnnj  m,  Psa.  li.  14, 

the  willing  spirit  in  all  its  New-Testament 
reality  and  truth.  In  Rim.  vii.  it  is,  as  the 
sequel  shows,  an  impotent  and  bia.s.sed  will- 
lUfi,  no  better  than  none  at  all — but  hero  it  is 
evidently  such  a  willing  as  through  watchful- 
t»es3  and  prayer  may  maintain  its  prerogative 


*  irpdOv^io?  occurs  asiin  in  the  N.  T.  only 
Rom.  i.  15.  It  do-'s  indeed  oppose  ilsolf  to  a  liin- 
drance  (as  there  nar  eue);  hut,  it  also  expresses 
6U>  iudepcndeut  aud  lull  vviilin^uens  of  the  spirit. 


and  get  the  victory.  It  is  only  in  that  con. 
descending,  prophetic,  and  proleptic  sense  in 
which  the  Lord  always  and  especially  address- 
ed his  disciples  as  the  representatives  of  his 
future  Church,  and  only  therefore  as  he  beheld 
in  them  the  germ  of  regeneration,  that  he  as- 
cribed to  them,  in  fellowship  with  himself,  a 
willing  spirit — had  the  full  truth  applied  to 
them,  they  would  have  watched  and  prayed. 
He  had  only  said — Ye  could  not,  graciou.siy  as- 
suming in  them  a  certain  willingness  •  but  he 
cannot  now  mean  in  the  full  sense — I  see  that 
your  spirit  is  pe'-fectly  willing,  and  that  there 
is  nothing  lacking  there.  They  had  indeed 
vauntingly  declared  that  they  would  go  with 
him  whithersoever  he  went,  would  suffer  and 
die  with  him  ;  but  do  we  not  know,  do  we  not 
see  even  here,  how  much  self-deception  there 
was  in  that?  In  its  full  truth  the  spirit  ot 
Christ  only  is  entirely  and  absolutely  willing 
and  prepared,  as  Psa.  xl.  9  expresses  it ;  and 
therefore — let  this  be  carefully  observed — it  is 
only  his  flesh  again  which  is  nothing  but  weak. 
In  the  humanity  ot  Christ  alone  are  the  willing- 
ness of  spirit  and  the  weakness  of  flesh  purely 
distinguished  and  separate  entirely  each  from 
the  other;  on  the  other  hand  the  /  in  us  is 
carnal,  and  in  the  flesh  itself  there  is  a  will,  a 
positive  tendency  to  sin.  We  say  rightly  with 
Schulthess  against  a  false  theology :  "  He  him- 
self experienced  most  perfectly  what  he  said  in 
Gethsemane — The  flesh  is  weak — and  all  //w 
?nore  in  the  degree  in  which  his  spirit  was  will- 
ing." But  we  utter  our  strongest  protest 
against  his  unscriptural  combination  of  weak- 
ness with  sin,  and  the  fearfully  foolish  conclu- 
sion which  he  draws,  "' A^iapria  is  an  essen- 
tial attribute  of  the  flesh  fhow  with  respect  to 
Christ  who  was  made  flesh?),  just  as  humidity 
is  of  water — where  flesh  is  there  is  sinfulness."* 
Most  certainly  not:  there  is  weakness,  indeed, 
but  where  with  that  weakness  there  is  not 
merely  a  gradual  preponderance  of  the  willing 
spirit,  but  the  willing  spirit  in  its  absolute 
predominance — as  in  the  case  of  Christ — there 
can  be  no  room  for  any  sinfulness  of  the  weak 
flesh.  It  is  only  when  and  as  far  as  the  spirit 
of  Christ  enters  into  us,  that  we  can  appropriate 
the  truth  which  is  here  spoken  to  the  disciples. 
Bengel's  concise  hint — "  Hence  the  frequent 
mention  by  the  Apostles  of  flesh  and  spirit," 
must  be  taken  with  much  emphasis  upon  the 
hence ;  the  apostolical  phraseology  actually 
rests  upon  this  appropriation  of  his  words  by 
Christ  to  liis  disciples.  Flesh  consequently 
does  not  signify  here  the  entire  natural  man, 
"corrupted  nature,"  or  the  like;  for  what 
would  then  be  left  for  the  spirit,  waich  is  evi- 
dently al.<o  a  constituent  element  of  human 
nature?  In  my  flesh,  Rom.  vii.  18,  is  quiln 
identical  with  la  me,  in  spito  of  the  v/illing  ami 


*  Tlio  same,  from  another  point  of  view,  is  that, 
wliich  A!)ollinaris  aftirrned  on  account  of  ih? 
freedom  ('f  choice,  whici  is  nece.ssary  to  Ihe 
vovi:  "  Wberd  there  is  pe.feci  man,  there  ia 
sin." 


MATTHEV/  XXVI.  36-42. 


585 


delighting  which  were  present  to  him.  There- 
fore sin  dweiieth  in  me,  wholly  and  entirely 
established  within  me;  even  in  my  spirit  and 
will,  the  impotent  assent  of  which  to  that 
which  is  good  is  itself  a  bias  toward  and  vote 
ior  the  evil.  For  sin  must  be  in  the  will ;  it 
cannot  be  in  the  flesh  as  such.  But  here, 
where  the  spirit  stands  in  contrast,  the  soul 
(before  mentioned)  is  not  included  with  the 
flesh ;  and  the  meaning  is,  that  the  soul, 
standing  between  the  spirit  and  the  flesh,  must, 
iu  watching  and  praying,  itself  derive  strength 
from  the  spirit  and  overcome  the  weakness, 
allhough  through  sharp  conflict  amounting 
even  to  convulsion,  as  their  eyes  had  seen  in 
him.  The  gracious  anticipatory  equality  as- 
sumed between  his  disciples  and  himseli  hold: 


sin  and  entering  into  temptation  as  "  weal^ness 
of  the  flesh;"  just  as  in  Phil.  ii.  ver.  13  is 
wrenched  from  ver.  12 ;  and  in  Rom.  iii.  ver. 
23  from  ver.  21.  We  trust  that  all  such  per- 
version has  been  thoroughly  guarded  against 
throughout  this  exposition. 

We  turn  to  the  necoiid,  repeated  petition  of 
our  Lord,  which  Matthew  alone  records  in 
words.  We  have  already  given  the  reason  of 
our  Lord's  interrupting  his  prayer,  and  going 
in  the  interval  to  his  disciples :  let  us  now 
quote  the  words  of  the  Berleuh.  Bihel:  "  Among 
other  things  we  may  here  learn  that  in  all 
times  of  sore  conflict  we  should  not  continue 
in  one  uninterrupted  strain  of  prayer  in  order 
to  prevent  our  devotion  from  being  feeble  and 
lukewarm  ;  we  should  rather  pause,  and  take 


good   now  of   his   saints,  but  only   in  as   far  I  breath,  that  it  may  be  urged  with  all  the  more 


as  they  are  in  him;  no  man  may  absolutely 
glory  that  his  spirit  is  only  willing,  his  flesh 
only — weak.  In  the  background  there  is  a 
most  solemn  application,  at  least  similar  to  the 
saying — If  this  be  done  to  the  green  tree,  what 
will  it  be  to  the  dry  ?  If  suck  prayer  is  need- 
ful to  me,  the  Holy  One,  on  account  of  weak- 
ness, liow  much  more  will  it  be  needful  to  you 
sinful  men,  with  your  confmion  of  flesh  and  of 
spirit?  Alas!  with  us  even  as  standing  in 
grace,  the  flesh  is  willing,  that  is,  to  evil. 
It  IS  not  weak,  that  is,  in  the  sense  of  not  will- 
ing because  not  able  (rather  thinking  itself  not 
able);  but  it  is  mighty,  and  proud,  deafening 
the  ypiiit,  and  making  common  cause  with  the 
tempter.  This  is  to  be  seen  in  the  disciples 
themselves.  That  Peter  could  not  now  watch 
one  hour  was  occasioned  by  the  sin  of  his  pre- 
sumption. He  slept  most  profoundly  when 
with  open  eyes  he  first  contradicted  and  then 
denied.  But  if  we  through  the  grace  of  re- 
generation are  so  far  awake  that  to  the, willing 
spirit  in  us,  as  in  Christ,  sin,  that  is,  the  temp 
tation  to  sin,  is  no  other  than  a  suffering  and  a 
burden,  bringing  no  longer  pleasure  with  it — 
then  may  we  take  the  consolations  of  Christ's 
word,  that  the  weakness,  which  feels  the  suffer- 
ing, and  which  is  exposed  to  the  temptation,  is 
no  sin,  any  more  than  it  was  iu  him.  No 
more  is  then  demanded  of  us  than  to  watch 
and  pray  ;  but  both  with  the  utmost  earnest- 
ness ;  to  watch  against  the  enemy,  on  account 
of  the  weak  flesh  exposed  to  his  assault ;  to 
pray  with  a  willing  spirit  for  the  strength  of 
God  which  maintains  and  strengthens  that 
willingness. 

But  nothing  is  more  lamentable  and  more 
perilous  than  the  perversion  of  this  equally 
rousing  and  comfortable  sentence,  which  in 
common  with  many  such  Scriptures,  Satan 
skilfully  tempts  men  to  misuse.  He  rends  the 
Wtier  saying  from  the  former ;  separates  it 
from  the  "  watch  and  pray  ;"  and  makes  that 
which  was  designed  as  an  encouragement  to 
watchfulness  and  prayer  a  pillow  for  self-de- 
ception. He  persuades  the  sinner  to  regard  it 
as  enough  that  his  poor  imaginary  willing- 
ness of  soirit  (his-good  heart,  right  intention, 
etc.)   i3  enough  of  itself;  and  apologizes  for 


vehemence."  When  the  Lord,  yielding  as  it 
were  for  a  moment  to  the  weakness  of  his  flesh, 
sought  the  society  of  his  disciples,  their  im- 
potence must  of  itself  have  invigo;-ated  his 
strength  to  still  more  ardor  m  the  conflict. 
nd?uv  tu  SevTspov  in  Matthew  is  an  emphat- 
ic tautology,  specifically  enumerating.  Mark's 
saying  the  same  words  (explanation  of  Ih 
devTEpov)  is  in  the  general  right ;  but  they 
were  not  entirely  the  same  words.  Luke  refers 
to  the  second  prayer  as  iHrEvedrepov,  mare 
earnestly,  not,  however,  as  more  urgently  sup- 
plicating for  the  removal  of  the  cup,  but,  ac- 
cording to  Matthew's  sense,  even  if  we  had 
not  his  words — more  vehemently  struggling  for 
the  victory  of  submission  in  his  agony.*  Ciirist 
knew  that  the  Father  always  heard  him  (John 
xi.  42)  ;  he  therefore  understands  the  not  pass- 
ing away  of  his  anguish  as  the  granting  of  his 
last  word — As  thou  wilt — as  the  confirmation 
of  the  divine  will  that  he  should  drink  the  cup. 
He  therefore  comes  to  the  conclusion  in  the 
second  prayer,  as  if  an  answer  had  been  re- 
ceived. He  no  longer  says — If  it  be  possible, 
let  it  pass ;  but — If  it  'may  not  pa«s ;  and 
girds  himself  to  obedience.  His  willingness 
expresses  itself  still  more  strongly  in  unless  I 
drink  it.  "  He  now  addresses  himself  more  di- 
rectly to  drink."  Similarly,  the  more  general 
and  definitely  spoken — Thy  will  be  done,  in 
this  as  in  all  things — corresponds  now  to  a 
perfect  submission:  but  this  does  not  exclude 
the  continuous  conflict  in  the  praying  utter- 
ance of  this  determination. 


*  This  became  so  severe  as  to  cause  the  blooriy 
sweat  in  the  cold  night  (.John  xviii.  18).  We 
would  not,  wi.h  Athanasius,  pronounce  a  ban 
upon  those  who  deny  this  sweat  of  blood.  "  The 
force  of  the  particle  as  falls  upon  the  drops,  not 
blood,"  as  Bengel  rightly  remmks;  for  it  is  nara- 
fiaivovTEi  not  xarafiaLyovroi.  "  If  the  sweat 
had  not  been  b:oodi/,  tlie  mention  of  blood  might 
have  been  omitted  ;  for  the  word  drops  would  liave 
been  sufficient."  Rnmbach  remarks  that  tlie  driv- 
ing out  ot  the  blood  Irom  the  lieart  is  contrary  to 
the  course  of  nature,  as  anxiety  and  fear  drive  it 
inwardly  to  the  heart;  but  iiere  all  is  alor.e  of  its 
kind,  though  after  human  kiiK',  and  we  therefore 
doubt  the  correctness  of  bis  remark. 


•586 


THE  INVIGOKATION. 


The  third  prayer  is  at  least  intimated  by 
Mark  also — he  cometli  the  third  time;  that  is, 
alter  a  third  departure  and  prayer.  Matthew 
adds — Saying  the  same  words,  that  is,  as  on 
the  second  occasion.  That  which  he  had  taught 
his  disciples  concerning  the  fewness  and  the 
einiplicity  of  their  words  in  prayer,  finds  its 
exemplification  in  his  own  case,  through  the 
weakness  and  the  oppression  which  made  more 
words  impossible.  To  repeat  the  same  few 
words  is  belore  God  the  deepest  earnestne-^s. 
The  poverty  of  the  words  pertams  to  the  weak- 
ness, their  perserveringness  to  the  sincerity  of 
prayer.  Before  even  this  third  prayer  he  found 
the  disciples  once  more  sleeping.  Their  eyes 
were  heavy,  pressed  down  {fJefJapf^/itevoi  Matt., 
xaraliapvvonEvoi  Mark)  ;  according  to  Luke 
he  found  them  sleeping  fur  borrow,  which  last 
additi.m  would  almost  seem  t»  be  a  doubtful 
and  inadequate  reflection  in  some  way  inserted 
into  the  record.  For,  although  this  uttermost 
impotence  of  man   here   where  the  God-mau 


treads  the  wine-press  alone,  may  be  hnmanly 
explained  by  their  exhaustion  in  the  deep  night 
after  such  a  day,  by  the  reaction  after  so  much 
excitement,  and  most  decisively  as  Luke  says,  by 
the  stunning  power  of  a  sorrow  which  was  ton 
great  for  them;  yet  was  there  something  more 
tiian  all  this  assaulting  them,  as  the  Lord 
himself  had  intimated — the  temptation  of  the 
power  of  darkness,  the  satanio  sifting,  without 
which  their  sympathy  with  the  sutiVnngs  of 
Jesiis  would  have  hold  their  eyes  waking 
But  this  prostration  under  the  assault  of  thr, 
enemy  is  itself  part  of  the  impoteuje  of  men. 
TheJiOrd  knew  this;  he  beheld  it  ^ith  coni- 
passioii,  and  was  urged  by  it  to  perseverance 
in  his  conflict  for  these  poor  men  :  ho  left  them 
{dcpEii  otTovi)  and  cont'nued  in  v/atching 
and  prayer,  until  he  had  overcome  in  this 
commencement  of  the  hour  which  had  come; 
until,  with  returning  power, serenity,  and  peace, 
he  could  deliver  himself  up  to  the  betrayer  and 
the  hands  of  sinners. 


THE  INVIGOKATION. 


(Matt.  xxvi.  45,  46;  Maek  xiv.  41,  42;  Luke  xxii.  46.) 


This  last  word  before  his  being  taken,  while 
he  was  speaking  which  (all  three  unite  in  this) 
the  betrayer  came  near,  as  the  Lord  had  just 
intimated,  is  given  with  precision  only  by  the 
first  two  Evangelists ;  Luke  has  retained  only 
Kal  dya6rdi — dvadrocvrei  (rising).  It  falls 
once  more  into  a  three-fold  anangement:  the 
final,  and  most  sorrowfully-gentle  reproof  ot 
the  disciples'  sleeping  to  the  last ;  the  announce- 
ment of  the  time  of  his  being  delivered  up  into 
the  hands  of  external  enemies;  the  voluntary 
surrender  of  himself  to  meet  it,  through  the 
vigor  which  his  conflict  had  given  him. 

Are  we  to  make  the  first  clause,  which  the 
first  two  Evangelists  give  us  literally  alike,  a 
question,  or  not?  We  find  indeed  in  Luke  the 
question — Why  sleep  ye?  But  we  have  al- 
ready seen  that  his  account  gives  up  all  literal 
exactness,  and  condenses  tlie  whole  :  we  miglit 
say  that  this  Wliij  nfeep  ye?  in  his  record  is  but 
the  echo  of  the  earlier  iSimon,  i-Iecpcd  thou?  or, 
Coull  ye  not  watch?  The  to  Xoitcuv  of  itself 
scarcely  allows  the  idea  of  a  question  here;  for 
that  does  not  mean,  properly  speaking — Do  ye 
then  sleep  on  still?*  but  the  indicative  chav- 
acter  of  the  whole  sentence  decidedly  contra- 
dicts such  a  notion.  It  might  bo  possible  to 
take  them  at  once  as  in  the  indicative — Ye 
sleep  and  take  your  rest  i<till  ;  and,  behold,  it  is 
time  to  awake,  and  stand  up,  and  go  forth! 
But  this  does  not  content  U3;T  this  would  re- 


*  So  Winer  observes,  resting  on  tlie  plirase  it- 
Belt. 

t  That  is,  our  own  individual  fpelins ;  for  in  the 
Intel pretatiou  of  ail  such  dubious  and  p;ejjn:int 


(piire  for  the  connection  and,  behold,  whereat 
we  find  in  Mark  an  abrupt  anixei,  "it  is 
enough,"  which  can  be  fitly  rendered  only  as 
an  imperative.  We  therefore,  with  Winer,  take 
the  words  as  in  the  imperative,  and  regard  them 
as  noting  an  advancement  beyond  the  previous 
question,  and  thus  being  more  in  harmony  with 
the  Lord's  present  invigoration  of  spirit.  He 
had  previously  lamented  that  they  slept,  while 
oppressed  himself  with  need  of  help;  but  now, 
so  far  as  regards  his  need,  he  permits  them  to 
sleep  on  :  he  requires  and  demands  their  watch- 
ing for  himself  no  more.  Thus  much  of  per- 
mission there  is  in  this  conceding  imperative; 
but  it  is  far  from  being  a  permission  or  direc- 
tion to  sleep,  expressly  intended,  as  it  were,  to 
intimate  that  now  for  the  rest  (tu  Xotnuy)  they 
were  exempted  from  the  necessity  of  watching 
and  praying.  (For  Bengel  is  right— As  sleep 
is  opposed  to  watching,  so  rest  is  opposed  to 
the  labor  of  prayer.  The  dyaitLXv£60ixi  is  not 
synonymous  with  xa^ei'SczK;  but  this  double 
saying  corresponds  to  the  former  double  say- 
■ng.)  On  his  account,  indeed,  and  as  respected 
the  previously  urgent  icntch  icith  m\  ih&y  ia\^\\i 
now  continue  to  sleep,  and  cease  from  prayer 
for  his  strengthening.  But  does  he  not  go  on 
to  say  that  his  l>ei7\gl>etraijed  would  soon  awake 
and  arouse  them,  and  make  them  watchful  in 
earnest?  Bengel:  "Shortly  others  will  come, 
who  will  awaken  you.  In  the  meantime  [wft 
would  add — as  respects  me]  sleep,  i/" ye  ran.' " 
Or  Neander :  "  Sleep  on  s  ill,  I  will  no  more 


sayings  there  cannot 
subjective  elemeuU 


to  be  more  or  le.-ss  ol  the 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  45.  46. 


587 


awake  you,  no  more  ask  you  to  watch  and  pray 
with  me;  but  ye  will  soon  bo  roused  out  of 
your  sleep  by  violence,  J'or  hehM,"  etc.  Q.uite 
true — but  mav  this  be  called  irony  or  not? 
Bengel  says,  "  It  is  not  irony,  but  metonymy." 
Winer  maintains  that  the  assumption  of  irony 
is  contradictory  to  the  whole  tor-e  of  our  Lord's 
mind  at  such  a  juncture.  This  is  true  also,  if 
there  is  to  be  connected  any  thing  like  his  levis 
Irrisio.  But  there  is  a  sort  of  irony,  at  least  in 
the  expression,  v/hich  has  no  mockery  in  it, 
and  which  is  consistent  with  the  most  sorrow- 
ful gentleness;  and  such  Bengel's  "sivacat," 
and  Neander's  sleep  on,  seem  to  express.  For 
if  I  give  permission  to  do  a  thing  at  the  same 
time  that  I  say  "  But  you  will  not  find  it  possi- 
ble," what  is  that  but  the  language  of  irony?* 
Glassius  was  right  in  the  main  :  "  This  is  by 
no  means  the  time  for  sleeping  and  taking  rest 
(this  lies  in  tlie  /wur),  but  for  watching;  but 
because  my  words  have  been  lost  upon  you, 
I  shall  cease  to  exhort  you  7iow :  however,  though 
you  may  sleep  on  as  regards  me,  there  are  ene- 
mies who  will  not  permit  you,  but  will  constrain 
you  unwillingly  to  watch."  Winer  would  evade 
this  connection  by  sundering  the  two  clauses 
thus:  In  the  first  clause  the  Lord  would  in 
all  earnestness  let  them  sleep  on,  and  knows 
nothing  yet  of  the  Behold;  but  scarcely  has 
he  said  so  when  he  beholds  the  traitor  ap- 
proaching, he  speaks  to  himself  the  Behold, 
they  are  at  hand,  etc.;  and  then,  retracting  what 
was  spoken  first,  he  says  to  the  disciples — 
Arise!  He  who  can  may  content  himself  with 
this  :  to  us  this  sudden  surprise  of  our  Lord — 
which  assumes  him  to  have  really  thought  tliat 
the  disciples  could  have  slept  on  during  the 
remainder  (that  night  being  so  far  advanced 
which  he  knew  to  be  the  night  of  his  suffer- 
ings, and  of  their  offence  and  denial) — and  such 
an  intervening  monologue  of  the  Lord's  sur- 
prise, are  altogether  insufferable. 

But  it  is  certainly  a  "  rebuking  word  "  (as 
Lange  says),  taking  it  as  a  question — "  Do  ye 
thus  sleep  through  the  time  and  take  your 
rest  ?  meaning.  Are  ye  then  thus  full  of  sleep 
throughout  to  the  end  ?  " — but,  a  rebuking 
word  in  the  most  rigorous  sense,  thi's  final,  and 
sorrowfully-gentle,  condemnation  of  the  Lord 
cannot  be  called.  It  is  his  sorrow  and  his 
gentleness  which  dictate  the  ironical  form  ;  and 
only  in  this  latter  is  the  reproving  element, 
which  cannot  be  evaded.  In  Bengel's  "  with 
tenderness  and  severity"  the  former  must  have 
the  emphasis;  there  is  no  anger  to  be  thought 
of,  now  when  immediately  after  his  own  sharp 
conflict  the  Lord's  heart  has  no  room  for  any 
thing  but  the  deepest  sympathy,  and  feeling 


*  The  translation — "  S!eep  af  erwards,  at  a  future 
time,  but  now  it  is  inappropriate,"  is  altogether 
contrary  to  the  language  and  the  connection.  For 
Wahl,  who  gwes  posthac,  i.  e.,  alio  tempore,  forgets 
a  together  that  in  all  the  parallels  for  posthac 
(Gal.  vi.  17  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  29 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  8  in  the 
New  Testamenfc)^  the  time  must  be  reckoned  from 
the  moment  ol  speaking — and  zov  rvv. 


for  our  infirmities.  Thus  Chrysostom  is  wrong 
when  he  says  (Ilom.  71  in  JJi.) — "  It  is  not 
the  voice  of  command,  or  of  counsel,  but  that 
of  reproach." 

Much  more  ambiguous  than  the  former  clause 
would  be  the  drtexsi  which  Mark  adds,  were 
it  not  that  the  one  illustrates  the  other.  We 
must  first  reject  the  interpretation  (in  Wahl's 
Lsx.  again):  Transiit  scil.  anxietas.  My  anguish 
is  over,  has  passed  aicay  for  this  time.*  That 
would  involve  a  perfect  chasm  between  this 
word  and  that  which  he  goes  on  to  add,  with- 
out any  Behold — the  hour  is  come.  We  cannot 
suppose  him  to  say  both  in  one  breath,  who 
had  previously  prayed  that  the  hour  might  pass. 
And  it  is  a  very  inapposite  record — "  There  is 
no  more  anguish  for  me " — at  the  moment 
when  his  whole  language  and  deportment  attest 
it  much  more  strongly.  Applying  the  same  in- 
terpretation of  the  word  another  way,  it  might 
be  said,  with  Grotius — "  The  time  is  going 
during  which  the  Apostles  might  have  been  a 
solace  to  Christ."  More  plainly.  The  time  ia 
which  ye  should  have  watched  and  prayed  with 
me,  is  past ;  ye  have  slept  away  the  hour  of 
probation  !  But  this  would  be  too  stern  a  re- 
buke, and  such  severity  we  have  repelled  al- 
ready. Or,  if  (XTtEx^i  must  retain  the  meaning 
of  abest,  transiit  (which  Grotius  maintains,  ap- 
pealing to  the  passage  in  Anac.  afterwards  to 
be  quoted,  and  to  peractiim  est  in  Seneca),  it 
only  remains  that  we  render  it  with  Lange, 
"There  is  now  an  end  of  it,"  that  is,  of  your 
sleeping;  "your  rest  must  be  broken,  others 
are  coming  to  disturb  it  I  "  This  conies  near 
to  the  fact,  the  subject  of  the  impersonal  verb 
being  the  sleeping  a,nd  taking  rest ;  but  in  this 
sense  the  linsx^i  makes  the  irony  too  keen  in 
the  sudden  change  :  "  Sleep  on  yet?  It  is  now 
at  an  end  with  sleep ! "  What  then  is  our 
refuge?  We  confidently  decide  with  Bengei, 
for  the  interpretation  It  is  enough,  according  to 
the  Vulg.  S'lfficit;  and  understand — Enough 
now  of  dreams!  This  interpretation  of  the 
word  appears  to  us  established  by  the  passage 
quoted  from  Anac.  Od.  xxviii.  33 :  and  thus 
only  do  we  obtain  a  gentle  and  fit  transition  be- 
tween the  two  opposite  clauses.  The  Lord 
would  indeed  say  sl.ep  on — but  he  is  constrain- 
ed at  once  to  proceed — Enough  of  sleep  !  This 
parallel  imperative  is  more  appropriate  than 
the  rigorous  announcement — There  is  neverthe- 
less an  end  of  it  If 

The  remainder  of  the  word  needs  but  little 
explanation.  The  yXOav  orijyyixsy,  "  came," 
says  strongly  enough  that  there  is  no  suddea 


*  The  Syr.  and  Arab,  express  it — It  is  over — 
but  it  reraiins  doubtful  what  they  would  supply. 

t  The  attempt  of  Sepp  to  interpret  it  as  a  mis- 
understanding for  (XTiEXoi,  l-n}  yevoiro,  tha 
translation  of  a  rh'<^T[,  is  no  bet'er  than  the  cor- 
rection of  the  difficult  cxTtexsi  in  the  marginal 
gloss  ETtexet  (as  if  it  was  spurious,  and  sprung 
from  the  lenurk  of  an  expositor — here  he  restraint 
himself!). 


688 


THE  MULTITUDE. 


surprise  at  this  sacred  crisis,  in  which  this 
viclory  of  resignaticm  has  been  fully  gained. 
Even  if  the  first  Behold  coincides  wilh  the  visi- 
ble appearance  of  the  multitude,  and  referred 
to  that  (but.,  because  the  behold  occurs  twice, 
we  cannot  but  think  that  the  second  only 
points  to  that  circumstance) — yet  it  is  plain 
that  the  Lord  had  felt  this  very  hour,  and  all 
that  it  would  bring  with  it,  to  be  near  through- 
out his  conflict ;  and  to  our  mind  it  is  very  im- 
pressive that  iu  the  Father's  counsel  the  first 
moment  of  the  Lord's  invigoration  should  co- 
incide so  exactly  with  the  first  instant  of  the 
external  assault  upon  him.*  The  reading  ap}iro- 
pinqunhit  in  the  Vulg.  deranges  all.  The  xai 
after  rjyytxev  in  Matthew  is  not  to  be  resolved 
into  that ;  but  the  hour  stands  alone  in  its 
pregnant  fulness  of  meaning,  as  in  Mark  also. 
To  be  betrayed  into  the  hand  of  sinners— this 
is  still  a  thought  of  dread  to  the  Holy  One  of 
God,  even  after  he  has  overcome,  and  devoted 
himself  to  this  fearful  horror.  By  this,  how- 
ever, we  are  not  to  understand,  according  to 
the  common  Jewish  phrase,  the  Gentiles;  the 
article  in  Mark  might  lead  to  that  conclusion, 
were  it  not  that  its  absence  in  Matthew  gives 
the  more  general  and  appropriate  sense.  Even 
in  Gal.  ii.  15  the  word  has  by  no  means  this 
meaning,  if  it  is  closely  considered  ;  the  Apos- 
tle says — Sinners  of  the  Gentiles,  but  the  an- 
tithesis is — Sinners  of  the  Jews  ;  and  his  iron- 
ical allusion  is  to  the  proud  word  of  the  Jews 
who  called  all  heathens  sinners.  Very  differ- 
ent from  that  is  the   avojuoi,  "lawless,"  of 


Acts  ii.  23;  1  Cor.  ix.  21.  The  Saviour  fn 
Gethsemane  knows  only  of  sinners  in  simple 
contrast  with  his  own  holiness;  so  that  he 
here,  as  every  where,  places  himself  as  the  one 
Son  of  Man,  in  contradistinction  to  all  sinners. 
If  it  had  been  said.  The  Messiah — we  might 
have  been  justified  in  thinking  of  the  heathen. 
Those  to  whom  he  was  immediately  betrayed 
were  rather  the  Jews,  the  high  priests  and 
rulers,  to  whom  he  himself,  John  xix.  Ii,  as- 
cribed the  greater  sin.  Tlie  keenest  point  of 
the  sin  which  was  permitted  thus  to  come  upon 
him  was  the  fact  of  his  being  betrayed  by  the 
traitor,  the  worst  of  all  sinners:  of  him  he 
thinks  especially,  be  was  in  his  mind  when  he 
said,  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed,''  before  ho 
directly  mentions  him  as  he  draws  near  at  the 
head  of  the  multitude.  To  utter  this  with  the 
deepest  grief  and  yet  with  the  calmest  resigna- 
tion, to  go  forth  and  meet  this  traitor  and  these 
sinners'  hands — this  was  the  point  to  which  he 
had  strengthened  his  soul,  as  his  invigoration 
is  expressed  both  by  word  and  act.*  The  dis- 
ciples must  be  there  for  a  brief  space  when 
their  Master  is  seized,  consequently  to  them 
first  is  addressed  the  solemn  li.ne!  (which 
echoes  in  Luke's  <xva6rdi^rEi);  then  follows 
the  'Ayojiitsy  .'  let  us  be  goiwj  !  which,  while  it 
seems  to  include  them,  really  means  only  him- 
self. It  is  almost  as  if  he  would  remind  thena 
of  the  first  Arhe,  let  us  gj  hence!  John  xiv.  31. 
This  litse  entirely  puts  an  end  to  the  Sleep  on 
'iinio ;  no  one  of  the  disciples  found  sleep  of 
rest  that  night. 


THE  FIRST  WORD  TO  THE  MULTITUDE. 


(John  xviii.  4,  7,  8.) 


Notwithstanding  the  immediately — not  only 
in  Mark,  whose  use  of  this  expression  we  are 
familiar  with  from  the  beginning,  but  also  in 
Matthew,  ver.  49 — we  are  convinced  that  the 
whole  of  John  xviii.  4-8  took  place  before  the 
kiss  of  Judas;  and  we  shall  hereafter  justify 
this  supposition.  The  increasing  divergence 
of  the  Evangelists,  as  they  go  deeper  into  the 
history  of  the  Passion,  is  quite  natural  on  the 
human  ground  of  their  observation  and  re- 
membrance, and  makes  all  the  more  wonderful 
the  absolute  unity  of  their  testimony  through- 
out. That  which,  in  the  confusion  and  excite- 
ment attendant  upon  its  occurrence,  was  view- 
ed from  various  points  of  view,  was  not  by 
any  means  left  as  the  material  which  human 
tradition  might  variously  weave;  but  the  Holy 
Spirit,  without  effacing  the  stamp  of  human 
credibility  which  is  impressed  upon  their  art- 


*  Not  till  lie  had  finished  the  struggle.  Hence 
Jadas  muxt  "  keep  tlie  multitude  till  th.n  qu.lo  in 
the  back^'iouiid." 


less  differences,  has  defended  them  from  all  in- 
correctness, and  set  upon  the  whole  the  seal  of 
his  own  sure  testimony.  But  only  the  unpre- 
judiced perceive  that  human  stamp;  and  to 
none  but  the  partakers  of  that  Spirit  is  the  as- 
surance of  his  testimony  perfectly  plain.  John 
knew  of  the  kiss  of  Judas,  but  it  was  not  his 
purpose  to  record  it  again.  Ho  takes  us  im- 
mediately after  the  high-prioslly  prayer,  out 
over  the  brook  Cedron  (to  the  significance  of 
which  in  the  scene  he  alone  refer.s) — into  the 
garden  of  anguish  and  victory,  where  the 
second  Adam  began  to  make  atonement  for  the 
sin  which  the  first  Adam  committed  in  the 
garden  of  Paradise.f  But  his  province  was, 
pre-supposing  all  else  that  had  been  recorded 


*  A  devout  ronnrk  has  been  mido  l.ero  :  "  The 
creative — Let  us  make  mnii  !  did  not  cost  so  much 
as  this  Let  ux  go !  ot  tlie  Sou  of  God  in  bis  ra- 
deeming  work." 

t  This  obvious  parallel  we  find  iu  Cyril  and  Aa- 
"usliue. 


JOHN  XVIII.  4,  7,  8. 


689" 


concerning  llie  Lord's  snfferings,  to  point  out 
his  glorification  in  suffering.  When  lie  now, 
in  ver.  4,  sets  over  against  the  Lord's  knowing 
all  things  that  should  come  and  came  upon 
him,  the  fatal  and  wretched  knowledge  of  Judas 
concerning  the  place  ;  and,  with  a  remarkable 
second  l^sXOa'iy,  w€7it  fo)th  (after  the  t^i/XOe 
of  ver.  1),  immediately  adjoins  He  said  unto 
them — we  can  hardly  suppose  the  betraying 
kiss  of  this  Judas,  thus  mentioned  in  vers.  3 
and  5,  to  have  intervened.  It  is  evident  that 
John  would  mention  that  Jirst  going  forth  of 
our  Lord  to  meet  the  multitude,  which  antici- 
pated all  that  came  upon  him. 

In  the  whole  interval  between  the  two  dark 
periods  of  conflict  in  Gethsemane  and  upon  the 
cross,  the  Lord  exhibits  outwardly  the  most 
Bublime  serenity  and  strength,  although  this 
might  consist  with  the  continuance  of  the  con- 
flict within.  Before  God,  before  the  Father, 
he  had  obtained  the  first  victory  of  resolution 
to  drink  the  cup  (John  ver.  11),  the  inmost 
contents  of  which  his  soul  already  tastes — Now 
may  men  and  sinners  come,  and  in  them  the 
whole  power  of  darkness!  And  this  is  to  us 
an  example  in  our  own  appointed  sufferings — 
that  our  preparations  must  not  wait  till  the 
outward  pressure  comes,  but  that  we  must  see 
to  it  that  it  find  us  prepared. 

The  multitude  which  comes  against  Jesus — 
ox^oi;  TtoXvi  in  Matt,  and  Mark,  briefly  oX^oi 
in  Luke — consists,  as  we  apprehend  it,  of  a 
combination  of  four  if  not  of  five  elements: 
soldiers  ;  functionaries  of  the  judgment  or  the 
temple  watch;  servants;  high  priests  and  eld- 
ers themselves  ;  and  probably  a  miscellaneous 
concourse.  John  rightly  places  first,  as  re- 
quired by  Judas  and  placed  at  his  disposal, 
T7}v  dTtsipay,  that  is,  as  the  article  shows,  the 
military  cohort  of  the  Romans  stationed  in 
Jerusalem  for  any  such  purpose.  According  to 
Josephus  there  was  such  a  body,  established  in 
the  fortress  Antonia,  in  order  to  prevent  or 
suppress  any  insurrection,  especially  at  the 
great  feasts;  and  with  this  Acts  xxi.  31  agrees. 
^Tcslfja,  in  Ennius  found  as  spira,  cannot,  pos- 
sibly signify  the  temple  guard;  for  compare 
Acts  X.  1,  xxvii.  1,  and  in  John  xviii.  Il2  the 
XiXiapxo?.  Certainly  it  was  not  the  whole 
cohort  of  five  hundred  men,  but  a  considerable 
part  representing  the  whole.  "  To  obtain  this 
escort  it  was  only  necessary  to  inform  the  chief 
magistrate  that  there  wore  signs  of  an  insur- 
rection, which  must  be  put  down  by  the  arrest 
of  the  leader  of  it"  (Hess).  Thus  this  escort 
had  been  obtained  by  those  whom  the  matter 
concerned — that  is,  secondly,  the  vnr^parat,  the 
officers  of  the  council,  which  must  be  here  one 
and  the  same  with  the  (Levitical)  temple  guard  : 
for  see  Luke  ver.  52  captains  oi  the  temple,  and 
compare  ver.  4,  as  also  Acts  iv.  1,  v.  24,  26. 
There  was  one  chief  captain,  and  several  sub- 
ordinate :  the  chief  captain  here  corresponds  to 
the  ;<;.'/! /'rt/j^o?.  Then  come,  thirdly,  the  com- 
mon or  private  servants  oi  their  various  masters, 
whom  the  "  hig|i  priests,"  etc.,  had  sent  with 
the  rest  in  their  zeal :  see  John  ver.  18,  SoijXbi 


and  vTtjjpETat  distinguished,  hence  Malchua 
the  servant  of  the  high  priest.  Both  the  official 
and  the  private  servants  are  included  in  the 
dno  of  Matt.,  napd  in  Mark,  which  the  Vulg. 
has  rightly  in  the  former  supplemented  by 
missi — sent  from — and  it  is  the  same  with  the 
tH  of  John.  But,  fourthly,  as  we  shall  see  in 
Luke  ver.  52,  there  were  some  high  priests  and 
elders — but  whether  by  or  against  the  will  of  the 
leaders,  whether  they  went  in  their  zeal  or  met 
the  company,  is  a  questionable  point.*  Enough, 
that  this  o;f/\oJ  (o^Aoz  Matt.  ver.  55),  this  mul- 
titude, as  it  is  called,  as  if  to  lay  the  charge  of 
tumult  rather  upon  these  his  enemies,  was  to 
have  the  appearance  of  a  united  rising  of  all 
kinds  against  a  most  guilty  and  most  dangerous 
man,  an  ecclesiastical  and  political  delinquent. 
But  the  temple  guard  is  summoned  againsfi 
the  innocent  teacher  in  the  temple,  the  prophet 
legitimated  by  many  miracles,  the  Messiah  and 
Lord  of  the  temple,  proved  to  be  such  by  every 
sign.  The  Roman  power  is  brought  against 
\\\m  as  an  insurrectionary  and  a  murderer. 
John  mentions  only  weapons  generally;  the 
Synoptics  have  swords,  and,  moreover,  twAflr, 
that  IS,  stakes,  sticks,  or  however  else  it  may  be 
translated — not,  however,  "  clubs."  Either  the 
soldiers  had  swords,  the  servants  of  the  council 
or  temple  guard  only  weapons  of  wood  {staves 
as  indicating  office?  but  this  is  quite  improb- 
able) ;  or,  better,  in  this  "  tumultuously  armed 
company"  even  the  ^v\a  had  been  hastily 
seized  for  help.  So  at  least  the  Lord  himself 
seems  to  intimate.  Matt.  ver.  55.  This  exag- 
gerated arming  was  in  any  case  a  pretence,  out 
of  dishonor  to  Jesus,  and  to  mark  him  before- 
hand as  dangerous  to  Pilate.  John  also  men- 
tions lanterns  and  torches,  although  it  was  the 
Easter  full  moon;  to  seek  diligently  the  object 
of  their  search,  if  he  was  not  found  in  the  indi- 
cated garden.  We  need  not  refer  this  to  the 
locality  of  the  valley  of  Cedron  :  on  the  one 
hand,  there  is  in  this  light  thrown  upon  these 
works  of  darkness  an  irony  which  condemns 
them  ;  and,  on  the  other,  it  was  dealing  with 
our  Lord  in  a  manner  as  contemptible  as  foolish 
— as  if  he  would  hide  himself!  Similarly  with 
the  weapons — as  if  he  would  defend  himself! 
At  the  same  time,  as  if  he  who  called  Lazarus 
out  of  his  grave,  could  be  taken  with  swords 
and  staves  !  All  this  was  as  useless  as  the 
spices  afterwards  at  the  sepulchre — but  this 
time  all  was  for  scorn  and  indignity. 

But  he  had  already  spoken  his  let  us  go  forth, 
that  is,  indeed  to  meet  them!  'E'IeXOgov  (or  in 
Lachm.  and  Tisch.  Hr/AOev  nai  Xeysi)  does 
not  mean  the  going  out  of  the  garden  ;  for,  ac- 
cording to  ver.  26,  the  entire  capture  took 
place  within  the  garden.     Nor  is  it  that  "he 

*  According  to  Lange:  "Already  tlie  begin- 
ninss  of  the  raob-tumult  wliich  was  !ati?r  exciied 
against  Jt^s  is — :nriivitlu,il/(r«^.''iirs,  who  joined  the 
crowd."  So  Nonnus  excellenily  describes  it ;  xai 
noXvv  OL6vp7jEyra  nap  apx^^Hcixcoy  epapi- 
daicoy — 6vy8'po;iov  ciXXov  e^ta;'  Kupvy}](pO' 
pov  idjuoy  vditt^y. 


THE  MULTITUDE. 


went  out  from  the  midst  of  the  disciples."  But 
the  Vulg.  processil  rightly  interprets  this  going 
torth  to  meet  the  advancing  crowd,  comp.  Matt. 
xiv.  14.  At  the  same  time,  the  iqeXOelv,  if  we 
supplement  "  from  the  inner  part  of  the  gar- 
den," may  contain  a  latent  reference  by  John 
to  the  secret  conflict  pre-supposed  in  the  tradi- 
tion. His  first  word,  W/toin  ,seek  ye  ? — the  sim- 
plest and  most  sublime  word  at  such  a  crisis — 
requires  rather  to  be  penetrated  by  feeling  than 
expounded  in  other  words.  He  knew  that 
which  he  required  :  but  he  would  be  answered, 
in  order  that  he  might  surrender  himself  to  them 
solemnly  and  formally  ;  with  the  pure  simpli- 
city of  the  highest  truth  confronting  their 
artifices  and  pretexts.  When  they  would  make 
him  a  king  he  fled  from  them — now,  when  his 
sacrificial  death  is  come,  he  goes  to  meet  them. 
He  may  not  let  himself  be  sought  as  Adam 
among  the  trees  of  the  garden.  In  this  "lohom?" 
there  lies  already  the  afterwards  expressed  aim 
of  his  surrender — If  yo  seek  me,  let  these  go 
their  way.  The  people  must  bethink  themselves ; 
and,  against  their  will,  with  as  much  becoming 
calmness  as  was  possible  to  them,  do  simply 
that  one  thing  for  which  they  were  sent  by 
God  and  men,  take  his  sole  person  into  custody. 
If  this  whom  seek  ye  ?  carries  our  thought  back 
to  that  first  ^cImI  seek  ye  ?  John  i.  38,*  we  fini 
much  to  ponder  in  devotion  and  to  apply.  The 
sincere  seek  him  for  salvation,  when  he  asks 
what  seek  ye  ?  for  the  true  reply  of  their 
good  conscience.  But  they  who  seek  him  in 
enmity,  are  ailrighted  at  his  Whom?  Alas! 
how  many  still  there  are  who,  as  here,  know- 
ingly and  yet  iguorantly,  are  found  among  the 
crowds  whom  Judas  leads. 

Among  those  then  present  were  many  so 
altogether  ignorant  as  not.  to  know  Jesus  by 
person :  this  would  apply  especially  to  the 
Roman  soldiers.  They  knew  only  that  they 
were  to  seize  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  That  Judas 
alone  knew  who  was  to  be  seized,  and  that  the 
others  were  to  know  at  the  right  time  through 
liis  sign,  is  altogether  improbable,  and  leaves 
the  first  answer  with  the  name  inexplicable,  for 
it  could  not  have  then  been  at  once — Eccn  thee! 
If  he  had  declared  himself  to  be  the  person 
sought  when  he  said  Whom  seek  ye  ?  the  amaze- 
ment which  fell  upon  them  would  not  have 
waited  for  the  Ian  lie.  Moreover,  there  were 
many  there  who  must  have  personally  known 
the  Lord,  as  he  himself  says — I  was  daily  with 
you 

Are  we  to  a=sume,  with  Grotius  (and  so 
Chrys.  and  Cyril),  that  lliey  were  collectively 
struck  at  once  with  blindness,  and  thus  con- 
founded at  the  very  beginning?  This  is  an 
altogether  needless  assumption.  Or,  may  we 
say  that  even  those  who  knew  him  could  not 
recognize  bim,  in  spite  of  their  lanterns  and 
torches,  or  through  the  blinding  combination  of 
their  lights  with  that  of  the  moon  ?    We  think 


that  he  stood  before  them  visible  enough,  hav" 
ing  come  forward  into  the  clear  light.  Many 
probably  knew  him,  but  in  these  there  was  an 
anticipation  of  the  fear  which  threw  thera 
down,  and  no  man  dared  to  say — lliee.  It  re- 
mains, therefore,  for  those  who  knew  him  not, 
to  say  artlessly  to  the  man  who  comes  forward 
and  asks  them  as  if  to  help  them,  and  who  there- 
fore was  not  the  person  himself — Jenus  of  Naza- 
reth. This  was  his  common  name.  Matt.  xxi. 
11,  xxvi.  71,  not  without  contempt  on  the  part 
of  his  traducers,  but  among  others  simply  the 
full  name  and  designation  of  this  Jesus.  But 
we  cannot  reconcile  it  with  any  thoughtful 
study  of  the  whole  scene  to  suppose  that  any 
man  of  the  multitude  could  have  given  such  an 
answer  after  the  kiss  of  Judas.  Our  hasty  ex- 
positors should  pause  a  while  and  meditate  in 
stillness  upon  the  whole,  before  they  enter  into 
their  details. 

In  the  same  simple  tone  in  which  the  answer 
had  been  given,  though  more  calmly  than  that 
answer,  which  the  question  of  the  unknown 
one  had  somewhat  disturbed,  he  says  again, 
and  in  the  plainest  words — I  am  he,  if  ye  seek 
him,  ye  need  seek  no  long'^r,  he  is  before  you  ! 
This  was  the  necessary  and  designed  protest 
against  the  seeking,  the  most  lowly  and  yet 
solemn  testimony  to  his  own  voluntary  surren- 
der of  himself.  'But,  according  to  the" Father's 
counsel,  the  fulfillment  of  which  was  brought 
on  by  the  nature  of  the  case,  there  was  to  be  a 
yet  strong  protest — that  no  violence  could  have 
availed  to  take  the  Son  of  God,  if  he  had  not 
thus  given  himself  up.  There  proceeds  from 
him  an  unconscious  power  of  the  highest,  in 
connection  v/ith  this  lowly  1  am  he!  which 
strikes  amazement  into  the  whole  multitude. 
First,  they  went  backward — an  involuntaiv  re- 
treat, the  Old-Testament  frequent  ninS  i',DJ  of 

smitten  foes;  but  immediately  afterwards  still 
more — they  fill  to  the  ground.  Then  were  tliey 
the  evil-doers,  whom  fear  in  their  deepest 
hearts,  which  the  word  of  Jesus  pierced,  had 
sought  and  found.  Ho  stands  before  them, 
lately  risen  out  of  his  own  weakness ;  before 
these  sinners,  in  whose  likeness  he  has  ap- 
peared, though  far  as  heaven  separate  from 
them  in  their  guilty  fear,  he  is  glorified  as  the 
Holy  One  of  God  ci'enwhilehe  is  giving  himseU 
into  their  hands.  Many  have  appealed  to  the 
fact  that  "  even  Strauss  discerns  a  miracle  here" 
— but  we  have  no  sympathy  with  this  ambig- 
uous acknowledgment.  There  was  no  specific 
miracle  here,  apart  from  the  standing  miracle 
of  our  Lord's  personality  itself;  for  it  was  not 
the  purpose  of  Jesus  to  perform  any,  it  was  not 
his  conscious  design  to  throw  the  people  down.* 


*  In  John's  Gospel  there  are  miny  such  fus- 
pestivp  relerenceii  liom  llio  conclusion  to  tlie  be- 
ginning. 


*  "  Tliis  is  lo  b?  explained  as  tl;e  power  of  a 
cord  conscience  over  an  evif,  oMaiili  over  unheiiet. 
For  Jesus  h  id  no  (lesisn  to  u'e  liere  hi.s  inirncu- 
lous  power,  lallier  in  faith  and  obed  erce  to  n-mier 
himself  up  lo  tlie  w  11  and  counsel  of  Gi)d,  and  save 
liis  disciples"  (Branch).  We  think  reason  enov.ah 
is /omul  here  lur  the  rej-'Ction  of  the  vi'>w  wliich 
Krunimachcr,  c.  g.,  and  Luihardt  still  maiutaiu— 


JOHN  XVIII.  4,  7,  8. 


891 


Tims  assuredly  it  was  no  "ray  of  his  omnipo- 
tence" or  his"  divinity"  which  suddenly  burst 
forth  ;  for  his  divinity  and  omnipotence  were 
now  most  profoundly  concealed  and  withdrawn 
in  order  to  his  suffering.     Strauss  has  not  well 
Hhown,  as  Ebrard   thinks,  that  this   falling  of 
the  crowd  could  not  admit  of  a  natural  expla- 
nation ;  we  see  here  most  plainly  a  manifesta- 
tion in  the  highest  degree  of  that  which  has 
not  seldom  occurred  in  much   lesser  degree  in 
the  domain  of  human  experience.  Enemies  have 
been  stricken  backward  in  the  presence  of  sinful 
men,  in  the  sudden  view  of  their  own  guilt  and 
of  superior  dignity;  history  has  many  examples, 
such   as    those   of  Marius,   Marcus    Antonius, 
Probus,  Pertinax,  the  Polish  bish'^Stanislaus, 
Coligny  ;  and  there  are  many  which    history 
does  not  record.     But  here  there  is  One  who  is 
holy  as   no  other  is ;    and  the  consciences  of 
most  in  this  crowd  were  susceptible  of  such  a 
sudden  recoil  before  the  majesty  of  that  /,  from 
the  knowledge  which  they  had  concerning  this 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth."     The  impression  would 
reach  to  us  all  by  sympathy.     He  had  no.  said 
this  time,  It  is  I,  he  not  afraid — therefore  did 
they  fear,  because  they  had  gone  out  against 
him.     But  to  us,  his  own   disciples,  this  I  am 
he!  should  say  much  which  must  be  left  to  be 
Bupplicd  and  expanded  by  the  believing  heart. 
Just  as  if  nothing  had  passed,  not  surprised 
at  this  natural  though  undesigned  result  of  his 
own  word,  Jesus  in  the  transcendent  elavation 
of  his  repose  still  calmly  haptens  to  the  goal — to 
deliver  himselt  up  to  them,  and  to  secure  the 
freedom  of  his  disciples.     He  had  waited  unin- 
terrupted in   his  composure,  till   they  should 
rise  up  again,*  and  as  soon  as  they  can  hear  he 
asks  them  once  more,  literally  as  at  first,  the 
same  question.     It  is  only   in  the  compound 
e.Ttr]fjcDn]6£,  instead  of  the   previous    einev, 
that  John  seems  to  intimate  moie  urgency  in 
the  question.     Whatever  of  humiliating  or  of 
ironical  there  was  in  the  tone,  resulted  from 
the  matter  itself;  their  conscience  would  hear 
it,  though  Jesus  meant  not  to  speak — What 
kind  of  man  do  ye  suppose  this  "  Jesus  "  to  be 
whom  ye  seek,  armed  as  ye  are,  yet  without 
any  courage  to  take  him  ?   They  are  constrain- 
ed to  return  the  same  literal  answer,  though 
its  meaning  is  now  different.     No  man  dares, 
even  after  the  "  I  am  he  "  no  man  dares,  to  say 
We  seek  thee!    The  first  time  it  was  proudly, 


that  it  was  the  design  of  Jesus  to  throw  down  the 
people.  To  our  feeling  tliis  is  altogether  inconsist- 
ent with  th3  present  position  and  spirit  of  our 
Lord. 

*  This,  throush  the  predominance  of  the  proud 
element  in  this  multituda,  speedily  took  i)lace. 
The  excellent  Wesley  unnecessarily  interposes 
here  a  great  deal :  "  Probably  the  priests  among 
them  might  persuade  themselves  and  their  attend- 
an*s  that  thi.s  also  was  done  by  Beelzebub  ;  and 
that  it  wns  through  the  providence  of  God,  and 
not  the  indulgence  of  Jesus,  that  they  received  no 
further  ("amage."  0,  no;  all  things  passed  much 
too  rapidly  for  tSls. 


but  now  it  is  feebly,  said,  as  if  a  confession  of 
sin — Jesus  of  Nazareth,  him  we  should  and 
would  take,  but  cannot. 

Hereupon  the  Lofty  One  says  with  the  gen- 
tlest and  most  inspiring  tone  which  he  cor.ld 
adopt — I  ham  told  you  that  lam  he.  Merely 
told — wherefore  then  did  you  fall  down  at  the 
sound?  I  say  it  once  more,  not  to  affright 
you,  but  because  ye  have  found  me.  Had  he 
gone  on  to  speak,  no  man  could  have  laid 
hands  upon  him,  as  we  saw  in  the  prelude  of- 
this  scene,  chap.  vii.  44.  The  courage  which 
enabled  them  to  lay  hold  upon  him  at  last, 
sprang  from  the  courage  with  which  he  sur- 
rendered himself.  Their  falling  before  him  was 
doubtless,  hov/ever,  "a  type  of  the  world's 
judgment."  "  What  will  he  do  when  he  comes 
to  judge,  who  did  such  things  when  he  was 
judged?  What  will  he  be  able  to  inflict  from 
his  throne,  who  had  this  power  when  about  to 
die?"  This  is  Augustine's  question  ;  and  still 
more  suggestive  is  Bengel's  brief  word,  "  He 
will  say  "it  a  third  time  one  day."  That  is  to 
say.  So  long  as  the  limits  of  his  forbearance  are 
not  reached,  he  ever  repeats  to  his  enemies  as 
well  as  to  his  friends  hi^  avowal  I  am  he;  until 
that  day  comes  when  the  same  words  will  cast 
down  hfe  foes  forever.  If  it  had  not  been  the 
Fatner's  counsel  that  he  should  give  himself  up 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world — then  would  his 
deportment  here  at  his  capture  lack  its  highest 
justification  ;  hut  it  is  itself  the  strongest  tr  t.i- 
mony  for  this  counsel  and  will. 

Finallv,  he  omits  not  to  say,  what  he  had 
meant  from  the  beginning— that  they  should 
do  no  harm   to  his  disciples.     In  the  terror- 
striking  power  and  suppressed  majesty  which 
involuntarily  as  it  were  attended  him  in  his 
humiliation,   he  extends  the  hand  of  his  pro- 
tecting love  over   his   little,   feeble  company. 
They  did  not  watch  with  him,  but  he  is  watch- 
ful for  their  defence.     His  collective  disciples 
are  now  around  him  ;    for,  the  going  for:h  ot 
ver.  4  reached  to  the  entrance  and   forelront  of 
the  garden,  to  the  place  where  he  had  left  the 
remaining  eight.     The  description  is  very  false 
which   represents  them  as  "  attracted    by   the 
noise,"  and  so  forth  ;  for  there  was  no  tumult 
at  the  first,  the  multitude  came  with  cautious 
silence.     And  now  when  they  had  recovered 
from  their  fall  and  confusion,  which  of  course 
would  not  take  place  without  some  noise,  the 
eleven  were  already  there,  drawn  by  the  first, 
loudly-uttered.  Whom  see/eye?     //'ye  seek  me, 
[,fe  says— thereby  once  more  plainly  confirming 
what'they  could'not  apprehend  in  his  lam  he—- 
I  defend  not  myself,  I  offer  mysalf  to  you,  take 
with  you  him  whom  ye  have  found.     But  in 
the  sa'me  gentle  tone  he  also  commands— B\it\et 
these  go  their  way.     Probably  they  had  orders, 
or  at  least  they  might  have  had  the  desire,  to 
seize   also   his   dependents,  as  is  shown  alter- 
wards  bv  the  case  of  the  young  man  in  MarK ; 
they  might  even  have  wished,  having  no  cour- 
aae  to  lay  hands  on  him,  to  begin   by  seizing 
Ins  disciples.     But  he  says  to  them  what  they 
are  to  do,-and  what  not  to  do,  just  as  he  had 


692 


THE  MULTITUDE. 


said  to  them — lam  he.  That  he  docs  not  say 
my  disci]  iks*  has  a  reason  of  deep  propriety; 
for  that  would  be  calling  them,  in  opposition 
to  these  people,  his  dependents  in  a  sense 
which  he  did  not  acknowledge,  and  in  which 
he  would  not  involve  them.  But  it  requires 
no  proof  that  those  who  were  thus  found 
around  him,  and  whom  he  shortly  describes 
as  these,  belonged  to  him  and  lay  near  his 
heart.  If  a  supposed  conspirator  and  plotter 
should  say  "  Let  these  people  go,"  all  the  more 
certainly  would  the  reverse  be  done,  because 
he  would  thereby  declare  them  to  be  his  own 

Seople.  But  Jesus  speaks  one  word — not,  in- 
eed,  as  a  request,  but  as  a  command  in  the 
tone  of  a  request — and  it  has  the  force  of  a 
command  at  the  very  juncture  when  he  is  to 
be  bound  as  a  malefactor.  Thus  does  he  rule 
in  the  midst  of  his  enemies,  already  in  his  hu- 
miliation (Psa.  ex.  2).  He  remains  always  the 
same;  the  same  when  confronting  the  hosts  of 
his  enemies  as  shortly  before  in  the  circle  of 
his  friends:  he  sees  the  right,  speaks  and  acts 
with  composure  in  every  emergency,  shows  to 
each  his  place  and  way,  even  as  he  knew  and 
maintained  his  own.     What  a  man  is  this  ! 

The  last  word  says  to  the  multitude — These  (a 
few  unar.T,ed  and  affrighted  people,  al  ye  see) 
will  not  defend  me.  He  gives  to  the  disciples 
an  intimation  and  a  command,  as  to  what 
would  and  would  not  now  become  them — 
though,  alas!  Peter  understood  it  not.  In  its 
deepest  sense — for  every  thing  in  the  Passion 
has  its  })rofound  undertone  of  typical  meaning 
— this  saying,  in  which  he  devotes  himself  and 
Bets  us  free,  shadows  out  the  entire  significance 
of  the  atoning  sufferings  :  he  and  he  alone  is 
made  the  victim,  that  we  may  go  free,  by  a 
substitution  which  has  its  most  real  and  vital 
truth,  though  not  in  the  hard,  juridical  sense. 
See  here  the  antitype  and  the  inversion  of  that 
saying  of  David — lit  is  that  have  sinned,  and 
done  evil  indeed  ;  but  as  for  these  sheep,  what 
have  they  done?  (I  Chron.  xx\.  17).  In  the 
midst  of  the  disquietude  which  pressed  upon 
him  he  retains  his  pastoral  solicitude  for  his 
sheep — that  none  of  those  who  have  deserved 
death,  may  be  lost,  because  and  while  he  gives 
himself  to  death  for  them.  To  this  day  he  con- 
tinues to  spare  our  weakness;  and  gives  up 
rather  himself,  his  name,  his  honor,  when  his 
enemies  seek  him  among  us. 

This  meanmg  is  profoundly  exhibited  in  ver. 
9  by  the  Evangelist ;  and  his  quotation  is  not 
such  an  "  unhappy  t/uit  it  may  be  fulfilled,"  as 
iSchweizer  has  most  unhappily  called  it.  But 
John  does  not  regard  (as  many  say  with  good 
intention,  and  as  1  myself  thought  at  an  ear- 
lier time)  the  protection  of  their  bodily  life  as 
a  bodily  pre-fullil!ment  of  that  higher  meaning 
which  the  Lord's  prayer  for  his  disciples  must 
have  contained.  Certainly,  such  an  exhibition 
of  the  spiritual  by  the  external,  which  is  its 
similitude,  is  justified  generally,  and  has  eev- 

*  So  Noinius  iiiipropeily  paraphrases  by  \lxCv 
iraifjooy. 


eral  examples  ;*  but  it  is  plain  to  rae  now,  that 
as  the  Lord  in  chap.  xvii.  12  did  not  give  his 
word  an  external  meaning,  so  John  does  not 
refer  it  in  his  quotation  to  their  external  de- 
fence and  salvation.  This  has  been  acknow- 
ledged by  older  and  later  expositors.  The 
Berlenb.  Bihel  says:  "In  this  we  see  that 
Christ  had  not  in  view  so  much  their  bodily 
salvation  ;  but  that  he  provided  for  their  bodily 
safety  for  the  sake  of  their  spiritual."  Both 
were  hc/e  closely  connected,  for  they  could  not 
then  have  borne  with  him  his  sufferings ;  he 
would  not  have  lost  one  only,  but  all."  So 
Lampe  himself  was  obliged  to  say — "Consid- 
ered in  themselves  they  would  have  succumbed 
to  temptation,  if  they  had  been  taken  together 
with  Christ."  Rambach  states  it  thus  excel- 
lently :  "  Our  merciful  High  Priest  seeks  to 
appoint  and  arrange  our  temporal  circumstan- 
ces in  such  a  manner  that  our  souls  shall 
take  no  harm — of  this  we  have  here  a  proof 
and  example."  Liicke ;  "  It  is  perfectly  in 
harmony  that  the  Evangelist,  remembering 
Peter's  denial  under  severe  pressure,  finds  in 
this  external  deliverance  a  rescue  from  such 
temptation  as  the  disciples  were  then  unequal 
to  sustain. "t 

Not  merely  is  the  power  of  the  Lord  against 
the  apparent  violence  of  his  enemies  seen  in  this 
commandment  issued  at  his  capture;  but  the 
whole  scene,  as  we  shall  further  contemplate  it, 
glorifies  generally — his  (divine)  fo«e  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  wickedness  of  Judas  ;  his  (human) 
obedience  in  opposition  to  Peter's  self-will ; 
his  holy  (divine-human)  dignity  in  opposition 
to  the  wavering  and  confused  conduct  of  the 
whole  of  those  around  him.  All,  whether 
friends  or  enemies,  are  thrown  out  of  their 
course  in  the  mighty  excitement  of  this  event. 
The  greatest  injustice  under  heaven  takes 
place ;  hell  is  moved  ;  faith  is  broken  in  his 
disciples  ;  and  their  presence  of  mind  is  gone — 
he  alone  exhibits  the  composure  and  power 
which  is  the  prerogative  of  man  in  God.  So 
every  one  goes  his  way  at  the  Lord's  direction, 
and  he  goes  his  own  way — calmness  and  order 
ensue.  This  must  be  taken  as  a  pre[)aratory 
glance  at  all  that  follows ;  all  human  (and 
otherwise  justified)  wrath  he  subordinates  to 
dimne  love,  as  is  testified  by  the  word  to  Judas, 
and  at  the  same  time  by  the  healing  of  Malchus. 
He  renounces  all  divine  power  (though  ever 
at  his  command)  in  the  fulfillmfnt  of  his  hu- 
man obedience,  as  the  word  of  Peter  teaches. 
With  divine-human  dignity  and  light  he  speah, 
teaches,  tedifies,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end, 
as  his  final  wonl  to  the  multitude  will  es- 
pecially show.  Truly,  never  man  suffered  like 
this  man.  He  utters  lam  iu;,  and  faith  under- 
stands the  word,  sinks  voluntarily,  to  his  feet, 
and  responds — Verily,  iJiou  art  he. 


*  Implementum  literale  implement!  niystici  piae- 
ludium  ac  sigillum.  Matt.  viii.  17  is  decisive  for 
this. 

f  Ebrard  and  Lan^jo  decide  for  the  same  mean- 


THE  LAST  WORD  TO  JUDAS. 


(Matt.  xxvi.  50;  Luke  xxii.  48.) 


The  traitor  had  given  them  a  sign  .•*  Whom- 
soever I  shall  kiss,  that  same  is  he.  Luke,  who 
does  not  expressly  say  this,  not  only  however 
records  the  kiss,  but  our  Lord's  word,  pre-sup- 

?osing  it,  which  spoke  oi  bclmj/ing  with  a  kiss, 
he  question  whether  or  not  Mark's  word,  ver. 
44 — "  Lead  him  away  safely  " — has  an  ironical 
moaning,  as  if  Judas  thought  that  the  Lord 
would  know  how  to  save  himself,  is  bound  up 
with  the  interpretation  of  Matt,  x.xvii.  3,  and 
the  whole  view  which  we  take  of  the  betrayal. 
Into  this  we  cannot  now  enter ;  but  may  re- 
mark that  the  assumption  of  such  daring  tri- 
fling on  the  part  of  the  traitor,  though  to  us  im- 
probable, would  only  make  his  wickedness  the 
greater.  It  is  plain  in  any  case  that  he  had 
made  the  most  cold-blooded  calculation  and 
arrangement  of  all  things,  even  down  to  the 
particular  of  this  sign.  In  this  most  miserable 
act  of  forethought,  he  is  daring  enough  to  carry 
his  mockery  even  to  the  awful  point  of  show- 
ing himself  at  once  his  disciple  and  betrayer; 
but  he  IS  also  unconsciously  and  secretly  a 
coward,  in  that  he  does  not  dare  to  give  any 
other  sign,  such  as  should  externally  dishonor 
his  Master.  But  now,  through  the  declaration, 
of  Jesus,  this  sign  has  been  rendered  unneces- 
sary— are  we  then  to  suppose  that  Judas  did 
kiss  his  Master?  This  apparently  difficult 
question  has  induced  many  to  reverse  the  order 
of  time — the  kiss  was  first  given,  and  then 
Jesus  came  forth  to  them  with  his  Wliom  scrk 
ye?  For  this  Lampe  appeals  to  Byn33us  ;  and 
among  the  more  eminent  names  which  have  so 
decided  we  may  mention  Hess,  Hase,  Von 
Gerlach,  Tholuck,  Olshausen,  Liicke,  Ebrard, 
Lange,  and  Braune.  That  Judas  went  forward 
first  alone,  "  to  give  the  sign  at  a  distance," 
while  the  watching  spies  kept  in  the  rear  in 
order  that  the  seemingly  artless  ki.ss  should  not 
be  interrupted,  might  appear  to  be  a  very 
rational  explanation  of  their  concerted  plan  ; 
but  we  cannot  agree  with  Ebrard  that  this  is 
the  only  and  the  obvious  solution,  for  it  is 
easy  to  imagine  a  much  more  daring  kiss  than 
this  would  have  been.  But  to  what  end  and 
what  meaning  the  Lord  could  then,  after  he 
had  thus  been  marked  out  and  "  betrayed  with 
a  kiss,"  put  the  simple  question  as  to  wltom 
they  sought ;  and  stiil,  more,  in  what  conceiv- 
able sense  the  first  equally  artless  answer, 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth,"  could  have  been  criven — 


*  Matt.  (}7piE'lov  ;  Mark  more  pracisely  (Ji'd- 
67]Uoyy  that  is,  siaiium  coinmu  c,  a  concerted  si^n 
know  to  all.  The  eSooHS  of  the  one  is  to  he  un- 
derstood as  the"as  tlie  same  with  the  Ssi^ooHei 
of  the  olher. 

593 


we  are  altogether  at  a  losa  to  nnderstand.  For 
in  that  case  the  first  answer  of  the  multi- 
tude would  have  been  bold  to  such  a  degree 
that  their  immediate  transition  to  amazement 
on  hearing  the  "  I  am  he  " — which,  however, 
added  nothing  to  the  intelligence — would  be 
incomprehensible.  That,  as  Lange  states  the 
case,  "Judas,  on  hearing  the  rebuking  voice  of 
Jesus,  quickly  hastened  back,  and  his  hasty  re- 
treat threw  the  first  element  of  sympathetic 
fright  into  the  mass  of  the  people,"  sounds 
reasonable  enougli,  until  we  study  carefully  the 
very  words  of  the  last  Evangelist.  John's  repre- 
sentation, in  the  direct  sequence  of  vers.  3  and 
4,  produces  at  once  the  impression  that  this 
was  the  Jirsl  time,  and  that  Jesus  went  forth  to 
meet  all  that  was  to  come  upon  him,  thus  anti- 
cipating the  a'.vful  concerted  kiss  of  Judas. 
The  eiortpiEt,  "  stood,"  of  John  ver.  5  appears 
to  us  entirely  to  preclude  the  idea  of  any  pre- 
vious "falling  back."  Lampe,  who  takes  for 
granted  that  the  kiss  had  preceded,  thus  in- 
correctly interpolates:  "He  stands,  there.''ore, 
suffused  with  shame,  horrified  at  the  commis- 
sion of  his  own  act,  and  dreading  what  the 
issue  of  the  whole  would  be."  For,  if  John  had 
meant  this,  he  would  have  recorded  the  com- 
mission of  the  act  ;  or  otherwise  his  narrative 
would  be  a  very  strange  one.  He  rather 
stands,  according  to  John,  as  the  same  who  had 
received  this  band  and  led  them  hither,  and  who 
had  come  with  them — vers.  3  and  5  are  closely 
connected.  If  the  EidryKSi,  Judas  stood,  has, 
as  it  then  would  have,  a  special  emphasis,  that 
emphasis  is  a  very  different  one,  as  we  read  in 
the  Bi-rlenb.  Blbel :  "  He  appears  to  have  been 
stunned,  and  not  to  know  whether  to  go  before 
or  behind,  to  advance  or  retreat."  More  plain- 
ly :  He  stood  irresolute,  and  delayed  awhile  his 
kiss  ;  perceiving  this,  our  Lord  would  anti- 
cipate his  act,  and  spare  him  this  wickedness, 
as  also  obviate  all  unnecessary  measures  at  his 
own  capture.  Still  more,  this  stood,  ver.  5,  is 
undeniably  a  prelude  to  the  fall  of  ver.  6,  which 
is  its  direct  antithesis,  and  intimates  that  Judas 
also  fell  with  them.  Assuredly,  according  to 
the  plain  word  of  the  Evangelist,  he  did  fall  to 
the  earth,  and  naturally  was  one  of  the  first  to 
do  so.  But  he  was  also,  and  this  alone  is  in 
harmony  with  his  character,  which  is  described 
in  the  holy  word  as  devilish,  one  of  the  first,  if 
not  the  first,  who  daringly  stood  up  again. 
Chrysos.,  Cyril,  Theoph.,  Euthym.,  assume  that 
he  did  not  give  the  kiss  until  after  John  xviii. 
4-8  ;  and  we  agree  with  them,  assuming  further 
that  this  was  even  after  he  had  already  fallen 
to  the  earth  in  common  with  the  others  who 
had  stood.     The  sign  was  now  indeed  super- 


594 


THE  LAST  WORD  TO  JUDAS. 


fluous,  but  in  the  exuberance  of  his  daring  he 
frives  it  nevertheless,  though  scarcely  risen 
from  the  ground.  Nor  was  it,  as  has  been  said, 
merely  in  his  "  confusion  "  tliat  he  did  it,  for  a 
devil,  a  man,  into  whom  Satan  has  entered,  may 
indeed  be  obliged  to  fall;  but  confused  in  his 
wickedness  he  cannot  be,  at  least  in  the  sense 
whicli  has  been  maintained.  Why  then  is  the 
ki?s  given,  when  Jesus  has  already  abundantly 
declared  that  it  was  he  whom  they  sought  and 
should  take  ?  Naturally — in  the  devilish  spirit 
— that  he  may  maintain  his  consistency,  and 
redeem  his  word,  and  recover  from  the  vexation 
of  the  fall  to  the  earth  as  speedily  as  possible. 
All  depends  upon  him,  the  leader;  and  lie  mvist 
needs  inspirit  his  followers  by  showing  them, 
what  none  knew  so  well  as  he,  that  they  might 
approach  Jesus  without  being  harmed.  Pfen- 
ninger  makes  one  of  his  characters  say,  "Judas, 
thou  art  a  dead  man  if  thou  goest  near  to  him," 
and  the  wicked  traitor  replies,  "  Fear  not,  he 
never  did  harm  to  man."  In  Teschendorf 
Judas  encourages  the  multitude  :  "  Go  on  to 
him!  What  fear  ye?  I  will  f<hoio  you.  that  he 
may  be  approached  without  fear."  We  agree 
with  this,  apart  from  the  utterance  of  the  feel- 
ing in  words :  it  is  the  only  view  which  alto- 
gether harmonizes  the  whole.  He  drew  near 
to  Jesus,  and  with  some  customary  word  of 
greeting  hn  lcif<8ed  him.  Luke  has  simply 
(piXhGai,  Matthew  and  Mark  indeed  xavEcpi- 
Xr/(iFy ;  both  however  only  in  the  meaning  of 
the  o"  ixv  qjiXy6(J0  which  they  have  used  pre- 
viously. Thus  hero  it  is  not  the  compound 
word,  with  its  common  intensification  of  mean- 
ing, <liu  multwnque  oncidari,  to  kiss  over  and 
ovf^r  (Tacitus  oscalis  aHquemfatigare),  which  is, 
apart  irom  its  impropriety  generally,  quite  op- 
posed to  the  (piXvuari,  the  single  kiss  whicli. 
according  to  Luke,  the  Lord  speaks  of.*  What 
a  kiss  was  this,  the  symbol  and  proverb  of 
every  thing  horrible  of  the  same  kind;  though 
nothing  of  the  same  kind  could  ever  equal  it, 
and  Joab's  kiss,  2  Sam.  xx.  9, 10,  was  but  its 
distant  type.  Among  all  the  kisses  of  an 
enemy,  which  Solomon  says,  v.'ith  a  dark  mean- 
ing,  are  nnnyj,  meaning   thereby   certainly 

something  evil,  deceitful,  wily,  this  ki.ss  upon 
the  cheek  of  the  Holy  One  of  God  was  the  most 
dctestible  and  vile  ;  and  it  might  well  provoke 
to  10  atTi — in  every  other  man,  but  not  in  the 
Lord  Jesus.  There  is  a  sinless  wrath  of  holy 
indignation  which  our  Lord  at  other  times  felt 
and  expressed  ;  and  if  this  pure  human  teeling 
in  the  Holy  One  was  ever  excited,  it  might 
have  been  supposed  that  it  would  be  now, 
when  he  submitted  to  the  blasphemer's  saluta- 
tion.    What  righteous  man  among  men  would 


*  Hfiiupl  ><  ti'aiislalion  !■<  flnb  i'lm  Ktis.sc,  kisses, 
as  in  ilie  Gnomon — mnre  than  once.  Ebrard  makes 
il  an  tiubrace ;  but  all  this  ijs  inappropriate  and  un- 
nfopssary,  since  KaracpiXElv  is  certainly  used  for 
cpiXE'iv.  (Ecclus.  xxi.v.  5  in  Wahl  does  not  suit, 
but  3  Ezra  iv.  47  does.)  Tlie  .stronger  word  only 
mikos  emphatic  the  €TCOom[)lishment  of  the  pui- 
puse — be  came  to  kiss,  and  did  it. 


not  have  turned  away  his  face?  What  sain' 
might  not,  under  other  circumstances,  have 
felt  holy  and  vehement  anger?  But  here  and 
now  it  is  very  difTerent — toward  this  Judas  the 
Lord  will  exhibit  nothing  but  long-suflering 
and  love.  The  hell  in  man  is  condemned,  dur- 
ing the  time  of  his  forbearance,  by  the  divine 
love  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  will  not  till 
hereafter  become  a  consuming  fire.  The  Lord 
turns  not  away  his  face  ;  he  Buffers,  he  receivea 
the  kiss — this  is  abundantly  more  than  what  he 
requires  of  his  disciples  in  Matt.  v.  39.  David's 
submission  to  the  cursing  of  Shimei,  and  what- 
ever else  may  be  compared,  falls  infinitely 
short  of  the  acceptance  of  this  kiss.*  Christ 
loved  his  oion  unto  the  end — but  also  the  lost 
one,  the  apostate  among  them  (2  Pet.  iii.  1). 
Therefore  he  does  not  merely  keep  silence, 
which  is  generally  an  easier  act  of  patience; 
but  he  still  speaks,  and  now,  as  every  where 
throughout  the  Passion,  at  the  right  place. 
His  words  become  less  frequent  and  more  brief 
as  events  proceed,  but  they  are  all  the  more 
impressive  and  powerful  when  testimony  de- 
mands them. 

We  shall  not  needlessly  trouble  ourselves 
with  the  doubtful  question  as  to  whether  the 
two-fold  word  to  Judas  was  or  was  not  spoken 
at  once;  we  take  both  sayings,  as  they  simply 
stand,  as  being  intended  by  the  Spirit  to  form 
one  word.  Thus  first,  the  saying  which  ]\Lat- 
thew  records  ;  for  this  appears  to  us  to  have 
been  actually  first  spoken,  inasmuch  as  the 
immediate  reply  is  connected  with  the  greeting 
which  accompanied  the  kiss.  According  to 
Matthew  ;t;a?pe  pafifii,  "  Hail,  Master  !" — a 
mocking  salutation,  the  prelude  of  the  soldiers' 
mockery  in  Matt,  xxvii.  29.  This  was  the 
most  confidential  formula  which  a  disciple 
could  permit  himself  to  use,  according  to  the 
custom  both  of  Gentiles  and  Jews  ;  whether  in 
the  apostolical  circle  the  Lord  was  ever  greeted 
with  "Tjij  n)b"^,  Ptace  be  to  thee,  we  very  much 

doubt,  at  least  as  far  as  regards  the  reverent 
spirit  of  the  others.  Braune  supposes  that  the 
Greek  or  the  Roman  salutation  was  used,  on 
account  of  the  Gentile  soldiers,  and  then  con- 
tinues, "  Judas  might  indeed  have  been  able  to 
take  upon  his  lips^the  Jewish  '  Peace  be  with 
thee  ;'"  we  agree  with  him  in  the  latter,  and 
are  willing  to  admit  a  certain  truth  in  the  for- 
mer, if  Matthew  reports  literally.  In  Mark 
the  best  Codd.  and  the  Syr.  have  a  double 
RiibM  without  hail,  Lacbmann  gives  but  one, 
the  Vulg.  ave,  linUd.  However  it  may  be, 
they  accord  in  this — that  he  greeted  and  kissed 
him  (with  or  without  the  expression  of  the 
greeting),  calling  him  RihU.  Corresponding 
with  this  is  the  kraips  of  the  Lord's  response. 
This  is  hard  to  translate,  since  the  most  ob- 


*  Pfenninser:  "  Wouldst  thou  know  what  Satan 
can  do  and  God  can  bear,  what  the  basest  of  man- 
kind can  do  and  the  best  of  manhood  cnn  \)eiir: 

I  behold  the  lips  of  Judas  who  kisses,  and  the  cheek 

1  of  Jesus  which  receives  the  kiss." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  50. 


695 


vious  "my  friend  "is  either  too  affectionate, 
and  almost  sentimental ;  or  again  too  cold  and 
indifferent,  as  it  may  be  taken  like  a  cursory 
greeting  of  a  traveller.  It  was  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  here;  but  uttered  more  gracious- 
ly and  affectionately  now  by  the  lips  of  Jesus 
t'han  the  half-friendly  and  half-repellant  ad- 
dress in  the  two  parables,  chap.  xx.  13,  xxii. 
12.  The  "  gesell,"  companion,  of  the  Berlenb. 
Bihel,  has  too  good  a  meaning,  that  is,  according 
to  Psa.  Iv.  14  ;  it  would  in  its  fundamental 
signification  suit  very  well,  were  it  not  that 
•common  usage  had  given  it  another  tone. 
Friend,  in  the  sense  of  <piXoi,  the  Lord  could 
not  possibly  say  ;  for  John  xv.  14,  15  teaches 
us  how  much  meaning  that  word  has  as  used 
by  the  Lord  Jesus.  Nor  in  the  weaker  sense 
of  a  merely  human  relationship,  could  he  so 
terra  this  deceitful  enemy,  at  the  moment  of  his 
betraying  kiss.  Indeed,  all  allusion  to  former 
friendship  would  be  beside  the  truth  in  the 
case  of  this  evil  man.  Nor  does  this  lie  in  the 
■word,  as  Ammonius  says  :  "  o  kralpoi  is  not 
altogether  a  qjiXoi.  'Eralpoi  are  such  as  have 
been  confederate^  for  a  length  of  time  in  life 
and  work."  Thus  the  recognition  of  a  near 
relationship,  so  fearfully  now  dishonored,  is 
contained  in  the  word — As  thou  by  word  and 
salutation  declaredst  thyself,  so,  alas  !  thou  hasi 
heen,  a  close  companion  of  mine.  This  Judas 
is  the  disgrace  and  refuse  of  mankind.  Twice, 
■with  deep  meaning,  had  the  Lord's  hhold  (as 
before  at  the  table)  emphatically  announced 
his  coming  ;  the  three  Evangelists  Cimnot  other- 
■wise  record  it  than  by  once  more  adding  in 
horror — One  of  the  twelve.  That  this  man  be- 
trayed him  is  the  shame  and  grief  of  Christ, 
the  rejoicing  and  boast  of  his  enemies.  Nevor- 
theless,  Iw  is  avowed  by  the  Lord,  as  having  been 
that  which  his  former  companionship  made 
him ;  just  as  it  is  now  with  his  false  friends, 
and  the  apostates  from  his  service — the  re- 
membrance of  their  former  title  follows  them. 
As  to  Judas,  this  is  the  mildest  and  most  pas- 
sive form  of  condemnation  which  the  patient 
Lord  can  adopt — to  remind  him  of  all  the 
grace  of  this  fellowship  which  he  had  turned 
to  evil,  all  the  love  which  the  Lord  had  never 
ceased  to  manifest  toward  him:  this  heaps 
coals  of  fire  upon  his  head.  As  to  the  multi- 
tude, who  behold  and  hear  all,  and  who  cannot 
but  be  regarded  also  in  these  words,  it  is  the 
most  dignified  form  i'n  which  he  can  stoop 
under  the  fearful  shame.  It  is  the  acknow- 
ledgement— Yes,  verily,  this  is  one  of  my  near- 
est companions  ;  and  now,  moreover,  the  decla- 
ration— I  know  what  this  kiss  signifies. 

Thus  the  question.  Wherefore  art  thou  come? 
passes  over  from  the  reference  to  the  by-stand- 
ers  into  a  direct  address  to  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  the  traitor.  That  the  sentence  is  a 
question*  we  firmly  believe  with  Winer.  The 
notion  of  an  exclamation  is  altogether  improper  ; 


*  The  relat.  kq>  o  instead  of  eTti  ri.  The  same 
In  the  reading  Tqt'  cp — though  this  is  not  to  be  pre- 
ferred.    Hesych.  ikinoio}  6Hon^. 


for,  it  regards  the  Lord  as  surprised,  confound- 
ed, angry,  or  whatever  else,  instead  of  patiently 
accepting  the  iniquity  which  he  clearly  and 
serenely  contemplated  and  expected.  Nor  is 
the/wvrt  of  the  sentence  an  aposio]iesis — though 
the  reading  in  the  Yulg.  ad  quad  might  lead 
that  way  :  the  question  would  then  drop,  and 
it  would  run,  Wherefore  thou  art  come — I  know. 
This  is  involved  in  the  thing  itself,  but  the 
question  has  its  piercing  meaning  as  such  for 
Judas.  The  true  aposiopesis  (not  necessary  in 
the  form,  only  in  the  sense)  is  expressed  by 
Bengel — "  Koccine  illud  est,  cujus  caussa  ades 
(Is  it  this  for  which  thou  hast  come?)."  Thus 
it  is  harmonized  with  the  similarly-constructed 
other  words  in  Luke  ;  and  has  almost,  human- 
ly speaking,  a  tone  as  if  the  fearful,  long-known, 
and  expected  truth  could  hardlv  be  believed, 
even  now  that  it  took  place — Unhappy  man, 
cared  for  in  vain,  art  thou  really  then  come  to 
do  this  work  of  evil  ?  ITdpEt  is  stronger  than 
T/XOsi ,  not  quite  the  same  as  rrapayeyovai 
kvravOa  (not  as  if — in  this  place,  and  in  this 
company) — but  indicating  strongly  and  simply 
the  actual  accomplishment  of  his  evil  counsel, 
presenting  the  traitor  in  his  actual  present  act. 
The  second  word,  which  Luke  gives,  contains 
all  this — the  most  patient  acceptance  with  the 
most  piercing  complaint  ;  this  last  again  only  as 
the  profoundest  lamentation  of  despised  love, 
which  had  loved  in  vain,  and  thus  the  expression 
of  divine  suffering.  But  it  also  contains  still 
more,  something  yet  more  piercing  for  the  be- 
trayer. Why  should  not  both  sayings  be  read 
in  succession,  as  they  appear  to  be  the  first  and 
second  degree  of  the  utterance  which  impressed 
this  crisis?  The  former  word  turned  in  the 
sraipoi  to  the  whole  time  past  of  his  fellow- 
ship; the  latter  pauses  now  in  the  present,  as 
summed  up  in  the  ndpei — TtapadiSoji  ;  he- 
trayestthou?  The  former  acknowledged  him, 
with  reference  to  the  crowd  around;  the  latter 
seizes  Judas  alone  and  apart.  The  first  scarcely 
expressed  as  yet  the  iniquity,  the  second  de- 
fines it  most  concretely — with  a  Jcit^s !  The 
former  measured  his  guilt  according  to  the 
favor  and  fellowship  which  had  formerly  been 
enjoyed ;  the  latter  borders  already,  in  its 
almost  formal  expression  of  guilt,  upon  the 
edge  of  the  judgment  which  impends.  The 
Lord  now  calls  the  wicked  one  by  his  name, 
that  name  forever  branded  in  him,  but  which 
otherwise  has  so  lovely  a  meaning.  This  man 
had  received  at  his  circumcision  the  name  of 
the  ruling  tribe,  which  spoke  of  the  praise  of 
God,  and  was  to  be  forever  a  praise  itself.  He 
had  been  called  to  be  an  Apostle,  bearing  the 
distinctive  name  of  the  chosen  people,  prob- 
ably the  only  man  of  Judea  among  them)  ; 
and  how  often  had  his  Lord  addressed  him  by 
that  name  I  Luke  points  to  all  this  when  he 
sets  out  with  6  Xeyopeyoi  'lovSa?,  he  that 
was  so  called,  something  like  1  Cor.  viii.  5; 
comp.  John  x.  34,  35.  What  a  contrast,  be- 
tween this  calling  by  name  and  the  "Mary" 
of  the  Risen  Lord  ;  between  the  last  word  of 
the  suffering  Jesus  to  the   betrayer,  and  the 


THE  HEALING  OF  MALCHUS. 


first  word  of  the  Risen  Jesus  to  that  beloved 
disciple  !  With  a  kiss,  with  such  a  kiss — this 
first,' in  order  to  say,  I  know  also  this  concerted 
sign,  that  thou  thereby  betrayesl  me.*  In  thy 
wicked  design  it  is  and  will  ever  be  treachery, 
but  to  me  it  is  really  none.  In  conclusion,  the 
Lord  reminds  the  traitor  of  the  word  concern- 
ing him  spoken  at  the  Supper;  thei-efore  the 
similar  expression,  which  here  no  more  than 
there  softens  the  guilt — the  Son  of  Man  ;  the 
Rabbi ;  which  he  had  just  spoken  seems  also 
to  suggest  that  former  "  Kabbi,  is  it  I?  is  it 
I  ?  "  and  it  is  as  if  he  says,  in  most  unrestrain- 
ed impiety,  coming  out  from  the  multitude 
which 'he  had  brought  with  him — Rabbi,  it  isl ! 
The  Lord  replies,  veiling  the  fact  as  it  were  in 
a  question,  but  only  that  its  fearful  truth 
might  be  brought  home  to  the  doer  of  it — And 
mch  a  man  art  thou,  Judas  ?  doest  thou  that? 
This  questioa  was  the  last  vain  thrust  at  his 


hard  heart — and  with  what  a  glance  accom- 
panied !  No  imagination  could  represent  that ; 
out  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  Jesus  only 
spoke,  and  withheld  the  condemnation  of  his 
countenance.  "  He  preached  to  Judas,  but 
only  cast  a  look  upon  Peter.  The  preaching 
was  lost  upon  Judas,  the  look  brought  repent- 
ance in  Peter"  (Gossner). 

What  an  emptying  of  himself,  v/hat  humble 
self-renunciation  of  that  Son  of  God  in  his 
first  coming,  concerning  whose  second  judicial 
coming  it  is  written  that  he  will  destroy  the 
wicked  with  the  breath  of  his  mouth.  "Here 
in  the  last  word  to  Judas,  however,  there  is  a 
concealed  sentence  of  judgment;  this  question 
and  lamentation  he  carried  with  him  as  an  ac- 
cusation to  his  hell.  The  remembrance  of  this 
word  will  be  the  first  thought  with  which  he 
will  stand  before  his  Judge — and  fall  back- 
ward.* 


THE  HEALING  OF  MALCHUS. 
(Luke  xxii.  1.) 


The  moment  of  the  word  to  Judas  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  first  two  Evangelists,  the  Then 
when  they  laid  their  hands  on  him,  and  took 
him.f  Luke  immediately  connects  this  earnest 
execution  of  their  purpose  by  his  i^ovvEi  Si 
Tui66jU£voy,  "seeing  what  would  follow,"  This 
is  the  beginning  of  his  being  reckoned  among 
the  transgressors  before  men.  The  disciples 
and  Petei-'had  seen  with  blank  astonishment 
the  kiss  of  Judas  ;  they  had  not  understood 
the  patience  and  the  word  of  Jesus  ;  and  now 
their  spirit  of  opposition  is  aroused.  The 
highest  injustice  possible  in  the  world's  history 
was  done  before  their  eyes.  As  our  flesh  wills 
not  to  suffer  generally,  so  our  carnally-minded 
spirit  wills  not  in  particular  to  endure  injus- 
tice ;  for  it  understands  not  the  divinity  of  this 
suS'ering  of  injustice,  the  patient  long-suS"ering 


*  Lan2;e  puts  in  another  form,  what  we  have 
hinted  at  in  the  earlier  passage  :  "  The  same  spirit 
of  infatuation  which  made  him  a  traitor,  led  him 
to  this  diabolical  refinement,  this  wonderful  com- 
bination of  the  disciple's  kiss  find  the  traitors 
sign,  which  lias  no  parall:-!  in  human  lii.story." 
Yes,  verily,  this  was  his  ciiise  anrl  ban,  that  the 
apostate  kralftui  must  belrry  with  a  kiss,  But 
that  Luke  in  his  •'  drew  near  to  Je.sus,  to  liiss  him," 
intends  to  say  tliat  the  kiss  was  not  accomplished, 
not  only  contradicLs  ihe  expre.ss  testimony  of  the 
others,  but  the  Loid's  own  "with  a  /cits."  Lange, 
furtlipr,  regards  tiie  word  of  the  Lord  as  a  con- 
demnation thrown  into  hs  face,  by  which,  so  to 
speak,  the  Lord  finally  cast  him  of!'.  But  this  is 
quite  ahen  from  the  Lord's  full  subinission  to  all 
that  ihen  came  upon  him,  including  this  act  and 
fiign  of  treachery. 

f  How  can  wo  interpose  hero  first,  what  John 
record.s  ] 


of  the  world's  Ruler.  So  man  invades  the 
prerogative  of  God,  and  thinks  he  must  exe- 
cute justice  for  himself.  It  is  probable  that 
these  myrmidons  of  the  council  still  acted 
timorously  at  the  first  taking  of  Jesus;  and 
this  would  make  way  for  the  thought  in  the 
minds  of  some  of  the  disciples — We  also  have 
/lands.  All,  all  had  hitherto  loudly  cried,  even 
as  the  Lord  had  prayed — Father,  thy  will  be 
done!  But  Peter  in  particular  wills  not  that 
it  should  be,  that  the  Son  of  God  should  suffer 
this  :  so  Matt,  xvi.  22.  Others  too  with  him 
(though  not  the  collective  eleven)  put  the 
question  which  Luke  gives — Lo)-d,  should  we 
not,  or  jnaij  we  not,  interfere  with  the  sword, 
use  our  swords?  Literally:  If  we  strike? 
What  thinkest  (liou?  What  a  contrast  here 
between  this  question,  so  self-willed  with  all  its 
reverential  appeal  to  him  as  "  Lord,"  and  the 
gentle  word  of  this  Lord  to  the  betrayer! 
What  folly  in  the  question — to  think  that  the 
same  Lord  v.'ho  had  thus  endured  the  kiss, 
would  permit  the  sword  1  Yet  there  is  such  a 
voice  which  speaks  in  every  one  of  us,  when 
called  to  suffer  injustice ;  and  that,  though 
there  is  a  stronger  assurance  of  the  Lord's 
answer  than  the  slight  presentiment  of  it  which 
lies  in  the  present  question.  But  not  all  go  on 
to  the  act  without  waiting  for  the  answer,  like 
Peter,  whom  John  first  names.  He  will  ex- 
hibit himself,  where  all  should  have  been  the 
contemplation  of  the  fyvd,  whoi^e  aspect  would 
have    answered   all   such    questions;     he   will 


•  Krummacher :  "  The  word  will  then  bo  di. 
vested  of  its  questioning  form,  and  be  changed 
into  the  direct,  judicial  senience — Thou  hdrayc*t 
iho  Son  of  Man  with  a  kiss." 


LUKE  XXII.  1. 


597 


solve  the  word  earlier  spoken  to  him,  he  will 
repair  the  error  of  his  sleep — though  in  this  act 
he  is  sleeping  still.  Instead  of  previously  ob- 
taining, by  watching  and  prayer,  the  weap- 
ons of  the  Spirit  against  himself,  his  spirit 
breaks  out  in  false  zeal  in  the  wrong  place. 
Practical  and  devotional  expositions  of  the 
Passion  generally  dwell  solely  on  his  denial ; 
but  the  drawing  of  his  sword  was  an  essential 
part  of  that  denial  :  both  must  be  viewed  to- 
gether, if  we  would  derive  from  it  all  its  edifi- 
cation. The  sword  of  Peter  is  the  sword  of  the 
flesh,  tiken  by  ourselves  against  the  ordinance 
of  God.  We  draw  it,  alas !  too  often  our- 
selves :  v;hen  we  are  not  enough  humbled,  but 
think  too  highly  of  ourselves;  when  we  under- 
stand not  our  Lord's  wcr  Is  and  works  which 
point  to  suffering  ;  and  because  they  do  so,  ob- 
serve them  not;  when  we  rush  on  in  blind 
zeal  to  smite  the  unrighteous,  and,  instead  of 
the  help  we  mean,  work  greater  niischief  and 
wrong.  Lutlier  has  well  expressed  the  sense 
of  the  nhall  we  smile?  without  any  accusative — 
shall  we  drein  schlagen  ?  for  so  it  is — smite  at 
random  and  blindly,  whomsoever  we  may  hit. 
When  Peter  unsheathed  his  sword  and  struck, 
whom  did  he  hurt?  It  might  have  been  a 
servant  who  stood  forth  more  prominently, 
whose  boldness  chiefly  offended  him  ;  it  might 
have  been  an  innocent  and  dutiful  servant, 
whose  heart  went  not  with  the  duty  which  he 
was  obliged  to  discharge.  All  four  Evangelists 
notice  his  person,  which  was  so  marvellously 
wounded  and  healed  at  once,  with  the  article 
which  pre-suppcses  a  general  tradition — the 
servant  of  the  high  priest.  The  uncalled-for 
and  murderous  blow  was  aimed  at  the  head; 
but  Malchus  declined  his  head  to  the  left,  and 
his  right  ear  only  was  struck.  Instead  of 
ajTiov  (in  Mark  and  John  also  the  reading 
cordfjiov),  Luke  uses  interchangeably  oJj  in 
ver.  50;  whence  we  see  that  cjtioi'  (as  in  the 
Sept.  olten  for  |TX)  is  not  merely  the  ear-lap, 

but  the  ear  simply.* 

New  and  grievous  indignity  inflicted  upon 
our  Lord  by  another  of  his  own  disciples  !  It 
disturbs,  impairs,  and  troubles,  externally  at 
least,  the  sacred  dignity  of  his  patience  at  its 
most  august  moment;  it  makes  it  seem  as  if 
they  did  right  to  come  out  armed  against  him. 
For  the  first  and  only  time  the  defence  of  Jesus 
brings  injury  here  to  man.  What  is  the  Lord's 
act?  Assuredly  he  could  do  no  other  than 
what  Luke  records;  though  Neander,  alas  !  so 
often  an  unsafe  historian  among  orthodox  ex- 
positor.H,  doubts  it.  Pfenninger  represents  his 
narrating  disciple  as  asking  the  question — 
What  thinkest  thou  that  he  did  ?  and  i\Ielea 
as  replying  with  fine  feeling — Repel  Simon, 
and  heal  tiie  ear.  The  narrator,  astonished, 
demands — Didst  thou  know  this?  ]\Ielea  an- 
swers— How  could  1  know  it?     But  how  could 


he  act  otherwise,  who  endured  the  diabolical 
kiss  of  Judas?  The  healing  of  the  ear,  which 
might  be  understood  of  itself,  it  passed  over  by 
the  three  other  Evangelists,  because  the  word 
to  Peter  has  in  them  its  prominent  importance  ; 
but  Luke  connects  with  it  the  act  and  wonl  of 
healing.  The  excitement  of  all  parties  at  this 
apparition  of  the  sword  and  the  flowing  of  blood 
would  make  it  evident  that  the  Lord  did  not 
first  speak  what  he  had  to  say  to  Peter,  and 
keep  the  wounded  servant  so  long  unhealed. 
Thus  the  healing,  and  the  wo}-d  pertaining  to  it, 
come  first;  both  required  but  a  moment,  and 
it  is  wrong  therefore  to  say  that  during  the 
healing  the  Lord  proceeded  to  speak  to  Peter — 
the  healing  was  not  a  process  which  required 
time.  No  sooner  was  the  rash  blow  inflicted 
than  he  knew  what  to  do:  he  neglects  neither 
sine  of  the  matter.  Almost  at  one  and  the 
same  moment  he  healed  the  wounded  man,  and 
rebuked  the  smiter  (for  his  healing  too)  ;  but, 
since  the  two  were  in  reality  distinct,  the  re- 
moval of  the  offence  and  injury  has  the  priority. 
Thus  he  himself,  as  if  it  was  his  own  obligation 
to  do  so,  repairs  the  unhappy  injury  of  his 
disciples.*  Thus  he  once  more  gives  testimony 
that  his  power  of  miracles  had  not  departed 
from  him,  even  now  Avhen  he  renounces  all 
help  and  defence.f  He  provides  graciously  that 
Peter  should  not  be  punished ;  and  that,  where 
the  life  of  a  man  was  to  have  been  taken,  his 
soul  should  rather  be  won,  which  we  may  sup- 
pose was  the  case  with  Malchus.  This  is  the 
last  act  of  his  hands  ;  he  now  stretches  them  out  to 
be  houni. 

This  last  thought  we  find  in  the  pregnant 
word  which,  according  to  Luke,  accompanied 
or  rather  preceded  the  healing.  Jesus  might 
have  done  this  silently  by  an  instantaneous 
touch,  but  in  order  to  that  he  must  have  his 
freedom.  Witnout  touching  it  is  not  his  will 
to  heal;  partly,  because  he  would  not  now 
make  exhibition  of  the  miraculous  power  of  his 
commanding  word,  partly  to  impress  upon 
Malchus  the  moment  and  the  fact  of  his  experi- 
ence of  the  power  of  God.  Consequently,  he 
speaks,  and  in  tiie  words  which  we  must  rightly 
understand  in  Luke. 

The  most  ancient  translation,  as  found  in  the 
Peshito,  represents  it  quite  diflerently;    and 


*  The  o'd  grammarians  say :  ovi  Attic,  ooriov 
Hellenic.  So,  as  is-Avell  known,  auricula  was  u>ied 
lor  the  ear. 


*  It  was  the  ear  of  Malchus  ;  and  this  should 
be  remembered  by  those  who  by  false  use  of  the 
.sword,  that  is,  by  an  unevangelical  ])reaching  of 
the  Gospel,  with  a  perverted  zeal,  so  often  cut  off 
thr;  ear  of  the  people,  that  is,  rob  tliem  lo  their 
mortal  injury  of  their  willingness  to  hear  the 
word  of  truth.  We  may  all  cut  off  the  ear,  but 
the  Lord  only  can  heal  it  again. 

f  0;.e  true  miraculous  work  here  at  the  last, 
not  to  be  explained  away.  According  to  Jolnvs 
(XTteHoipey,  and  the  dcpElXev  of  the  Synoi)tics, 
one  might  suppose  that  the  ear  was  cut  right  off, 
and  fell  on  the  ground.  But  it  was  only  as  good 
as  off,  and  yet  hansing— lor  a^a/ffroS  means 
heating  by  mere  touch,  not  the  taking  up  and  re- 
storiuKot  the  ear.  Mark  that  Luke  lias  first  ovS, 
then  ooziov — not  conversely. 


598 


PETER'S  SWORD. 


this  has  been  approved  of  by  almost  all  Ger- 
man translators,  iiickiding  Meyer.  Grotius  and 
Bengel  interpret,  "There  let  the  matter  rest, 
let  this  be  enough  !"  as  if  spoken  to  the  inter- 
fering disciples.  Scholz  and  Theile  divide  the 
words  into  two  parts,  'Eare,  £cj;  rovrov  (scil. 
dnoxp^^.  Oisbausen,  Restran  yourselves,  thus 
far  and  no  further!  Allioli:  Desist,  no  fur- 
ther! Bengel :  Let  it  end  here !  Kistemaker: 
Enough  !  But  Lange  rightly  remarks  that 
this  IS  opposed  by  our  Lord's  reproof  of  the 
disciple  alter  the  healing.  If  he  blames  Peter, 
■we  cannot  suppose  that  he  would  say  to  the 
other  disciples  who  might  proceed  to  imitate 
him  (there  was  however  but  one  more  sword, 
which  also  opposes  that  view);  and  that,  too, 
in  a  phrase  which  would  involve  some  slight 
approbation — "  Enough  has  been  done  in  this 
matter,  ye  have  sufficiently  shown  your  good 
■will  in  my  defence,  which  is,  however  now  out 
of  place."  There  cannot  be  any  irony  here,  for 
it  13  the  plainest  and  most  open  protest  against 
the  use  of  all  unrighteous  violence  which  now 
follows.  There  are  other  views,  however,  to 
be  considered,  which  are  put  forth  by  those 
"who  maintain  the  reference  of  the  saying  to  the 
disciples.  Luther  translates  :  Let  them  go  on 
thus  far ;  and  explains  in  the  margin,  "  Let 
them  do  all  their  malice,  so  far  as  they  are  al- 
lowed ;  there  is  a  Judge,  let  us  not  avenge  our- 
selves." 'i!he  Jlirscfiberger  Bibel  mends  the  con- 
Btruction,  and  brings  out,  in  connection  with 
this,  the  former  opinion  too:  "Let  it  bs  so,  that 
is,  let  the  enemies  do  what  they  will.  Thus 
far!  that  is,  Go  no  further  in  a  premature  and 
rash  opposition  to  them."  This  separation  of 
the  two  parts  of  the  sentence  into  sayings  hav- 
ing a  different  reference  is  too  harshly  ellipti- 
cal, and  almost  unintelligibly  so.  But  Luther's 
view,  which  does  not  separate  them,  is  open  to 
the  same  objection — Let  them  fulfill  all  and  do 
■With  me  what  they  will.    That  would  assuredly 


be  an  appropriate  first  answer  to  the  question, 
Shall  ice  interpose?  But  in  the  meantime  the 
blow  has  been  struck  and  the  injury  done  ;  so 
that  Jesus  could  not,  omitting  to  notice  this 
even  for  a  moment,  go  on  to  speak  to  the  disci- 
ples, who  had,  alas  !  given  their  own  improper 
answer.  To  supply  them  after  suffer  is  harsh  ; 
and  still  harsher  to  interpret  the  'iooi  rovrov 
of  all  that  they  were  to  do  to  him  by  God's 
permission,  the  least  act  of  which  was  now 
done.  "Ecoi  rovrov,  "  as  far  as,"  must  in  con- 
nection with  the  suffer  refer  to  the  present  crisis 
and  something  now  taking  place. 

It  only  remains,  then,  that  Christ,  when  he 
begins  to  repair  the  injury,  should  turn  to 
the  excited,  offended,  injured  multitude,  which 
after  this  hasty  blow,  would  set  upon  liim  all 
the  more  vehemently.'*  Lange  observes  quite 
correctly  :  To  the  disciples  the  healing  (and 
answer)  itself  was  quite  sufficient  correction  of 
their  error ;  but  in  order  to  this  healing  the 
Lord  must  claim  some  short  respite  from  his 
enemies,  as  he  had  already  delivered  himself  up 
to  them.  Now  we  understand  this  otten  over- 
looked word  in  all  its  dignity.  What  humility 
in  the  midst  of  his  consciousness  and  use  of  the 
divine  power  of  healing  !  What  most  exquisite 
feeling  of  what  was  right,  even  in  the  suffering 
of  injustice,  that  he  should  appeal  to  the  ruling 
powers,  to  whom  he  had  already  surrendered 
himself,  for  release  and  permission;  that  he 
should  as  it  were  ask  it  of  his  enemies  that  they 
should  tarry  a  while,  and  leave  his  hands  free 
for  the  performance  of  this  necessary  and  obli- 
gatory act  of  benevolence  If  Now  we  under- 
stand this  simple  suffer,  which  vibrates  between 
request  and  lofty  command,  and  to  which  he 
does  not  add — Me;  and  now  we  understand 
the  concealing  rovrov,  by  which  he  mean» 
this  work  of  miraculous  power,  this  healing  as 
indispensably  necessary  before  he  was  finally 
bound. 


PETER'S  SWORD. 


(Matt.  xxvi.  52-54;  John  xviii.  11.) 


They  did  give  him  sufTerance  so  long  as  to  do 
this.  Yea,  they  were  constrained  to  hold  back, 
as  soon  as  he  spoke  ;  his  word  was  enough, 
whether  or  not  they  understood  his  purpose. 
It  is  probable  that  the  hasty  touch  and  the 
healing  which  followed  had  not  been  remarked 
by  the  greater  part;  the  Lord  passes  it  over  as 
a  slight  thing,  a  circumstance  which  explained 
itself,  while  he  turns  now  uninterruptedly  to 
epeak  a  fitting  word  to  Peter.  As  long  as  he 
epeaks,  they  all  listen  and  do  nothing — this 
appears  throughout  the  entire  Passion.  The 
multitude  would  have  listened,  notwithstand- 
ing their  excited  wrath,  had  the  Lord  spoken 
belore  the  healing  to  Peter  ;  but  his  perception 
ol  most  exact  propriety  would  not  allow  him  to 


do  that.  The  word  against  Peter's  sword  is  an 
instruction  given  to  us  all,  on  an  occasion  most 
suitable    for  its    utterance  ;    it    begins   with 


*  For  this  sudili-n  api)eal  to  tlie  sword  would 
naturally,  as  K;  umniaclier  paints  the  scene  ii.tro- 
duce  mucli  wialhlul  confusion. 

f  Ranibacli  :  "  Hold  back  thus  long !  He  de- 
mands (commanding  wli.le  he  a.sk^)  that  thej 
would  leav!^  his  hands  free  until  he  had  healed 
the  ear."  Wesley  :  "  Suffer  me  at  least  to  have 
my  bands  at  liberty  thus  far,  while  I  do  one  more 
act  of  mercy."  Hess:  "Jesus,  whose  haiuls  they 
would  bind  bohiiid  his  back,  requires  of  them 
freedom  for  one  moment  while  he  heals  the  ser- 
vant's ear." 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  5^: 


em 


Peter's  unsheathed  weapon  and  ends  with  the 
thus  it  must  be  of  the  Scripture.  We  have,  first, 
the  universal  instruction  for  all  the  future.  The 
foundation  of  this  in  the  sublime  example  of  his 
voluntary  renunciation  of  all  violent  help,  even 
that  of  heaven — is  the  second  thing.  Thirdly, 
there  is  the  reason  of  his  own  conduct  in  the 
divine  counsel  and  will — this  is  the  necessary 
conclusion  and  final  appeal  against  all  seh- 
will. 

Verse  52.  This  self-will  is  first  addressed 
and  repelled  :  Put  up,  return  thy  sword  into  it^ 

i)lace !  The  dov,  probably  though  not  certain- 
y  spurious  in  John,  stands  in  Matt,  more  em- 
phatically first.  Thj  sword — 7}uist  alien  Jrom  imj 
cause,  as  Bengel  explains  it.  That  cannot  help, 
but  will  be  the  means  of  still  greater  hurt  and 
offence.*  These  words,  so  decisive  against 
Rome's  appeal  to  the  civil  sword,  have  been 
perverted  into  the  very  reverse,  into  a  witness 
lor  her  carnal  prerogatives.  Pope  Eugenius 
III.  urged  that  "  thy  sword "  assigned  the 
weapon  to  Peter,  though  he  was  checked  for 
using  it  just  then.  But  every  man  must  see 
the  folly  of  this;  for  "  thy  "  simply  rejects  the 
sword  of  Peter,  as  taken  or  unsheathed  at  an 
improper  time  and  in  self-willed  rashness  hy 
him.  There  remains  an  altogether  different 
question,  the  answer  to  which  has  nothing  to 
do  with  Peter's  particular  person,  or  with  Rome 
— whether  the  Lord  forbade,  or  could  forbid,  to 
his  disciples  the  use  of  the  sword  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. The  answer  is  plain  enough  else- 
where in  Scripture  ;  it  follows  from  the  rela- 
tions of  the  matter  itself;  and  is  intimated  here 
by  a  sure  though  subtile  expression.  John,  to 
wit,  records  it  as  if  the  Lord  had  said  merely — 
Into  its  sheath,  comp.  1  Chron.  xxii.  27;  Jer. 
xlvii.  6;  but  it  is  remarkable  that  Matthew 
gives  into  its  place  ;  and  we  think  that  this 
pregnant  expression  is,  as  the  more  exact,  not 
to  be  reduced  back  again  to  the  meaning  of  its 
sheath.  There  is  a  distinction  which  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of,  between  the  mention  of  the 
sheath  alone  as  such,  and  the  mention  of  it  as 
the  place  of  the  sword.  The  latter  admits  that 
there  is  even  for  the  sioord  an  apjjrojviate  place 
for  righteousness'  sake,  and  that  of  course  the 
sheath  ;  where  it  is  carried,  not  to  remain  there 
always,  but  to  be  drawn  from  it  on  proper  oc- 
casions. Salmeron  is  right  as  regards  this 
meaning,  though  with  an  application  very 
ditierent  from  that  of  Rome :  "  The  Lord  did 
not  say.  Throw  away  or  give  up  the  sword ; 
but  replace  it  in  its  sheath,  'n  i.j  own  time  you 
may  use  it."  This  is  very  true,  ii  that  wider 
interpretation  embraces  "  the  sword  "  generally, 
which  the  future  disciples  of  Christ  were  to  bear 

*  This  fippli-s,  itmny  be  observed,  to  the  sword 
of  the  tvord,  when  used  in  carnal  pricie  and  hate — 
"  not  with  wrath  and  bitterness,  i)ut  with  calm  de- 
monsi.'ation  and  sound  instruction.  The  truth  is 
justified  of  all  her  children ;  but  when  we  inter- 
pose) rashly,  she  turns  and  says,  with  divine  tran- 
quillity, Pu:  upj,!iy  sword  into  its  sheath  1  shall  I 
not  drink  the  cup  ! "  (^Von  Meyer). 


and  to  draw.  For  the  sheath  is  not  merely 
now  in  Peter's  case,  but  generally,  the  place  in 
which  the  sword  is  to  be  kept /or  use  ;  but  the 
particular  "  my  sword "  of  any  successor  of 
Peter  is  here  once  for  all  denounced.  Bengel 
acknowledges  this,  when  he  explains  ronov, 
"  The  sword  out  of  the  scabbard  is  not  in  its 
place,  unless  it  is  subserving  the  divine  wrath." 
Braune,  on  the  other  hand,  contradicts  both 
Evangelists,  and  imposes  his  own  meaning  in- 
stead of  expounding  theirs,  when  he  says, 
"  Jesus  commands  him  to  put  his  sword  intd 
its  place ;  not  merely  into  its  sheath,  but  to 
put  it  away  generally."  For  that  would  bi5  a 
strange  method  of  commanding  a  thing  to  be 
put  away  altogether — to  leave  it  in  its  place, 
and  even  directing  to  that  place. 

The  sword  is  there  and  is  to  remain.  That 
which  the  Lord  had  spoken,  according  to  Luke 
not  long  before,  he  has  not  forgotten,  while 
Peter  thus  unhappily  remembers  it.  But  there 
is  a  two-fold  use  which  is  forbidden,  and  in  re- 
gard to  which  it  must  have  its  place  in  the 
sheath;  as  there  is  a  two-fold  sense — whether 
as  commanded  or  simply  permitted — in  which, 
even  when  out  of  the  sheath  (which  preserves 
it  only  to  that  end)  it  is  in  its  place.  First,  in 
the  redeeming  work  of  Christ,  in  the  perfect 
drinking  of  that  cup  of  sorrow  once  for  all  by 
himself  alone,  it  had  nothing  to  do.  Secondly, 
it  must  generally  be  at  rest  in  the  matters  of 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus,  founded  upon  his  suffer- 
ings, and  spread  through  his  truth  ;  in  the  tes^ 
timony  of  which  the  sword  has  no  place,  as  we 
shall  hear  in  John  xviii.  36,  and  Zeeh.  iv.  6  in 
the  Old  Testament  had  long  before  announced'. 
But  the  sword  is  borne,  and  that  not  in  vain  ; 
it  is  used  in  the  service  of  the  divine  adminis- 
tration by  God's  rulers  ;*  and,  finally,  it  may 
in  a  certain  sense  be  taken  righteously  in  per- 
sonal defence,  when  tlie  case  does  not  directly 
involve  a  testimony  to  the  patience  of  Christ, 
and  is  not  bound  up  with  the  interests  of  his 
kingdom — whereof  we  have  spoken  on  Luk6 
xxii.  36.  Therefore  the  Lord  in  the  following 
clause  says  only  Aa/ioVr«?,  those  who  take, 
giving  prominence  to  this  distinction  ;  all  who 
in  carnal  self-will,  with  however  much  false 
show  of  spirituality,  themselves  unjustifiaUy  seize 
the  stcord — but  by  no  means  those  into  whose 
hands  God  puts  it.  The  fundamental  jvs  talio- 
nis  which  the  Lord  expresses  is  only  the  con- 
crete confirmation  for  the  present  case  of  th^ 
ancient  word  of  God,  Gen.  ix.  6  ;  and  as  to  the 
patience  of  the  saints  in  suffering  for  Christ's 
sake,  in  the  drinking  of  the  cup  appointed  also 
to  them,  the  Spirit  repeats  tliis  word  of  Christ 
in  Rev.  xiii.  10  ;  which  parallel  passage  proves, 
what  is  however  perfectly  plain  here — that  the 
punishment  is  threatened  against  the  wrong 
use  of  the  sword  in  the  manner  of  Petr.  There 
was  scarcely  need  lor  Oishausen's  earnest  pro- 
test against  the  old  opinion,  adopted  by  Gro- 


*  To  this  we  may  reter  the  duty  of  the  subject 
to  boar  arms ;  the  rulers  being  responsible  for  thri 
justice  of  the  war. 


PETER'S  SWORD. 


tius,  which  makes  our  Lord  saj'  that  retaliation 
would  j^oon  fall  upon  his  enemies.  Peter,  that 
is,  ihe  disciple  of  C'trist,  should  violently  defend 
neither  Clinst  nor  liimseif  m  his  office  of  disciple. 
But  if  the  I'ut.  shall  perish  hy  the  sword  is 
equivalent,  as  it  is,  to  an  imperative  of  the 
divine  ordinance,  then  in  the  second  clause  the 
use  of  the  sword  by  the  magistrate,  under 
G"od's  commission,  is  retained  and  established. 
Now  he  who  in  circumstances  of  private  peril, 
with  which  the  work  and  kingdom  of  Christ 
have  nothing  to  do,  without  personal  revenge 
and  sinlul  wrath,  in  the  name  of  God  (and  it 
may  be  with  zeal  of  God)  can  defend  himself 
against  the  murderer  who  would  kill  him,  and 
thus  in  God's  view  Aaa  killed  him  {takeni\\Q 
sword  to  that  end) — is  no  other  than  a  warrant- 
ed avenger  of  blood  for  himself  as  well  as  for 
his  neighbor  ;  heac^s  according  to  the  command 
of  God,  as  Christ  has  here  confirmed  it.  But 
that  Christians  have  ever  found  here  the  utmost 
difficulty  in  practice,  has,  alas!  its  good  reason 
in  this,  that  we,  where  our  own  life  is  concern- 
ed, know  not  how  to  act  with  pure  unselfish- 
ness, and  only  as  the  executors  of  the  divine 
judgment.  As  long  as  this  is  wanting,  and 
thejudgraentfl/'Gw^is  not  pure  and  unimpeach- 
able in  our  hands  (according  to  that  typical 
example  in  Judg.  iii.  20) — the  Spirit  ot  the 
Lord  cries  to  our  flesh — Put  up  thy  sword  into 
its  sheath  ;  this  is  now  its  place,  rather  than 
thy  hand  !  Had  they  slain  Peter,  who  would 
have  slain  another,  that  would  have  been  no 
martyr's  death,  but  his  just  award — the  Lord 
lets  him  hear  this  judgment  hovering  over  his 
head,  while  by  the  healing  he  averts  it  from 
bim.  This  remission  of  his  strict  sentence  was 
not  only  m  general  the  prerogative  of  grace ; 
but  there  was  an  apology  lor  Peter  in  the  com- 
plication of  the  case,  in  which  the  rulers  of 
Israel  joined  with  Gentile  powers  in  the  attack 
upon  Jesus,  as  also  in  his  remembrance  of  a 
word  of  Christ  himself  which  led  him  astray. 
In  similar  cases  the  Lord  ever  shows  the  same 
consideration  of  all  the  circumstances  ;  it  is 
better  to  act,  however,  so  that  no  such  healing 
be  made  necessary,  by  asking  and  waiting 
the  Lord's  answer  in  all  doubtful  cases.  He 
will  surely  teach  us  by  his  Spirit  when  the 
ftword  should  bo  in,  and  when  it  should  be 
out  of,  its  place.  Finally,  all  this  has  its  annli- 
oalion  to  every  injunoas  and  premature"  "de- 
lence  of  ourselves,  be  it  of  whatever  kind  it 
may,  which  may  be  brought  into  comparison 
with  the  use  of  the  sword. 

John  adds  that  the  Lord,  when  he  thus  re- 
pelled Peter's  sword,  said  further — The  cup 
wh.ch  my  Father  hath  given  me,  should  I  not 
itiiiik  it  .''  Tliis  coincides  with  Matt.  vers.  53, 
^)^ ,  but  it  must  have  some  preparatory  notice 
here.  And  we  observe,  first,  how  expressly 
the  Gethsemane-prayer  is  pre-8i/]t)wsed  in  it ;  a 
reader  of  Jolin  alone,  who  had  no  knowledge  of 
that  prayer,  would  almost  necessarily  conclude 
that  Jesus  had  said  something  before,  to  which 
he  now  referred,  concerning  a  cup  tc  oe  drunk. 
Certainly  we  might  understand  the  words  alone 


and  independently— but  why  should  we  male© 
needless  concessions  to  those  whose  business  ia 
to  rend  asunder  the  Gospels?  We  understand 
in  what  sense  the  cup  had  been  spoken  of,  and 
in  what  sense-  the  Lord  says  ti  Peter — Didsl 
thou  not  hear  and  dost  thou  not  yet  understand 
my  thrice-uttered  prayer,  and  hast  thou  so.^oor 
forgotten  it?  M^e  understand,  further,  how 
our  Lord  by  this  word  strengthens  and  con- 
firms his  soul  in  uplifting  his  eye  to  his  Father, 
before  whom  all  things  were  open,  who  had 
already  given,  the  cup,  which  he  had  already 
begun  to  drink.*  The  Sixtine  Vulg.  says  well 
— Non  vis  ut  bibam  ?  Is  it  thy  will  to  put 
from  my  hand  %nd  my  mouth,  by  thy  sword, 
the  cup  which  I  have  already  received?  Let 
us,  like  him,  on  all  occasions  of  the  attack  of 
injustice,  look  up  to  h  'aven,  and  place  our- 
selves v/ithin  the  defence  of  the  counsel  of  God 
for  us;  then  shall  we  do  right  more  certainly 
than  if  we  only  look  at  man,  or  retaliate  his 
assault. 

Verse  53.  The  Lord  now  points  his  ap- 
plication to  the  foolish  thought  of  Peter  onco 
more,  and  more  plainly  ;  entering  more  specifi- 
cally into  the  present  circumstance,  in  its  sole 
and  unparalleled  significance.  He  thought 
in  his  tolly  that  their  two  swords  miglit  and 
should  bring  them  help  on  this  occasion.  Then 
he  thought  that,  if  they  did  not  help,  the  Lord 
would  be  entirely  deprived  of  protection  and 
strength.  This,  theref^ore,  the  Lord  lays  barr--— 
Canst  thou  suppose  that,  in  this  my  suffering 
and  drinking  the  cup.f  I  can  suffer  otherwise 
than  with  a  voluntary  renunciation  of  all  that 
■power  of  God  which  otherwise  is  always  at  my 
command  ?  Great  and  sublime  word  of  perfect 
consciousness  icho  he  continues  to  be  even  in 
his  self-renouncing  sacrifice  !  Throughout  his 
Passion  there  is  no  proper  /  cannot,  which  re- 
spects 7W!i)tT3!mplv  in  itself;  his  not  Loing  ablo 
is  a  sacred  not  willing,  as  w'dh  the  Almighty 
Father  :  for  the  Father's  almightiness,  with  all 
its  hosts,  is  ever,  as  his  prayer  had  e:cpressed 
it,  at  the  service  of  the  Son. "  But  the  host  and 
army  of  divine  omnipotence  are  the  angels,  in 
their  personal  reality,  physically  acting,  and  so 
far  comparable  with  men,  as  is  once  more  here 
established.  The  Lord  speaks  of  legions,  be- 
cause the  Roman  soldiers  are  before  him,  v.'ilh 
whom  the  conflict  would  be;  he  ment'on8 
twelve!  such  legions  obviously,  as  the  universal 
supposilion  has  been,  with  reference  to  the 
twelve  weak  Apostles,  one  of  whom  is  even 
1  among  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.     But  as  this 

1 ■ 

1  *  It  is  significant  that  the  Lovrl  does  not  speak, 
like  Knimnncher,  of  a  cup  wliich  Satan  was  to 
present  to  him.  No,  this  is  altouetlier  unheconi- 
ina;,  for  as  a  ciip  the  aj)])ointment  of  the  obedience 
of  drinking  came  only  liom  tlie  Father. 

f  Tlie  word  in  .John  must  l)e  taken  with  tliis  of 
Matthew,  to  show  the  connection. 

^  Each  al)out  GOOO  men  among  tlie  Roman*. 
Augustin.  dc  Spir.  et  Lit.  cap.  1  and  35,  wiiere  l.o 
8|)e.Tks  oi  aliquid  fieri  posse  giiamvis,  desit  excmpium, 
reads  oven  duodecim  mUUa  ^egiont*. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  54. 


601 


rt-ckoning  of  the  traitor  has  ever  appeared  a 
dirticulty,  it  has  been  assumed  that  the  Lord 
regarded  the  complete  number  by  anticipation 
as  supplied  in  the  coming  future.  But  we  are 
more  disposed  to  accept  what  the  Btrlenb.  Bthel 
gays,  that  the  twelve  points  to  the  number  of 
eleven  disciples  and  Christ.  Such  a  colloca- 
tion of  his  own  person  with  the  persons  of  his 
disciples  is  not  only  an  expression  of  gracious 
humility,  while  bearing  testimony  to  his  power, 
but  it  is  also  warranted  by  the  fact  that  Peter's 
zeal  would  in  reality  defend  them  all  as  well  as 
their  Lord.  Consequently,  "  Do  ye  not  think 
that  one  legion  at  least  would  at  once  surround 
eacli  of  us  twelve  (as  Elisha  was  surrounded 
by  the  heavenly  guard)  if  I  only  willed  il?" 
The  Lord  further  shows  that  the  angels  are 
superabundantly  many  (Dan.  vii.  10;  Psa. 
Ixviii.  18  ;  Heb.  xii.  22),  when  he  says  nXf  iov, 
t]  dcoSsKa,  more  than  twelve  thousand,  for 
every  number  expressed  by  us  is  in  a  sense  too 
small  for  them  ;  but  he  also  intimates  by  the 
legions  that  they  are  marshalled  in  order,  and 
distributed  under  principalities  and  powers. 
"  One  angel  would  have  been  enough  to  defend 
Christ  against  all  the  world  " — preaches  Luther 
here ;  and  Wesley  goes  still  further,  "  The 
least  of  whom,  'tis  probable,  could  overturn 
the  earth  and  destroy  all  the  inhabitants  of  it." 
Others  refer  more  temperately  to  the  one  which 
destroyed  a  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand 
of  the  Assyrians,  and  the  other  which  destroyed 
the  collective  first-born  of  Egypt.  We  feel  the 
meaning:  All,  many  as  they  are,  indeed  much 
fnwethan  twelve  legions,  would  stand  ready  here 
for  my  assistance  and  at  my  command.  Yet 
he  behttingly  softens  the  otherwise  discordant 
thought  by  not  saying  that  he  could  at  once 
command  their  presence,  but  that  he  could  ask 
the  Father  who  would  place  them  at  his  dis- 
posal. Yea,  tJiis  was  not  only  befitting,  but 
strictly  in  harmony  with  his  humanity,  which 
has  its  claim  upon  the  Father's  omnipotence 
only  through  prayer.  UcxfjaHaXEdai  is  cer- 
tainly not  "call  to  help  me"  of  itself,  yet  it  is 
somewhat  stronger  than  asking  simply  ;  and 
the  ffapacJr^tJt'z,  following  the  request  at  once, 
strictly  corresponds  to  it.  Finally,  the  note 
which  belongs  to  the  /  cannot  must  be  under- 
stood as  either — FJcenyet,  alter  things  have  gone 
80  far,  if  I  should  resolve  not  to  drink  the  cup; 
or  probably  better — Now,  that  is,  at  once  upon 
the  spot.  There  is  little  difference  between  the 
two;  but  we  should  observe,  that  this  whole 
reference  to  the  angel-power,  described  in  such 
lofty  terms,  sprang  solely  out  of  the  contrast 


with  Peter's  sword,  as  a  humbling  condescen- 
sion to  his  thought  that  foreign  help  was 
needed.  For  the  Lord  might  have  said  yet, 
more  expressly — Hast  thou  not  seen  that  I 
need  only  spenk  to  and  look  at  my  enemies,  and 
they  fall  ?  Would  they  not  be  obliged  to  obey 
every  differ  which  my  lips  might  speak? 

Yes,  if  he  had  wiUed  otherwise,  as  he  might. 
Had  the  legions  come — let  that  with  its  conse- 
quences be  thought  of.  But — "  in  the  work  of 
redemption  patience  goes  before  almightines-=," 
as  an  old  hymn  beautifully  says;  similarly, 
love  goes  before  wrath.  "  Yea,  for  the  brinu- 
ing  forth  this  conflict  unto  victory,  the  pure 
angels  in  heaven  availed  him  nothing;*  not  to 
say  the  sinful  disciples — for  this  his  sacred  cross 
alcne  was  sufficient"  (Lange).  The  word  of 
the  Lord  of  hods  to  Zerubbabel  holds  good,  as 
well  for  the  foundation  as  for  the  building  of 
the  true  temple  of  God — This  is  not  by  hosts 
or  by  power,  even  that  of  the  angels,  but  by 
my  Spirit,  my  Spirit  willing  for  the  suffering 
victory  over  the  flesh.  The  angels  must  look 
on  in  adoring  reverence,  instead  of  drawing 
their  flaming  swords;  the  patience  of  Christ 
was  to  be  to  them,  otherwise  than  to  men,  a 
spectacle  (1  Cor.  iv.  9).  Christ  is  now  con- 
scious of  their  nearness,  for  one  had  already 
come  to  his  help  in  the  way. 

Verse  54.  Ovv  is  not  here  lut ;  for  no  an- 
tithesis was  necessary,  the  decision  was  firm 
from  the  beginning.  Thus,  How  then  would 
the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  if  I  should  7iow  do 
so  ?  Of  an  abstract  possibility  of  these  not 
being  fulfilled  he  had  spoken  again  in  the  pre- 
vious verse ;  but  as  in  the  soul-conflict  he  had 
declined  the  absolute  abstract  poirer  of  God,, 
so  here  his  own.  He  rests  in  the  ^si,  "  must," 
of  his  holy  willing,  without  constraint,  with 
the  assent  of  his  full  will.  The  note  of  inter- 
rogation might  indeed  be  put  before  the  on, 
so  that  the  tnmt  be  would  constitute  a  new 
declaration  of  Christ's  submission ;  but,  after 
all,  the  submission  is  more  perfect  when  we  read 
the  whole  together,  as  is  more  natural — The 
Sa'iptitres  in  which  it  is  tcritten  that  thus  it  must 
be.  Where,  however,  these  Scriptures  express 
no  specific  will  of  God  that  we  should  suffer,  we 
may  look  for  defence,  and  it  is  permitted  to  us 
in  our  degree  to  pray  for  the  protection  of 
angels. 


*  Their  prerogative  it  will  be  to  bear  the  sword 
of  God's  pure  wrath  and  judgment,  to  cast  the 
unprofitable  into  ihe  fire. 


SECOND  WORD  TO  THE  MULTITUDE. 


CMatt.  XXVI.  55,  56;  Mark  xiv.  48,  49;  Luke  xxn.  52,  53.) 


He  does  not  even  yet  keep  entire  silence — 
wliicli  is  the  easier  part  in  human  patience. 
As  his  hand  had  done  good  to  the  last,  so  he 
shuts  not  yet  his  mouth,  even  after  his  hands 
were  bound.  He  stands  in  his  majesty,  retains 
his  power,  tranquillity,  and  love,  to  speak  yet 
one  word  more.  They  listened  in  involuntary 
amazement  to  his  words  concerning  the  sword 
upon  earth,  and  the  angels  in  heaven,  concern- 
ing the  Father  and  the  Scriptures.  But,  since 
he  had  again  renounced  all  defence,  and  sub- 
mitted with  It  must  he  to  what  had  come  upon 
him,  they  finally  proceed  to  bind  and  take 
him  away.  It  might  have  been  while  this  was 
commencing,  more  but  piobably  as  already 
bound  and  led  away,  that  he  speaks  the  last 
words  on  this  occasion  ;  thus  breaking  the  si- 
lence, and  lightening,  more  than  torches  and 
lanterns  can  do,  the  darkness  through  which 
he  goes.  The  "  answered "  of  Mark,  ver.  48 
(which  certainly  has  nothing  to  do  with  ait  off 
his  ear,  ver.  47,  but  simply  notes  a  commence- 
ment, Heb.  ]yv\),  and  the  Jesus  said  of  Luke, 

ver.  52,  leave  the  time  undetermined ;  but 
Matthew  seems  to  intimate  that  a  little  after- 
wards, but  still  in  this  hour  of  his  seizure,  our 
Lord  said  these  words.  What  he  in  them  says 
to  the  multitudes,  he  is  constrained  to  say — for 
the  Father's  honor,  that  he  may  be  honored  in 
the  Son  even  when  men  are  pouring  contempt 
upon  the  Son;  as  a  te.«timony  to  the  truth, 
that  they  might  not  think  that  they  took  him 
with  their  swords,  any  more  than  Peter  should 
have  supposed  that  with  his  sword  he  could 
have  defended  him  ;  finally,  in  the  love  with 
which  he,  perseveringly  teaching  them,  shows 
them  their  sin,  and  lays  bare  its  self-contradic- 
tion and  dark  principle. 

Verse  55.  The  protest  against  Peter's  sword 
still  echoes — There  needs  no  sword  either /(>7" 
me  or  against  me.  He  feels  in  his  perfect  hu- 
manity the  indignity  which  is  inflicted  upon 
him  ;  but  turns  that  at  once  into  a  lamentation 
and  complaint  over  their  sin,  which  in  that 
indignity  he  deeply  feels  and  resents.  As 
against  a  thief  or  a  murderer,  with  whom  my 
whole  life  tells  you  I  have  nothing  in  common 
— by  this  protest  he  removes  the  semblance  o! 
evil  which  Peter  had  cast  upon  him.  The  st((ces 
he  does  not  disdain  to  mention,  because  they 
most  strikingly  characterize  the  whole.  We 
doubt  whether  the  Z|?/AOf  rf  (Luke  I^bXtjXv- 
OazE  var.  l^rjXOarf)  should  be  made  a  ques- 
tion ;  since  the  exhibition  of  their  sin  has  the 
emphasi.«,  and  a  whereftrre  would  seem  wanting, 
if  it  had  been  a  question.  The  two  indicative 
clauses  show  expre.«sly  the  contrast  and  contra- 
diction of  their  conduct — Ye  come  thus  now, 
but  aforetime  yo  let  me  aloue  peacefully  teach- 


ing  (which  connection  Luke  gives  in  the  ovroi 
ftov,  whiU  I  was).  2vXAafJsly,  comp,  (5vX- 
Xafjovrai,  Luke  ver.  54,  6vveXcxfiov,  John 
ver.  12,  is  the  full  accomplishment  of  the  com- 
mencing x/jareiv,  the  taking  entirely  into 
their  power  ;  and  this  expression  says — As  if 
ye  could  not  take  me  into  your  power  other- 
wise than  by  swords  and  staves  !  Thus  is  Christ, 
the  Holy  One  before  God,  in  man's  stead,  and 
therefore  according  to  and  belbre  God's  coun- 
sel, reckoned  among  the  transgressors,  and 
treated  here  at  the  commencement  of  his  suf- 
ferings like  rebels  against  the  law — and  this 
must  obviously  befall  him  before  men  also,  and  as 
his  own  personal  reproach.  He  takes  this  pa- 
tiently; to  the  condemnation  of  many,  who, 
being  actually  evil-doers  before  God,  so  that 
their  misdeed  is  laid  open,  will  not  even  confess 
this  before  men.  Christ  endureth  the  shame, 
while  he  calmly  speaks  of  it  as  an  actual  fact. 
But  he  also  at  the  same  time  protests  against 
it ;  as  every  guiltless  person  may  do,  in  his  re- 
lative innocence  and  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, taking  care,  however,  that  it  be  not, 
as  with  Joseph's  brethren,  a  punishment  of 
their  greater  iniquity,  notwithstanding  their  in- 
nocence touching  the  cup — for  in  such  cases 
the  humble  confession  should  be  made,  "  We 
are  not  spies,  but  nevertheless  murderers  of 
our  brother."  Because  we  are  all  concerned  in 
having  thrown  into  the  pit  and  put  to  death 
one  who  is  greater  than  either  Joseph  or  Abel, 
we  poor  sinners  should  never,  in  the  vindication 
of  our  innocence  and  honor,  in  our  protests 
against  indignity  and  unrighteousness,  adopt 
that  strong  and  absolute  tone  which  becomes 
none  but  the  Holy  One  of  God. 

His  present  word  is  a  pendant  to  John  viii 
49.  He  speaks  in  majestic  submission — "  I  an 
no  evil-doer,  but  I  suffer  myself  to  be  dealt 
with  as  an  evil-doer."  We  cannot  suppose  the 
Roman  soldiers  to  have  any  knowledge  of 
what  he,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  is  or  is  not ;  it  is 
therefore  obvious  that  this  second  saying  is 
specifically  addressed  to  the  Jewish  part  of  the 
multitude,  to  the  leaders  and  authors  of  this 
aggression  of  (he  power.* — and  the  following 
appeal,  /  sat  with  you  daily,  proves  this.  Still 
more,  Luke  teaches  us  that  high  priests  and 
elders  were  there  in  person,  as  also  captains  of 
the  temple.  Schleiermacher,  indeed,  permits 
himself  such  a  criticism  as  this:  "Probably 
there  were  no  high  priests  and  elders,  certainly 
no   chief  captain  of  the   temple,*   present   in 


*  Wlio,  accordinc  to  Josephus,  Ant.  viii.  5,  held 
high  rank,  immedialely  alter  the  Irch  priest, 
Acts  V.  24.     But  Luke  does  not  speak  of  him  la 

tlie  siii2u:ar. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  56. 


person — but  this  was  the  conclusion  drawn 
I'rom  the  words  of  Christ,  by  some  reporter  not 
well  acquainted  with  the  relations  of  things." 
But  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  presence  of 
these  high  personages,  when  we  remember  the 
importance  of  the  matter,  and  their  own  deeply- 
excited  interest.  Unnece.ssary  at  least,  though 
not  entirely  to  be  rejected,  is  the  explanation 
of  Ebrard,  that  "come  tqwii  him,"  is  to  be  un- 
derstood of  the  first  appearance  now  of  those 
who  had  come  in  stealtliily  afterwards.  This, 
however,  seems  to  be  at  variance  with  the 
simple  account  of  the  first  two  Evangelists,  as 
also  with  the  manner  in  which  our  Lord  speaks 
of  the  (first)  coming  with  swords  and  staves. 
This  "  which  were  come  to  him"  is  not  super- 
fiuous,  even  without  the  assumption  of  their 
later  coming  ;  it  simply  serves  to  make  more 
prominent  the  presnce  of  even  these  great  per- 
sonages. Bengel  makes  another  remark  upon 
it :  "  The  officers  were  sent,  the  priests  had  come 
voluntarily."  They  might  very  well  have  thought 
their  presence  necessary  to  keep  the  peace  and 
inspire  the  courage  of  the  rest,  to  direct  the 
miscellaneous  multitude  to  the  execution  of 
their  own  purpose  ;  besides  which,  it  would  be 
a  gratification  to  their  hate  and  their  curiosity, 
to  be  there  when  Jesus  was  finally  taken.  But 
Luke  gives  the  fact  prominence,  in  order  to  ex- 
plain the  circumstance  that  the  Lord's  words 
were  not  directed  to  the  Romans.  They  were 
not,  indeed,  addressed  to  the  Jewish  officers  as 
such  ;  for,  "  he  knew  well  that  the  mob  of  the 
captors  were  only  the  instrument  of  the  oth- 
ers "  (Pfenninger).  Braune  ;  "  Jesus  knows 
well  that,  besides  the  Roman  authorities  of  the 
temple  watch,  there  were  priests  also  who  had 
stealthily  crept  in  among  the  multitude:  he 
therefore  brings  to  light  tlie  cowardice  and  the 
malice  of  the  riders;  for  his  word  refers  to 
them  particularly,  when  he  says — "This  is 
your  hour,"  etc. 

Daily :  This  is  a  vivid  and  general  reference 
to  his  frequent  presence  on  all  occasions  at  the 
feasts,  since  his  first  coming  to  the  temple ;  but 
especially  during  the  last  time,  Luke  xix.  47. 
In  the  temple,  in  the  most  public  of  all  places, 
where  the  temple  watch  might  time  at  any 
have  done  their  duty,  if  there  had  been  any 
thing  dangerous  in  him.  I  was  (or  sat  unin- 
terruptedly, as  Matt,  gives  it  in  full)  teaching. 
He  says  nothing  more,  and  this  may  itself 
stand  against  their  coming  as  against  a  thief;* 
about  his  miracles,  the  series  of  which  had 
just  been  marvellously  closed  before  their  eyes, 
he  says  nothing.  And  ye  took  me  not — Luke, 
And  ye  stretched  forth  no  hand  against  me 
(with  violence).  He  thereby  reminds  them 
of  such  occurrences  and  expressions  of  feelings 
as  John  vii.  30,  44,  viii.  20;  but  he  still  con- 
tinues unrebuked  to  teach,  after  they  had  taken 
him,  and  shows  them  the  internal  contradic- 
tion of  their  cowardly  dealing,  which  the 
swords  and  the  staves  rather  reveal  than  con- 


*  Alford  calls- it 
trast," 


the  greatest  possible   con- 


ceal. For,  as  Lampe  says,  "what  fearfulness 
this,  for  so  many  armed  men  to  come  out 
against  one  unarmed  !" 

Verse  56.     The  fourth  time  in  this  chapter 
of   Matt.  (vers.  24,  31,  54),  such  reference  to 
the  Scripture!     Again  and  again  he  declares 
this  one  thing  which,  nevertheless,  Christian 
theology  perpetually  refuses  to  learn  from  the 
supreme  Teacher  and  Doctor.     He  holds  firmly 
to  the  Scripture,  whether  speaking  to  the  ex- 
asperated Jews,  or  the  docile  disciples  ;  he  puts 
those  to  shame  in  their  lolly  by  proofs  from 
Scripture,  and  strengthens  these  in  their  des- 
pondency  by  its  consolatory   promises.      He 
appeals  to  Scripture  in  his  vehement  disputa- 
tion with  men,  as  he  does  in  his  solemn  way  of 
suffering  to  die  for  them  ;  he  confronts  Satan 
with — h  is  icritten!  and  prays  to  the  Father — 
that  the  Scripture  may  be  fulfilled.     The  short- 
ened clause  in  Mark*  makes  it  plain  that  this 
appeal  was  not  a  supplement  of  the  Evangelist 
(•vhich  Bengel  assented  to,  on  account  of  the 
complete  form  all  this  was  done),  but  the  Lord's 
own   words  continued.     By  the  yeyoyev  he 
brings  into  prominence  the  fact  of  the  present 
beginning  of  the  yEvidOai  of  ver  54  ;  but  in 
adcling  all  he  includes  all  that  was  yet  to  be  ; 
for  the  lunir  of  which  he  speaks  already  in- 
cludes the  whole  Passion.     If  it  were  not  for 
this  restricting  reference,  we  might  assume  a 
comprehensive  glance  backward  to  all  the  op- 
position and  unbelief  which  had  prepared  the 
way  for  his  being  seized  unto  death — All  this 
must  have  so  come  to  pass.     That,  however,  is 
rather  in  the  was  done  than  in  all  this.     Let 
the  plural  the  Scriptures  be  carefully  noted  (in 
Mark  yet  more  emphatic,  as  without  tlie  pro- 
pheis),  the  force  of   which,  as  confirming  and 
establishing  every  part  of  the  canon,  we  have 
already  pointed  out,  in  John  v.  39.     Here  they 
are  especially  the  cpoovai  rwv  7cpo(p7/roov,  the 
voic&iof  the  prophets,  which  the  rulers  knew  not^ 
which  predict  in  manifold  unison  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Messiah,  Acts  xiii.  27.      Bengel 
well    says — Passio,    conflncns    coniplemeniorurri, 
(The  Passion,  the  confluence  of  fulfillments). 
This  word,  spoken  in  the  face  of  his  enemies, 
and  which  by  its  yeyovEv  embraces  and  ac- 
cepts all  that  was  written  concerning  him,  is  the 
strongest  expression  of  his  resolution,  not  with- 
out a  glance  beyond  the  whole  into  the  It  is 
finitfhed  of  his  victory.     For  in  this  factum  est 
he  utters  his  fixit  to  all  that  the  hands  of  sin- 
ners shall   do  unto  him — according   to   their 
thought,  whatsoever  they  listed  (Matt.  xvii.  12) ; 
yet  only  that  the  Scriptures  miglit  be  fulfilled. 
This  glance  into  the  Scriptures  had  been  ob- 
scured to  him  before. 

Luke,  ver.  53,  instead  of  this  reference  to  the 
Scripture,  adds  another  word  of  the  same  mean- 
ing. His  own  hour  thus  come — and  his  Fa- 
ther's— he  calls  now  in  another  aspect  their 
hour.  The  divine  permission  and  appointment 
lies  already  in  the /w«;'of  itself  (Erasmus:  Hora 
ilia  vestra)  ;  but  in  the  your  which  precedes  it 


*  Ellipsis,  as  John  xv.  25. 


60i 


FIRSr  EXAMINATION  BEFORE  ANNAS. 


is  given  to  them  as  the  hour  which  was  so  wel- 
come to  tlieir  wicked  minds,  so  long  wished  for 
on  their  part.  The  double  7)  will  not  allow  us 
to  combine  the  two  clauses,  "  this  of  yonrs  is 
the  hour  and  power  of  darkness ;  "  still  less 
can  we  take  the  nai  epexegetically,  and  reduce 
the  darkness  to  the  black  sin  of  these  men — 
"the  hour  of  nic:ht  in  which  your  sins  have 
their  power."*  But  the  Lord  plainly  distin- 
guishes the  Satanic  from  the  human,  while  he 
ucscribes  both  as  united  against  him.  Now 
comes  upon  him  the  power  of  darkness  from 
without,  as  before  from  within.  This  phrase 
(to  which  even  Matt.  xxii.  13  points,  comp.  2 
Peter  ii.  17,  and  Jude  13)  was  derived  from 
the  ancient  prophets,  and  is  firmly  fixed  in  the 
New  Testament,  see  John  iii.  19;  Acts  xxvi. 
18;  2  Cor.  vi.  U  ;  Eph.  vi.  12  ;  Col.  i.  13  (in 
this  last  passage  also  with  ti.ov6ia).  Ihepower 
Las  as  it  were  an  ironical  connnection  with  the 
your — Ye  have  power  over  me,  so  far  as  and 
because  Satan  has  power  over  you  ;  and  he  has 
power  over  me  only  through  yon.  Thus  these 
men  are  the  instruments  of  the  devil  ;  the  devil 
is  an  instrument  of  the  divine  purpose  in  order 
to  this  great,  long-predicted  liour  of  redeeming 
eufiennir  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.     But, 


as  these  men  gave  themselves  up  by  their  own 
will,  according  to  their  own  wisli,  to  the  ser- 
vice  of  the  devil,  there  can  be  no  excuse  for 
them  here  as  "  blinded,"  least  of  all  for  the 
leaders,  to  whom  therefore  Luke  has  specially 
referred  this  your*  Finally,  darkness  here  has 
some  allusion  to  the  external  night  in  which 
they  had  come  (as  in  John  iii.  20,  21,  see  our 
exposition)  :  I  have  sat  with  you  daily,  ye 
came  upon  me  as  cowards  in  the  nighl — for  a 
witness  that  the  power  and  courage  which  ye 
have  come  only  from  him  who  has  and  exercises 
his  power  pre-eminently  in  the  darkness,  both 
external  and  internal.  li.  is  quite  scriptural  that 
the  devil  possesses  especial  power  by  night; 
for  in  the  creation  at  the  beginning  and  in  its 
present  ruined  state  there  is  a  profound  con- 
nection established  between  the  material  and 
the  spiritual.  At  dawn  of  day  Christ  rose  ;  at 
mid-day  he  ascended  to  heaven  ;  in  the  even- 
ing he  died;  at  midnight  he  was  fallen  upon  by 
the  power  of  Satan,  and  taken.  But  the  light 
of  his  word  shines  brightly  into  this  darkness, 
and  then  he  lollows  tne  multitudes,  given  up 
to  the  hands  of  sinners.  What  these  did  to 
him  soon  follows. 


PRELIMINARY  EXAMINATION  BEFORE  ANNAS. 


(John  xviii.  20,  21,  23.) 


In  assuming  that  the  "high  priest"  with 
■whom  the  Lord  Jesus  here  speaks  was  Annas, 
we  have  many  very  important  authorities 
against  us;t  but  we  have  on  our  side  many 
others,  among  whom  we  may  mention  Chrysos- 
tom,  Augustine,  Euthymius,  among  the  an- 
cients; Olshausen,  B.-Crusius,  Ebrani,  Wieseler, 
Hase,  Neander,  Lange,  Hess,  Von  ileyer.  Von 
Gerlach,  Luthardt,  among  the  moderns.  There 
is  too  difficulty  in  the  circumstance  that  Annas 
(in  Josephus,  Ananus)  is  also  called  high  2>riest, 
lor  it  is  well  known  that  several  high  priests 
occur  in  the  New  Testament — As  many  as 
were  of  the  kindred  of  the  high  priest,  Acts  iv. 
6.  Annas  had  been  high  priest,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  vlri  pontijicii  retained  that  title. 
Still  more,  the  displaced  Ananus  must  have 
been  a  man  of  special  consideration  and  great 
influence,  since  his  son  and  now  his  son-ia-laio 
held  the  office  after  him. J  There  was,  indeed, 
a  specific  relation  between  them,  according  to 


♦  Jacobi :  "  When  ye,  under  the  inotection  of 
the  dark  iii^jht.  atcomplJbh  the  wicked  purpot.es  of 
your  darkened  hearts." 

\  Luthpr,  Grotius,  Bensel,  Limpe,  Tholuck, 
LUi^^ke,  De  Weilo,  and  Klin2,  Amonir  prr.ctical 
expositors  stand  on  this  side,  e.  g.  Plennincer, 
Rieger,  and  othi-is,  from  the  Jin-knb.  Ihlel  down 
to  Braune.     So  albo  Sepp  and  Friediieb. 

■j  Later  even  the  remaining  loi^r  of  his  five  sons 


which  in  Luke  iii.  2  he  is  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  Caiaphas;  but  nothin<r  certain  can  be 
said  concerning  that  relation.  Whether  he  was, 
according  to  Lightfoot,  the  representative,  |JD, 

or,  according  to  Selden,and  Wieseler,  the  pres- 
ident of  the  Sanhedrim,  N'p'J  (which  was  not, 

however,  essentially  connected  with  the  high- 
priesthood) ;  or  whether,  according  to  Hug,  he 
vearly  alternated  with  Caiaphas  in  the  ofiice, 
from  Passover  to  Passover — which  Friediieb 
would  make  probable  from  the  circumstance 
that  immediately  after  the  Passover,  Acts  iv. 
6,  Annas  is  mentioned  again  as  high  priest  le- 
/o?-e  Caiaphas  :  suffice  it  that  he  was  in  somo 
way  an  important  person  among  the  high 
priests,  in  a  wider  sense,  who  were  then  exist- 
ing. The  relation  whicli  Lange  suggests,  that 
the  Jews,  tliat  is,  those  who  now  led  Jesus, 
"  regarded  Annas  as  their  proper  high  priest, 
while  Caiaphas  was  necessarily  accepted  as  the 
high  priest  of  the  year,"  might  be  received  as 
very    plausible,   since   Annas,  as    Sepp    says 


together ;  lience  he  was  esteemed  liishlv  for.u- 
na.e,  to  have  liad  such  aa  unpar.iilelcd  honor. 

"  Acts  iii.  17  does  not  contradict  this,  for  the 
(Jdne,j  Mai  helonas  only  to  ilie  irrpd^Lxre,  not 
to  the  Hard  ayvoiav.  The  others  did  iijuorant- 
ly  what  tlieir  rulers  did  knowingly,  le.-d.iijj  them 
uu,     fcJee  my  Reden  dcr  Aposttl,  i,  84,  85. 


JOHN  XV ill.  20,  21,  23. 


605- 


(though  he  regards  ihe  examination  to  have 
been  before  Caiaphas),  was  the  mainspring  of 
the  proceedings  of  this  night,  still  holding  the 
rule  {de  fire  or  de  facto),  and  "  since  the  troubles 
of  the  time  had  removed  him  from  the  chief 
seat,  he  had  only  placed  his  son-in-law  in  the 
foreground,  that  he  might  guide  all  things 
through  him."  But,  it  may  be  said  on  the 
other  side,  if  John  here,  vers.  13,  15,  16,  ex- 
pressly terms  Caiaphas  the  high  priest,  vers.  19 
and  22  must  in  this  connection  have  the  same 
meaning.  This  argument  does  not  appear  to 
us  insuperable  ;  for,  by  the  "high  priest  of  that 
year,"*  Caiaphas  is  really  dlstlnguiahcd  from  the 
other  high  priests,  and  not  designated  the  high 
priest  as  such.  Therefore  the  expression  "  the 
high  priest"  in  ver.  19,  as  referring  to  Annas, 
is  not  inexplicable;  nor  is  it  so  even  in  the 
mouth  of  the  officer,  ver.  22,  for  this  title  was 
used  in  common. 

But,  Tholuck  says,  the  mention  of  that  cir- 
cumstance in  ver.  14  would  have  significance 
only  on  the  assumption  that  it  was  Caiaphas 
who  appointed  the  examination — as  being  an 
intimation  of  the  Evangelist  of  the  kind  of 
hands  in  which  the  tord's  judgment  was 
placed.  But  we  think,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  examination,  with  regard  to  which 
John  points  to  tho  prejudiced  determination, 
cannot  on  that  very  account  be  this  one,  which 
follows  with  a  rather  unofficial  i;poorri6e.  (So 
De  Wette's  editor  Bruckner  finds  in  the  aslcing 
concerning  not  so  much  a  judicial  examination 
as  a  general  questioning.)  The  decisive  exam- 
ination bfe.'"ore  Caiaphas  is  introduced  in  ver. 
24,  that  is,  as  pre-supposed  according  to  the 
synoptical  tradition  ;  to  this  ver.  34  inay  refer, 
and  at  the  same  time  introduce  the  parenthesis 
of  vers.  19-23  by  intimating  that  Annas  would 
pave  the  way  for  his  son-in-law  by  these  in- 
sidious questions.  Is  not  this  a  connection 
equally  probable  ? 

The  great  difficulty  which  a  compari^'on  of 
the  Synoptics  introduces  as  to  the  locality  of 
the  denial,  becomes  very  slight,  when,  impelled 
by  otlier  considerations,  we  refer  vers.  19-23  to 
Annas,  and  complete  the  whole  accordingly. 
The  dwelling  of  Annas  did  not  lie  merely  in 
the  way  to  Caiaphas  (as  Augustine  supposed), 
but  it  was  the  same  great  building,  a  common 
high-priestly  palace,  occupied  by  the  father-in- 
law  and  son-in-law  together.  So  it  was  un- 
deistood  by  Euthymius ;  and  Lange  (consist- 
ently with  the  view  we  have  quoted.)  says, 
"  They  had  probably  so  arranged  their  relations 
in  the  dwelling  that  this  double-dealing  of  the 
Jews  as  respects  their  high  priests  fell  as 
little  as  possible  under  observation."  We 
agree  with  Von  Gerlach,  that  "  John  manifest- 
ly pre-supposes  this  relation  of  one  to  the 
other  in  the  same  house,  as  well  known."  Al- 
ford  agrees  that  all  arguments  to  the  contrary 


*  This  is  meant  as  in  chap.  xi.  49,  with  iron- 
ical allusion  to  t  le  frequent  chance  at  that  tinip, 
.15  also  w,th  reference  to  the  decisive  year  of  the 
Passion. 


admit  of  a  good  answer.  Luthardt  terms  our 
view  "  too  problematical ;"  but  certainly  it  is 
not,  as  Briicknpr  says,  "  without  any  ground 
whatever."  We  protest  altogether  against 
Liicke's  peremptory  sentence,  "  John  gives  it 
to  be  understood,  iri  ver.  24,  that  the  two  high 
priests  dwelt  in  different  parts  of  the  town  I  " 
How  is  this  to  be  deduced  from  sent  him? 
Rather,  when  we  read  this  supplementary 
Gospel  in  the  light  of  all  that  it  pre-supposes, 
John  gives  us  to  understand,  by  the  accompa- 
nying account  of  Peter's  denial  in  the  same 
place  which  the  Synoptics  describe  as  the  pal- 
ace of  Caiaphas,  that  ver.  24  does  not  refer  to 
any  sending  to  another  part  of  the  city,  or 
even  to  another  palace.  Nor  must  it  be  for- 
gotten, in  considering  this  question,  how  im- 
proper and  therefore  how  improbable  is  any 
nol-absolutely-necessary  leading  of  our  Lord 
through  the  open  city — now,  when  for  a  while 
the  utmost  secrecy  was  desired. 

We  assert  positively,  with  Olshausen,  that 
apart  from  the  Synoptics  no  man  could  read 
John's  account  without  assuming  that  Annas 
is  meant  in  ver.  19.  Why  was  the  isolated 
notice  given  in  ver.  13  that  he  v/as  led  first  to 
Annas,  if  nothing  more  is  to  be  said  about  it  ? 
Is  it  not  plain  that  ver.  19  by  the  therefore  at- 
taches itself  to  ver.  13,  and  means  a  higli  priest 
to  tcJiom  Christ,  as  had  been  said  was  sent,  but  cer- 
tainly not  Caiaphas  to  whom  Christ  comes  first 
in  ver.  24  (with  a  second  therefore).  This  ver.  24 
chses  the  scene,  and  tells  us  what  the  apxispevi 
Annas  did  after  this  his  own  examination  or 
questioning.  If  we  read  the  whole  simply, 
without  reference  to  harmonies,  how  strange 
must  John's  narrative  appear,  on  tho  supposi- 
tion that  heomits  at  vers.  13,  14  the  sending  on 
to  Caiaphas,'"'  then  immediately  puts  in  what 
passed  with  Caiaphas,  and  not  till  then  brings 
in  what  had  been  omitted  before — that  Christ 
had  been  sent  forward  to  Caiaphas.f  Finally, 
what  is  the  meaning  of  ver.  24  in  its  place,  if 
it  is  not  the  continuation  of  the  account  of  the 
result  of  the  conversation  just  held?  That 
dntdreiXEv,"  s,eni,"  should  be  taken  in  the 
pluperfect  sense  (as  Matt.  xiv.  3,  tdt/dsv,  and 
often  in  the  N.  T.  as  in  classic  writers)  is  not 
open  to  any  grammatical  objection,  and  is  neces- 
sary of  course,  if  Caiaphas  had  been  the  previous 


*  For  Cengel  says  without  reason  :  "  John  had 
indicated  in  ver.  15  by  the  verb  6vvEi6r'>X0F., 
and  by  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  name  hi(/h 
priest,  that  Jesus  had  been  led  from  Annas  to 
Caiaphas." 

I  That  tlipn  ver.  24  would  alto:;ether  belong  to 
vers.  13,  14,  was  felt  by  Cyiil,  who  therefoio 
interposed  at  that  point  somethinj  of  tho  kind, 
although  he  was  obligetl  to  leave  ver,  21  as  a  repe- 
tition. Whether  he  .so  read  it.  is  a  question  :  tlie 
single  Codex  22-5  and  the  Philox.  margin  signify 
but,  little.  But  all  tliese  forced  contrivances  and 
variations  (though  Luther,  Erasmus,  Bezi  ac- 
cepted them)  are  themselves  j-trong  ev.deiice  of 

I  the  meaning  of  ver.  24  in  the  place  which  t.  surely 

I  holds. 


606 


FIRST  EXAMINATION  BEFORE  ANNAS. 


questioner  ;*  but  in  this  cmnection  it  is  one  of 

the  greatest  dJIliculties  of  tlie  opinion  which  we 
contend  agiinst.  Setting  out  with  such  an  as- 
sumption, a  ds  or  xai  or  tf  has  been  added: 
but  the  simple  reading  ovv  rests  on  good 
grounds;  an.l  this,  especially  in  comparison 
with  vers.  12,  16,  17,  19,  decides  most  uncon- 
ditionally for  the  historical  continuation  of  the 
word  6ent.  The  pluperfect  sense  in  this  place 
has  been  further  rendered  palatable  by  laying 
the  emphasis  upon  the  boJind  and  not  upon  the 
sent;  "John  would  leave  it  to  his  readers  to 
draw  the  conclusion  as  to  why  the  treatment 
of  the  servant  was  so  bold — He  struck  Jesus 
hound."  But  this  will  not  suit,  for  it  intro- 
duces the  notion  that  John,  or  at  least  the  ser- 
vant, had  thought  of  some  possible  defence  of 
iuniself  on  the  part  of  Jesus — "  because  Jesus 
could  not  put  forth  the  slightest  protection  for 
his  own  person."  Grotius,  laying'the  emphasis 
also  upon  the  hound,  is  still  more  forced  : 
"  John  being  about  to  relate  the  second  fall 
of  Peter,  gives  beforehand  the  reason,  because 
Peter  now  saw  Jesus  remaining  bound."  The 
only  unforced  solution  of  the  whole  is  to  read 
in  ver.  13  that  Jesus  was  led  before  Annas, 
the  father-in-law  of  the  high  priest  of  r/i^  year 
(and  known  by  the  name  of  high  priest  him- 
self)— then  in  ver.  19  to  hear  what  passed  be- 
fore this  "  high  priest,"  Annas — then  to  regard 
ver.  24  as  the  conclusion  :  And  thereupon  An- 
nas sent  him  bound  again — with  which  it 
ended  As  Lange  says,  "  His  sending  him 
forward  bound  as  he  had  received  him  was  to 
Caiaphas  a  plain  sign,  that  the  concerted  doom 
was  to  continue  unchanged."  The  exami- 
nation before  Caiaphas  is  taken  for  granted  as 
known,  and  passed  over ;  for  John  relates 
throu:zhout  chap,  xviii.  only  supplementary 
matter,  almost  entirely  difl'erent  from  what 
had  been  recorded  before.  New  reason  tiiis 
for  our  view  I  1/  John  designed  to  record  the 
examination  before  Caiaphas  and  the  Sanhe- 
drim, he  could  not,  we  think,  have  broken  off 
with  this  alter-thought  of  an  introduction  to  it, 
and  passed  over  the  solemn  and  momentous 
critical  confession,  lam  the  Son  of  God!  John 
least  of  all.  But  we  cannot  connect  with  this 
asking  of  the  high  priest  any  thing  like  a 
solemn  assembly,  nor  can  we  imagine  such  an 
unofiicial  asking  and  answering  to  have  been 
followed  by  an  immediate  production  of  false 
witness,  and  the  condemnation  to  death.  The 
one  scene  does  not  pass  harmoniously  into  the 
other,  as  taking  place  at  one  time;  and  the 
most  decisive  reason  for  the  conversation  with 
Annas  is  the  manner  in  which  Christ  answers, 
quite  different  as  it  is  from  his  demeanor  at 
the  proper  legitimate  examination.  But  this 
will  be  more  fully  seen  in  our  exposition. 

According  to  the  desire  of  his  enemies,  the 
death  of  Jesus   was  to  be,  either  on  the  one 


*  Not  only  our  own  Berlenh.  Bebel,  Benfjel,  Ds 
Wettp,  Viin  Ess,  Kisteniaker,  and  Gossner  so 
translate,  but  alas !  also  Ihe  English  and  D;;tcli 
liibles — II  id  fieut,  him — lladdo  hem  gesoudou. 


hand,  secretly  and  with  cunning ;  or,  on  the 
other,  in  their  rash  wrath — violently,  and  on 
the  spot.  But  it  was  already  written  in  God's 
decree,  "under  Pontius  Pilate,"  that  is,  by 
public  condemnation.  To  that  end  it  was  or- 
dained that  no  other  charge  of  guilt  should  be 
brought  against  Jesus  than  that  one,  that  he 
called  hiniself  the  Son  of  God  and  the  king  of 
Israel.  For  that  alone  should  the  Lord  die ; 
every  attempt  to  fasten  upon  him  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  any  other  guilt,  he  determined  pru- 
dently and  persistently  to  bring  to  naught. 
This  explains  his  whole  deportment  from  the 
time  that  he  was  taken  :  hi.s  speaking  and  his 
silence,  his  answers  after  this  or  that  manner 
according  to  circumstances.  No  such  impru- 
dence was  possible  on  his  part  as  would  involve 
him  in  any  thing  which  would  disturb  or  inter- 
fere with  this  conftssing  character  of  his  death 
of  martyrdom  in  the  highest  sense.  He  himself 
expressly  took  care  to  lead  the  way  to  that 
decisive  crisis  of  avowal  before  Caiaphas.  That 
hefore  Ca/rt^-^as  the  great  decision  followed,  John 
sufficiently  signifies  to  his  readers  in  ver.  24; 
in  order  that  he  may  then,  in  ver.  28,  be  able 
to  proceed  from  Ca-aphns  into  the  Gentile  Pr.-B- 
torium.  Thus  the  beginning  of  the  examination, 
which  he  plainly  describes  is  only  preparatory, 
corresponds  altogether  with  the  position  of 
Annas  and  all  the  circumstances.  They  bound 
Jesus  and  led  him  away  ;  we  might  have  ex- 
pected to  read — into  jn-isim.  Oh,  no;  the  hour 
of  darkness  must  be  used,  there  must  be  this 
same  night  some  appearance  of  justice  done, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  approach  Pilate  early 
enough  for  the  confirmation  of  the  sentence. 
All  is  wakeful,  intense,  ready,  eager — but  a 
perfect  session  of  the  Sanhedrim  cannot  be  ar- 
ranged at  once,  notwithstanding  that  certain 
high  priests  and  elders  were  present  with  the 
multitude.  According  to  Matt.  xxvi.  57,  Mark 
xiv.  53,  Luke  xxii.  54,  they  led  Jesus  from  Geth- 
semane  at  once  to  Caiaphas,  to  the  house  of  the 
high  priest — though  there  is  some  difference 
between  the  xai  dvyefixovrai  of  ]\Iark  and 
the  cTtov  6vyijx07)6ay  of  Matt.  John's  "  to 
Annas /Zr.st"*  is  quite  consistent  with  this,  if 
we  regard  the  two  high  priests  as  occupying 
different  wings  of  the  same  palace.  It  was 
partly  to  pay  court  to  the  influential  personage, 
who,  though  he  held  not  the  office,  exercised 
the  power;  and  partly,  as  one  may  well  sup- 
pose, to  give  him  the  joy  of  beholding  bound 
him  whom  he  hated.  All  this  might,  indeed, 
have  been  concerted  between  Caiaphas  and 
Annas,  so  that  the  latter  should  make  a  begin- 
ning, while  the  official  sitting  was  prepared  for. 
Annas  would,  first,  indulge  his  curio-ity,  and 
so  far  Christ  stands  before  him  almost  like  Paul 
before  Agrippa,  Acts  xxv.  22.  But  only  al- 
most;  for,  Agrippa  would  Amr,  but  Annas  only 
auks,  for  mockery  and  humiliation.     He  would 


*  We  must  not  therefore,  with  Olshausen,  as- 
sume a  chinge  of  the  place  in  ihe  Synoptics, 
which  Jolin  cenly  corrected.  All  is  in  perfect 
order  and  harmony. 


JOHN  XVIII.  20,  21,  23. 


607 


secondly,  have  his  pleasure  in  seeing  Jesus 
bound— though  not  to  put  it  so  strongly  as 
Plenninger  does,  with  his  contrast  ol  Simeon — 
"  Then  1  should  be  willing  to  die,  if  I  could 
only  see  him  with  abased  head  and  bound  hands 
standing  before  me."  He  would,  finally— and 
this  is  most  plainly  set  before  our  eyes— under 
the  guise  of  a  private  colloquy  preliminarily 
aotind  the  man,  against  whom  they  never  felt 
themselves  confident  and  bold,  in  order  to  see 
how  he  would  demean  himself,  and  in  what 
Nvay  they  n^.ight  best  proceed  with  him.  He 
questions  him  "probably  to  extract  from  him 
some  expressions  which  might  afterwards  be 
used  as  testimony  or  matter  of  charge."  We 
think  that  this  preliminary  hearing  prepared 
the  way  and  regulated  the  questions  for  that 
v;hich  'ibllowed ;  but  not  that  it  was  itself  a 
perfect  and  official  examination.  They  were 
■persona]  questions,  coming  from  this  person  very 
much  like  inquisitorial  questions;  but  they 
were  put  under  the  semblance  of  a  conversa- 
tion. We  are  convinced  that  Jesus  would  not 
thus  have  repelled  and  personally  reproved  the 
high  priest  before  the  assembled  council.  1/ 
the  official  judge  had  applied  to  him  only  ques- 
tions, lie  would  have  stood  before  him  ready  to 
give  every  respectful  answer  ;  but  they  knew 
this,  and  there  began  at  once  with  false  testi- 
mony. He  therefore  kept  silence  altogether. 
We  find  the  most  measured  difference  in  the 
deportment  of  our  Lord  throughout  the  four 
examinations.  Before  Caiaphas  and  the  council, 
where  the  miserable  lalse  witness  so  carefully 
sought  was  brought  against  him,  he  keeps 
silence,  respectfully  and  with  dignity  sparing 
them,  until  he  is  adjured.  Before  Herod  and 
his  thoughtless  court  nothing  can  move  him 
from  his  deep  silence.  Before  Annas,  who  puts 
liis  questions  half  privately  and  half  officially, 
he  expresses  himself  in  part  with  dignified  re- 
jmhion,  in  part  by  a  convicting  counter-question 
of  which  he  thought  him  worthy,  applying 
himself,  in  this  like  Paul  before  Agrippa,  to  liis 
conscience.  Finally,  before  Pilate,  he  enters 
at  once  graciously,  as  we  shall  see,  into  a  re- 
moval of  misunderstanding,  and  a  testin.ony 
for  the  truth.  Now  let  it  be  asked,  whether 
this  will  agree  with  the  Lord's  speaking  in  John 
before  Caiaphas. 

Thus  with  equal  boldness  and  gentleness — 
more  properly,  as  sublimely  as  humUy — he 
speaks,  for  a  pattern  to  us  in  all  circumstances 
in  which  we  are  subjected  to  examination  and 
defence.  When  our  htanility  is  spoken  of, 
that  is  itself  no  other  than  an  humble  conde- 
scension of  the  word  of  God— for  is  there  any 
thing  high  or  lofty  in  us?  Again  Jtsus  speaks 
only  in  condescension,  and  in  our  likeness,  of 
h\s  med-ness — for  can  he  be  other  than  gentle 
in  mind,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  zeal?  Has 
hp  bitter  wrath  in  his  heart?  All  the  meekness 
of  the  Lord  is  fundamentally  itself  only  his  deep 
and  absolute  humility,  in  which  he  renounces 
the  judgement,  and  gives  up  his  prerogative 
uud  his  jiowei:  — 
Annas  asked  Jesus  of  his  disci^ples  and  of  his 


doctrine.  Probably,  as  John  relates,  in  these 
two  words,  thus  apparently  impartial,  but  in 
the  background  malevolent  enough.  Luthanlt 
rightly  terms  it  a  captious  and  inquisitorial 
question.  About  h\?,' tnork,  whether  gooa  or 
bad,  of  his  deeds  and  miracles,  nothing  is  said 
either  in  mockery  or  earnest,  as  in  the  case  ot 
Herod.  But  the  disciples  are  mentioned  as  his 
dependents,  his  followers,  his  party,  his  sworn 
confederates — the  doctrine  is  inquired  into  as 
novelty,  heresy,  dangerous  misleading  error; 
Doth  together  pointing  to  the  two  main  charges 
which  "afterwards  were  urged — insurrection 
against  the  Koman  power,  error  or  blasphemy 
before  the  Jewish.  Suspicious  reference  is  made 
to  tlie  crowds  which  surrounded  him  on  his  en- 
trance into  the  city;  and  ironical  allusion  to 
the  confidential  ones  who  had  now  fled  from 
him  and  left  him  alone.  Where  then  are  thy 
disciples?  How  many  and  whom  hast  thou 
now  in  reality?  and  what  was  thy  design  with 
them?  Wherefore  didst  thou  gather  these 
around  thee?  For,  that  the  disciples  are  men- 
tioned ^/i/'s/,  before  the  doctrine,  expresses  the 
malevolent  character  of  the  questioning  plainly 
enough.  But  Christ  reverses  the  order,  and 
answers  first,  as  was  right,  concerning  the  doc- 
trine. Lampe  thinks,  however,  that  the  point 
about  the  disciples  was  left  out  of  view;  and 
similarly  Bengel:  "He  replies  concerning  his 
doctrine,  concerning  his  disciples  there  was  no 
need."  Some  truth  there  may  be  in  this,  as 
Earabach  has  explained  the  Lord's  silence  upon 
the  former  part  of  the  question:  "Because  llie 
lords  of  the  high  council  were  to  receive  af  (  r 
the  ascension  an  answer  of  fact  as  to  t'lis  point ; 
the  disciples  would  give  them  enough  to  do." 
But  we  shall  see  that  in  ver.  21  there  is  actually 
an  indirect  answer,  so  much  as  was  now  in 
place,  concerning  the assetnbling of  disci]}les around 
him. 

The  Lord  at  the  outset  replies  as  in  Geth- 
seinane,  when  he  had  put  to  shame  the  higfi 
priests  and  elders  in  their  secret  dealing  with 
him — he  points  with  dignity  to  the  publicity  of 
his  cause",  which  then  as  now  men  were  too 
much  disposed  to  regard  as  a  thing  of  a  corner 
(Acts  xxvi.  26),  and'  to  vilify  with  the  vitium 
clandestinilatis  (as  the  canonical  law  says). 
During  three  years  he  had,  as  openly  and  pub- 
licly as  might  be,  taught  and  lived;  many 
thousands  throughout  the  land  had  seen  him 
— and  now  he  must  gi'-e  account  as  of  a  secret 
matter!  On  ncxfjfjTjoia  see  what  was  said  on 
chap.  vii.  4.  Instead  of  kXaXijtja  we  should 
probably  read  XeXaXtfua,  but  the  difference  is 
only  slight.  jTgj  Hodjucp  is  equivalent  to  £ii 
roy  Hudjicov,  chap.  viii.  26;  it  is  the  language 
of  utmost  compreaension — to  and  for  every  one 
without  distinction.  Here  as  there  the  under- 
tone refers  to  his  position  with  regard  to  tlie 
sinful  world,  to  which  his  sacred  'Ayaa,  as  tlie 
Sent  of  God,  must  speak  and  testify;  but  this 
must  not  be  pressed  too  rigorously — "to  the 
children  of  this  world."  It  is  rather  the  fiisL 
description  of  the  universality  and  publicity  uf 
his  tptaking,  as  belonging  to  openly,  itafjpipLcL, 


608 


FIRST  EXAMINATION  BEFORE  ANNAS. 


like  chap.  vii.  4.  It  is  with  strict  piopripty 
that  he  does  not  s.iy  to  the  muUdudex.  ILs 
preaching  to  the  crowds  in  the  street  was  the 
necessary  expression  of  his  universal  constraint 
of  love,  and  at  the  same  time  of  the  most  pub- 
lic universality  of  his  teaching;  but  in  every 
ox^oZ  (or  Sr/noi)  to  which  he  turns  and  dedi- 
ratf-s  his  words,  he  sees  only  the  loorid  to  which 
his  Father  had  sent  him.  Now  first,  when  he 
admits  that  his  !qiealcin(j  was  also  a  leaching,  he 
heightens  ti;at  former  word  by  mentioning  the 
ifch/jol  and  the  temple*  Even  if  we  read  vr, 
evvayoay-^,  it  must  be  understood  of  the 
school  or  synagogue  of  the  place  where  he  might 
be;  but  the  reading  without  the  article  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  temple  is  more  definite  in  its 
distributive  signification.  The  Jieightening  of 
his  meaning  is  in  this,  that  he  had  not  only 
spoken  in  the  open  air  to  any  one  who  was 
there  and  would  hear  (thus  rcj  xcCuap  is  of  the 
flace),'\  but  as  a  teacher  he  had  not  shunned 
the  legitimate  and  ecclesiastically-appointed 
place.  He  had  used  his  Israelii ish  prerogative, 
and  had  dono  what  was  his  duty  ;  he  was  not 
a  preacher  in  corners,  or  a  separatist;  and  in 
this  he  is  an  example  to  his  followers,  for  it  is 
right  even  in  times  of  decline  to  honor  the  or- 
dinances and  institutions  of  God.  //aVrort-is 
of  course  not  to  be  understood  literally  ;  either, 
with  Glassius,  very  frcqueatly  ;  or,  still  better, 
As  often  as  I  was  tha-e,  as  often  as  I  had  oppor- 
tunity, so  that  the  contrast  with  a  timid  secrecy 
is  maintained, i  Finally,  in  the  last  clause  he 
describes  his  cause  and  his  doctrine  as  properly 
natimal,  for  all  the  Jews.  There  is  in  the  back- 
ground of  both  question  and  answer,  though 
the  Lord  discreetly  puts  it  not  in  words,  the 
meaning  that  the  main  point  of  his  teaching 
was  the  testimony  to  himself  as  the  Messiah — 
Thus  where  all  the  Jews  as  Jews  assemble  in 
their  national  religion  to  worship  God,  tliere  I 
have  testified,  ihat  which  applies  to  all  the 
Jews,  that  these  aU  should  be  "my  disciples," 
should  acknowledge  and  join  themselves  to 
me.  Tims  is  the  rcocvreh,  the  all,  perfectly 
justified;  and  there  is  no  necessity  to  qualify 
it,  or  rather  destroy  it,  as  has  been  done  from 
the  beginning,  by  the  substitution  of  ra'/'roOf*' 
or  TtdyroTE. 

This  dignified  positive  declaration  is  now 
followed  by  a  denial,  which  does  not  contradict 
the  well-understood  meaning  and  charge  of  the 
questioner — now  brought  to  light — until  it  has 
been  refuted  by  the  undeniable  fact  of  the  pub- 
licity of  his  teaching.  The  "in  secret"  is  here 
evidently  intended  as  an  inculpation.  He  had 
certainly  spoken  to  his  confidential  ones  in 
confidence,  but  nothing  beyond  what  he  had 
spoken  before  all  the  world ;  he  Had  not  two 


*  Not  therefore  aliojiether  with  Ben^el,  that 
irafjfjr)6ia  indicate!?  {witli  rw  x66uc^)  (he  kind, 
natroTE  the  time,  iv  (Swaycoyrj  xai  tv  tco 
ie/jo)  the  place. 

f  So  Nonnus  literally  accepted  it:  (piXonevOei 
Kodficj — atraii  Iv  Tpi68ot6i. 

\  Lampe  Icbs  fitly — evHaipoDi,  aHaipaoi. 


doctrines,  an  esoteric  and  an  exoteric ;  but 
what  he  iiad  spoken  in  the  ear,  he  had  spoken 
with  a  commission  to  declare  it  upon  the  house- 
tops. The  inmost  mystery,  which  indeed  he 
had  commanded  them  not  to  ulter  before  the 
time,  that  he  was  the  Messiah— he  not  only 
confesses  presently  alterwards  before  the  San- 
hedrim, but  all  the  Jewish  world  actually  knew 
it,  and  Annas  himself  who  thuo  asked  knew  it. 
So  the  cause  and  the  doctrine  of  Christ  was 
ever  to  be  "elevated  above  all  suspicions  of 
secret  mystery,"  and  his  messengers'  badge  is 
in  all  ages  that  of  2  Cor.  iv.  2.  We  may  with 
Lampe  read  here  in  ver.  20  the  criteria'oi  the 
true  teacher:  confidence,  which  testifies  before 
the  world ;  persevering  continuation  of  the 
testimony  on  all  occasions;  adherence  to  the 
existing  divine  and  human  ordinances.  But  in 
this  last  expression  our  Lord  alludes,  in  his 
profound  manner,  whether  Annas  understood 
it  or  not,  to  two  places  of  the  prophet  Isaiah. 
In  the  former  (Isa.  xlv.  19),  the  Lord  God 
himself  appeals,  before  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  generally  as  their  and  the  earth's  Creator, 
and  as  the  God  of  Israel  particularly  to  the 
seed  of  Jacob,  to  this — /  liave  not  spoken  in 
secret  ;^-  in  the  latter  (chap,  xlviii.  16),  the  J/e*- 
siah  repeats  the  same. 

Thus  this  is  the  first  answer,  clear  as  the 
light  which  the  darkness  here  resists  ;  and  now 
in  the  following  verse  there  is  the  befitting  re- 
proof of  the  foolish  questioner,  put  in  the  most 
mild  and  gracious  form.  He  further  gives  ac- 
count in  it,  who  "  his  disciples  "  were  or  should 
be,  and  at  the  same  time  proceeds  to  give  a 
test  and  proof  of  his  teaching,  napfjijCicc  and 
ncivTozE — every  where  and  with  plainness. 
Or,  was  he  nov/  to  begin  from  the  commence- 
ment, and  exhibit  the  whole  substance  of  his 
teaching,  from  the  summons  to  repentance  to 
the  announcement  of  the  kingdom  come  in 
him  ?  He  would  indeed  have  had  patience  for 
this,  if  it  had  been  right  on  this  occasion,  and 
if  it  would  have  done  good  ;  but  such  as  Annas 
knew  all  this  long  since,  they  had  olten  sent 
spies  or  heard  it  themselves.  He  therelore 
takes  this  for  granted  ;  he  does  actually  begin 
at  the  beginning  with  Annas,  since  he  proposes 
to  him  as  the  best  preaching  of  repentance  for 
his  conscience  the  keen  counter-question — 
Wlurefore  askest  thou  me?  (Entpoordv  is 
more  penetrating  than  John's  previous  r/paj- 
Tt]6E,  not  without  bordering  on  the  meaning 
of  inqnmtion.)  This  was  one  of  those  ques- 
tions of  Jesus  himself,  which  never  failed  to 
pierce  the  heart.  It  has  a  manifold  meaning  ; 
Knowcst  thou  not,  as  a  "high  priest,"  what 
all  the  Jews  well  know  concerni 


ng  me  .'' 


How 


is  it,  what  means  it,  that  thou  now  first  de- 
mandest  of  me  an  answer  thereupon  ?  Ac- 
cording to  Grotius :  "  Ye  have  already  expelled 
from  tiie  synagogues  those  who  believe  in  rae ; 


*  Hence  it  is  further  proved  that  rep  Hudna> 
previously,  betore  the  Jews  were  specially  referred 
K),  hints  at  the  adaptation  of  his  doctrine  to  all 
uiaukiud,  entirely  as  we  louud  in  chap.  viii.  26. 


JOHN  XVIII.  20,  21,  23. 


je  have  decreed  to  talce  me ;  and  have  never 
inquired  into  my  doctrine  :  do  }'e  wish  now  to 
know  them  at  length  from  myself?  What 
manner  of  dealing  is  this?"  He  thus  shows 
to  Annas  that  he  looks  through  him,  and  that 
he  will  give  him  no  word  which  he  may  per- 
vert against  him  ;  thus  gently,  with  concealed 
severity,  only  through  the  light  which  must 
put  the  darkness  to  shame,  he  reproves  the 
self-contradiction  of  their  foolish  cunning — the 
questioning  of  a  supposed  founder  of  secret 
mysteries  concerning'  his  doctrine  and  his  ad- 
herents. 

This  last  thought  is  in  the  direction  whom  he 
should  ask.  All  (hose  icho  have  heard  what  I 
have  said  are  therefore  as  it  concerns  thee  my 
discipkfi,  for  they  have  heard  no  other  words 
than  I  have  said  to  my  trusted  ones — had  they 
all  rightly  heard  they  would  have  been  all  of 
them  dit^ciples  to  me.  Thus,  as  in  Gethsemane, 
he  continues  to  save  his  own,  and  declines  any 
specific  selection.  He  points  the  high  priest 
not  to  his  disciples  in  the  narrower  sense,  but 
to  all  the  people  who  had  been  in  his  school; 
but  by  this  demand  that  the  people  should  be 
brought  into  the  examination,  he  rebukes  the 
malicious  secrecy  which  had  induced  them 
through  fear  of  the  people  to  send  and  take 
him  in  the  night. 

Behold,  all  these,  who  have  heard  me  speak, 
know  well  what  {a  more  comprfhensive  than 
Ti,  what  kind  of  things)  I  have  said.  By  this 
i'de  he  finally  appeals,  as  B.-Crusius  rightly  ob- 
serves, to  the  "]'lain  and  open  nature  of  his  doc- 
trine," in  that  no  hearer  could  remain  in  doubt 
about  it,  witnesses  enough  were  every  where 
to  be  found ;  and  al.*o,  we  would  add,  to  the 
impression  of  the  truth  upon  all  the  sincere. 
Thus  there  are  the  (wo  witnesses  for  truth — 
publicity  in  adiierence  to  the  school  and  the 
temple,  to  the  institutions  and  places  appointed 
from  the  beginning;  impressiveness  or  easiness  of 
understanding  as  respects  the  hearers. 

He  began  with  ^Aa'/l?/5a,  tdiSaia;  he  ends 
with  t.\aX?/6a  and  tlnoy  :  his  answer  goes  not 
beyond  his  saying  and  teaching,  as  the  question 
did  not;  of  his  woi-hs  he  humbly  says  nothing. 
For,  as  we  have  seen  throughout  John's  Gospel, 
the  work  has  its  power  of  self-demonstration  in 
itself,  before  the  miracle.*  Thus  it  is  not — 
"Question  and  summon  hither  the  lepers,  the 
blind,  the  deaf,  the  lame,  the  possessed  whom  I 
have  healed."  The  i'Se  ovroi,  although  it 
primarily  refers  to  the  a/cT^wod  ras— -behold 
these  who  have  heard — has  special  reference  to 
this,  that  even  now  such  hearers  were  present 
as  witnesses ;  that  their  lords  of  the  council 
bad  only  to  summon  these  servants  whom  they 
sent  after  him,  and  they  would  receive  the  same 
testimony  as  that  of  chap.  vii.  46  (now  the  re- 
cord of  the  I  am  he).  Bengel  is  so  far  right : 
ovrot  points  to  the  multitude  present;  or  these 
know*     So  Lampe,  and  earlier  Cyril. t 


Survey  then  once  more  the  dignify,  the  clear- 
ness, the  gentleness,  the  supremely-measured 
rightness  and  wisdom  of  this  answer.  In  the 
full  and  perfect  consciousness  that  he  was  no 
founder  of  a  sect,  deserving  inquisition,  he  be- 
gan with  I  openly,  continued  with  /,  and  closes, 
with  profound  leeling  W/<?  he  was,  yet  not  ex- 
pressing it,  with  a  Eiitov  lyoo,  what  I  have 
said.  But,  with  the  most  proper  discretion  of 
one  arrested  and  charged,  more  righteous  than 
Annas  with  his  foolish  questioning — "  I  may 
not  and  will  not  now,  my  life  and  doctrine 
lying  before  you,  testify  for  myself,  or  defend 
myself.  Let  all  be  investigated.  Let  the  tes- 
timony of  all  bear  witness."  If  in  this  there 
was  any  thing  "evasive,"  there  was  the  utmost 
propriety  in  it,  as  well  as  tlie  most  binding 
obligation  of  holy  wisdom  :  he  would  not  before 
this  unhappy  man  betray  either  himself  or  his 
disciples  into  difficulty  by  any  express  decla- 
rations or  disclosures. 

We  need  not  regard  this  TfapEdtrjum^,  "one 
that  stood  by,"  as  implying  that  theofhcer  was 
an  appariU/r  necessarily  belonging  to  the  court 
in  which  the  high  priest  sat;  John  has  mentioned 
no  other  officers,  to  which  the  article  here  might 
refer  back,  than  those  of  ver.  12,  who  had  taken 
Jesus  and  led  him  hither.  Thus  we  may  sup- 
ply— icho  stood  near  Jesus — because  token  he  had 
thus  sp)olcen  immediately  precedes.  That  which 
happened  afterwards  to  his  Apostle,  befell  Jesus 
himself  here.  The  servant*  sees  his  old  lord 
smitten  and  taken  aback  by  the  bold  and  ap- 
propriate answer — he  takes  advantage  of  the 
moment,  and  will  obtain  both  praise  and  reward. 
For  he  well  knows  what  is  permitted  to  him  ; 
the  very  lowest  knew  what  had  been  long  de- 
creed by  the  rulers  to  be  done  to  this  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  He  struck  himj — basely  in  the  face. 
This  was  the  beginning  and  the  signal  for  all 
subsequent  indignities,  as  in  Micah  iv.  14 
(comp.  Isa.  1.  6)  it  was  very  remarkably  and 
directly  predicted  concerning  the  Messiah,  the 
Judge  of  Israel.  (Vers.  13  and  14  there  allude 
to  the  history  of  another  prophet  Micah,  1 
Kings  sx.  11,  24;  and  Josephus  employs  ia 
relation  to  1  Kings  xxii.  24,  the  word  fjarti^Etv. 
Job  xvi.  10  refers  to  the  shame  of  being  smitten 
upon  the  caeek.     In  Micah  there  is  W2'^'2  also. 


*  Nonnus  has  it  most  strongly  :  ?}ri5e  hvuXo) 
ovronfxvTEi  K.T.  X. 

t  Except  that  ho  goes  too  far,  and  he  tinds  in 


this  appeal  to  the  servants  present  the  reason  why 
one  of  them,  to  obviate  all  suspicion  of  himself 
upon  that  point,  smote  him  on  the  lace. 

*  A  very  improbable  tradition  declares  that  he 
was  Malchus.  Apart  from  the  improbability  in 
the  thinir  itself,  Malchus  was  a  SoC^.oi,  this  man 
a  vTcripErr,<i. 

t  Whether  with  a  staff  or  with  the  hand,  cannot 
be  determined,  since  f)dni6i.ia  and  fjcxTii'C.Eiy  sig- 
nify both.  Hesych.  paniCai,  paji^op  nXi]q,ai  i) 
(xXov6ai.  But  in  the  N.  T.  paitiQeiy  is  used  of 
the  hand  ;  see  Matt.  v.  39,  John  xix.  3,  but  espe- 
cially Mark  xiv.  65,  and  Matt.  xxvi.  67,  wiih 
Ho\a(piZety.  Theophyl.  interprets  th's  last  of 
the  fist  (as  1  Cor.  iv.  11 ;  2  Cor.  xii.  7)  Suidas 
ex[)lain3  paiti6ai  of  strik  ng  the  cheek  with  the 
hand. 


610 


FIRST  EXAMINATION  BEFORE  ANNAS. 


as  if  the  Spirit  wonld  embrace  the  scene  in 
wliich  the  Judije  and  King  of  Israel  is  with  his 
own  sceptre  smitten  on  the  face.  See  also  in 
Sepp  the  Jewish  punishments,  which  were  in- 
flicted for  such  misdeeds.)  This  is  the  end  of 
the  three  years  of  his  teaching  in  Israel,  con- 
firmed as  "it  was  by  the  signs  of  God,  that  now 
when  being  bound  he  opens  his  mouth  to  give 
a  decisive  answer,  appealing  in  righteousness 
to  all  that  teaching,  a  servant  can  publicly 
pmite  him  upon  the  face.  This  was  the  first 
blow,  the  lirst  indignity  which  his  sacred  body 
received  from  the  handa  of  sinners.  Although 
he  had  received  Irom  the  lips  of  sinners  much 
that  was  more  grievous  and  scornful,  although 
even  now  the  denial  of  Peter  was  a  sorer  grief  to 
liim  than  the  blow  of  this  servant — yet  is  it  a 
great  thing,  that  he  on  this  first  striking,  which 
came  unexpectedly,  continues  to  be  able  to 
answer,  still  more  calmly  and  meekly,  without 
any  trace  of  fear,  not  to  say  of  wrath,  words 
which  have  their  true  and  symbolical  meaning 
for  us  all. 

He  answered  him — we  must  not  give  up  this 
avzcp.  That  he  answers  this  servant,  and  in 
Bucli  a  manner,  is  in  its  profound  humility 
something  very  different  from,  and  yet  in  its 
elevation  something  infinitely  above,  that 
landed  pride  in  abasement  which  man  may 
display.*  There  is  no  wrath,  but  meekness 
and  humbleness  alone,  as  is  obvious  in  itself. 
But  withal  there  is  earnest  freedom  of  spirit,  an 
open  mouth  for  the  truth  in  love  which  is  not, 
yet  to  be  stopped.  Again,  Chrkt's  freodom  of 
speech  is  not  great  in  the  sense  of  fearlessness 
before  the  threat  of  man — for  how  could  he 
fear?  The  Apostle's  exhortation  out  of  the 
prophet,  1  Pet.  iii.  14,  15,  therefore  has  so  far 
no  application  to  him  ;  he  might  have  been 
tempted,  in  holv  scorn  of  sinners,  altogether  to 
keep  silence.  But  his  freedom  to  speak  is  Iwe, 
which  counts  sinners  still  worthy  of  his  testi- 
mony. 

Answerest  thou  the  high  -priest  so?  This  was 
the  servant's  word,  accompanying  and  justify- 
ing the  blow.  By  "the  high  priest"  might  be 
meant  that  Annas  was  as  much  high  priest  as 
Caiaphas — but  this  Christ,  according  to  the 
divine  law,  does  not  acknowledge,  and  admits 
but  one  who  with  any  truth  can^hold  the  sacred 
office.  Certainly  the  so  refers  only  to  the  form 
-—that  he  had  neglected  respect  and  reverence 
in  the  refusal  and  counter-question.  R,ieger 
remarks  that  "so  it  is  now  with  the  foUov.'ers 
of  Christ,  when  their  truth  cannot  be  resisted 
— they  have  been  wanting  in  wisdom  in  speak- 
ing it,  they  have  erred  in  the  form  of  delivering 
it— that  is,  in  plain  words,  they  should  show 
more  patience  with  the  world  and  its  unright- 
eousness."   That  is,  they  should  speak  the  truth 


*  Teschendorf  makes  his  Nicodemus  write : 
"  Whoever  has  been  in  Reme  and  seen  a  tri- 
umpljal  procession,  may  liave  marked  how  some 
have  borne  their  chains  with  dignity.  Whoever 
should  liave  looked  fo;-  giich  dignity  in  hiiu  would 
have  beeu  disappoiuteJ." 


with  such  sentimental  respect  and  moderafioni 
as  would  be  rather  a  denial  of  tliat  truth  !  The 
supreme  Lord  speaks  unabashed  and  confident- 
ly to  the  servant  as  to  the  lords,  and  shows  in 
fact  how  Wfll  he  knows  without  respect  of  per- 
sons to  speak  to  every  one  as  he  should  be 
spoken  to.  Far  removed  from  any  self-defence, 
and  with  a  meekness  which  his  face,  withdrawn 
for  a  moment  through  the  physical  shock,  still 
testified,  he  does  not  act  in  opposition  to  the  let- 
ter, but  still  more  expressly  in  harmony  witli 
the  spirit  of  the  instruction  which  he  gave  to 
his  disciples  in  Matt.  v.  39.  He  gives  us  the 
"authentic  interpretation"  of  it,  iu  opposition 
to  all  who  would  make  it  mean  an  unworthy 
humiliation  of  self  simply,  an  unloving  holding 
back  of  the  truth  and  provocation  of  further 
sin  against  us.  Sinking  to  the  lowest  extreme 
of  his  condescension  (which  is  reached  in  this 
verse,  connected  with  chap.  viii.  46),  he  puts 
the  case  for  one  moment  as  if  he  might  have 
been  wrong — but  only  to  deny  and  refute  it. 
Yea,  from  the  meanest  servant  he  will  receive 
proof  and  attestation.  This  is  the  higliest 
point  of  that  meekness  of  our  Lord,  as  depicted 
in  John's  Gospel,  beyond  which  nothing  is  re- 
corded. The  servant  did  not  mean  by  his  so 
that  he  had  spoken  untruth  ;  entering  into  his 
meaning  the  Lord  sjieaks  only  concerning  the 
maimer,  xaKwi — ycaXwi,  ill  or  iceU.  Not  simply 
xaxd  KaHiav,  n;y-i,  evil  in  itself,  although  the 

expression  allows  an  error  in  the  manner  to  be 
itself  in  its  kind  an  enil.  "By  the  blow  the 
servant  would  bear  his  tesfiraony,"says  Bengel. 
The  Lord  answers  him — Neither  is  thy  blow  a 
testimony,  nor  thy  word  which  takes  for  grantel 
unrighteousness;  if  I  have  actually  spoken  evil, 
give — I  will  receive  and  admit  it — -better  and 
more  real  witness  against  me.  This  would  have 
required  the  proof  that  Annas  was  the  high 
priest ;  but  we  think  that  the  Lord  did  not  re- 
gard this,  nor  enter  so  far  into  the  particulars 
of  the  matter,  as  was  appropriate  in  the  case  of 
Paul,  Acts  xxiii.  As  respects  him  and  his 
never  speaking  evil,  servant  and  high  priest 
were  altogether  alike. 

But  if  our  Lord  and  Master  shows  himself 
ready  to  receive  from  this  servant  testimony 
against  himself,  wliile  he  receives  with  such 
gentleness  the  blow — what  should*  tre  do? 
"  Think  on  him  who  said  this,  on  him  to  whom 
this  was  said,  and  the  reason  why  this  was 
said,  and  these  words  will  with  magical  divine 
power  cast  down  all  wrath  which  may  rise  in 
thy  soul."*  Be  always  ready  to  give  account 
to  every  man — .says  Peter,  even  though  it  be 
the  meanest  servant.  Every  man  who  demands 
of  you  an  account — navri  zcp  aizovvzi  vjucm 
Xoyoi',  is  to  be  interpreted  as  we  have  ex- 
plained, Matt.  V.  4'2.  The  unrighteousness  itself 
demands  of  me,  <islis  me,  as  I  understand  it,  only 
for  a  new  evidence  of  holy  righteousness  iu 
truth  and  love.  Not — That  deserves  no  answer. 


*  So  Chrysos.  Ilom.   i.,  nepi  (XHaraXj^nrov. 
See  Neaiider's  Chri/t.  i.  211. 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  64. 


611 


mch  n<>  this  demands  retaliation,  punishment, 
contempt;  but — Behold,  tliis  slanderer  ami  liar 
would  see  how  I  shall  maintain  the  consistency 
of  my  righteous  word  and  walk,  whether  I 
shall  thus  overcome  him.  How  often  do  m? 
poor  sinners  harm  ourselves  and  our  cause,  when 
people  merely  try  us  and  will  not  hear  us,  when 
Ihey  require  of  113  a  patience  which  13  the 
denial  of  love  and  truth,  a  courtliness  which 
would  be  forgetfulness  of  God!  How  basely 
do  we  spca'c  evil,  jnst  when  we,  speaking  the 
trutli,  answer  for  ourselves  that  we  are  not 
evil-doers ! 

B  ,t  the  Lord  as  the  perfect  man  had  never 
emd  in  word,  whether  in  its  form  or  substance. 
He  knows  this,  and  this  therefore  he  must  add 
and  maintain — But  if  well,  which  «t  de,  hutjf, 
Bengel  rightly  says,  "  has  an  affirmative  force." 
This  unjustifiable  striking  is  itself  proof  and 
testimony  that  the  truth  has  struck,  and  can 
not  otherwise  be  repelled.  And  now  calmly 
and  victoriously  he  continues  in  this  xpeakinj 
toed:  the  servant  receives,  like  the  high  priest, 
both  equal  before  the  Judge  of  Israel,  who  un- 
weariably  judges  and  teaches,  his  conscience- 
question —  Wdt/  smitent  thou,  me?   Love  repays 


him  thus.  This  first  word  of  protest  against 
the  blow  is  the  only  one  that  v;e  hear :  it  con- 
tinues its  voice  against  all  the  indignities 
which  followed  this>  Annas  hears  in  "it  the 
question — Wherefore  sufferest  thou  him  to 
smite  me  ?  Wherefore  to  be  bound  and  seized  ? 
Do  ye  not  ever  oppose  my  true  testimon\' 
by  most  unrighteous  and  unworthy  violence  ? 
Similar,  according  to  its  spirit  and  meaning,  is 
the  word  at  his  last  examination  (Luke  xxii. 
67,  68),  which  he  no  longer  regards  as  oH^cial : 
If  I  tcil  you,  confessing  and  answering,  or  ask- 
ing, as  is  fit — ye  believe  not,  ye  reply  only  by 
persevering  and  malignant  violence !  Annas 
has  heard  enough  ;  he  sees  whom  he  has  before 
him,  and  that  any  further  prosecution  of  the 
matter  under  the  guise  of  conversation  would 
damage  himself  rather  than  Jesus ;  he  there- 
fore leaves  the  answer,  the  blow,  and  the 
counter-answer  to  themselves,  the  witness  con- 
cerning the  evl  still  in  his  ears.  He  sends  the 
Lord  forward  hawul  to  Caiaphas,  that  the 
specious  judgment  may  proceed  as  prudently 
and  plausibly  as  may  be.  Of  course,  we  are 
not  to  assume  any  second  "binding." 


PIRST  PARTIALLY-OFFICIAL  EXAMINATION.     THE  CONFESSION  UPON  THE 
ADJURATION  OF  CAIAPHAS, 

(Matt.  XX vr.  64;  Mark  xiv.  62.) 


As  the  history  of  the  Passion  proceeds,  its 
amazing  contrasts  become  more  intensely  affect- 
ing. Christ  is  now  judged  before  the  holiest 
judicature  upon  earth,  but  condemned  by  the 
most  fearful  perversion  of  justice  and  abuse  of 
its  forms.  The  Deliverer  of  mankind  is  in 
bonds  ;  the  Judge  of  all  is  attainted ;  the  Prince 
of  glory  is  treated  with  the  foulest  scorn  ;  the 
Holy  One  is  condemned  as  a  delinquent,  the 
Son  of  God  as  a  blasphemer ;  and  he  who  is 
the  resurrection  and  the  life  is  doomed  to  die  ! 
The  type  here  rises  in  rebellion  against  its  anti- 
tvpe,  the  shadow  against  its  substance,  and  the 
Eternal  High  Priest  is  condemned  by  the  so- 
called  high  priest  of  this  year.  The  law  is 
perverted  and  turned  against  the  grace  for 
which  it  should  only  prepare  the  way  ;  and  it 
becomes  the  triumph  of  grace  thus  to  deliver 
from  the  curse  of  the  law.  Lying  bears  wit- 
ness against  truth,  and  long-suffering  truth 
thus  wins  its  empire  and  rights.  The  subject 
rises  against  his  Lord  as  a  lord,  the  creature  in 
the  name  of  God  against  its  God — and  what  do 
we  hear  ?  One  sole  testimony — I  am  he  !  One 
sole  sentence — He  is  worthy  of  death  !  This 
verily  holds  good  in  the  counsels  of  God ;  but 
not  in  the  sense  of  our  earthly  jurists,  who  like 
Caiaphas  would  offer  up  one  literally  instead 
of  all. 

Their  hypocritical  trifling  with  forms  goes 


heavily  at  the  outset.  This  first  assembly  was 
through  haste  imperfectly  constitute!;  but  its 
work  is  to  consummate  the  judicial  murder 
which  had  already  been  firmly  decreed.  The 
first  feature  which  is  exhibited  here  presents 
this  judgment  to  us  as  the  most  unrighteous 
of  all  places  of  judgment  under  the  sun,  in 
which  wickedness  only  was  found,  and  iniquity 
took  the  place  of  righteousness  (Eccles.  iii.  16). 
They  did  not  simply  seek  witness  against  him, 
but,  as  Matthew  says,  they  sought  fahs  witness 
against  this  most  innocent  one.  This  v/as  done, 
it  is  further  added,  by  the  whole  council,  with 
the  high  priests  and  elders ;  though  it  is  not 
to  be  understood  of  every  individual  without 
exception — for,  two  or  three  would  not  be 
reckoned  among  so  many,  and  moreover  all 
were  not  present.  As  to  themselves  they  had 
no  "  need  "  of  testimony ;  the  thousand  wit- 
nesses for  the  divine  power  of  this  Jesus,  down 
to  Lazarus,  whose  resurrection  v/as  celebrated 
by  the  people  every  where,  shall  have  no  force 
with  them  ;  they  themselves  pervert  in  Luke 
xxiii.  2  the  truth  of  which  they  were  surely 


*  There  still  sounds  out  into  the  consciences  of 
all  who  only  ask  like  Annas,  and  strike  like  his 
servant.  For  "  Christ  still  stand-:  before  Annas, 
and  ibe  world  still  strikes  him  iu  the  lace  like  his 
servant "  (Silberschlag). 


612 


FIRST  OFFICIAL  EXAMINATION. 


conscious.  They  will  to  do  like  their  father, 
the  father  of  lies — but  in  order  to  do  this,  some 
pretext,  some  semblance  of  right,  is  recessar}'. 
Lies  enough  there  were  wherewith  to  charge 
Jesus,  what  had  not  been  reported  and  be- 
lieved concerning  him  on  the  part  of  his  ene- 
mies hitherto  ?  Cut  now  the  question  is — to 
put  him  to  ihaih  ;  there  must  be  some  apparent 
justice  in  the  execution  of  this  pre-conceived 
and  pre-arranged  purpose  ;  and  the  seeking  for 
this  is  hard,  very  hard.  There  is  every  where 
testimonv  /or  him  without  seeking — bni  against 
him?  T/tci/  found  none;  though  many  false 
witnesses  came  foru-ard  to  their  order — yet 
they  found  none.  Their  tpstiraonies  would  not 
accord,  would  not  answer  ibe  purpose.  !Manv 
offered  to  bear  witness  to  his  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath — but  this  will  not  pas=,  for  they  can- 
not touch  the  miracle  by  which  he  had"  dese- 
crated it.  To  charge  him  with  having  de- 
nounced Ihem,  the  leaders  of  the  people,  as 
hypocrites,  fools,  and  blind,  was  still  more 
questionable — who  knew  what  he  might  have 
to  say  to  them,  thus  charged,  even  now?  Or 
his  breaking  of  the  traditions  and  ordinances 
of  the  Pharisees — but  this  might  have  secured 
protection  from  the  Sadducees,  and  divided  the 
council,  as  was  afterwards  the  case.  Absolute 
lies  would  not  gain  their  end  with  the  people  ; 
there  must  be  some  truth  mingled  with  them. 
According  to  the  law  of  Moses  it  was  essential 
that  the  witnesses  should  agree  together ;  and 
it  was  hard  to  secure  this  with  the  clumsy 
witnesses,  one  outdoing  the  other,  whom  they 
were  obliged,  without  previous  schooling,  to 
admit.  Mark,  vers.  55  and  59,  evidently  means 
only  the  lack  of  agreement.  Erasmus  has  indeed 
corrected  the  non  convcnientia  of  the  Vulg.  into 
non  satis  idonea,  that  is,  not  pertinent  to  the 
condemnation  of  death.  Grotius  thinks  that 
thi?  meaning  alone  suits  ver.  59,  and  Van  Ess 
boldly  translates,  "not  sufficient" — but  i'doi 
can  scarcely  mean  appro]' r late,  fitted  to  any  thing. 
The  lack  of  uniformity  is  intimated  by  Jilatt. 
in  the  mention  of  liie  two  witnesses  who  came 
forward,  when  we  add  to  it  the  fact  mentioned 
in  Mark's  diflerent  statement  of  it,  that  even 
their  wi(  ness  was  not  uniform..  A  t  the  last  there 
are  found  ttoo  witnesses,  only  just  as  maay  as 
were  absolutely  necessary  (for  the  nviz  in 
Mark  does  not  necessarily  mean  many),  and 
they  bring  forward  a  word  heard  two  years  be- 
fore. Many  members  of  the  council  had  heard 
that  when  it  was  spoken  ;  and  had,  as  Matt. 
xxvii.  40  shows,  well  understood  it  subsequent- 
ly. It  is  now  falsified  and  perverted  into  blas- 
Shemy  against  the  temple  of  God,  although 
esus  at  the  time  (as  also  not  many  days  pas't) 
had  shown  his  zoal  for  the  honor  of  the'temple. 
Tlie  scornful  ovroi  in  Matt,  is  wnll  expressed 
by  the  English,  ^/i« /t/W.  The  two  accounts 
show  their  discrepancy  when  compared — ac- 
cording to  the  one  it  was,  I  ^ciH ;  according  to 
the  other,  I  can  destroy  the  lomple  :  similarly, 
acrain,  in  one — the  t.mph  of  God;  but  in  the 
other  there  are  the  additions  of  made  tcith 
liandi  and  not  made  with  Juinds.     Enough  :  as 


Ahab's  Jezebel  hired  two  knaves  against  Na« 
both,  so  these  rulers  and  high  priests  allied 
themselves,  in  order  to  keep  po^^se.ssioii  of  the 
vineyard  of  God,  with  a  wretched  pair  who  in 
their  boldness  were  not  cunning  enough  to 
agree  in  their  testimonv.  TiuisPsa.lv.  10  has 
still  its  fulfillment.  Hear  only  the  lies  of  the 
world — they  agree  not  together.  Listen  to  a 
fallen  theology — its  testimonies  contradict  each 
other,  and  thereby  give  testimony  themselves 
for  Chnst.  To  him  who  has  this  before  his 
eyes,  and  still  goes  on  in  his  folly,  the  truo 
witness  himself  becomes  dumb. 

They  could  not  succeed  in  proving  against 
Jesus  even  the  appearance  of  evil.  Confused, 
and  at  the  same  time  daring,  the  high  priest 
speaks  to  him,  as  if  this  charge  demanded  an 
account.  The  whole  question  is  not  one,  as 
Luther  puts  it  following  the  Vnlg. ;  but  the 
second  r^  is  a  separate  interrogation.  Never- 
theless, it  is  not  as  Erasmus  translates,  in 
Matt,  "cur  isti  adversum  te  testimonium  dic- 
unt?"  in  Mark,  "  quid  ist\  adversum  te  dicunt 
testimonia?"  (That  is.  Do  they  then  witness 
in  vain?  Not,  that  thou  shouldst  give  answer?) 
But,  as  the  former  clause  is  spoken  with  tho 
presentiment  that  he  who  stands  in  sublime 
tranquillity  tcill  keep  silence,  so  the  second  will 
if  possible  break  this  silence  by  suggesting — 
what  heavy  Uasphemy  do  they  allege  against 
thep  I  dost  thou  not  hear  that  ? 

The  Lord  keeps  silence;  and  though  we 
cannot  always  bring  his  eloquent  sj7ence  within 
the  range  of  our  exposition  of  his  word.i,  yet 
here  we  must  do  so,  where  speaking  and  silence 
interchangeably  pass  into  each  other;  for  oth- 
erwise we  could  not  understand  his  words.  The 
slic;htest  word  of  reply  would  have  given  tho 
whole  matter  another  turn,  not  in  harmony 
with  propriety  and  his  appointed  course.  Either 
his  pure  and  unimpeached  position  would  have 
been  disturbed  by  occasion  given  through  his 
words  for  new  perversions  and  charges  ;  or, 
since  we  cannot  suppose  him  so  to  have  spoken, 
the  judge  would  have  been  ashamed  and 
amazed,  and  set  him  free.  Yes,  verily,  that 
stood  every  moment  in  the  power  of  his  word 
— but  on  that  very  account  he  keeps  silence. 
Killer's  remark,  otherwise  excellent,  says  too 
little  here,  "  The  truth  must  not  contend  with 
every  lie."  Thait  sacred  dignity  is  very  sub- 
ordinate, which,  however,  was  to  be  observed 
in  opposition  to  frivolities  believed  by  no  man 
in  the  assembly.  We  may  say,  indeed,  on  tho 
one  hand,  that  he  kept  silence,  because  they 
had  7iot  understood  him;  and,  on  the  other, 
that  he  kept  silence  because  they  did  under- 
stand him,  and  because  he  kept  silence.  But 
the  two  reasons  which  remove  this  silence  to 
an  infinite  distance  from  all  self-willeil  or  proud 
refusal  to  speak,  lie  still  deeper.  First,  he  is 
silent  out  of  respect  to  Israel's  highest  judica- 
ture, that  he  might  not  dishonor  it;  thus,  si- 
lent as  a  child  bffore  an  unrighteous  father. 
And,  then,  in  obedient  submission  to  his  heav- 
enly Father's  judgment,  that  he  might  not  de- 
fend himself.     "  The  love  of  life  makes  many 


MATTHEW  XXVI.  64. 


613 


common  people  eloquent  before  their  judges; 
the  desire  to  die  for  us  slops  the  rnoulh  of 
Jesus,  like  a  lamb  before  his  shearers"  (Goss- 
ner). 

His  silence  speaks  powerfully  to  their  con- 
sciences, and  is  the  best  preparation  for  the 
word  which  he  will  say,  when  the  right  time 
for  speaking  is  come.  Caiaphas  is  at  first 
wrathful  that  he  cannot  fasten  upon  this  wiser 
one,  as  he  thinks,  any  single  circumstance  :  he 
soon  becomes  anxious  lest  this  dignified  de- 
meanor of  the  Lord,  who  stands,  keeps  silence, 
and  bears  witness  by  all  the  power  of  his  per- 
sonal presence,  should  at  last  move  some  hearts 
even  in  the  council,  and  their  voices  should  be 
heard  crying  loudiy  for  him.  For,  in  himself 
there  stirs  some  such  sudden  and  unexpected 
impulse:  the  Lord's  silence  presses  upon  him 
the  critical  point  which  he  cannot  evade;  and 
cries  to  him — Hero,  between  us,  there  is  some- 
thing more  than  all  this  in  question.  During 
this  pause,  possibly  not  very  brief,  there  was 
to  the  whole  assembly,  and  especially  to  him, 
the  president  and  leading  spirit,  one  last  appeal 
of  mercy  at  the  extremity  of  its  limits  of  for- 
bearance, one  last  gracious  summons  to  submit 
to  the  judgment  of  the  truth  of  God.  But  let 
us  think  lor  a  moment  what  would  have  been 
the  consequence,  if  these  sinners  had  been 
moved  by  his  silence,  lost  their  consistency, 
and  turned  to  repentance !  This  has  become 
impossible,  and  the  man  therefore  entangles 
himself  in  his  own  iniquity.  The  conclusion  is 
presently  taken  :  the  trifling  with  this  individ- 
ual charge  is  given  up  as  unsuccessful  ;  and 
the  great  central  question  involved  in  the 
whole  must  in  plain  earnestness  be  brought 
forward — to  make  it  the  matter  of  final  and 
most  daring  mockery  and  contradiction.  Many 
methods  have  been  adopted  to  exhibit  the  con- 
nection and  transition  between  the  first  ques- 
tion, Answerest  thou  nothing?  and  the  second, 
which  so  suddenly  breaks  out  with,  Tell  us.  art 
thou  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God?  Of  such 
almost  needless  melhods,  Lange's  is  the  best: 
"Tiie  thought  clung  to  his  mind  that  Jesus 
had  declared  in  a  mysterious  manner  that  he 
would  rebuild  the  temple  ;  that  by  tiiese  words 
as  Weil  as  others  he  had  declared  himself  to  be 
the  Mcmah;  and  that  loo  in  the  highest  sense, 
as  the  Son  of  God.  Thus  he  passed  at  once 
irom  that  false  witness  by  a  single  leap  to  this 
most  formal  and  solemn  impeachment."  But 
it  is  not  necessary,  nor  is  it  sufficient,  to  trace 
any  such  trans'ition  ;  for  this  intervening 
thought  would  itself  be  no  other  than  a  dis- 
guise, concealing  the  ti'ue  application  which  he 
was  constrained  to  make  to  his  own  conscience. 
Caiaphas  feels,  in  the  silence  of  him  who  is 
thus  accused,  something  kingly,  yea,  divine, 
which  iiis  mind  cannot  resist; ""he  must  be  con- 
scious that  the  Lord  will  not  before  his  judg- 
ment enter  into  any  other  question  than 
whether  ihey  would  or  v;ould  not  acknow- 
ledge him  :  there  remains  nothing  to  him, 
therefore,  but  to  make  the  nece-sity  appear  to 
be  his  own  determination ;  and,  though  he  ia 


vanquished,  to  maintain  the  fearful  conflict. 
At  this  decisive  crisis,  when  Israel's  rejection 
of  the  Messiah  must  take  its  most  final  and 
official  form,  there  is  mingled  on  the  part  of 
the  balfied  inquisitor,  a  certain  yielding  with 
the  putting  forth  of  new  daring. 

Mark  speaks  only  of  the  high  priest's  "  a.slv- 
ing  again,"  and  gives  the  decisive  question 
alone -^  but  Matthew  furnishes  the  full  formula 
of  adjuration.  This  was  the  method  among 
the  Israelites  of  proffering  and  accepting  the 
oath  ;  the  appeal  to  God  (and  the  formula  of 
curse  as  the  penalty  of  lying — which,  however, 

I  was  not  ventured  on  now)  was  made  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  answer  made  thereupon  was 

I  received,  without  any  repetition  of  the  oath 
being  regarded  as  necessary  on  the  part  of  tlio 
respondent.  (See  the  great  passage,  Lev.  v. 
1,  which  is  to  be  understood  thus,  though 
Luther  has  not  clearly  translated  it;  and 
compare  Numb.  V.  19-22;  1  Kings  xxii.  16; 
Prov.  xxix.  24.)  "  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living 
God  (in  whose  office  1  stand,  under  whoso 
power  we  all  are;  before  wiiora  also  thou 
standest;  who  knoweth  the  truth  and  judgeth 
between  us  and  thee),  that  thou  tell  ws,  this 
holy  Sanhedrim  now  here  as  before  God,  the 
truth  ! "  Thus  does  he  avow,  bearing  testi- 
mony against  himself  in  this  most  awful  abuse 
of  the  name  of  God;  that  he  hiows  this  God 
as  a  living  God  who  will  not  be  mocked.  He 
testifies  of  his  truth,  even  while  he  is  aiming 
to  get  the  victory  by  a  lie  ;  of  his  power  and 
majesty,  while  he  is  pushing  his  opposition  to 
the  uttermost.  Still  more  :  although  as  we 
have  often  shov«rn,  in  the  general  consciousness 
of  the  people  Christ  and  Son  of  God  were 
by  no  means  identical,  yet  learned  scribe?  like 
this  Caiaphas,  who  was  constrained  here  to  ad- 
mit it,  knew  very  well  the  unity  of  the  two. 
They  knew  that  the  anointed  king  of  the 
second  Psalm  was  the  begotten  Son  o:  God, 
in  whom,  as  in  God  himself,  men  were  to  put 
their  trust;  they  had  been  convinced  and  con- 
fessed, Matt.  xxii.  42,  that  the  king-priest  of 
thellOLh  Psalm  was  the  eternal  and  supreme 
Lord  of  David.  Hence  here,  where  the  form 
of  knowledge  and  truth  (uo'pcpcj(ji?,  Rom.  ii. 
20)  is  extorted  from  the  conscience,  the  two- 
fold expression  is  given  in  one  most  correctly  ; 
just  as  in  Luke  xxii.  67,  70,  they  follow  ea'cli 
other,* and  still  more  solemnly  in  Mark,  where 
the  adjuring  tone  is  somewhat  more  full — Son 


*01shausen  improperly  reduces  the  qnest'on  to, 
"  Art  thou  that  Son  of  God  whom  thou  givest  thy- 
self out  to  be"?  "and  thinks  that  this  wou'd  in- 
volve a  blasphemy,  which  the  mere  declnration 
that  he  was  the  Messiah  would  not.  We  may  say 
with  Von  Gerlach,  "Certainly  Caiaphas  did  not 
intend  the  very  same  wliich  had  been  expressed  in 
the  Christ."  Indeed,  he  used  it  in  the  same  sense 
as  Jesus  had  assented  to;  yet  the  conjunction  of 
C/iris'.  and  Son  of  God  in  one  person  means  not 
merely  "  according  to  thy  assertion" — bit  rests 
upon  a  knowledge  that  in  tlie  Scripture  the  Me.s- 
siah  is  actually  also  the  Son  of  God. 


C14 


FIRST  OFFICIAL  EXAMINATION. 


of  the  li'eii^'l,  as  the  Rabbins  used  NM1  TJIlin 
for  Go.i,  comD.  Psa.  xl.  17. 

I  adjure  thee!  Thus  does  a  mortal  in  the 
dust  speak  in  the  presence  and  before  the 
tlirone  of  the  living  God — notwithstanding 
that  he  sits  as  a  judge — to  him  who  will  pres- 
ently himself  sit  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
majesty  on  high.  Thus  does  a  sinful  rebel 
against  the  grace  and  truth  of  God — notwith- 
standing he  13  called  high  priest — speak  to  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  the  true  and  faithful  wit- 
ness, who  is  himself  one  \\\i\\  the  living  God. 
If  this  man,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  now 
stands  before  him,  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God — what  then?  Will  he  cast  himself  at  his 
feet,  and  supplicate  with  adoring  penitence 
the  forgiveness  of  all  past  opposition?  Oh, 
r.o  ;  then  and  for  that  very  reason  he  is  to 
bo  rejected,  condemned,  and  put  to  death  ! 
Caiaphas  would  only  say — "  Whether  thou 
rimht  Vv/self  out  to  le  such;"  but  because  he 
knows  that  that  would  be  a  lie  in  his  lips,  he 
has  not  at  this  heart-revealing  crisis  the  power 
to  give  it  expression,  however  much  he  might 
■wish  it  to  do  so.  The  living  God  lays  a  spell 
upon  his  tongue,  so  that  he  must  speak  more 
truly  than  he  meant  to  speak  ;  he  is  constrain- 
ed, while  preparing  for  the  last  and  consum- 
mate denial  of  it,  to  confess  the  truth  from  his 
inmost  conscience.  There  is  not,  as  afterwards, 
John  xix.  21,  any  artful  distinction  ;  but  it  is 
literal  and  earnest — Art  thou?  (which  Matt. 
also  has  held  fast).  This  is  still  .the  great 
question  for  our  own  day,  and  it  must  be  put 
before  his  face,  however  much  it  may  be  sup- 
pressed or  avoided  by  specious  and  hypocrit- 
ical polemics.  Caiaphas  asks  not  in  order  to 
ask  furtlier,  to  give  truth  its  honor;  but  with 
the  design  to  make  the  decisive  answer  the  de- 
cisive enormity,  that  the  respondent  may  be  at 
once  condemned  ;  and  therefore  he  v.'as  himself 
the  blasphemer.  But  we  too  often  forget  to 
take  further  into  account  the  actual  conviction 
of  this  same  Caiaphas  that  Jesus  ir.xs  what  he 
had  formerly  said  of  himself;  and  that  he 
would,  thus  adjured,  say  it  openly — upon  this 
foundation  was  the  frightful  scheme  erected, 
to  complete  the  rejection  of  him  who  was  thus 
all  the  time  most  internally  known  and  ac- 
knowledged."- El  du  ti,  "If  thou  art" — by 
tliis  Cv  Caiaphas  means  not  merely  t!ie  man 
who  had  dared  to  arrogate  to  himself  Sonship 
and  erjuality  with  God,  or  the  bound  one  who 
would  be  a  deliverer ;  for  then  it  would  have 
run — i^l  6u  XeyEii  or  Ttoisli  Ceavvuv,  as  in 
John  X.  33.  But  the  undertone  of  malignity 
conjoins  with  the  invoking  cT  the  rejecting  (Sv  ; 
since  it  means,  Thou,  such  an  one  as  we  cannot 
at  all  tolerate — a  Messiah,  who  would  deliver 


*  Pfenninjer  puts  the  dilemma  very  simply  and 
clearly.  "  Either  Caiaphas  lioI<ls  it  possible  that 
Jesus  is  the  Messiah,  and  then  ho  cannot  call  the 
answer  blasi)hemy ;  or  he  really  rejiards  it  as  a 
blasphemy  tliat  Jesus  gives  himself  out  to  be  the 
M>Fsiah,  and  then  he  oucht  uo«  to  adjure  htm  by 
iLo  living  God  to  answer." 


from  .sm-t,  and  not  from  the  Romans — a  Son  of 
God,  who  in  the  gentleness  and  humility  of 
holiness  desirest  our  hearts  for  a  heavenly 
kinedom. 

^  When  tliey  would  proclaim  him  a  Messiah- 
King  of  an  earthlv  kingdom,  Jesus  withdrew 
far  Irom  them.  When  the  devil  put  to  him 
the  question.  Art  thou  the  Son  of  God?  he 
entered  not  into  the  question,  but  worshipped 
as  man  the  only  God.  But  here  where  Caia- 
phas understands  the  question  ahnost  better 
than  Satan  did  then,  he  answers  and  confesses, 
he  surrenders  himself  to  the  cross  and  the 
crown  of  thorns.  That  which  he  had  formally 
forbidden  his  disciples  literally  to  proclaim,  in 
order  to  obviate  misunderstanding  and  clfence, 
he  now  himself  testifies  with  the  utmost  plain- 
ness— 170W  when  the  consequence  will  be  his 
death.  "  Nov;  first  v,-a3  his  great  mystery  entirely 
safe  from  the  measureless  Chialiastic  am!>ilion 
which  had  threatened  to  pervert  it."  lie  looks 
through  the  meaning  of  the  questioner,  con- 
templates all  the  consequences  of  his  affirma- 
tion ;  but  on  that  very  account  he  keeps 
silence  no  longer.  As  an  obedient  Israelite  he 
must  respond  to  the  adjuration  of  t!ie  ruling 
power — under  the  law  to  the  last,  even  when  it 
is  perverted  against  him.  But  he  knev/  lh.e 
counsel  of  his  Fatiier,  also,  as  to  this  hour 
which  had  now  come  ;  and  therefore  he  gives 
himself  up  the  more  readily  by  his — /  awi  he. 
This  "I  am  he"  is  self-sacnflcing  as  it  was  be- 
fore in  the  garden.  But  in  this  same  word  the 
sum,  as  also  the  goal  and  end,  of  his  prophetic 
office  is  involved, 

Mark  gives  correctly  the  fundamental  mean- 
ing ' Ey cj  Eim,  I  dm;  but  Matthew's  2v 
EiTtai,  Thou  hait  said,  is  the  more  correctly 
literal  reply.  Tiiis  is  in  this  place  infinitely 
more  than  the  mere  customary  formula  of 
affirmation  which  occurs  both  among  the 
Greeks  and  the  Rabbis.  In  the  words  which 
followed  "That  thou  tell  us"  Caiaphas  had 
already  expressed  what  they  hicw  concerning 
him,  but  had  determined  not  to  confess;  and 
thus  Christ  also  means — Thou  hast  already  de- 
clared and  avowed  it,  thou  knowest  it  'well, 
without  any  need  of  my  now  telling  you  for  the 
first  time.  Thus  its  meaning  was  precisely  the 
same  as  before  to  Judas.  It  is  further  a  proof 
that  Caiaphas  noio  intended  both  e.xprcssions 
ChTist  and  So7i  of  God  in  their  sole  scriptural 
sense;  for  the  alTirmalion  avows  itself  in  the 
same  meaning  as  the  question.  "They  know 
not  what  they  do."  Tliere  were  some  whose 
knowledge  placed  them  beyond  the  limits  of  this 
intercession  upon  the  cross — from  John  iii.  2 
down  to  Matt.  xxi.  38,  xxii.  16.  Probably 
this  was  the  case  with  most  in  the  Sanheurim; 
at  least  it  was  so  in  the  case  of  Caiaphas,  hence 
the  singular  in  John  xix.  11.  And  there  are  to 
this  day — they  are  now,  indeed,  more  really 
such  than  ever — conscious  enemies  and  deniers 
of  Christ,  whose  questioning  he  returns  into 
their  own  consciences  with  the  same  Thou  hast 
said. 

AcccTjting  this  judicial  adjuration,  and  thus 


MATTHEV;  XXVI.  G4. 


m 


8W<?ariTig  bv  the  livinc;  Goi3,  Jesus  testifies  not 
only  that  lie  is  \he  Messiah  of  Israelitish  pro- 
phecy, but  that  iherewilh  and  therein  he  is  the 
true  Son  of  God,  in  the  same  "  metaphysical  " 
sense  as  he  had  elsewhere  asserted  it,  in  con- 
formity with  Scripture.  As  he  there  stands 
bound  before  the  vSaiihodrim.  as  he  aiterwards 
hangs  upon  the  cross,  the  declaration,  "This 
Jesns  is  the  Christ,  this  Son  of  Man  the  Son  of 
God!"  is  tolly  to  the  carnal  reason,  a  contra- 
diction to  all  the  Jewish  expectation  concern- 
iniT  the  Messiah,  c;v/a;  and  dxdySaXov  to  ivH 
deistical  notions  of  Gentiie  wisdom  and  natural 
knowledge  of  God.  But  it  is  not  contrary  to 
tne  prophetic  word,  which  isfnlfilkd  and  con- 
summate only  in  its  acknowledgment;  nor  is  it 
contrary  to  the  inmost  prophecy  of  man's  deep- 
est feeling  in  tiie  reason  and  conscience,  wh:ch 
does  not  find  the  "living  God"  again  but 
through  JenHS  C.trist.  History,  finally,  since  his 
crucifixion,  is  the  progressive  demonstra'.ion  of 
the  power  and  the  glory  of  him  who  was  thus 
humbled. 

A  reference  ^o  this  was  a  necessary  part  of 
the  ID Uness  for  fiie  present  crisis,  if  not  of  the 
confesdon  as  such.  For  the  sake  of  this  San- 
hedrim itself,  partly  for  the  few  who  were  still 
susceptible,  and  partly  in  the  superabundance 
of  his  patience  and  love  tor  all  the  rest,  the 
Lord  will  soften  the  harsh  contradiction  be- 
tween his  claim  and  his  present  condition, 
"  that  he,  bound  as  he  was,\vas  the  King  of 
Israel,  and  Son  of  the  Blessed" — by  pointing 
to  the  following  future  of  his  manifestation  and 
glory ;  and  this  would  further  elevate  the  mere 
yea  of  his  confession  into  a  penetrating  testi- 
mony to  their  souls.  Further,  for  all  who 
should  afterwards  hear  this  word  spoken  by 
Caiaphas,  he  adds  to  the  "Thou  hast  said" 
something  more — And  moreover,  I sny  also  unto 
you,  or,  This  much  more  Ihavs  aho  to  say  to  ynu. 
Thus  we  must  understand  the  nXi'/v  as  less  ad- 
versative than  continuous,  being  a  strengthen- 
ing mnreotcr,  furthermore,  vi  addition,  eniinvero. 
Driiseke  refers  to  John  xiii.  30,  31,  as  a  parallel 
crisis,  preaching  that  Christ  was  in  these  words 
glorified:  and  we  may  say,  in  a  certain  sense, 
that  in  the  andpri,  henceforth,  the  aprj,  now, 
is  also  included — for  ?/s  believers  the  glory 
beams  forth  in  the  sublime  crisis  of  this  self- 
surrender.  Yet  for  unbelievers  and  his  enemies, 
to  whom  the  word  was  first  spoken,  it  v/as  not 
intended  in  John's  sense,  but  distinguishes  the 
suhequenl  exaltation  from  the  present  humilia- 
tion— as  the  words  evidently  show.  "He  saw 
now  coming  the  extremity  of  his  shame  and 
reproach  ;  therefore  he  knew  so  assuredly  that 
now  would  begin  (through  the  victory  into 
which  that  would  turn)  his  triumph." 

He  does  not  go  on  to  speak  with  /or  me,  hut 
objective'y,  as  if  elevated  above  himself,  con- 
cerning the  /Son  of  Man,  who  is  now  before  their 
eyes.  This  is  the  necessary  complement  of  the 
subject  of  the  predicate  Son  of  God  ;  and  ifc  ex- 
presses his  humility  in  the  midst  of  his  dignity. 
It  is  at  the  sanie_time  the  conclusive  and  au- 
thentic interpretation  of  this  name,  vrdiich  he 


had  given  to  himself  from  the  beginning  out  of 
Daniel;  for  he  po.nfs  to  Dan.  vii.  lo,  14,  and 
Psa.  ex.  in  their  combination,  taking  the  words 
for  these  scribes  out  of  the  Scriptures.  In 
connection  with  the  oath  put  to  him  he  refers 
to  the  oath  of  God  in  the  psalm,  in  the  same 
psalm  by  which  he  had  just  smitten  their  con- 
sciences. "  Ye  shall  see  me  sitting,  as  I  now 
stand  before  you  while  ye  sit  in  juugment  upon 
me."  At  the  right  hand  of  power — contrast 
with  his  present  weakness — a  description  of 
Almighty  God  himself,  corresponding  with  the 
Blessed,  as  the  R:ibl>iiis  frequently  use  in  the 
same  sense  mun.*  The  expression  here 
deviates  from  tiie  merely  sensible  figure  of 
silting  on  the  right  hand,  and  points  to  the 
thought  which  underlies  if :  hence  the  Evan- 
gelists, entering  into  this,  put  zd  de^id  for 
p^%  comp.  Mark  xvi.  5.     As  we  have  said,  in 

the  sublimity  of  this  word,  he  sits  as  it  were 
already  in  judgment  upon  the  throne  of  the 
glory  of  God ;  but  he  means  now  more  than 
that.  lie  who  sittetk  will  also  come,  and,  hy 
the  prerogative  which  is  God's  alone  in  Scrip- 
ture, but  that  of  tiie  Son  of  Man  in  Daniel, 
upon  and  with  the  clouds  of  heaven  (I\Iatt.  ini 
—Mark  /^era).  Neander  rightly  remarks, 
"  These  words  give  evidence  that  Christ  refer- 
red to  his  coming,  his  coming  in  the  clouds,  not 
only  as  a  description  of  his  future  personal 
coming  again  (as  visible),  but  also  to  indicate 
his  spiritual  historical  manifestation  of  himself 
in  the  government  of  the  world."  In  the  same 
sense  as  Daniel,  John  speaks,  Rev.  i.  7,  of  the 
manifestation  of  the  kingdom,  power  and  do- 
minion ever  increasing  throughout  hurnan  his- 
torv,  which  is  given  unto  him.  Hence  ditdprty 
in  Luke  afterwards  drto  vov  vCv.  They  did 
see  it,  these  to  whom  this  yc  shall  see  was  first 
spoken,  as  all  his  rejectors  down  to  this  day^ 
it  began  with  the  signs  upon  Golgotha,  it  has 
continued  from  Pentecost  downwards,  in  an 
already  visible  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  in 
his  kingdom  (Matt.  xvi.  28;  Mark.  ix.  1).  His 
prophecy  has  not  been  brought  to  naught; 
But,  on  "the  other  hand,  if  we  would  see  this 
aright  we  must  not  overlook  that  all  this  pre- 
liminary coming  of  him  who  still  sits  above,  is 
but  the  typical  prophecy  and  the  preparing 
pledge  of  his  last  visible  coming.  The  two 
mutuallv  illustrate  and  confirm  each  other: 
only  by 'the  faith  which  waits  for  the  promise 
of  thefinal  return  can  we  understand  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord  in  history  ;  only  by  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  this  his  coming  in  history, 
manifest  as  it  is  to  the  eyes  of  even  his  enemies, 
can  we  maintain  our  expectation  and  waiting 
for  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven. 

Pfenninger  has  illustrated,  by  four  positions 
of  his  "impartial"  Zephonias,  the  first  im- 
pression of  the  word  of  Jesus ;  and  has  ex- 
plained at  the  same  time  how  it  was  that  the 


*  Only  in  Luke  xxii.  69  f^oos  rov  Bsov  stand 
expressed  ;  but  the  Vuls;.  (ili)uul»  not  in  the  Cod, 
AiniaUnus)  gives  it  also  in  Matthew  and  Mark. 


'616 


FIRST  OFFICIAL  EXAMINATION. 


sablime  word  did  not  Tiinder,  and  was  not  in- 
tended to  hinder,  the  course  of  the  condemning 
sentence.  First,  "I  never  in  my  life  saw 
enthusiast  so  calm,  deceiver  speak  so  truly  as 
he  spoke  this."  But  then:  "And  yet  there 
never  was  folly  so  foolish  (so  contradictory  to 
ordinary  experience)  as  what  he  said."  Again, 
very  naturally:  "As  respects  the  condemna- 
tion of  death,  there  was  nothing  which  could 
induce  my  own  r:nson  to  hinder  the  judgment ; 
our  laws  must  have  their  respect  paid  to 
them."*  Finally:  "Either  he  dies,  and  then 
he  was  not  the  Messiah,  but  a  deceiver;  or  he 
is  not  a  deceiver,  but  the  Messiah,  and  then  he 
will  not  die." 

The  Apostle,  1  Tim.  vi.  13,  terms  this  confes- 
sionf  of  Christ,  in  contrast  with  Peter's  denial, 
the  good  confesmn  in  a  pre-eminent  and  absolute 
sense ;  and  it  is  a  type  and  pattern  for  us,  who 
must  confess  him  even  as  he  confessed  himself. 
It  is  a  good  confession,  first,  in  its  humble  obe- 
d  ;nce  in  righteousness  before  God  and  man,  and 
is  to  be  imitated  by  us  in  gentleness  and  iear; 
secondly,  in  its  public  testimony  to  the  truth,  as 
according  to  Scripture,  and  we  also  have  to 
seal  our  confession  by  the  sure  word ;  thirdly, 
in  liis  willingness  to  sutler,  without  the  main- 
tenance of  any  personal  defence,  without  threat- 
ening or  returning  injury  for  injur}'.  This  last 
i.s  to  us,  also,  in  our  degree  for  an  example; 
yet  the  Apostle  (Acts  xxiii.  8)  might  in  rebuke 
and  threatening  prophesy — this,  however,  be 
came  not  the  Lord  wnen  he  surrendered  him- 
self to  death  for  the  world.  Certainly,  his 
word  concerning  his  own  future  sitting  and 
coming,  addressed  to  those  who  sat  before  him, 
does  appear  in  a  certain  sense  to  be  "an  ap- 
peal from  their  tribunal  to  the  judicial  throne 
of  God,  as  a  summons  to  appear  before  his  own 
judgment-seat  when  he  should  return  to  judge 
the  world."  But  he  does  not  utter  this  ex- 
pressly ;  he  speaks  this  as  a  ground  of  faith  for 
their  future  hope.  As  in  Matt.  xxi.  IG  he 
breaks  off  the  scriptural  saying,  and  leaves  un- 
expressed the  destruction  of  the  enemies — so  is 
ft  here,  and  this  puts  its  perfection»on  his  good 
ftnd  resplendent  confession.  Think  of  "his 
being  silent  after  such  a  majestic  word  of  thun- 
der. I  will  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  ; 
and  yet  not  one  word  of  wo",  then  to  you!  at 
that  moment  he  feels  in  himself  power  and 
authority  which  no  man,  no  creature,  ever  felt 
— and  is  dumb  nevertheless,  as  a  lamb." 

lie  is  sUenl  again  ;  and  stands  and  waits  for 
his  condemnation.  What  should  now  take 
place  if  he  were  truly  judged  according  to  the 
law  ?  The  immediate  question  was — How  prov- 
est  Ihou  this?  Pie  liad  proved  it,  the  signs 
and  testimonies  were  before  them  ;  but  we  may 
be  bold  enough  to  assume  that  if  now  one  more 


•  Only  a  Joseph  or  Nicodenuis  (of  whicli  after- 
.jrards)  refused  to  agree,  because  tlipy  have  lailh 
already  in  their  reason  and  in  their  conscience. 

f  Not,  ns  is  ppnerally  uiulpr.s'ood,  tlmt  givpn  af- 
terwards before  Pilate.  The  ^ni  Uoyrtov  IliXd- 
toy  Li  on.y  meant  aa  in  the  Aposdes 'CiceJ. 


sign  had  been  officially  required  of  him,  he 
would,  he  must,  have  given  it.  But  thi.i  judi- 
cial assembly  will  not  touch  that  point ;  they 
have  not  observed  the  righteous  forms  from  the 
beginning,  had  appointed  him  no  an  hv^t  or 

advocate  of  any  kind.  In  the  first  crisis  of  hi^ 
question  Caiaphas  had  been  half  overcome,  and 
had  been  constrained  to  this  form  of  question 
against  his  will ;  but  now  after  the  answer  he 
takes  courage  in  the  malice  of  his  wickedness, 
and  brings  the  matter  abruptly  at  once  to  the 
sentence  of  condemnation — this  is  the  second 
great  crisis  in  the  scene,  and  the  most  awful. 
By  a  sudden  dramatic  stroke  he  urges  the  as- 
sembly to  their  vote,  without  investigation  or 
examination  of  evidence,  and  thus  he  drowns 
i  at  the  same  time  the  clamor  of  his  own  con- 
science. Not  as  a  "  pre-concerted  ceremony  " 
(for  the  whole  matter  was  not  so  carefully  pre- 
arranged), but  by  the  inspiration  of  Satan, 
doubtless,  he  rent;  his  clothes,*  as  if  in  horror 
of  the  blasphemy' — instead  of  putting  ttiem  oiF 
before  the  majest^y  of  the  Eternal  High  Priest  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.  Thereby  (as  Jerome 
said)  the  typical  high-priesthood  was  rent 
asunder;  and  soon  would  the  veil  also  be  rent 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  with  the  destruc-* 
tion  of  the  temple,  when  the  body  of  Christ 
was  broken.  He  hath  apoleii  Idasjyhemy !  So 
cries  he  in  consummate  hypocrisy,  as  in  John 
xix.  7.  But  he  thereby  himself  blasphemes, 
and  sins  agai:-,st  the  Holy  Ghoit.f  If  Jesus 
was  not  the  Son  of  God,  then  was  Caiaphas 
right.  But  Caiaphas  well  knew  who  was  right 
and  who  was  wrong;  he  therefore  urges  the 
precipitate  7>?r-judgment,  instead  of  going  on 
to  the  proper  question— Is  this  confession  of 
Jesus  blasphemy  or  truth  ?J  Again — What 
lurther  need  have  we  of  witnesses?  betrays  his 
guilty  conscience,  before  he  magisterially  de- 
crees— Ye  all  are  ear-witnesses!  The  assem- 
bly understood  him — the  last  hypocritical  word, 
as  if  the  possibilily  of   doubt  was  assumed, 


*  Td  ifidria  instead  of  tlie  singu'ar,  as  fre- 
quently. This  was  not  contrary  to  the  law  of  Ley, 
xxi.  10  ;  for  that  referred  either  (but  improl  ably) 
only  to  the  sacred  vestments  at  the  the  time  of  sac- 
rifice, or  (mor3  properly)  only  to  lamentation  lor 
the  dead.  We  se%  in  1  Mace.  xi.  71,  and  in  sev- 
eial  passages  of  Scripture,  that  high  prie.^ts  rent 
I  heir  garments;  indeed  Sepp  (iii.  474)  tells  us 
that  it  was  prescribed  to  them  actual. y  that  they 
should  rend  them  from  bcloiv  upw.nds. 

f  Six  high  pness  are  recorded  in  Scnptnre  as 
having  sinned  (Aaron,  Eli,  Abialhar,  Uriili,  or 
Ahaz,  Seraiah  in  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  Joshua, 
Zecli.  iii.),  but  Cainphas  the  seventh  surpas.seil 
them  all.     So  Jean  d  E.-'pagne. 

X  The  parallel  passages,  John  xix  7,  and  x.  Z'), 
suflicienlly  refute  ili°  strimoe  and  obstinate  opin- 
ion which  half-orthodox  diViiies  maintain,  thni  Son 
of  God  is  he:e  equivalent  only  to  Christ,  and  that 
Jesus  was  called  a  blasphemer  not  on  that  hc- 
count,  but  on  account  of  "the  appearing  in  tlio 
clouds,  and  sitting  on  the  right  hand  !"  Liiku 
xxii.  69,  70  is  qnot-d  tor  this,  but  in  reality  testi- 
fies the  very  reverse. 


LUKE  XXII.  67-70. 


617 


What  think  ye?  is  followed  by  the  voice,  not  of 
the  majority  but  of  all,  eoruUmnivg  him  to  die. 
Tlius  Israel  condemns  their  Messiah,  rebellious 


man  his  God.  Bnt  in  the  wonderful  counsels 
of  c;race  above,  the  guilt  of  all  sinners  and 
their  doom  is  laid  upon  the.Kedeemer. 


THE  SECOND  OFFICIAL  AND  COMPLETE   EXAMINATION  IN  THE   MORNING. 
(Luke  xxir.  67-70.) 


After  the  first  condemnation  to  death  the 
assembly  broke  up  in  wild  triumph  ;  and  the 
most  daring  began  at  once  with  the  mockery, 
spitting,  and  other  indignities  which  were  con- 
tmued  by  their  servants.  The  Evangelists 
speak  of  these  things,  but  draw  a  veil  over  the 
worst  scenes  (which  preachers  on  the  Passion 
should  not  e::patiate  upon),  only  giving  some 
few  as  an  example.  Meanwhile  it  is  broad 
day ;  and  they  once  more  take  him  before  a 
full  council,  as  Luke  plainly  records.  Luke 
xxii.  66  is,  indeed,  not  absolutely  one  and  the 
eame  with  Matt,  xxvii.  1  and  Mark  xv.  1 ;  for 
their  dvjii/3ovXiov  T^aiufidvetv  or  Ttoiely,  the 
taking  counsel,  would  rather  indicate  the  con- 
tinuation of  their  secret  delibemtions,  issuing 
in  the  result  that  he  must  at  once  be  led  before 
Pilate ;  yet  even  these  parallels  hint  at  a  re- 
newed assembly  in  more  complete  form,  before 
which  a  renewed  examination  would  itself  be 
probable  enough.  Further,  the  indignities 
(which  strictly  agree  in  the  "Prophesy  who 
13  it  that  smote  thee?")  took  place,  according 
to  Matthew  and  Mark,  aftrr  the  examination, 
according  to  Luke  lie/ore  it;  unless  therefore 
we  assume  these  to  have  been  repeated,  or  as- 
sume one  or  other  account  to  be  incorrect,  the 
examinations  cannot  be  made  identical.  Gro- 
tius,  who  maintams  this  last,  took  6vyijxOi)  in 
Luke  for  yy  evvayo/iievov  :  but  the  suppo- 
sition of  only  one  examination  is  encumbered 
by  still  greater  difficulties  :  the  words  of  our 
Lord  in  Luke,  especially,  when  closely  and 
penetratingly  considered,  cannot  by  any  means 
be  interwoven  or  connected  with  the  sublime 
answer  in  the  other  two  Evangelists.  If  v.'e 
suppose  the  answer  in  Luke,  vers.  67,  68,  to 
have  preceded,  there  must  be  inexactness  in  the 
whole  ;  for  Luke  represents  it  as  immediately 
following  the  question,  Art  thou  the  Christ? 
which  would  then  be  introduced  too  early. 
This  would  altogether  disturb  the  profound 
psychological  and  historical  truth  of  (he  tran- 
sition from  silence  to  the  confession  demanded 
upon  oath,  as  we  have  expounded  it.  It  would 
confuse  the  whole,  also,  to  regard  the  question 
and  response  as  having  begun  again  in  the 
eame  examination  from  the  very  beginning. 
There  is  no  need  of  any  "  softening,"  for  the 
"  rather  harsh  absolute  silence  "  of  Christ  to 
the  first  question  of  the  high  priest,  as  01s- 
hausen  thinks;  to  regard  Luke,  vers.  67,68, 
fts  such,  hurts  the  sense  and  robs  it  of  its  en- 
ergy and  force.     If  the  two  accounts  must  be 


identified,  the  words  of  Luke  must  necessarily 
be  taken  as  not  strictly  historical  and  exact."* 
For  a  mere  "mixing  up"  of  things  which  oc- 
curred at  one  time  and  occurred  again  at  any 
other,  is  too  much  at  variance  with  the  strict 
historical  tone  of  the  whole. 

We  hold  with  Rambach,  Bengel,  and  Lange.t 
thai  after  day-break  there  was  the  first  formal 
arid  complete  assembling  of  the  council,  and 
that  then  occurred  what  Luke  here  narrates. 
The  expressions  in  Luke,  ver.  35,  plainly  show 
this.  (Certainly,  the  dvyjyayov,  th©  true 
reading  instead  of  (XTtriyayov,  is  not  to  be 
understood  of  the  Conclave  Oazl'h  or  any  other 
locality  on  the  temple-mountain  ;  for,  as  By- 
najus  observed,  John  xviii.  28  is  decisive  against 
this,  declaring  that  Jesus  was  led  to  the  pra3to- 
rium  by  Caiaphas.)  They  are  troubled  lest  the 
first  assembly,  deficient  in  number,  should  not 
have  suflicient  validity  ;  probably  also  the  or- 
dinance which  we  find'  in  Sinhedr.  cap.  iv.  g  1. 
and  Sohar.  p.  56  held  good,  that  all  nVi^'SJ  "'^T 
should  be  begun  and  ended  DV2,  in  the  regular 
day  (see  Lightfoot,  JIoi-w,  ad  Matt,  xxvii.  1), 
indeed  that  capitil  condemnation  should  not  be 
pronounced  on  the  same  day  as  the  examina- 
tion (Carpz.  ApparaL  p.  578).  Be  this  last  aa 
it  may,  the  repetition  of  a  second  and  more  se- 
cure examination  was  necessary  in  order  to  the 
utmost  appearance  of  formality  ;  and  it  would 
aflford  a  further  opportunity  of  ascertaining 
whether  any  thing  could  be  extracted  from  Jesus 
more  suitable  for  a  charge  before  Pilate— as 
will  be  seen.  J  There  is  evidently  in  the  answer 
of  Christ,  Luke,  ver.  67,  an  appeal  to  some- 
thing which  had  already  pass-d,  to  what  he 
had  told  them  before.  This  very  thing  is  enough 
to  show  that  Luke  passes  over  a  first  exami- 


*  Besides  that  it  would  not  bo  true—li  I  tell  you, 
ye  believe  it  not. 

■|-  Ke  refers  to  the  fact  tliat  in  the  first,  imper- 
fect examination  according  to  Mark,  ver.  64,  all 
consented  to  the  judgment  of  death  ;  that  there- 
fore the  dissent  of  Joseph,  Luke  xxiii.  51,  required 
a  f^econd  and  complete  examination.  But  the 
itavz!:i  is  generally  not  to  be  taken  so  rigoious'y, 
for  see  the  same  in  Luke  ver.  70.  B.-Ciusius  (on 
John  xviii.  13)  declares  himself  for  a  second  ex- 
amination accoidiug  to  Luke. 

:j:  The  disciples  could  not  watch  one  hour  with 
Jesus — his  enemies  wake  to  tiieir  earnest  work 
the  whole  night.  See  here  man's  strength  to  evil, 
his  weakness  to  good. 


618 


SECOND  AND  FULL  EXAMINATION. 


nation,  which  he  takes  for  granted  ;  if  this 
which  our  Lord  had  told  them  had  been  said 
in  an  earlier  part  of  the  same  examination, 
Luke's  beginning  his  narrative  in  the  middle 
would  be  unaccountable. 

The  first  address  runs  not  as  the  Vulg.  has 
incorrectly  translated — //'  thou  art  the  Christ, 
tell  us  :  but  the  et  is  a  simple  question  of  itself, 
num.  "  We  afk  thee  most  solemnly,  and  once 
more  over  and  above  all  former  questioning."'* 
Note,  as  Lange  rightly  sf  es,  the  j/olidcal  signifi- 
cance of  the  crime  is  alone  brought  into  promi- 
nence in  the  "  Chrid  ;"  "  the  "  S'jn  of  God," 
which  the  vehemence  of  the  moment  had  ex- 
torted from  Caiaphas,  is  at  fir^t  prudently  left 
out  of  sight — though  in  ver.  70  they  bring  it 
forward,  being  urged  by  their  zeal  against  his 
"  sitting  at  the  riglit  hand."  Thus  every  thing 
has  an  unforced  explanation,  in  harmony  with 
the  mind  of  the  people  as  it  vibrated  between 
cunning  and  fanaticism.  The  Lord  alone  re- 
mains self-possessed  and  tranquil,  even  while 
altering  his  demeanor.  Ke  speoks  now  once 
more,  as  a  testimony  that  he  did  not  keep  si- 
lence or.  the  former  occasion  through  any  con- 
tempt, and  fulfilling  on  his  part  the  obligations 
of  justice.  But  his  justice  is  most  characteris- 
tically in  direct  opposition  to  this  hypocritical 
judicial  process.  Tiiey  would  make  the  legality 
of  their  sentence  all  the  more  firm  through  a 
complete  assembly  in  broad  day — but  to  him 
they  have  lost  their  character  as  builder,'^ 
through  their  rejection  of  the  corner  stone. 
Their  office  has  no  longer  any  validity  in  hi.^ 
eyes,  since  they  have  termed  his  testimony  a 
blaspheming  God,  and  have  condemned  his  in- 
nocence. The  high-priestly  garm.ent  is  torn. 
Therefoie  he  now  speaks  to  them  as  to  private 
persons,  just  as  to  Annas  ;  he  humbles  himself 
so  low  as  to  lament  in  sorrow  over  their  un- 
righteousness, in  which  one  thing  only  stand.'^ 
firm — not  to  believe,  not  to  let  him  go !  Com- 
pare the  complaint  of  the  prophet  Jer.  xxxviii. 
15.     Is  not  all  this  now  plain  and  intelligible? 

Verse  67  refers  primarily  at  any  rate  to  the 
previous  examination,  and  is  expres.'-ed  ^vlth 
the  highest  and  most  marvellous  gentleness — 
after  the  deeper  experience  of  suffering  through 
their  mockery ;  for  when  he  told  them,  they 
blasphemed  that  it  was  blasphemy,  truly  be- 
cause they  would  not  believe  it.  But  the  word 
is  (hen  a  general  glance  back  upon  his  whole 
official  teaching  from  the  outset,  during  which 
he  had  so  often  told  them  in  vain  by  word  and 
work  what  they  now  asked.  "  If  ye  believe 
not  my  whole  lite  which  has  hitherto  said  Yea, 
to  what  end  is  it  to  say  it  again  now?"  Thus 
might  we  refer  the  clause  to  the  prc.-^ent — If  I 
told  you  now  once  more ;  but  yet  we  cannot 
but  feel  that  something  must  have  preceded, 
which  gives  the  expression  its  present  appro- 
priate form. 


*  "  As  it  were  superfluously — probabljP  also  for 
the  sake  of  the  memSers  who  had  come  in  since." 
So  I'riiseke  verj-  tru'y  ,  they  should  and  would 
all  of  theia  hear  it  themselves  from  bis  ii  is. 


Verse  68  is  so  interpreted  aa  if  the  Lord  br 
an  un.seemly  pre-judgment  only  asserted — If  I 
now  wished  to  ask  you,  ye  would  not  ansver' 
m^e.  This  is  involved  in  the  meaning,  but  not 
so  that  he  from  the  beginning  declined  the  in- 
terrogation permitted  ;"  the  pre-supposition  in 
this  aoristical  sentence  is  founded  upon  ante- 
cedent facts.  Thus  it  is  not  as  the  Vulg. 
translates — Siaiitem  et  interro'/ovn-n,  nnn  refnxm- 
dthids  mihi,  as  before,  non  credefis  (instead  of 
which  another  reading  has  credi(is).  But  the 
second  clause  continues  the  allusion,  belore  re- 
marked upon,  to  all  that  had  taken  place  be- 
fore this  night  of  judgment,  and  presses  upon 
their  minds  by  lay  ds  7(al  apiMiri-OM*  llow 
often  many  of  themselves  had  left  unanswered 
his  penetrating  and  demonstrating  questions, 
and  therefore  how  certainly  nothing  was  to  bo 
expected  from  such  a  course  rep'eated  now. 
As  regards  Annas,  we  may  remember  the 
Lord's  conversation  with  him,  in  which  t!ie 
only  answer  was  his  being  struck  :  but  tliei 
Lord  especially  reminds  tliem  of  the  public 
questions  of  these  last  days,  such  a.s  Wat',  xxi. 
25  (when  they  had  come  to  him  in  a  hrff-ofi-i- 
cial  manner),  Matt.  xxii.  45,  etc.  We  may 
supplement,  with  Brandt's  Bibe'. — But  I  ask 
on  mine  own  part,  Wlierefore  ye  do  not  believe 
my  saying — and  thus  he  gives  it  to  be  nnd"r- 
stood  that  it  was  for  him,  in  reality,  to  exain- 
ine  and  judge  them.  "What  benignity^  to  de- 
scend to  this  position  in  relation  io  them, 
after  the  fearful  judgment  o:  the  night  i  That 
ye  would  let  me  go,  acquit  mef — this  was  not 
(o  be  thought  of  Thus  he  Testifies  that  he 
knew  full  well  their  loregone  conclusion  and 
deciee:  and  therefore  the  futility  of  all  ques- 
tioning and  examination. 

Verses  69,  70.  He  nevertheless  repeals  the 
former  word,  that  they  may  have  no  excuse; 
that,  they  may  not  think  him  to  have  uttered 
ilie  same  words  on  the  former  occasion  inroiigii 
any  fanatical  elevation.  This  was  the  last 
time  on  which  he  called  himself  Son  of  JTan. 
He  who  had  been  smitten  and  spat  r.;;on  ad- 
heres to  his  confession  ;  after  as  before  tiiese 
indignities  he  cries,  that  he  will  sit  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  This  changes  now  their  previous 
determination  ;  they  break  loose  upon  liim  with 
mockery  (not  believing,  as  he  hail  said),  and 
bring  forward  the  loftier  predicate,  before  sup- 
pressed :  And  art  thou  then — that  is,  ^VdkU 
thou  actually  to  be  the  Son  of  (Jod  ?  (Liter- 
ally: TJiou  poor  man,  vain  in  thy  imagining, 
assertest  thyself  to  be — i)  He  concludes,  m 
his  unweariable  patience  and  equanimity,  with 
his  repeated  /a»?,  now  even  strengthened  (as  be- 
fore by  the  thou  host  said)  by  a  comprehensive  ya 
sny  it  which  looks  round  upon  all :  your  repeat- 
ed question  recoils  upon  your  own  con.science3, 
ye  have  no  other  response  to  give,  ye  are  as 
assuredly  convinced  in  your  own  minds  as  ye 


*  This  K(xi  is  certflin!y  genuine,  or  at  any  ral3 
consistent  with  the  sen;;'*. 

t  For  neither  are  these  concluding  words  to  bo 
given  up. 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


619 


are  detern.ined  to  hold  the  truth  in  unbelief. 
The  art  d^es  not  belong  to  XeyETE  as  if  citing  ; 
but  (as  in  John  xix.  37)  introduce-?  the  new 
testimony  and  confession  of  our  Lord  himself, 
exhibits  his  incontrovertibly  being  such  as  the 
reason  of  their  perfectly  foolish  questioning, 
denying,  and  mockery  ;  and  this  had  the  same 
ibrce  as  an  affirmation. 

Thus,  to  make  one  more  remark,  he  has  sev- 
erally answered  the  two  questions  in  their 
present  separation,  whether  he  was  the  Christ 
and  whether  he  was  the  Son  of  God.     Touch- 


ing the  first,  cunningly  advanced  alone,  he  bad 
given  a  repelling  and  indirect  answer ;  the  sec- 
ond, which,  however,  was  the  decisive  one,  ha 
once  raore  answered,  for  the  honor  of  the 
Father  in  the  Son,  by  a  similar  benevolently- 
uttered,  filial,  and  plain — I  am  he  !  The  ^finale, 
ver.  71,  runs.  Thou  boldest  to  this — we  hold 
also  to  our  former  words.  In  which  conclu- 
sive repetition  of  what  further  need  have  we  of 
witnesses?  there  is  to  be  observed,  with  all  its 
malignity,  a  certain  angrv  vexation  and  em- 
barrassment. 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 
(Matt,  xxvii.  11;  Mark  xv.  2;  Luke  xxiii.  3;  John  xviii.  34-37.) 


Bound  again,  more  straitly  now  that  in  open 
day  he  is  to  go  through  the  streets,  Jesus  is,  as 
he  had  foretold,  delivered  up  to  the  Gentiles. 
This  was  indeed  a  main  element,  according  to 
the  counsel  of  God,  in  the  every  where  signifi- 
cant process  of  the  Passion.  Jesus  stood  be- 
fore the  governor — though  bound  and  charged 
he  stood  firmly,  and  with  dignity;  plainly 
speaking,  whether  by  silence  or  by  testimony, 
what  he  had  to  say  to  the  representative  of 
this  world's  power;  so  that  he,  at  once  a  reli- 
gious and  philosophical  indifFerentist,  could  not 
without  effort  deem  it  a  ridiculous  thing  that 
this  man,  this  Jew — should  be  a  king.  Even 
king  of  the  Jews,  and  at  the  same  time  of  all 
the  true  in  all  the  world  (what  a  contrast!), 
in  a  sense  which  even  the  proud  Gentile  cannot 
but  ponder  and  feel.  In  fine,  what  these  Jews 
and  high  priests  had  desired  in  their  cunning 
to  keep  too  much  in  the  background — that  he 
was  the  Son  of  God — breaks  out  in  the  pre- 
sentiment of  this  Pilate  as  a  voice  and  a  power 
from  another  world,  even  before  the  word  en- 
forced from  the  Jews  gave  him  expression 
with  which  to  clothe  it — JloOev  si  dv  ;  Whence 
art  thou  ? 

How  grandly,  with  what  inexhaustible  depth 
of  truth— not  only  for  the  then  historical  rela- 
tion of  the  Jewish  and  heathen  world  to  each 
other,  but  for  all  to  this  day  who  stand  like 
Pilate  before  Christ,  while  Christ  seems  to 
stand  before  them  for  examination  and  rejec- 
tion— how  historically  and  poetically  in  his 
]>erfect  representation,  with  what  a  union  of 
simplicity  and  art,  does  this  Jewish  fisherman 
John,  who  has  hitherto  described  only  the  con- 
flict of  the  Light  of  the  world  with  the  Jews, 
give  once  more  by  a  few  strokes  of  his  pencil 
the  first  testimony  of  Christ  to  the  Gentile. 
But  it  is  not  John,  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit  direct- 
ing his  pen,  that  gives  us  these  genuine  acts 
of  Pilate — the  true  acta  Pilati,  in  opposition  to 
those  which  well-meaning  Christians  for  the 
honor  of  their  Saviour,  or  his  enemies  in  con- 
tempt of  him,— invented  and  gave  forth  as 
Buch. 


Ponfim  Pilate,  the  sixth  governor  of  Judcoa 
from  the  time^  when  these  were  appointed,  is 
here  entitled  vysixoov,  though  this  was  more 
than  his  real  dignity.  He  was  only  eTrirpoTto?, 
Procurator;  in  his  exceptional  case  Procurator 
cum  potestate,  with  judicial  jurisdiction.  He 
resided  when  he  came  to  Jerusalem,  at  the 
feasts  more  especially,  in  the  former  palace  of 
Herod,  which  was  now  his  Prmtorinm.  Thither 
repair  the  whole  multitude  of  them  (Luke) 
early  in  the  morning  with  Jesus  ;  their  object 
being  now  to  obtain  a  confirmation,  or  defini- 
tive pronunciation,  of  the  sentence  of  death,  as 
swiftly  as  possible,  because  of  the  feast-day.* 
They  do  not  enter  the  Roman  Prtetorium,  the 
most  hateful  house  of  the  Gentiles  in  Jerusalem; 
they  allege  with  highest  hypocrisy  the  Passover 
as  their  reason,  avoiding  in  the  midst  of  their 
impure  works  the  contamination  which  enter- 
ing a  house  out  of  which  the  leaven  had  not 
been  cast  would  occasion  ;  not  setting  their 
foot  on  the  place  where  all  their  desires  have 
gone  before  them.  Pilate  comes  out  to  them, 
not  "awakened  by  the  tumult,"  but  on  their 
proper  summons:  either  this  was  due  to  their 
customs,  and  might  at  any  time  be  required  of 
him,  or,  which  is  more  probable,  his  good  na- 
ture or  curiosity  might  induce  him  to  be  thus 
ready,  though  ordinarily  he  was  careless  and 
tolerant  on  such  matters.!     The  fact  that  this 


*  Lampe  thinks  that  "  from  Caiaphas,"  which^ 
however,  refers  only  to  the  house  or  locality,  indi- 
cates that  Caiaphds  himself  for  di<inity"s  sake  had 
remained  behind ;  but  this  is  improbable,  and 
contradicts  the  synoptical  report.  It  is  very 
doubtful  whether  "  they  themselves  went  not  in  " 
suggests  the  contrast  that  Jesus  was  sent  forward 
as  the  herald  of  their  coming.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  text  to  warrant  Krummacher's  view  that 
they  thrust  Jesus  bound  within  tlie  portal ;  wa 
rather  read  in  ver.  33  plainly  enough,  that  Pilatei 
then  first  called  Jesus  and  received  him  into  hia 
presence. 

\  Not  "  the  proud  Roman  bends  " — as  if  this 
was  the  first  token  of  that  cowardice  which  was 
the  fundamental  trait  in  his  charac'.er. 


620 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


was  the  time  of  the  Passover,  and  that  the 
whole  Older  assembleii,  intimated  to  him  at 
once  that  this  was  some  important  matter — 
"  some  arrested  culprit  who  must  die  before  the 
feast."  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  this 
supposition  was  really  in  his  thoughts,  and 
only  dissembled  in  the  question — What  accusa- 
tion bring  ye  (with  such  strange  zeal)  against 
this  man  ?*  Scarcely  did  he  already  mean, 
as  Luther's  marginal  note  runs,  "  It  is  marvel- 
lous that  ye  can  have  any  thing  to  say  against 
a  man  so  celebrated  for  goodness."  For,  even 
if  he  knew  any  thing  about  the  "person  "  and 
cause  of  Jesus,t  he  probably  knew  nothing  of 
Jesus  by  sight.  Rather  we  may  regard  "  against 
this  man"  as  expressing  the  simple  and  un- 
biassed impression  which  this  person  now 
brought  before  him  made  upon  his  mind;  he 
knows  nothing  as  yet  more  than  he  sees. 
Weak  and  prostrate  as  he  was,  after  his  conflict 
and  seizure,  there  was  something  innocent  and 
even  exalted  in  his  aspect — it  is  the  first  move- 
ment in  Pilate  of  the  appeal,  chap.  xix.  5,  and 
the  question,  chap.  xix.  9 — as  if  he  intuitively 
thought,  "  Never  have  I  had  before  me  for 
judgment  and  condemation  such  a  man  as  this." 
The  Jews  understood  the  question  in  some 
such  way,  and  therefore  they  oppose  his  doubt 
with — If  he  were  not  a  malefactor,  we  would 
not  have  brought  him  unto  thee  now.  Thou 
seest  that  we  are  all  here,  the  matter  is  as  im- 
portant as  it  is  pressing — make  brief  work  and 
ratify  the  condemnation  already  pronounced. 
We  ask  no  more  than  this  slight  and  becoming 
act  of  complaisance.  We  come  not  so  much  to 
make  a  charge;  we  come  as  judges,  and  as  sucii 
infallible  :  thou  seest  who  are  before  thee.  We, 
the  whole  sacred  Sanhedrim — and  wouldst  thou 
enter  upon  a  new  investigation  of  the  ma.tter? 
Thus  would  they  impose  their  own  mind  upon 
him,  determining  for  him  beforehand;  but  the 
wrong  and  the  pride  of  this,  which  is  too  olten 
made  prominent  alone,  is  dexterously  softened 
by  the  courtly  intimation — We  would  not  bring 
to  thee  an  unfounded  charge,  in  demanding  of 
thee  (for  such  is  our  purport)  a  sentence  of 
death.  "  We  trifle  not  with  the  governor  of 
the  land."  But  they  had  not  rightly  calculat- 
ed this  time.  Their  specious  sigh  over  the  in- 
iquitv — He  is  an  evil-doer,  their  affronting  de- 
mand— Enter  into  no  inquiry,  find  no  acceptance 
with  Pilate.  Though  much  is  said  of  the  injus- 
tice of  Pilate  (perhaps  through  Jewish  hatred 
too  much),  and  Philo  in  particular  says  that  he 
often  condemned  people  unheard,  yet  on  this 
occasion  he  was  not  so  unjust,  or  he  was  re- 
strained by  the  counsel  and  guidance  of  God 
from   putting  confidence   in  this  lofty  assem- 


*  This  is  still  and  must  ever  be,  tho  first  and 
last  and  most  impressive  question  to  all  enemies 
of  the  Lord. 

f  Which  cm  hardly  be  denied;  but  it  is  not 
probable  lliat  ho  already  knew  of  "  the  designs  of 
the  priests  agains  Jesus  " — became  he  grrnled  the 
Cohort  for  the  seizure  of  Jesus,  as  is  generally 
said.     Tliis  last  is  not  necesuarily  to  be  assumed. 


blage:  the  points  of  accusation  must  become 
public  in  a  proper  judical  process,  in  which  the 
civil  and  merely  human  innocence  of  "  the  Son 
of  God"  must  be  fully  vindicated.  We  regard 
it  as  only  natural  that  the  Roman  docs  not  at 
once  place  himself  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Jews;  this  is  a  most  characteristic  mark  of 
truth  in  the  history.  According  to  Josephus 
the  respect  paid  to  tlie  high  priest's  office  and 
position  had  sunk  to  a  very  low  point;  Pilate 
had  often  had  occasion  to  mark  the  party  ha- 
tred of  these  rulers  of  the  Jews  (Matt,  xxvii. 
18),  so  that  the  assurances  of  this  venerable 
body  were  of  very  little  value  in  his  own  eyes. 
Their  words  might  very  easily  be  inverted— If 
we  had  not  been  malefactors,  we  should  not 
have  delivered  tins  innocent  one  unt.o  thee. 

But  Pilate  retains  his  moderation  and  his 
place,  and  gives  them  only  the  t-aunting  answer 
which  is  re'corded  in  John  ver.  -'^l.  Although 
he  marks — for  the  iMivered  unto  thee  would  make 
it  plain — that  it  is  a  question  of  death,  he  seems 
hard  of  apprehension,  and  takes  the  word 
malefactor,  xcxKonoioi,'*'  in  a  less  rigorous  sense 
(comp.  1  Pet  ii.  12,  14;  iii.  16),  and  ironically 
(as  if  they  had  deferred  to  him  more  than  was 
necessary),  concedes  to  them  that  they  may 
take  him  and  punish  hiiu  according  to  their 
law.f  They  feel  the  point,  but  put  up  with 
the  taunt  in  order  to  accomplish  the  r  purpose; 
they  humble  themselves  to  the  most  submissive 
confession — Thou  knowest  well  that  we  maij  not 
put  any  one  to  death  IJ. 

Now  we  must  certainly  interpose  the  fiist 


*  Or,  according  to  a  reading  preferred  by  many, 
Kanov  7toia)y — which,  however  does  not  com- 
mand itself,  for  we  naturally  expect  a  definite  and 
customary  teiin. 

I  We  cannot  otherwise  understand  this  fii-st  de- 
claration of  Pilate.  Ei-ummacher  finds  in  this 
the  contpmptible  conduct  of  tiie  man  who,  con- 
trary to  justice,  gave  up  the  Redepia -r  to  death, 
his  pilial)le  attempt  to  evade,  and  so  forth ;  but 
we  regard  his  view  as  alto^etlier  unpsychological 
and  inexact.  Souchon  puts  it  in  a  more  a(  cept- 
able  form,  though  different  from  ours,  when  he 
calls  "  the  word  an  ironical  (luestion  ;  '  Am  I  to 
e.xecute  your  judgmenf?  If  ye  examine  alone, 
tlien  condemn  alone,  if  ye  ran.'" 

^  This  word,  extorted  from  their  bitter  anger, 
is  so  plain  that  it  decides  the  question  a.s  to  the 
right  of  the  Jews  of  that  day  lo  execute  a  capi- 
tal sentence.  The  fathers  denied  this  through 
ignorance  upon  the  yioint  of  liistory,  and  therefore 
expounded  i  ho  words  in  a  forced  and  unsatisfac- 
tory way.  That  even  if  tlie  Jews  in  fjiiettions  of 
their  religion  had  the  independent  power  of  execu- 
tion, they  had  reasons  in  the  case  of  Jesus  lor  not 
assuming  it  before  the  people,  is  a  matter  ajjart ; 
this  ovdeva,  no  in^n,  is  plain,  and  .igrees,  as  with 
the  Gemara  (wlipr.'  the  loss  of  criminal  jurisdicnon 
is  unchronologically  relerred  to  the  common  date 
for  many  things — forty  years  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple),  so  also  with  the  Romiin  law, 
which  required  in  Qwcvy  pi  evince  that  a  bentence 
of  deatii  should  be  at  any  rate  confirmed.  Whiit- 
ever  may  be  said  on  the  other  side  may  bo  easily 
explained. 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  i: 


621 


specific  accvisation  of  Luke  xxiii.  2,  as  distin- 
guished from  a  subsequent  one  after  the  confes- 
sion of  Jesus,  which  is  referred  to  in  Matt,  xxvii. 
12,  Mark  xv.  3-5,  and  coincides  with  Luke 
xxiii.  5.  The  Judges  now  come  forward  because 
they  must,  as  complainants.  There  is  no  Ter- 
tullus  (Acts  XXIV.  1),  to  speak  for  them  ;  they 
themselves  are  now  the  fahe  wit7i£'ses.  They 
betray  that  they  have  jve-jwlged  him  (which 
in  a  political  question  was  not  their  province), 
when  their  strong  we  have  found  puts  forth  the 
lying  declaration — All  has  been  investigated  al- 
ready, we  have  the  proofs.  Of  the  three  points 
of  accusation,  the  first  is  half  true;  the  third 
quite  true  in  its  right  sense;  the  consummate 
lie  13  interposed  in  the  middle  in  order  that 
out  of  the  whole  a  confused  false  witness  may 
arise.  The  perverting  the  nation,  diadrpstpov- 
ra  To  e'Qyoi  (comp.  Exod.  v.  4  ;  Num.  xxxii.  7; 
but  especially  1  Kings  xviii.  17,  Sept.),  had  a 
political  sound,  according  with  Pilate's  late  ex- 
perience of  the  Galileans  ;  but  the  truth  (which 
the  reading  i'Oyo';  j'juayy,  our  nation,  seems  to 
betray),  was  that  this  Jesus  turned  away  the 
people  from  them.  "  He  who  so  seizes  upon 
the  people  by  his  discourses,  that  we  cannot 
get  a  hearing  ;  who  feeds  them  with  bread  in 
the  wilderness,  while  we  must  shut  up  our 
granaries  ;  who  drives  devils  out  of  them  which 
have  no  regard  for  us."  He  says  that  he  is 
Christ  a  king — certainly  quite  true,  when  right-  j 
ly  understood.  But  the  daring  lie,  (he  contra- 
diction of  which  they  had  heard  to  their  con- 
fusion from  his  own  lips,  comes  in  the  middle,  j 
in  the  clause  which  puts  an  evil  appearance  upon  i 
the  pei-verting  t/ie  nation,  and  would  find  its  con-  1 
firmation  in  the  truth  of  the  third  point,  giv- 
ing his  heing  a  king  a  political  perversion  ! 
Verily,  these  liars  lie  well,  but  yet  there  is 
here  as  ever  a  certain  folly  in  their  lying.  For 
the  "forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Cresar  "  had 
either  passed  into  actual  overt  act  (as  the  first 
charge  hinted),  but  then  Pilate  would  have 
long  known  this  without  any  "  we  have  found" 
of  theirs;  or  else  it  was  only  a  saying  or  teach- 
ing on  his  part — but  then  it  would  not  be  very 
dangerous  in  itself,  and  moreover  their  <y>m 
guilt  as  well  as  his,  as  the  Koman  well  knew. 
The  points  on  which  they  are  altogelher  silent, 
are  well  exhibited  and  commented  upon  by 
Tobler :  "They  say  nothing  of  the  entry  into 
Jerusalem,  which,  however,  might  have  been 
most  speciously  objected  before  Pilate  ;  they 
keep  silence  about  the  cleansing  of  the  temple, 
which  yet  was  the  strangest  thing  in  the  life  of 
the  Saviour;  they  say  nothing  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple,  the  ambiguity  of  which  had 
been  one  cause  of  their  own  condemnation  of 
him.  But  especially  are  they  cunning  enough 
to  suppress  the  Woe!  Woe  !  which  he  had  de- 
nounced upon  them  ;  and  most  cunning  of  all  to 
conceal  all  his  wonderful  works,  concerning 
which  it  might  probably  occur  to  them  that 
Pilate  would  not  altogether  adopt  their  expla- 
nation of  Beelzebub's  aid." 

But  what   they  do  say  seems  suspicious  to 
the  wary  Puoman,  who  knows  the  relations  of 


his  ofSce  ;  he  knows  that  I  here  must  be  some- 
thing else  behind.  "  Pilate  knew  too  ni-i'/h 
about  the  Jewish  expectations  to  suppose  1;':i.i; 
the  Sanhedrim  would  hate  and  persecute  one  w  ho 
would  free  them  from  the  Roman  authority  ' 
(Pfenninger).  "  He  de.^pises  their  simulation 
of  the  character  of  good  citizens,  for  on  this 
head  he  knows  them  too  well  "  (Dniseke).  The 
man,  whom  he  sees  before  him,  tnis  man  %cho 
said  that  he  toas  Christ  a  king?  Pilate  not  only 
knew  the  Jewish  hope  in  the  [Messiah,  but  he 
doubtless  knew  also  concerning  Jesus,  who  for 
some  time  had  been  partly  celebrated,  partly 
opposed,  as  the  Messiah,  whose  entire  public 
life  had  fallen  within  his  own  period  of  office, 
whose  last  entrance  had  probably  (though  only 
probably)  suggested  it  to  his  mind  to  inquire 
further  into  the  matter  if  the  matter  proceeded 
further.  Thus  Pilate  now  becomes  aware  that 
he  has  "  Jesus"  before  him,  who  was  reported 
to  have  denounced,  and  so  wonderfully  taught, 
and  more  than  taught,  the^e  hypocrites. 

The  reconciliation  of  John  and  the  Synoptics 
might  almost  be  left  undecided.  The  first  three 
have  collectively  only  one  question  of  Pilate  to 
Jesus,  whether  he  was  tlie  king  of  the  Jens,  and 
only  one  thou  sayest  it  as  the  answer.  Is  this 
the  same  with  John,  ver.  37,  so  that  the  synop- 
tic tradition  extractetl  this  affirmation  irora 
the  entire  colloquy,  and  gives  it  as  the  sum  of 
the  whole?  Or  did  such  a  first  question  and 
answer,  isolated  and  alone,  take  place  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  assembly  before  ihe 
governor  summoned  Jesus  apart  by  him.>elf? 
(Bengel;  "  Pilato  statim  respondet  ")  On  the 
one  hand  the  former  seems  an  inexact  style  of 
narration,  since  the  thou  sayest  of  John,  as  taken 
in  the  connection  of  the  whole,  has  a  different. 
meaning  ;  and  the  sum  of  the  colloquy  as  re- 
ported by  him  concerning  the  kingdom,  and 
concerning  the  truth,  does  not  resolve  itself 
into — "  He  acknowleilged  himself  at  once  as 
King  rf  the  Jews."  On  the  other  hand,  this 
simple,  unmodified  avowal,  as  given  in  the  Sy- 
noptics, before  Pilate,  appears  to  be  scarcely 
befitting  or  simply  true,  the  less  so  as  the  Lord 
himself,  according  to  John,  acknowledges  the 
necessity  of  obviating  all  ambiguity  o.-  mis- 
understanding. We  should  agree  with  Nean- 
der:  "To  such  a  question  Jesus  coidd  not 
answer  simply  thou  sayest,  as  the  Synoptics  re- 
late, for  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Pioman 
meant  this  he  had  not,  and  would  not  give 
himself  out  to  be  a  king  of  the  Jews ;  nor 
would  Pilate  after  such  declaration  have  pro- 
nounced him  to  be  innocent."  The  Bertenb. 
Bihel  strives  to  solve  the  difficulty  by  saying, 
"The  King  of  the  Jews  meant  not  a  temj.oral 
king,  but  a  king  according  to  the  Jewish  sense 
— according  to  Israelitish  ilieology,  a  king  as  pro- 
mised in  the  prophets" — but  we  must  reject 
this  substitution  of  the  true  Israelitish  theology 
for  the  Jewish  notions  of  the  day,  upon  which 
the  Jews  and  Pilate  were  well  agreed,  as  in- 
volving an  untenable  "  mental  reservation  :" 
for  the  objection  might  at  once  be  urged,  that 
Christ  used  an  ambrguous  expression,  he  ua* 


622 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


derstanding  it  spiritually,  but  Pilate  in  a  tem- 
poral senso.  He  who  can  resolve  to  explain 
the  Synoptics  in  this  manner  by  John  may  do 
so,  but  we  cannot.  The  inexactness  in  {heir 
record  would  then  border  on  untruthfulness; 
they  knew,  writing  in  the  light  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  well  as  we,  that  a  mere  affirmative 
would  be  ambiguous  and  unlrue;  nevertheless 
they  so  write  tliat  without  John  no  one  could 
understand  ihem  otherwise.  AVe  think  that 
the  case  stands  thus.  It  has  not  been  observed 
that  in  Jolin's  account,  taken  alone,  tbe  Lord's 
words  have  the  appearance  as  if  he  only  "  spirit- 
ualized" his  Mexsianic  dignity,  which  was  here 
in  question,  and  thus  in  part  denied  it.  But 
that  assuredly  might  not  be  ;  it  was  incumbent 
upon  him,  in  spite  of  all  misunderstanding  and 
false  opinion,  to  atoic  himself  to  ihesie  Jars  in 
op]wsition  to  the  Gentiles  as  their  actual  King. 
This,  therefore,  he  did  at  the  outset,  with  a  first 
public  2v  Af'ysii  (which  is  not  altogether  the 
same  with  ^u  fiTtai  as  we  have  before  ex- 
pounded this)  ;  the  Synoptics  know  or  write 
only  of  this,  and  not  of  the  secret  conversation 
which  then  followed.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  Pilate  would  at  once  take  Jesus  into  pri- 
vate without  any  question  addressed  to  him  ; 
but  the  first  marvellous  answer  which  he  re- 
ceived would  at  the  same  time  be  (he  reason 
why  he  should  ask  the  man  more  confidentially 
the  very  same  question.  The  first  apparently 
ambiguous  and  untruthful  affirmation  of  the 
Lord  is  justified  without  any  "mental  reserva- 
tion " — first,  inasmuch  as  there  was  in  reality 
something  true  in  tiie  Messianic  hope  of  an  ex- 
ternal freedom  (if  they  had  not  themselves 
rendered  it  vain  for  this  time) — and,  next,  by 
the  tone  and  exjire-osinn,  in  which  this  "Thou 
Bpeakest  aright!"  distinguished  as  it  is  from  a 
simple  and  pure  Yea,  was  spoken  by  this  bound 
one,  and  by  which  the  misunderstanding  was 
entirely  obviated.  In  this  Y'ea  of  this  man 
there  lay  at  the  same  time — I  am  he,  but  not 
as  a  rebel  against  Caesar,  not  so  that  I  shrink 
from  thy  investigation.  For,  one  who  is  guilty 
does  not  thus  concisely  admit  at  once  the  main 
point  of  his  accusation — excepting  in  7>?7<Ze,  but 
that  is  infinitely  far  from  the  tone  and  expres- 
sion here.*  In  a  most  strange  and  impressive 
manner  pnsdon  and  calmness  are  opposed  here 
before  Pilate,  so  that  he  suspects  some  peculiar 
and  specific  mystery  to  be  hidden  under  this 
mysterious  Yes  ;  therefore  he  says  in  his  soul 
— That  I  must  hear  for  myself  from  him  alone 
and  in  secret.  Hess  goes  too  far  when  he  says 
that  "Pilate  perceived  by  his  silence  that  he 
would  speak  to  him  alone."  For  it  was  no  si- 
lence, but  an  affirmation,  which  by  its  supreme 
tranquillity  provoked  to  the  uttermost  the  de- 
sire of  this  Gentile  to  inquire  into  and  examine 
this  "King  of  the  Jews." 

Thus  Pilate  leaves  the  accusing  judges  with 
their  tee  have  /uund  standing  without,  because 


•  Berhub.  Ihld:  "Tilate  marks  that  something 
is  behind,  and  thinks — It'  I  had  noth.ni»  woise  to 
Uas  thau  lli.s  man,  I  should  Ml  secure  enough." 


(hey  dare  not  enter — but  his  doing  so  is  a  deep 
mortification.  Lange  thinks  that  he  went  into 
the  judgment-hall  w'lth  a  selection  of  the  Jews, 
who  had  agreed  to  renounce  the  observance  of 
the  paschal  ceremonial  that  day,  under  the 
reservation  that  they  would  celebrate  the  little 
Passover.  There  is  no  trace  of  this  in  John's 
narrative,  which  in  ver.  3S  says  expressly — He 
went  out  again  unto  the  Jews.  There  might 
have  been  Pioman  attendants  ;  but  even  they 
were  necessary  as  an  explanation  of  John's 
knowledge  of  what  passed.  (The  Lord  him- 
self might  have  narrated  these  things  during 
the  forty  days.)  With  a  graciousness  towards 
the  accused  one  which  stands  in  contrast  with 
his  leaving  the  Jews  without,  he  calls  him  to 
himself  within  and  permits  him  to  speak  cr-':- 
dently  before  him  as  a  judge.  This  was  cer- 
tainly no  judicial  examination  in  the  strict  .Irra. 
(for  publicity,  or  at  any  rate  the  presence  of 
complainants  and  witnesses  would  be  necessary 
for  that),  but  a  conversation,  as  with  Annas; 
hence  Jesus  here  as  there,  and  still  more  close- 
ly, speaks  with  a  direct  and  personal  applica- 
tion.* Had  the  Lord  now  begun  to  speak  for 
himself  with  dignity  concerning  his  own  life 
and  his  deeds,  the  w'ickedness  and  falsehood  of 
his  enemies — he  might  have  found  a  ready  hear- 
ing and  obtained  his  freedom.  But  of  this  he 
thinks  not  once.  He  remains  in  statu  confcf,- 
sionis  as  the  King  of  the  Jews,  and  thinks  only 
of  pressing  the  truth  upon  this  Gentile's  heart 
at  this  critical  hour  now  come  :  doing  down  to 
the  last  that  for  which  he  was  born,  and  in 
doing  which  he  dies — testifying  for  his  own 
person  only  as  for  the  truth. 

The  question  repeated  in  ver  S3  by  Pilate  is 
a  good  beginning,  considered  as  a  question  so 
put ;  especially  as  a  confidentially  and  gracious- 
ly repeated  question.  Not,  as  has  been  said, 
altogether  misunderstanding  the  words,  "spo- 
ken mockingly  in  the  spirit  of  lofty  conceit" — 
Art  thou  then,  this  King  of  the  Jews?!  There 
was  but  the  slightest  possible  tincture  of  this; 
the  "Art  thoxi'to  ?"  mcawl  earnestly,  "Thou 
icouUest,  thou  wiliest  actually  to  he  such  ?  Thou 
sayest  still,  as  I  have  heard  with  wonder,  that 
thou  art,  though  bound  and  delivered  up,  Christ 
a  king — ?"  The  whole  process  rested  now 
upon  this  Yes  or  Ko  ;  let  us  hear  the  remark- 
able answer  of  our  Lord,  wliich  noio  for  the  first 
time  says  literally  neither  Yes  nor  No. 

The  accusers  had  not  said  literally  the  King 
of  the  Jtics,  but  Christ  a  ling,  in  order  that  they 
might  not  bring  before  the  Romans,  by  the  use 
of  the  strongest  expression,  one  who  wobld  be 


*  In  another  and  more  general  sense  it  was  in- 
deed an  examination :  and  therefore  Driisekc's 
striking  words  are  true,  when  he  calls  the  exim- 
ination  of  Annas  an  idle,  that  of  Caiaphas  a 
wicked,  and  (hat  of  Pilate  an  extorted,  e.xamiiiation. 
Instead  of  this  last  it  were  better  to  say,  a  neces- 
sitated and  lrie;.dly  examination. 

t  Luthardt  also  finds  only  a  tone  of  mockery, 
•lepr-ciaticn,  and  oven  scoru,  in  llio  2hoh  whicb 
begins  Uie  sentence. 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


6-23 


represented  as  a  Messiah  aiming  to  rule  over  a 
liberated  people.  But  Pilate  naturally  at  once 
fills  up  and  completes  the  expression.  What 
shall  the  Lord  reply  now,  when  Pilate  thus 
throws  himself  into  this  question,  with  a  very 
different  posture  of  mind  from  that  which  asked 
the  first  short  and  concise  one?  He  must 
continue  to  avow  himself  as  the  Messiah,  yet 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  "  king,"  in  the  sense 
of  those  Jews  in  John  vi.  15,  should  be  alto- 
gether declined  and  given  up.  A  mere  Yea 
was  rot  the  simple  truth  which  Pilate  here 
asked  about ;  a  simple  No,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  have  denied  "  the  hope  of  Israel  "  (Acts 
•i.xviii.  20)  before  the  Gentile.  Tlie  meaning 
of  the  word  was  now  the  question  ;  the  only 
thing  therefore  that  he  cottld  say  with  truth 
and  wisdom,  in  order  to  give  occasion  i'or  fur- 
ther development,  was  the  counter-question 
which  we  read — Speakest  thou  this  thing  of 
thyself,  or  did  others  tell  it  thee  of  me?  Many 
very  erroneously  regard  this  question  as  show- 
ing that  our  Lord  had  not  heard  the  accusation 
which  the  Jews  had  brought.  The  position  of 
or  did  others  tell  it  thee  m  the  second  place  in  the 
sentence  opnoses  this  view  of  the  dilemma. 
Further,  the  dilemma  is  not  that  Jesus  would 
answer  in  one  only  of  two  cases,  as  Pikenscher 
e.  g.  explains  it:  "Dost  thou  thyself  believe  it 
(of  which  nothing  however  is  said) — then  it  is 
either  contradictory  to  reason,  for  thou  canst 
not  allege  against  me  any  thing  insurrection- 
ary, and  as  a  v;orldly  king,  I  do  not,  as  thou 
knowest,  stand  before  thee ;  or,  it  is  given  to 
thee  of  God  (as  a  pre-sentiment  and  earnest 
question),  and  then  I  wiil  answer  thee — but  if 
thou  only  repeatest  v.-hat  my  opponents  have 
said  to  thee,  /  have  nothing  to  sny  in  rephj." 
This  is  certainly  incorrect;  for  Pilate,  at  once 
retreating  from  his  good  beginning,  asserts 
that  he  says  what  the  Jews  have  told  him,  and 
yet  the  Lo:d  does  answer  him  even  after  hear- 
ing that,  though  he  would  rather  have  heard 
the  other.  The  whole  means  generally  at  first : 
What  dost  thou  really  under--^tand  in  this  great 
decisive  ques^tion  ?  'What  is  thy  notion  of 
this  King?  Knowest  thou  any  thing  about  the 
hope  of  the  Jews  in  their  Christ,  and  ichat 
knowest  thou?  Thus,  with  Lange,  "Is  the 
expression  of  thy  accusation  thine  own  expres- 
sion in  thine  own  meaning,  or  the  expression 
of  my  accusers  ?  "  When  '\ve  look  closer,  the 
former  of  thyself  (dtp  iavroi,  var.  read,  axd 
dsavrov)  has  a  iico-fold  possitde  pre-suppo- 
silion  in  it.  Not,  indeed,  as  Van  Ess  trans- 
lates, "  Art  thou  brought  to  that  question  of 
thyself?"  for  that  was  not  to  be  supposed,  and 
is  contradicted  by  the  nature  of  the  case.  But 
the  lest  supposable  case  was,  "  Wouldst  thou 
for  thyself  know  in  good  earnest?"  that  is, 
whether  I  am  what  thou  sayest,  what  these 
sav,  what  I  also  say,  and  in  what  sense  I  do  say 
it?  Such  was  the  case  in  the  heart  of  Pilate 
for  one  brief  moment,  and  this  it  v/as  which 
our  Lord  seized  upon  in  his  word.  But  he 
knows  very  wett  beiorehand  that  Pilate  will  not 
remain  faithful  to  that  first  feeling;  and  there- 


'  fore  so  orders  his  testing  question  that  its  first 
clause  penetrates  deeper  at  once,  and  says — 
Hast  thou  thvself,  not  now  as  m::n,  but  as"  the 
godernor  of  these  Jews,  who  can  tolerate  no 
king  over  them,  discerned  and  come  to  the 
knowledge  by  any  facts  of  my  making  myself 
akinsr?  But,  because  this  was  not  the  c;ise, 
and  Pilate  retreats  from  any  earnest  inquiry, 
the  second  point  of  the  dilemma  alone  remains, 
which  Christ  knows  that  Pilate  will  afiirm — ho 
thus  speaks  and  acts  because  the  Jews  have 
told  him. 

Thus  does  he  now,  on  his  own  part,  take  the 
friendly  judge  into  examination.  Because  h^ 
will  not,  and  may  not,  be  condemned  throagli 
any  amhtguity  of  the  word  "king,"  as  it  had 
been  thrust  forward  in  the  wicked  accusation, 
he  begins  to  prepare  the  way  for  distinguishing 
its  true  meaning,  while  he  lays  hold  on  the 
conscience  of  Pilate,  already  somewhat  toucli- 
ed ;  leads  hiin  into  himself,  and  delivers  h'.r.x 
from  all  mere  foreign  suggestion.  A  judge,  a 
man  who  has  to  do  with  truth  in  such  a  re- 
markable and  mysterious  case,  must  not  simply 
give  heed  to  others.* 

Here  we  see  the  first  taint  upon  Pilate's 
sincerity  of  spirit ;  he  escapes  from  the  ppne- 
trating  point  of  this  question,  and  holds  the 
truth  in  unrighteousness.  Pie  evades  it  and 
retreats  :■(  speaks  as  it  were  in  a  lofty  tone  of 
alienation  from  these  Jews,  and  froo:  their  king 
who  would  now  touch  his  heart.  His  first 
question  has  almost  a  scornfal  tone — Am  I  a 
JlW?X  As  if  I  should  with  a  personal  intere.-t 
ask  after  their  king,  tlieir  Messiah — or  leani 
from  a  Jewish  Rabbi  1  Thus  was  it  every  where 
then  in  the  Gentile  world.  Only  the  better 
sort  of  inquiring  spirits  stumbled  no!;  at  what 
was  an  oflence  in  these  Jews  ;  but  they  in  their 
devotion  to  the  God  of  this  people  were  more 
sincere  than  this  people  itself.  Wherefore  had 
not  Pilate  long  ago,  out  of  sincere  humanity, 
instituted  inquiries,  and  made  his  observation 
of  this  Jesus,  v.'hat  kind  of  man  he  was  ?  It  is 
not  probable  that,  as  Tobler  says,  "  only  distant 
reports  had  forced  their  way  into  his  private 
cabinet  of  state,  into  that  place  where  the 
great  men  of  the  world  think  they  have  all 
things  under  their  eye,  but  in  which  the  most 
important  things  of  humanity  are  often  con- 
cealed   from    them,    simply  because   they   do 


*  "  If  Pilate  had  only  !eft  his  conscience  free  and 
disburthened  it,  he  would  not  have  been  so  easily 
carried  away.  How  many  thousands  since  his  tima 
have  been  carried  away  who  have  not  allowed  them- 
selves to  distinguish  between  what  their  own  con- 
vicion  and  experience  teach  them,  and  what  they 
have  adopted  untested  from  the  dec.aiations  of 
others !"     (Rieger), 

f  Krumraacher:  "  With  a  vehemence  which  very 
plainly  shows  that  ho  has  something  withiu  to 
struggle  against." 

i  Comp.  Acts  xvi.  21,  and  Bengel's  note  there: 
"  Ilodiernura  Jtomanitas  Paulo  (Christo)  repugnat." 
But  there  is  more  than  one  kind  of  liomaiiiiai 
which  scorns  the  Jew. 


624 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


not  come  forth."  The  Roman  was  no  snch 
modern  statesman  as  this.  "  Not  unacquainted 
with  Jesus'  manner  of  life,"  as  Hase  admits, 
and  his  whole  demeanor  testifies,  he  was  not 
"ignorant  of  the  Jewish  expectations  of  a  Mes- 
fiian,"  as  the  same  Hase  nevertheless  contends. 
But  he  wU'lS  not  to  know  what  he  knows,  and 
retreats  when  Jesus  comes  too  near.  He  must 
le  brought  back  to  himself,  but  the  result  is,  I 
i'.ii— ;io  Jew  !  What  then  ?  Oh,  if  he  had  been 
a^  Jew,  a  genuine  and  sincere  one  such  as 
Nathanael,  who  asks  not  Whence  art  Own? 
when  salvation  comes,  and  the  truth  bears 
v.'itness  to  itself!  But  he  is  a  worhily-wi.'^e 
heathen,  who  counts  the  worship  of  the  gods 
fit  for  the  stupid  people,  but  will  not  receive 
what  the  wise  had  taught,  from  their  presenti- 
ments, of  the  unknown  God ;  and  thus  has  no 
religion  but  the  slight  so-called  virtue  and 
righteousness  which  in  his  case  was  of  no  great 
value.  Withal  he  is  proud,  for  he  is  a  Roman. 
He  is  a  statesman,  a  servant  of  the  empire,  of 
that  kingdom  which  admitted  the  rights  of  no 
other,  and  was  not  "celestial,"  like  tlie  Chinese, 
but  of  the  entire  orhis  terrarum.  He  is  thus 
from  below  ;  a  ruler  in  the  plenary  authority 
whicli  extends  over  all,  not  excepting  him  who 
came  from  above  and  now  spealcs  to  him — he 
is  consequently  iha  judge  of'tiiis  King  of  the 
Jews.  Thus  he  wilfully  loses  himself,  the  man, 
who  was  divinely  touched  and  attracted  by  the 
God-man  ;  and  in  his  second  question  seems  al- 
most to  assume  again  the  person  of  the  judge, 
asking  wjth  official  air— What  hast  thou  d;nef 
The  Romans  are  concerned  with  what  is  done  ; 
not  with  dreams,  as  the  Jews  are — nor  even 
\yith  wisdom,  like  the  subjugated  Greeks. 
Somewhat  offended  by  the  bold  counter-ques- 
tion, and  with  the  first  rising  of  that  proud 
feeling  which  afterwards  expresses  itself  in 
chap.  xi.x.  10,  he  now  seems  to  sav — There 
must  be  matter  of  moment  in  this.  But  there 
is  something  of  grace,  and  a  continuance  of  his 
condescension,  in  the  words  which  precede — 
The  people  and  the  high  priests  delivered  thee 
unto  me.  This  means.  Thy  people,  thou  mar- 
vellous King,  will  not  have  thee  ;  the  holy 
rulers  and  representatives  of  thy  people  make 
it  thy  offence  that  thou  wouldst  be  their  king 
— "else  I  should  know  nothing  about  thee." 
Speak  tjien,  for  I  will  still  hear— What  does 
this  "King  of  the  Jews"  mean,  with  them 
and  with  thee?*  Thus  the  three  questions  of 
Pilate  refer  to  the  three  points  of  accusation — 
the  first  to  the  title  of  king  ;  the  ?econd  now  to 
the  disturbance  of  tlie  people  and  tlie  exciting 
them  against  Caj«ar,  connected  as  one;  the 
third  aiterwards,  chap.  xix.  9,  to  the  subse- 
quently-introduced fundamental  question — the 
"  Son  of  God." 


*  Pilate's  saying  has  been  understood,  "  In 
what  sense  this  expression  is  used  among  Uie 
Jews,  I  trouble  not  myself."  The  truth  is  just 
the  rever.se,  since  he  is  vexed  at  this  Jewish  mat- 
ter, in  which  he  is  now  to  judge,  and  vindicate  the 
Eoman  r.ghls  as  to  what  has  been  "  done." 


According  to  strict  right  the   Lord   might 
have  once  more  kept  silence ;  but,  because  the 
feeling  of  Pilate's  heart  is,  as  formerly  in  the 
case  of  Nicodemus,  somewhat  better  than  his 
words,  the  merciful  and  gracious  Lord  answers 
him  asain,  and  applies  to  him  a  stiil   stricter 
test,  whether  he  wills  to  and  will  hear.     He 
does  not,  indeed,  give  any  direct  answer  to  the 
proper  question,  wliat  he  had  done ;  still  less 
does  he  begin  to  narrate  his  detds,  those  incon- 
trovertible works  which  had  provoked  the  lying 
contradiction  of  wickedness  to  charge  him  with 
crime.     But   he    gives   directly    the    negative 
answer — I  have  done  nothing  politically  evil  or 
blameworthy,  for  I  am  not  s?/cA  a  king;  and, 
moveover,  gives  positive   declaration    that   he 
nevertheless  has  a  kingdom.     Now  follow  both 
together,  the  No  and  the  Yea  for  the  first  ques- 
tion whether  he  was  a  king ;  and  that  which 
was  once  said  to  the  Pharisees,  Luke  xvii.  20, 
21,  the  Gentile  also  must  hear  in  the  form  in 
which  he  could  best  apprehend  it.    Three  times 
in  succession,  in  heightened  emphasis,  does  the 
Lord  in  his  bonds  speak  of  his  kingdom.     This 
means  infinitely  more  than  Driiseke  has  mis- 
conceived, "A  kingdom  is  mo?t  certainly  my 
desire."*     My  kingdom — thus  he  begins,   thus 
he  continues,  in  royal  style  and  tone  ;  thus  does 
he  avow  himself   to  be  a  king  who  already  has 
a  kingdom,  who  inalienably  retains  it,  and  will 
more  and  more  reveal  and  impress  its  power. 
Ba(ji\Eia  may,  indeed,  signify  government  or 
"ruling."     TiJis,    however,  is   only    included; 
the  fundamental  meaning  is,  My  kingly  dignity 
and  kingly  power  with  its  proper  domain — all 
that  pertains  to  a  king  who  has  not  merely  the 
empty  name,  but  is  an  actual  king.     This  and 
nothing  but  this  must  Christ  necessarily  testify 
in  his  humiliation  before  the  power  of  this  world. 
The  Gentile    universal   dominion,  centred    in 
Rome  and  represented  by  Pilate,  must  know 
that  there  is  a  power  among  men  high  above  its 
domain,  where   it  assumes   to   have   absolute 
sway.     This   power   rules  in  the  world  with 
superior  authority  hecatise  it  is  not  of  this  worUl. 
Thus   there   is   another  world   than   Ihifi :    not 
merely  "a  different  world  from  that  of  Roman 
action,"  for   this  is    far  from  exhausting   the 
meaning   of    this   significant   saying;    but    a 
heaven  above  the  earth,  a  divine  and  spiritual 
world.     The  Lord  tells  the  Gentile  as  plainly 
as  might   be  said  to  him,  in  connection  with 
the  denial  of  his  entire  jurisdiction,  that  which 
"  kingdom  of  God  "  and  "  kingdom  ol  heaven  " 
signified   among    the   Jews.      That   was    the 
wonder  addressed  to  faith  ;  a  domain  of  power 
independent  of  and  above  the  earthly  dominion 
of  the  world,  which  however  entering  into  and 
seizing  this,  gains  and  maintains  the  victoVy  ! 
Indeed,  as  Daub  in  other  words  expounds  it,  the 
natural  mind  of  man,  disbelieving  the  purely 
heavenly  truth,  would  sooner  behold  in  Mo- 


*  Here  one  might  say,  as  Frederic  William  IV. 
reminded  one  who  too  confidentially  torgnt  llie 
right  oxprosion,  and  said,  "If  your  majesty 
would  wish,"  etc.     "  Majesty  does  not  wish." 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


hammed  the  prophet  of  the  one  God,  because 
he  wins  for  himself  and  his  followers  the  power 
of  this  world ;  but  Christ  asserts  the  purely 
spiritual  power  of  the  truth  in  the  presence  of 
tne  highest  earthly  power,  without  using  his 
own  or  his  servants'  hands  to  take  from 
this  world's  dominion  a  penny  of  its  tribute. 
The  judicia'  and  ruling  power  upon  earth  has 
still  a  conscience,  in  which  the  first  and  irre- 
pressible que^iion  is  heard,  as  may  be  seen 
among  the  PLomans — What  is  right?  By  this 
that  power  involuntarily  recognizes  a  higher 
power  above  itself,  a  ^elov,  which  is  altogether 
independpnt  of  man's  caprice  and  all  external 
things.  It  was  not  publicly  said  to  the  Roman 
Procurators,  as  to  the  judges  in  Israel — Take 
heed  what  ye  do ;  for  ye  judge  not  for  man,  but 
for  the  Lord,  who  is  with  you  in  the  judgment 
(2  Chron.  xix.  6 ;  Deut.  i.  17).  Yet  they 
knew,  as  well  as  the  Cassars  who  sent  them  to 
minister  justice  in  their  provinces,  that  there  is 
a  higher  power  above  the  highest  (Eccles  v.  7). 
It  is  to  this  fundamental  feeling  of  right,  and 
consequent  oUigation  and  duty,  that  our  Lord 
appeals,  when  he  bears  testimony  to  another 
kingdom,  which  according  to  its  nature  and 
kind  is  derived  from  another  world.  Daub 
puts  the  case  that  Jesus  had  said — I  am  come 
Dy  my  teaching  and  acts  to  speak  concerning 
duHj ;  and  Pilate  had  replied  in  mockery  or 
doubt — But  what  is  duty  ?  He  remarks  that 
that  would  have  been  the  observation  of  a  con- 
scienceles.«,  trifling  and  unworthy  fool.  But  we 
say,  looking  forward  to  the  close  of  this  col- 
loquy, was  it  otherwise  here?  Should  not  the 
word  concerning  the  kivgihm,  ver.  36,  have 
taught  the  conscience  of  Pilate  to  understand 
what  the  truth  of  ver.  37  was  ?  For,  "he  who 
eays,  What  is  truth  ?  soon  comes  to  say,  Wh;it 
is  right?"  These  two  are  one  at  that  point 
where  the  law,  which  the  heathen  also  have, 
leads  the  way  to  the  Gospel. 

My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  where  vio- 
lence L-.nd  unrighteousness  bear  external  rule, 
where  the  powers  and  the  means  of  this  world 
can  at  most  attain  to  nothing  beyond  the  .sem- 
Umice  of  right  and  of  truth.  By  this  tlie  Lord 
frees  himself  from  all  participation  in  the  vain 
opinions  and  expectations  which  the  Jews  de- 
rived from  the  prophecies  of  the  Messiah;  just 
as  he  had  thoroughly  renounced  them  when 
enduring  the  mockery  of  the  servants  over  his 
powerlessness.  He  had  not  forbidden  to  give 
tribute;  he  had  declined  to  be  a  judge  or 
divider  among  brethren ;  nor  has  the  world 
any  thing  of  the  kind  to  fear  from  his  dis- 
ciples.* But  he  does  therewith  assert,  and 
that  in  the  most  positive  way,  that  he  never- 
theless has  a  kingdom  ;  and  testifies  concerning 
himself  and  his  disciples  (the  subjects  and  ser- 
vants of  his  kingdom)  the  mme  thing  exoteric- 
ally,  in  this  first  witness  to  the  heathen  world, 

*  So,  according  to  Eusebius,  tho  relatives  of 
Jesus  answered  Domitian — "  that  his  kingdom 
was  not  secular  or  eaiLiily,  but  heavenly  and  aii- 
geLc." 


which  he  had  uttered  esoterically,  chap.  xvii. 
14-16,  in  the  mystery  of  his  prayer.  "This  re- 
nunciation is  by  no  means  to  be  put  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  true  prophecies  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  to  whom  alrcndrj  all  power  is 
given,  and  whose  kingdom ^/?/?rt//?/  will  bring  all 
other  power  to  naught;  it  is  very  far  from  re- 
nouncing the  world,  and  all  external,  earthly 
manifestation  and  confirmation  of  his  heavenly 
power.  It  does  not,  as  superficial  expositors 
dream,  here  and  ver.  37,  refer  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  to  the  invisible  region  of  the  heart:  had 
he  not  said  already  before  Caiaphas — From 
this  time  forth  ye  shall  see  him  coming  in  his 
power?  A  purely  internal  dominion,  which 
did  not  control  and  subordinate  to  itself  the  ex- 
ternal, would  be  no  true  king<lom,  and  would 
have  none  of  the  reality  of  the  dominion. 

In  order  to  bring  nearer  home  to  Pilate  this 
marvellous  idea — which  he  passed  bv,  but 
might  have  apprehended  if  he  would— of  a 
kingdom  which  was  not  of  this  world,  the 
Lord  adds  a  word  the  design  of  which  was  to 
say — The  proof  that  I  speak  the  truth  stands 
before  thee  in  my  person,  which  even  in  bond.s 
produces  this  influence  upon  thee.  Behold,  I 
say  unto  thee,  whether  thou  believe  it  or  not — 
I,  the  King,  am  bound  by  my  own  free  will.  If 
my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  I  should  not 
stand — with  this  majes'ty  and  calmness  which 
thou  art  constrained  to  feel  in  the  word  "  viy 
kijigdom" — before  thee  without  defence,  and  be 
thus  accused  unto  death.  Then  would  my 
servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered 
unto  the  Jews.  Let  it  be  observed,  first,  that 
the  Lord  must  now,  alas  !  renounce  these  Jews 
and  place  himself,  though  their  king,  in  oppo- 
sition to  them  as  his  enemies,  and  even  as  hav- 
ing power  over  him.  This  is  the  supplemen- 
tary answer  to  Pilate's  ironical  expression, 
"Thy  people,"  which  admits  that  this  people, 
alas!  hate  and  reject  their  king.  But  what  is 
the  meaning  of  TZapaSuOcS,  he  delivered  ?  Was 
he  not  already  in  the  power  of  the  Jews,  de- 
livered up  to  them  by  the  traitor;  and  ought 
it  not  to  have  been  said — That  I  should  not  be 
further  cMivered  up  tinto  thee  ?  Many  under- 
stand the  words — Then  v/ould  my  servants 
have  fought,  that  I  should  not  have  been  de- 
livered up  ;  then  it  would  not  have  come  to 
this;  they  should  not  have  brought  me  unto 
thee.  U  yycoyiZovro  would  bear  this  mean- 
ing, the  'iya  nr/  napaSoQoo  would  not,  espe- 
cially if  compared  with  chap.  xix.  16,  where 
the  Evangelist  probably  speaks  according  to 
the  very  words  of  Christ.  We  say,  therefore, 
with  Liicke,  that  "Jesus  was  not  yet  (in  the 
sense  here  meant)  delivered  to  the  Jews;  "  and 
hold  to  the  translation — decertarent,  they  would 
fight.  Bengel  says  convincingly :  "  That  I 
should  not  be  delivered — this  was  done  by 
Pilate,  ver.  31."  The  Lord  speaks  by  anticipa- 
tion, warning  the  conscience  of  the  unjust 
Pilate,  though  he  knew  it  to  be  in  vain,  against 
that  which  would  take  place.  He  at  the  same 
time  graciously  indicates  the  Jews,  and  not 
Pilate  who  delivered  him  unto  them,  to  be  the 


626 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


proper  originators  and  agents  of  his  impending 
death. 

Farther,  who  are  the  -Lnrjpsrai,  the  servants 
of  whom  he  spe.1l^s  ?  For,  indeed,  to  a  king  and 
a  kingdom  there  must  belong,  not  merely  sub- 
jects, but  agents  to  maintain  its  authority, 
fighters*  His  poor  and  weak  disciples  have 
teen  supposed  to  be  meant,  but  the  notion 
that  they  might  fight  for  him  is  altogether  in- 
appropriate, even  if  they  are  hypothetically  re- 
ierred  to:  if  he  would  not  speak  about  them 
when  questioned  by  Annas,  wherefore  would  he 
begin  to  speak  about  them  to  Pilate  without 
any  necessity?  It  has  been  said  that  servants 
of  this  world  mu-t  be  meant,  as  the  kingdom 
spoken  of  is  here  assumed  to  be  such.  Conse- 
quently— The  host  of  my  dependents,  who 
hailed  my  entry  into  the  city,  would  have  gone 
further  at  my  will — then  should  I  have  had 
another  and  more  powerful  body  at  my  dis- 
posal, and  all  these  Jews  together  might  have 
Deen  made  my  dependents  !  But  all  this  is  in- 
appropriate, especially  the  latter,  because  in 
the  same  clause  he  places  himself  in  opposition 
to  these  Jews,  who  will  not  have  him  even  as 
their  king,  and  only  as  enemies  desire  to  have 
him.  Tiie  thought  of  Roos  is  a  strange  one — 
"  He  might  indeed  have  been  able  to  bring 
together  a  great  multitude  out  of  Galilee,  Tra" 
chonitis,  Ituraja,  and'  Per£sa — against  those 
Jewish  enemies  in  Jerusalem!'*"  We  think 
that  these  intjijezcxi  must  have  a  specific 
meaning,  and  that  they  must  belong  to  Ids  per- 
son, as  such  being  distinguished  from  the  sub- 
jects whom  he  seeks.  In  the  second  clause  the 
if  it  were  of  this  world  is  not  to  be  taken  in  its 
strictest  and  fullest  sense  ;  but  merely  means, 
witli  reference  to  the  inference  which  was  to  be 
drawn — If  I  went  iorth  to  a  kingdom  after  the 
manner  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world.  Then 
it  is  very  plain — If  that  were  my  will,  my  ser- 
vants would  stand  ready  to  protect  me,  and  to 
seize  tlie  world  for  me.  Can  we  not  understand 
now  what  he  means  ?  They  are,  like  himself, 
ministers  wtu)  are  not  of  this  world  (Bengel) — 
whose  warfare  would  therefore  be  all  tho  more 
effectual  and  victorious.  They  are  the  legions 
of  angels,  of  whom  he  thinks,  recalling  the 
word  which  he  had  spoken  when  he  was  taken. 
Nor  must  we,  with  Lampe,  unite  the  two,  the 
holy  angehs  and  his  disciples ;  they  are  the 
angels  alone.  If  it  is  said  that  this  would  have 
been  language  unintelligible  to  Pilate,  the  ob- 
jection is  not  true ;  for  to  such  a  power  and 
dignity  as  that  of  which  the  Lord  here  speaks 
to  the  Gentih',  such  supernatural  ministering 
agencies  belong,  and  the  heathen  notions  had 
much  that  was  analogous.  It  is,  in  fact,  per- 
fectly appropriate  that  the  Lord  should  direct 
Pilate's  thoughts,  by  such  a  mysterious  expres- 
sion, to  higher  and  more  mighty  contending 
agencies.     Yet  he  speaks  this  word  concerning 


*  Hence,  followinz  the  ordinary  exposition  of 
this  word,  Luther  liiids  in  it  a  confi;niatioii  of  the 
righteousness  of  war  ;  see  Kahler  s  Dnttcn  Lulh. 
Katcchismus,  p.  420. 


the  help  of  his  servants  in  the  same  ppirit  oi 
humble  condescension  as  we  observed  in  Matt. 
xxvi.  53  ;  for  he,  strictly  speaking,  needed  no 
foreign  assistance  at  all.  The  lundamental 
meaning,  however,  is  intelligible  and  plain — 
Thou  seest  that  I  defend  not  myself,  it  is  ol  her- 
wise  than  thus  vvith  my  kingdom.  While  he  thus 
speaks  he  is  himself  lighting  that  good  fight  of 
patience  which  alone  became  him  ;"and  thus  he 
founds  and  wins  for  himself  his  kingdom  in  this 
world. 

Finally,  he  repeats  in  the  third  clause,  and 
with  the  greatest  patience,  knowing  well  how 
hard  it  will  be  to  Pilate,  the  same  truth,  my 
kingdom — not  of  this  world.  At  the  close,  how- 
ever, he  changes  the  expression  into  ivravOev, 
"  from  hence,"  as  it  were  like  a  heavenly  being 
looking  down  upon  the  earth  and  its  kingdoms  ; 
so  that  with  this  we  may  connect  the  commenc- 
ing internal  preparation  for  the  question  of 
the  Gentile — Whence  etrt  thou?  (Fikenscher's 
narrow  interpretation  is  very  unworthy — "  Here 
among  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  I  found  not  my 
kingdom  ;  here  there  are  none  of  its  members." 
It  is,  moreover,  untrue,  for  the  Lord  is  not 
speaking  of  icJiere  but  whence  his  kingdom  is; 
and  it  is  his  will  to  found  his  kingdom  whcre- 
ever  he  testifies  of  it.)  It  is  another  question, 
whether  now  refers  to  time,  and  leaves  room  for 
a  future  in  which  it  would  be  otherwise  with 
the  Lord's  kingdom  than  it  teas  then.  The 
Piomish  exposition,  which  seizes  upon  the  nunc 
autemoi  the  Vulg.  in  order  to  support  by  it 
the  claim  of  the  subsequent  external  secular 
Catholicism  to  be  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  needs 
no  refutation  from  us  ;  but  the  7uno  has  been 
pressed  with  a  good  evangelical  intention,  by 
those  who  have  not,  however,  perceived  the 
true  force  of  the  clause.  Krummacher  main- 
tains that  the  little  word  " noio  "  \)0\nts  evi- 
dently to  a  time  in  which  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  would  assume  a  quite  diflerent  position 
upon  earth  from  the  present;  but  we  ask  ac- 
cording to  the  context — Will  it  actually  be  a 
different  one  from  that  which  the  Lord  described 
as  being  "  not  of  this  world  ?  "  Looking  closely 
at  the  word,  a  kingdom  of  this  world,  en  tov 
Hudnov  rox'zov,  that  is,  kvTEvOev,  hence,  it 
will  never  be  ;  such  a  tacit  opposition  as  that 
maintained,  therefore,  is  impossible.  Thus  the 
vvv  is  here,  as  often,  a  jam  vera,  or  atqui ;  as 
Bengel  says,  an  adversative  particle,  not  refer- 
ring to  time — hat.  According  to  B.-Cru.sius, 
"  But  now,  as  it  stands  " — more  plainly.  Thou 
seest  by  my  standing  before  thee,  without  tho 
fighting  of  my  servants,  of  what  kind  my  king- 
dom is.  It  was  a  demonstration  to  the  eyes, 
which  evermore  goes  on,  in  that  the  mighty 
power  of  his  kingdom  approves  itself  in  the 
world  of  which  it  is  not.  Indeed,  the  cor- 
ner stone  was  rejected,  but  thereby  became  the 
head  of  the  corner :  this  is  the  marvel  before 
our  eyes.  Indeed,  the  rejection  and  external 
powerlessncss  still  continue  ;  but  the  stone  cut 
out  without  hands  smites  the  image  of  earthly 
monarchies  r.pon  its  feet ;  and  it  becomes  the 
great  mountain  which  alone  filleth  the  earth. 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


627 


(Dan.  ii.).  For  if  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ, 
the  world  ceases  to  be  this  world,  and  is  the 
world  to  came  become  present.  But  that  will 
finally  prove  it  to  be  not  from  heiice,  as  having 
overcome  all  that  is  hence. 

This  goes  beyond  Pilate's  ideas  ;  not  beyond 
his  power  of  comprehension  as  such,  if  he  had 
willed,  but  beyond  his  will  to  understand. 
Another  world  !  A  kingdom  and  a  power  from 
thence,  yet  present  here ;  in  the  person  of  this 
King  before  his  eyes  who  refers  to  invisible 
ministers,  and  yet  not  from  hence  ?  •  No  fighting 
with  his  enemies,  who  are  still  his  people,  hut 
entire  surrender  to  them  ;  and  withal  the  unin- 
terrupted power  and  dignity  of  a  king  in  his 
kingdom  ?  A  rcgnum  in  regno  that  must  be 
tolerated  and  acknowledged  ?  This  man— even 
'n  such  a  sense  nevertheless  a  ting?  This 
word,  though  the  Lord  had  not  expressly  used 
it,  clings  to  him  ;  and  his  question,  besides 
being  the  wondering  question  of  a  doubting 
rnan  who  would  know  more,  retains  the  word 
as  being  of  most  concernment  to  him  in  his 
judicial  capacity.  (Thus  it  relaxed  for  a  mo- 
ment the  former  question — What  hast  thou 
done?)  But  it  must  not  be  understood  as  those 
interpret  it,  who,  misunderstanding  the  thought 
and  feeling  of  Pilate  at  the  present  crisis,  re- 
gard it  as  attributing  to  Jesus  the  assumption 
of  the  kingly  title.  Could  such  a  thought  have 
been  entertained  with  regard  to  this  merely 
"anointed"  king,  who,  moreover,  would  not 
that  any  kingdo«i  should  be  fought  for?  Nor 
is  the  common  opinion  right,  "The  Pvoman 
laughs  and  will  not  spare  his  wit."  Nor  that 
of  Luthardt  (who  seems  generally  to  misunder- 
stand and  depreciate  Pilate),  who  says.  "Jesus 
had  not  impressed  his  character  on  the  Pvoman  ; 
he  was  still  no  more  than  an  object  of  ridicule." 
Nor,  again,  that  of  Teschendorf,  who  would 
mingle  something  of  warning  with  the  mock- 
ery— "  Beware  ot  this  incautious  word  ;  it  may 
be  thy  ruin  ! "  But  the  question,  while  it  may 
have  some  very  slight  admixture  of  mockery, 
is  in  its  predominant  feeling  earnest;  other- 
wise the  earnestness  of  the  Lord's  answer 
would  have  been  inappropriate.  "  His  spirit  is 
touched,  the  being  of  Christ  impresses  itself 
upon  him."  He  therefore  says,  in  only  a  half- 
question — Thou  art  indeed  thus  a  king  !  Ovk- 
ovv  is  a  deduction,  not  a  mere  ovkovv.  In 
this  the  momentary  feeling  expresses  itself — 
Thou  seemest  to  be,  and  speakest  like,  one  who 
is  a  king  Irom  above,  as  if  there  was  in  truth 
such  another  world. 

It  is  only  when  we  thus  understand  it,  that 
we  can  seize  rightly  the  sense  in  which  the 
answer  liere  once  more  runs — '20  Xsyeii  ;  not, 
as  was  said  before,  quite  identical  with  2i) 
tinaZ,  and  yet  in  a  good  sense  closely  border- 
ing upon  it — Thou  thyself  feelest  something  iii 
it  to  be  acknowledged  and  confessed,  since  thou 
thus  returnest  to  the  question.  The  ori  whi(;h 
is  connected  with  it  is  no  more  than  Luke  xxii. 
70  dependent  upon  the  ,\.eysiv — Thou  say  est 
it  thyself  that  i  am  a  king;  but  the  testifying 


/  am,  carried  on  by  the  ^Eyoo,  "  I,"  is  the  as- 
sertion of  Christ  himself.  Still  stronger  than 
in  Luke  xxii.  70,  this  on  is  essentially  the 
reason  for  the  snying,  which  is  approved  of. 
LiJcke  agrees  in  this  with  Stenhanus  and  Beza 
— Thou  say  est  \i,for  I  am  a  king  This  is  not 
merely  "justification  of  the  afHrmative"  in 
purely  logical  connection,  but  a  bringing  for- 
ward of  the  enforced  acknowledgment  from  its 
background  in  the  question — I  know  it  well, 
thou  dost  not  really  ask,  thy  very  question  af- 
firms it  unto  thyself,  thou  hast  a  presentiment 
and  feeling  of  it,  because  I  am  a  king.  We 
might,  indeed,  finally  give  to  the  word  of  Jesus 
the  strong  emphasis  which  P^ichter  expresses- - 
"  A  king  /  am — there  is  essentially  no  true 
king  or  ruler  beside  me." 

Now  the  Lord  begins  to  make  a  more  direct 
application  of  his  words  to  the  spirit  of  his 
hearer,  thus  made  attentive  ;  he  gives  him  the 
plainest  and  most  sublime  testimony  m  that 
first  declaration  and  announcement  which  the 
whole  Gentile  world,  and,  indeed,  natural  hu- 
manity generally,  must  hear.  He  no  longer 
abides  in  the  negative,  which  the  former  words 
had  held  fast — A  worldly  king  1  am  not :  but 
adds  to  it  now  the  plainest  positive  assertion. 
It  is  necessary,  however,  that  he  should  speak 
so  that  a  heathen  may  understand.  He  there- 
fore does  not  proceed  at  once  with  the  kingdom 
of  God,  or  call  himself  the  Son  of  the  living  God, 
or  him  who  was  to  come  according  to  Israelitish 
prophecy — although  apostolical  preaching  after- 
wards, resting  upon  the  fact  of  the  resurrec- 
tion and  accompanied  with  the  Holy  Spirit, 
commenced  its  appeal,  with  perfect  propriety^ 
by  the  "announcement  to  the  Gentile  worki  o! 
the  only  God,  and  his  Son  come  into  the  world. 
But  here,  in  opposition  to  the  full  offence  of 
the  humiliation,  powerlessness,  and  rejection 
by  his  people,  of  the  King  of  the  Jews,  the 
Lord  appeals  in  his  word  to  the  most  internal 
feeling  of  a  heathen  coming  to  him  susceptible 
of  good;  and  speaks  only  at  first,  though  in 
that  comprehending  all  else,  of  the  truth.  He 
does  not  appeal  as  yet  to  the  need  of  salmti'm, 
for  sinful  humanity — which,  however,  while 
the  law  and  the  prophets  awakened  a  sense  of 
it  more  fully,  slumbered  in  the  unconscious 
souls  of  all  the  heathen — and  therefore  say,  ex- 
tending already  the  Messianic  preaching  to  all 
the  world.  Salvation  cometh  of  tlie  Jews.  But, 
instead  of  this,  he  assumes  more  elementarily 
man's  practical  need  'oi  his  mind  and  thought, 
that  which  is  most  immediately  felt  and  ac- 
acknowledged  :  Truth — cometh  from  abive.  Thu.- 
does  his  condescending  wisdom  and  love  la\ 
hold  on  that  one  thing  in  this  poor  Pilate  by 
which  br.  might  be  laid  hold  of,  had  he  been 
willing.  The  word  concerning  the  kingdom  was 
spoken  to  the  statesman  and  Roman;  the  word 
concerning  Uie  truth  toUows  for  the  educated 
philosopher  in  the  statesman,  for  the  "  Greek," 
inasmuch  as  the  Greek  element  of  investigation 
and  questioning  after  wisdom  (1  Cor.  i.  22) 
was  at  that  time  blended  with  the  Roman,  and 
even  presented  the  fundamental  character  of 


628 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITPI  PILATE. 


tlie  Gentile  world  prepared  for  the  Gospel : 
hence,  althou.^h  the  power  and  dominion  were 
with  tlie  Romans,  the  Gentiles  in  the  New 
Testament  are  called  not  Romans  but  Greeks* 
Consequently,  the  Lord  lays  hold  of  the  man, 
the  seeking  and  inquiring  man,  in  Pilate,  when 
he  testifies  and  sets  before  him  a  truth,  which 
is  such  unconditionally,  the  only  sure  and  all- 
answerin'^  truth. 

But  t'lis  truth,  if  it  is  to  be  given  back  to  a 
world  sunk  in  delusion  and  doubt,  can  come  to  it 
only  through  a  persm,and  one  who  has  all  the 
truth  in  himself,  who  therefore  can  stand  as  a 
im^  before  every  man,  and  command  the  homage 
to  himself,  of  all  "truth,"  or  all  that  may  yet 
remain  in  man  of  the  truth.  In  the  personal 
consciousness  is  the  contradiction  of  fantasy  or 
doubt;  in  one  personal  consciousness,  there- 
fore, must  the  possession  of  present,  certain 
truth  come  forward,  and  testifying  to  itself 
communicate  the  truth.  That  which  every 
philosopher,  who  deems  himself  to  have  found 
theiinnl  great  conclusion  and  presents  himself 
with  his  doctrine,  assumes  to  be — a  Messiah  of 
knowledge,  a  king  in  the  kingdom  of  thought 
— that  Christ  truly  is  ;  and  in  this  consists  the 
beginning  of  his  Messianic  dignity  and  power 
over  us  as  "  Master  of  instruction."  Still  we 
have  to  mark  tchat  he  teaches,  and  how  his 
"  truth"  is  altogether  and  from  its  first  princi- 
ples, practical  and  redeeming,  the  truth  concern- 
ing mlvation. 

The  reduplicated 'Ex oJ,  the  second  being  a 
'Continuous  resumption  of  the  first,  is  a  very 
characteristic  point  in  the  present  saying,  and 
we  must  not  lose  either  of  them  by  any  various 
reading:  /am  a  king— 7  witness" to  the  truth. 
Thus  now  already — while  Christ  stands  bound 
before  Pilate,  and  declares  beforehand  that  he 
will  be  delivered  to  the  Jews  to  be  put  to  death, 
and  will  surrender  himself  without  the  defence 
of  his  heavenly  servants— no!o  already,  before 
he  sils  at  the  rigiit  hand  of  God,  he  hath  the 
kingdom  and  is  king.  For  even  when  he  sits 
upon  the  throne  of  li'is  power,  he  will  send  forth 
his  servants  equipped  from  above  to  fight  for 
no  other  kingdom  than  that  which  consists  of 
subjects  who  have  been  vanquished  by  the 
truth  in  the  fi-pedom  of  their  spirits.  Grotius 
on  Matt. :  "  When  Jesus  here  confesses  himself 
to  be  a  king,  it  seems  to  me  that  he  cannot 
deny  that  his  kingdom  in  some  wav  had  alnadij 
commenced,  wlicn  he  began  to  leach  the  truth  ; 
for  thus  does  he  interpret  the  kingdom  in  John." 
In  the  "  Inm"  of  his  person,  sanctified  of  the 
Father  and  sent  into  the  world,  tlie  tliree  ofiiccs, 
the  gradual  unfolding  of  which  f^^llowed  after, 
were  already  frum  the  beginning  included  in 
one.  Not  till  the  end  of  the  days  will  it  be  said 
in  all  its  fulness— Tlie  Lord  is'kini,  all  things 
are  subject  to  him  ;  it  was  not  till  his  ascension 
that  he  went  up  to  the  throne  and  assumed  his 


*  Liniie  finds  in  Tcr.  34  the  ceneral  thoimht 
that  the  Romans,  wi'h  all  tlieir  mi^ht  and  energy, 
yet  in  llieir  relijrion,  j)hi!o*;oi>h}',  ami  poetry  lieard 
only  what  others  "  told  ihera."" 


kingdom  (Luke  xix  12) — but  he  is  already  in 
the  prophetic  offi^'e  more  than  a  prophet,  the 
A:i«(7  born  to  be  a  ruler,  and  already  beginning 
to  rule.  In  this  sense  (which  does  not  exclude 
all  that  follows  from  it,  but  rather  pre-supposes 
all  the  rest  as  following  from  it)  the  Lord 
strictly  connects  his  lingli/  dignity  with  his  pro- 
phetic authority,  desiring  now  at  tJie  first  only 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  truth.  He  even 
recommends,  as  much  as  possible,  his  prophetic 
office  to  the  heathen  philosophy  of  the  natural 
man  (who  is  not  already  an  Israelite)  by  adopt- 
ing in  his  language  the  seeming  abstraction 
dXr/Osia,  truth,  which,  however,  for  us  includes 
the  entire  fulness  of  the  living  God  and  his 
salvation.  For,  the  Romans,  the  people  of 
action,  inquired,  in  common  with  the  Greeks, 
to  whose  doctrines  the  conquerors  submitted, 
after  truth.  The  philosopher  in  man — accord- 
ing to  the  best  and  highest  significance  of  that 
beautiful  word — can  only  seek  the  truth,  with  a 
longing  love  for  what  heci^nnot  find  :  it  is  the 
original  instinct,  which  still  remains  in  man, 
and  yearns  for  its  gratification  in  its  original 
reality.  But  Chri.^t  gives  man  the  truth,  or 
bears  witness  for  the  truth.  He  does  not  seek 
it  in  the  fellowship  of  the  great  spirits  of  men  ; 
he  does  not,  like  Socrates,  teach  the  common 
people  about  it;  he  does  not,  like  Plato,  utter 
presentiments  and  poetry  concerning  it ;  but  he 
testifies  in  (he  absolute  sense,  as  he  declared, 
chap.  iii.  11,  in  opposition  to  Nicodemus.  and 
as  the  Baptist,  chap,  iii.  32,  pointing  to  Jesus 
confirmed  his  words. 

Thus  while  he  was  born  and  came  into  the 
world  for  the  redemption  of  mankind,  he  was 
born  and  came  into  the  world  for  this  purpose, 
that  he  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth.  As 
an  announcer  of  the  truth,  he  is  already  "a 
born  king,  no  pretender  or  usurper  of  a  throne ; " 
his  dignity  and  authority  was  his  orignal 
heritage  from  above  and  from  eternily,  in  the 
highest  sense  o*"  the  words  :  for  office  and  per- 
son are  one  in  him.  If  this  hirth  of  a  woman 
placed  him  Iv  vi.ioimuari  on  alevel  with  other 
erring,  seeking,  failing,  sinful  men  (so  that 
the  question  of  doubt  might  be  uttered,  But 
how  comest  thou  to  be  the  sole  son  of  Adam 
who  can  confront  us  with  such  an  assertion 
concerning  thyself?) — we  find  (he  profound 
and  necessary  counterpart  declared  in  his  testi- 
mony. And  come  into  the  world.  The  being  born 
and  the  coming  into  the  world  are  by  no  means 
one  and  the  same,  as  if  Christ  spoke  only  in  the 
common  phrase — improper,  if  strictly  considered 
— which  terms  origination  in  the  world  a  com- 
ing into  it.*  There  is,  moreover,  no  other  dis- 
tinction which  will  satisfy  the  words:  they 
must  be  left  in  their  simply  truth  ;  not  that 
which  understands  "  the  permanent  continuance 


*  In  o:;r  way  of  speak'ng — "  com'na;  into  the 
world  " — there  seems  to  be  an  indistinct  vaaue 
appreliension  of  a  pre-existent  I,  the  or'ginaiion 
of  which  out  of  nothing  we  are  slow  to  receive, 
because  utterly  unable  to  apprehend.  Still  more 
plainly  is  ii,  heard  in  tiie  people's  "  jung  werden," 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


629 


in  the  world  "  after  the  first  "crisis  of  birth  " — 
for  could  that  be  spoken  of  with  eXy'/XvOa, 
I  came?  nor  "the  public  manifestation,  the 
dyddEi^ti;" — for  the  an'itbesis  of  another  world 
in  the  former  saying  is  still  retained  here. 
Least  of  all  does  Lange's  interpretation  satisfy 
the  words — "  Born  to  this  end  alone,  and  to  this 
end  alone  elected  or  sent;  thus  a  king  is  the 
whole  right  a,s  well  of  birth  as  of  election  and 
destination."  For,  a  right  of  election  can  be 
referred  to  Christ's  kingly  dignity  only  in  as  far 
as  the  Father  sends,  appoints,  and  anoints  him  ; 
but  to  a  heathen  who  Knows  not  God,  he  can- 
not say — Sent  into  the  world :  he  therefore  ad- 
heres to  the  simple  "come,"  and  plainly  declares 
himself  thereby  to  have  been  a  personality  of 
divine  origin,  pre-existent  before  his  human 
birth.  Compare  what  has  already  been  said 
upon  John  xvi.  28,  which  is  the  authentic  real 
parallel  of  this  expression.  See  further  chap, 
viii.  42,  23,  58,  iii.  31,  xvii.  5,  2-1.  Born  as  man, 
as  thou  seest  me  standing  before  thee,  a  man  ; 
come,  as  at  the  same  time  more  than  man,  from 
that  other  world  of  which  my  kingdom  is,  and 
of  which,  consequently,  as  thou  mayest  con- 
clude, my  person  also  is.  Here  we  have  then 
the  foundation  of  the  wh£nce  of  Pilate's  last 
question.  Moreover,  the  having  come  from  the 
invisible  world  of  reality  and  certainty  must 
be  regarded  as  a  necessary  condition  in  order 
to  the  testifying  of  the  truth  ;  hence  the  second 
c/5  roCro,  to  this  end,  with  a  stronger  empha- 
sis in  its  repetition. 

That  all  men  who  are  simply  born  into  the 
world  err  from  the  truth  is  a  plain  fact  of  ex- 
perience ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  the 
word  "  truth,"  still  extant  among  men,  testifies 
of  a  reality  which  men  are  seeking.  Thus  it  is 
to  be  remarked,  that  "  Jesus  calls  himself  the 
king  of  truth,  in  the  sense  in  which  all  men  are 
liars" — that  is,  he  convicts  us  of  our  apostacy 
from  the  living  God,  of  our  fall  from  communion 
with  heaven  ;  and  Iience  he  guides  our  falseness, 
opposing  himself  to  us  as  come  from  above  with 
the  truth.  He  does  not  say  here  expressly,  as 
finally  to  his  disciples,  /  am  the  truth  ;  but  we 
must  not,  therefore,  assume  with  B.-Crusius; 
"He  does  not  represent  himself  as  the  rukr, 
but  rather  the  truth  ;  himself  being  its  repre- 
sentative and  ^i<?2Jw^y."  His  express  and  emphat- 
ically-repeated words — ^adiAsvi  elfxi  kyoo, 
iyoD  yEyEvvj]i.iai,  eXijXv^a — declare  what  is 
the  reality,  that  he  henm  personally  in  himself 
that  truth  to  which  he  te.^tifies,  and  consequent- 
ly that  he  is  identical  with  it.  For  he  would 
rule  by  making  the  truth  supreme;  and  the 
kingdom,  in  which  the  truth  'is  made  known, 
is  his  kingdom.  He  does  not  say  bear  Witness 
to  truth,  but,  with  a  fine  distinction,  to  the  truth, 
ry — so  that  he  places  the  truth  in  its  highest 
objectivity,  as  it  were  in  the  place  of  the  living 
God,  and  as  if  above  himself.  But  he  at  the 
same  time  arrogates  for  his  own  per.?ortality, 
which  he  adduces  as  the  fjround  of  the  confident 
tiaprvpslv,  such  a  unity  with  this  truth,  that 
every  one  who  is-so  disposed  may  umlerstand 
it  perfectly  in  the  same  meaning  as  all  that  he 


elsewhere,  especially  in  John,  testifies  for  him- 
self and  of  himself. 

There  is  another  world — that  was  the  testi- 
mony of  the  former  words.  There  is  a  truth, 
which  is  the  truth  simply,  excluding  all  that 
contradicts  it — this  he  testifies  now  ;  also  that 
there  was  a  truth  of  God  for  man's  salvation 
extant  in  Israel,  to  which  it  was  his  office  to 
bear  witness  (but  not  of  itself  the  truth  in  its 
entireness,  Jesus  only  bearing  witness  to  that 
truth,  as  Krummacher  too  strongly  expresses 
it).  We  know  of  course  that  he  means  saving 
truth  in  order  to  man's  happiness,  and  no 
such  system  of  dogmatics  as  remains  in  cold 
and  moonlight  elevation,  leaving  poor  man 
below  still  bound  in  mi.sery  and  contradiction 
with  himself,  and  thus  an  actual  lie  to  himself, 
This  word  here  attests  it,  inasmucli  as  it  is  in- 
deed his  will  to  rule,  to  work  in  the  hearts  of 
his  subjects  obedience  to  the  truth  in  order  to 
the  obtaining  of  a  kingdom  within  them. 
Thus  it  is  with  perfect  propriety,  and  for  the 
present  time  very  appropriately,  that  Tholuck 
makes  this  kingly  word  rebuke  anotlier  word 
of  a  king,  which,  however  ill-conceived  orig- 
inally, has  been  still  worse  perverted,  viz.,  that 
every  man  is  able  to  get  happiness  in  his  own 
fashion.  This  is  the  truth,  witnesse.s  Christ, 
that  I  am  the  redeeming,  restoring  king  of 
humanity,  who  point  the  way  and  give  the 
life;  all  other  is  the  lie,  against  which  I 
bear  witness.  This  is  the  truth  in  which 
we  (according  to  chap.  xvii.  17,  19)  are 
.sanctified,  through  him  who  has  sanctified 
himself  for  us.  His  word  has  this  extension 
even  here;  but  now  he  cannot  at  once  utter 
it  so  fully  and  plainly ;  he  goes  not  beyond 
the  word  appropriate  to  the  beginning  of 
all — Bear  witness  unto  the  truth.  Compare 
the  words  in  the  riyal  Psa.  xlv.  5. 

First  of  all — that  we  may  now  return  from 
the  breadth  and  depth  of"  the  word  for  the 
whole  world  and  humanity  (for  the  truth 
must  be  testified  iv  rcii  xod/ncp,  to  Jews  and 
Gentiles  alike),  to  the  first  apprehension  of  its 
meaning  in  Pilate's  case— first  of  all,  the  Lord 
thereby  told  him,  as  an  answer  to  his  question 
brought  in  afterwards  ■.  "  This  is  what  I  have 
done,  this  is  my  offence;  judge  thou  whether 
it  be  a  crime  or  a  merit.  I  have  borne  witness 
to  the  truth,  as  I  was  born  for  this  cause,  and 
for  this  cause  have  come;  therefore  also  the 
Jews  hate  me,  and  bring  their  charge  against 
me,  hypocrites  and  unjust  as  thou  well  know- 
est  them  to  be.  Then  give  thou  also,  as  a 
judge,  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  fJadiXF.vi  or 
Hai6ap,  honor  to  truth  and  right!"  When 
the  Lord  designated  speaking  (and  acting)  for 
the  truth  as  kingly — "  His  answer  paid  honor 
to  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  as  he  thus  placed 
himself  by  their  side."  For  is  not  that  their 
highest,  their  most  proper  and  true  vocation? 
So  Lange  similarly  says  :  "  Every  king  is,  ac- 
cording to  the  idea  of  the  term,  a  born  and 
called  witness  ;  that  is,  he  was  the  first  histori- 
cal witness  and  champion  for  the  idea  of  his 
kingdom."     But  this  does  not  altogether  touch 


630 


FIRST  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


the  point  which  Daub  had  in  view — The  equal 
obligation  of  all  kings  to  bear  witness  to  that 
one  rightful  truth,  and  truthful  right,  which  he 
represents  who  is  the  King  of  kings,  and  by 
which  it  is  his  will  to  bring  all  kingdoms  into 
subjection  to  his  sway,  and  make  ail  who  rule 
upon  earth  ministers"  of  his  kingdom  (Wisd. 
VI.  1-4  :  Prov.  viii.  14-16).  Let  this  more  fun- 
damentally explain  the  word  above — I  am  a 
kin(/. 

The  Lord,  further,  says  to  Pilate,  indirectly 
at  least — "  I  do  not  deny  or  conceal  it,  it  is  the 
truth  that  I  am  a  king,  and  I  tell  thee  the  pure 
truth  as  to  the  sense  in  which  I  avow  and  wit- 
ness before  thee  the  wiiole. counsel  and  mystery 
of  my  person,  born  and  come  into  the  world, 
and  of  my  whole  course  of  life  and  action  :  all 
this  I  can  no  more  deny  than  I  can  deny  my- 
self. I  stand  now  before  thee,  openly  and 
truly,  that  which  I  am.  Shouldst  thou  be 
willinj];  with  false  kindness  to  open  for  me  a 
way  of  evasion  and  escape — I  am  not  such  a 
one  as  could  adopt  it."  What  dignity,  what 
majestic  serenity  in  the  personal  truth,  come 
down  from  above,  which  stands  here  bound  be- 
fore the  judge. 

Finally,  let  it  be  carefully-  noted  that  the 
Lord  does  not  by  any  means  term  himself  a 
"king  of  the  truth,"  and  his  kingdom  a 
"kingdom  of  truth,"  in  that  superficial,  adjec- 
tive sense  which  is  so  common  in  human  lan- 
guage concerning  it — but  he  uses  the  word,  so 
to  speak,  in  its  strict  substantive  meaning. 
Again,  we  may  say,  if  we  rightly  understand 
what  we  say,  that  the  goal  and  end  of  the 
completed  and  absolute  supremacy  of  his  king- 
dom is  the  supremacy  of  truth  unto  righteous- 
ness ;  but  if  even  this  be  taken  in  its  super- 
ficial meaning,  it  becomes  an  untruth.  It  is  not 
that  "the  end  of  his  mission  is  the  spreading 
of  the  truth  among  men;"  but,  to  sanctify  and 
perfect  men  in  themselves  and  thus  in  the 
truth  of  their  humanity,  that  is,  in  their  re- 
newed fellowship  with  God.  Not  that  "  his 
kidgdom  exists  only  in  the  spread  of  the 
truth ;"  but  this  first  spreading  of  the  truth, 
which  he  here  calls  bearing  testimony  to  it,  is 
only  the  beginning  in  order  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  actual  kingdom.  Neander  is  much 
more  correct :  "  The  witness  to  the  truth  is  de- 
fined to  be  the  means  for  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom."  It  is  almost  like  the  humble 
reply  of  the  Baptist  to  the  What  smjest  thou  of 
thyself?  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
wilderness ;  but  here  the  Lord  speaks  more  as 
a  king  in  the  humilityof  that  truth,  which, 
•while  it  asserts  its  rightful  supremacy  as  truth, 
will  rule  only  where  it  is  acknowledged — I  tes- 
tify, I  speak;  these  are  my  weapons,  this  is  my 
power,  and  this  is  what  I  have  done. 

But  let  not  this  be  despised,  for  it  is  the  high- 
est and  most  important  of  all  authority.  Can 
the  truth  more  royally  reign  than  by  its  testi- 
mony? Is  there  any  king  more  real  than  he 
who  rules  by  the  sceptre  of  his  lips?  If  in  the 
domain  of  falsehood  and  unrighteousness  there 
is  yet  "  a  power  of  words  "  which  is  above  all 


power  of  arms — how  great  must  be  the  powct 
of  words  in  the  lips  of  the  incarnate  Word  him- 
self, how  great  the  victorious  authority  of  the 
self-attesting  eternal  tnitli  !  Here  is  obedience 
and  rule,  and  no  where  else.  In  all  the  empires 
of  this  world  there  is  con5<traint  and  delusion, 
continual  conflict  of  contradiction  ;  but  where 
hearts  and  consciences  obey  in  the  ol)edience  of 
truth,  there  is  true  empire,  and  its  king  has 
true  ohedience.  Not  that  even  this  king  can 
constrain  the  obedience  of  all ;  for  the  power  of 
untruth  is  great  in  humanity,  ami  manife:?t3 
itself  in  many  to  the  highest  extent  nf  contra- 
diction, which  he  now  bears  with  p:itiently,  but 
will  one  day  condemn.  Nevertheless  he  says — 
Every  mwi  that  is  of  the  truth  hearetli"  my 
voice  ;  be  he  who  he  may,  by  whatever  name 
known,  Jew  or  Gentile,  king  or  poor  man. 
This  he  nowspeaks  to  theheartand  conscience 
of  Pilafe,  for  the  time  is  come  when  he  might 
hear;  the  hour  in  which  an  influence  and  a  tes- 
timony comes  to  him  from  above  which  he 
might  obey  if  he  would.  By  no  means  is  it  as 
Bensel  misapprehends — "  Jesus  appeals  from 
the  blindness  of  Pilat"  to  the  susc^itibility  of 
believers;"  but  as  Olshausen  bettc^r  appre- 
hends the  love  of  the  conde.''Cr--iding  Redeemer 
(which  is  quite  consistent  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  it  is  in  vain)  :  "  This  word  was  evi- 
dently intended  to  attract  Pilate  himself,  and 
to  induce  him  to  avow  him-elf  a  subject  of 
Christ  as  a  friend  of  truth."  Of  the  truth  ia 
only  another  expression  for  of  God,  chap.  viii. 
47,  so  that  we  may  refer  here  to  all  that  was 
said  there  and  upon  chap.  x.  27.*  The  condi- 
tion on  the  part  of  men  could  not  be  wanting 
here,  being  in  this  as  in  all  essential.'  He  who 
with  conscientious  sincerity  desires  and  seika 
the  right  truth  for  his  inmost  need,  that  is,  for 
his  help  against  delusion  and  sin,  the  living 
truth  which  is  unto  righteousness,  is  so  far 
already  of  the  truth,  and  will  consequently 
with  a  willing  spirit  obediently  hear  its  voice 
and  follow  it.  Tholuck  :  "  He"  is  a  thoroughly 
and  absolutely  sincere  man  against  himself." 
Lutz  :  "  It  is'  his  kingdom,  which  he  gathers 
together  by  means  of  the  testimony  which  he 
bears  to  it;  it  is  a  kingdom  of  truth,  without 
political  external  force  out  of  the  element  6( 
most  internal  sincerity  of  Vie  mind's  Inns  toward 
God;  a  kingdom  ot  that  highest  truth,  by 
which  man  lays  hold  of  God  himself."  For,  in 
reality,  the  seeking  and  laying  hold  of  God  is 
alone  truth  in  man.  As  certainly  as  man  was 
created  after  God  and  tor  God,  and  is  still  ca- 
pable of  being  brought  back  to  him,  so  certainly 
is  there  s\\c\\  a  "truth"  in  us,  which  goes  out 
toward  that  "  truth  "  which  Jesus  now  bears 
witness  to  and  brings.  Then  it  is  two-fold  and 
yet  but  one,  because  it  is  one  in  its   ultimate 


*  Rut.  not  already  "  a  heitig  horn  of  the  truth," 
as  Fickpr  wrontrly  apprehends  the  expression  in 
f)ne  of  his  otlierwise  beautiful  five  sermons  on  ijie 
Doubters  of  the  Ni-w  Testament.  Tho  first,  pre- 
dominating love  to  trutli  is  far  iVom  being  Ih'?  lull 
living  and  standing  Id  truth. 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


6S1'* 


{principle.  A  man  who  sincerely  seeks  and 
earns  is  indeed  already  a  subject  of  the  truth, 
and  is  prepared  to  be  drawn  to  Christ;  even  as 
all  the  sheep  which  he  already  has  as  the 
Shepherd,  know  him  when  they  hear  his  voice. 
But  the  sincerity  of  a  sinful  man  will  begin 
with  the  feeling  and  consciousness  of  sin,  as 
may  be  seen  in  Cornelius  ;  alas  !  Pilate  here  be- 
comes (he  couuter]iart  and  ojqMsite  of  Cornelius. 
The  sincere  came  then,  and  for  a  while  longer, 
through  Israel,  without  being  oflended  at  Juda- 
ism, to  Christ ;  they  come  now  through  Christ 
to  Israel.  All  these  are  simply  voluntary  and 
free  subjects,  other  than  such  the  heavenly  and 
true  King  desireth  not  ;  but,  glancing  at  these 
through  all  the  world  and  through  all  time,  he 
speaks  now  before  Pilate,  at  once  with  sublime 
resignation  and  all-comprehensive  extension  of 
his  authority — "  Askest  thou  for  my  subjects  ? 
Every  soul,  which  voluntarily  and  of  the  truth 
hearkens  to  my  truth,  is  my  subject  ;  there  are 
few  of  them,  and  yet  every  where  many — if 
thou  wilt  receive  it." 


We  may  now  be  permitted  to  consider  a  lit- 
tle more  deeply  the  result  or  rather  the  result- 
lessness  of  this  witness  to  Pilate,  and  mark  the 
word  by  which  he  replied  to  it;  for  that  word 
must  be  studied  as,  indirectly  at  least,  assisting 
our  proper  estimate  of  the  word  of  Jesus.  Pi- 
late was  not  of  the  truth,  to  hear  this  voice,  and 
to  receive  this  testimony.  Although  his  secret 
feeling  of  divine  things  and  the  truth  wa? 
afterwards  again  impressed  by  the  Son  of  God, 
in  the  veiled  lowliness  of  the  Ecce  Homo,  yet 
his  second  rejection  of  the  truth  was  already 
prepared  for  and  decided  in  his  first  rejection. 
What  is  truth?  This  is  his  question;  did  he 
put  it  "after  having  kept  silence  and  pondered 
a  while?  "  This  seems  to  us  scarcely  probable  : 
but  it  is  possible,  and  that  would  then,  alas  ! 
only  aggravate  his  guilt.  Every  thing  depends 
on  the  spirit  in  which  we  put  this  question. 
There  are  some  who  would  do  no  more  than 
«sk  :  their  delight  is  to  seek,  everlastingly  to 
seek  and  never  to  find.  They  (according  to 
the  well-known  avowal  of  Les'sing)  would'  re- 
ject the  right  hand  with  the  truth  offered  in  it, 
and  ask  rather  the  left  hand  with  I  he  joy  of 
seeking  and  forever  straining  after  the  truth. 
There  are  those  who  make  for  themselves  a 
truth  in  the  stead  of  that  which  is  genuine, 
and  then  either  indolently  repose  upon  it,  or 
angrily  quarrel  about  it.  There  are  those  who 
vainly  imagine  that  they  have  found  it,  or 
vainly  deny  that  there  is  any  truth  to  be 
found  ;  and  others,  again,  who,  with  the  great- 
est folly  of  all,  leave  its  existence,  or  non-ex- 
istence, an  undecided  question  in  their  own 
minds.  There  are  those,  finally,  who  seek  and 
ask  with  such  intense  earnestness,  that,  sooner 
or  later,  the  answer  cannot  escape  them.  To 
tiiese  last,  Pilate  certainly  did  not  belong — to 
which  class  then  are  we  to  assign  him  ?  "  Con- 
cerning his  philosophico-judicial  humor,  noth- 


ing is  canonically  decided" — we  most  admit' 
with  Kleuker,  yet  we  may  freely  state  our  own' 
opinion  under  correction. 

First,  it  is  certainly  true  that  he  did  not  ask" 
in  earnest ;  not  "  with  intent  to  wait  for  and 
receive  an  answer,"  or  to  be  able  to  apprehend 
better  that  which  he  had  received  ;*  for  he  does 
not  give  time  for  any  reoly  at  all.  And  when 
lie  had  said  this,  writes  John,  he  went  out  again 
to  the  Jews.  Thus  his  seeming  question  was" 
not  so  much  an  actual  question  as  an  exclama-' 
tion,  self-answering,  and  ending  the  matter/ 
"  The  question  was  thrown  out  as  any  thing' 
but  a  question  " — says  Lange.  Thus  we  can-' 
not  attribute  to  this  questioner  even  "curios-' 
ity,"  that  perilous  and  yet  ofttimes  useful  suc- 
cedaneura  of  a  desire  to  know.  His  abrupt 
breaking  off  is  itself  the  "  holding  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness"  (Rom.  i.  18) — for  otherwise 
he  would  have  thought  more  deeply  and  fixedly 
of  the  profound  solemnity  of  this  universal 
question  for  every  man,  and  v;ould  have  await- 
ed the  answer,  which  had  already  been  offered; 
as  supplying  the  need  of  his  soul  ;  he  would 
have  men  smitten  and  held  fast  by  the  internat 
consciousness  of  his  own  uncertainty  in  the 
(iresence  of  this  confident  one,  and  of  his  owri 
guilt  in  the  pre.sence  of  this  innocent  one  ;  he 
would  at  least  have  brought,  instead  of  this  vagud 
and  desultory  no-question,  his  own  best  and 
deepest  questionsotconscience.astheSamaritan 
woman  had  done.  Yea,  then  would  Christ' 
have  given  answer — and  what  an  answerf 
would  the  world  have  received  from  his  lips  ! — 
an  answer  of  which  it  was  not  worthy — a  root 
and  centre  word,  inconceivable  and  unsearch- 
able by  us,  uniting  in  a  new  light  all  that  the 
entire  Scriptures  now  testify  in  answer. 

Pilate  did  not  ask  his  question  as  a  philoso- 
pher, strictly  so  called,  who  had  without  satis- 
faction investigated  all  existing  systems.  In- 
deed, it  would  not  necessarily  follow,  even  in 
that  case,  that  he  would  be  willing  "  to  occupy 
liis  mind  about  the  system  of  Jesus  in  addition' 
to  all  the  rest;"  for  Jesus  was  a  Jew,  and,' 
moreover,  he  who  has  been  disappointed  a  hun- 
dred times  would  be  rather  disinclined  to  hear' 
for  the  hundred  and  first  time.  But  such  a 
view  of  the  procurator's  mental  education  is 
itself  historically  improbable.  Certainly  he 
did  not  throw  out  the  rejecting  question  as  a 
man  "  washed  with  all  waters  "  in  theory  and 


*  This,  however,  was  the  opinion  of  many  of 
the  fathers,  and  followed  by  E'asmus,  Grotius, 
etc.  Immediately  alter  puttina  the  que.^tion,  it 
struck  h's  mind  how  much  time  was  nt>cessary  for 
the  reply — hence  he  sought  first  to  set  Jesus  free, 
that  he  ni'ght  afterwards  hear  him  turther.  Gro- 
tius says — "  He  a^ked  hy  he  way,  but  not  )o  press 
the  inquiry ;"  and  Lampe,  "  With  singular  insta-' 
bility  he  immediately  changed  his  mind."  But 
such  change  of  mind  in  two  successive  moments 
is  altogether  unimaginable. 

t  Far  above  all  human  thoughts,  according  to^ 
which  Tauler  thought  that  one  could  not  better' 
answer  such  a  question  than  by — truth  it  truth. 


WHAT  IS  TRUTH? 


practice,  in  system  and  life.  Thus  not  as  an 
absolute  doubter,  as  is  sometimes  said,  or  as  a 
systematic  skeptic  ;  for  as  such  he  would  have 
said  still  more  proudly  and  decidedly,  either  at 
once  or  in  addition  to  his  question.  There  is  no 
truth.*  That  is,  indeed,  the  fundamental  mean- 
ing of  his  word,  but  still  it  is  not  spoken  alto- 
gether in  that  style.  Further,  we  are  scarcely 
justi6ed  in  attributing  to  the  unhappy  Pilate, 
as  a  historical  personage,  any  thing  like  con- 
scious mockery,  as  if  he  heedlessly  said — "For- 
sooth, thou  speakest  of  truth  !  "  He  does  not 
seem  to  speak  in  the  "common  and  frivolous 
spirit  of  such  mockers,"  at  a  crisis  which  had 
certainly  been  preceded  by  a  moment  of  deep 
impression  :  there  is  a  certain  undeniable  tone 
of  sorrow  to  be  discerned  in  his  abrupt  break- 
ing oflf.  It  is  not  Pilate's  will  to  mock  of  set 
purpose;  and  yet  it  resolves  itself  into  that, 
because  he  does  not  yield  himself  to  the  ear- 
nestness of  the  question — and  in  that  lay  his 
sin.  "The  Roman  feels  himself  moved  and 
pressed  by  conscience;  but  he  mocks  back  his 
neart's  best  feelino;3"  (Pape),  For  notwith- 
fttanding  the  weight  of  meaning  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  word  truth  by  this  questioner, 
who,  seeking  no  reply,  recoils  as  it  were  from 
his  own  question,  there  is  yet  in  the  question 
itself  "  evidence  of  a  certain  latent  contempt 
of  the  truth  in  his  heart,"  and  indeed  contrary 
to  the  truth  of  his  heart.  His  instant  aston- 
ishment echoes  the  great  word  which  he  had 
heard,  and  puts  it  again  in  the  form  of  a  ques- 
tion; but  the  next  feeling  gives  it  an  ironical 
tone — What  is  it?  Ficker'.s  arrangement  is  in 
the  main  right:  "This  question  of  Pilate  is 
by  no  means  evidence  of  a  heart  which  would 
seek  the  truth  ;  nor  of  a  heart  which,  tired  of 
seeking,  despairs  of  truth  altogether  ;  but  of  a 
heart  which  is  generally  indifferent  about  it, 
and  therefore,  even  before  the  face  of  truth  in 
Christ,  closes  itself  against  it."  That  he  does 
not,  like  Christ,  speak  of  "  the  Iruth  "  is  very 
characteristic  and  natural ;  for  that  would  be 
already  admitting  too  much,  and  with  such  an 
admission  his  rejection  of  it  would  not  be  con- 
sistent. The  comprehensive  and  specific  arti- 
cle in  "  being  of  the  truth  "  pre-supposes  of 
itself  something  which  was  wanting  to  Pilate  ; 
the  same  article  in  "  holding  the  truth  in  un- 
righteousness "  is  only  the  revealing  explana- 
tion of  the  Judge  and  Searclier  of  hearts,  who 
brings  to  light  and  stamps  that  which  men 
wilfully  coneal  from  themselves:  sec  Rom.  ii. 
16.  The  natural  man  knows  and  mentions 
only  (ruths,  God's  word  and  revelation  knows 
of  only  one,  the  truth  ;  in  this  central  singular 
lies  the  point  of  decision  between  the  hearing 


♦  Pilate  is  "too  feeble  to  believe  in  truth,  and 
too  feeble  altogether  to  deny  it,"  as  Tholuck  says. 
Lnthardt's  expressions  are  certainly  too  sttoii ; : 
"  Tiiis  trait  of  scorntul  con'emi)l  of  every  thinji 
wliich  misht  appear  like  enihusi ism,  indicates  a 
man  jaded  and  worn  out."  This  better  suits  Herod 
than  Pilate,  though  uot  slricily  applicable  even  to 
bim. 


and  not  hearing.  He  who  confesses  to  one  ob- 
jective and  real  "  truth,"  which  is  not  to  be 
created  by  himself,  is  so  far  on  his  way  to  the 
truth  ;  the  truth  is,  properly  speaking,  never 
contended  against,  doubted  of,  or  attacked  by 
those  who  are  sincere  and  in  earnest,  but 
sought  even  in  the  midst  of  greatest  errors 
which  have  its  semblance.  It  may  indeed  be 
hated,  scorned,  and  persecuted,  but  it  is  by 
those  who  well  know  what  they  do. 

The  V  i  £  d  r  IV  is  not  to  be  interpreted,  with 
Grotius,  cujiis  generis,  of  what  Ai/KZ— as  if  the 
question  had  this  force  :  Of  what  kind  of  truth 
speakest  thou  then,  of  philosophical,  moral, 
religious,  political,  or  the  like?  Oh,  no;  it  is 
a  negativing  no-question,  which  has  there  is 
none  for  its  secret  meaning ;  but  as  such  it  is 
capable  of  a  manifold  further  interpretation  or 
development.  Let  us  attempt  this,  taking  as  our 
basis  the  masterly  note  of  Meyer,  which  briefly 
sums  up  the  whole,  and  needs  but  to  be  made 
somewhat  more  complete.  First,  generally: 
who  has  explored  what  truth  is,  and  found  it, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  sav  like  thee  "  the  truth?  " 
No  man  1  Thou  speakest  as  of  a  certain  thing 
— I  must,  alas  !  add.  There  lies  the  queMion  it- 
self. "  Truth  is  an  empty  word "  Neander 
explains  :  But  it  is  also  a  great  word,  and 
seems  to  have  great  attraction  for  man,  for- 
ever exciting  his  pursuit  in  vain.  What  (after 
so  many  failures)  dost  thou  understand  by  the 
word?  But  this,  through  the  first  impulse  of 
Pilate's  abrupt  mind,  and  containing  some 
slight  admixture  of  good  feeling,  is  not  all  ; 
tor,  in  that  case  the  questioner  would  have 
tarried  for  an  answer,  even  in  mere  curiosity. 
The  question  dispatches  the  matter  in  another 
way — To  what  end  is  all  this?  What  is  truth 
for  the  practice,  for  the  life?  Thus,  of  what 
worth  is  it?  Who  cares  for  it?  Who  will 
hear  it?  Then,  quite  rightly,  of  what  use  and 
service  is  it?  Z/tre  enters  in  the  suppression 
of  conscience  as  influencing  the  practice,  the 
denial  of  the  most  internal  impulse  of  his  spirit 
toward  life;  and  in  this  he  thinks  himself 
wiser  than  any  one  who  should  stand  out  a 
witness  Jor  the  truth,  and  whom  he  would  only 
commiserate  (Prov.  xxvi.  16).  Luther  :  "  U 
thou  wilt  meddle  with  truth  simply,  thou  art 
lost."  It  is  as  if  he  said  :  I  now  understand 
why  thou  dost  not  succeed  with  thy  people 
— how  wretched  may  be  thy  lot  through 
such  fanaticism  I  He  then  adds,  as  it  were, 
with  some  touch  of  compassion  :  But  I  at  least 
will  do  thee  no  harm  on  that  account.  For 
almost  one  and  the  same  with  this  is  the  appli- 
cation which  now  follows — What  is  truth  as 
regards  the  kingdom  of  action?  that  is.  What 
political  import  has  it  ?  Bengel  well  says 
(though  it  is  but  a  partial  interpretation  of  the 
saying  itself),  "  Pilate  thinks  tliat  the  mention 
of  truth  does  not  square  with  tlie  word  con- 
cerning the  kingdom.  lie  can  connect  a  king- 
dom with  power,  but  not  wi:ii  truth."  lie  will 
not  know  or  acknowledge  the  power  of  truth 
to  make  free,  nor  its  supremacy  over  the  lie  of 
authority  ;  he  therefore  signifies  that  dealing 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  11. 


with  truth  simply  is  as  foolish  as  it  is  harmless. 
Hence  the  expression  of  wonder  "  that  Jesus 
Bhould  speak  so  strongly  of  a  mere  kingdom  of 
truth"  (as  Hess  says)  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
of  a  kind  of  contempt  which  acquits  one  who 
is  complained  against  merely  on  account  of 
"  truth." 

This,  leads  us,  consequently,  to  the  third 
critical  point  in  the  matter — What  signifies 
truth  hei-e  in  this  judgment?  Thou  appearest  to 
me  to  be  such  a  king  as  the  Stoics  mean — tiie 
wise  man  is  the  only  king.  "  Now,  the  ki;ig- 
dom  of  truth  is  an  etherial  and  shadowy  fairy- 
realm  ;  he  who  will  be  king  there,  rules  over 
an  innocent  other-world  of  pious  fantasy — and 
can  do  no  harm  to  the  Roman  eagles  "  (Lange). 
But  because  this  Jesus  has,  nevertheless,  been 
brought  before  him  for  judgment  with  so  much 
ado,  there  mingles  with  this  feeling  of  indiffer- 
ence in  his  mind  something  of  vexation  on  ac- 
count of  the  perplexity  of  the  case ;  as  if  he 
would  say — I  am  not  appointed  governor  for 
such  matters  as  these.  This  may  explain  in 
Borae  sense  the  "anger"  with  which,  according 
to  Lange,  he  throws  out  the  question  ;  for  what 
passed  before  could  scarcely  have  excited  it. 
This  displeasure,  finally,  is  heightened  in  a 
fourVi  meaning  of  the  question,  which  must 
not  be  omitted  :  we  must  close  the  swift  sac- 
cession  of  the  thoughts  which  expressed  them- 
selves in-  it  by  connecting  with  the  primary 
question.  What  is  truth  generally — What  is 
truth  in  thy  lips,  thou  King  of  the  Jews?  Your 
Jewish  truth — am  I  then  a  Jew  ? — with  all 
your  contention  about  it,  shall  never  move 
my  mind.  If  our  philosophers  and  the  Greeks 
have  never  found  it— shall  this  salvation  for- 
sooth come  at  last  from  you  ?  This  last  may 
be  regarded  as  finally  turning  the  scale,  and 
leading  Pilate  to  dismiss  the  subject ;  but  it  is 
certainly  not  the  only  thought  which  was  in 
his  mind  when  he  put  a  question  which,  with 
all  its  folly,  was  so  full  of  importance.  All 
that  we  have  been  mentioning  passed,  though 
it  may  be  half  unconsciously,  through  his  mind 
when  he  uttered  it. 

Thus  then  he  speaks,  to  sura  up  all,  as  a  man 
in  reality  indifferent  to  the  truth,  or  who  de- 
cides finally  to  be  so  now.  Thus  truth,  that 
great,  engrossing,  empty  word,  is  of  no  more 
value  to  him  than  the  God  of  the  Jews  and 
their  Messiah.  He  is  not  a  Jew — alas  !  also, 
not  one  who  seeketh  after  God  in  the  sense  of 
Rom.  ii.  29 — but  a  true  exemplar  of  a  heathen, 
as  heathens  then  for  the  most  part  were ;  and, 
80  far,  their  representative  at  this  point  of  his- 
tory. "  Not  in  a  great  affirmation,  but  in  a 
great  denial,  saw  Pilate  the  end  of  the  way 
m  which  the  seeking  world  had  gone"  (Lu- 
thardt). 

Thus  skepticism  had  become,  as  we  well 
know,  almost  universally  the  end  of  philosophy ; 
and  moral  indifference  in  life  the  end  of  the 
long  struggle  in  the  case  of  the  multitude  ;  es- 
pecially of  the  educated,  to  whom  Pilate  cer- 
tainly belonged.  _"  He  says  it  with  the  air  of 
a  man.  of  this  world,  who,  short-sighted    and 


laughing,  condemns  the  cau^e  of  earnest  -ealify  " 
(Klopstock).  So  multitudes  of  the  great  men 
of  the  world,  and  of  the  lesser  children  of  the 
world  too,  echo  this  condemnation,  and  think 
it  lifts  them  to  the  highest  elevation  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age  ;  they  boast  themselves  one 
after  another  in  their  new  paths  of  investiga- 
tion and  in  the  results  of  their  individual  judg- 
ment— for  truth  has  become  a  very  familiar 
thing,  readily  enough  talked  of  by  all.  There 
stands  Pilate  and  his  saying,  not  merely  in 
history  but  in  the  Scripture,^ a,  prophetic  and 
warning  and  condemning  type  of  all  such 
heathens  in  the  midst  of  Christendom.  Bat 
their  rejecting  indifference,  now  after  centuries 
have  seen  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  his 
kingdom,  and  the  Crucified  stands  before  them 
as  he  did  not  before  Pilate — in  the  manifest 
mystery  of  godliness,  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth — is  thrice  inexcusable.  So  far  this  What 
is  truth  says  to  the  reader  of  the  Bible  much 
more  than  Pilate  meant  to  say  or  could  have 
thought.* 

After  all  that  we  have  said,  the  question  of 
Pilate,  which  waits  for  no  answer,  is  and  must 
ever  be  no  other  than  a  self-contradiction.  For, 
first,  there  is  actually  a  truth,  which  he  cannot 
question  away,  in  the  questioner,  as  was  after- 
wards impressively  shown  in  the  case  of  Pilate 
himself.t  Secondly,  there  is  a  trul'.i  before  him 
in  the  person  of  Christ,  whom  he  cannot  con- 
demn. That  this  man  stands  there  before  him 
in  this  world  and  speaking  concerning  another, 
is  at  first  undeniably  certain  ;  that  Pilate  had 
been  constrained  to  put  more  faith  in  him,  in 
ihe  point  of  his  innocence,  than  in  the  whole 
dignified  Sanhedrim,  which  had  found  him 
guilty,  is  again  a  truth,  by  the  help  of  which 
much  more  might  have  been  reached.  (Lange: 
"  By   the   words,  /  find  no  fault  in  him — he 


*  We  cannot  refrain  from  inserting,  for  the  sako 
of  some  into  whose  hands  this  book  may  fall,  the 
following  remarks  of  Tob!er:  "And  thou,  philo- 
sophical spirit,  who  canst  not  or  wilt  not  be- 
lieve this  history,  to  wnom,  however,  at  least,  the 
eternal  chain  of  influence  and  results  must  b3 
worthy  of  respect,  think  with  astonishment  that 
even  thou,  with  all  thy  Ireedom  and  ii-.dependence, 
art  swallowed  up  in  a  sea  of  results  which  have 
followed  from  the  fact  that  two  thousand  years 
a<T0,  in  a  despised  corner  of  the  earth,  a  despised 
Rabbi  of  a  despicable  nation  was  executed  as  a 
slave ;  and  that  thou  on  his  account  art  surround- 
ed with  relations  so  different  from  what  t'^py  other- 
wise would  have  been.  Bow  down  beiore  Fate 
with  thy  pure  philosophical  spirit;  but  if  thou 
wouldst  be  a  true  philosopher,  look  a  little  behind 
the  veil  and  see  if  there  be  nothing  in  the  history, 
and  especially  in  the  central  person  of  it,  which 
marked  him  out  for  such  a  wide-spread  and  deep 
influence  upon  the  human  race,  and  so  to  speak 
justifies  it."  The  history  now  says — T/iis  is  truth ; 
he  is  truth ;  and  wilt  thou  say — Am  I  then  a 
Christian  ? 

i  Thus  Draseke's  saying — "  Pilate  has  in  him  no 
truth,"  is  not  altogether  true,  though  it  ig  gener- 
ally supposed  to  be  implied  in  the  word. 


631 


WHAT  IS  TRUTH? 


uttered  a  great  truth.")  The  very  amazament 
wliich  still  continues  in  his  heart,  not  to  be 
washed  away  from  it,  the  fear  of  this  half- 
rigliteous  and  half-unrighteous  judge  at  the 
cry  of  the  rabble,  higli  and  low,  which  will 
take  "  the  blood  of  this  Just  One"  upon  them- 
eelves,  is  only  a  foil  of  the  dark  background 
which  makes  the  righteousness  of  this  true  and 
only  Just  One  shine  all  the  more  brightly — 
but  out  of  that  follows  every  thing,  if  thou  wilt 
think  aright;  and  the  anagrammatic  echo  of 
the  question,  Quid  est  Veritas? — Ed  vir  qui 
adest,  18  really  to  be  derived  from  the  elements 
of  the  question  as  put  in  the  presence  of  Christ. 
If  "  this  man  "  is  only  a  man,  born  and  come 
into  the  world  like  all  the  rest — then,  indeed, 
his  testimony  is  presumption,  delusion,  self-de- 
ception, lie,  fanaticism,  or  whatever  else  it  may 
be  termed,  only  not  truth.  But  then  furtlier, 
everything  is  delusion  and  lie,  even  the  truth  in 
the  breast  of  man,  the  conscience  and  senti- 
ment of  God  in  the  Gentile,  as  well  as  the 
entire  revelation  and  prophecy  of  Israel — as 
the  consistent  denial  of  Christ  by  Fenerbach  and 
his  party  begins  to  prove — by  the  dogmatism 
of  conscious  falsehood,  Thus  we  have  found. 

Those  who  are  morally  sincere  in  the  practi- 
cal part  of  life  come  sooner  or  later,  more  speed- 
ily or  more  slowly,  more  decidedly  or  more 
waveringly,  in  some  way  or  other  to  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  upon  the  cross.  This  is 
most  sure,  for  he  has  said  it — Eoery  one  that  is 
of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  sincere  m  science  and  philosophy. 
For  these  take  their  conscience  with  them  into 
their  theory,  science,  and  philosophy  :  they 
therefore  say  neither  tl  t6ri  nor  evftrjHa ; 
they  put  not  themselves  in  the  place  of  Christ, 
as  if  they  had  the  truth  already,  nor  in  the 

Elace  of  Pilate,  as  if  they  needed  and  would 
ave  it  not;  but  they  are  not  satisfied  and 
ready  with  their  reply  until  they  verily  have 
Chi-ist  himself.  To  the  end  of  their  speculation, 
to  the  great  question  of  sincere  earnestness 
about  concealed  truth  and  the  jiving  God, 
Christ  attaches  the  beginning  of  his  testimony 
— /  am  come  to  bear  witness ;  and  on  this  the 
middle  and  the  end  hangs — I  am  he.  Tiicn 
does  faith  boldly  confront  a  world  which  cruci- 
fies Ciirist  with  the  question — What  is  your 
lie  with  all  its  specious  seeming?  It  tesiiries 
itself  to  me  concerning  the  truth.  What  is  the 
power  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world?  It 
must  fall  down  before  the  feet  of  my  King, 
who  hath  not  worshipped  Satan. 

But  the  Pilates  ot  the  present  day  mlc,  and 
when  the  answer  is  plain  before  them,  they 
turn  away  and  say — What  is  it?  Like  the 
fools,  of  whom  the  wisdom  of  the  Son  of  Sirach 
writes  (Ecclus.  xxii.  8)  :  "  He  that  telleth  a 
tale  to  a  fool,  speaketh  to  one  in  a  slumber; 
when  he  hath  told  his  tale,  he  will  say,  what  is 
the  matter,  ri  idny."  With  all  "their  ap- 
parent Koinan  manhood,  they  are  bke  "  silly 
women  laden  with  sins — ever  learning,  and 
never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,"  2  Tim.  iii.  6,  7.     They  call  themselves, 


and  think  themselves,  philosophers,  but  when 
the  personal  Suphia  appeals  to  them  they  be« 
come  instead  mmsf/phs.  "  Tliey  charge  truth 
with  being  obliged  to  hide  itself  in  the  world. 
But  it  is  only  loo  certain  that  it  is  rather  tlie 
world  which  hides  itself  Irom  Ifap  truth  ;  or,  if 
it  does  once  ask  the  Just  One,  Wha'  is  truth? 
it  rushes  away  again,  like  Pdate,  and  goes  out 
to  take  counsel  with  the  great  ones,  the  learned 
and  ignorant  rabble."*  Thus,  in  the  presence 
of  Chri.st,  the  sincerity  of  a  good  heart  is  turn- 
ed into  lie  and  guilt,  all  wisdom  into  folly,  all 
justice  to  injustice,  and  moreover,  the  vaunted 
Roman  "justice" — although  it  is  afterward 
boasted  of  (It  is  not  the  manner  of  the  Romans 
— Acts  XXV.  16) — is  here  brought  to  shame, 
because  it  would  not  submit  itself  to  truth. 

Pilate  now  leaves  Jesus  standing,  as  he  had 
before  left  the  Jews  ;  and  would,  though  in 
vain,  mediate  without  partiality  by  his  I  find 
no  fault  in  him.  This  was  in  a  high  degree 
offensive  to  the  sacred  Sanhedrim  ;  but  a  still 
greater  indignity,  in  reality,  to  Jesus,  the  King 
of  the  Jews,  as  he  was  the  King  of  truth — I 
^ni,  further,  nothing,  in  hi;n,  he  is  an  innocent 
"  king."  The  Pilate-lheologt/,  generally,  which 
half-unconsciously  and  half  by  enforcement  ad- 
mits i\\e  sinlessness  of  Jesus,  yet  protests  against 
the  doctrine  that  he  is  lord  and  king,  can  find 
no  middle  place  as  mediating,  but  must  in 
justice  be  given  over  to  those  mockers  and 
enemies  who  helped  to  crucify  him.  For  after 
all  Pilate  spoke  not  the  simple  truth  in  his 
complacent  "no  fault;"  he  really  thereby  de- 
clared him  to  be  a  fool,  who  had  brought 
down  all  this  hatred  upon  his  own  head  by  Ins 
"  king"  and  "  truth,"  therehy  at  least  bein^r  in 
fault.  In  the  midst  stood  Pilate,  "  mocked 
both  parties,  and  directed  his  ridicule  as  much 
ag.iinst  Jesus  as  against  tlieJews"  (Rimf^ach). 
"  Pilate  mocks  both — the  witness  to  the  truth, 
and  the  haters  of  the  truth" — as  Alford  still 
more  pointedly  remarks.  But  history  has, 
like  a  judgment  begun,  made  of  him  an  ironi- 
cal monument  "of  the  moral  impotence  of  the 
{)roud  spirit  of  the  world,  as  it  had  been  edu- 
cated and  refined  among  the  strong  Romans," 
and  placed  his  name  in  the  confession  of  faith 
of  the  Christian  world.  Thus,  niens  volens,  in 
spite  of  his  skepticism  he  has  become  the  stout- 
est witness  of  the  truth. 

As  to  Jesus  all  was  to  be  dispatched  with 
the  word  no  fault — but  as  to  himself  f  Alas  I  for 
the  unhappy  man,  who  merely  iinds  no  fault  \\\ 
Jesus,  when  he  should  have  found  th"  truth; 
which  he  might  have  foun  1  if  he  would  I 
Merely,  no  fault  in  hnn — instead  of  confessinsj, 
I  find  in  myself  something  which  is  mightily 

*  So  II.  L5ssel,  in  the  Wcihnnch'»)tiissen,  p.  351. 
AVo  would  lecoinni'^nd  not  on.y  the  (ii.squisition 
upon  this  word  of  Pil.nte,  but  the  entire  book  and 
all  the  books  of  this  insenions  author.  There  is 
in  the  exuberance  of  this  first  pio'hiction  of  a 
very  liiizlily  siftf'd  nnn  niucli  more  value  than  tho 
writ  r  himself,  who  has  now  become  more  practi- 
Ccl,  attributes  to  iU 


JOHN  XIX.  11. 


635 


moved  in  the  presence  of  this  man,  and  must 
put  ray  more  earnest  question  ri  k6zt,  until  I 

Pnetrate  the  secret.  Every  man  must  avow, 
tind  fault  in  myself.  This  is  the  first  truth 
touching  ourselves:  he  who  is  of  this  truth 
will  find  the  innocence  of  Jesus,  and  from  this 
every  thing  else.  No  fault  in  Jesus— that  is  a 
great  truth,  but  only  the  one-half  truth  which 


stands  without,  confronting  thee  until  the 
question  comes,  What  shall  I  then  do  with 
Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ?  Will  the  cry 
which  follows  Let  him  he  crucified!  content 
thee?  Oh,  no;  let  this  truth  be  responded  to 
by  another  truth  in  thy  breast,  I  find  fault  in 
rnynelf;  and  both  together  will  make  up  th« 
full  and  perfect  truth. 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 
(John  xix.  11.) 


We  are  now  dealing  with  the  entire  history 
Oi  the  Passion,  yet  we  must  not  hasten  from 
one  word  of  our  Lord  to  another  without  trac- 
ing, at  least  in  its  broader  features,  the  connec- 
tion of  the  narrative.  This  alone  will  enable 
us  to  set  clearly  before  our  eyes  the  situation 
of  him  who,  excepting  in  these  few  words,  now 
keeps  profound  silence.  Let  the  reader,  there- 
fore, consult  the  harmonized  table  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  volume ;  and  his  own  inde- 
pendent investigation  will  show  him  as  we 
proceed  in  what  way  we  connect  the  details  of 
the  whole. 

Pilate  said  at  the  first,  briefly  and  summarily, 
as  if  the  matter  ended  there:  For  my  own 
part — and  that  is  the  main  point — I  tind  no 
lault  with  this  man  whom  ye  have  brought  be- 
fore me.  But  how  much  did  he  deceive  him- 
self: how  otten  must  he  say  it  over  aoiain,  that 
"the  political  innocence  might  be  established" 
of  this  Just  One  who  sutlers  for  the  unjust,  and 
yet  in  vain  I  For  neither  of  the  two  objects 
was  to  be  gained:  on  the  one  hand,  no  specific 
guilt  was  to  be  proved  against  him  independ- 
ently of  that  truth  which  was  written  upon  his 
cross  by  the  rejector  of  the  truth  in  the  name 
of  the  Jews;  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  not  to 
be  released  from  death.  Now  first  begin  these 
aggrieved  complainants,  themselves  inculpated 
now,  to  specialize  their  lies  in  the  most  earnest 
manner  (Matt.  vers.  12-14;  Mark  vers.  3-5, 
itoXXd  and  it66a);  Luke,  ver.  5,  gives  prom- 
inence to  one  point  in  it,  that  after  ail  the 
whole  was  resolved  into  his  stirring  iip  the  peo- 
ple by  teaching  them  only.  This  remarkable 
accusation  must  at  all  costs  be  set  forth  in  all 
its  amplitude  and  force:  hence  their  becoming 
more  fierce  (iTticixvsty);  for,  every  thing  was 
now  staked  upon  the  game,  it  had  become 
matter  of  honor  and  life  to  carry  through  suc- 
cessfully that  which  they  had  begun.  Jesus 
retires  again  into  his  silence:  for  what  he  had 
taught  had  been  heard  by  Pilate,  who  desired 
to  hear  it  no  more.  Their  lies,  which  brought 
forward  nothing  essentiallv  new,  are,  however, 
believed  by  none.  For  Pilate  he  had  spoken 
enough  concerning  the  truth;  for  these  liars 
and  for  himself  he  had  nothing  further  to  say. 
The  highest  passion  and  the  most  absolute  re- 
pose once  more  confront  each  other.     Pilate 


gives  but  little  heed  to  their  babbling;  but 
continually  turns  to  J esns,  Ilenrest  thou  not? 
Answerest  thou  not  ? — and  is  constrained  by  the 
sublime  silence  to  wonder  at  the  majesty  of  the 
Lord's  bearing.*  It  might  appear  to  be  pride, 
but  only  to  one  who  looked  not  upon  him. 

Pilate's  embarrassment  then  takes  advantage 
of  the  circumstance  that  Galilee  was  the  scene 
of  all  his  alleged  offences,  to  send  him  to  Herod : 
partly,  that  he  may  get  rid  of  the  matter,  and 
partly  (for  the  politician  has  always  such  by- 
ends  in  view),  to  put  an  end  to  an  unpleasant 
relation  between  them,  by  this  act  of  honor.t 
Christ  was  to  stand,  in  the  counsel  of  God,  be- 
fore every  authority ;  as  before  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunal,  so  also  before  each  of  the  civil  courts, 
to  which  he  was  in  different  relations  subject. 
But  this  of  itself  shows  Pilate's  defection  i'rora 
justice,  and  his  surrender  of  the  guiltless  ;  de- 
luding himself  with  the  thought  that  he  would 
keep  himself  free,  he  sends  him  to  another — 
Let  him  do  with  him  what  he  will !  Then  be- 
gins a  fresh  vehemence  on  the  part  of  the 
accusers,  if  they  by  any  means  may  prevail  on 
the  weak  Herod,  with  "whom  they  are  not  how- 
ever in  good  repute,  to  do  any  thing:  new  and 
increasing  curiosity  on  the  part  of  all  the  peo- 
ple; and  new  indignities  for  the  Lord.  This 
Idunifean,  Sadducee,  Herod,  neither  Jew  nor 
Gentile,  a  dead  sinner  with  an  extinguished 
conscience,  drowned  in  his  lusts — would  see  a 
sign  ;  and  asks  all  kinds  ot  ribald  questions. 
Shall  Jesus  give  any  answer,  and  begin  to 
preach  to  him?  He  keeps  silence,  and  atones 
by  this  sacred  continuous  silence  for  the  sins  of 
our  tongues.  Herod,  thought  worthy  of  no 
single  word,  is  lax  and  without  wrath— for  this 
Baptist  raised  from  the  dead  has  taken  away 
all  his  fear — and  finds  Jesus  worthy  of  no  sen- 
tence: he  scorns  and  mocks  him,  in 'common 
with  all  his  attendants,  who  agree  with  him  in 


*  For  no  one  is  wont  to  keep  silence,  when  his 
life  is  at  stake,  especially  after  having  once  begun 
to  speak — tliis  remark  of  Bengel  does  not  alto- 
gether suffice  for  ttie  ^avjLid^Etv  Xidv, 

f  Probaidy,  as  Roos  remai'ks,  some  ii.terference 
of  Pilate  with  the  jurisdiction  of  Ilerod  lia  I  led  to 
their  d.flfdrence ;  and  this  sending  of  Jesus  would 
be  reparation. 


,636 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


his  riilicule.  Yet  in  one  thing  he  manifests 
some  cunning,  and  anticipates  in  his  royal  dig- 
nity the  Roman's  mockery  of  the  King  of  the 
Jev/s.  The  gorgeous  apparel  is  the  beginning 
of  the  ridicule  of  the  king  which  the  servants  of 
the  Gentiles  so  fearfully  practised  alterwards, 
corresponding  with  the  Jews'  ridicule  of  the 
Christ. 

Pilate  receives  Christ  again — and  what  can 
he  do  with  him  ?*  The  remarkable  paschal 
custom — a  token  how  this  people,  so  gladly 
begging  off  those  who  made  insurrection,  stood 
related  to  the  Romans — appears  to  him  a  for- 
tunate coincidence  on  this  occasion.  He  places 
before  the  people,  now  assembled  in  great  num- 
bers, a  throughly  notorious  malefactor,  between 
whom  and  Jesus  tiieir  choice  was  to  be  made ; 
thinking  that  their  choice  would  assuredly  be 
in  favor  of  the  latter.  This  was  his  second 
vain  attempt  to  save  the  innocent:  he  would 
set  him  free,  but  there  was  no  will  for  the  de- 
cisive sentence  and  act.  In  this  he  had  already 
yielded  so  far  as  to  acknowledge  their  charges, 
and  place  Jesus  among  malefactors,  even  by 
the  side  of  a  most  infamous  one.  (According 
to  Luke  ver.  16  he  also  promises  a  "  chastise- 
ment" before  he  releases  him.)  He  falls  deep- 
er and  deeper;  and  it  has  already  become  very 
plain  that  Cuiiphas  and  Pilate,  also  must  be 
made  friends  in  common  against  this  Jesus. 
Sinners  of  all  kinds  remain  on  one  side,  where 
guilt  is,  together;  the  malignant  and  the  wa- 
vering, the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  zealous 
and  the  indifferent,  the  exalted,  too,  and  the 
common  mass,  the  leaders  and  the  led.  Even 
the  people  must  desire  the  death  of  this  Just 
One,  for  he  by  no  means  has  the  favor  and  fol- 
lowing of  the  multitude,  as  the  high  priests 
had  complained  ;  they  themselves  use  all  their 
influence  to  prove  it  otherwise,  and  like  wolves 
give  the  cry  to  their  sheep,  until  the  clamor 
against  the  Good  Shepherd  gets  the  full  ascen- 
dancy over  the  justice  of  the  Gentile,  who  also 
has  a  law.  Pilate  has  made  another  mistake: 
he  has  already  put  the  matter  out  of  his  own 
hands,  and  committed  it  to  the  voices  of  the 
multitude.  The  warning  of  the  dream  comes 
too  late,  since  the  judge  sits  upon  the  judgment 
seat  no  longer  as  a  judge.  Bardbhas'  release  is 
demanded  I  And  Jesus  ?  He,  as  from  the  be- 
ginning, suffers  himself  to  be  led  away  as  o 
lamb,  to  be  judged,  mocked,  ill-treated,  placed 
before  and  offered  to  the  people,  rejected  ;  and 
waits  for  the  end  which  he  knows  full  well,  but 
which  is  long  delayed,  until  the  thoughts  of 
man  and  the  counsel  of  God  are  perfectly 
brought  to  light. 

To  this  point  belongs,  as  we  think  (though 
the  arguments  cannot  be  entered  upon  here), 
the   washing  of  his  hands,   and   Pilate's  first 


*  John  in  vers.  38,  89,  passes  over  much  t!iat  in- 
tervened, and  compresses  the  whole,  j'-.st  as  we 
found  in  chap.  xiii.  22  :  the  frst  declaiaUi  n  of  in- 
nocence he  combines  with  ihe  s  cond  {Lnke  vers. 
14,  15),  and  connects  with  it  at  once  what  took 
place  alter  Ihe  second. 


judgment.  He  says,  I  do  it  not,  while  he  never- 
theless dof»s  it.  liis  voluntary  baptism  of  wa- 
ter* does  not  even  cleanse  hishands  before  the 
people.  But  their  word  to  Judas— See  thou  to 
It  I  is  fearfully  given  back  to  tiie  high  priests — 
See  ye  to  it !  They  still  more  fearfully  accept 
this;  and  the  whole  mass  of  the  misled  people 
join  them  in  invoking  upon  themselves  and 
their  children  the  blood  of  the  Just  One.  Now 
comes  the  scourging,  the  first  act  in  the  cruci- 
fixion, which  had  become  necessary  through 
his  juxtaposition  with  Barabbas.  In  connection 
with  this  was  the  horrible  mockery  of  the  rude 
Gentile  servants,  to  whom  it  was  pleasure  to 
have  for  once  a  king  of  the  Jews  put  into  their 
hands;  but,  in  whose  mock  crowning  the  coun- 
sel of  God  exhibits  to  the  reverence  of  all  the 
world,  in  a  most  sublime  and  affecting  figure, 
the  King  glorified  even  through  shame. 

Even  Pilate  feels  something  of  this  and 
would  fain  recede  ;  although  he  had  already 
given  his  decision  and  delivered  him  up,  what 
was  done  might,  he  thought,  be  enough,  and 
the  actual  crucifixion  be  averted. f  The  Kcce 
Il'jmo  has  an  inexhaustible  meaning,  and  La- 
vater  might  well  write  a  book  upon  it  alone; 
for  this  great  word  goes  far  beyond  its  seeming 
sense  as  he  used  it.  In  this'/fJ^  o  ayOpcoTioi 
not  only  is  fulfilled  Isa.  liii.  3 — to  which  vers. 
4-6  also  belongs — bat  man  actually  stands  be- 
fore us  in  his  misery,  pointing  to  his  guilt,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  his  elevation  through  ihe 
person  of  the  God-man.  Pilate's  thought,  in- 
deed, has  no  share  in  this.  John  xix.  4  means 
obviously  :  Behold,  even  thus  treated  and  dolli- 
ed, he  remains  without  confession  and  without 
fault,  in  his  lofty  and  patient  innocence;  and 
with  this  is  connected  the  meaning  which  the 
governor  expresses  in  his  next  words,  in  his 
"  hvpocritical  political  Ecce  Homo,"  as  Ha- 
mann  calls  it.  B.hoUl,  behold  at  least  all  who  yet 
have  human  feeling — Is  this  man  a  king?  an 
insurgent?  a  man  to  ba  feared  as  dangerous ? 
How  innocent — and  how  miserable  !  Is  it  not 
enough  ?  (May  not  the  Hosanna  turn  now  at 
least  to  compassion?)  Thus  the  martyr-form 
of  Christ  awakes  humanity  once  more  even  in 
this  heathen;  yet  his  reckoning  upon  the  hu- 
manity of  the  "enraged  people  is  only  politic; 
and,  moreover,  since  the  judge  only  ad:^  \\\  the 
name  of  innocence,  and  maintains  the  right  in 
this  unworthy  way,  after  ,so  much  injustice  al- 
ready done,  it  is  no  other  than  hy}>ocrilical. 
Just  on  that  account  this  third  attempt  to  set 
Jesus  free  cannot  succeed,  his  crooked  way  can- 

•  Hardly  adopted  by  Pilate  "as  intelligible  to 
the  Jews  "  because  prescribed  in  Dent.  xxi.  6-9 
(as  Alford  thinks)— but  founded  on  the  custom 
even  among  tlie  Gentiles  of  washing  tlie  hands 
from  snilt. 

t  We  doubt  whether  he  himself  contributed  to 
the  crowning  with  thorns,  in  order  throuizh  tlie  ri- 
diculous to  lea  I  them  to  sympaihy  ;  lor  it  is  psj-- 
chologically  more  correct  to  supim^e  tliat  this 
pur[)ose  was  prompted  in  hinisL>lf  fust  by  the 
aspect  of  the  Lord  s  soirow. 


JOHN  XIX.  11. 


637 


not  lead  to  the  end  proposed;  the  purple  and 
the  crown  ruin  all  with  the  Jews.  But  Jesus 
stands  before  them  in  perfect  silence,  in  perfect 
patience :  Is  it  my  death  which  ye  desire  ? 
and  he  knows  well  that  they  desire  it.  "  In 
vain  the  lieathen  man  of  the  world  preaches 
humanity  to  the  Jewish  hierarchy" — they  are 
bent  upon  the  Roman c/oss for  the  king!  Cru- 
cify !  Cnicijy !  Thus  is  it,  more  correctly, 
in  John  without  the  him — as  if  they  would 
scarcely  allow  him  the  last  remaining  name, 
6  avOpooTtoi,  which  Pilate  had  given  him  ;  or 
would  not  lake  "  the  man  "  into  their  lips. 

The  half-righteous  judge  angrily  and  vexedly 
replies  to  this  unexpected  consistency  of  hatred 
by  a  consistent  refusal,  which,  however,  with 
all  its  passion  is  only  feeble:  (Then)  take  ye 
him  and  crucify  him  !  A  second  AdfJers  after 
that  first  in  chap,  xviii.  31  ;  but  with  a  difTer- 
ent  sense,  and  more  nearly  approaching  the 
irapaStdoyca  roli  'lovdaioii,  the  delivering 
up  to  the  Jews.  Instead  of  coming  forward 
with  sincerity  and  energy — "  I  revoke  my  en- 
forced word,  the  blood  of  this  Just  One  shall 
fall  neither  upon  you  nor  upon  me;  I  take 
him  altogether  out  of  your  hands,"  and  then 
using  the  band  of  soldiers  prepared  for  such  a 
purpose  (as  in  Acts  xxiii.  27)  ;  instead  of  this 
he  says — "  Crucify  ye  him,  without  my  judicial 
confirmation,  if  ye  are  willing  to  take  the  re- 
sponsibility upon  yourselves  before  Ccesar." 
It  is  imposible  to  be  certain  whether  or  not 
this  was  intended  to  say  peremptorily,  I  cannot 
he  a  party  of  this,  and  at  the  same  time  to  im- 
press upon  their  minds  the  unlawfulness  of 
their  own  putting  him  to  death.  It  might, 
indeed,  have  been  Pilate's  meaning  to  intimate 
— I  will  permit  you  to  do  it,  I  will  overlook  a 
tumultuous  and  illegal  execution  ;  but  ye  must 
not  expect  from  me  any  official  part  in  it,  or 
wait  for  any  judgment  and  co-operation  of 
mine.  Then  the  word  would  be  analogous  wit  h 
Matt,  xxvii.  24. 

The  Jews,  meanwhile,  cannot  put  any  confi- 
dence in  such  connivance  on  the  part  of  the 
Procurator,  generally  so  zealous  of  his  power 
and  prerogative ;  and,  moreover,  it  would  be 
extremely  perilous  to  themselves.  They  think 
they  fully  understand  the  meaning  of  that 
word  :  Crucify— il  ye  can  and  dare  !  They 
hold  Pilate  fast  with  keen  tenacity :  Yea,  we 
can  and  we  will  take  the  responsibility ;  but 
t/u)u  also  must  be  a  party,  thou  must  judically 
confirm  what  we  do,  thou  must  pronounce  him 
guilty,  and  of  th.il  crime  of  which  we  have  found 
him  guilty.  For  we  have  a  law,  which  cer- 
tainly brings  death  upon  him— 6  <p£tXei 
ccTtoOaveiy,  "  he  ought  to  die."  Thus  they  are 
finally  forced  to  declare  plainly  the  proper  re- 
ligous  accusation  which  was  the  real  point  of 
importance  in  their  own  council,  after  the  simple 
Christ  a  king  has  been  fully  repelled  and  con- 
tradicted and  dismissed.  iVe  have  a  law,,  one 
specific  and  plain  ordinance  in  our  law  gener- 
ally*    The   Roman   governor   was   supposed 


*  Thus  the  reading  naToc  ruv  vovov  i/ucjy 


conventionally  to  respect  their  law  and  their 
religion  ;  but  there  was  at  best  much  that  was 
illusory  and  unreal  in  that  respect,  and  hence 
they  appeal  to  it  only  in  their  last  extremity. 
Thus  the  law  is  turned  against  the  Gospel,  aa 
in  a  very  deep  universal  sense  it  ever  is.  Be- 
hold here  the  false  end  of  the  law,  which  should 
lead  to  Christ,  in  its  pharisaical  perversion 
against  Christ  I  The  mirror  of  iniquity  be- 
comes itself  a  veil  of  iniquity  ;  and  they  who 
themselves  keep  not  the  law,  put  Christ  to 
death  through  the  law — him,  who  had  given  it 
to  them,  and  who  had  in  the  same  book  testifi- 
ed his  coming,  and  who  alone  had  said — The 
law  is  within  mine  heart,  Psa.  xl.  They  say  to 
Pilate:  This  "man,"  as  thou  hast  called  him, 
has  ma/le  himself  the  Son  of  God — thus  do  they 
persistently  return  to  chap.  x.  33,  instead  of 
perceiving  in  their  hearts  that  the  Son  of  God 
had  by  his  voluntary  renunciation  of  his  pre- 
rogative made  himself  such  a  man.  Thus  King 
of  the  Jews  and  Son  of  God  were  not  the  same 
in  their  signification,  although  their  scribes 
knew  that  the  expressions  designated  the  same 
person  of  the  Coming  One  in  the  prophets. 
This  new  turn  given  to  the  charge  is  by  no 
means,  as  Liacke  thinks,  a  "  changed  expression 
merely."  Nor  is  the  mediating  note  of  B.-Cru- 
sius  sufficient :  "  They  used  the  word  certainly 
not  in  the  mere  Messianic  meaning,  for  then 
the  matter  would  remain  the  same  ;  but  yet 
only  in  a  higher  meaning  than  that  in  which 
they  ordinarily  applied  the  formula."  There  is 
no  trace  of  this  latter  in  the  history,  and  it  is 
refuted  throughout  the  entire  Gospel  of  John. 
As  a  blai-phemer,  who  assumed  to  himoelf  equal- 
ity with  God  and  the  divine  nature,  and  blas- 
phemously appropriated  as  man  the  name  of 
God,  he  should  die  according  to  Lev.  xxiv.  16. 
This  is  the  specific  law  which  they  refer  to  ; 
that  which  meets  the  case  of  false  prophets  in 
Deut.  xiii.  5;  xviii.  20,  is  applied  consequen- 
tially to  the  liar  in  the  highest  degree,  the  false 
"  Son  of  God."  We  must  note,  also,  what 
most  overlook :  "  Hereby  they  became  betray- 
ers, at  the  same  time,  of  the  most  holy  mystery 
of  their  divine  teaching,  which  they  expose  to 
the  contempt  of  a  Gentile  judge,  who  under- 
stood nothing  about  it." 

This,  at  least,  they  must  have  taken  for 
granted,  and  could  not  know  that  this  Pilate 
would  nevertheless  have  in  some  degree  an 
ear  to  hear  this  mysterious  wo:-d.  The  myths 
about  sons  of  the  gods  had,  indeed,  lost  all 
credence  in  the  educated  Gentile  world,*  so  that 
the  preaching  concerning  the  Son  of  God  had 
to  apprehend  but  little  admixture  and  taint 
from  them — yet  there  was  some  point  of  con- 


as  an  extension  of  the  single  vouo?,  subspq-ient- 
ly  brought  in  for  the  sake  of  impressins  P.  late,  is 
well  grounded ;  and  we  would  not  omit  it  with 
Lachmaim,  Liicke,  etc.  The  omission  was  ob- 
viously ttie  result  of  tov  vv/j-ov  being  mistaken 
for  rovTov. 

*  Only  in  some  Lycaonian  corners,  Acts  xiv.  11, 
were  the  people  so  heathenishly  full  of  faith. 


638 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


neclion  even  for  Pilate  in  such  a  word.  "  It 
was  the  boldness  of  this  assertion,  so  foreiG;n  to 
the  spirit  of  tlie  age,  which  was  so  startling." 
Pilate  hears  for  the  first  time  this  great  and 
daring  word  ;  and  as  a  dignity  arrogated  by 
this  marvellous  man  now  standing  before  him. 
The  vidv  Ssov,  "Son  of  God"  (according  to 
the  belter  reading),  the  same  to  the  Jews  as 
rod  Seov,  lays  hold  of  him  by  its  indefinite- 
ness ;  he  has  some  knowledge  (remembering 
the  dreams  of  his  childhood,  as  Krummacher 
says)  of  the  sons  of  the  gods  in  the  legends;  he 
cannot  but  think  of  them,  and  the  omen  of  his 
dream  had  made  him  susceptible  to  any  such  im- 
pressions. The  doubter  and  mocker,  who  gen- 
erally cared  for  none  of  these  things  ;  the  Ro- 
man, who  knew  well,  but  despised  the  Jews 
and  their  religion  of  one  Sfd; — is  obliged  now, 
on  the  ground  of  his  Gentile  thoughts,  to  form 
some  indistinct  conception  of  this  kingly  Jew 
being  in  some  way  a  i)!6?  Bsoii.  He  had 
hitherto  despised  the  God  of  the  Jews  and  the 
Jews  alike ;  from  his  pagan  religion  he  had  gone 
over  to  philosophy,  and  had  found  nothing 
there  ;  but  that  which  speaks  in  the  presenti- 
ment of  conscience,  when  Chrid  stands  before 
us,  is  truth,  and  he  cannot  altogether  escape 
from  that  response.  "Through  the  manifesta- 
tion of  essential  truth  his  hollow  skeptical  sys- 
tem was  overturned;  the  reality  of  the  divine 
seized  him  by  its  indwelling  power,  while  he  in 
his  supposition  denied  its  reality  "  (Olshausen). 
When  Pilate  heard  this — unWov  kqjofiyjfii^, 
he  feared  the  more.  This //o"AAo»'  Bengel  in- 
terprets by  pot  ins :  Contrary  to  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  Jews  he  leaved  rather  than  assented 
to  them.  But  this  does  not  go  as  deep  as  we 
must  understand  the  word  ;  for  his  awe  before 
the  "Son  of  God"  could  not  thus  suddenly 
have  fallen  upon  him  through  the  influence  of  a 
single  word.  Thus  the  more  common  intepre- 
tation  is  right :  he  feared  still  more  than  he  had 
done  ;  for  from  the  beginning,  since  chap,  xviii. 
29,  there  had  been  ever  increasing  in  Pilate's 
mind  a  certain  dread  in  the  presence  of  Christ. 
The  Iqxyfir'iQr]  Certainly  does  not  mean  a  mere 
"embarrassment" — or  a  new  "concern  which 
he  felt  that  this  new  accusation  would  prevent 
him  from  saving  Jesus  ;"  or  finally,  mere  "  fear 
of  taking  a  wrong  step  in  this  matter."  Least 
of  all  is  it  fear  of  the  Jtipa  that  is  intended — not 
even  as  Tholuck  qualifies  it:  " Ililherto  the 
subject  of  his  concern  had  been,  lest  he  should 
go  wrong  with  the  Jewish  rulers  (of  which  his 
conduct  from  the  beginning  gives  no  trace) ; 
but  noio  something  uncommon  in  Jesus,  sudden- 
ly flashing  on  his  consciousne.ss  through  this 
lofty  name,  strengthens  his  foar."  We  hold 
that  the  ^laXXov  points  to  the  person  of  Jesus 
alone  as  the  object  of  his  /mr  from  the  begin- 
ning. Even  in  I  he  ^'ccei/wwo,  and  now  especially 
when  it  is  said  that  he  called  himself  the  Son 
of  God,  he  assumed  the  appearance  to  Pilate, 
not  of  a  blasphemer,  scarcely  of  an  enthusiast, 
but  actually  of  one  who  was  indeed  a  man  that 
had  come  into  the  world  differently  from  other 
men.     He  bad  seen   many   malefactors — but 


^cvftr  such  a  one  as  this.  Nor  «Joes  this  per* 
sonaliiy  affect  him  distressingly,  as  the  fear^ 
ing  hjvs  been  pressed  to  mean  ;  but  rather 
with  a  kind  of  attraction  mingled  with  the  awo 
which  it  impressed :  else  he  would  not  have 
trusted  himself  so  confidentially  with  Jesus  in 
secret.  Pihte's  tone  of  mind  was  not,  as  many 
erroneously  as.sunie,  to  the  great  injury  of  the 
whole,  that  of  a  purely  heathenish  imagination 
or  sujierstition,  but  rather,  as  Fiieger  well 
expresses  it,  "the  beginning  of  that  which 
P.sa.  ii.  10-12  coTimends  to  all  rulers  amj 
princes." 

This  must  teach  us  to  understand  the  greai 
question — TIoOev  si  dv,  Whence  art  tiiou? 
which  opens  the  convers,-\tion,  and  without  un- 
derstanding which  aright,  neither  the  silent  nor 
the  uttered  answer  of  Jesus  can  be  understood. 
There  is  no  question  here  about  his  earthly  deri- 
vation (he  had  already  sent  V>m  to  Herod  as  a 
Galilean),  nor  any  more  precise  inquiry  of  what 
parents  he  was  born  ;  the  presenticot  Whence, 
to  which  an  avoo^Ev,  from  above,  afterwards 
corresponds,  is  meant  as  in  chap.  vii.  23.  Pi- 
late in  truth  puts  now  the  deepest  and  best 
question  which  he  could  put — a  belter  question 
than  any  before.  Better  than  the  first,  Ayi 
thou  the  King  of  the  Jeim,  as  these  Jews  say  ?— 
for  it  is  now  simply  the  saying  of  the  Jevva 
concerning  the  "Son  of  God"  which  prompts 
him  ;  he  speaks  it  of  himself  as  well.  Better 
than  that  other.  What  hast  thou  done?  for  he 
now  asks  more  profoundly  and  fumiamentally 
about  his  being,  and  its  origin.  Better  than. 
What  is  truth  ?  How,  What,  Who,  Whence  art 
thou  ?  Once  more  to  obviate  misconception,  it 
IS  not  by  any  means  "  only  the  question  of 
superstition  and  curinsity"  (Neander) — or  so 
put  as  if  he  would  question  away  the  first  good 
influence  of  the  fer;r.  But  it  is  plainly  seen 
here  that  Pilate  still  belonged  to  that  class  of 
men  to  whicli  the  saying  (improper  enough 
when  made  universal)  applies  :  "  No  man  can 
withstand  the  truth  who  has  received  it  even 
into  a  corner  of  his  consciou.<ness  ;  it  will  work 
in  him  even  against  his  will."  Let  this  Whcnc« 
art  thou  be  combined  with  Btholit  the  man  : 
Art  thou  then  a  man,  or  in  truth  a  higher 
being?  Thus  this  questioning  sprang  from 
a  heart  and  conscience  suddenly  and  deeply 
touched,  and  powerfully  awakened  ;  it  is  the 
genuine  heart-quedion  of  the  understanding  in 
the  presence  of  Christ,  whereas  before  the  un- 
derstanding had  asked  without  the  heart.  It 
is  the  great,  great  question,  "  Who  was  Christ?" 
the  penetrating  point  of  which  a  Strau.ss  must 
first  wilfully  break  off,  the  piercing,  living  fores 
of  which  an  unbeliever  must  first  destroy,  be- 
fore he  can  reason  away  the  "  Son  of  God." 
Christ's  person  in  itself  impresses  Pilate  more 
than  all  the  miracles  which  he  had  not  seen ;  that 
is  the  triumph  of  the  truth  which  is  in  him.  It.  is 
his  suffering  form  which  still  enforces  from  many 
a  Pilate  this  Whence  art  t/u>u  ?  but  we  say  again 
that  outof  this  one  truth— this  sulf- rer  is  from 
above,  if  we  deal  earnestly  with  this  answer  as 
it  already  lies  in  the  question— follows  every 


JOHN  XIX.  11. 


639 


thing  else,  all  Christian  theology  and  its  morality 
for  us. 

But  Jesus  gave  him  no  answer — and  though 
this  may  surprise  even  us,  his  silence  has  its 
perfect  justification.  For,  first,  the  "  answer- 
ed,"* following  immediately  afterwards  in  ver. 
11,  shows  that  the  preceding  silence  was  not 
an  arbitrary  determination  to  sav  no  more,  but 
pondered  in  Christ's  wisdom.  With  us,  when 
ffe  would  patiently  suffer  in  silence,  there  may 
be  some  such  arbitrary  purpose  of  our  own  ; 
or,  to  put  a  better  construction  upon  it,  we 
cannot  actually  speak  and  at  the  same  time 
suffer  in  patience,  for  we  have  inwardly  too 
much  to  do  with  our  own  spirits,  in  order  to 
maintain  our  proper  posture  of  mind.  But 
Christ  is  in  his  profoundest  humanity  elevated 
above  this  human  imperfection  ;  in  his  lips  (as 
we  shall  hear  from  tke  cross)  the  word  of  God 
is  never  bound.  But  wherefore  does  he  make 
no  reply  to  that  most  weighty  and  well-mean- 
ing question  of  Pilate?  It  would  now  have 
been  easy  to  give  his  testimony,  and  to  make 
this  judge  an  humble  learner.  So  mieht  we 
think,  but  the  case  was  very  different.  Ebrard  ; 
"The  circumstance  that  a  heathen  would  sit  in 
judgment  upon  matters  of  revealed  religion 
was  unsuitable  and  contrary  to  the  law  ;  the 
Sanhedrim  was  the  only  competent  court  for 
such  an  investigation ;  therefore  Jesus,  who 
would  never  slight  or  surrender  the  legitimate 
rights  of  the  covenant-people,  answered  Pilate 
nothins; ;  but,  when  he  broke  his  silence  again, 
reminded  him  that  he  possessed  as  the  gover- 
nor no  other  power  than  that  which  God  com- 
mitted to  him  through  Ca;sar,  and  therefore 
that  with  this  religious  question  he  had  noth- 
ing to  do."  What  shall  we  say  to  this  ?  Apart 
from  the  marvellous  exegesis  of  ver.  11  which 
will  be  afterwards  refuted,  even  the  first  point 
is  altogether  wrong,  through  the  error  which  a 
superficial  spirit  of  interpretation  has  intro- 
duced of  always  adhering  to  the  external 
sense.  It  is  altogether  forgotten  that  in  chap. 
xviii.  Jesus  did  enter  into  these  questions  with 
this  heathen  ("King  of  the  Jews"  belonged 
to  revealed  religion;  the  kingdom  not  of  i.ns 
world  and  the  witnessing  lor  the  truth  were 
altogether  Jewish  matters),  and  bring  before 
the  heathen  the  mysteries  of  the  theocracy  and 
prophecy.  Why  does  he  not  now  similarly  enter 
into  them  ?  JFurther,  does  the  questioning 
Pilate  really  intend  to  judge  upon  these  things, 
and,  moreover,  as  a  heathen  ?  Does  his  ques- 
tion mean  nothing  beyond  "  a  son  of  the 
gods" — and  not  rather  in  its  indefinite  ex- 
pression the  indefinite  but  real  Sslov  in  Jesus 
which  appealed  to  him?t     Now,  once  more,  it 


*  Correcily  tvithout  at  rep,  that  tlie  contrast 
may  be  made  evident :  But  new  he  answered. 

f  B.-Crusius  is  also  wrong :  "  Jesus  kept  silence 
here  because  a  heathen  idea  of  the  Son  of  God 
was  in  question."  But  who  tells  us  tliis  1  Was 
not  iliat  notion  which  t'lought  so  earnestly  of  the 
word  itself,  instead  of  identifying  it  with  the  Mes- 
siah, the  heathen  idea  1 


was  not  a  judicial  investigation  at  all,  but  a 
conversation  ;  fh-;  religious  accusation  of  the 
Jews  as  such,  and  their  phrase  Son  of  Oixl  (for 
Pilate  asks  not  again,  Art  thou  then  the  Son  of 
Oodf)  is  not  concerned,  but  the  religious  de- 
sire of  the  persona!  Pilate  as  expressed  in  his 
Wlience  art  thou.  The  Roman  did  not  invade 
the  prerogative  of  the  theocratic  judge,  and 
thus  transgress  his  jurisdiction.  Oh,  no  ;  the 
presentiment  of  his  fear  and  awe  before  Je.-us, 
whom  he  was  to  crucify  because  he  called  him- 
self the  Son  of  God,  was  most  perfectly  com- 
petent to  put  the  direct  question,  on  the  reply 
to  which  all  depended,  to  him  who  was  a  wit- 
ne.ss  of  the  truth.  The  Saviour  acknowledges 
this  right  and  competency  every  where  in  all  : 
wherever  a  soul  seeks  him  he  is  graciously  to 
be  found,  all  is  yea  and  answer  in  him  (2  Cor. 
i.  19),  not  nay  nor  silence  ;  but  he  commends 
himself  in  tlie  highest  sense  to  every  man's 
conscience  (2  Cor.  iv.  2),  without  asking  wheth- 
er Gentile  or  Jf^w.  Then  why  does  he  keep 
silence  here  ?  For  four  reasons  united  :  on  the 
one  hand,  in  affirmation  and  by  pointing  to 
what  had  already  been  said;  on  the  other,  for 
his  righteous  reproof  and  also  to  spare  him. 
Let  us  explain  ourselves  as  briefly  as  possible. 
First,  is  not  silence  an  answer?  In  truth, 
there  was  spoken  an  absolute  thou  s<iy<-8'  it 
without  the  words  themselves,  as  if  he  would 
say.  Let  it  not  be  a  question  with  thee.  The 
answer  lies  already  in  thy  question,  in  which 
thou  hast  been  constrained  to  utter  thy  pro- 
sentiment  of  a  whence  that  is  higher  than  hu- 
manity ;  my  voice,  the  voice  of  truth  spfaketh 
now  in  thee,  I  will  not  interrupt  it,  as  I  do  not 
contradict  it.  Assuredly,  if  Jesus  had  not 
been  conscious  of  a  divine  Sonship,  "  the  love 
of  truth  would  have  enforced  from  him  the 
confession,  I  come  like  every  other  mortal 
from  a  human  father"  (He.=s).  Thus  his 
silence  is  a  good  confession,  "itself  testifies 
to  his  divine  origin,"  as  Ltlcke  also  says— is 
affirmative  in  this  form,  and  no  other  was  im- 
mediately necessary  :  not  necessary  in  the  face 
of  the  peculiar  question  v/hich  anticipated  the 
answer  ;  and,  further,  not  necessary  because 
of  what  had  preceded,  the  first  conversation 
and  testimony.  His  keeping  silence  had  point- 
ed to  what  had  gone  before,  as  if  he  had  said, 
Have  I  not  told  thee  already,  that  I  have  come 
into  the  world  bringing  with  me  the  truth  and 
that  power  from  above  which  is  above  all ;  and 
that  therefore  I  am  myself  personally  from 
above,  from  that  other  world?  (Comp.  chap, 
viii.  23.)  But  now  we  must  turn  to  the  other 
side.  For  Jesus  was  not  so  rigorously  severe 
as  never  to  repeat  his  words  for  our  weakness  : 
this  we  have  often  seen,  and  must  ask  why  ho 
did  not  repeat  them  now,  and  give  a  plainer 
answer  to  the  plainer  and  more  urgent  ques- 
tion. Why  does  he  not  confirm  by  positive 
words  the'  presentiment  of  this  quest>oning 
seeker,  as  he  is  wont  so  willingly  to  do?  It 
was  indeed  difficult  to  answer  plainly  for  this 
Gentile— but  was  it  impossible  to  Christ?  He 
might  well  have  chosen  now,  as  be  often  did  in 


640 


SECOI^D  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


each  critical  cases  (to  use  Lnthardt's  -words) 
"an  enigmatical  saying"  which  would  have 
bad  in  it  the  true  point.  It  must  not  be  said 
that  every  answer  would  have  been  "  to  this 
polylheist  governor  ii.iintelligible  or  liable  to 
be  misunderstood;"  for  in  this  Whence  it  was 
not  polytheism  which  spoke,  and  Christ  could 
indeed  have  given  reply  clear  enough  to  sufnce 
at  least  for  a  beginning — that  is,  if  Pilate  bad 
been  entirely  in  earnest,  and  his  steadfastness 
could  have  been  relied  on.  But  it  is  time  now 
to  moJif}',  if  not  to  retract,  the  favorable  ad- 
missions which  we  have  made  concerning  him. 
Pilate  was  as  a  Gentile  perfectly  competent  to 
receive  an  answer  ;  but  he  was  in  himself  not 
•worthy  of  it,  because  he  was  not  capable  of 
hearing  it  in  full  and  holding  it  fa.s^,  and  that 
again  because  he  was  not  willing.  By  that 
abruptly-ending  What  is  truth?  he  had  scorned 
away  the  answer  in  deep  unbelief.  Thus  for 
his  befitting  rebuke  it  was  said,  When  I 
spoke  to  thee  concerning  the  truth,  wherefore 
didst  thou  not  believe  me?  (chap.  viii.  46). 
Finally,  the  Lord  knew  that  he  still  would 
not  believe,  and  therefore  kept  merciful  silence, 
to  spare  him  the  increase  of  guilt.  Very  true 
is  the  plain  word  of  the  Berlenh.  Bibel:  "  Pilate 
would  not  learn  the  A.  B  C  first,  but  would 
here  climb  at  once  into  heaven.  My  good 
Pilate,  thou  must  learn  first  the  first  principle! 
Whence  art  lltou?  Thou  hast  not  been  faith- 
ful in  the  first  point,  and  I  cannot  answer  thee 
to  thi.s." 

Let  us  now  make  application  of  this  typical 
scene  to  all  that  reproduces  it  in  the  present 
day.  To  him  who  knows  and  marks,  and  yet 
asks  again  with  only  partial  earnestness  or 
with  none  at  all,  who  has  heard  and  yet  has 
not  heard — Jesus  keeps  silence.  Pilate,  in 
contradiction  with  himself,  had  regarded  this 
Lofty  One  as  being  complacent  enough  in  his 
present  danger  of  deatti,  even  after  he  had 
ijeen  the  first  time  left  alone,  to  answer  any 
questions  which  he  might  see  fit  to  put  to  him. 
In  this  he  erred:  the  Lowly-lofty  One  retains, 
with  all  his  gentleness,  his  inalienable  dignity, 
and  answers  most  impressively  by  manifesting 
that.  The  King  of  tiuth  will  submit  to  no 
trifling;  the  Son  of  God  will  undergo  no 
capricious  examination.  Hast  thou  rejected 
his  witness — then  humble  thyself  to  the  dust 
for  that,  be.'bre  thou  darest  to  come  back  and 
ask  new  questions.  Mark  by  the  fear  which 
is  in  thee  who  he  is,  and  whence  he  is ;  and 
that  thou  must  come  and  ask,  if  thou  come  at 
&\\,ofthe  truth?  "Hearken  when  the  truth 
speaks;  and  question  not,  when  it  is  silent" 
(Gossner).  Yea,  let  us  with  our  heart  and  with 
all  our  soul,  give  heed,  when  this  King  of  truth 
speaketh — and  not  ask  further,  or  be  offended, 
when  he  keepelh  silence,  for  then  speaketh  he 
most  loudly  within  us. 

But  Pilate  takes  it  ill,  and  his  teachableness 
is  suddenly  gone.  Just  now  he  stood  in  beau- 
tiful submission  under  Jesus;  but  when  the 
Lofty  One  in  the  righteousness  of  truth  fixes 
his  soul  by  silence,  he  does  not  remain  faith- 


ful to  the  good  influence.  His  proud  authori- 
tative I — instead  of  the  smitten  inner  man — 
rises  iiigh  again  above  the  Son  of  God.  Unto 
me  speakest  thou  not?  Lampe  rightly  calls 
this  "an  objurgating  reproof  plainly  at  vari- 
ance with  his  preceding  fear."  Thou  rjayest 
keep  silence  before  the  soldiers,  before  the  Jews, 
and  before  Herod — but  before  me  also?  What 
lack  of  respect  is  this  !  Knowest  thou  not  in 
whose  presence  thou  standest?  "Does  not 
this  make  thee  guilty,  though  otherwise  inno- 
cent?" {Berlenh.  Bibel).  The  silence  of  Jesus 
"  wounded  his  official  consciomne«H,  for  his 
cowardice  had  rendered  him  sensitive;  and 
mortified  his  official  pride,  for  by  his  vapid  un- 
judicial words  he  had  humbled  himself  before 
the  Jews  whom  he  hated  "  (Braune).  It  is  not 
the  heart  and  conscience  of  ihe  man  which 
speaks  now;  but  the  haughty  official  conscious- 
ness, altogether  untheocratic,  of  the  Gentile — 
un-Roman  indeed,  if  Ptome  was  the  symbol  of 
justice;  genuinely  Puoman,  if  power  (poouTj) 
was  every  thing.  Knoicest  thou  not,  that  I 
have  power  to  crucify  thee,  and  have  power  to 
release  thee?  It  is  quite  truly  and  sincerely 
that  he  speaks  plainly  now  of  his  appeal  to  his 
simple  power,  for  he  is  the  representative  of 
(impotent)  power  in  the  history  of  the  Passion; 
speaking  in  the  name  of  all  those  against  whom 
the  prudential  wisdom  of  the  Son  of  Sirach 
warns  in  the  Apocrypha,  Ecclus.  ix.  13 — "  Keep 
thee  far  from  the  man  that  luith  power  to  kill." 
But  his  words  are  pre-eminently  judicial,  and 
disgraceful  to  Roman  justice,  when  he  declares 
that  a  judicial  murder  is  in  the  power  of  his 
hand— n^  ni32,*     Observe  it  well :  he  knows 

that  he  has  the  power,  and  therefore  testifies 
against  himself;  so  that  he  is  condemned  out 
ot  his  own  mouth  when  it  is  afterwards  said 
—IneKpivE,  napiSoonny  "he  condemned — de- 
livered." Nevertheless,  this  artless  assertion  ot 
hissubjcctive  conviction  is  at  the  same  time  a  lie, 
a  perfect  contradiction  to  the  state  of  the  actual 
case  generally,  as  well  as  to  the  secret  power 
over  him  and  within  him  which  his  Whence  art 
thou  had  been  constrained  to  confess.  Thus 
first,  his  having  power  generally,  for  the  cruci- 
fi.x;ion  or  release  of  this  Jesus,  is  nothing  more 
than  the  vain  imagination  of  the  foolish  man — 
that  even  that  which  cometh  from  above  is  yet 
in  his  own  power.  See  here  an  example,  how 
poor  man  fancies  that  he  can  use  his  freedom, 
as  at  his  own  arbitrary  discretion,  to  the  result 
which  he  would  wish,  because  God  rules  with 
patience!     Secondly,  his  power  to  crucifyf  is  a 


*  As  the  Assyrian  says,  Isa.  x.  13  comp.  Geii. 
xxxi.  29,  Labaii :  n'  biih. 

t  The  drc(vp(iS6aim\ist  come  first  in  the  clause, 
not  tlie  aTtoA.v6ai  as  LUcke  thinks  more  proper. 
For  ho  does  not  speak  "  with  a  waxing  feeling  of 
his  power,"  but  as  one  injured,  .speaking  at  cnce 
of  tliat  power  in  threatening.  Liitiiardt  defends 
the  other  arrangement,  because  then  the  word  of 
gra^e  comes  first ;  but  it  is  ot)vious  ti;at  the  word 
of  terror  bursts  fortli  fust— Tliy  cruc.flxion  de- 
pends on  a  word  from  me. 


JOHN  XIX.  11. 


641 


contradiction  to  his  judicial  function,  to  which 
he  nevertheless  refers  the  whole.  It  is  boldly 
said,  as  if  a  Procurator  was  appointed  and  set 
up  to  place  might  in  the  place  of  right ;  and 
this  wicked  quid  fro  quo,  so  common  among 
men,  is,  alas  !  disguised  through  the  ambiguity 
of  the  term  eqov6ia,  which  means  as  well 
power  as  righteous  prerogative.  Is  he  not  a 
minister  of  justice,  and  his  responsibility  so 
much  the  greater  because,  in  the  imperfection 
of  human  things,  the  eqovdia  of  right  may  be 
placed  only  in  the  Hovdia  of  his  own  personal 
determination,  his  prerogative  left  in  the  keep- 
ing of  his  power?  If  he  actually  has  the 
power  to  release,  is  it  in  his  power  to  crucify, 
and  say — I  can  do  it  f  This  too  when  his  con- 
science so  plainly  speaks,  as  his  words  betray 
and  testify, against  him?  A  wicked  aUernativc 
is  this  in  th^  mouth  of  a  judge,  where  arbitra- 
riness glories  in  its  might.  If  Jesus  was  inno- 
cent, he  had  no  judicial  power  to  crucify  him  ; 
if  guilty,  he  had  no  judicial  power  to  release 
him.  That  was  the  only  right  alternative.  ^  A 
conscientious  judge  says  conversely — I  can  do 
nothing  against  right,  against  truth  (2  Cor.  xiii. 
8)  ;  and  would  rather  set  free  the  guilty,  whose 
guilt  is  obscurely  proved,  than  give  up  to 
aeath  the  certainly  guiltless.  There  is  a  power 
of  right,  from  which  no  man  should  recede  ; 
and  of  that  (as  said  above)  the  heathen  knows, 
who  indeed  has  a  power.  To  this  refers  that 
word  of  David,  something  analogous  to  which 
at  least  is  found  in  every  human  breast :  God 
hath  spoken  once ;  twice  have  I  heard  this  ; 
that  power  belongcth  unto  God — power  is 
God's  alone  (Psa.  Ixii.  11).  Thus,  as  P»,ambach 
preaches,  "  he  who  knows  and  feels  what  a 
perilous  matter  is  earthly  power  and  authority, 
will  be  slow  to  boast  of  it  when  he  has  it." 
God  has  come  to  Pilate's  help  in  the  dream  of 
his  wife  ;  he  had  thus  from  without  as  weil  as 
from  above  cried  to  his  inmost  heart — Sin  not 
against  this  P.ighteous  One:  nevertheless  he  can 
here  boast  that  it  is  in  his  power  to  be  unjust. 
But  his  vain  assumption,  finally,  that  he  has 
power  to  release,  is  a  contradiction  in  itself  and 
a  mere  delusion — for,  as  the  event  shows,  he  is 
constrained  to  crucify.  Although  his  hasty 
expression  seems  to  let  slip  the  secret  confes- 
sion that  he  would  rather  release  than  destroy 
Jesus — yet  he  hns  no  power  to  do  it,  as  we  may 
see  in  vers.  12,  13.  Long  before  and  repeated- 
ly he  had  said — No  fault  in  him,  and  therewith 
the  accused  should  have  been  set  free  ;  but 
there  is,  opposed  to  the  divine  power  of  justice 
in  his  conscience,  another  power  of  tlie  world, 
before  which  he  knoics  not  what  to  do  with 
Jesus,  vainly  washes  himself  clean,  and  being 
overpowered  delivers  him  up.  "The  cultivated 
Roman  was  strangely  wrought  upon  by  all 
these  mighty  influences.  First,  his  wonder 
and  even  fear  in  the  presence  of  this  man — then 
the  message  of  his  wife — Jhen  the  mad  multi- 
tude, the  threatening  of  the  rulers  about  the 
friendship  of  Csesar — verily,  a  mj.n  who  has 
nothing  but  cuHivation,  even  if  he  had  t>e 
whole  laud  at  his  command,  must  loose   his 


head"  (Lossel).  "Repeatedly  to  declare  the 
accused  innocent,  and  yet  to  treat  him  as  the 
Vilest  malefactor  and  execute  him  as  a  slave — 
was  incontrovertibiy  no  other  tlian  to  place  the 
most  unbridled  caprice  in  the  place  of  law,  and, 
instead  of  the  right  which  has  lawful  might, 
distrustfully  and  in  fear  of  the  highest  power, 
that  of  Cajsar,  to  allow  its  course  to  the  most 
lying  semblance  of  that  right  in  lawless  vio- 
lence" (Daub).  "  Pilate  makes  great  show  of 
his  power  against  Jesus  (the  poor  man  in  whom 
he  had  just  suspected  a  Son  of  God);  but 
against  the  Jews,  who  should  have  felt  his 
power,  he  is  a  very  coward  "  {Berlenb.  Bihel). 
Thus  is  he  fettered,  having  bound  himself;  for 
the  judicial  question,  what  to  do  with  Jesus, 
he  had  already  surrendered  to  the  outcry  of  the 
people  and  the  malice  of  his  enemies,  putting 
his  foolish  answer  to  them  in  the  place  of  a 
judicial  decree. 

It  was  necessary  that  we  should  thus  care- 
fully examine  all  this,  in  order  to  understand 
the  critical  point  at  which  Jesus,  for  his  Fa- 
ther's honor  and  Pilate's  good,  once  more 
speaks  ;  breaking  once  more  his  long  silence  by 
a  word  which  we  may  term,  in  a  confined  sense, 
the  last  "testimony"  before  his  crucifixion. 
(The  word  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  has 
another  meaning.)  And  how  does  he  speak  ? 
Truly,  had  he  not  been  the  Holy  One,  the 
temptation  would  have  occurred  to  mock 
Pilate's  boasting  impotence,  and  to  dash  to 
pieces  his  lying  assertion  of  power — I  know  far 
more,  far  better  how  the  case  is  with  thee.  Or, 
to  punish  him  by  reflecting  back  his  threat— I 
have  power  over  thee.  But  how  does  he  re- 
strain himself  I  Instead  of  that,  there  is  first  an 
admission  of  the  truth  in  his  error — Yea,  thou 
hat  power,  but  under  a  quite  different  condi- 
tion and  restriction,  of  a  very  different  kind, 
from  what  thou  thinkest.  Tliou  tcouUd  have 
none,  were  it  not  given  thee — Ji-om  above. 

It  is  obvious  at  once  that  in  this  HitoQev  we 
have  the  kernel  of  the  reply;  and  consequent- 
ly, that  it  refers  to  above  in  the  highest  and 
only  sense  in  which  it  can  be  appropriate  here. 
He  who  cannot  see  this  without  argument,  is 
as  inaccessible  as  Pilate  himself  to""  light  and 
truth.  We  leave  those  who  are  so  disposed  to 
interpret :  The  high  Sanhedrim  hath  given  thee 
the  power  over  me,  by  giving  me  into  your 
hands.  However  boldly  this  exposition  ap- 
peals to  the  following  clause,  it  is  utterly  and 
hopelessly  insipid.  We  would  not  say  quite  as 
much  of  that  other  view  which  refers  it  to  the 
higher  power  of  the  Roman  Caesar,  who  might 
have  occurred  at  once  to  an  unbeliever,  when 
Jesus  thus  speaks — but  only  to  one  who  had 
not  conceived  of  that  other  whence,  of  which 
Pilate  had  been  deeply  thinking.  Certainly 
the  application  which  this  gives  to  our  Lord's 
words  is  almost  equally  meagre — How  evil  it 
is,  that  to  the  poor  deputy  of  so  high  a  sway 
such  arbitrary  "power"  should  be  entrusted  ! 
Liicke  ;  "At  such  a  moment  we  cannot  well 
conceive  our  Lord  to  cast  any  blame  upon  the 
exisang   constitution   of  things;"   and  he  is 


642 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


right  in  as  far  as  the  power,  as  and  because 
given  by  Cjesar,  would  not  be  arbitrary,  but 
strictly  legitimate  in  the  earthly  sense,  if  we  go 
not  beyond  this  world.  But  we  would  speak 
more  strongly  :  The  Lord's  answer,  apart  from 
the  reference  to  subjective  guilt  in  Pilate's  mis- 
use of  his  power  which  is  contained  in  the  fol- 
lowing clause,  denies  in  the  first  clause  that 
Pilate  has  independent  power  to  do  with  him 
what  he  would — it  by  no  means  admits  or  com- 
plains that  he  is  given  up  to  the  arbitrary  ca- 
price of  a  man.  For  this  would  be  a  most  un- 
accountable contradiction  to  the  general  funda- 
mental principles  of  divine  government  and 
providence,  and  to  our  Lord's  own  constant 
testimony  to  his  Father's  counsel  in  his  death 
— at  this  critical  time,  especiallv,  altogether  in- 
comprehensible. Matthai  :  "  Let  us  not  think 
that /row  above  means/zom  R  me.  That  would 
be  subordinating  above  to  below,  and  reducing 
the  Piedeemer  of  the  world  to  a  Roman  citizen. 
To  speak  thus  without  meaning,  without  in- 
struction (that  is,  without  proper  answer), 
would  be  altogether  unworthy  of  Christ.  Christ 
is  elevated  to  heaven,  the  Eternal  God  is  his 
horizon  and  the  scope  of  all  hi^  thoughts;  to 
behold  and  to  point  to  him  is  the  necessity  of 
his  every  pulse,  in  order  that  men  may  be 
turned  away  from  their  idolatry  and  from  them- 
selves ;  but  this  is  not  consistent  with  his 
speaking  of  Pome  as  the  source  of  Pilate's  au- 
thority. He  would  then  have  reminded  Pilate 
of  Pi,ome  in  a  manner  quite  contrary  to  his 
own  design.  It  was  his  purpose  to  denounce 
the  cowardly  presumption  which  was  in  him 
(ver.  10),  because  he  thought  too  much  of  his 
Roman  power,  and  too  little  of  the  almighti- 
ness  of  God."  hci  us  now  observe  that  in  this 
heavenly  from  altove  there  is  (as  so  often  in 
Christ's'  discourses)  a  supplementary  answer, 
afterwards  brought  in,  to  the  whence  as  to  his 
origin,  which  he  had  left  unanswered  before. 
Grotius  says  with  unusual  point,  "Thence  for- 
sooth from  whence  I  came."  Not  of  this  world, 
as  I  said  before  :  from  that  other  world,  con- 
cerning which  1  know  and  speak,  it  comes  that 
thou  hast  power,  as  thou  thinkest,  generally 
and  specifically  over  me.  Christ  stands  now 
lelmo  :  therefore  he  says  above,  as  man  concern- 
ing God,  as  the  Son  concerning  the  Father. 
Yet  he  avoids  in  his  care  and  dignity,  now  as 
before,  saying  to  this  Gentile  expressly  56t»?, 
or  God  (or  at  this  time  narijp),  nor  does  he 
utter  the  word  Juaven ;  for  he  would  give  no 
occasion  to  blasphemy,  but  rather  as  much  as 
possible  connect  his  words  with  the  dawning 
consciousness  of  Pilate's  presentiment.  He 
therefore  condescends  to  the  seeming  indefinite- 
ness  of  the  ayoo'jey,  from  above,  just  as  Pilate's 
feeling  would  apprehend  it.  Thus  in  chap, 
xviii.  37  he  spoke,  with  similar  abstract  and 
philosophic  language,  only  of  Iritlh,  yet  mean- 
ing the  right  trutii.  In  all  dealing  with  the 
commencing  conviction  of  heathens  we  should 
closely  imitate  his  example.  How  measured, 
and  restrained,  and  lull  of  luminous  clearness, 
are  his  thoughts  and  words,  never  enthusiastic, 


but  always  in  harmony  with  thf  "»ctual  reality 
of  every  circumstance.  This  to'\  down  to  the 
last,  amid  all  the  confusion  ot  Gentiles  and 
Jews. 

But  the  Lord  declares  two  things  here:  he 
first  speaks  of  the  power  of  Pilate  >jenerally,  and 
not  till  then  of  his  present  power  over  hisow,n 
person.  We  must  lay  a  strong  emphasis  upon 
ovSejuiav,  "  no  power,"  and  hear  in  it — Thou 
wouldst  have  generally  no  power,  that  is,  against 
me,  or,  as  thou  sayest,  to  cruelly  me.  Liicke 
protests  against  this  first  and  general  sense, 
which  the  Church  in  its  preaching  and  teaching 
has  always  held  fast :  "  Jesus  speaks  not  here 
of  the  power  of  Pilate  absolutely  ;  and  there- 
fore he  declares  his  fate  to  be"  in  this  man's 
hands  for  life  or  death,  as  a  thing  SeSun/fvov, 
or  given — not  the  Iquvaia  to  be  deSo/ievr/." 
But  this  strangely  overlooks  the  fact  ttial  the 
particular  clause — Thy  power  now  exteoda 
over  me — must  pre-suppose  the  more  general 
one,  lyuni  hast  the  power  as  governor.  Pilaie 
had.  appealed  to  his  office  in  general,  from 
which  this  particular  power  flowed;  and  the 
answer  naturally  corresponds  with  that.  The 
)}y  SeSousyov  in  the  neuter  has  no  force 
against  this;  because  it  brings  into  strong 
prominence  the  being  given  from  above  alone, 
and  with  a  comprehensive  hint  In  every  thing 
which  a  man  has,  or  can  have,  there  is  involved 
a  deSo/Jsyoy  ;  every  thing  is  given,  and  so  con- 
sequently thy  power.  Lampe  has  correctly 
brought  out  the  steps  of  the  meaning:  "He 
concedes  to  Pilate,  first  jxno  r.  He  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  human  court ;  be- 
cause his  kingdom'  was  not  of  this  earth,  de- 
stroying human  magistracy.  Nor  did  he  dis- 
pute the  power  of  Pilate  and  the  Romans  over 
the  Jews.  SeconJly,  he  exalts  that  power,  as 
given  from  above.  This  is  the  Ciiristian  doctrine, 
that  all  power  is  of  God.  Thirdly,  he  acknow- 
ledges that  that  power  extended  over  himself, 
since  all  things  touching  him  were  done  by  a 
divine  decree."  This  last  is  indeed  the  chief 
point,  to  which  our  Lord  presses  onward  ;  but 
it  is  necessarily  and  naturally  as  based  upon,  or 
mediated  by,  the  former  and  more  general 
truth  ;  for  the  counsel  of  God  gave  Pilate,  as 
the  present  judge  in  the  land,  the  jurisdiction 
over  Jesus  and  the  power  to  judge  him.  If  we 
have  taken  a  right  view  of  the  pretension  of 
Pilate,  as  already  exhibited,  we  must  be  pre- 
pared to  admit  that  the  answer  would  not  touch 
the  heart  of  the  question — on  account  of  which 
the  Lord's  silence  was  broken — if  it  did  not  ad- 
minister some  preliminary  lessons  touching  the 
arbitrary  perversion  of  official  authority  gen- 
erally.* Consequently,  the  word  is  not  spoken 
for  Pilate  alone,  but  for  all  who  bear  rule  in  the 
world  ;  and  the  reco(jnitioH  of  existing  authority, 
just  as  in  Matt.  xxii.  21,  precedes  the  instruc- 
tion, both  admonitory  and  encouraging,  v'uch  is 


*  Roos  says  of  Pilate :  "  He  would  not  le.irn 
religion,  but  only  do  his  duty ;  his  example,  liow- 
ever,  teaches  us  that  man  cannot  do  the  duty  of 
his  office  well  without  rehgion." 


JOHN  XJX 


648 


l.aspcl  upon  the  conceded  "  ^iven  from  above." 
Clii-ist  standing  before  CoBsar  would  have  as- 
serted the  same  "  from  above,"  and  would  have 
in  the  same  way  bowed  before  it.  He  does  not 
liold  the  Gentile  judge  imcompetent  to  pro- 
nounce sentence  upon  his  life,  whether  he  was 
righteous  or  unrighteous  ;  and  in  this  his  sub- 
mTssion  is  the  direct  opposite  of  the  rebellion 
of  the  Jews,  who  cast  from  them  their  divinelj' 
justified  king  as  a  pretender.  "What  Jesus 
says  to  Pilate  is  an  actual  acknowledgment  of 
his  judicial  function.  He  acts  as  an  accused 
person  standing  before  his  judge  ;  not  holding 
up  to  Pilate  his  unrighteousness  and  the  ter- 
rors of  coming  judgment,*  as  he  would  have 
done  if  he  had  had  to  do  with  him  simply  as 
a  prophet  dealing  with  such  an  unrighteous 
man  "  (Hess).  Suffice  it  that  Christianity  de- 
rives from  these  two  words  of  the  Lord  (here 
and  Matt.  xxii.  21)  its  entire  and  impregnable 
theory  of  the  divine  right  of  the  powers  that 
be ;  as  Paul  developes  it  in  Rom.  xiii.,  but  as  the 
spirit  of  the  age  now  utterly  rejects  it.  The 
doctrine  now  runs,  breaking  down  the  divine 
principle  of  all  right  and  ordinance,  that  all 
authority  and  dignity  of  rulers  flows  from  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  thus  from  below 
— alas  !  from  beloio  indeed  (John  viii.  23).  Nev- 
ertheless, God  without  doubt  remains  in  the 
authority  of  his  kingdom  supreme  as  "  the  only 
potentate  "  and  "  King  of  kings  "  (1  Tim.  vi.  15) 
in  a  two-fold  sense:  as  he  who  givts  or  dinln- 
bt/ks  to  rulers  their  authority  for  justice  ;  and 
who  also  gives  or  permits  their  authority  for  in- 
justice. This  latter,  however,  not  one  step 
otherwise  than  or  beyond  what  his  hand  and 
counsel  hath  decreed  ;  so  that  the  authority  re- 
mains with  God,  as  he  in  his  time  tcill  show  at 
ihe  <ipyea7-i7)g  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Mean- 
while there  is  no  danger  to  the  theory  and  prac- 
tice of  obedience  and  patience,  in  which  this 
our  Lord  is  our  forerunner ;  for  if  they  even 
take  our  life  away,  as  it  is  permitted  them  to 
do,  the  kingdom  and  the  autliority  of  truth  is 
evermore  with  the  good  confession,  which  can- 
not be  bound  with  those  who  are  in  fetters,  and 
cannot  be  crncitied  with  the  crucified. 

Ail  this  general  truth  is  now  concentrated 
in  the  woids  which  follow — spoken  not  in- 
deed merely  for  the  present  occasion,  but,  in 
their  typical  demonstrative  force,  for  all  occa- 
sions of  the  arbitrary  misuse  of  power — Thou 
shouldst  have  no  power  over  or  against  me  ! 
This  xar  f//oC  is  to  be  taken,  as  it  has  been 
remarked,  toitk  the  utmost  emphasis.  Ocer  me 
and  against  me  are  here  united  in  one  ;  but  the 
latter  is  prominent,  as  the  reply  to  the  bold 
"power  to  crucify  tl\ee."  That  Pilate  the 
governor  has  power  over  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  his 
.'subject  in  common  with  all  the  Jews,  follows 
fiom  the  power  "  given  from  above  "  in  his  ap- 
pointment; L'Ut  that,  abusing  this  power,  he 
cin  condemn  and  give  him  up  to  crucifixion, 
j)ioceeds  from    the   most   absolute   counsel  of 


*  Paul  so  deatrwitli  Felix,  only  because  he  de- 
sired to  hsds jprivately  of  his  faith  in  Christ. 


God.*  Thereore  'x  is  sai.l,  with  this  specific 
reference :  Without  that  thou  wouldst  have, 
because  no  right,  therefore  no  power,  against 
me,  who  have  done  nothing  worthy  of  death  ; 
and  still  more,  against  me,  the  King  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  the  Son  of  God  come  down  from 
above.  Because,  however,  this  was  "  given 
from  above  "  the  Lord  says  at  the  game  time, 
as  if  it  was  self-understood — Under  ihi^,  not 
under  thee  and  thy  power,  as  thou  thinkest,  I 
bow  and  am  submissive.  In  this  he  is  our  pat- 
tern :  "  The  pious  man  looks,  like  Christ,  not 
at  him  who  exercises  the  power  over  him,  but 
ever  at  him  who  permits  to  him  the  power 
which  he  exercises"  (Gossner). 

The  conclusion  would  now  be :  Therefore  I 
suffered  meekly,  as  thou  seest  and  wilt  see,  all 
this  power  perverted  against  me,  and  all  this 
sin  committed  by  thee  and  my  enemies  in  the 
violation  of  right,  and  in  the  absence  of  au- 
thority— and  let  not  myself  be  overcome  and 
turned  aside  by  all  this  sin.  But  this  conclu- 
sion was  left  to  be  self-understood  in  the  first 
clause,  which  has  recognized  and  submitted  to 
the  authority,  while  denouncing  the  sin  of  its 
perversion;  with  the  highest  dignity  and  hu- 
mility combined,  the  Lord  speaks  no  further  of 
himself,  but  of  others ;  and  utters  a  quite  dif- 
ferent did  rotro,  the  meaning  of  which,  so 
much  contested,  we  shall  enter  upon  presentlv. 
First,  let  us  observe  the  parallel  between  this 
word,  this  SeSoi-ievov  and  the  G>026nivov  of 
Luke  xxii.  22  ;  and  note  that  God's  coun:-el 
does  not  abolish  the  guilt  of  the  men  who  exe- 
cute it.  Moreover,  let  it  be  marked  that  in  the 
midst  of  his  selt'-surrender  to  be  judged  as  a 
malefactor,  the  Lord  is  still  the  supreme  Judge. 
Those  who  have  power  now,  have,  alas!  sin 
also  ;  yea,  we  all  have  sin — and  he,  who  alone 
has  no  sin,  speaks  most  plainly  and  judicially 
concerning  this.  He  speaks  with  truth  and 
righteousness  which  recognizes  the  degrees  and 


*  "  Pilate  was  thus  the  man  who  had  been 
chosen  to  be  tlie  judge  of  onr  Lord.  Such  a 
character  .as  his  was  fitted  for  this  work :  a  man 
who  withstands  long  enough  for  lull  light  to  be 
thrown  upon  the  business,  but  who  then  lets  it 
proceed ;  a  man  who  interposes  continual  ques- 
tions, hut  is  too  impotent  to  follow  in  the  course 
of  justice;  a  man  who  at  least  had  rone  of  the 
abject  passions  of  the  Jewish  rulers,  and  who  had 
no  interest  against  him.  lie  was  a  Pioman,  and 
so  beiongins  to  a  nation  which  Providence  had 
used  in  eartlily  things  to  pour  the  whole  world 
into  a  new  mould.  He  was  no  imaginary  sovereign, 
but  the  deputy  of  an  absent  lord  and  a  higher 
{)Ower ;  which  makes  it  all  tb.e  more  easy  to  feel 
(or  rather  symbolizes  it)  that  he  does  not  speak  in 
liis  own  n  ime.  Finally,  I  gather  from  the  ques- 
tions he  puts,  as  well  as  from  tlie  character  ot  our 
Lord's  reitlies,  that  he  had  not  an  interior  kind  of 
soul,  but  on  the  whole  possessed  something  of  the 
Roman  manhood,  integrity  of  character,  and  de- 
cision." So  Tobler — we  would  add,  just  as  much 
of  these  qualities  as  Rome  herself  then  had,  the 
representative  ot  the  potver  of  this  worid,  which  he 
again  represents. 


644 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITH  PILATE. 


stages  of  that  sin.  fie  knows  not,  nor  does 
the  entire  Scripture  (Luke  xii.  48  ;  Matt.  x.  15, 
etc.),  that  false  doctrine  of  the  Stoics,  pressinj^ 
a  sound  principle  too  far,  which  makes  all  sins 
equal  and  alike:  there  are  degrees  of  guilt,  and 
specifically  here  where  sin  reaches  its  highest 
manifestation — degrees  of  guilt  towards  Jesus. 
He  weighs  this  out  with  the  sublimest  repose  ; 
and  graciously  attributes  to  Pilate,  who  had 
just  now  spoken  so  severely  to  him,  a  lesser  sin 
than  that  of  one  who  knew  more  than  he.*  Is 
not  this  blessing  instead  of  cursing  ?  Is  not  this 
at  the  same  time  the  most  penetrating  and  per- 
fect answer  he  could  receive :  I  hiow  not  merely 
thy  power,  how  far  it  goes  and  how  far  not,  but 
I  know  also  thy  sin. 

But  what,  in  this  connection,  is  the  specific 
meaning  oiSid  tovto,  "  therefore  "  ?  It  might 
:cem  as  if  the  whole  of  the  preceding  clause  is 
regarded  as  being  the  reason ;  hence  Liicke 
(with  whom  Alford  agrees)  earnestly  main- 
tains that  every  exposition  of  the  dui  rovro 
is  incorrect  which  does  not  set  out  from  this, 
that  in  the  SeSof-ievov  avcoOev,  "  given  from 
above,"  lies  the  reason  why  Pilate  was  the 
less,  and  the  Jews  the  more,  guilty.  But  we 
cannot  see  the  force  of  this,  and  hold  that  in 
the  "  given  from  above  "  there  cannot  lie  any 
guilt,  and  that  none  could  result  from  it,  less  or 
greater  ;  consequently  the  inference  drawn  in 
"  therefore"  does  not  rest  upon  the  main  idea 
of  the  preceding  proposition,  but  upon  an  vn- 
expressed  intermediate  thought  which  it  pre-sup- 
poses.  Lucke  says  that  Pilate's  guilt  was  less, 
because  he  was  simply  the  instrument  of  a 
higher  power  in  the  council.  But  that  cannot 
be  admitted:  we  would  simply  rsk,  Were  not 
the  Jews  also  in  their  acts  "  the  instruments  of 
a  higher  counsel  above  ?  "  Did  not  Caiaphas 
'jyropheiy,  as  previously  in  the  "  expedient,"  so 
afterwards  in  the  decree  of  death  which  was 
valid  before  God?  Does  not  the  Lord  say  of 
Judas  himself,  that  he  was  only  the  instrument 
of  the  divine  counsel?!  Euthymius  (with 
Chrysoslom  and  Theophvlact)  would  under- 
stand it:  Because  thou,  Pilate,  as  thou  sayest 
thyself,  has  power  to  release  me,  and  does  not 
release  me,  therefore  thou  art  not  free  from  sin, 
though  thy  sin  is  the  less.  Thus  the  conclu- 
sion would  result  in  a  direct  proposition :  There- 
fore thou  had  sin — to  which  the  fitting  qualifica- 


*  If  he  then  held  Iha  balancers — how  wi  1  it  be 
on  the  throne  of  judijmont  ?  But  then  it  will  be 
otherwise.  Tiio  oreatot  sin  is  now  too  creat  for 
foriiiveness,  only  in  the  thought  of  tl  e  Cain  who 
so  declares  i  — but  then  tlio  smallest  sia  will  be 
great  enough  for  conlemnatioa. 

f-Thus  there  is  a  fun-^lamental  error  in  the  ex- 
position of  Cocceius,  wliith  Lanipe,  [ia'^sins  over 
tills  nexum  d'JLilem  with  unusual  suporflciali  y, 
adojjts — viz.,  that  Christ  had  declared  by  the 
same  words  that  lh;s  power,  to  put  him  to  death, 
had  not  been  givpn  to  iho  Jews.  Assuredly,  not 
e.von  a"5  an  official  k£,ov6id,  but  £riv.-n  them  as  a 
SbSousvov  gc;.eially,  an  lt,ov6id  in  the  widest 
seuso. 


tion  was  then  appended.  But  this  is  not  ad- 
missible, for  the  Lord's  xav  kiiov  had  spoken 
of  Pilate's  power  to  crucify  him  ;  the  conclu- 
sion  does  not  speak  of  sin  generally  (which 
was  to  be  understood  of  itself),  or  of  guilt  as 
nevertheless  remainine,  but  expressly  of  the 
difference  of  degree.  This  difference,  therefore, 
is  the  thing  deduced  in  the  "  therefore."  We 
must  not  make  it  mean  :  Therefore,  because  it 
is  a  thing  deSojueroy  and  "  decreed,"  it  might 
appear  that  thou  art  excused;  but,  neverthe- 
less, it  is  not  so  (which  would  make  the 
"therefore"  a  "not  therefore,"  a  "notwith- 
standing"). Nor  as  follows:  Therefore  hast 
thou  sin,  although,  if  the  distinction  be  strictly 
made,  a  less  sin  than  theirs.  All  these  are 
forced  expedients,  quite  inappropriate  in  the 
interpretation  of  this  simple  saying.  What 
then  is  the  unexpressed  intermediate  thought, 
from  which  the  "  therefore  "  arises  ?  It  is  very 
obvious  to  our  understanding :  Thou  hast 
asked  me,  Knoioest  thou  not  ?  Behold,  I  say 
unto  thee  that  which  I  do  know,  and  very  dif- 
ferently from  thyself,  concerning  thy  "  having 
power" — that  thou  hiowest  not.  Is  not  this 
most  certainly  the  foundation  of  the  whole 
answer  ?  Because  I  know,  as  I  have  spoken, 
therefore  I  suffer  thy  power ;  because  thou 
knowest  it  not,  therefore  thou  dost  exercise  it 
(guiltily,  notwithstanding  the  divine  decree) 
against  me.  The  Lord,  adjusting  his  words 
with  supreme  dignity,  does  not  offend  him  by 
giving;  back  his  own  word,  and  saying  express- 
IV,  "Thou  knowest  not;"  but  it  was  what 
Pilate  must  have  in'"erred  and  felt  at  once — 
Thou  art  one  who  art  ignorant  as  to  the  ground 
and  limit  of  thy  autho'rity,  especially  as  to  the 
counsel  of  God  concerning  my  person.  It  of 
course  is  to  be  understood  that  Pilate,  like 
every  other  man,  is  ignorant  only  through  the 
fault  of  his  ovv-n  evil  will ;  that  he  has  sin  is  a 
fact  which  is  silently  admitted ;  but  the  Lord 
who  judges  him,  weighing  out  to  him  merciful 
right,  makes  prominent  his  ignorance,  as, 
equally  with  his  power,  an  actual  fact.  Bengel 
gave  this  interpretation  of  the  Sid  toCto— 
"  Because  thou  hast  plainly  not  known  me:  " 
but  we  would  make  it  more  complete — Because 
thou  hast  plainly  not  known  me,  nor  thy 
power,  nor  what  has  been  given  thee  "from 
above."  Thus  the  saying  of  Christ  resolves 
itself  into  the  fundamenlal  idea  of  that  other, 
Luke  nii.  47,  48  (to  which  j\latt.  x.  15  is  only 
a  parallel) ;  for  the  degree  of  guilt  must  in  the 
end  be  one  with  the  degree  of  knowledge. 
Thus  he  at  once  includes  Pilate  within  the 
scope  of  his  subsequent  intercession — They 
know  not  what  they  do. 

But  even  thou  art  about  to  sin  in  thy  impo- 
tent power,  of  which  thou  so  foolishly  boastest ; 
I  know  well  that  thou  wilt  not  retain  the 
power  to  set  me  free,  and  that  thou  wilt  not 
finally  be  "  innocent"  ot  the  blood  of  the  Just 
One.  Even  thy  sin  is  essentially  great  and 
not  little,  though  by  reason  of  thy  ignorance 
it  is  the  less  sin.  In  his  careful  respect  for  the 
official   personage,  whom   he  was  thought  to 


JOHN  XIX.  11. 


645 


have  undervalued,  the  Lord  does  not  directly  ' 
express  the  fact  that  Pilate  had  sin,  even  the 
lesser  sin ;  but  he  places  first  the  counterpart 
and  other  side  of  the  matter — Ui  that  delivered 
me  unto  thee  hath  greater  sin  ;  nor  does  he  add 
to  this — than  thou.  Whom,  then,  are  we  to 
understand  by  this  napa^iSovi  (or,  according 
to  another  reading,  ncxpadovi)  ?  Tiiis  is  a 
new  question  for  exposition,  in  the  answer  to 
■which  it  has  gone  widely  astray.  Many  have 
answered  it  by  Judas.  But  the  Lord  would 
scarcely  think  of  him  now,  without  any  direct 
o:casion ;  his  case  was  dispatched  and  his 
judgment  sealed;  so  that  it  is  quite  inappro- 
priate to  suppose  him  referred  to  here,  espe- 
cially in  a  word  spoken  to  Pilate,  who  proba- 
bly knew  nothing  about  this  betraying  disciple. 
Nor  did  Judas  in  any  sense  deliver  Clirist  to 
Pilate  ;  "  he  that  delivered  me  to  thee"  points 
plainly  back  to  chap,  xviii.  35,  so  that  the  per- 
son meant  must  be  sous;ht  among  the  people 
and  the  high  priests.  Finally,  Judas  had  not 
the  greater,  but  the  greatest  sin ;  if  he  had 
been  intended,  as  thus  put  in  opposition  to 
Pilate,  why  in  this  contrast  of  extremes  was 
there  no  word  of  those  who  stood  between, 
and  who  were  there  before  the  hall  of  judg- 
ment as  the  accusers  who  had  then  delivered 
Jesus  to  Pilate  ?  The  word  spoken  to  Pilate 
would  pass  unintelligibly  and  most  abruptly 
to  a  depth  beyond  his  thoughts,  instead  of  tak- 
ing hold  of  present  circumstances.  Grotius 
was  disposed  to  embrace  together  all  in  one — 
Judas  especially,  in  the  second  place  the  senate, 
and  in  tiie  third  the  people.  But  Judas  is  too 
distantly  referred  to  to  be  "especially"  the 
object,  and  the  senate  and  people  of  the  Jews 
would  have  been  referred  to  in  the  plural. 
Liicko  understands  a  reference  to  the  Jews 
" collectively,"  with  the  ancients  (Eythyrains 
Tcsv  na^aSuvTOiy)^  and  most  in  the  present 
day.  Lainpe,  too,  would  combine  all :  "  The 
deiiverers-up  sinned  in  common  (as  it  were  in 
one  mystical  person) ;  not  only  Judas,  but  the 
legislature  of  the  Jews,  the  whole  Sanhedrim 
acting  as  one  person,  and  especially  Caiaphas, 
by  whose  authority  all  things  were  done  " — 
and  this  last  approaches  nearer  the  truth.  The 
acting  as  one  person  is  indeed  true  ;  but  on  that 
very  account  this  person  can  be  viewed  only 
as  represented  by  that  one  by  whose  author- 
ity all  acted.  The  singular  produces  here,  as 
put  in  comparison  with  Pilate,  the  decisive  im- 
pre.ssion  that  person  must  stand  against  per- 
son f'  and  that  person,  too,  one  who  was  well- 
known  in  his  wickedness  to  Pilate,  so  that  he 
might  see  the  propriety  of  the  Lord's  judgment. 
He  consequently  can  be  no  other  than  Caia- 
phas, he  in  whose  lqov6ia  all  things  on  the 
side  of  the  Jews  originate.l  and  were  accom- 
plished ;  just  as  all  things  depended  on  Pilate, 
on  the  side  of  the  Gentiles.  Bengel :  "  This 
was  Caiaphas.  Pilate,  when  he  heard  a  cer- 
tain mention  of  the  Son  of  God,  feared;  Caia- 


*  So  Nonnus  has_correctly  used  dmjp,  reject- 
ing all  collective  meaning. 


phas,  when  he  heard  Jesus  himself  calling  him- 
self the  Son  of  God,  termed  him  a  blasphemer, 
and  decreed  his  death."  Caiaphas  knew  of  th3 
power  of  the  living  God,  and  that  he  himself 
was  only  his  servant;  Caiaphas  knew  the 
Scripture,  and  from  it  the  counsel  of  God, 
knew  not  merely  the  meaning  of  "the  Son  of 
God,"  but  also  (almost  entirely  at  least)  that 
Jesus  was  he — with  all  this  the  ignorance  of 
Pilate  stands  in  contrast.  Caiaphas  took  the 
initiative  in  the  whole  matter  (which  lies  in  the 
TcapaStSovi).  and  acts  according  to  his  own 
wicked  will  ;  Pilate  was  drawn  by  circumstan- 
ces operating  upon  his  feebleness  into  guilt. 
Pilate  had  not  from  the  beginning  a  malignant 
will :  in  his  case  the  appointment  of  t'.ie  over- 
ruling God  comes  rather  into  prominence,  as  in 
that  of  Caiaphas  his  own  essential  wicked- 
ness. 

Thus  we  have  here  in  the  most  appropriate 
place— what  we  might  have  expected,  and 
would  otherwise  indeed  have  foumd  wanting — ■ 
a  further  judicial  utterance  concerning  the  sec- 
o>i  I  person,  after  Judas,  among  the  siniiers  who 
rose  against  Jesus ;  concerning  this  "  high 
priest,"  whose  character,  here  held  up  to  him 
as  a  mirror  of  rjrenter  sin,  could  not  possibly 
have  been  unknov/n  to  Pilate.  Thus  the  Lord 
by  anticipation  .«peaks  in  the  same  gracious 
judical  tone  in  which  his  Apostles  afterwards. 
Acts  iii.  13,  speak  of  the  aovernor  who  would 
willingly  have  released  Jesus.  Braune,  how- 
ever, puts  this  too  strongly,  and  even  incor- 
rectly :  "  Jesus  hero  spoke  a  word  which  should 
paofy  the  conscience  of  Pilate — others  might 
have  sought  to  alarm  it  by  threatenings."  Bub 
this  much  is  true :  "  The  calm  gentleness  of 
Jesus  had  already  alarmed  his  conscience  to 
the  utmost" — as  the  sequel  in  ver.  12  shows. 
B.-Crusius  is  right  in  saying  :  "  The  first  (thou 
wouldst  have  no  power,  etc.)  strikes  down  his 
pride  ;  the  second  encoarages  him  by  the  same 
consideration" — that  is,  generally,  by  showing 
him  that  a  higher  dsdojueyoy  of  which  he  was 
unconscious  ruled  over  the  whole  matter;  and, 
in  particular,  by  holding  out  to  him  in  the 
distance  the  forgivness  of  his  lesser  sin.  We 
remarked  before  that  Jesus  intentionally  for- 
bore to  speak  to  the  heathen  directly  of  God  ; 
and  now  we  must  note  that  he  does  not  spare 
the  word  sin.  For  even  the  heathen  in  their 
ignorance  knew  what  sin  was ;  and  by  that 
knowledge  they  might  be  apprehended  on  behalf 
of  God.  But  how  gnthj,  how  graciously*  does 
he  speak  of  the  relatively-ignorant  sin  of  the 
heathen  as  the  lesser  sin,  as  human  sin  gener- 
ally ;  while  the  wickedness  of  those  who  knew 
in  Israel  borders  already,  as  the  greater  sin,  on 
the  greatest — the  Satanic  sin  in  Judas.  Hav- 
ing this  last  as  it  were  in  his  thought  (for 
Caiaphas  is  a  second  Judas)  he  names  the  rep- 

*  "  There  is  in  this  expression  a  certain  tok<^n 
of  love  to  the  per.son  of  Pilate,  which,  coming 
from  him,  whom  he  was  conscious  of  condemn  ng 
unjustly,  appeared  to  Pilate  all  the  more  exalted" 
(Tholuck). 


646 


SECOND  COLLOQUY  WITPI  PILATE. 


resenfative  of  opposing  Judaism,  in  opposition 
to  the  representative  of  blind  heathenism,  the 
7ra/ja5tSuvi ;  he  doe.-s,  indeed,  at  the  same 
lime,  designate  two  numerous  classes  of  sinners 
(with  many  gradations  in  each),  but  he  refers 
primarily  to  tlie  two  individual  persons.  lam 
now  delivtred  up  to  thee — thus  he  stands,  and 
on  this  he  rests,  before  Pilate — to  thee  a  prouil 
impotent  man,  who  wilt  really  have  no  further 
power  than  to  become  the  instrument  of  Udia- 
jihas,  and  thus  wilt  deliver  me  up  again  to  the 
Jews,  my  sentence  of  death  being  ratified  (chap, 
xviii.  36).  lie  does  not,  however,  expressly 
utter  this  last;  he  leaves  it  in  the  background 
as  the  lesser  sin  of  weakness,  which  he  mea- 
sures and  defines  now  belore  its  accomplish- 
ment. 

Pienningcr  makes  Pilate,  pondering  this  an- 
swer, say  :  "  A  God  in  bonds  could  not  speak 
more  nobly."  Quite  true — not  more  nobly  in 
combined  dignity  and  gentleness;  but  we  doubt 
whether  the  governor  received  so  deep  an  im- 
pression— he  thought  of  nothing  beyond  the  re- 
lease of  this  man,  as  in  x\cts  xxvi.  ol,  32.  Of- 
fended he  certainly  is  not,  and  that  of  itself  says 
something  in  his  favor.  Here  belongs  Luke  xxiii. 
22-25  as  the  parallel  passage;  we  cannot  place 
this  before  the  choice  of  Barabbas,  ajjd  the  first 
sentence  accompanied  by  tlie  washing  of  t!v; 
hands.*  John,  ver.  12,  says,  tn  zolcov  he 
sought  opportunity  to  release  him — but  this  can- 
not be  merely  in  the  sense  of  time, /'/w?i  now  on- 
wanh.  For  he  had  been  quite  earnest  about  this 
before;  indeed  more  so  than  now.  (Liicke: 
"  He  appeared  to  John  previously  to  have  rather 
trifled  with  the  matter" — is  quite  unjustifiable.) 
Thus  it  is  on  that  accourit,  as  the  Syr.  ^^in  ?riip_> 

Lampe  and  Klee  assent  to  this ;  Augustine,  in- 
deed, corrected  the  Vulg.  exiiide  by  p  o',>terhoc  ; 
B.-Crusius  points  to  chap.  vi.  66,  and  here  as 
well  as  there,  combines  the  two — From  that 
time,  arul  on  that  account.  He  endeavored 
from  this  saying  onward,  moved  by  it  anew  to 
release  him  ;  but  he  onhj  endeavored,  he  did 
not  deliver  it  as  the  sentence  of  right,  by  his 
personal  authority.  The  fourth  and  the  last, 
still  wenJcer  attempt  of  the  feeble  man  to  deliver 
him.  (Tlie  three  previous  attempts  were  in 
connection  with  lierod,  Barabbas,  and  Ecce 
Jlmno.  Luke,  ver.  22,  reckons  differently,  not 
regarding  the  sending  to  Herod  as  a  declaration 
of  innocence  in  order  to  his  release.)  The 
matter  must  be  ended  :  enough  has  been  done, 
I  pronounce  him  freo — but  how  did  Pilate  now 
finally  miscalculate !  The  .lews  return  to  the 
"king"  instead  of  the  "Son  of  God;"  and 
declare.  We  will  go  further  to  l\ome,  and  com- 


*  'EitiHpiynv,  mperjudirare  as  Bimgel  might 
say,  fiEliaiovv  to  x/jiOsv — does  not  refer  to 
the  desire  of  the  Jews,  for  an  atrrjucc  is  not  a 
xpiOev,  but  to  the  rarhcr  jud2;meiit  which  lie 
wouM  retract.  It  says  now,  lie  confirmed  con- 
clusiively  the  first  sentence — not  witliou!.  a  laconic 
addition  of  the  Evangelist,  ho  decreed  that  their 
requii  eineut  should  take  eifect. 


plain  of  thyself.  Now  first  have  they  touched 
the  point  where  Pilate  was  most  susceptible ; 
and,  as  sinners  generally  are  quick  to  find  out 
this  in  each  oilier,  and  these  sharp-sighted 
hypocrites  esi.ecially  knew  the  selfislmess  of 
their  political  rulers,  it  is  almost  a  wonder  that 
they  did  not  resort  to  this  expedient  before. 
But  God's  counsel  had  held  them  back,  i^ur- 
posely  that  all  might  proceed  as  it  had.  They 
now  suddenly  bethink  themselves  that  Pilate 
would  in  the  end  inculpate  himself  before 
Ca?sar,  and  know  very  well  that  "  Pilate  was 
not  the  man  to  sacrifice  his  own  interest  to  the 
defence  of  injured  innocence."  A  Procurator 
was  very  liglitly  degraded  by  the  capricious 
Tiberius.  "  If  the  thought  had  been  suggested 
to  Caesar's  suspicious  mind  that  a  strange  peo- 
ple were  more  faithful  to  him  than  his  own 
servants — what  punishment  would  he  have  de- 
vised for  these"  (Draseke).  Whether  or  not 
the  title  "  amicm  Cesaris"  was  given  to  ail  the 
higher  officials  of  the  empire,  or  by  wav  of  dis- 
tinction to  some,  and  possessed  by  Pilate,  it 
was  doubtless  with  a  keen  and  significant  allu- 
sion to  it  that  they  now  denied  Pilate's  fidelity 
to  Ca;sar,  if  he  should  let  this  m  in  go  free. 
Whoever  should  make  himself  a  kingvrithin 
the  Roman  empire  opposes  himself  [at-tiXe- 
yeiv,  as  Luke  li.  Si)  to  Cfesar.  The  position 
was  incontrovertiblytrue,  but  its  false  applica- 
tion to  this  Jesus  must  have  its  own  force,  as 
they  knew  it  would  :  they  ironically  hint  as 
the  consequence  that  whoever  releases  and 
does  not  punish  such  a  one,  is  also  an  enemy 
of  Cajsar,  and  that  they  would  in  their  devotion 
denounce  both  alike. 

TovTov  Tov  Xoyoy,  "  that  saying,"  says 
John,  ver.  13  as  in  ver  8,*  and  means  to  say — ■ 
the  word  concerning  G<jEmr  outweighed  the  word 
concerning  the  San  of  Ood.  It  suggested  to 
Pilate — Better  that  this  man  should  die,  than 
that  I  should  lose  the  government  of  the  land. 
Thus  he  first  sacrifices  the  guiltless  to  A/s  own 
selfishness,  and  then  afterwards  to  the  clamor 
of  the  enemies.  Had  he  been  hitherto  upright 
in  his  government,  and  had  he  been  now  strong 
in  the  confidence  of  right,  he  would  have  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  Caesar;  but  there  were 
many  tloubtful  things  in  the  past,  and  many 
cases  in  which  he  had  subjected  himself  to 
similar  threatenings  of  denunciation,  as  the 
learned  may  find  in  Philo  and  Josephus.  At 
a  later  period  he  failed  to  escape  his  fate,  and 
was  deposed.  For  this  time  he  saves  himself; 
and  a(i(iin  (after  the  first  time,  Matt,  xxvii. 
19)  sits  upon  the  judgment  seat,  to  decree  the 
execution  of  injustice.  Thus  miserably  c-nds 
his  anxious  running  to  and  fro,  his  goiu'i  in 
and  out,  which  had  been  but  the  external  sym- 
bol of  his  vacillation  between  Jesus  and  the 
Jews,  of  his  internal  conflict  and  surrender  to 
the   power   of  sin.     The   result  of  his  entire 

*  The  reading  tcSv  Xoyoov  tovtcdv,  sanc- 
tioned by  Or  osh.,  Schott,  Lachm.,  Tisih.,  and 
the  Vuly.  Iws  ieiiHOHCs,  la«.es  away  a  ve.y  flue 
point. 


LUKE  XXIII.  28-31. 


m 


conduct,  mixed  up  of  weakness  and  haughti- 
ness (in  which  the  haughtiness  fro:r.  beginning 
to  end  ruined  all)  is,  that  the  weakness  remain- 
ed alone  at  last.  "  In  order  to  conceal  old 
abominations,  he  must  decide  upon  committing 
a  new  one.  Now  justly  chastised  for  old  and 
new  acts  of  wantonness'  he  stands  before  us  in 
all  his  impotence.  In  fact,  he  will  not  let  the 
lost  game  be  utterly  lost ;  the  sport  with  the 
King  of  the  Jews  comes  again,  as  it  were  in  its 
last  convulsive  efTorts,  down  to  the  superscrip- 
tion on  the  cross."  So  Draseke  profoundly  in- 
terprets, and  gives  at  the  same  time  the  most 
correct  signification  of  vers.  14  and  15.  It  has 
indeed  been  thought  that  by  this  repetition  of 
the  "  king"  he  would  remind  the  Lord's  former 
friends  of  their  Hosanna,  and  encourage  them 
to  clamor  for  his  release ;  but  this  needs  no 
refutation,  after  the  whole  statement  of  the 
case.  Similarly  with  the  interpretation  of  Gro- 
tius  :  "  He  I'eproaches  them  that  they  had  been 
Bo  foolish  as  to  desire  such  a  man  for  their 
king."  Thus  is  it  vwckery,  but  only  of  the  Jews, 
who  indeed  would  be  glad  to  have  a  king,  but 
could  bring  forward  in  opposition  to  Cassar  no 
better  a  king  than  this.*  Or,  as  Von  Gerlach 
Bays,  "Does  he  seek  to  avenge  himself  through- 
out on  the  Jews,  mocking  them  in  every  way  ?  " 
Wc  cannot  think  that  he  consciously  and  de- 
liberately does  this.  When  he  acts  thus  fool- 
ishly as  respects  his  object  to  release,  adding 
"  Behold  your  king,"  to  his  former  "  Behold 
the  man,"  and  asking  further,  "  Shall  I  crucify 
your  king  ?  "  he  seems  to  return  back,  half-un- 
consciously,  to   the  abject   trilling   which  had 


been  all  to  no  purpose  ;  but,  strictly  speaking, 
he  knows  no  longer  wliat  he  does  and  says,  he 
shifts  round  with  his  6c<xviJco6oo,  "  I  will  cru- 
cify," which,  put  as  a  question,,  recoils  upon 
himself  with  ahiiost  the  mocking  echo  of  an 
indicative.  His  "  irresolute  unrest  "  is  pamled 
with  the  highest  historical  truth  in  the  narra- 
tive, down   to    the  final    TtapeSoonE  and  tne- 

HpiVE. 

Then  rings  out,  after  tlie  first  cmcify,  the 
wild  crv,  Aic'/i/  v/ith!  Away  with  !  as  m  Luke 
xxiii.  IS,  Away  with  him  I  which  in  Acts  x.xii. 
22,  and  how  mi-in y  times  since,  has  been  echoed 
against  both  the  head  and  his  members. 
Then  the  Jews  abase  themselves  as  in  thought- 
ful requital.  We  have  no  king  but  Cajsar.  In 
the  background  there  might  be,  as  Hezel  sup- 
plies it—"  That  is  if  he  is  not  mighty  enough 
and  willing  to  make  us  free  "—but  this  they 
say  not.  The  saying  of  the  Talmud,  standing 
tliere  in  proud  impotence,  though  well-ground- 
ed in  itself — Isniel  has  no  Icing  hnt  Ood — ■ 
they  blasphemously  and  hypocriticallv  subverl. 
They  thereby,  rejecting  the  true  Mi^ssiah,  finul- 
Iv,  formally,'  and  solemnly  renounce  all  their 
Messianic  "hopes;  they  testily  against  them- 
selves, utter  their  own  condemnation,  and  once 
more  (as  in  Matt.  x.x;vii.  25)  invoke  their  own 
judgment  by  the  hands  of  these  Komans. 
Lampe  very  suggestively  compares  Judg.  ix.. 
1-1,  where  the  trees  call  upon  the  bramble.to 
be  their  king,  and  out  of  the  shadow  of  the 
bramble  canie  forth  tlie  fires  which  devoured 
the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 


TO  THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


(Luke  xxiii.  28-31.) 


Our  Lord's  going  forth  without  the  gate  in 
reproach  (Heb.  xiii.  11-13)  is  the  counterpart 
of  his  entrance  a  few  days  before  :'  now  also 
the  cry  is  that  he  is  the  King  of  the  Jews — 
while  he  dies  with  two  other  malefactors.  Is 
this  most  gentle  sufferer  of  the  most  unheard 
of  wrong — a  revolter  against  Cjesar  ?  Yes, 
that  was  his  currently  alleged  crime  ;  but  the 
name  which  Pilate  recognizes,  and  which  the 
Jews  reject,  remains  unaltered  as  the  symbol 
of  his  honor  in  the  midst  of  his  reproach — 
The  King  of  the  Jews.  He  bore  his  cross ;  he 
the  first  and  the  only  one  who  bore  it  with 

Eerfect  consciousness  and  perfect  freedom  of 
eart :  not  as  the  typical  Isaac  bore  the  wood 
for  the  burnt-offering ;  not  as  Simon  the  Cy- 
renian,  or  even  Simon  Peter.  Properly  speak- 
ing our  cross  ;  love  takes  it  up,  and  obedience 
bears  it  as  his  own.  His  garments  were  taken 
from  him,  but  we  find  nothing  in  Matt,  xxvii. 


*  Lampe:  "  This"much  is  certain,  that  the  irony 
did  not  touch  Christ,  but  only  the  Jews." 


31 ;  Mark  xv.  20  of  a  ri^mnva!  of  the  crown 
of  thorns:  that  was  le;t  to  mark  him  out  as 
the  "king."*  Worn  down  and  exhausted — 
not  in  spi'i-it,  but  in  body  and  soul — by  all  that 
had  befallen  since  the  evening  before,  he  be- 
gins to  fail  under  the  burden  before  the  time  . 
but  the  Jews,  who  nevertheless  have  such  a 
law  as  Exod.  xxiii.  5,  feel  no  sympathy  with 
their  king;  the  Gentiles,  who  have  nowfull  free- 
dom to  mock  and  pour  indignitv  upon  this 
kingdom,  feel  no  sympathy  with  this  Messiah. 
No  man  will  ta'ce  hold  of  his  cross:  neverthe- 
less, in  order  tliat  the  crucifixion  may  not  be 
delayed,  and  to  spare  him  for  greater  suffer- 
ings, they  constrain,  by  magisterial  right  of 
pressing,  a  stranger  coming  in  an  opposite  di- 
rection'to  the  crowd  to  bear  the  iull  weight  of 
the  cross.  No  where  is  there  compassion  in 
all   the   multitude;    acclamation    rather,    and 


*  As,  accordins  to  the  legend,  C'lrst  was  con. 
demned  to  be  ciucified  with  the  mock  tokena  oi 
king  y  dignity. 


648 


THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


merriment.  At  length,  one  voice  of  humanity 
breaks  forth  :  only  women  indeed,  but  yet 
women  who  mourn  over  and  bewail  him* — so 
loudly,  that  their  smiting  npon  their  breasts 
and  their  lamentations  drown  for  a  moment 
the  tumult  of  the  mob.  Whether  or  not  the 
Talmudical  ordinance,  that  there  was  to  be  no 
loud  bewailing  at  an  execution,  was  in  exist- 
ence— feeling  here  burst  through  all,  and  what 
could  not  be  suppressed  must  have  its  course. 
They  wei-e  not,  however,  the  women-disciples 
from  Galilee  (Luke  ver.  49),  but  women  from 
the  city,  belonging  to  the  crowd.  Neither 
Luke's  statement,  nor  the  ensuing  word  of  our 
Lord,  justifies  us  in  regarding  these  weeping 
women  as  believing  dependents,  or  in  assum- 
ing that  their  feeling  was  any  thing  more  than 
the  human  impulse  of  woman's  stronger  sen- 
sibility to  such  scenes  of  suffering.  Thus  it 
was  not  "  the  outburst  of  nobler  feeling,  which 
displayed  itself  most  unambiguously  m  thus 
bewailing  him  whose  condemnation  was  the 
cause  of  so  much  jov  to  the  rulers  and  the  rest 
of  the  people."  Nor  does  Laiige  exhibit  it 
rightly  :  "  Now  already  began  the  first  breath- 
ings of  another  mind  to  be  felt;  these  were  the 
early  signs  of  the  future  courage  of  the  cro^s." 
Nor  does  the  language  of  Jesus  warrant  the 
exposition  which  Killer  gives  :  "  P.rrtly  out  of 
common  sympathy  and  pity,  for  tender  natures 
are  ever  ready  to  mourn  over  the  wretched  ; 
farily,  through  the  special  love  of  attracting 
grace,  movin^r  those  whose  faith  in  Jesus  was 
now  in  the  fire,  and  to  whom  he  was  deeply 
precious."  We  must  always  maintain  that 
these  women  did  not  weep  with  conscious  sor- 
row over  the  unrighteousness  or  sin  of  what 
v/as  done.  All  was  kindly  meant,  indeed,  on 
their  part,  according  to  the  impulse  of  blind 
nature  in  the  womanlv  feeling,  not  easily  ex- 
cited to  wrath — thus  Braune  adds  the  interest- 
ing observation,  that  "the  sacred  narrative  has 
no  record  of  anv  woman's  enmity  against  the 
Redeemer."!  Yet  they  felt  on  the  whole  and 
collectively  only  what  was  human.  They 
mourn  over  him,  indeed,  especially,  as  Luke 
remarks;  and  therefore  their  feeling  is  not  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  any  other  malefactor's  mel- 
ancholy execution  would  have  excited:  but 
there  is  no  proper  perception  of  his  innocence, 
and  the  guilt  of  his  enemies,  in  their  minds. 
"Their  sympathy  was  not  better  than  Simon 
Peter's  enforced  and  violent  help" — Braune 
admits,  but  then  adds  :  "  lie,  however,  hasten- 
ed to  carry  his  feeling  into  action.  Did  these 
women  do  the  same  ?  S>jmprUhj  often  disap- 
pears more  speedily  than  its  tears  dry  up." 

Nevertheless,  as  this  voce  of  human  com- 
passion— which  is  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the 


*  The  first  xai  before  ixcTtrovro  is  certainly 
to  be  struck  out. 

t  Sonclion  :  "It  was  resorved  for  our  timr>  in 
which  hell,  conscious  of  tlie  coming  judgment 
let  loose  all  its  furies,  to  exhibit  the  new  horror 
of  even  women  lifting  np  their  feet  acainst  him." 
Bui  compare  Acts  xiii.  50  witli  xvii.  12. 


historical  truth  of  the  whole  narrative,  thttt 
voice  being  never  wanting  amid  the  utmost 
horrors— is  almost  a  refreshment  to  ourselves 
while  we  read,  so  must  it  have  been  acceptatile 
to  Jesus.  It  goes  to  his  heart ;  he  hears  it  and 
is  once  more  moved  to  break  his  silence.  He 
speaks  one  word,  and  that  of  itself  is  his  ac- 
knowledgment. Otherwise,  however,  what  ha 
speaks  rigorously  repels  their  weeping.  Ttius 
he  rewards  them  by  the  most  fitting  word 
which  he  could  utter  to  them  ;  and  this  cnrrcc- 
tion  is  his  thanh. 

Jesus  turned  unto  them,  turned  backward  to 
them  a?  they  followed.  The  eyes  of  love,  which 
had  been  sunk  deep  in  sorrow  because  sinners 
rejected  his  love,  he  now  lifts  up  :  he  stand* 
still,  and  all,  constrained  by  secret  power, 
stand  ready  to  hear  his  words.  He  begins  to 
speak — Ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem  :  and  aU 
are  silent  and  hear  !  "  Gentle  as  was  the  ton© 
of  his  voice,  the  words  which  he  spoke  have  an 
earnest  and  almost  severe  tone  ;  not  like  grati- 
tude for  their  sympathy  and  their  tears,  but 
rather  like  a  reproof"  (Jacobi).  Yes,  indeed, 
his  words  are  calmly  solemn  :  we  would  add, 
keenly  penetrating.  The  men  had  thought — 
What  matter  is  it  that  the  loomen  weep?  He 
counts  these  women  worthy  of  a  word,  which 
he  had  denied  before  king  Herod  !  But  what 
he  says  is  for  them  and  for  all — the  last  french- 
inq  of  repentance  on  his  way  of  death,  his  last 
word  of  puiilic  teaching.  For  us  also  it  was 
spoken  ;  and  his  words  should  be  preacheii  to 
Christian  people,  especially  on  the  Palm  Sun- 
day before  Good  Friday,  that  a  gi^nuine  Hosan- 
na  may  prepare  the  way  for  the  King,  who  en- 
ters as  tlie  man  of  sorrows.  It  is,  as  the  Berl. 
Bibcl  says  with  partial  truth,  "  a  preaching  of 
the  law  in  the  midst  of  the  Passion  ;  for  the 
law  is  not  to  be  dismissed  from  the  history  of 
the  atonement."  More  correctly  it  is  the  Pas- 
sion-sermon of  Christ  himself  in  its  first  part, 
which  the  seven  words  on  the  cro.ss  complete 
by  a  second;  it  is  telling  the  daughter  of  Zion 
m  the  best  sense  hoio  she  should  first  of  all  re- 
ceive her  King.  It  is  at  the  same  time  the  text 
tor  the  typical  symbol  of  Simon  the  Cyrenian, 
with  which  Luke  connects  it:  and  we  may 
primarily  embrace  them  thus — The  Lord  does 
not  at  first  demand  our  sympathy,  but  our  suf- 
terin;:;  together  with  him. 

We  exhibit  thus  our  general  arrangement, 
which,  like  the  word  itself,  points  throu<:h  the 
historical  meaning  to  that  which  is  of  universal 
application.  The  theme  is — The  true  significa- 
tion of  the  suffering  of  Jesus  as  regarded  Jeru- 
salem rejecting  him;  consisting  in  this,  that 
not  Jesus  but  Jerusalem  falls  into  the  judirraent 
which  alone  should  be  mourned  over.  First : 
The  general  turning  of  tlieir  thoughts  from 
himself  to  Jerusalem,  ver  28.  Secondly:  The 
nearer  exhibition  of  the  judgment  impending 
over  Jerusalem,  ver.  29  in  itself,  yet  with  re- 
ference backward  to  what  should  precede — thr>n 
in  ver.  30,  with  typical  prophetical  reference 
•orward  to  the  final  judgment  upon  all  who 
should  reject  him.     Thirdly,  in  ver.  31,  the  full 


LUKE  XXIIL  28. 


explanatirn,  giving  the  ground  of  the  whole  : 
the  difference  between  the  judgment  of  grace 
andthatofAvratli  ;  spoken  not  without  a  glance 
back  to  the  Baptist's  first  preaching  of  repent- 
ance. 

Verse  28.  Ye  daughters  of  Jerasa^^m— this 
still  remains  a  term  of  honor,  here  as  in  Matt. 
xxiii.  37,  where  Jerusalem  is  rebuked  and  con- 
demned. Daughters  of  Jerusalem — his  first 
word  is  a  prophetical  expression,  in  which  he 
regards  these  women  as  representatives,  not 
merely  of  Jerusalem,  but  of  tiie  whole  land 
around  the  mother  city.  (Daughters  like  chil- 
dren, Matt  xxiii.)  Read  the  whole  prophecy, 
Isa.  chaps,  ii.  and  iii.,  especially  chap.  ii.  10, 
19,  21,  iii.  16-24;  and  compare  furtlier  chap. 
xxxii.  9.  Weep  not  for  me — he  thus  recognizes 
and  acknowledges  that  their  tears  refer  to  him- 
eelf,  and  so  far  their  slight  degree  of  spiritual 
knowledge  ;  for  he  does  not  say — Weep  not  for 
vs  three  malefactors  I  But  weep  for  yourselves  ; 
that  is  not  at  once — For  your  coming  judgment. 
Nor  is  it — For  your  own  people  ;  but  literally 
and  strictly — For  yourselves,  for  that  which  is 
now  on  ycu  and  in  you  most  properly  your 
own,  that  is,  your  sin — that  ye  may  not  have 
to  despair  in  your  own  judgment.  Tears  plen- 
tiful were  shed  that  day  in  secret,  as  by  Peter  ; 
but  these  were  not  such  tears.  Tears  on  ac- 
count of  sin  are  the  Saviour's  joy  !  "  The  same 
lips,  whose  gracious  breath  had  dried  so  many 
tears,  now  cries  on  the  way  to  the  cross :  Weep 
—for  yourselves  and  your  children"  (Drii- 
seke).  It  is  the  only  time  in  all  his  life  that  he 
commands  those  who  hear  him  to  weep. 

The  ueeping  over  suffering  is  the  first  step  to 
true  and  wholesome  sensibility  and  emotion — 
over  our  own  suffering  and  then  in  sympathy 
over  others'  as  our  own.  The  excitement  of 
such  emotion  in  regard  to  the  Passion  of  our 
Lord  is  humanly  true  and  therefore  good — why 
else  is  the  Man  of  Sorrows  depicted  before  our 
eyes  in  all  the  lineaments  ot'  his  grief?  We 
should,  indeed,  rejoice  whenever  a  hard  heart 
is  even  thus  moved  by  his  own  woes  :  but  that 
is  no  more  than  the  mere  commencement,  out 
of  which  very  much  more  must  spring.  The 
Lord  forbids  not  weeping;  for  taking  up  the 
word  he  commands  at  once — Weep  ye!  but  he 
would  give  this  excited  emution  its  proper 
direction,  and  its  right  object.  The  tears  of 
mere  sympathy  are  of  no  avail.  Of  imre  sym- 
pathy ?  Is  then  sympathy,  that  beautilul  im- 
pulse of  otherwise  selfish  man,  not  right? 
Should  we  not  weep  with  those  who  weep  ;  and 
is  not  that  weeping  an  expression  of  love,  the 
eource  of  many  virtues  ?  Yes,  verily  ;  the 
sympathy  which  understands  aright,  and  goes 
to  the  deep  foundation  of  the  reason  for  its 
exercise.  But  mere  natural  sympathy  is  nei- 
ther serviceable  nor  salutary  ;  it  is  involuntary, 
and  therefore  an  impulse  of  pure  nature,  with- 
out value  or  power.  Through  our  fleshy  effem- 
inacy it  olten  leads  us,  on  the  one  hand,  to  a 
weak  sympathy  with  injustice;  and,  on  the 
other,  to  all  the  greater  hardness  of  heart,  if  we 
fiuppress  our  feeling  and  thrust  away  Irom  us  | 


its  object.  "  The  natural  man  can  weep  the 
tears  of  sympathy  without  any  change  what- 
ever being  produced  in  his  heart.  Such  soft- 
ness and  good  nature  may  consist  with  sin  m 
all  its  thousand  forms  ;  even  vanity  and  world- 
liness  has  tears  of  sympathy  to  shed  ;  the  slave 
of  fleshly  lusts  may  be  moved  to  tears,  and 
then  go  the  same  hour  and  serve  his  sin" 
(Jacobi). 

Thus,  to  mourn  from  the  heart  over  sin, 
which  is  the  people's  ruin,  and  to  recoc;nize  it 
as  the  cau!5e  of  all  evil,  according  to  Lam.  iii. 
39-41,  is  the  second  stage  :  then  first  do  we 
weep  the  real  tears  of  truth.  The  transition  to 
this  is  in  its  own  proper  feeling  for  self,  by 
which  we  are  apprehended  when  he,  for  whom 
we  weep,  says  to  u.s^Yea,  there  is  much  here 
for  thee  to  weep  over,  but  on  thine  own  account. 
Thus  the  Lord,  according  to  the  remark  of  Gro- 
ti us,  "regards  the  general  tendency  of  men, 
who  weep  more  for  their  own  than  for  others' 
calamity."  Such  penitent  suffering  for  sin 
should  be  excited  within  us  by  every  personal 
calamity,  as  the  type  and  beginning  of  its 
future  condemnation,  Jer.  ii.  19.  But  this, 
alas!  seldom  takes  place;  because  our  false 
egoism,  disturbed  and  provoked  but  not  broken 
by  calamity,  hinders  our  deeper  reflection  upon 
what  conduces  to  our  peace  and  what  leads  to 
destruction.  Then  should  sin  become  more 
plain  to  our  eyes,  if  possible,  in  the  sufl'erings  of 
others.  Where  there  exists  a  higher  necessity 
of  suffering,  our  knowledge  of  that  should  rule 
our  sympathy  and  make  it  fruitful.  See,  this 
sinner  suffers  his  punishment — Think  of  thine 
own  sin  I  This  is  the  voice  v;hich  we  should 
hear  at  every  execution,  whether  of  human  or 
divine  justice  upon  others.  But,  finally,  it  ia 
our  Lord's  will  that  even  his  guiltless  sufiering 
lor  the  world's  sin  should  preach  to  us  the  sin 
of  the  world  and  our  own ;  for  he  who  learns 
not  to  weep  over  his  sin,  will  one  day  fall  into 
that  condemnation  which  will  abide  forever  as 
properly  and  alone  to  be  mourned.  But  the 
recognition  of  sin  as  the  cause  of  Christ's  suffer- 
ing also,  leads  first  to  the  profoundest,  most 
thorough  weeping  over  the  sufiering  which  we 
have  inflicted  on  eternal  love,  in  order  to  the 
perfecting  of  our  repentance;*  and  then,  imme- 
diately, in  most  living  transition,  to  joy  over 
those  redeeming  sufferings  which  have  obtain- 
ed eternal  glory — to  that  word  of  triumph, 
Weep  not,  he  hath  overcome  I  We  do  not 
merely  mourn,  we  do  not  always  mourn;  to  us 
also  sorrow  is  the  w:iy  to  joy,  as  suffering  was 
to  him  the  way  to  glory.  For,  does  not  the 
same  suffering  of  the  Just  One  manitest  to  us 
the  highest  love  in  order  to  our  forgiveness 
and  salvation?  In  truth,  the  cross  of  Christ 
does  not  merely  preach  to  us  the  condemnation 
and  punishment  of  sin,  but  also  the  blessed 
glad  tidings  of  grace.     If  the  Lord's  word  to 


*  Schoberlein :  "  He  is  grieved  at  heart,  not 
merely  for  havinsf  insulted  the  d;vine  majesty,  but 
at  the  same  time  for  having  brought  the  diviue 
love  to  suffering." 


650 


THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JEHrSALEM. 


the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  does  not  include 
this  as  yet,  but  ends  with  the  threatening  of 
judgment,  yet  it  would  save  through  threaten- 
ing, lead  to  joy  through  repentance,  excite  its 
true  tears  to  dry  them  again.  The  whole  say- 
ing, especially  its  first  words — Weep  not  for 
me,  hut  weep  for  yourselves — is  spoken  tor  all 
mankind  out  of  the  depths  of  the  fundamental 
thoughts  which  we  have  developed.  He  him- 
self had  only  wept  over  Jerusalem  when  he 
entered  it;  and  his  farewell  words  coincide 
with  those  of  chap.  xix.  42-44,  almost  repeating 
them.  He  has  nothing  else  in  his  thoughts 
but  the  salvation  or  ttie  ruin  of  his  people,  of 
mankind  ;  of  that  alone  he  speaks  here  ;  he 
forgets  and  renounces  himself  in  his  profound- 
est  personal  sorrow;  and  will  have  sin  alone 
bewailed,  on  account  of  its  inevitable  doom. 

Christ's  suffering  is  not  to  be  mourned  over 
on  its  own  accou:it  ;  and  our  suffering  with 
and  in  Christ,  while  it  begins  with  weeping, 
brings  joy  in  the  end.  Only  the  suffering  of 
those  who  are  condemned  out  of  Christ,  the 
misery  of  the  rejected  rejectors,  is  essentially 
matter  of  weeping — that  is,  for  him  and  for  us; 
to  the  rejectors  themselves  there  is  despair 
without  tears,  rather  than  salutary  weeping. 
The  Pasdon  of  Chrht  is  no  tragic  spectacle  to 
move  men's  hearts  ;  the  history  of  his  suffer- 
ings is  not  recorded  to  excite  humnn  and  senti- 
mental feeling.  Meditations  o!  that  kind  on 
the  Passion  are  not  really  such  at  all,  thouirh 
whole  books  are  full  of  them.  Christ  is  infi- 
nitely exalted  above  our  weeping  on  liisaccount; 
and  wills  not  to  be  mourned  over.  "  Who  can 
worthily  bewail  him?"  But  he  does  not  reject 
this  commiseration  for  the  reason  that  harsh 
dogmatics  sometimes  assign,  "  because  he  re- 
gards himself  in  his  present  condition  as  one  for 
whom  sympathy  is  unbefitting,  and  as  being 
unworthy  of  it  on  account  of  the  curse  and 
wrath  of  God  resting  upon  him."  For  if  he 
himself  weeps  over  the  doom  of  the  damned, 
how  can  we  speak  so  hardly  of  the  wrath  of 
God  ?  But  because  the  counsel  of  God  leads 
him  to  victory  and  glory,  there  is  no  need  for 
weeping  on  his  account ;  but-  much  on  our 
own  ;  so  that  we,  weeping  for  ourselves,  may 
be  partakers  with  him  of  his  victory  in  the 
only  way  in  which  we  can  share  it.  Only  when 
the  "  for  us  "  penetrates  our  hearts,  can  we  ex- 
perience the  Passion-sorrow  and  engage  in 
Passion-meditations ;  and  know  the  grief  of 
Luke  ver.  48  alterwards,  as  the  preparation  for 
the  Pentecost.  But  the  lamentation  of  the 
daughters  of  Jerusalem  hail  not  this  meaning 
(theretore  Luke  writes  only  tHonroyro  here, 
and  adds  not  rd  6T},0)/y  or  lii  r«  6n]Qtj  eav- 
Tc^y).*  They  knew  iiim  in  some  general  sense 
as  relatively  guiltless;  but  they  knew  him  not 
as  the  absolutely  ji.st,  as  the  Holy  One  of  God, 
who  is  offered  up,  and  offers  up  himself — had 
there  been  moroof  that  in  their  tears,  they  would 


*  So   in  tlio  Ileb.  N.  T.  it  incorrectly  siand.s ; 

\n'zh  h'i  nispinp. 


have  wept  in  still  and  solemn  silence  ;  enter- 
ing into  themselves  they  would  have  mournpd 
without  any  xuTtTEebai  of  excited  feeling, 
which  nevertheless  was  no  smiting  of  tlieir 
own  breasts.  At  most  they  thousrhi :  "  Alas  ! 
the  innocent  one  !  who  can  convict  him  of  sin? 
He  has  told  our  ru'ers  the  truth,  and  they 
theivfore  crucify  him."  But  that  truth  itself, 
which  he  had  not  told  merely  the  rulers, 
but  themselves  also,  they  knew  not.  They 
knew  not  themselves,  and  what  in  themselves 
was  to  be  mourned  over  ;  they  knew  not  the 
sin  of  Jerusalem  and  God's  people  in  sucii  a 
manner  as  to  see  their  own  sin  in  it.  The  first 
thing — to  know  Jesus  himself^he  requires  not 
as  yet  at  the  beginning  ;  that  will  be  preached 
afterwards.  But  the  second — to  know  tltem- 
»e!ves — he  really  makes  the  _^?-s/!,  and  requires 
it  rightly  from  every  one.  No  one,  indet-d,  at 
least  no  dweller  in  Jerusalem  could  honestly 
regard  him  as  a  malefactor,  or  as  such  as  he 
now  appeared  ;  but  every  conscience  might  and 
should  have  discerned  and  felt  his  own  sin  in 
the  fearful  sin  of  the  multitude  rejecting  him. 
Oh,  that  many  in  our  day  would  think  of  thi.-j ! 
For  to  know  Jesus  (as  a  supposed  Redeemer) 
without  knowing  ourselves,  is  a  melancholy 
delusion  of  carnal  security-,  to  know  ourselves 
without  knowing  Jesus — can  only  lead  to  des- 
pair. Most  assuredly  the  glorified  Lord  needs 
no  more  any  lamentation  of  ours  ;  but  we  need 
to  lament  over  ourselves  that  he  may  enter 
into  us,  and  in  order  to  that  our  first  need  is 
that  repentance  which  he  here  preaches  at  the 
end,  as  he  had  bei'un  bv  preacliing  it.  What 
the  Baptist  had  said  to  the  unlruiliul  trees,  he 
now  says  to  the  dry. 

But  that  repentance  which  he,  as  the  suffer- 
ing Saviour,  preaches  and  works,  is  neverthe- 
le.ss  (as  is  here  hinted  in  undertone)  something 
different  from  that  first  still  selfish  weeping  on 
account  of  wrath  and  punishment — "since  it 
makes  the  nympathizin'j  narrow  of  divine  love  in 
some  sense  its  own,"  as  Schoberlein  profoundly- 
and  yet  simply  says.  That  first  sympathy  with 
Jesus  should  be  in  us  elevated  and  glorified 
into  a  truly  intelligent  entering  into  his  sym- 
pathy  of  sorrow  with  us. 

For  yourselves  and  for  ymr  children — he 
adds;  not  without  sad  remembrance  of  the 
people's  word,  Matl.  xxvii.  2').  He  thereby 
indicates  already  the  (not  mentioned,  but 
easily-understood)  xin  which  should  be  bewail- 
ed, as  one  which  would  he  ]>ropa;/afed  from  gene- 
ration to  generation,  and  the  judgment  there- 
fore as  one  which  svould  burst  upon  mothers 
and  children  alike. 

Verse  29.  }^''or — the  judgment  will  infallibly 
come.  Thus  the  Lord  testifies  by  his  prophetic 
MiM.  The  intervening  thought  in  this  con- 
nection is  obviously  the  pre-suppositiun  that 
space  will  be  given,  between  now  and  that 
judgment,  for  the  repentance  of  all  who  would 
escape  that  judgment.  It  is  true  that  the  Lord 
in  ver.  28  requires  them  to  weep  for  the  judg- 
ment which  would  surely  and  swiftly  follow  the 
Bin ;  and  his  words  would  apj)ear  to  go  ou — Do  - 


LUKE  XXIII.  29. 


651 


ye  ask  me  what  there  is  then  in  yourselves 
which  is  so  much  to  be  bewailed?  Behold,  I 
fovetell  to  you  that  which  I  already  behold,  the 
impending  destruction.  This  is  the  application 
to  (hf>ir  own  anxiety  for  self,  which  weeps  most 
rendily  over  its  own  misery.  But  when  we 
look  more  closely,  there  is  a  change  in  his 
meaning — He  who  weeps  in  anticipation  over 
the  condemnation  of  his  sin,  impending  and 
pointed  out  beforehand,  already  weeps  with 
penitent  faith  in  God's  righteousness  and  truth, 
over  sin,  over  hhnaelf  in  the  true  sense  ;  and 
thus  escapes  the  judgment.  Or  when  this,  as  in 
the  present  case,  is  to  come  externally  upon  a 
whole'land  and  people,  and  therefore  to  befall 
the  penitent  also  with  the  rest,  he  will  be  de- 
livered from  the  wrafh  of  the  judgment ;  it  wdl 
not  be  to  him  a  judicial  and  wrathful  condem- 
nation. It  will  not  be  the  doom  of  despair. 
All  this  is  contained  in  the  Lord's  words,  if  we 
understand  them  in  their  simple  and  easily- 
intelligible  application  to  the  ca?e  in  hand. 
Hence  it  is  now  only  "  they  shall  say,"  and  in 
ver.  30,  "  they  will  begin  to  say " — by  no 
means,  Ye  shall  say  or  make  answer.  For  with 
those  who  receive  the  exhortation  to  weep  noio, 
it  will  be  more  tolerable,  although  they  might 
be  involved  in  the  general  tribulation  ;  they 
shall  find  a  far  better  refuge  and  covering. 
Btngel  very  incorrectly  supplements  the  kpov6t 
— "They  will  say,  i.  e.  your  ehildnn  ;  "  as  if 
thcM  would  then  curse  their  mothers,  and  there- 
by their  own  birth  and  being.  We  cannot  see 
to  what  end  he  makes  this  restriction.  But 
neither  must  we  extend  thedistinction  between 
those  who  will  "say"  tlien  and  those  who 
weep  now,  to  signity  that  their  weeping  for 
JiUHH  was  already  a  security  against  thf^  judg- 
ment in  their  own  case,  as  being  the  token  of 
their  real  repentance  and  better  feeling.  No, 
the  Lord  does  not  in  the  following  "  they  shall 
say"  speak  merely  oi  his  enemies  in  contradis- 
tmction  to  those  who  were  now  weeping  ;  for 
in  that  case  there  would  be  no  meaning  m  the 
first  words — Weep  tor  yourselves ;  and  the  "for" 
would  simply  tell  them  to  weep  for  their  peo- 
ple and  their  land.  He  could  not  then  have 
blamed  and  rejected  their  weeping  hr  him,  that 
being  their  salvation  from  wrath  and  from 
judgment^  Oh,  no  ;  it  is  the  very  point  of  the 
severity  of  his  words,  that  this  mere  weeping 
for  him  and  not  for  themselves  would  not  by 
any  means  save  the  weepers  ;  that  it  was  idle 
and  useless  in  itself,  unless  it  led  to  deeper  re- 
pentance. Thus  these  mourners  themselves  re- 
main included  in  the  thredteni/tg,  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  they  learn  not  to  weep  for  them- 
selves ;  while  they  are  excepted  from  it,  if  they 
go  on  to  repentance.  They  are,  on  the  suppo- 
position  of  their  penitence,  at  once  included  in 
the  external  tribulation  which  would  befall 
Jerusalem,  and  excluded  from  the  despair  which 
would  seize  upon  others  in  that  tribulation.  It 
is  to  intimate  these  two  things  that  the  word  is 
thus  indefinite.  The  judgment  is  threatened 
as  impending  and  near — that  their  repentance 
might  be  awakened;  yet  it  is  uot  immediately 


and  expressly  denounced  against  these  persons 
— to  give  them  room  for  repentance.  Thus 
alone  is  the  kpov6i  rightly  understood:  it  is 
not  merely  "  it  shall  be  said  ;  "  still  less  a  con- 
trast of  othe^-  persons  who  should  say;  nor  is 
it  a  decisive  ^palrs,  ye  shall  say  for  yourselves. 
When  the  Lord  by  the  prophetic  "  the  days 
are  coming  " — D^Xzi  D''P'   npT} — repeats,  as  it 

were,  the  prophecy  of  the  entry,  chap.  xix.  43, 
he  continues  it  by  dwelling  on  the  last  word — 
and  your  children.  It  is  thereby  indicated  that 
these  children  then  adult  (or  those  afterwards 
born  of  the  present  ddughters  oi  Jerusalem), 
and  with  them  at  least  many  of  their  mothers, 
will  live  to  the  days  of  that  judgment,  and, 
moreover,  the  word  affectingly  paints  the  mis- 
ery of  the  mothers  especially  as  having  those 
children.  At  such  a  time  of  distress  the  rule 
of  prosperous  days  is  reversed.  In  these  the 
unfruitful  are  bewailed,  the  mothers  are  con- 
gratulated ;  but  then  it  will  be  said  (otherwise 
than  the  usual  language) — Wee  unto  them 
that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck 
in  those  days  (chap.  xxi.  23).  The  Lord  in 
this  proverbial  expression  alludes  to  Hos.  ix. 
14;  where  in  vers.  11-13  and  again  ver.  1(5, 
such  destruction  is  denounced  against  the  chil- 
dren in  which  fruitful  Ephraim  gloried  as  "  be- 
loved Iruit"  (D:03  '\ICnp),  so  that  it  v.'ould  be 

rather  to  be  wished  that  God  had  given  them 
"  miscarrying  wombs  and  dry  breasts."  He 
irKjludes,  at  the  same  time,  with  the  misery  of 
the  generation  grown  up  in  the  interval  (as  we 
have  shown  upon  Luke  xix.),  the  frightful 
literal  fulfillment  of  the  ancient  prophecies  and 
types,  in  the  horrible  cruelty  of  the  foe  upon 
i\\Q  little  chii Ire !i  who  would  then  be  in  exist- 
ence. His  words,  finally,  are  uttered  in  that 
mother-feeling,  with  which  he  would  have 
gathered  the  children  of  Jerusalem  under  his 
wings;  intentionally  exciting  and  moving  the 
womanly  and  motherly  sensibility,  even  while 
he  is  pointing  this  excited  semihilily  to  its 
proper  object  and  ground.  Not  that  the  moth- 
ers are  selected  as  representing  "  the  loving 
souls  among  his  people,"  for  whom  such  bitter 
tribulation  was  in  store,  this  being  interpreted 
of  more  than  natural  and  human  love  ;  but  he 
does  indeed  touch  this  human  feeling,  in  order 
to  excite  its  keenest  emotion,*  in  that  point 
where  as  sympathy  and  comjxission  it  malces  the 
Iruit  of  the  body  one  with  self.  Again,  and  it 
is  to  be  observed  as  expressing  his  own  per- 
sonal feeling  and  its  sparing  tenderness,  lie  does 
not  positively  say,  Woe  to  the  mothers  who 
have  children  !  but,  Blensed  will  be  those  wiio 
have  not.  Pfenninger  beautifully  represents  a 
woman  as  reminding   Mary  afterwards,  wheu 


*  It  is  one  of  those  few  p:issases  in  which  .Jesus 
speaks  expressly  to  tiie  sensibilities — wheielore 
else  the  mention  of  the  womb  which  bare  and 
the  breasts  which  gave  suck.  It  is  so  liere,  ob- 
viously because  he  .speaks  to  weeping  woiu'ii,  and 
because  he  would  use  and  uive  a  belter  applicaliou 
to  the  feeling  which  he  moved. 


THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


this  account  was  read,  of  what  had  been  spoken 
in  Luke  xi.  27,  28 ;  whereupon  Mary  exhorts 
them,  "  Then  keep,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
the  word  which  he  said  to  you."  But  the  men 
who  were  around  must  also  hear  the  word,  and 
understand  that  judgment  and  sin  should  be 
bewailed  on  their  own  account  and  on  account 
of  their  children,  upon  whom  both  pass  over — 
a  very  touching  and  powerful  reflection  for  all 
preaching  of  repentance.  The  Lord  did  not 
lift  up  his  voice  as  a  trumpet  when  he  uttered 
this  prediction  of  judgment;  but  his  words 
were  loud  enough  for  the  hearing  of  all  the 
silent  multitude  around. 

He  spoke  expressly  and  primarily  of  the 
judgment  of  Jerusalem  and  Israel ;  yet  he 
contemplated  and  referred  to  that  which  was 
shadowed  out  in  this  historical  type — the  judg- 
ment of  all  the  impenitent  and  of  all  unbeliev- 
ers in  common,  down  to  the  last.  How  could 
be  have  withheld,  at  such  a  crisis,  such  an  en- 
largement of  his  circle  of  vision?  His  v/ord 
is  not  merely  the  voice  of  a  Cassandra ;  he  does 
not  speak  thus  only  as  a  "friend  of  his  coun- 
try," but  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  as  is 
more  plainly  shown  in  the  ensuing  words.  As 
he  bears  with  his  cross  the  sins  of  all  the  world, 
so  does  he  behold  not  his  people's  misery,  sin, 
and  punishment  alone,  but  the  condemnation 
of  all  the  condemned  together. 

Verse  30.  The  same  persons  do  not  con- 
tinue to  speak,  as  (he  apc.ovrai,  "  they  shall 
begin,"  proves  ;  but  this  new  word  is  the  uni- 
versal answer  to  the  preceding,  which  fearfully 
surpas-es  it — Verily,  unblessed  are  we  ;  all  of 
us,  whether  we  bemoan  our  children,  or  only 
ourselves.  To  mark  the  highest  degree  of  this 
misery,  where  despair  begins,  there  is  once 
more  a  scriptural,  proverbial,  and  figurative 
saying — the  calling  upon  the  mountains  and 
hills  lor  protection  within  them ;  and  that  in 
vain,  as  is  self-understood.  The  word  is  taken 
from  a  passage  in  the  same  prophet  Hosea,  in 
■which  Samaria  was  doomed  even  as  Jeru- 
salem, become  like  her,  is  doomed  now.  We 
read  in  chap.  x.  8,  And  they  shall  say  (o  the 
mountains,  Cover  us;  and  to  the  hills,  Fall  on 
vs  ;  and  with  this  is  connected  the  echo  of  Isa. 
ii.  10,  19.  21— the  humbling  of  the  proud  daugh- 
ters of  Zion  following  in  chap.  iii.  Thus  we 
see  once  m.ore  the  Scrijiture  .spread  open,  in  its 
concert  and  harmony  of  p?ssages  from  many 
parts,  before  the  Lord's  eyes  ;  and  in  the  midst, 
too,  of  his  sufferings.  In  that  Scripture  he  had 
ever  had  his  being  ;  in  its  words,  become  now 
supremely  and  essentially  his  own,  he  thought 
and  felt  down  to  the  last.  But  it  is  remark- 
able, as  we  have  just  seen,  tliat  the  Lord  in- 
verts tlie  order  of  words  of  Hosea,  and  makes, 
as  it  were,  an  anti-climax  out  of  them;  the 
01(1-T<'stament  word  being  deepened  into  a 
meaning  which,  however,  perfectly  corresponds 
with  it  in  sjiirit.  The  doomed  first  wish  for 
utter  destruction  under  the  mountains  ;  and 
then,  forasmuch  as  tliis  is  vain,  they  desire,  in 
terror  before  the  majesty  of  the  Judge,  to  hide 
themselves  under  the  "hills.    The  Lord  ends  with 


this  "hide  ;"  he  does  not  continue  the  words 
of  Isaiah;  for  it  is  self-understood — before  whom. 
It  required,  if  the  whole  truth  were  spoken 
down  to  its  final  fulfillment,  that  he  should 
name  himself  as  this  Judge  who  should  come. 
Yea,  verily,  he  is  the  future  Judge  even  on  the 
way  of  redemption  ;  and,  that  he  must  condemn 
so  many  who  will  not  be  redeemed,  is  his  deep 
sorrow  on  sorrow.  Therefore  he  breaks  off, 
and  in  his  grief  does  not  expressly  say  that 
before  him  such  terror  will  seize  all  who  then 
and  thereafter  should  cry — Aicay  with  him. 
But  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Rev.  vi.  16  most  signif- 
icantly brings  to  mind  this  word  of  the  Sa- 
viour's threatening  on  his  way  of  sorrow,  and 
completes  it — Cover  us  from  the  face  of  him 
who  sitteth  upon  the  throne;  and  from  the 
(now  aroused)  wrath  of  the  (once  patiently 
for  us  suffering)  Lamb.  Such  terror  and  amaze- 
ment has  the  refuge  of  tears  no  longer;  it  is 
infinitely  worse  than  that  salutary  weeping 
which  is  now  commanded  in  order  to  escape 
from  future  howling  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 
Then  will  they  begin  their  terror — then  at  last 
— but  the  better  beginning  of  repentance  they 
would  never  enter  upon  while  it  availed. 
Therefore  their  terror  will  be  only  the  begin- 
ning, the  torment  of  eternity  to  ensue  will 
cease  no  more.  This  is  the  inmost  meaning  for 
the  final  consummation  of  judgment,  which  is 
only  fbreshjidowed  by  the  doom  of  Jerusalem. 
Then  first,  but  too  late — Oh,  that  they  had  in 
former  time  voluntarily  humbled  themselves 
before  the  majesty  of  their  God  I  The  historical 
and  actual  specific  fulfillment  of  the  figure, 
when,  according  to  Josephus,  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  tied  for  refuge  to  subterraneous 
passages  and  sewers,  and  literally  were  hidden 
under  the  hills  of  their  city,  is  the  least  thing: 
the  meaning  of  the  word  reaches  much  further. 
Bengel :  "  Men  have  often  been  concealed  in 
mountains.  Gnat  terror  is  there,  when  that 
which  is  horrible  in  itself  is  desired  as  a  place 
of  safety."  But  this  is  the  terror  of  despair. 
The  sinner  falling  into  the  condemnation  of 
wrath  mourns  not  merely  over  the  children, 
to  whom  with  life  he  has  given  sin,  tlie  others 
whom  he  has  involved  with  his  doom  ;  but  be- 
fore all  things  curses  his  own  life  and  being: 
he  would,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  rather  exist  no 
longer,  as  Rev.  ix.  G  further  explains  the  word. 
But  it  will  then  be  told  them,  that  those  who 
seek  death  shall  not  find  it  ;  that  they  may  de- 
sire to  die,  but  death  will  fiee  from  tliera. 
They  are  preserved  and  spared  tor  the  greater 
terror — Oli,  that  we  could  be  delivered  Irom  a 
sight  of  his  covnttnaiice !  The  prayer  to  the 
rocks,  to  cold  and  dead  nature,  is  in  vain;  for 
(as  Baxter  somewhere  says)  "  thou  hast  made 
the  Lord  ol  the  hills  thine  enemy;  his  voice, 
and  not  thine,  they  will  obey."  Oh,  tiiat  tiiou 
hadst,  while  there  was  yet  time,  called  upon 
him  to  save  and  hide  thee  from  the  coming 
wrath  ! 

Verse  3L  This  future  judgment  of  wrath 
is  now  as  a  warning  shown  forth  even  in  con- 
nection with  the  present  judgment  of  morcy 


LUKE  XXIII.  31. 


which  proceeds  upon  Jesus  in  his  sufferings ; 
for  that  which  is  common  to  both  is  the  judg- 
ment, the  righteous  severity  of  God  against 
sin.  Yet  the  connection  is  exhibited  only  in 
such  a  manner  that  we  must  draw  the  iifer- 
ence  from  the  one  to  the  other  by  a  how  much 
more,  making  plain  the  great  distinction  be- 
tween them  at  the  same  time.*  We  find  in 
this  conclusive  utterance  our  Lord's  own  de- 
cisive protest  against  that  identity  which  is 
assumed  in  a  certain  theology  between  the  full 
■wrath  of  God  and  his  own  sufferings  ;  and  for 
the  position,  which  should  need  no  argument  to 
establish  it,  that  he  who  sinks  into  despair  and 
damnation  through  his  own  sin  endures  a  dif- 
ferent suffering  from  that  which  the  Redeemer 
endured,  and  which  we  share  with  him  for  our 
sanctification  and  life. 

But  before  we  deduce  this  from  the  simple 
•word  before  us,  we  must  do  the  great  Bengel 
the  honor  to  set  aside  his  strange  misinterpre- 
tation, which  has  been  followed  by  only  a  few. 
He  understood  by  the  dry  wood  or  tree,  old, 
feeble,  and  unfruitful  people,  in  opposition  to 
those  who  were  yet  young  and  vigorous — ap- 
pealing to  Isa.  Ivi.  3;  Ezek.  xxxi.  3.  He  re- 
ceived all  in  the  external,  literal  sense  ;  and 
supposed  ver.  31  to  be  a  continuation  of  ver. 
30,  expressing  the  amazement  of  those  whom 
this  misery  should  befall.  If  the  enemy  thus 
deals  with  the  young,  as  we  see — what  have 
we  aged  to  expect?  In  the  German  New 
Testament  he  defines  the  matter  very  simply  : 
in  ver.  30  the  barren,  who  were  counted  happy, 
reply,  and  then  in  ver.  31  liken  themselves 
to  a  dry  tree,  as  the  fruitful  to  a  green.  For 
"when  Jerusalem  fell,  the  aged  and  useless 
would  find  less  mercy  from  the  Romans  than 
the  young  and  the  strong."  Apart  from  the 
questionableness  of  this  last  remark,!  the 
whole  exposition  (which  some  might  be  ready 
to  embrace,  in  order  to  escape  from  ours)  has 
nothing  less  than  the  whole  saying  against  it. 
After  the  word  of  amazement,  ver.  30 — mani- 
festly the  last  which  mortal  could  speak — it 
seems  in  the  highest  degree  inappropriate  to 
represent  these  despairing  souls  as  beginning 
again  with  the  feeble  conclusion — For  how 
will  it  be  with  us.  Equally  so  to  represent 
the  Lord  as  having  closed  his  words  with 
such  an  expression  of  the  wretched,  so  de- 
finitely describing  the  judgment  of  Jerusalem 
We  expect,  and  should  then  find  strangely 


*  Not  as  Krummacher  dispatches  tliis  word,  so 
unfavorable  to  his  doctrine  of  substitution  :  "  That 
which  passes  upon  him  must  be  of  the  same  na- 
ture witli  that  which  is  threatened  against  the  un- 
godly." Perfectly  and  entirely  the  same  it  cer- 
tainly is  vot — that  is  as  clear  as  day  in  the  very 
progression  and  conclusion  of  the  sentence. 

t  For  we  cannot  see  why  the  old  should  endure 
greater  cruelty.  Hillsr,  who  always  follows  Ben- 
gel, only  brings  out — "  Those  who  pierce  the 
young  and  vigorous  with  the  sword,  will  not  spare 
the  oil."  Ctaip.— neut.  xxviii.  50;  Lam.  v.  12; 
ISa.  xlvii.  6 ;  but  also  Isa.  xiii.  16-18. 


lacking,  something  said  about  his  own  present 
sufferings — for  they  Avere  the  subject  now. 
Though  they  were  not  to  weep  over  his  suffer- 
ings, yet  they  should  rightly  contemplate  and 
understand  them  ;  nor  could  some  reference  to 
this  be  wanting  here.  But  the  first  and  most 
immediate  influence  by  which  Christ's  suffer- 
ings arouse  us  to  repentance,  is  this,  that  they 
point  out  to  us  a  suffering  on  account  of  sin; 
and  teach  us  to  conclude  how  awful  must  be 
the  wrath  of  judgment  unto  eternal  condem- 
nation, if  the  judgment  of  saving  suffering, 
purchasing  grace  and  redemption,  and  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  our  salvation,  is  so  severe. 
This  remains  the  necessary  conclusion,  without 
which  the  whole  saying  would  lack  its  appro- 
priate close.  This  penetrates  at  last  the  whole 
depth  of  his  meaning,  as  he  connects  the  pre- 
dicted condemnation  with  the  lamentation 
which  was  before  his  eyes,  in  such  a  manner 
as  the  case  required.  On  the  other  hand,  how 
superficial  and  feeble  would  be  the  termination 
of  the  discourse  according  to  Bengel's  interpre- 
tation.* 

We  have  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
clear  parallels  for  the  meaning  of  this  sayino:, 
Jer.  xlix.  12;  Prov.  xi.  31,  and  1  Peter  iv.  17, 
18;  in  which  last  passage  the  sufferings  of 
Christians  with  and  in  Christ,  consequently  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  himself,  appear  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  commencing  judgment.  It  is  gen- 
erally acknowledged  that  the  Lord  by  the  green 
tree  signifies  himself,  and  by  r  a  l  r  a  it  o^ov- 
6 1  v  ,'\{  they  do  these  things,  refers  to  Ihe 
sufferings  which  the  women  wept  over.  The 
connection  of  the  present  figure  with  the  former 
words  is  very  slight,  merely  that  which  the 
unfruitfulness  and  fruitfulness  might  suggest. 
He  refers  once  more  to  passages  of  Scripture, 
combined  together  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  he 
thought  of  the  cross,  the  dry  tree  of  the  curse, 
when  he  chose  the  expression.  See  what  was 
said  in  Ezek.  xvii.  24,  with  another  application, 
concerning  the  drying  up  of  the  seemingly 
green  tree,  but  the  maki-ng  of  the  seemingly 
dry  tree  to  flourish  ;  in  a  type  which  manifestly 
po'lnts  to  the  judgment  of  the  enemies  and  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  This  will  make  it  plain 
that  the  Lord  here  calls  himself  the  condemned 
green  tree,  that  is,  the  Righteous  One  suffering 
on  account  of  sin  the  judgment  of  God,  while 
those  others  are  the  unrighteous  who  deserve  to 
be  plucked  up  by  the  roots  (Jude  ver.  12). 
That,  further,  is  the  plain  interpretation  of 
Ezek.  XX.  47,  where  the  fire  burns  up  without 
distinction  all  trees,  green  and  dry  ;t  that  is, 
according  to  chap.  xxi.  3,  the  righteous  and  the 
ungodly  are  cut  off  alike.  Von  Gerlach  em- 
braces this  full  meaning:  "If  the  green  and 
fruit-bearing  trees  are  rooted  up,  it  is  a  sign 


*  l^hXov  like  J*y  a'so  equivalent  to  tree — 
vyp(2  is  in  the  Vulg.  vindi,  comp.  3i3"l,  Job 
viii.  16. 

t  Or,  "  the  rod  of  my  son,  it  despiseth  every 
tree,"  as  chap.  xxi.  should  be  translated. 


654 


THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


that  all  treo?  are  to  be  destroypd  ;  and  thus,'  and  salvation  in  and  through  Christ  cftuld  noi 
most  certain!}'  and  above  all,  the  dry  trees,  take  place  otherwise  than  by  such  sufferings  on 
When  in  the  hidden  purposes  of  the  divine  his  part !  This  alone  is  the  right  and  salutary 
counsel  of  salvation,  the  pious  are  cut  off,  it  is  contemplation  of  Christ's  «orro\v  and  Passion  ; 
a  sign  of  fearful  judgment  and  doom  lor  the  it  is  this  which  he  points  to,  instead  of  an  un- 
ungodly."  But,  it  is  of  importance  to  look  intel'.igent  and  sentimental  lamentation  over 
more  closely  at  this.  The  reason  of  the  divine  '  it.  "  Gad's  lorath  is  hmoier  to  hear  than  Christ's 
plan  is  not  so  entirely  a  hidden  one  :  suffering  ^  cross  " — is  an  excellent  word,  by  which  Rieger 
takes  place  assuredly  only  on  account  of  sin.  ;  abolishes  his  own  dogmatic  system.*  Indeed, 
Even  those  who  are  relatively  righteous  and  the  sin  of  the  crucifixion  was  atoned  for  through 
devout  go  not  through  their  course  without  ^  the  cross  itself,  had  repentance  followed.  Jeru- 
the  fellowship  of  sutiermg.  But,  finally,  in  the  ,  salem  was  not  destroyed  because  it  crucified 
application  to  the  suflenngs  of  Christ,  who  is '  Jesus,  but  because  it  'rejected  him  ;  that  is,  be- 
the  Righteous  One,  and  who  is  alone  by  person  cause  it  persisted  in  that  rejection,  and  would 
and  nature  the  green  tree,  we  should  not  [  not  receive  the  apostolical  preaching,  Acts  ii. 
adopt  the  ordinary  style  of  speaking  and  say  i  23-3S  ;  iii.  17-19,  etc. 

(with  Von  Gerlach)  :  "  The  accomplishment  of  |  "If  they  do  such  things  in  me,"  the  Lord 
the  divine  j^'ini^^'f'i^'ii  of  sin  in  the  person  of  says — not  "  if  ye  do" — to  the  women  ;  but  it 
the  guiltless  (this,  is  even  juridically  impossible;  j  does  not  follow  that  he  distinguishes  his  enemies 
this  summa  injuria  in  order  to  maintain  summum  ,  and  crucitiers  from  these  sympathizing  and 
jus)  is  a  sign  beforehand  that  God  will  leave  no  '  better-minded  women.  That  the  sin  of  these 
sin  unpunished."     The  question,  rather,  would    women,  too,  is  regarded   as  part  of  the  guilt 


arise  as  to  why  any  sin  was  to  be  punished 
after  all  had  been  already  punished  in  the  one. 
The  ri  indicates  not  merely  a  contrast  with  the 
Tavra  as  to  degree  ;  but  rather  that  what  will 
take  place  upon  the  dry  tree  is  something 
altogether  different,  which  we  may  conclude 


which  brought  upon  him  his  woe,  was  already 
assumed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  "  weep  for 
yourselves."  He  might  have  plainly  said — If 
such  sorrow  comes  upon  me  through  you,  what 
anguish  will  one  day  come  upon  you  through 
me!     But  he  does  not  say  so  ;  for,  on  the  one 


minori  mi  mnjus,  from  what  did  take  place  upon  I  hand,  he  veils  now  in  the  way  of  suffering  his 
the  green  tree.  Theophylact's  paraphrase  is  a  future  judicial  dignity  ;  and,  on  the  other,  it 
good  one:  "If  they  do  these  things  in  me,  j  would  have  been  a  not  yet  intelligible  antici- 
fruitful,  always  green,  undying  through  the  |  pation  of  the  future  Passion-preaching  of  the 
divinity — what  will  they  do  to  you,  fruitless    Holy  Spirit,  if  he   had   thus  early  told  tli 


and  robbed  of  all  life-giving  righteousness? 

Only  thus  does  the  entire  discourse  find  its 
appropriate  close,  in  the  final  wonls  which 
give  the  fundamental  reason  of  all.  What  is  it 
in  all  suffering,  whether  of  the  righteous  or 
the  unrighteous,  which  is,  properly  speaking, 
lamentable,  and  to  be  mourned  over?  Noth- 
ing but  sin,  of  which  it  is  either  the  wages  or 
the  atonement.  For  there  is  a  judgment  of  sin, 
and  that,  fma'ly,  a  permanent,  eiernal  judgment 
of  wrath.  That  ye  may  escape  from  this, 
mourn  ye  sinners  over  yourselves  !  Behold  in 
the  judgment  of  grace  which  falls  upon  the 
Just  One  on  account  of  sin,  a  hortatory  warn- 
ing of  thatintinitely  heavier  judgment  of  wrath  ! 
The  judgment  of  grace  begins  and  is  fulfilled 
first  in  Jesus  and  his  people  ;  and  in  this  sense 
judgment,  as  Peter  rightly  interprets  the  ex- 
ternal symbol,  Jer.  xxv.  29;  Ezek.  ix.  6,  begins 
in  the  house  of  God,  yea,  on  his  own  beloved 
Son.  (For,  believers  are  included  with  Christ 
in  TO  vypi'iv  qvXov — the  definite  article  is  not 
to  be  omitted  from  the  text — and  must  enter 
into  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings.  As  it  is 
■wrong  to  say  that  he  really  and  fully  bore 
whatsliould  have  been  our  punishment,  so  it  is 
also  wrong  to  say  that  this  is  now  imputed  to 
118  only  as  the  suffering  of  another.)  But  the 
judgment  of  wrath,  which  brings  final  and 
eternal  despair  without  salvation  or  refuge, 
will  fall  upon  those  who  persevered  in  unbe- 
lief. What  an  awful  reality  is  sin  1  What 
will  remain  for  those  who  would  not  be  recon- 
ciled and  saved,  seeing  that  their  reconciliation 


daughters  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  midst  of  their 
waitings,  that  they  a.ho  joined  to  crucily  him. 
The  indefinite  7towi;6iy,  if  they  do,  corresponds 
with  the  ysvTfrai,  "shall  be,"  and  the  mean- 
ing so  far  is  that  both  (what  the  Jews  now  do 
and  what  the  Romans  will  do  to  the  Jews) 
were  not  the  act  of  men,  but  the  counsel  and 
the  judgment  of  God.  Yet  it  is  not  without 
design  that  "  they  do"  is  used  the  first  time, 
since  there  is  in  it  (what  is  suggested  to  be 
deeply  pondered)  an  unrighteous  noislv,  a 
deed  of  wickedness  ;  and  none  should  conclude 
from  this  rooting  up  of  the  good  tree,  although 
fruitful  in  the  works  of  God — consequently,  he 
also  an  evil-doer.  But,  rather — If  God  permits 
and  orders  such  suffering  for  the  righteous, 
what  shall  le,  what  must  liefdl,  finally  and 
fully  to  the  unrighteous!  In  this  latter,  the 
reference  to  the  execution  by  human  handsf 
falls  entirely  away  ;  because  the  word  already 
penetrates  beyond  the  Romans  to  the  fire  of 
the  last  judgment. 

If  the  women  and  the  men  who  first  heard 
and  pondered  this  saying  were  moved  in  their 

*  The  perfect  opposite  of  Ben^el's  perfectly  in- 
correct position — "  Tiie  punishinent  ot  Ciu  ist  was 
heavier  ih  m  ihit  of  any  Jew  when  llie  city  was 
taken  " — l>ut  it  should  also  run,  "than  thai  of  any 
CDiidemiied  .-oul,  when  the  world  is  de--troyed." 
Tliis,  liow.'ver,  is  contradicted  by  ver.  31,  rightly 
understood. 

I      t  This  is  made  prominent  by  the  reading  in  th« 

I  Vulg.  quid/aeient. 


LUKE  XXIII.  34. 


655 


hearts  to  a?ik,  W/nj  is  it  permitted  that  tlii? 
Bbould  be  done  io  the  green  tree?  tiif^  verv 
first  word  from  the  cross,  interpreted  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  their  consciences,  and  apo-<- 
tolical  preaching  most  fnlly  afterwards,  would 
iinfold  to  thera  the  answer,  and  dednce  Irom 
the  (jracs  revealed  in  the  snflerings  of  Christ 
the  piercing  conclusion  ;  What  must  come  upon 
all  at  last  who  persevere  in  rejecting  this  grace! 
We  ourselves  may  think  further— What  will 
come  upon  the  branches  which  had  been  par- 
takers once  of  grace,  and  then  became  dry  and 
•withered  again  !      These   the   Lord   includes, 


without  any  distinction,  in  the  dry  tree  frt  for 
eternal  tire. 

Alter  he  luvl  spoken  these  mighty  words — • 
words  which  preached  repentance,  predicted 
jud.gment.,  exhibited  a  possible  sah-atiou  h-om 
a  misery  which  was  yet  inevitable,  nunisure-l 
oat  grace  and  wrath,  pointing  from  liis  redeem- 
ing sufTerings  to  future  eternal  anguish — he 
turned  round  again  ;  and  the  procession  went 
onward  to  Golgotha,  where  "these  things" 
which  they  do  must  have  their  full  accom- 
plishment, more  awfully  and  more  ppvfectly 
than  the  sympathizing  women  could  imagine 
to  themselves. 


FIRST  WORD  FROM   THE  CROSS.. 


(Luke  xxiii.  34.) 


We  have  now  come  to  Golgotha.  Oh,  that 
all  our  readers  were  such  as  already  sing,  or 
are  learning  to  sing,  with  the  poet  of  the 
.Brethren — "Through  all  times,  through  eter- 
nities, has  my  spirit  restless  wandered  ;  but 
nothing  seized  my  whole  heart,  until  1  came  to 
Go'gotha!"  Every  one,  whose  heart  has  been 
thus  seized,  knows  full  well  that  there  is 
nothing  else  within  the  discovery  of  man's 
seeking  mind,  whether  in  time  or  eternity, 
which  can  absolutely  bring  the  heart,  full  of 
sin  and  longing,  to  God,  that  it  may  in  him 
be  renewed  and  restored  to  man  again.  Wan- 
der whither  thou  wilt,  with  thy  feet  or  in  thy 
spirit,  thou  must  at  last  come  to  the  place  of  a 
skull,  consecrated  to  death  and  judgment,  point- 
ing to  the  Jerusalem  at  hand.  But  here  is  not 
only  heard  the  word  from  Sinai,  The  wages  of 
sin  is  death — but  the  gift  of  grace  in  eternal 
life  is  victoriously  glorified  on  the  cross,  which 
is  lifted  up  in  the  scene  of  judgment.  Out  of 
the  profoundest  depth  of  ruin  breaks  forth  in 
its  most  glorious  exhibition  the  love  of  Gu.i  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  he  who  embraces  that  love  by 
laith  can  praise  God  who  hath  given  to  him 
also  this  victory.  The  superscription  in  the 
three  theological  tongues  bears  witness  for  all 
the  languages  of  the  earth,  concerning  the 
King  of  the  Jews  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.* 
All,  even  the  most  shameful  circumstances  of 
his  crucifixion,  fulfill  the  prophetic  word,  and 
become  most  convincing  arguments  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  But  the  historical 
Scripture  of  the  Holy  Spirit  celebrates  in  this 


,  *  Wi>  miysay  this,  inasmuch  as  the  e/S/jai'dri, 
the  idiom  ot  Ilie  people  at  the  time,  represented 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  as  in  the  Eli-invocation  of 
Jesus.  Strictly  speaking,  the  scrred  lansuaae  is 
wanting  by  tlie  side  of  the  offlnal  and  Ihe  Jenriicd 
languages;  biit  in  this  it  was  sliown  tJiat  all  the 
tongues  of  peoi)le  and  commerce  were  to  be  anew 
kanctified  for  this  Kinor, 


most  sacred  narrative  its  triumph  over  aM  that 
can  ever  come  to  pass  in  time  or  the  agcs  of 
eternity.* 

The  "saying  written  in  Isa.  liii.  12  is  now  ful- 
filled: he  is  reckoned  among  the  transgressors, 
in  orler  to  bear  the  sin  of  many.  But  that  all 
might  be  fulfilled,  or  rather  that  its  fulfillmi^nt 
might  be  made  manifest,  he  utters  that  v;hich 
was  there  predicted  in  his  intercession  for  the 
transgres.iors.  This  is  his  first  word  ;  for  his 
rejection  of  the  stupefying  drink  was  most 
probably  accompanied  only  by  a  gesture  which 
declined  it.  The  custom  of  closing  the  mouths 
of  malefactors,  a  custom  of  rare  and  mo.-t  ex- 
treme barbarity,  was  probably  not  yet  m  exist- 


*  We  cannot  resist  quoting  an  anecdote  wliioli 
Ile.s  received  fVom  an  eye  and  ear  witne.--s.  "  In 
one  of  the  soae^s  of  Baron  d  Holbach,  wliere  th3 
most  celebrated  iulidels  of  the  a:jo  were  in  the 
habit  of  assrmbiins,  great  enfeitainment  w  is  af- 
forded by  tlie  witty  way  in  wliich  the  pretende.l 
absurdities,  stupidities,  and  foUies  of  all  kinds 
which  abound  in  the  sacred  writings  were  descant- 
ed upon.  The  philosopher  Diderot,  wlio  had  liim- 
self  taken  no  part  in  the  conversation,  put  an  ab- 
rupt end  to  it  by  suddenly  savins  :  '  Gentlemen.  I 
know  men  in  fiance,  or  elsewhere,  wiio  can  speak 
or  write  with  more  talent  or  more  art.  Nevcnlie- 
less,  in  spite  of  all  the  evil  we  liave  spol^en.  and 
doubtless  with  reason  enough,  of  this  book  [de  ca 
diable  de  iivre],  I  defy  you,  with  all  your  ].ower, 
to  compose  a  nirrative  which  sliall  be  as  sim;)le 
but  at  the  same  time  as  subdmo  and  ."S  tone  ling 
as  the  recital  of  the  Passion  and  d^'ath  of  Je.su ^ 
Christ,  wliich  shall  produce  the  same  effect,  and 
make  so  strong  a  sens.ition,  felt  so  gcneraby  l^y 
all,  and  the  influence  of  which  sliall  continue 
the  same  after  so  many  ages.'  This  unexpected 
apostrophe  astonish  d  all  who  liea;d  it,  and  was 
toUowed  by  a  long  silence."  After  this  note,  wo 
would  beg  every  one,  whom  it  is  needlul  thus  to 
beg,  to  read  through  the  entire  liisory  of  the 
Passion,  before  our  exposition  of  the  Wurds  from 
the  cross. 


636 


FIKST  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


ence  ;  or,  if  it  was,  they  could  not  put  it  into 
practice,  because  the  world  was  yet  to  hear  some 
further  words  of  his  mouth.  They  crucifi&i 
him — Luke  records  this  first,  so  that  after  the 
Lord  had  meekly  undergone  this,  he  speaks 
his  first  word  from  the  cross,  and  probably  while 
the  nails  were  being  driven.  The  never-ceas- 
ing intercession  of  his  pleading  heart  becomes 
here  an  uttered  expression  and  testimony.  Let 
U3  approach,  and  reverently  seek  to  understand 
it.     What  a  word  is  this! 

There  is  no  resistance  here.  He  defends  not 
himself;  and  although  he  might  have  said — 
Remove  henc) !  Fall  down  hef ore  me  !  He  says 
merely  with  perfect  resignation — What  tiiey 
ih  {Ilotovdi,  probably  connecting  itself  with 
the  raura  rcotovdi  of  ver.  31  before).  There 
is  nothing  of  wrath.  He  threatens  not,  nor 
invokes  vengeance — Let  me  see  thy  vengeance  on 
them  (Jer.  xx.  12).  There  is  nothing  of  accu- 
sation or  lament,  no  invocation  of  help — Save 
me!  Nor  is  there  heard  the  word  which  we 
poor  sinners  are  too  ready,  half  in  truth  and 
half  in  pride,  to  utier— I  forgive  you  !  although 
he  as  the  Holy  One  has  the  power  to  forgive  as 
well  as  to  condemn  (John  viii.  11).  Nor  in 
this  death  for  sin  not  his  own  is  there  any 
place  for  Forgive  mc  !  Asserting  his  own  rights 
while  renouncing  them,  he  thinks  to  the  end 
not  of  himself,  like  other  children  of  men, 
but — as  in  the  way  with  the  daughters  of  Je- 
rusalem— of  others ;  nevertheless,  he  avails 
himself  of  his  prerogative  in  calling  upon  his 
Father  for  others.  It  is  an  infinite  gracious- 
ness  of  self-denial,  and  humility  of  self-conceal- 
ment, which  is  blended  with  the  sublimity  of 
this  word.  Thus  he  does  not  now  say,  I  will 
not  complain  of  you  to  the  Father,  I  will  pray 
for  you  ;  but  he  prays  at  once  in  most  child- 
like simplicity,  as  if  in  so  doing  he  only  ful- 
filled an  obligation,  like  that  of  the  dying  sin- 
ner, to  confess  and  supplicate  for  himself.  That 
every  trace  of  personal  judging,  every  tone  of 
the  most  allowable  and  necessary  thought 
about  himself,  might  be  taken  from  the  word, 
he  does  not  even  say — "  What  they  do  to  vie  or 
agaimt  me."  He  lurther  cries,  Forgive  them, 
what  they  do — for  "  thy  children  "  he  cannot 
say,  although  his  appeal  to  the  Father  does 
avail  even  for  them.  But  he  specifies  whom 
he  means  m  no  other  way  than  by  the  gracious 
pre-supposition,  For  they  know  not.  He  re- 
strains himself  in  his  most  gracious  expression 
from  making  any  such  distinction  as,  Forgive 
all  those  wh)  do  not  altogether  know  ;  or,  For- 
give thorn  j/  they  know  not  what  they  do* — 
althougli.as  we  shall  see,  tliis  awful  distinction 
remains  in  the  background. 

Ilis  "intercession"  is  infinitely  more  than 
any  such  intercession  as  is  po;^siblo  and  appro- 
priate to  sinful  men  generally,  and  specifically 


*  Indeed,  just  as  little  can  lie  say — Even  if  they 
know  it;  lonjive  even  tliose  wiio  sin  wiihout  ig- 
norance. Least  of  all  could  the  word  include 
the  author  of  all  this  sin,  and  say  of  Satan,  For- 
give him  ! 


quite  difTerent  from  it.  For,  he  utters  his  word 
not  merely  as  a  request,  like  others  ;  but  with 
the  same  consciousness  which  had  been  former- 
ly expressed — Father,  I  know  that  thou  always 
hearest  me.  His  intercession  has  this  for  its 
ground,  though  in  meekness  it  is  not  express- 
ed— Father,  /  will  that  thou  forgive  them. 
"  Father  !  "  By  this  he  confirms  to  us  once 
more,  in  the  most  humble  and  yet  the  sub- 
limest  manner,  his  own  avowal  that  he  is  still 
the  Son  of  God,  and  abides  such  upon  the 
cross  and  in  his  atoning  death.  It  is  not  as 
merely  a  holy  man,  but  strictly  as  the  incar- 
nate Son,  that  he  appeals  to  God  by  the  name 
of  Father;  but  the  expression  of  his  prayer 
immediately  follows — being  strictly  connected 
with  it — which  speaks  oi forgiveness  as  its  great 
object. 

When  we  examine  and  analyze  it,  this  first 
word  from  the  cross  discloses  to  us  three  things. 
First,  the  perfect  love  of  the  holy  Son  of  Man, 
maintained  and  approved  even  unto  death  :  for 
the  cry  which  went  up  to  God  has  for  its  pre- 
supposition that  he  as  man  retains  nothing  but 
forgiveness  and  love.  His  whole  life  was  an 
expression  of  such  love ;  his  death  set  upon  it 
the  last  seal.  So  meekly  and  humbly  does  ha 
die  in  the  hands  of  his  tormentors,  that  it 
seems  to  him  needless  to  speak  of  forgiveness 
on  his  own  part.  But,  secondly,  when  we 
penetrate  deeper,  the  word  points  us  to  atoning 
love — and  that,  too,  of  the  Father  himself,  as  it 
is  revealed  through  the  Son,  who  thus  knoweth, 
and  thus  appealeth  to,  him.  With  God  there 
is  forgiveness,  that  many  may  fear  him  in  order 
to  love  him.  No  man  can — even  in  that  sense  in 
which  Scripture  condescendingly  uses  the  word 
for  men — forgive  until  he  is  forgiven  ;  otherwise 
his  unjustified  "  I  forgive"  is  both  untruth  and 
sin  together  in  one.  Thus  Christ,  now  hang- 
ing upon  the  cross  in  the  likeness  of  sinners, 
though  he  does  not  of  course  pray  first  for  any 
forgiveness  for  himself,  j'et  keeps  silence  as  to 
any  forgiveness  on  his  own  part,  referring  that 
to  the  Father  above.  Once  more,  however, 
this  God  who  reconciles  the  world  unto  himself, 
not  imputing  to  it  its  sin,  is  no  other  than  the 
God  who  is  in  Christ,  the  Father  of  this  Son. 
The  Father,  that  is,  who  tlirough  him  then  wills 
to  be  and  tcill  lie  our  Father  also ;  by  no  means 
is  such  already  in  himself.  Consequently  that 
is  not  indeed  expressed  which  is  implied  in  it- 
self, my  Father — for  that  Father-love  which  is 
now  free  to  all  is  appealed  to  ;  but  neither 
does  he  say — Forgive  thy  children.  In  this 
supplicatory  appeal  of  the  Son,  which  is  he»»'d 
and  granted  at  once,  the  voice  of  eternal  love 
itself  utters  its  promise — I  will  forgive.  But 
only  through  that  propitiation,  in  which  tho 
just  interposes  for  the  unjust.  Consequently, 
finally,  and  in  the  third  place,  this  »'ord  ex- 
hibits together  and  at  once,  as  well  the  ground 
as  the  limit  of  forgiveness  and  reconciliation 
for  the  sins  of  the  world. 

Its  ground  is  and  must  ever  be  this  inter- 
cession of  tho  Son,  who  in  the  appearance  of 
like  condemnation  can  yet  say  "  Fut/t^r."  Whilo 


LUKE  XXIII.  34. 


657 


his  blood  13  being  poured  out,  the  testimony  I 
thus  given  beforehand  declares — For  you,  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sins.  Thus,  we  have  here  in 
the  beginning  of  the  proper  sufTerings  of  death, 
the  sufferings  of  redemption,  a  testimony  con- 
cerning their  cause,  their  design,  and  tlieir 
fruit — Therefore  to  this  end  I  suffer  \Yhat  they 
do.  For  he  himself  "  knoweth  what  he  doeth" 
in  this  his  suffering  fulfillment  of  all.  "  The  sad- 
dest lamentations  in  the  Passion  psalms  turn 
constantly  to  exultation  in  the  blessed  results 
which  would  follow,  in  the  life  which  so  many 
miserable  souls  would  derive  from  them  ;  and  we 
may  therefore  say  that  the  Lord  Jesus  sweet- 
ened his  bitter  crucifixion  to  his  own  thoughts 
by  his  testimony  to  the  blessedness  which 
would  follow  his  Passion"  (Rieger).  He  who 
hangs  as  a  king  naked  upon  the  cross,  does 
thereby  not  merely  testify  that  "one  may  be  a 
king  and  not  have  a  thread  of  the  trappings  of 
this  world  " — but  this  naked  one  alone  covers 
our  shame  (Gen.  iii.  21).  Thus  the  type  and 
the  interpreting  word  are  brought  directly  to- 
gether; and  hence  Luke  adds  in  the  same 
verse — And  they  parted  his  raiment. 

But  how  far  extends  this  atoning  word, 
■which  then  and  now  restrains  wrath  against 
evil-doers  ?  Who  are  the  evil-doers  for  whom  it 
was  spoken  and  avails  ?  The  word  says  with 
designed  indefiniteness  no  more  than  "  them," 
in  order  lo  make  room  for  every  one  who  will 
and  who  can  include  himself,  lite  does  not  say. 
My  enemies — but  he  means  in  the  widest  sense 
all  who  are  guilty  by  participation  in  what 
was  done  to  him.  First  of  all,  most  assuredly, 
the  executioners  idIio  crucify  him,  as  the  con- 
nection in  Luke  teaches  us;  the  four  soldiers 
T/ho  execute  the  deed.  One  might  indeed  be 
tempted  to  say  (with  Von  Gerlach)  :  "  This 
intercession  was  not  offered  for  the  soldiers  who 
nailed  him  to  the  cross  ;  they  were  not  directly 
guilty  of  their  act,  doing  it  simply  in  obedi- 
ence"— as  their  duty.  But  this  is  only  a  mis- 
leading fallacy,  for  they  were  otherwise  6i««e;-s/ 
moreover,  their  obedient,  undoubting  perform- 
ance of  their  duty  was  done  not  without  a  sin- 
ful pleasure  in  doing  it,  or  at  all  events  was 
closely  connected  with  their  general  condition 
as  sinners,  included  in  that  common  sin  of  the 
world  to  which  the  Lord  now  ascribes  his  cru- 
cifixion. The  word  applies  primarily  to  them, 
in  as  far  as  in  them  was  embodied  the  general 
fact — They  crucified  him.  Once  more,  as  so 
often  elsewhere,  the  Lord  seizes  the  immediate 
and  concrete  exhibition,  but  means  while  he 
does  so  ail  that  is  exhibited  and  symbolized  in 
it.  He  says.  Forgive  my  crucifiers,  and  means 
all  sinners  as  his  enemies  ;  as  far  as  possible 
all  men,  in  opposition  to  whom  he  stands  be- 
fore God  as  the  Holy  One,  even  ichlle  he  be- 
comes their  brother  in  all  things,  in  their  mis- 
ery and  their  ignominy,  and  as  the  alone 
guiltless  makes  himself  the  representative  of 
tlieir  guilt.  Here  prays  he /or  the  tcorld  (John 
xvii.  9),  and  even  this  intercession  continues 
in  heaven  (H^.  vii.  25).  Bat  not  only  for 
the  world,  as  opposed  to  his  disciples,     Peter, 


who  denied  him,  is  included,  with  that  which 
he  did  toward  the  fulfillment  of  the  griefs  of 
his  denied  Master ;  even  John  and  Mary  too, 
with  the  doing  of  their  hearts  in  sinful  infirmity, 
as  the  Lord  sees  through  them.  Even  the 
murderers,  between  whom  he  hangs  as  num- 
bered with  the  trangressors,  are  included,  with 
all  that  they  have  done  and  all  they  have  to 
do  ;  inasmuch  as  here  the  whole  world  with  ita 
sin  is  regarded  as  the  cause  of  the  death  of 
Christ  upon  the  cross.  Are  the  high  priests  and 
rulers  also  included,  who  condemned  him,  de- 
livered him  to  Pilate,  and  raged  for  his  cruci- 
fixion with  the  most  furious  zeal  of  malignity? 
Certainly  many  among  them  ;  all,  indeed,  of 
whom  Caiaphas  had  already  given  in  John  xi, 
50,  a  prophetically  true  testimony — Te  know 
not.  But  far  indeed  is  the  word  from  availing 
for  him,  this  ringleader  of  the  council  and  of 
the  act.  They  are  greatly  in  error  who  say 
that  "  the  Lord  had  his  real  murderers  es- 
pecially in  his  thoughts  in  this  prayer,  and 
petitioned  expressly  for  the  terrible  men  who 
urged  on  his  condemnation  with  devilish  mal- 
ice"" Oh,  no;  we  cannot  give  any  specific 
interpretation  to  the  word  thus  spoken  in 
widest  generality,  and  yet  (as  we  shall  see) 
expressing  its  own  restriction ;  we  can  no  more 
refer  it  especially  to  the  judges  and  accusers 
than  to  the  soldiers  who  executed  their  will. 
The  Lord  does  not  indeed  say  noio^  what  we 
have  found  expressed  in  the  2v  eirtai,  thou 
hant  said,  to  Judas  and  Caiaphas  ;  it  is  not  his 
ioill  to  exclude  and  except  those  who  hieio,  but 
he  commits  all  to  him  who  judgeth  righteously. 
He  closes  his  word,  however,  in  such  a  manner, 
that  it  prays  for  the  forgiveness  of  those  sins 
only  which  were  capable  of  forgiveness:  not  for 
the  sin  unto  death,  1  John  v.  16. 

What  they  do— this  expression,  uttered  in 
the  present  between  the  past  and  the  future, 
embraces  assuredly  all  sin  of  all  sinners,  which 
is  seized  in  its  central  manifestation  in  the  cru- 
cifixion of  the  Son  of  God:  thus  the  sins  which 
preceded  this  intercession,  and  the  sins  which 
followed  it.  The  intercession  looks  back  upon 
all  that  had  brought  them  to  the  point  of  cru- 
cifying him,  and  forward  to  all  that  would 
thereafter  be  done  in  continuation  of  that  act, 
"  The  word  of  this  intercession  stretches  out 
two  arras  ;  the  one,  to  atone  for  all  the  sins 
which  had  gone  before,  the  other,  to  atone  for 
all  the  sins  which  should  follow."  This  is  cer- 
tainly true  ;  but  we  further  ask — Is  all,  can  all, 
be  forgiven  which  all  do,  have  done,  or  will 
do?  and  must  answer  iVo  ;  for  the  intercessory 
word,  while  it  gives  us  the  ground  of  this  recon- 
ciliation, gives  us  its  limit  likewise. 

The  first  and  proper  oljective  gronnd  of  all 
possible,  and  therefore  actual,  reconciliation  was 
unexpressed  and  only  intimated  in  the  appeal 
to  the  Fatlier;  if  we  bring  it  into  completeness, 
it  is— i^or  I,  the  Son,  supplicate  for  them  on 
the  same  cross  on  which  1  am  pierced  for  their 
sin.  But  tlien  at  once  comes  out  the  limit  of 
this  reconciliation ;  since  a  suhjective  condition  and 
I  consequently  a  resivicfww,  which  supposes  some- 


:€!58 


FIRST  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


thing  different,  is  expressed  an  the  ground. 
Thus  the  intercession  veils,  as  much  as  might 
be,  and  gently  passes  bj',  the  excluded  ;  yet 
the  "for"  which  is  the  ground  of  forgiveness, 
has  plainly  enough  the  iorce  of  a  conditional 
"  if."  All  are  meant,  concerning  whom  the 
ali-knowing  Son  can  say,  because  he  knoweth 
it — that  they  hioic  not  what  they  do.  "  That 
does  not  signify  that  their  ignorance  would 
deaerve  grace  ;  but  the  reason  is  derived  from 
their  miserable  condition."  So  speaks  the  Berl. 
Bilel  rightly,  but  not  the  whole  truth  ;  the 
Avhole  truth  would  be  :  For  it  is  yet  possible  that 
forgiveness  should  be  extended  to  them.  This 
alone  is  the  inmost  meaning  of  the  reason  as- 
signed in  the  for,  which  has  a  restricting  (/"a? 
its  undertone.  Indeed  the  most  gracious  word 
of  the  widest  TtdjjEdii  and  most  ready  a<pf<Ji?, 
which  we  have  here,  docs  not  expressly  name 
their  dt-iaprdveiv  or  djiaria  (as  Stephen, 
Acts  vii.  59) — nevertheless  sin  is  intended  in 
the  word,  \jeca.\i&Q  forgiveness.  This  word  of  our 
Lord,  which  is  so  unintelligently  and  wilfully 
perverted,  is  very  far  from  sanctioning  that 
superficial  conscience-condemned  theory,  so  ig- 
norant both  of  grace  and  sin,  which  derives 
sin  so-called  from  not  knowing  simply,  and 
makes  it  one  with  ignorance.  How  often  do 
we  hear  in  various  tones  the  effeminate  wail 
and  empty  hope  of  such  words  as  these:  "  Alas! 
poor  mortals,  if  they  only  knew  and  under- 
stood, they  would  not  sin ; "  that  is,  in  fact, 
they  do  not  sin  at  all!  Then  dcctrine  would  be 
sufHcient  for  their  deliverance,  and  their  recon- 
ciliation with  God  would  consist  only  in  the 
removal  of  their  error.  Oh,  no  ;  in  this  preg- 
nant ri  (they  know  not  what,  how  great  evil 
Ihey  do)  the  doing  is  defined  to  be  sinning.* 
The  erring  sheep  (Isa.  liii.  6,  which  passage 
might  well  be  in  our  Lord's  thought)  are  at 
the  same  time,  and  notwithstanding,  no  other 
than  lost,  voluntarily  and  knowingly  rebellious, 
children  of  their  heavenly  Father. 

The  slightest  actual  sin  is  not  committed 
without  a  knowledge  that  we  transgress  in 
will  ;  else  it  would  be  no  sin,  and  nothing 
wouKl  be  done  that  required  to  be  forgiven. 
For  all  forgiveness,  prayed  for  as  yet  possible, 
pre-supposes  two  things — a  conscious  j7(/i/<,  and 
also  an  error  connected  with  it.  Guilt  as  such 
lies  always  in  the  evil  will;  in  mere  error  there 
is  nothing  to  forgive,  it  is  to  be  pitied  and 
helped  ;  but  every  moral  error  has  in  it  guilt, 
and  is  rendered  guilty  by  previous  sin.  Nev- 
ertheless, there  is  on  the  other  hand  in  every 
sin  which  may  be  {ov^w&n  a.  not  huncing  ;  from 
the  first  "deceiving"  of  the  serpent  downtu 
ihnt  limit  where  consummate  sin  finally  ends  in 


*  Tiie  usual  anl  well-intendeil  remarks  upon  our 
Lord's  gonlle  and  gracious  ai)oloHy  and  e.xcuse, 
do  not  ajfprehend  the  matter  in  all  its  force;  for 
til  y  seize  at  once  upon  the  Lord's  excusing  words, 
instead  of  first  penetratins  the  wliole  saying  in  its 
dei)tlis,  and  then  being  amazed  at  the  apology 
Aliich  is  .so  wonderfully  found  iu  the  depths  of 
human  sin  itself. 


perfectly  conscious  wickedness.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  all  those  who  were  embraced  orig- 
inally in  this  intercession,  from  the  most  un- 
knowing and  yet  not  guiltless  soldiers,  up  to 
those  who  had  the  knowledge  in  Israel;  whose 
sin  was  not  without  blindness,  but  this  blind- 
ness again  the  judicial  consequence  of  their 
sin;  so  that  Lange  may  well  say,  "Almost 
greater  than  this  act  of  horror  (the  crucifixion 
of  our  Lord)  was  the  guilt  out  of  which  it 
had  sprung."  Even  for  the  whole  people  of 
Israel,  who,  invoking  blood-guiltiness  upon 
themselves,  iu  a  sense  "prayed  against  their 
forgiveness" — the  words  of  John  xv.  22-25 
avail.  But  the  greater  part  knew  not  the  es- 
sential ichat  of  their  act ;  they  knew  it  not  in 
its  profoundest,  fullest  meaning.  Many  brought 
the  sacrifice  of  fools,  and  thought  they  did  God 
service  ;  but  knew  not  the  evil  which  they  did, 
because  they  knew  neither  the  Father  nor 
Christ  (Eccles.  v.  1 ;  John  xvi.  3).  Almost  all 
knew  the  innocent  man,  the  Holy  One  approved 
of  God  by  signs  and  wonders  ;  but  only  a  few 
hieio  that  he  icas  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living 
God.  In  fact  this  last  is  the  great  point  in  the 
not  knowing  ivlmt  they  do  ;  for  the  Lord's  con- 
concealed  meaning  is — They  know  not  to  iclmn 
they  do  this.  Is  it  not  so  even  in  our  own  day 
with  many  whom  u'e  should  regard  as  exhibit- 
ing the  full  conscious  and  malignant  contradic- 
tion of  perfect  wickedness,  but  iu  wiiom  the 
Searcher  of  hearts  sees  something  different? 
He  sees  error,  and  therefore  room  for  an  offered 
and  afterwards  received  forgiveness,  here  in  the 
most  awful  outburst  of  human  sin,  before  which 
our  thoughts  are  lost  in  amazement.  "Awful, 
that  they  know  not  what  they  do!  Incompre- 
hensible, that  they  know  it  not !  Yet  they 
really  know  it  not.  This  judgment  of  the  dying 
Lord  sprang  not  from  his  sparing  them,  but; 
from  his  knowledge."  So  Draseke;  and  Ram- 
bach  is  not  merely  more  plain  but  more  pro- 
found:  "  In  this  (he  Son  of  God  exhibited  a 
masfer  stroke  of  his  love ;  for  he  makes  that 
which  might  have  been  matter  of  accusation 
(lor  their  ignorance  was  unjustifiable)  matter 
of  excuse."  The  law  of  God  knows  nothing  of 
the  plea — I  knew  it  not;  but  his  (//'cice  judgeth 
otherwise.  Christ  on  the  cross  knows  that 
these  blinded  sinners  themselves  pray  not  for 
forgiveness  ;  therefore  he  \  rays  in  his  compas- 
sion for  them  ;  places  himself  in  their  persons, 
and  speaks  on  tneir  behalf,  that  they  may  be 
encouraged  to  come  to  the  "  Father"  through 
him.  Augustine  :  "  Mercy  prayed,  that  mis- 
ery might  pray  ;  the  Pbysician  prayed,  that 
the  sick  might  pray  ;  the  Judge,  willing  to  be 
merciful,  prayed,  that  the  guilty  might  plead 
to  be  spared." 

Wide,  very  wide,  does  this  appealing  inter- 
cession, with  its  gracious  excu-se,  extend  its 
arms  over  all  sinners,  and  all  sins  in  which 
error  may  yet  be  alleged.  We  may  further  say 
with  Lange:  "It  availed  for  the  individuals 
who  were  guilty  in  pro}iortio?i  as  they  in  fact 
did  not  know  what  they  did."  But  we  should 
be  in  error  if  we  continued,  as  he  docs :  "  No 


LUKE  XXIII.  34. 


659 


man,  however,  could  altogether  know.  For 
how  could  sin  be  clearly  conscious  of  itself?" 
This  double  position,  which  denies  the  possi- 
bility of  any  such  actual  and  full  knowledge, 
and  therefore  denies  the  existence  of  any  such 
as  could  be  excluded  from  the  intercession,  not 
merely  in  the  actual  history  of  the  text,  but 
generally  and  unconditionally,  is /afe  ;  for  it 
misapprehends  the  abysmal  nature  of  sin,  the 
error  of  which  must  finally,  unless  kept  back, 
end  in  the  abyss  (by  the  fire  sufHciently  en- 
lightened) ;  and  contradicts  the  Scripture,  es- 
pecially all  that  we  have  discovered  m  it  con- 
cerning the  unpardonable  sin.  It  may  be 
enough  to  refer  to  our  exposition  there.  The 
Lord  would  not  have  added  his  ov  yap  oiSa6i, 
"  they  knoio  not,"  if  that  were  unJerstMd  of  itself 
touching  all  sin,  and  if  there  were  not,  beyond 
their  limit,  an  oiSa6i  to  be  attributed  to  others 
who  were  not  included  in  this  avroli.  There 
is  a  sin  unto  death,  for  which  no  prayer  is  to 
be  offered;  this  was  committed  by  Judas  at 
least,  probably  by  Caiaphas  and  others,  and 
may  have  been  committed  oftentimes  since, 
where  the  knowing  has  been  directly  within 
the  spirit's  reach.  Compare  also  what  we  have 
said  upon  Luke  sxii.  53  concerning  the  judg- 
ment upon  this  question  in  the  Acts;  and  un- 
derstand by  that  the  similar  limitation  in  1 
Cor.  ii.  8.  The  sin  of  man,  deceived  by  the  ser- 
pent, may  as  such  be  called  that  of  ignorance, 
and  find  a  sacrifice;  hence  the  expression  in 
Heb.  ix.  7.  The  sin  of  the  devil  knows  well 
what  its  aim  is  and  what  it  does.  Finally, 
those  who  have  become  altogether  the  devil's 
among  men,  equally  know  ;  they  are  therefore, 
and  must  ever  be,  his  portion. 

Finally,  we  must  not  overlook  what  is  inti- 
mated by  this  ignorance  admitted  in  the  first 
word  from  the  cross — that  on  that  account  a 
salutary  knowledge,  and  confession  of  repent- 
ance, still  remains  possible  ;  that  this  is  doubt- 
less pre-supposed  as  the  condition  of  forgive- 
ness ;  yea,  for  many  here  referred  to,  is  in  a 
certain  sense  pre-declared  and  prophesied.  Oth- 
erwise, this  intercession  of  grace  would  suppli- 
cate forgiveness  generally  and  unconditionally, 
in  direct  contradiction  to  the  whole  of  Scripture, 
which  every  where  demands  the  strictest  re- 

Eentance  of  every,  the  least,  sin,  in  order  to  its 
eing  forgiven.  See  simply  Luke  xxiv.  47. 
Out  of  repentance  alone  rises  faith  ;  but  repent- 
ance and  faith  are  every  where  inseparable  and 
indispensable,  where  forgiveness  is  to  be  en- 
joyed. The  apostolical  preaching  has  no  other 
law  ;  were  it  otherwise,  that  preaching  would 
be  as  it  were  useless  after  this  redeeming  inter- 
cession. That  is  a  miserable  perversion  of  this 
sacred  word  which  regards  the  petition  for  for- 
giveness, obviously  pre-supposing  the  condi- 
tions of  that  forgiveness,  as  an  unconditional 
asmrance  and  bestowment  of  it.  The  Lord  is 
merciful,  but  he  says — Acknowledge  thine  in- 
iquity (Jer.  iii.  13).  When  the  sinner's  eyes 
are  opened  (Acts.  xxvi.  IS)  to  see  his  former 
sin,  then  he  keows  what  he  has  done,  but  now 
ceases  to  do,  otherwise  than  he  had  ever  known 


before ;  then  first  repentance  speaks  with  a  new 
and  full  perception  of  the  wor(i — I  have  sinned. 
This  knowledge,  however,  becomes  the  further 
knowledge — I  have  crucified  thee,  my  Lord  and 
my  God  ;  I  have  made  thee  to  serve  and 
wearied  thee  (Isa.  xliii.  24).  Thus  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  "forgive  them"  lies  in  the  future  ; 
when  they  attain  to  a  penitent  knowledge, 
who  now  know  not  what  they  do.  Their  pres- 
ent not  knowing  makes  their  future  forgiveness 
possible,  because  there  is  yet  possible  an  opening 
of  their  eyes  unto  conversion ;  and  as  long  a$ 
such  a  future  is  before  them  as  possible,  the  in- 
tercession of  Jesus  avails  and  exerts  its  influ- 
ence.* The  same  supplication  therefore  cries 
at  the  same  time  to  the  Father — Bring  them  to 
this  knowledge!  Give  them  space,  and  give 
them  motive  to  repent !  But,  again,  as  is  ob- 
vious— If  they  may  receive  it  (2  Tim.  ii.  25,  26). 
The  calling  to  mind  this  word  concerning  a  for- 
giveness, even  then  prepared,  was  helpful  to 
the  repentance  of  many  even  then ;  and  cer- 
tainly of  many  under  subsequent  apostolical 
preaching.  For  it  was  instrumental  in  pro- 
ducing trust  and  confidence  in  that  grace  which 
had  regarded  the  ignorance  in  the  sin  which 
they  had  hitherto  committed.  But  without 
such  confidence  the  first  beginnings  of  repent- 
ance are  not  possible.  This  saving  return  to 
God  may  often  take  place  long  afterwards  ;  and 
therefore  the  "  forgive  them  "  extends  far  into 
futurity,  through  many  judgments  which  pre- 
cede tlie  last.  ""Yet  there  remains  a  limit,  and 
a  final  judgment  of  wrath  ;  as  Luther,  correctly 
enough  at  least  as  to  the  main  point,  preaches  : 
"  The  simple  meaning  is  that  the  Lord  intends 
to  point  out  two  sorts  of  sin;  and  we  should 
make  the  distinction.  All  sins  have  the  sacri- 
fice and  intercession  of  Christ  between  them 
and  God,  and  God  will  not  impute  them,  if 
they  are  (known  and)  acknowledged,  and  the 
sinner's  faith  rests  upon  the  High  Priest,  with 
his  sacrifice  and  intercession  upon  the  cross. 
But  those  sins  which  fight  against  grace  and  will 
not  know  that  they  are  such,  such  as  those  of 
the  thief  on  the  left  hand  and  the  blasphemers 
of  the  high  priests,  are  not  included  in  this  in- 
tercession of  Christ.  There  is  a  great  differ- 
ence between  the  sin  which  man  acknowledges 
to  be  sin  (how  great  sin  it  has  teen)  and  the  sin 
which  man  will  not  know  (wilfully  refuses, 
though  he  knows  it  to  be  such,  to  acknowledge 
it  in  penitence)."  Thus,  how  loudly  does  the 
Lord  here  call  upon  the  sinner  to  seek  the  true 
knowledge  of  repentance  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
what  a  learning  is  contained  in  his  encouraging 
word  !  For  there  is  no  such  thing  as  standing 
still  in  a  career  of  sin  ;  a  man  does  not  become 
more  and  more  ignorant  of  what  he  does,  and 
therefore  more  and  more  worthy  of  compassion. 
The  tendency  of  continuance  in  the  works  of 

*  "  Jesus  acknowledses  in  them  a  certain  igno- 
rance, as  something  which  might  make  them  ca- 
pable of  divine  forgiveness,  if  it  should  after- 
wards give  place  to  a  knowledgs  of  the  truth " 
(Wei.s). 


660 


SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  oROSS. 


sin  is  to  make  tlie  Inowleilge  of  it  more  clear, 
until,  repentance  becoming  more  difBcult,  the 
point  is  at  last  reached  of  the  unpardonable — 
They  Icnoin  not  what  they  do. 

Meanwhile  let  us  who  have  knowledge,  pa- 
tience, and  faith,  make  the  Lord's  word  our  ex- 
ample, in  praying  for  those  who  know  not  what 
they  do.  His  word  denounces  forever  all  that 
Christian  pharisaism  which  would  uncharitably 
condemn  and  pass  by  others  in  their  sin.  It  is 
true  that  we  have  the  saying  of  1  John  v.  16  ; 
but  it  is  not  expressly  said  there — If  any  man 


see  bis  brother  sin  a  tin  which  is  unto  death. 
For  we  may  indeed  see  with  increasing  clear- 
ness our  own  sin  ;  but  very  seldom  can  we  see — ■ 
what  the  Searcher  of  hearts  on  the  cross  would 
not,  as  it  were,  see,  and  omitted  to  speak  of — 
that  this  man  or  that  knows  fully  what  ho 
does.  Stephen  makes  the  last  word  of  the  cross 
his  first  dying  word — that  is  now  obtained  for 
us  as  our  privilege ;  but  he  also  makes  the  first 
word  of  Jesus  on  the  cross  his  own  last  word  in 
d^ath — and  that  is  thereby  commended  to  our 
imitation. 


SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


(Luke  xxiii.  43.) 


What  was  the  influence  of  the  first  word  of 
the  Crucified  upon  the  sinners  who  heard  it, 
and  for  what  did  it  pave  the  way  ?  It  wrought, 
probably,  repentance  in  some  ;  in  still  more  it 
distantly  prepared  for  it ;  but  the  greatest 
part,  and  among  them  many  who  were  after- 
wards converted,  were  for  the  present  only 
moved  to  more  excited  energy  of  evil  in  word 
and  act.  The  internal  history  of  the  hearts 
around  Golgotha  remains  hidden  from  us ;  but 
their  external  course  of  conduct  is  recorded  in 
a  manner  so  impressive  as  to  furnish  more  for 
cur  exposition  than  it  can  ever  penetrate  and 
interpret.  According  to  the  connection  of  the 
narrative  in  Luke,  that  mockery  now  follows, 
■which  led  to  the  railing  blasphemy  of  the  one 
malefactor,  and  the  prayer  of  the  other.  The 
promise  to  this  latter  of  the  entrance  into  Para- 
dise is  therefore  obviously  the  second  word  on 
the  cross.  Rambach  says  of  this  order :  "  The 
first  was  a  word  of  intercession,  the  second  a 
word  of  promise.  The  first  prays  for  a  term  of 
repentance  and  grace  :  the  second  throws  open 
the  door  of  grace  to  a  great  sinner.  The  first 
has  for  its  end  justification,  the  second  glorifi- 
cation ;  the  first  has  to  do  with  the  kingdom  of 
grace,  the  second  with  the  kingdom  of  glory. 
In  the  first  our  Lord  executed  his  high-priestly 
function,  in  an  intercession  founded  upon  his 
sacrificial  death  ;  in  the  second  he  anticipates 
his  kingly  office  and  act,  and  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  his  kingly  office  was  subjected  to 
most  supreme  contempt."  But,  in  order  to 
understand  the  answer  given  to  the  thief,  we 
must  first  study  carefully  his  request ;  and  that 
again  will  require  us  to  expound  tlie  scene  of 
mockery  wliich  gave  rise  to  it. 

And  the  people  stood  heliolding.  This  mere 
contemplation  involved  a  perilous  stillness, 
which,  to  the  consciences  of  tne  rulers,  the  real 
enemies  and  crucifiers  of  Christ,  was  insupport- 
able— for  much  worse  might  arise  out  of  it. 
Then  began  these  riders  tiieir  mockery,  to  clear 
the  stifling  air,  and  deafen  the  voice  which  was 
stirring  even  in  themselves.  The  oitoicoi  Se 
■xai,  ai,so  with  them,  Matt,  xxvii.  41  and  Mark 


XV.  31,  does  not  refer  simply  to  the  time,  but 
intimates  an  entire  forgetfulness  and  throwing 
aside  of  their  dignity  on  the  part  of  these  great 
ones  ;  and  Luke  also  in  ver.  35  plainly  records 
that  the  rulers  began  the  mockery  ;  for,  "  with 
them  "  is  rightly  expounded  by  Bengel  with 
reference  to  vers.  33,  34 — "  With  those  who 
had  crucified  him."  It  points  us  partly  to  the 
mockery  in  the  hall  of  judgment,  and  partly  to 
the  railing  spirit  and  words  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  just  accomplished  the  act;  and  tells  us 
that  even  the  rulers  reduced  themselves  to  a 
level  with  the  lowest  and  meanest  of  the  Gc^n- 
tiles — and  that  they  also  crucified  Christ,  at 
least  with  their  words  (Heb.  vi.  6).  There  is  a 
holy  derision  in  the  mouth  of  God,  and  of 
Christ,  and  of  holy  men,  which  unites  the  purest 
truth  with  the  keenest  love  ;  but  the  mockery 
of  the  ungodly  against  trutii  and  love  is  fear- 
fully godless,  and  all  the  more  fearful  here  as 
being  the  first  cfTect  and  answer  which  the 
intercessory  word  upon  the  cross  produces." 
"The  highest  love  prays  above  on  the  cross  for 
those  who  stand  below  ;  and  while  that  prayer 
is  being  uttered  (properly,  after  its  utterance), 
those  ibr  whom  that  intercession  is  urged  are 
speaking  and  acting  nothing  but  hatred  "  (Lan- 
ger).  That  was  "  the  crucifixion  of  the  sacred 
soul  of  Jesus  " — according  to  the  title  which 
Rambach  gives  his  sermon  upon  it:  these  were 
the  nails  which  went  through  his  heart. 

The  mockery  of  the  rulers,  and  presently 
afterwards  of  the  people,  was  given  vent  to 
partly  as  a  needful  protest  against  and  suppres- 
sion of  any  favorable  feeling  towards  Jesus,  and 
still  more  as  a  protest  against  the  first  mockery 
of  the  Gentiles  as  directed  against  this  "  King  of 
the  Jews  " — for  they  could  contradict  this  only 
by  joining  in  it.  Thus  the  malignity  of  Gen- 
tiles and  Jews,  though  mutually  contradicting, 
is  united  in  its  outburst  against  the  Man  upon 
the  cross.  "  Have  we  not  long  ago  said  that  he 
was  a  deceiver?"  Thus  their  words  begin,  and 
then  continue — "Behold,  also,  how  he  is 
brought  to  cor  fusion  as  the  pretended  Me."'- 
siah  ! "     He   had  in  the  sublimest  and  most 


LUKE  XXIII.  43. 


661 


affecting  manner  directed  their  thoughts  away 
from  himself  to  their  own  state,  and  to  the 
guilt  of  their  own  deed,  which  yet  might  be 
forgiven.  But  they  will  hear  nothing  of  theni- 
selves,  or  of  their  own  forgiveness ;  all  their 
thought  is  against  him,  and  they  continue 
what  they  have  begun.  All  cry  at  once.  Save 
thyself!  and  go  still  further,  If  thou  be  the  Son 
of  God — just  as  in  the  first  temptation  of 
Satan,  which  now  recurs  in  its  perfect  consum- 
mation One  after  the  other  ventures  to  bring 
forward  his  own  keen  railcry ;  even  passing  ly 
with  wagging  of  head  and  blasphemy,  no  longer 
standing  still  as  before.  The  first  daring  word 
addressed  to  the  Lord  himself  (with  an  Ah, 
Ova,  Mark  xv.  29)  came  doubtless  from  among 
the  rulers;  for  it  brings  forward  again  the 
charge  concerning  the  temple,  but  at  the  same 
time  heirays  in  its  passion  an  almost  correct 
understanding  of  its  true  meaning.  (Build 
then  the  temple  again — It  is  in  the  icay  of  being 
destroyed  now  !)  The  same  rulers  who  had  first 
decreed — "  He  is  not  Christ  as  he  said,  and 
therefore  he  must  die,"  now  say  in  their  mock- 
ery— He  dies  and  therefore  he  is  not  Christ. 
"  This  is  the  helper  of  all  men  " — with  a  tone 
as  if  throwing  doubt  upon  all  his  miracles  ; 
this  at  least  was  the  design,  but  in  the  confu- 
sion of  their  tongues  it  runs  as  an  enforced 
acknowledgment — He  saved  others!  and  so  not 
ohly  his  love  but  his  perfect  faith  is  extorted 
from  their  admission — He  trusted  in  God ! 
Taken  together  these  are  their  testimony  to  his 
pure  devotion  and  unselfish  charity  to  man. 
lie  must  come  down  from  the  cross  to  save 
himself — thus  speaks  selfishness  which  knows 
of  nothing  but  take  care  of  thyseif  (Aide  toi- 
mume);  and  thus  speaks  vnbeiief,  Take  care 
of  thyself  (Aide  toi-m^me)  if  "thou  canst ! 
They  know  not  now  what  they  say ;  they 
know  not  that  he  had  ascended  the  cross, 
in  order  to  save  others  with  an  eternal  sal- 
vation. But  that  even  the  high  priests  and 
scribes  mock  his  admitted  "  trust  in  God,"  as 
now  put  to  confusion,  betrays  the  inmost 
wickedness  of  iheir  hearts,  for  thus  they  really 
blaspheme  God  himself  in  Christ.  Finally, 
when  they,  according  to  Matt,  xxvii.  43  (either 
ignorantly,  or  in  their  customary  manner  of 
perverting  holy  words  into  proverbs),  speak  in 
tijte  language  of  Psa.  xxii.,  this  their  mockery 
becomes  a  witness  to  truth,  in  his  favor,  and 
against  their  own  sin. 

Thus,  Gentiles  and  Jews,  rulers  and  common 
people,  those  who  were  standing  there  and  such 
as  passed  by,  all  join  in  derision — and  with 
them  even  those  murderers  who  were  also  cru- 
cified, at  least  one  of  them.  What  Matt,  calls 
vvEibiZ.Eiv,  Luke  fjXa(5 cpjm eIv ,  must  have 
been,  according  to  these  emphatic  expressions, 
no  less  than  moclery  too.  Thus,  it  was  not,  as 
Krummacher  thinks,  that  the  reviling  thief 
might  have  made  a  despairing  attempt  to  touch 
the  Lord's  honor,  thinking  of  the  possibility 
that  he  might  yet  save  himself  and  them,  if  he 
only  would.  Olrrno  ;  this  one  had  received  no 
such  influence  from  the  Man  by  his  side,  and  i 


the  meaning  of  his  word  is  altogether  different. 
Nor  was  it'  "  in  the  intoxication  of  frenzy," 
after  having  received  the  stupifying  draught, 
but,  more  correctly,  it  was  partly  in  the  "  mad- 
ness of  anguish,"  and  partly  through  the  ex- 
citement of  the  mockery  raging  around,  which 
he  would  imitate.  It  is  with  a  side-glance  of 
wretched  vanity  upon  the  multitude  (I  can 
mock  too) — using  the  tongue  which  alone  is 
now  in  his  power — without  any  emotion  of 
penitence,  but  with  a  shamelul  joy  that  this  in- 
surgent against  the  powers  of  the  world  is  now 
also  like  himself— that  he  utters  his  cry.  Save 
thyself  and  us !  Thou  wast  one  of  us — Canst 
thou  do  any  thing  now  for  us  ?  We  hold  with 
thee  still,  and  are  thy  first  dependents  !  What 
intensity  of  wickedness !  What  depth  of  shame 
for  Jesus  himself! 

The  daring  man  had  thought  to  excite  gen- 
eral derision,  and  thus  to  perform  a  great  ex- 
ploit— but  it  is  otherwise.  He  had  been  bold 
to  speak  in  the  name  of  his  crucified  companion, 
as  well  as  his  own — Save  thyself  and  us!  But 
before  any  one  has  time  to  laugh,  this  other 
crucified  one  protests  with  all  his  might  against 
any  such  fellowship  with  those  who  fear  not 
God.*  One  malefactor  begins  to  preach  to  the 
other.  Still  more,  a  fellow-crucified  begins  to 
bear  witness  to  the  honor,  dignity,  and  power 
of  the  crucified  Just  One.  In  the  midst  of  the 
mockery  of  blackest  hell,  a  lightning  flash  of 
faith  and  confession  to  the  truth  breaks  forth  ; 
and  it  is  as  a  peal  of  thunder  to  all  hearts  and  con- 
sciences around.  "  One  who  was  cast  out  from 
the  society  of  men  was  the  first  and  only  one 
who  was  penetrated  by  the  truth  and  glory  of 
Jesus,  and  bore  a  free  and  artless  testimony  in 
his  behalf."  "  Such  a  testimony  of  one  dying 
in  deep  anguish  through  his  own  sin  is  not  to 
be  despised."  Let  us  observe,  once  more,  the 
most  wonderful  mingling  of  honor  and  indig- 
nity, of  confessing  truth  and  mocking  lie :  one 
crucified  with  him  is  the  only  one  who  now 
confesses  that  Jesus  is  king — but  what  power 
has  the  honor  paid  to  truth  in  such  a  confession 


*  AVas  he  a  Gentile,  in  opposition  to  the  Jew 
who  had  spoken  of  "Christ?"  An  anonymous 
writer  finds  in  his  words  and  those  of  Zacchasus 
tlie  purest  Greek  in  all  the  Gospels  !  Benuel  re- 
garded him  as  a  Gentile,  but  incorrectly.  For  this 
malefactor  on  tlie  cross,  and  the  Rom<in  centurion 
afterwards,  represent  together  the  confessors  from 
the  Jewish  and  Gentile  world  ;  the  former,  espe- 
cially, tlie  remnant  of  the  Jews  saved  in  the  im- 
pending judgment.  The  Lord  would  scarcely 
have  spoken  of  Faradise  lo  a  Gentile.  Bengel's 
ingenuity  hides  a  double  error.  AVlien  he  says, 
"  He  alludes  not  to  the  promises  given  to  the 
Father  but  the  original  Paradise,"  we  must  reply 
that  the  Gentile  could  not  have  known  any  thing 
about  that.  When  he  goes  on,  "  Nor  is  there  any 
obstacle  in  his  speaking  of  (he  one  God  ;  for  faith 
in  Christ  infers  faith  in  one  God" — we  cannot  ad- 
mit this.  Rambach  more  correctly  remarks  that 
both  belonoed  to  the  seditious  Jews  mentioned  In 
Mark  xv.  7.  But  we  shall  meet  this  question 
again. 


662 


SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


as  this  !  Lnther :  "  This  is  a  comfortable  sym- 
bol and  example  for  all  Christendom,  that  God 
will  never  let  faith  in  Christ  and  the  confession 
of  his  name  go  down.  If  the  disciples  as  a 
body,  and  those  who  were  otherwise  related  to 
Jesus,  confess  not  and  lose  their  faith,  deny, 
him  in  fear,  are  oflended,  and  forsake  him — a 
raalelactor  or  murderer  must  come  forward  to 
confess  him,  to  preach  him  to  others,  and  teach 
all  men  who  he  is,  and  what  consolation  all 
may  find  in  him." 

Long  had  the  penitent  hanging  upon  the 
cross  kept  silence,  while  hearing  the  general 
mockery;  his  indignation  was  not  expressed 
until  his  companion  included  him  in  the  "  us." 
He  was  then  compelled  to  rebuke  hirn  by  a 
word  which  came  from  his  deepest  soul :  Dost 
not  thou — even  thou  not  yet — fear  God  ?  The 
ovSe  condemns  at  the  same  time  all  the  rest ; 
the  inlerence  from  his  words  was,  Hast  thou 
not  yet  learned  it  (like  me)  upon  thy  cross? 
The  orr  is  not  to  be  taken  simply  for  quamvis, 
in  favor  of  which  probably  Acts  i.  17,  though 
not  John  viii.  45,  may  be  compared  ;  but  it  is 
to  be  filled  up  thus— Dost  thou  not  fear  God,  as 
thou  oughfe-st  to  do,  since?  (Bengel:  Because — 
seeing  that  this  should  be  a  reason  for  fearing 
him.)  Then  follows  his  beautiful  confession: 
in  which  he  first  places  himself  on  a  level  with 
the  rebuked  malefactor  by  "  we,"  that  he  may 
then  set  over  against  the  daring  "  save  us,"  of 
his  fellow  a  better  word,  spoken  to  his  conscience 
and  soul ;  and  then  vindicate  the  Righteous 
One  fi'om  the  appearance  of  the  same  condemna- 
tion; and  then,  finally,  speak  to  Jesus  other- 
wise and  more  becomingly  on  his  own  behalf. 
He  thinks  of  himself  at  last ;  not  till  he  had 
rebuked  his  companion,  and  acknowledged  the 
Just  One. 

But  now,  too,  what  a  contrast  between  this 
petition  and  that  derision!  Arndt:  "Unbe- 
lief mocks,  faith  prays."  The  remember  me  is 
really  a  word  of  prayer ;  as  in  Nehem.  xiii.  14. 
22,  31,  V.  19,  and  often  in  the  Pfalms  spoken 
to  God,  besides  Psa.  xxv.  7,  which  has  been  re- 
ferred to.  It  is  not  merely  parallel  with  the  re- 
quest of  Joseph,  Gen.  xl.  14,  comp.  Ecclus. 
xxxvii.  6 ;  or  used  in  the  sense  in  which  among 
the  Jews  survivors  commended  themselves  to 
the  intercession  of  the  departing  for  admission 
into  Paradise — though  tlie  incorrigible  arch- 
Catholic  Sepp  finds  "here  the  doctrine  of  the 
intercession  of  the  saints.  But  the  nvpie. 
Lord,  in  connection  with  the  kin fjdom,  gives  (nW 
evidr-nce  that  the  thief  thought  more  highly 
than  this  concerning  Jesus.  This  remember  me 
includes  first  and  before  all,  a  supplication  for 
&  forgiviiuss  to  be  obtained  from  God  his  Father 
for  him  ;  and  is  as  sucli  connected  with  the  in- 
tercession ot  Jesus,  which  here  will  be  followed 
by  its  first  anticipatory  fruit.  But  then,  still 
bolder,  he  continues,  not  indeed  to  say  it  openly 
but  to  hint  it,  that  he  himself  would  fain  after 
his  forgiveness  enter  into  the  kin^'Jom  of  this 
divine  Ruler — Remember  me  as  thy  subject! 
"The  firm  conviction  of  the  dying  man  as  to 
the    immortality  of  hia  eouI,"  on  which  Nie- 


meyer  lays  such  stress,  is  the  least  thing,  and 
is  self-understood.  His  faith  presses  far  be- 
yond this  !  Luther's  translation  is,  alas  I  very 
incorrect  and  misleading  ;  its  meaning  being — 
When  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom:  he  follows 
the  Vulg.,  and  many  persist  in  maintaining 
that  ty  Txj  fJcxdiXeia  is  to  be  explained  as  efi 
Tijy  ^adiXeiav.  Tliis  is  not  the  meaning, 
even  as  understood,  with  De  Wette  and  Nean- 
der,  "  to  found  and  establish  thy  kingdom  upon 
earth."  But,  as  he  sees  Jesus  patiently  dying 
upon  the  cross,  he  means  by  the  coming  a  com- 
ijig  again  ;  and  that,  in  opposition  to  his  pres- 
ent lowliness,  toi'h  hw  fower  and  glory.  Thus 
it  is — In  thy  self-manifesting  kingly  power,  aa 
King  (comp.  Matt.  xvi.  28) ;  certainly  not, 
When  thou  comest  into  Ihy  heavenly  king- 
dom, to  God  thy  Father.  What  kind  of  King 
of  the  Jews  he  is  7iot — that  he  is  not  a  king  in 
the  carnal  sense  of  Jewish  expectation — is 
made  plain  -to  the  malefactor,  and  to  all  the 
world,  by  the  crucifixion  ;  but  this  thief  is  not, 
like  the  other,*  offended  at  this ;  he  under- 
stands, what  Pilate  would  not  understand,  that 
he  is  nevertheless  a  king;  and  that  he  will  in 
his  time  reveal  his  heavenly,  spiritual  king- 
dom upon  earth,  as  a  kingdom  coming  with  his 
own  person.  Tlius  he  declares  firmly  his  know- 
ledge and  conviction — He  can  and  loill  snvehoth 
himself  and  olhtrs!  He  puts  his  confidence  in 
this  Dying  One,  whose  last  garment  is  taken 
from  him,  and  whose  kingdom  visible  among 
men  is  now  given  up  finally,  that  he  will  nev- 
ertheless appear  as  a  king  in  his  glory.  Thus 
he  reads — "  with  divine  clear-sightedness  in 
this  deepest  night "  (Krummacher) — the  su- 
perscription aright,  as  if  he  had  iieard  the 
confessions  made  before  Caiaphas  and  Pilate; 
with  astounding  faith,  in  the  face  of  the  whole 
mocking  world.f  he  looks  forward  into  the 
kingdom  of  this  Crucified  One  by  his  side  who 
was  scorned  by  all  men  ;  and  becomes  an  apos- 
tle of  his  honor,  while  his  own  Apostles  are 
oppressed  in  silent  despondency.  To  such  far- 
seeing  clearness  of  spiritual  apprehension  can 
fundamental  penitence  purge  the  eyes! 

To  all  that  had  preceded,  the  Lord — hearing 
all,  however,  as  we  now  see — had  kept  silence  ; 
but  he  cannot  keep  silence  now,  he  must  speak 
once  more.  Not  like  any  feeble  son  of  man, 
involved  in  himself  and  thinking  only  of  his  own 
pain,  does  he  hang  upon  the  cross  ;  but  hia 
open  love  and  sympatliy  are  ready  for  all,  even 
the  most  fearful,  expressions  which  these  sin- 
ners, whom  he  redeems,  cause  him  to  hoar. 
Probably  he  cannot  see  these  two  criminals, 
cannot  direct  his  glance  to  this  last,  without 
adding  to  his  own  agony  by  movement  upon 
the  cross.  But  that  he  forgets,  and  turns  with 
an  impulse  of  joy,  as  well  as  he  can,  to  the  soul 

»  They  probably,  as  Lanffe  says,  though  without 
direct  support  Irom  the  text,  had  hoped  in  Jesus 
as  the  Jewish  Messiah. 

t  "  This  thief  would  fill  a  consp:cnons  place  in 
a  list  of  the  triumphs  ol  faith  suppleuieniary  to 
Heb.  xi."  (AlfordJ. 


LUKE  XXIII.  43. 


m 


that  spealts  to  him — thus  making  the  nails 
more  firm  (Pfenninger).  How  could  he  keep 
silence,  he  whose  heart  never  received  suppli- 
cation in  vain?  "Hatred  is  silent,  and  his 
love  has  the  last  word."  Still  more,  it  is  not 
merely  in  his  love  to  the  miserable,  but  in  his 
joy  over  this  word  of  penitence  and  faith,  that 
he  gives  answer.  "No  strengthening  angel 
from  heaven  could  have  been  more  welcome  " 
— says  Arndt  with  deep  feeling.  That  he  can 
already  assure  and  impart  to  this  first-born 
the  fruit  of  his  now-accomplished  redemption, 
is  (as  the  commencement  of  John  xii.  32)  his 
last  human  joy  and  first  full  Saviour-joy  upon 
the  earth,  in  which  he  himself  has  the  foretaste 
of  Paradise  in  the  midst  of  the  ouoiooua  zov 
xpi'fiaro?.  He  therefore  begins  with  his  sa- 
cred Amen,  as  in  former  davs  ;  and  Pfenninger 
touchingly  remarks  that  this  would  in  a  mo- 
ment recall  to  the  disciples,  in  the  midst  of  their 
sorrow,  his  former  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you."  "  In  this  word,"  says  Lange,  with  equal 
beauty,  "all  is  cerlalnty :  the  trust  in  the  rec.lity 
of  the  penitence  of  the  thief ;  his  merciful  ac- 
ceptance; the  assurance  of  his  continuing  to 
live;  the  promise  of  his  future  union  with 
Jesus;  the  instant  fulfillment  of  all  his  wishes 
On  the  same  day ;  the  pledge  of  his  elevation 
to  heaven,"  To  the  last  expression  "  heaven" 
we  shall  find  some  objection  presently  ;  but  the 
first  point,  the  trust  in  the  earnestness  (as  to 
his  repentance  and  as  to  his  faith)  of  the  thief, 
must  have  its  counterpart  in  this,  that  Christ 
first  by  his  "  verily  "  strengthened  the  faith  of 
this  believer  into  perfection.* 

Let  it  be  observed  how  definitely  the  Lord 
replies  to  all  that  he  said,  and  gives  assurance 
in  each  case  of  more  than  was  asked  for,  pro- 
mising abundantly  more  than  even  this  bold 
petitioner  could  ask  or  conceive.  For  "  he 
directs  his  words  in  his  sympathy  to  the  sore 
conflict  of  faith  which  this  poor  sinner  had  still 
lefore  him  ;  for  he  makes  every  thing  more  de- 
finite than  his  humble  request  had  ventured  to 
do"  (Rieger).  The  appeal  cried — Lord!  there- 
fore he  says,  Verdy  I,  this  Lord,  say  unto  thee. 
Eemember  me  I  this  also  is  surpassed — Thou 
shalt  be  tcith  me;  instead  of  the  mere  remem- 
brance, perfect  fellowship  and  communion  is 
promised.  When  thou  one  day  shalt  come  in 
thy  kingdom,  in  opposition  to  this  indefinite 
futurity,  we  hear— To-c/ay.  This  last  declara- 
tion also  surpasses  the  request,  sinc3  it  places 
a  condition  of  blessed  satisfaction  for  the  male- 
factor in  the  place  of  the  kingly  authority  of 
Jesus;  yet  there  is  on  the  other  hand  some- 
thing in  the  io-d.iy  which  corrects  and  restricts 
the  indistinct  notion  of  his  petition — Not  at 
once  into  the  lingdom,  but  first  into  Paradise. 
For  up  to  this  time  the  Lord's  clear  glance  into 
all  the  relations  and  stages  of  the  way  which 
he  himself  would  go,  and  in  which  he  would 
lead  his  people,  had  not  yet  been  obscured,  as 


*  As  Rambach  says  that  "  he  must  strengthen 
by  his  venythe  >-(ni\  which  with  all  its  first  strong 
faith,  still  ueeded  tae  strong  consolation," 


it  afterwards  was  in  the  final  darkness  of  his 
soul. 

The  word  concpi-ning  Paindise,  and  that  con- 
cerning the  forgiveness  of  sinti,  are  closely  con- 
nected ;  thouffh  the  connection  does  not  exhibit 
itself  in  the  expression.  As  the  prayer  did  not 
first  expressly  ask  forgiveness,  while  this  yet 
lay  in  the  background  of  the  supplication,'  so 
the  assurance  of  the  corresponding  answer 
leaves  it  unexpressed  (though  the  intercession 
for  all  sinners  coming  to  repentance  had  just 
preceded),  but  thereby  gives  the  fullest  promise 
of  a  pre-supposed  pardon.  "  All  who  are  cast 
out  of  the  Paradise  lost,  are  attracted  by  the 
inscription  over  the  way — Forgiveness  of  sins. 
He  who  can  make  this  word  his  own,  is  on  the 
way  to  Paradise.  Without  forgiveness  of  sins 
Paradise  would  be  hell.  'Through  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins — were  that  possible  there — hell 
would  be  Paradise.  Therefore,  the  Redeemer's 
word,  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Para- 
dise, is  only  another  lorni  of  the  consolation — • 
Be  of  good  cheer,  my  son,  thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee  "  ( Langer). 

The  Berlenh.  Bihel  says  :  "  Here  we  must  nofc 
play  with  the  shell,  but  go  to  the  kernel."  We 
add  :  Tlie  kernel  of  the  word  is,  first,  the  plain 
declaration — 'i'hou  shalt  he  ■wi'h  me.  But,  sec- 
ondly, the  sweet  kernel  of  the  word  "  Para- 
dise " — which,  with  the  to-day,  has  always  been 
a  hard  nut  to  expositors — is  the  promise  of 
Ues-tedness.  The  Lord  obviously  chooses  this 
expression,  in  order,  both  for  the  thief  ami  tor 
himself,  to  place  in  opposition  to  present  an- 
guish the  thought  of  rest  and  jny  ;  graciously 
promising  the  peace  after  and  as  spi'inging  out 
of  the  present  condemnation.  But  then  the 
expression  points  still  further  back  and  further 
forward :  it  says  much  more  than  merely— 
"  with  the  blessed."  The  confession  of  the 
sufferer,  "  We  receive  the  due  reward  of  our 
deeds,"  sounds  in  the  thought  of  Christ  as  the 
universal  cry  of  sinful  humanity,  with  which, 
therefore,  he  includes  the  specific  sinner.  It 
was  natural  and  necessary  that  in  the  contem- 
plations of  his  soul  he  should  fix  his  thoughts 
upon  the  loss  of  Paradise  by  the  whole  race  of 
evil-doers  ;  and  upon  the  tree  of  the  curse  re- 
member the  tree  of  life.  Proceeding  from  this 
he  utters  his  new  and  independent  word  :  how 
far  his  language  is  connected  v;ith  the  Jeirixh 
ideas  and  e.rp}-essions  customary  at  that  time,  is 
a  question  concerning  only  the  shell  of  the  rii"0 
and  bursting  word  within,  which,  however,  is 
itself  not  to  be  taken -as  the  kernel.  So  far 
back  as  Ezek.  xxvui.  13,  xxxi.  8,  9  (and  even 
by  hints  yet  earlier,  Isa.  li.  3,  comp.  Iviii,  11) 
we  have  the  beginning  in  canonical  Scriptuie 
of  the  profound  phraseology  which,  referrinix 
back    to   the   primitive   pj?3  (in    Eden),  and 

Cn^X'ps  (in  the  Garden  of  God),  speaks  of  a 

state  of  innocence  and  delight  generally,  which 
it  was  very  easy  to  assign  to  the  blessed  as  their 
restored  place;  comp.  2  Esdras  vii.  53,  viii.  53. 
In  the  Talmud,  Paradise  is  now  a  place  in  hea  \-(^n 
where  souls  are  gathered  together,  aud  now  a 


€64 


SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


place  where  some  are  caught  up  in  trance  (see 
Buxt.  Lex.  s.  V.  D'niS)  ;  tben,  again,  it  is  the 

region  of  Hades  appointed  to  the  righteous,  as 
Gehenna  to  the  wicked.  This  last  is  found  ex- 
pressly in  Chag'ga,  fol.  xv.  1  ;  hence  Lutz  cor- 
rccily  maintains  that  the  Jewish  escbatology 
provided  a  two-lold  intermediate  state — Para- 
dise and  Gehenna.  From  this  arose  formulas 
of  good-wishing  as  to  a  happy  death — May  his 
soul  be  taken  to  the  Garden  of  Eden  ;  may  he 
have  his  portion  in  Paradise,  etc. ;  see  Grotius 
on  Jjuke  xxiii.  43.  The  manifold,  and  for  the 
most  part,  vapid  teachings  of  tiie  later  Jews 
concerning  Paradise,  may  be  found  in  Eisen- 
menger.  But  how  mucii  of  this  was  current 
in  the  time  of  Jesus  is  very  uncertain  ;  and 
hence  we  cannot  admit  at  once  what  Friedlieb 
saya,  that  Jesus  in  his  word  to  the  malefactor 
pre-supposed  this  predominant  view.  In  the 
New-Testament  writings,  not  only  does  Rev.  ii. 
7  (comp.  xxii.  2)  confirm  the  truth  of  a  resto- 
ration of  "  Paradise,"  but,  according  to  2  Cor. 
xii.  4,  Paul  was  caught  up  to  a  Paradise,  which 
is  made  equivalent  m  ver.  2  to  the  "  third 
heaven."  This  is  obviously  to  be  understood 
on  the  principle  that  now,  after  the  completed 
victory  of  Christ,  the  true  and  perfect  Paradise 
can  only  be  above  ;  although  there  may  be  a 
lower  Paradise  lor  many  as  a  stage  of  tran- 
sition. For  (as  Olshausen  rightly  remarks) 
the  Jews  themselves  divided  Paradise  into  the 
upper  and  the  under. 

To  enter  more  at  large  into  the  whole  obscure 
doctrine  of  Hades,  and  to  extract  the,  truth 
from  the  mists  and  perversions  which  surround 
it,  would  carry  us  too  far  :  we  therefore  content 
ourselves  with  remarking  that  Christ,  before 
his  resurrection,  can  mean  by  the  to-day  of  his 
promise  only  a  lower  Paradise,  the  "  region  of 
joy  in  Hades  ;"  and  therefore  that  Lutz  is  right 
in  asserting  an  "intermediate  state"  to  be  here 
established.  The  two  things  are  quite  consis- 
tent :  on  the  one  hand  a  certain  adherence  to 
the  current  ideas  and  language  ;  and,  on  the 
other,  a  new  meaning  in  the  significant  word, 
which  is  not  to  be  explained  according  to  Jew- 
ish opinions.  In  one  point  of  view,  Grotius  is 
quite  right:  "It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that 
Christ  .spoke  in  a  manner  which  would  be  un- 
derstood by  the  thief,"  and  by  the  Jews  who 
already  knew  something  of  a  Paradise.  In  an- 
other point  of  view,  it  is  still  more  certain 
that  on  his  lips  and  at  this  time  this  important 
word  would  receive  another  and  more  perfect 
moaning,  as  well  for  all  who  should  afterwards 
appropriate  it,  as  for  him  who  received  it  first. 
It  was  not  without  design,  that  our  Lord  in  the 
parable  of  Lazarus  spoke  only  of  "Abraham's 
bosom,"  and  not  as  the  Jews  did,  proleptically, 
of  "  Paradise  :"  for  "  it  %\ws  not  till  the  manifes- 
to Lien  of  Christ  that  that  resting  place  of  the 
faitliful  dead  became  in  tniih  an  abode  of  the 
blessed,  and  changed  into  Paradise"  (Arndt) 
Now  first,  was  Paraditte  opened  by  the  second 
Adam  (as  Chiysostom  preached),  (henein  Para- 
dine  foundtd,  as  Lange  says  (only  that  the  lat- 


ter, with  his  "church  of  spirits"  and  "spirit- 
congregation  "  idealizes  too  much  ;  invades  the 
prerocrative  of  heaven  ;  and  leads  us  away  from 
the  obvious  sense  of  the  words,  as  resrects 
Jesus  and  the  malefactor).  Certainly,  as  "  Para- 
dise lost"  is  a  term  which  expresses  and  com- 
bines all  the  misery  of  man,  and  all  his  hopes 
and  longings,  as  they  first  look  backward  to 
what  has  been  forfeited;  so  we  may  say  that 
the  promise  of  Paradise  is  the  greatest  which 
could  be  given,  that  is,  the  most  comprehen- 
sive ;  for  all  that  has  been  lost,  and  that  has 
been  sighed  for  with  infinite  longing,  is  to  be 
restored  to  us  in  glorified  form.  So  far  the 
established  Mngdom  of  the  consummation,  the 
new  earth,  as  described  in  Rev.  xx.,  is  actually 
the  final,  most  real,  and  more  than  restored 
Paradise  ;  consequently  this  reply  to  the  sup- 
plication does  most  profoundly  and  internally 
surjmss  it.  But  with  this  is  quite  consistent  the 
truth  and  reality  of  a  condition  and  place,  the 
rest  and  joy  of  which  the  Lord  promises  to  the 
penitent  before  his  "  it  is  finished,"  and  for  a  to- 
day preceding  his  resurrection  and  ascension. 
Even  the  entrance  at  the  first  into  this  lower 
Paradise,  the  type  and  earnest  of  the  higher,  as 
of  the  last,  is  a  transcendently  great  blessing  for 
this  malefactor ;  whose  faith,  apprehending  the 
"  Father,  forgive  them"  had  secured  his  justi- 
fication, so  that  nothing  needed  to  be  said  first 
about  them. 

The  to-day,  belonging  to  a  time  before  the 
resurrection,  proves  that  the  soul  may  be  and 
will  be  consciously  without  the  body  in  a  par- 
ticular place  ;  but  much  more  may  be  deduced 
from  it.  It  is  by  no  means  right  to  paraphrase 
the  word  as  Braune  does,  making  it  signify  the 
day  which  begins  with  the  evening  of  death 
and  ends  with  the  morning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  or,  to  regard  Jesus  as  meaning  simply 
eternity,  which  is  no  other  than  an  absolute 
present.  The  simple  to-day  is  the  rather  to  be 
taken  in  its  simple  literalness,  because  it  was 
intended  to  correspond  with,  while  it  surpa.=<.«ed, 
the  hope  expressed  in  the  indefinite  tchcn.  But, 
taking  into  view  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  de- 
scent into  hell,  as  elsewhere  taught,  we  cannot 
suppress  a  question  of  surprise.  Was  then 
Christ  that  day,  at  first  and  immediately  after 
his  dying,  in  Paradise?  Was  he  in  heavenly 
places,  from  which  he  then  descended  into  the 
kingdom  of  the  dead  ?  Most  assuredly  not, 
lor  in  1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  the  descent  is  placed 
first;  and  in  John  xx.  17  the  ascent  into 
heaven  has  not  yet  taken  place.  The  word 
upon  the  cross  does  indeed  seem  to  say  .so,  but 
it  only  seems  to  mean  this.  While  indeed  an 
immediate  transition  into  Paradise  is  promised 
to  the  thief,  and  must  be  promised  to  him  in 
order  that  he  may  not  be  below  other  believers 
who  had  entered  before,  this  does  not  necessa- 
rily intimate  that  Christ  went  the  same  way  at 
once.  It  would  then  have  been — To-day  shall 
thou  enter  into  Paradise  with  me.  But  Christ, 
as  the  vicarious  Redeemer,  even  of  the  apos- 
tates, continued  necpssanly  in  his  own  person 
the  humiliation  of  death  down  to  the  lowest  re- 


LUKE  XXIII.  43. 


665 


gions  of  death  and  judgment,  in  order  to  con- 
quer there,  and  tlience  to  ascend  again  victori- 
ous. The  note  of  Meyer,  the  great  authority 
on  this  question,  must  maintain  its  propriety  : 
"  In  the  abode  of  joy  in  Hades,  whither  tlie 
soul  of  Jesus  after  its  descent  into  the  prison 
ascended,  and  remained  till  the  resurrection." 
Compare  the  invaluable  though  too  much  ne- 
glected little  treatise  of  Meyer  on  "  Hades  " — 
where  the  opinion,  originating  in  ignorance, 
that  Christ  first  entered  Paradise  with  the 
malefactor  and  then  went  to  Gehenna,  is  called 
an  entire  perversion,  which  contradicts  alike 
reason  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostle.  Lange 
also  so  understands  it  as  to  say,  "  Christ's 
death  was  necessarily  and  essentially  a  tri- 
umphal course  through  the  waiting  underworld 
into  Paradise" — save  that  he  does  not  regard 
the  first  Paradise  as  still  belonging  to  the 
underworld,  and  then  first  by  Christ's  victory 
elevated  into  heaven.  The  notion  that  the 
Paradise  meant  by  Christ  was  heaven  must  as- 
sume without  any  good  reason  that  the  Jewish 
thief  could  already  understand  his  meaning. 
But  to  investigate  all  this  would  require  us  to 
write  a  treatise  on  Hades  and  the  descent.  We 
content  ourselves  with  remarking  that  this 
critical  6ijnepov,'^  in  as  far  as  it  certainly 
means  literally  "  this  day  "  and  contains  a  bis  dat 
qui  ciio  dat,  will  teach  us  that  in  those  regions 
beyond,  while  on  the  one  hand  torments  may 
seem  protracted  to  a  thousand  years,  and  peace- 
ful enjoyment  may  continue  long  without  wea- 
riness, yet  on  the  other  hand  we  may  conceive 
in  spiritual  occurrences  a  very  swift  mensure  of 
time  in  relation  to  the  world  above.  Hence  in 
the  space  of  time,  to  us  very  short,  leiween  his 
own  and  the  malefador's  death,  Christ  might 
perform  his  great  work  in  the  lower  parts  of 
the  underworld,  and  yet  be  in  Paradise  on  the 
the  same  day. 

This  to-day  predicts,  at  the  same  time,  that 
although  other  crucified  ones  lived  longer,  the 
death  of  the  Lord  was  near ;  and  it  promises 
the  like  to  the  malefactor,  as  the  shortening  of 
his  sufferings.  So  far  it  is  a  strengthening  of 
the  Verily,  a  confirmation  of  his  assurance  by 
declaring  its  immediate  nearness. 

But  now  let  us  single  out  and  mark  care- 
fully the  yucr'  i/zou  i^^,  with  ine  ;  and  first  of 
all  with  me,  as  through  me.  For  without  him 
there  is  no  fully  re-opened  Paradise  ;  from  him 
and  his  forerunning  entrance,  in  the  virtue  of 
his  merit,  comes  all  salvation  into  life,  even 
though,   in    the  case    of    the   Old-Testament 


*  By  many,  to  extricate  themselves  from  all 
difficulty,  couneclrd  with  /  say  ut.to  thee,  thoufih 
Christ  never  used  such  an  expression  as — I  say 
unto  thee  to-day.  Olshausen  almost  ridicules  this 
superficial  view  according  to  which  our  Lord 
would  tell  him,  "  I  to-day  .say  unto  thee  that  thou 
shalt  one  day  rnter  Paradise,  God  will  yet  f^ave 
thee."  Notwithstanding  the  Euattg.  Nicodemi (cap. 
26 1  actually  reads  6rinf.pov  Xsyco  6oi  ;  and 
Theophylact  meniions,  oul^'  to  reject,  such  a 
puuctuatiou  iu  his  time. 


saints  who  entered  into  the  place  of  peace, 
that  salvation  may  have  gone  before  in  time. 
Similarly,  again,  true  and  perfect  blessedness 
consistsm  nothing  but  the  fellowship  of  Jesus, 
in  being  with  him.  Thus  the  promise  passes 
onward  beyond  the  lower  into  the  upper  Para- 
dise, and  gives  us  to  meditate  upon  that  which 
in  John  xvii.  24  is  made  prominent  as  the  high- 
est bliss  :  Thou  shalt  be  to-day  already — and 
then  furtlier  with  me  every  where  where  I  am 
and  shall  be.  In  this  more  plainly  than  in  the 
Paradise  lies  the  transcendency  of  the  assur- 
ance, of  which  we  may  say — More  he  could  not 
promise.  This  is  his  remeinJering  us.  All  sin- 
ners crucified  with  him,  but  who  call  upon  him 
in  faith,  he  takes  with  him,  in  the  way  of  life 
which  was  opened  up  for  himself,  to  the  fulness 
of  joy  (Psa.  xvi.  11).  Whether  this  is  to  be 
interpreted  that  we  all,  like  him,  must  go,  al- 
though only  in  passing,  through  the  fearful 
deep,  and  that  he  thus  leads  his  people  to 
Paradise — is  very  much  to  be  doubted.  Some 
would  admit  this  as  regards  the  malefactor 
before  us,*  when  the  suddenness  of  his  con- 
fession is  urged.  But  it  appears  clear  that  the 
word  of  Christ  abolishes  the  Hades  of  torment 
from  this  time  forward,  from  the  period  of  hia 
death  and  victory,  as  respects  all  the  believ- 
ers of  the  New  Testament ;  and  that  he  here 
assures  them,  in  this  their  first  representative, 
of  that  instant  presence  with  Christ  which  af- 
terwards in  Phil.  i.  23  means  still  more.t  So 
far  Neander's  remark  is  quite  correct,  that  this 
answer  of  Christ  "contradicted  the  common 
Jewish  views" — though  in  a  sense  probably 
far  beyond  what  he  intended.  The  sinner  is 
accepted  and  taken  to  blessedness  "  without 
any  further  condition,  and  without  the  test  of 
perseverance"  (Lange)  ;  and  this  is  the  "  first 
manifestation  of  that  limitless  glory  of  grace 
which  now  began  its  dominion  in  the  death  of 
the  cross."  This  word  therefore  decidedly  wit- 
nesses (as  does  the  whole  Scripture)  against 
any  intermediate  sleep  of  the  soul  ;  and  most 
decidedly  against  every  Romanist  return  to  the 
Old-Testament  position  :  it  allows  no  place, 
at  least  as  regards  such  penitent  believers  as 
this  man  was,  for  any  still  needful  purgatory, 
or  intermediate  process  of  purification  or  in- 
struction. (What  truth  may  be  in  this  as 
respects  those  who  had  not  reached  this  point, 
but  yet  were  not  ripe  for  hell — that  is,  the  un- 
believers up  to  that  period — is  altogether 
another  question.) 

Thus  Golgotha  has  become  an  absolving  judg- 
ment-seat, and  the  stake  of  the  cross  a  throne 
of  grace,  from  which  the  Dying  One  promises 


*  Meyer  elsewhere  expresses  himself  to  the  ef- 
fect that  he  probably  went  down  with  Christ  to 
the  lower  parts  of  the  earth — that  is,  thus  accom- 
panying the  Lord  throughout  hia  whole  course, 
and  in  this  sense  being  with  him  (?). 

f  "  Thus  it  is  the  state  of  blessedness,  imme- 
diately  after  death,  of  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  ; 
Parad  se  in  conscious  union  and  fellowship  with 
Christ." 


666 


SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


to  the  dying  paradisaical  life.  In  its  7mat  gen- 
oul  meaning  it  has  its  gracious  application  for 
Uis  all :  and  we  may  cr)"- — Hear,  O  Israel  !  Hear, 
O  world  !  Before  the  justifying,  sanctifying, 
and  glorifying  grace  of  God,  one  final  look  of 
perfect  faith  is  of  as  much  avail  as  the  life-long 
evidence  and  exercise  of  faith  in  good  works 
wh'ch  the  same  grace  might  enable  others  to 
exhibit.  "Only  a  poor  remember  me!  is  all 
that  we  can  do  ;  he  who  can  utter  this  aright 
may  be  fully  assured  of  the  whole  blessedness 


and  is  exegetically  unsound.  For,  first,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  assume  that  (according  to 
Matt,  and  Mark)  both  at  first  reviled  Christ,  and 
that  then  (according  to  Luke)  one  of  therai ' 
came  to  a  better  mind  ;  but  Luke  fexpressly  re- 
cords that  only  one  blasphemed,  and  conse- 
quently the  undistinguishing  language  of  the  two 
other  Evangelists  must  be  interpreted  accord- 
ingly. Secondly,  this  is  confirmed  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  rebuke  which  the  penitent  uttered  ; 
for  in  the  OvSi  6v,  "  Dost  not  [even]  thou," 


of  salvation."  In  this  sense  every  death-bed  |  as  we  have  seen,  he  expresses  a  displeasure 
of  Christians  is  the  cross  of  the  malefactor,  \  which  tie  had  felt  for  some  time,  but  which  he 
from  which  be  turns  his  supplicating  eye  to  the  !  had  restrained  ;  and,  moreover,  his  words  con- 
cross  of  his  Lord ;  and  every  one  who  dies  j  tain  more  than  could  have  originated  at  the 
happy  in  the  Lord  is  like  him  who  is  here  moment.  Hence  it  is  time  for  us  now  to  look 
finally  accepted.  Yet  we  must,  in  order  to  a  |  steadily  at  this  point,  that  we  may  clearly  ap- 
complete  exposition,  mark  now  the  specific  ap-  |  prehend  the  conditions  under  which  the  gra- 
plication  of  the  whole  to  i\\3ii  reiientance  of !  ciou.s  word  of  the  Lord  was  spoken, 
which  this  malefactor's  is  the  type.  I      The  malefactor  exhibits  not  only  the  fear  of 

It  is  not  an  empty  and  feeble  sigh  of  final  ap-    God  and  repentance,  but  the  coniession  of  sin 
peal  which  ever  obtains  such  an  answer;  this  !  and  faith — laith  of  the  strongest  kind  ;  he  ex- 


penitent  supplicant  himself  teaches  usotherwise, 
for  his  was  of  a  very  different  kind.  Even  if 
we  assume  that  he  thus  suddenly  and  vehe- 
mently laid  holdof  theconsolation  because  grace 
■was  offered  him  now  for  the  first  time— even 
then  he  would  be  a  warning  to  all  who  wilfully 
reject  such  offers  of  grace.  But  that  is  a  very 
improbable  assumption  ;  he  exhibits  too  much 
knowledge,  and  witnesses  too  sound  a  confes- 
sion for  such  a  supposition.  But  how  and  to 
what  extent  had  he  been  previously  prepared 
for  it?  Had  he  already  repented  in  his  im- 
prisonment, and  then  turned  his  thoughts  to 
the  Nazarene  whom  he  had  known,  but  hitherto 
despised,  and  whose  crucifixion  now  rendered 
keener  the  sting  wbicli  his  conscience  had  al- 
ready felt?  Possibly,  but  we  cannot  tell.  It  may 
be  that  it  was  the  "  Father,  forgive  them  " 
joined  with  the  superscription  on  the  cross, 
which  first  awakened  and  instructed  him  ;  or 
the  words  spoken  on  the  way  concerning  judg- 
ment and  the  dry  tree  had  fixed  the  first  im 


hibits  his  penitential  love  and  desire,  also,  and 
consequently  all  that  the  plan  of  salvation  re- 
quires. The  tokens  of  the  fundamental  reality 
of  his  late  conversation  are  neither  insutlicient 
nor  doubtful.  Langer's  sermon  gives  full  pro-  ■ 
minenceto  the  fear  of  God  as  the  first  condition 
on  which  all  else  might  be  founded,  even  where 
no  love  had  been  shown,  in  a  soul  at  leasl 
which  was  not  altogether  hardened  ;  as  well  as 
his  confession  of  sin,  his  unrepining  acceptance 
of  his  punishment,  his  susceptibility  for  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  righteousness  of  him  who 
was  crucified  near  him,  and  his  glimmering 
hope  in  a  victorious  kingdom  of  grace.  But 
this  last  is  far  from  acknowledging  the  strong 
fiiith,  and  desire  which  was  in  his  soul.  His. 
admission  of  the  justice  of  his  punuJimrnt,  and 
his  most  public  confession  in  the  face  of  death 
— "  we  receive  the  righteous  award  of  our 
deeds" — sprang  from  the  most  fundamental 
repentance,  a  repentance  which  was  not  that  ot 
the  moment;  and  it  is  a  pattern  coniession  for 


pression  upon  his  heart.  But  at  any  rate  his  ]  all  mankind,  for  eve)-t/  otie  on  his  cross,  in  his 
words  teach  us  this — and  it  should  save  his  ex-  1  death.  But  now  we  must  add  the  equally 
ample  from  being  unhappily  perverted  by  any  I  strong  confession  of  his  bold  faith,  as  express- 
— that  he  did  not  suddenly  change  his  mind,  j  ed  in  a  double  sentence,  which  testifies  not  only 
after  having  joined  the  other  malefactor,  in  his  j  the  innnc-iice  but  also  the  kuifj/y  authority  of 
blasphemy.     Tiiis  last  supposition  was  indeed  i  Christ.     His  faith  penetrates  through  the  sem- 


advanced  by  Ambrose  :  "  Probably  this  thief 
blasphemed  like  the  other,  but  was  suddenly 
converted  ;  "  and  has  been  defended  by  Lange 


blance  of  "  the  same  condemnation,"  and  re- 
tracts it  at  once  as  regards  Christ :  he  believes 
in    the   Crucified    One   as    the    Pvightecus,  the 


But  it  may  lead   to  dangerous  consequences,!    Ruler,  and  the  Helper,  to  whom  his  whole  soul 

turns.*     We  may  regard  it  as  certain  that  it 

*  "  His  conscience  wa.s  awakened  just  at  the 
moment  of  his  Li.st  endeavor  to  find  res.,  in  liis  old 
manner  of  lite."  But  smh  l)laspliemy  was  no 
seeking  rest.  Asjaji,  "  This  very  last  error  would 
liasten  his  conversion."  But  this  at  such  a  time 
is  psycholosically  iuiima2iiial)le.  Nor  is  tiiere 
nnicli  signiticaiice  in  llie  distinction  l)etween 
oiif.i^t'^oy  as  to  boili,  and  i/JXa6ipt/fift  as  to 
tlie  on.-. 

I  Ziiizendorf :  "  Had  he  not  blas[>hemed,  who 
knows  if  he  would  have  converted  l)ini ;  had  he 
not,  blasphemod  upon  tlie  cross,  who  knows  if  his 
hard  heart  would  liave  been  broken." 


*  In  ovSey  arottov  (whicli  indeed,  acconliiig 
to  liesycli.,  may  be  equivalent  to  Ttorijfiov, 
al6xf)o^y  comp.  Pi»)V.  xxx.  20;  Job  x.wii.  C, 
xxxiv.  12,  Sept.)  there  lies  a  si)eciHc  meanius,  as 
tlie  unwoiiledness  of  the  word  intimates,  wliioh 
may  l)o  seeu  in  2  Thess.  iii.  2;  it  ahendy  lefeis  lo 
the"'kincdom  "  of  this  Kinat  of  tlie  Jews  and  m 
the  month  of  this  msurgatt  would  have  some  such 
si<iniflcance  as  lie. or  gives  it.  This  cincitied 
man  liad  also  beon  zealous  for  Jpwi>b  freedom ; 
but  now  ho  sees  "  for  wlial  a  niisenble  kina'biu 
be  liai  coutt'uded — how  lasli  and  wretched  had 


LUKE  XXIII.  43. 


667 


was  not  the  superscription  of  the  cross  which 
told  him  of  the  kingdom  of  this  Jesus  (this 
would  be  too  direct  and  immediate)  ;  but  that 
he  had  in  earlier  times  known  concerning 
Jesus,  and  "  now  believed  what  he  had  once 
heard  about  him,  or  from  him."  We  may 
doubt  wliether  "  he  felt  and  believed  the  divin- 
ity of  Christ,"  as  respects  his  developed  con- 
sciousness ;  but  this  was  implicitly  at  least  in- 
volved in  his  faith,  and  Ben^el's  note  is  correct, 
"  Not  even  the  Apostles  had  such  pure  views 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ."  His  bold  and  clear 
faith,  as  he  here  avows  it,  is  so  great,  notwith- 
standing all  that  prepared  and  assisted  it,  that 
he  may  himself  be  reckoned  "  among  the  mira- 
cles wiiich  occurred  during  the  Passion  and 
death  of  our  Lord.  The  darkening  of  the  sun, 
the  earthquake,  the  opening  of  the  graves,  the 
rending  of  the  rocks,  were  not  greater  miracles 
than  the  strong  faith  of  this  malefactor" 
(Spener).  Finally,  let  it  not  be  overlooked, 
that  the  first  fruit  of  repentance  and  faith  is 
seen  in  the  exhibition  of  charity  which  pre- 
cedes;  for  what  but  the  love  of  pity  to  his 
comrade,  in  connection  with  and  in  his  zeal  for 
the  fear  and  honor  of  God,  inspired  his  mind 
with  the  thought  of  rebuking  him  ?  It  is  true 
that,  no  one  enters  Paradise  without  holiness, 
but  this  malefactor  was  sanctified  too.  In 
truth,  this  one  good  word  v/eighs  as  much  as 
many  works  before  God,  if  not  more  ;  for  good- 
ness as  well  as  sin  is  estimated  by  him  inde- 
pendently of  its  acts  in  continuance.  It  in- 
cluded all  that  the  most  rigorous  preaching 
should  desire  in  order  to  a  happy  death — hum- 
ble reverence  before  God,  knowledge  and  con- 
fession of  sm,  expression  of  faith  in  redeeming 
grace  and  in  the  Redeemer,  the  prayer  which 
seeks  salvation,  zeal  to  bear  witness  for  the 
truth,  and  zealous  love  in  preaching  to  others. 
As  some  one  says  :  "  From  a  robber  lie  becomes 
a  teacher  of  righteousness."  Thus  this  forgiven 
sinner  is,  as  Niemeyer  terms  him,  "  one  of  the 
most  elevated  characters  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment." His  acceptance  was  not  only  a  perfect 
justification  by  faith  alone,  but — in  opposition 
to  the  perversion  of  this  "alone" — it  was  at 
the  same  time  a  quickly-accomplished  new 
birth  unto  holiness.  His  cross  was  to  him  in 
swift  succession — first,  a  deserved  punishment; 
then  a  wholesome  discipline  which  taught  him 
with  the  fear  of  God*  all  wisdom  ;  and,  lastly, 
the  way  to  salvation  and  glory. 


All  this  will  more  than  sufficiently  counteract 
the  perversion  pf  this  word  of  Jesus,  and  the 
false  hope  derived  from  it  by  those  who  are  not 
what  this  malefactor  was.     We  are  ail  sinners 
together,  like  the  two  by  the  side  of  Jesus  ;  we 
belong  to  the  ?ce,  of  whom  the  penitent  first  of 
all  speaks.     We  cannot   indeed    be   converted 
too  late,  as  regards  the  mercy  of  the  Lord;  but  we 
cannot  turn  too  soon,  as  regards  our  sin,  which 
so  swiftly  hastens  to  obduration.*    For  warning 
therefore  the  other  thief  hangs  on  the  other  side ; 
who,  with  death  in    his  bones,  blasphemes,  and 
"  rushes  to  hell  because  he  believes  not  in  hell" 
— because  there  is  in  him  no  fear  of  the  judg- 
ment of  God.    But  why  is  he,  and  does  he  con- 
tinue, so  blind  and  so    hard?     Wherefore  is 
this  saving  on  the  part  of  Christ  only  matter  of 
mockery,  down  to  the  moment  when  all  salva- 
tion is  shut  out?     He  blasphemes  the  Lord  on 
the   stake   of   his   crimes,  just   as   others   do, 
equally  hardened,  who  lie  on  their  soft  death- 
bedsf  proclaiming  the  complacent  iiti3i\S,anEV 
of  their  good  works;  or  who  despond  and  des- 
pair because  they  can  no  longer  believe,  and 
God's  righteous  judgment  even  takes  from  them 
I  the  wholesome  cross  upon  earth,  reserving  them 
I  for  eternal  pain.     Vischer :   "He  would  be  an 
i  arrant   fool  who,  because  he  saw  a  man  fall 
I  many  fathoms  without  breaking  neck  or  limb, 
should  straightway   imitate  him.      But   such, 
{ leaps  are  dubious ;  the  coming  down  is  often 
i  woeful,  and  there  is  not  always  a  sound  getting 
i  up."     Yes,  verily  ;  and  who"  would   stake  hia 
'  soul  upon  the  contingency  that  one  out  of  a 
j  thousand  so  narrowly  escapes  the  abyss? 
;      Concerning  the  other  malefactor  the  Lord  m 
j  silent,  and  gives  his  scornful  save  no  answer — 
I  this  says  enough.     Did  the  accepted  one  speak 
!  no  word,  return  no  thanksgiving  to  the  Lord  ? 
j  Possibly  he  did,  though  it  is  not  recorded  :  it 
is  indeed  probable  that  his  grateful  heart  could 
find  no  word  which  would  suffice  for  the  reply 
to  so  great  a  promise.     But  it  is  not,  possible, 
as  Lange  says,  that  "  while  this  gracious  decla- 
ration was  still  vibrating  in  his  ears,  the  angela 
of  God   carried  him  to  the   company    of  the 
blest."t     For,  that  would   substitute  now   for. 
to-day  ;  and  then  he  would  have  entered  Para- 
dise before  Jesus,  instead  of  entering   at  the 
same  time  with  him. 


been  all  his  way  in  the  world."  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  fjloiies  in  the  Lord  Jesus:  "This  man 
has  not  aimed  at  his  kingdom  in  such  a  lawless 
way  as  we  have  done  in  our  blindness."  Ii,  was 
liis  prote.st  aaainst  his  condemnation — his  wish- 
in  to  be  king  was  no  akoyitv,  no  ineptia. 

*  It  is  from  his  own  inmost  experience  that  he 


says,  cpofifi  ruy  ^euv,  on — a  fresh  reason  for 
giving  a  casual  meaning  to  on. 

*  "  Ours  is  only  the  present  moment ;  and  while 
I  maintain  that  no  time  is  too  late  for  repentance, 
I  only  assert  that  at  the  moment  when  srace  calls 
us  it  is  never  too  late  (or  too  soon)"  (Theremin). 

+  Bengel  says :  "  Rare  is  conversion  on  a  soft 
bed." 

:|:  Like  the  apocrj-phal  Gospel  of  Nicodemus, 
which  rrpresenis  him  to  have  died  immediately 
after  the  promise. 


THIRD  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 
(John  xix.  26,  27.) 


We  agree  with  Ebrard  in  rejecting  the  hy- 
pothesis of  Wieseler,  that  Jesus  commended  his 
mother  to  John  only  on  the  ground  that  John 
was  her  nephew,  and  therefore  independently 
bound  to  take  care  of  her.  We  maintain  that 
became  the  care  of  his  mother  was  left  to  the 
free  love  of  John's  heart  in  spiritual  relation- 
ship, the  wife  of  Zebedee  cannot  have  stood  in 
the  relation  to  Jesus  of  mother's  sister.  Conse- 
quently, we  find  in  John  xix.  25  only  the  three 
Marys.  "  That  John  does  not  record  the  pres- 
ence of  his  mother  is  easily  accounted  for  when 
he  is  narrating  the  Lord's  gift  of  another 
mother ;  the  mention  of  his  literal  mother 
would  have  been  quite  inappropriate."  So 
Ebrard,  and  Bengel's  feeling  was  equally  cor- 
rect: "John  modestly  omits  his  mother,  Sa- 
lome, who,  however,  was  present."  Female 
love,  though  in  weak  vessels,  is  strongest  and 
most  enduring;  the  women  are  the  last  at  the 
cross,  and  the  first  at  the  sepulchre.  The  op- 
pressed Peter  and  the  other  Apostles — John 
excepted — are  only  isolated  spectators,  if  at  all, 
from  afar.  Thomas  may  have  seen  the  prints 
of  the  nails,  which  he  aflerv/ards  required  to 
see  again,  subsequently  on  the  dead  body. 
According  to  Matt,  xxvii.  55;  Mark  xv.  40; 
Luke  xxiii.  49;  the  remaining  friends,  and  the 
•women,  stood  for  the  most  part  afar  off.  But 
John  xix.  25  marks  a  moment  when  it  became 
possible  for  those  whom  he  specially  named  to 
draw  nearer ;  for,  otherwise,  the  Lord  would 
not  have  been  able  to  address  to  them  any  con- 
Jidaitial  word.  That  John  himself  was  there 
18  in  ver.  26  mentioned  by  the  way,  and  as  a 
thing  of  course  ;  it  is  probable  that  he  had  al- 
ready attached  himself  especially  to  the  mother 
of  the  Lord,  to  be  near  as  her  stay  and  protec- 
tion. M<i(er  dolorosa  is  Mary  indeed  under  the 
cross,  as  Simeon  had  predicted  ;  yet  she  dood, 
with  all  her  grief,  in  the  strength  of  faith  and 
love  ;  she  could  thus  stand  near  the  cross,  not 
far  from  the  crucifying  soldiers.  She  held  her 
spirit  under  command,  as  alone  became  her 
dignity  and  her  experience.  That  which  first 
the  fathers,  and  then  the  series  of  Catholic 
writers,  describe  or  invent  of  the  anguish  and 
despair  of  the  Saviour's  mother  under  the  cross 
— even  to  fainting  and  convulsions — has  been 
amply  protested  against;  and  especially  by 
Lampe,  who,  in  his  suggestive  manner,  points 
to  the  contrast  between  her  firm  contemplation 
of  the  dishonor  done  to  the  ark  of  God,  and 
the  death-pains  of  the  wife  of  Phinehas,  1 
Sam.  iv.  19. 

John  in  ver.  25  intends  to  intimate  by  his 

tl'irj';Hei6ay,  fuid  utood,  that  these  beloved  and 

loving  ones  had  already  stood  there  some  time, 

waiting  lor  at  least  a  token  or  glance  of  his  ob- 

GG8 


servation,  though  they  might  conclude  in  their 
hearts  that  they  must  not  hope  for  a  word. 
Christ  had,  in  truth,  previously  cared  by  his 
first  word  for  the  impenitent,  by  his  second 
word  for  the  penitent  sinner,  before  he  comes 
in  the  third  to  those  related  to  him,  especially 
his  mother;  "from  which  order  of  bis  words 
we  may  learn  that  poor  sinners  lay  nearer  the 
Lord's  heart  than  his  personal  relatives ;  and 
that  his  great  work  of  saving  sinners  must  first 
be  done,  before  he  could  think  of  the  bodily 
need  of  his  own  mother"  (Rambach).  There 
is  much  that  is  true  in  this  artless  meditation  ; 
although  when  we  look  deeper,  we  must  re- 
member that  Mary  herself  with  John  belonged 
only  to  that  humanity  for  which,  according  to 
its  need,  the  first  and  the  second  words  were 
spoken. 

The  iScjVy  "  he  saw,"  marks  the  commence- 
ment of  our  Lord's  special  observation  of  the 
beloved  disciples  who  were  waiting  in  sorrow  ; 
there  is  something  unbecoming  in  the  thought 
that  their  drawing  nearer,  now  first  observed,  was 
the  occasion  of  his  speaking.  In  his  supreme  col- 
lectednessof  spirit,  and  in  his  undisturbed  and 
unbroken  love  to  them,  his  glance  seeks  them 
out.  After  he  had  promised  to  the  thief  the 
consolation  of  Paradise,  he  naturally  remem- 
bers the  residue  of  his  disciples  who  would  still 
remain  in  the  world  :  should  he  not  care  for 
and  comfort  them  also  below  ?  It  is  especially 
his  mother  who  now  connects  his  affectionate 
human  spirit  with  the  race  of  survivors.  The 
burden  of  the  world's  redemption  with  all  its 
increasing  horror  of  sin,  lies  upon  his  soul ; 
boundless  anticipations,  now  gradually  reced- 
ing and  passing  away,  of  the  glory  to  be  ob- 
tained (John  xvii.)  had  filled  his  spirit — yet  he 
has  room  still  for  the  exercise  of  the  minutest 
care.  Nor  do  we  err,  if  (with  many  in  all 
ages)  we  regard  it  in  another  point  of  view. 
He  feels  that  more  -awful  suffering,  the  last 
fearful  conflict,  draws  nigh  ;  he  would  spare  his 
mother  at  least,  the  sight  of  this,  and  therefore 
provides  for  her  earlier  departure  from  the 
place.  (Bengel:  Tiie  sword  had  now  pierced 
the  soul  of  Mary  enough  :  he  provides  that  she 
should  not  see  his  severest  sufferings,  the  dark- 
ness, abandonment,  and  death.)  Thus  does  he 
close  his  earthly  life — that  he  may  die  alone 
with  his  God  and  Father.*  The  first  three  of 
the  seven  words  were  expressions  of  love  to- 


*  Lampo  is  not  correct  in  includiiiE;  all  before 
the  napiSoaHS  of  ver.  30  under  the  head  of 
"  preparation  for  his  death."  That  in  the  E-an- 
geiisL'.s  sense  would  api>!y  only  to  the  to.stanient ; 
:ind  all  that  followed  was  itself  the  conflict  and 
victory  of  death. 


JOHN  XIX.  26.  27. 


m 


wards  others  ;  the  last  four,  after  the  darkness, 
refer  only  to  Clirist  himself. 

The  word  for  Mary  is  certainly  not  the  sec- 
ond in  order,  as  many  arrange  it.  Driiseke 
strangely  expounds  •.  "  His  heart  turns  from 
his  murderers  ;  his  bruised  soul  takes  refuge, 
so  to  speak,  with  his  beloved  ones,  his  mother, 
and  his  friends.  The  transition  is  made  plain 
by  the  very  mitithesis."  Even  then,  however, 
it  remains  still  true,  "nothing  but  benedic- 
tion." Blessing  to  his  murderers,  blessing  to 
the  malefactor !  But  that  the  word  to  the  cru- 
cified robber  follows  immediately  after  that  to 
the  crucifiers,  has  a  more  appropriate  meaning, 
and  is,  as  we  shall  see,  required  by  Luke's  re- 
cord. Least  of  all  can  we  justily  the  suppo- 
sition (of  Neander,  for  example)  that  the  word 
of  provision  for  his  mother  was  not  spoken  till 
after  the  EM,  Eloi ;  there  was  no  more  place 
then  for  any  thing  of  that  kind ;  there  re- 
mained then  only  the  swift  succession  of  events, 
through  the  thirst,  the  "  Finished,"  to  the 
death.  Bengel  (in  the  Harmony)  opposes  that 
close  connection  of  "  I  thirst  "  with  the  word 
to  his  mother,  which  has  arisen  from  a  misun- 
derstanding of  John's  "after  this;"  he  says 
that  this  /LiEzd  rovro  must  not  be  referred  to 
the  particular  words  which  were  spoken,  but 
to  the  whole  crucifixion  to  which  the  Scripture 
pointed.  We  shall  give  presently  a  different 
interpretation.  The  Iburth  Evangelist  here  in- 
troduces supplementary  and  fragmentary  par- 
ticulars; and  pre-supposes  the  darkness  and 
the  cry  of  anguish  as  having  taken  place  at  the 
period  alone  appropriate  to  them.  According 
to  ver.  35  (as  Bengel  again  remarks)  he  had  re- 
turned to  the  cross,*  after  having  led  Mary  to 
his  home  ;  whence  it  is  to  be  gathered  that  she 
had  been  led  away  before  the  three  hours' 
darkness. 

The  first  and  the  second  word  the  Lord  spoke 
as  a  Saviour  in  his  ofiQce;  he  speaks  the  third 
primarily  as  the  Son  of  Man,  having  a  mother, 
and  personal  obligations  to  discharge.  The 
word  of  the  priest  and  the  word  of  the  king  are 
followed  by  a  word  of  the  son  and  the  friend, 
or,  still  better,  of  the  master  of  the  household  : 
for  he  "  remains  even  unto  death  most  affec- 
tionate and  gracious  in  all  human  relations" 
(Dietz). 

His  mother  has  naturally  a  claim  to  the  first 
word.  Yet  he  addresses  her  only  by  yvvai,\ 
woman,  as  at  the  beginning  in  Cana,  chap.  ii.  4 
— and  as  he  addresses  the  Magdalene  in  chap. 
XX.  13-15.  Lange  is  quite  at  fault ;  "  Woman, 
trembling,  impotent,  dependent  nature" — ^just 
as  he  would  translate  John  ii.  4  :  "  Troubled 
heart  of  ^.'oman  I  "J     Altogether  different  is  it 


*  The  only  eye-witness  among  the  Apost'es  of 
Christ's  death,  while  all  were  witnesses  of  his  re- 
sun  eclion. 

•j-  John  would  make  this  emphatic,  probably  by 
the  mere  rr)v  utjrifja  and  again  r^  /< 7/ r pi  (with- 
out avTov,  according  to  a  reading  which  this 
makes  more  probable). 

\  There  was  c'ertainly  no  trouble  in  her  mind 


in  its  connection  e.  g.  in  Dio  Cassius  (why  Ihi^ 
passage  only  instead  of  so  many  similar?)  a 
Gdp6Et  CO  yvvai — such  a  subordinate  meaning 
is  applicable  neither  here  nor  e.t  Cana.  Lange's 
reference  to  the  encouragement  spoken  to  Mary 
Magdalene  is  rather  specious  than  solid;  we 
gather,  on  the  other  hand,  from  John  iv.  21 
(Woman,  believe  me)  and  Luke  xxii.  57,  that 
yvyat  was  the  general  and  honorable  mode  of 
addressing  such  as  were  otherwise  unknown, 
instead  of  the  name  or  any  other  designation. 
This  is  the  fundamental  idea  here,  as  at  Cana 
(to  which  it  in  a  certain  sense  refers  back)  :  it 
is  a  general  appellation  instead  of  the  name  of 
mother ;  not  otherwise  than  affectionate,  yet 
having  a  tone  of  strangeness,  and  in  some  de- 
gree repellant.  But  why  does  he  not  now  call 
her  mother?  It  has  been  said,  to  spare  her; 
that  that  word  might  not  still  further  excite  her 
grief  over  her  son  upon  the  cross.  It  has  also 
been  said,  in  order  not  to  publish  the  fact  of  her 
being  his  mother,  and  thus  expose  her  to  hos- 
tile observation  and  treatment.  There  may  be 
something  true  in  both  these  suppositions  ;  but 
the  chief  reason  is  this,  that  her  relation  of 
mother  is  now  finally  abolished  and  given  back. 
Her  person  retreats ;  she  is  for  the  last  time  re- 
garded as  mother,  in  order  to  be  so  no  longer. 
Tills  is  involved  in  the  words  which  follow  : 
Behold  thy  son!  (I  am  thy  son  no  longer) — as 
also  in  the  profound  and  significant  crisis  of 
farewell.  The  earthly  relation,  \\-hich  at  Cana 
might  not  intrude  into  his  ofllice,  is  now  entire- 
ly dissolved  :  the  dying  Son  of  God  and  Saviour 
of  the  world,  afterwards  exalted,  has  no  longer 
a  mother  according  to  the  flesh.  Mary  is  not 
even  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  resur- 
rection,* and  there  is  no  account  of  any  special 
appearance  of  the  Lord  for  her  sake;  in  x\cts  i. 
14,  she  appears  for  the  last  time  as  belonging 
to  the  little  company  of  the  disciples,  and  to 
the  Church. 

Thus  we  have  here  once  more  a  testimony 
against  the  Komanists'  honor  of  Mary.  They 
are  not  at  a  loss,  however,  for  arguments  to  de- 
fend their  doctrine  ;  and  (as  Allioli  forgets  r.ot 
to  remark)  the  "  holy  fathers,"  and  Augustine 
in  particular,  serve  their  puipose  by  maintain- 
ing that  all  the  ehildreji  of  the  Church  were 
typified  in  the  Apostle  John,  and  that  there- 
fore Mary  was  given  as  a  mother  to  ail  believ- 
ers. Qaesnf4  on  this  passage  is  still  more  em- 
phatic :  "  The  holy  virgin,  has,  as  it  were,  the 
Church's  cause  laid  upon  herself,  that  she  may 
offer  up  Jesus  Christ  crucified  upon  the  cross, 
and  herself  with  him.  The  holy  virgin  re- 
ceives as  her  children  all  Christians  in  the 
person  of  John.  The  mother-title  of  Mary 
gives  us  our  right  and  is  our  justification  in 
putting  all  our  interests  into  her  hands."  But 
how  manifestly  is  this  opposed  to  the  expressly 


then,   but   strong   and  premature   confidence   in 
miraculous  help. 

*  But  the  legends  of  the  middle  ages  tell  us  of  a 
visit,  paid  to  her  by  the  Risen  Lord  j  pre-announced, 
too,  by  Gabriel. 


670 


THIRD  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


tender  and  personal  reference  of  tliis  legacy  ; 
this  is  assuredly  the  first  and  obvious  meaning, 
and  all  further  interpret  alion  mud  he  in  harmony 
with  that.  We  say  with  Arndt :  "  Is  not  this  a 
most  violent  perversion  of  the  words  of  holy 
Scripture?  Does  the  Lord  intend  to  say  to 
John,  She  will  take  the  place  of  a  mother  to 
thee  ?  Does  he  not  rather  say,  Thou  shalt  take 
my  place  and  care  for  her?  John  was  to  be 
the  stay  of  Mary,  and  not  j\Iary  the  stay  of 
John.  Jesus  does  not  refer  John  to  Mary,  but 
Mary  to  J(  hn.  (Therefore  does  this  also  come 
first,  and  the  other  is  added  as  its  correspond- 
ing continv;ation.)  Mary  was  not  to  be  to  the 
disciple  the  representative  of  Jesus,  but  the 
disciple  was  to  be  to  Mary  the  representative 
of  Jesus.  "The  dependence  and  n'^ed  of  help 
was  not  to  be  on  the  side  of  John,  but  on  that 
of  Mary."  As  Richter's  Ilunshihel  has  simdarly 
and  more  concisely  said,  "  Christ  does  not  refer 
the  caring  for  his  disciples  to  the  offices  of 
Mary,  hnl  conversely."  Another  unbiassed  inter- 
pretation, moreover,  according  to  which  Mary 
does  represent  in  these  words  the  Church,  we 
BJiall  find  at  the  close,  when  we  contemplate 
the  prophetic  and  typical  meaning  of  the  seven 
words  together. 

That  John  docs  not  receive  any  direct  appel- 
lation, any  iralpF.,  cpi2s  dS£A(p£  (friend,  dear 
brother),  or  the  like,  is  to  be  exjdained  at  once 
by  the  close  connection  of  the  sayings  as  they 
belong  to  each  other;  for  him  there  is  nothing 
repellent  or  renouncing  (as  in  the  yvvat),  but 
a  new  bond  which  gives  to  him  as  a  mother  the 
mother  of  Jesus.  The  designation  by  name 
was  here  quite  needless.  There  may  be  as- 
sumed, too,  a  cprtain  concealment  from  those 
who  stood  around  and  heard;  so  that  no  one 

Precisely  knew  to  tchom  the  word  referred. 
;oth  looked  up  to  him,  full  of  expectation  ;  as 
soon  as  he  observes  and  looks  directly  at  them, 
nothing  more  was  necessary  than  the  gentlest 
and  most  confidentially-spoken  word  ;  the  Be- 
hold was  uttered  with  a  glance  which  passed 
from  one  to  tlie  other.  The  gracious  meaning 
is  well  brought  out  by  Fikenscher:  "  Woman, 
look  up  ;  thy  son — is  not  lost ;  behold  him  in 
the  peison  of  another  whom  I  appoint  to  that 
end  ! "  G.  K.  Rieger  says,  anticipating  the 
universal  significance  of  the  word  :  "  He  gives 
to  them  (the  souls  which  love  him  beneath  the 
cross)  new  eyes  to  see  with,  which  are  especially 
keen-sighted  under  the  cross."  He  is  hence- 
forth thy  son,  she  is  henceforth  thy  mother; 
this  was  not  exprossed,  but  all  the  more  strong- 
ly assured  in  the  BJiold.  It  contains  a  two-fold 
gift,  by  which  he,  who  after  the  parting  of  his 
garments  possessed  nothing  in  the  world,  but 
was  yet  infinitely  rich  in  the  love  which  creates 
love,  gladdened  the  souls  of  his  beloved.  In 
the  all-comprehending  Behold  thy  mother,  every 
thing  was  self-understood  to  John  (who  had  in- 
deed already  in  profound  inward  love  adhered  to 
Mary  under  the  cross*)  which  pertained  to  the 


*  To  this,  at.  tlio  samo  time,  the  JJchold  tly  son 
•pokeii  to  Mary  may  point. 


care  of  her  earthly  life.  To  whom  but  to  the 
£7Ti6r?'/0ioi — the  disciple  who  lay  in  his  bosom 
— could  the  Lord  have  committed  his  mother? 
Christ  and  John — to  quote  Daub  once  more — 
were  united  in  unchanging  confidence;  for  in 
Christ  was  divine  purity,  in  John  perfect  faith. 
John  here  calls  himself  the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved ;  it  might  have  been  said  with  equal 
truth — who  loved  Jesus  with  peculiar  personal 
attachment,  and  was  to  him  as  the  brother 
among  the  Apostles  to  whom  he  should  neces- 
sarily commit  his  mother.  Or,  to  speak  with 
Grotuis:  Peter  was  q>iX6xin6ro'i  {C\\ThiAo\- 
ing),  John  q)i\iv6ovi  (Jesu.s-loving)  ;  hence 
to  the  former,  as  the  lover  of  Christ,  the  Church 
was  committed  ;  to  the  latter,  as  the  lover  of 
Jesus,  his  mother  was  specially  commended. 
Bat  we  may  regard  this  office  of  son  to  Mary, 
for  which  the  loving  disciple  receives  a  new 
supply  of  love,  as  silently  giving  him  a  high 
place  in  the  Church,  higher  indeed  than  that  of 
Peter.  It  is  beautifully  observed  by  Von  Ger- 
lach  :  "  But  he  placed  John  in  the  nearest  per- 
sonal relationship  tohimself  upon  earth  "  (and,  in 
the  sense  in  which  that  alone  is  possible,  actu- 
ally) "  in  his  men  place  ;  he  thus  sealed  in  death 
the  internal  covenant  of  his  heart  with  him, 
and  breathed  into  him  anew  thereby  the  spirit 
of  love — that  he  might  hereafter  pervade  the 
Churches,  lounded  more  especially  by  others, 
with  the  sacred  fire  of  the  Redeemer's  heart." 
It  might  be  said  that  John  would  of  him- 
self have  cared  for  Mary ;  it  might  also  be 
said  that  he  would  never  have  assumed  that 
honor  to  himself  beyond  the  others.  But  now 
the  impulse  of  his  heart  was  sanctifind  by 
a  now  grace  and  gift;  his  olTice  of  honor  was 
made  also  a  gift  of  honor;  and  all  conflict 
of  love  and  humility  was  prevented.  This 
third  word  of  the  cross  spoken  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  has  been  rightly  termed  his  human  testa- 
ment* In  it  he  typically  performs,  to  fulfill 
all  human  virtue.  Ins  filial  duty  for  the  last 
time;  thus  giving  testimony,  too,  that  if  he 
had  previously  placed  his  mother  in  the  back- 
ground, it  had  not  been  through  any  necrlect  of 
love — i'or  if  now  first  John  was  to  be  her  son, 
we  are  assured  that  Jesus  himself  had  hitherto 
himself  discharged  the  filial  ofTice.  But  in 
this  dying  provision  for  his  mother  he  no 
longer  calls  her  mother  ;  and  we  may  say  that 
in  the  first  word  to  Mary  there  is  rather  a  tak- 
ing; aicay,  and  not  till  the  second  to  John  is 
there  a  proper  giving.  After  the  reference  to 
Paradifie,  and  the  assurance  which  that  gave 
of  eternity  and  near  approach  of  his  own 
death,  Mary  must  have  heard  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  son,  who  should  take  his  place, 
nothing  but  a  most  sad  farewell,  the  final  close 


*  Ambrose  :  "  Testabatur  de  cruce  Chris  us,  et 
inter  niatrem  atque  discipulum  dividebat  jKetatls 
ofticia.  Condebat  Domiiius  testanienlum  ;  siana- 
bat  Johannes  "  (lib.  iii.  ep.  24).  Jerome  obserTes, 
however,  that  tlie  domestic  tostnmont.  and  tha 
jmblic  testament  iu  the  Supi)er  uiuot  bo  disliu- 
"uibhed. 


JOHN  XIX.  26,  27. 


m. 


of  his  earthly  life — after  the  manner  of  any 
otlier  dying  man.  Yet,  he  does  not  take  his 
farewell  in  words  ;  and  the  sublime  n^pose, 
like  the  heart-piercing  propriety,  of  his  ap- 
pointment, evidences  at  the  same  time  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Lord  and  abidmg  protector  of 
his  people,  in  his  own  power  and  love.  But 
as  to  John,  already  now  admitted  to  the  confi- 
dence of  the  glorifying  death  of  his  Master, 
the  word  which  he  receives  contains  nothing 
but  invigoration  and  a  most  costly  gift.  In- 
vigoration,  as  far  as  he  was  cast  down,  through 
"  the  feeling  of  a  new  and  great  duty  which 
bound  him  to  life  by  new  bonds"  (Lange). 
That  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  given  to  him  as 
a  mother,  is  an  inestimable  legacy,  and  a  pre- 
cious promise.  "  He  himself  is  thereby  pro- 
vided for,"  for  he  knows  well  that  he  will  now 
eat  with  this  holy  widow  as  long  as  God  per- 
mits, and  not,  as  it  were,  she  with  hitii,  like  the 
widow  of  Zarephath  with  Elijah.  The  exter- 
nalities of  the  relation  to  which  the  testament 
refers,  are  with  the  highest  tenderness  of  pro- 
priety omitted;  for  such  hearts  the  short  word 
was  enough  to  explain  all.  The  hearts,  the  2>^r- 
sons  were  commended  and  given  to  each  other — 
and  that  was  the  essential  matter. 

The  Lord  establishes,  founds,  and  blesses 
here  the  spiritual  family-life  of  his  new  king- 
dom. This  new  relationship  in  the  love  of 
Christ  goes  far  beyond  all  relationships  after 
the  flesh.  That  John  had  already,  and  still 
retained,  a  mother  in  Salome,  is  not  affected  by 
this  ;  but  that  he  (according  to  sure  tradition) 
bad  no  wife,  may  have  been  regarded  in  the 
provision  of  the  whole.*  That  Mary  had 
other  sons  subsequently  born  (in  favor  of 
which  much-contested  though  simply  historical 
truth  we  have  often  declared  our  opinion)  does 
not  so  enter  into  the  case  here  as  to  make  this 
testament  an  argument  against  it.  Paulinus 
of  Nola  (ep.  43)  says,  "  this  shows  plainly 
that  she  had  not  had,  and  had  not  now,  any 
son  but  him  who  was  born  of  her  as  a  virgin  ; 
for  the  Saviour  would  not  have  taken  such  care 
of  her  desolate  state  if  he  had  not  been  ber 
only  son."  Venturini,  too,  thought  that  ihi^ 
committal  of  Mary  to  the  care  of  John  would 
argue  against  her  having  other  sons.  So  Von 
Gerlach  :  "  Thy  son  in  my  stead — thus  she  had 
no  other;"  and  Olshausen  is  confident:  "This 
passage  is  to  me  decisive  on  the  question,  that 
Mary  had  no  bodily  sons ;  the  Eedeemer 
would  not  otherwise  have  commended  his 
mother,  as  a  solitary  widow,  to  an  alien  :  this 
would  have  been  a  slight  to  the  brethren." 
Strange  proof!  Was  it,  then,  no  "slight"  to 
Salome,  the  literal  mother  of  John,  who,  ac- 
cording to  Mark  xv.  40,  comp.  Matt,  xxvii.  56, 
stood  with  the  rest  under  the  cross?  The  chil- 
dren of  his  mother,  to  whom  the  Lord  had  as 


*  Jerome  (contra  Jovinian.) :  "  The  virg'n  moth- 
er wns  commended  by  the  virain  Lo^d  to  the  vir- 
gin disciple  John."  Comp.  NonTin«!:  rvvai  cpiXo- 
Tcdp^EVE  ^vTtfr,  vvi6E  TtapOivoy  via.  More, 
however,  in  the  text. 


yet  been  unknown  and  an  ali^n  (Psa.  Ixix.  8), 
could  not  pos-ibly,  as  spiritually  alien,  take  his 
place,  or  be  to  Mary  what  Jesus  had  been, 
even  after  their  conversion  ;  but  John  was  in 
spirit  no  alien.  Tiie  whol((  objection  rests  too 
much  upon  mere  external  care.  This  the  Lord 
of  course  included,  but  connects  it  with  that  in- 
most spiritual  relation  of  love  which  could 
alone  satisfy  the  heart  of  Mary,  and  which  she 
would  find  most  abundantly  m  the  fellowship 
of  John's  spirit.  It  is  the  Lord's  purpose  in 
this  arrangement,  not  indeed  to  neglect  his 
brethren,  but  to  put  them  to  shame  as  still  un- 
believing, and  refusing  to  become  svch  brethren 
of  Jesus  as  John  was.  His  word  is  at  the 
same  time  the  famcell  which  he  utters  to  hii 
hrethren,  which  their  unbelief  merited,  and 
which  urged  them,  through  humiliation  to 
faith.  For  in  Acts  i.  14  we  find  them  among 
the  disciples.*  But  what  we  afterwards  learn 
of  the  character  of  James,  at  least,  a  brother 
of  the  Lord,  shows  us  that,  with  all  his  excel- 
lence, he  could  be  no  "son,"  in  the  inmost 
meaning  of  the  word,  for  the  heart  of  Mary. 

Thus  we  may  at  first  learn  from  this  symboli- 
cal filial  word  of  Jesus,  that  we  should  in  dying 
think  of  and  care  for  our  own  with  like  love 
and  wisdom.  Let  us  learn  to  make  our  testa- 
ment without  delay  of  forgetfulness,  without 
any  pretext  of  higher  duties  or  neglect  of  other 
thoughts.  Let  us  observe  well  that  he  himself 
here  fulfills  unto  death  and  sanctifies  anew  the 
commandment,  Uonor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  ; 
and  that  he  in  general  confirmed  relationships 
after  the  flesh,  even  while  he  abolishes  tliera 
and  puts  a  higher  in  their  stead;  sinc3  he  cares 
most  tenderly  for  his  mother,  and  at  the  same 
time  by  his  own  divine  authority  takes  from 
his  brethren  the  rights  of  the  son.  But  all  thia 
is  far  from  being  the  full  meaning  of  his  word, 
which  in  its  significant  order  in  the  seven 
words  (of  which  more  in  the  sequel)  must 
prove  its  universal  significance  as  a  word  of  the 
Redeemer.  He  can  now  neither  speak  nor  do 
any  thing  merely  as  a  human  person,  as  the 
son  of  Mary ;  and  even  this  must  be  glorified 
into  its  full  meaning  as  a  divine-human  testa- 
ment. Thus  we  may  adopt  the  traditional 
spiritual  interpretation  which  the  Church  has 
always  given  to  it :  He  here,  when  taking  fare- 
well "of  earthly  things,  gives  his  promise,  as  to 
his  mother  so  also  to  all  his  people,  of  sufiicient 
provision  in  all  earthly  things.  While  he  re- 
leases himself  from  all  earthly  relationship,  he 
avows  himself  to  be  in  a  higher  and  heavenly 
manner  the  provider  for  all  his  disciples.  Will 
not  he  who  pointed  the  malefactor  to  Paradise 
in  the  other  world — thus  should  our  iailh 
argue — provide  for  us  a  place  in  this,  as  long  as 
we  live  in  it?     He  who  so  graciously  cared  for 


*  Hence  Braune  well  says  :  "  Was  this  a  slight 
put  upon  the  brothers  1  But  they  believed  not  in 
him.  Should  he  slight  his  mother,  however?  Tlie 
choice  was  not  diffi'-ult.  For,  natural  birth  avails 
not  in  the  kingdom  of  God  as  spiritual  regenera- 


672 


FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


his  mother  will  assuredly  not  leave  or  neglect 
us.  To  this  in  trutli  belongs  what  he  had  be- 
fore said  in  Matt.  xii.  48-50.  Just  now,  when 
Mary  ceases  to  be  specifically  his  mother,  he 
becomes  a  Saviour  to  all,  both  in  this  world 
and  the  next,  remembering  every  one  of  his  peo- 
ple. We  are  therefore  perfectly  justified  in 
taking  his  word  as  a  general  pledge  of  sufficient 
provision  for  all  his  own  upon  earth.  We  be- 
hold in  Mary  and  John,  mutually  caring  and 
cared  for,  in  all  that  pertained  to  the  evidence 
of  love  and  help,  "  the  little  flock  of  God's 
children,  brought  together  and  united  under 
his  cross."*  Thus  the  Lord  establishes  from 
his  cross  new  bonds  and  relationships  in  the 
Spirit  (Mark  x.  29,  30):  he  points  all  who 
love  him,  and  whom  he  loves  to  each  other, 
and  thus  "once  more  confirms  the  great  law  of 
love  from  the  cross"  (C.  H.  Rieger).  "The 
constraining  love  of  Christ  draws  us  to  him 
even  upon  the  cross ;  draws  down  him  to  us 
under  the  cross ;  draws  believers  together 
through  the  cross"  (G.  K.  Rieger).  But  this 
must  not  lead  us  to  lorget  ihecare  in  this  love, 
which  is  its  specific  point.  He  remembers  every 
one,  and  provides  for  his  way  through  the 
world  from  which  he  is  not  yet  taken ;  and 
when  we  think  ourselves  forsaken  we  should 
commend  ourselves — and  when  we  cannot  pro- 
vide for  others  should  commend  them — to  him. 
He  will  care  for,  he  has  cared  for,  he  provides 
for  his  people  by  meaiis  of  his  people  ;  and  is 
evermore  repeating  the  commendatory  word 
where  it  is  needed.  Behold  thy  son,  thy  mother, 
thy  brother.  To  hear  and  to  accept  this  word 
should  be  our  highest  privilege  ana  honor  ;  not 
only  when  it  says  to  us,  Behold  one  who  will 
care  for  thee :  but  also  when  it  says,  on  the 
other  hand,  Behold  one  who  is  commended  to 
thy  care ! 

From  that  hour  that  disciple  took  her  tohim- 
telf,  eii  TO.  i6ia,  that  is,  manifestly,  to  his  own 


home,  to  the  house  which  he  probably  had  in 
Jerusalem.  Lnthardt  is  right  that  this  last  is 
not  proved  by  ret  i'Sia- — yet  he  admits  that 
John  xviii.  15  makes  it  likely  that  John  had  a 
residence  in  Jerusalem.  Mary  had  not  gone 
again  to  Naxareth,  which  rejected  her  son,  but 
had  followed  him  from  place  to  place;  Jesus 
takes  it  for  granted  that  she  v;ouId  not  return 
to  that  home,  and  confirms  her  in  that  purpose. 
He  appoints  her  her  place  for  the  remainder  of 
her  life  in  the  Church,  especially  of  Jerusalem, 
with  the  Apostle  who  had  been  hitherto  most 
trusted  and  so  far  most  honored,  and  who  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Acts  alwavs  appears  with 
Peter.  That  art  eHeiyrj?  rfji  capai  (for  which 
only  one  Code.x:  reads  vnspai)  is  to  be  taken 
literally,  is  manifest  from  the  general  exactitude 
as  to  time  which  pervades  the  entire  history  of 
the  Passion  ;  and  with  this  it  perfectly  agrees, 
that  John  in  his  >uf  ra  rovto  passes  at  once 
over  the  intervening  three  hours.  We  cannot 
admit  Luthardt's  argument  here  ;  but  regard 
it  as  intimated  by  the  exact  "  hour,"  as  well  as 
by  the  whole  context,  that  Mary  left  the  place 
at  once,  and  did  not  wait  till  the  death  of 
Jesus.  At  once,  understanding  the  Lord's  de- 
sign, John  led  away,  in  filial  affectionate  love, 
the  mother,  whose  soul  was  once  more  deeply 
moved  by  the  word  of  farewell;  so  that  she  di(i 
not  see  the  increasing  agony  of  her  son  who 
could  be  and  would  be  no  more  her  son.  She 
also  understood  the  sad  dismissal  from  the  lips 
of  her  son,  who  had  many  times  before  laid  his 
commands  upon  his  mother  for  her  good — and 
she  obediently  follows  her  new  guide  for  the 
sake  of  him  who  committed  her  to  that  guid- 
ance. Bengel  :  "  Great  is  the  faith  of  Mary,  to 
be  present  at  the  cross  ;  great  was  her  submis- 
sion, to  go  away  betore  his  death."  But  the 
Lord  sees  the  fulfillment  of  his  testament  before 
his  eyes,  before  the  last  waves  of  his  anguish 
rolled  over  his  soul. 


FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 
(Matt,  xxvii.  46;  Mark  xv.  34.) 


The  darJcne-ts  mentioned  with  one  accord  by 
the  first  three  Evangelists,!  at  the  time  of  full 
jnoon,  about  midday,  and  lasting  three  hours, 
stands  in  close  connection  with  the  words  of 
Jesus,  themselves  dark,  which  at  length  pro- 


*  To  symbolize  this  these  two  were  chosen  ns 
"  two  of  ihe  most  elect  souls  which  atlcr  him  the 
earth  liad  t^e^n  "  (Lange).  His  supposition,  how- 
ever, that  "  the  /lousc  of  Joliii  was  to  form  the 
bond  of  union  for  his  elect"  is  altog 'ther  too  ex- 
ternal in  ils  view.  Tiie  truth  lies  deeper:  tlie 
bond  of  love  between  Mary  and  John  is  tlio  real 
and  secret  home  and  hearth  of  the  Cliiuch. 

■j-  In  Lnke  myivyver  iCnutioOi]  u  ?//l/o5,  as 
Acts  ii.  iiO. 


ceeded  out  of  this  darkness.  To  the  considera- 
tion of  those  words  we  now  proceed.  It  must 
be  left  to  others  to  investigate,  and  if  possible 
to  decide,  wliether  Tfd6cxy  or  oAv*'  ti/v  yvv 
actually  indicates  the  whole  earth  then  en- 
lightened by  the  sun  (as  Lukexxi.  25) — or  the 
Roman  empire — or  the  Jewish  land  only  (as 
Luke  iv.  25  ;  James  v.  17).  This  affects  not  the 
question  ;  and  although  the  remarkable  ac- 
counts of  the  wider  extension  of  this  miraclet 


♦  Remarked  also  by  Alford. 

f  The  fathers  referred  (espec.  Oriiren,  contra 
Cdmm,  ii.  33,  and  Euseb,  in  the  Ch,u\cy)%,  a::d 
Tertu  I.  Apol.  c.  21)  to  the  testimony  of  profane 
history  itself,  viz  ,  to  thai  of  Phlegon  of  Tialies,  a 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  46. 


673 


Beem  to  U3  perfectly  unbiassed  and  trust- 
■worthy,  yet  we  count  it  only  folly  to  contend 
about  them  ;  and  content  ourselves  as  inter- 
preters with  the  assurance  of  the  historically 
certain  sacred  text — so  that  yij,  "  earth,"  goes 
beyond  Golgotha  or  even  Jerusalem.  In  John 
these  three  hours  belong  to  ver.  28. 

U')  to  this  time  the  light  of  the  sun  had 
shouu  upon  this  scene  of  horror  and  lamenta- 
tion The  mockers  mock,  the  multitudes  stare, 
the  Lord  suff.'  s,  his  sacred  head  and  face  given 
up  to  contumely  on  the  cross — all  goes  on  its 
"Way,  as  if  nothing  were  occurring  which  might 
move  God  to  interpose.  "If  God  to-day  give 
no  sign  " — so  spoke  or  silently  thought  many, 
with  manifold  inferences  in  their  minds.  Be- 
hold, a  sign  is  given  !  Not  "  unmarked  "  and 
by  slow  degrees,  but  instantaneously  the  dark- 
ne.ss  swallows  up  midday  ;  even  as  at  the  birth 
of  Christ  the  midnight  had  been  illumined. 
Fint  of  all — as  pointing  back  to  that  darkness 
over  Egypt,  refusing  to  give  up  Israel  the  son 
of  God,  which  was  soon  followed  by  destruction 
— 6rst  of  all,  it  wa?  a  learning  sign  to  all  whose 
hearts  were  affected,  that  Israel  was  now  com- 
mitting a  horrible  work  of  darkness  which 
God's  sun  would  no  longer  shine  upon,  and  by 
means  of  which  the  darkness  of  doom  would 
overshadow  them.*  Let  us  imagine  the  im- 
pression of  this  darkness  on  Golgotha  and 
throughout  Jerusalem  ;  let  us  depict  to  our- 
selves the  individual  details  of  terror  and  fear 
— the  stings  of  conscience,  the  interrupted  lusts, 
the  disturbed  midday  meals,  the  derangement 
of  the  temple-service,  the  confu.«ion  as  to  the 
evening  sacrifice,  and  so  forth.  Most  assuredly 
all  blasphemy  and  mockery  is  now  silenced  ; 
Pfenninger  is  incorrect  here,  making  Caiaphas 
cry  :  "  God  shows  you  the  darkness  into  which 
this  deceiver  would  have  plunged  your  souls, 
and  that  darkness  now  puts  him  to  confusion. 
Behold,  where  is  now  the  Sun,  the  Light  of  the 
world  !  "  It  is  true  that  the  sign  was  liable  to 
such  blaspheming  perversion,  in  as  far  as  it  did 
really  (as  we  shall  see  presently)  refer  itself 
most  directly  to  the  person  of  Jesus:  but  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  any  one  would  dare  to 
entertain   such   thoughts. f      Anxious   silence 


freedman  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  (to  whom,  ac- 
cording to  Spartian,  the  writings  bearing  Phlegon's 
name  ought  to  be  assigned)  of  an  "  eclipse  of  the 
sun,  the  greatest  of  all  recorded,"  and  the  "  great 
earthquake  which  was  felt  in  Bithynia."  Julius 
Africanus,  also,  mentions  the  same  account  as 
Irom  a  certain  Thailus,  the  same  perhaps  whom 
Euseb.  meant. 

*  This  signification  is  maintained  in  a  remark- 
able dissertation  by  C.  F.  Bauer,  De  dwinitus  prce- 
dctio  et  cal/tus  data  miraculo  obscwati  solis,  etc. 
(Wittenb.  1741).  He  joins  Tertull.,  Lact.,  Easeb., 
Cyril,  Jerome,  Aug.,  in  regarding  Amos  viii.  9,  10, 
as  predicting  it. 

t  There  is  more  probability  in  Pfenninger's 
representation  ot_the  perversion  to  which  his  lam- 
entation, after  the  re;  urn  of  the  sun,  might  give 
rise — "  Thus  is  it  with  all  who  have  forsaken  God." 


reigns  over  the  place  of  a  skull ;  so  should  it  be, 
for  the  divine  sign  cried  then,  as  it  cries  ever, 
Be  silent  and  think.  (Oh  that  this  sacred  and 
awful  darkness  might  seize  on  all  who  now 
read  the  Passion  history  !)  Not  a  few,  it  may 
be,  then  expected  that  something  more  would 
follow — his  coming  down  from  the  cross,  the 
revelation  of  his  kingly  power,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  enemies.  But  neither  punishment 
comes  to  them,  nor  help  to  him  :  the  darkness 
continues.  No  man  dares  to  go  away  ;  all  are 
I  laid  under  a  spell ;  others,  rather,  are  attracted 
to  the  place.  The  very  drops  of  blood  are 
heard  falling,  and  the  gentle  sighs  ;  all  listen  to 
the  cross  in  the  middle,  passing  by  the  lamen- 
tations of  the  other  crucified  one.^s,  and  the  mur- 
muring of  the  crowd  around.  Thus  we  paint 
the  scene  to  our  thoughis  ;  let  us  then  investi- 
gate the  significance  of  the  sign. 

It  has  a  manifold  meaning,  like  the  language 
of  God  generally  ;  but  there  is  one  interpreta- 
tion which  is  alone  perfect  and  true,  as  it  ia 
given  by  Christ  himself.  We  might  supple- 
ment the  warning  signification  which  has  been 
mentioned,  and  say  that  here  was  exhibited  the 
amazement  of  nature,  and,  as  it  were,  of  God, 
at  the  wickedness  of  the  crucifixion :  the  sun 
will  no  longer  shine  upon  the  scene.  Or  it  may 
be  put  as  in  the  apocryphal  account  of  Diony- 
sius  Areopagita,  who  said  in  Egypt  concerning 
this  darkness — "Either  the  Divinity  himself  ia 
suflTering,  or  sympa'hizes  with  one  who  suf- 
fers." Or,  as  Driiseke  expresses  him.self:  "Men 
strip  themselves  of  all  feeling,  and  sympathy 
passes  into  inanimate  nature,  when  the  Son  of 
God  dies."  Indeed  this  interpretation  of  the 
sympathy  of  nature  penetrates  the  reality  of  the 
matter,  and  corresponds  with  the  general  char- 
acter of  many  similar  miracles,  which  attest 
the  correspondence  between  the  material  ar- 
rangements of  the  world  and  the  doings  of 
mankind  and  the  Spirit.*  We  may  say,  fur- 
\kev,  that  when  created  nature  (the  inanimate 
image  of  a  hidden  spiritual  world)  hides  itself 
in  mourning,  there  is,  as  it  were,  a  veil  of  sor- 
row thrown  over  the  scene  which  now  first, 
from  this  hour  of  noon,  was  going  on  to  its  full 
consummation  ;  the  silent  sign  cries  aloud  that 
here  is  exhibited  a  ^ar/^  mystery  of  the  divine 
counsel.  Hitherto  they  have  seen  the  Crucified 
— some  with  malicious  joy,  some  with  profound 
grief,  all  with  astonishment,  none  with  indif- 
ference ;  but  nov/  none  shall  see  what  remains 
lor  him  to  suffer,  what  no  mind  can  conceive. 
All  these  thoughts  have  their  truth  ;  but  they 
lead  us  finally  to  the  only  real  and  true  signi- 
fication of  the  darkness,  as  it  is  the  sympathiz- 
ing, teaching  symbol  and  image,  silent  but  speak- 
ing, concealing  yet  revealing,  of  the  internal 
darkening  of  his  soul  which  the  Lord  of  nature 
now   undergoes,   of  his  final   abandonment  by 


*  Krumraacher,  strangely  at  variance  with  his 
ordinary  poetical  vein,  has  no  toleration  for  "this 
poetical  view."  Yet  as  the  Vt  il  of  a  more  pro- 
found truth  it  is  very  obvious,  and  not  at  all  ia- 
consistem  with  a  deeper  interpretation. 


674 


FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


Ood*  If  at  first  this  sign  from  God  was  a 
consolation  to  the  sympathizing  hear'.s  below 
— soon  were  they  conscious  that  his  sufferings 
had  become  more  terrific  and  dark.  Yes,  verily, 
he  row  passes  through  the  last  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  amid  the  darkness  of  the 
judgment  of  God — not,  indeed,  in  the  pains  of 
the  eternal  condemnation  of  hell,  but  certainly 
under  the  judgment  of  grace. f  Deeper  dark- 
ness than  could  ever  overspread  the  outer 
world  fell  upon  his  soul,  when  he  cried  unto 
his  God — Thou  hast  brought  me  unto  the  dust 
of  death  (Psa.  xxii.  15). 

Three  hours  does  he  thus  hang  between 
heaven  and  earth.  Cast  out  from  earth  as  a 
curse,  and  not  yet  received  to  blessing  in 
heaven.  These  were  hours  the  full  meaning  of 
which  eternity  alone  will  disclose.  Jlno  long  ! 
was  the  language  of  his  spirit ;  IIiiw  long ! 
penetrates  forever  the  souls  of  all  who  are  his. 
Hark,  he  speaks — "becomes  the  interpreter  of 
this  darkness,  anil  tells  us  what  it  signifies" 
(Berl.  Blbel).  We  must  hear — but  only  Aea;' .? 
The  first  three  words  had  brought  out  for  our 
pure  consolation  the  fruits  of  redemption — 
Peace,  life,  love;  though  the  third  had  in  it  a 
tone  of  farewell  and  preparation  for  bitter 
death.  P)ut  now  the  midmost  of  the  seven 
words  (Matt,  and  Mark  record  on^y  this,  and  it 
is  the  only  one  which  is  witnessed  by  twj  wit- 
nesses) takes  us  into  the  heart  and  centre  of 
his  Passion  unto  death.  Ue  cried  icith  a  loud 
mice — with  the  infinite  power  of  most  internal 
pressure  of  spirit  he  cries  out  into  the  dark 
Leavens  above  him,  the  plain  and  intelligible 
words  of  lamentation  in  the  Psalm — Mi/  God, 
my  Ood,  tnhy  hast  thoufonaken  me  ? 

It  has  been  said  by  many  from  the  beginning 
(down  to  Kruramacher)  that  when  Jesus  ut- 
tered this  cry  of  anguish,  the  sun  had  already 
begun  to  shine  out  again ;  but  we  cannot  admit 
this  supposition.  Out  of  the  darkness  still 
present  within  him,  consequently  while  the 
darkness  still  continued  around  him,  Jesus  ut- 
tered his  cry — but  that  cry  of  itself  must  bring 
the  light  again. 

The  Evangelists  give  the  original  with  a 
translation — the  former,  indeed,  in  order  to 
make  intelligible  the  perversion  of  Eli  into 
Elias,  but  mainly  for  its  own  sake,  on  account 
of  the  sacredness  and  soleness  of  this  word — 
"as  if  <hey  were  unwilling  that  a  single  tone 
of  this  lamentation  should  be  lost."  We  do 
not  read  the  Hebrew  text,  but  as  mixed  with 
the  Chaldoe,  according  to  the  current  language 
of  the  time;  for  Jesus  appropriates  the  word 
to  himself,  and  it  was  provided  that  every  one 
should    understand  it.J     Hence    pay*  instead 

*  So  the  title  of  J.  And.  Schmid's  dissertation 
bespertks:  "De  labore  soils,  laborante  sole  jus- 
t.taj." 

t  Di  iiseke  suHsests  another  analogy  :  "  lie  died 
not  sradually;  his  suu  wcu:  down  at  once  iu  higli 
noon." 

%  Otherwise  the  sncred  original  text  of  Scripture 
was  familiar  to  the  Lord.     It  has  been  said  very 


of  3Ty>  as  the  Targumist  also  has  it.  (The 
reading  azabtani  in  the  Vulg.,  which  Luther 
followed,  is  a  correction  it  may  be  of  Jerome.) 
The  'EXooi  in  j\Iark  was  probably  Syricised  af- 
terwards instead  of  'llXei  or  'H,U'.  The  un- 
usual Voc.  fe)f,j'  in  Matthew  (Sept  elsewhere 
also  u  Seo'5,  see  however  Judg.  xvi.  28,  xxi.  3; 
Ezra  ix.  G),  will  bring  into  prominence  the 
specific  meaning  in  this  place;  as  also  the  put- 
ting ;/£  before  iyxaT£Xim<i  (deviating  Irom 
Sept.  and  ordinary  rule)  has  the  same  emphasis 
lor  its  reason.  Finally,  we  shall  speak  again 
about  ivavi  or  el,  zi,  Xdjiijiia,  Xaucx  or  Xtfuoi, 
Xs/iia.  These,  however,  are  trivialities ;  it  is 
now  above  all  important  that  we  should  bring 
clearly  before  our  minds  the  twenty-second 
Psalin,  in  the  language  of  which  the  Lord 
spoke. 

Let  this  be  read,  let  it  be  read  entire ;  but 
simply,  as  by  a  Christian,  who,  with  a  mind 
under  the  influence  of  Calvary,  would  read 
himself  if  possible  into  the  soul  of  Jesus — this 
will  do  more  than  all  the  commentaries  of  the 
learned.  Justice,  however,  must  be  done  to 
these  commentaries  and  their  objections;  and 
as  I  may  not  refer  all  my  readers  to  ray  own 
commentary  (of  which  I  retract  nothing  essen- 
tial) 1  will  endeavor  as  briefly  as  possible  to  set 
the  main  question  before  them.  It  may  be  as- 
sumed as  "scientifically  "  demonstrated  now 
that  the  psalm  as  a  prophecy  does  not  belong 
to  the  so-called  directly  Messianic  psalms,  in 
which  as  (in  Psa.  ex.  according  to  the  decision 
of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles)  the  prophet  con- 
sciously speaks  of,  or  introduces  as  speaking, 
the  future  Messiah  as  a  subject  distinguished 
from  himself — but  to  the  ti/pical Y)sa,lms.*  For 
such  delineations  of  external  and  internal  situ- 
ations could  not  be  dictated  by  the  Spirit  as 
hanging  in  the  air,  without  psychological  or 
historical  mediation  or  basis;  we  admit  of  no 
such  idea  of  inspiration  or  prophecy  as  would 
tolerate  or  require  this.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
to  be  asserted — as  is  charged  upon  typical  ex- 
egesis by  those  who  misunderstand  it — that 
therefore  the  contents  of  the  typical  word  do 
not  altogether  suit  the  fulfillment,  and  conse- 
quently that  between  the  expressions  which 
were  literally  fulfilled  much  remains  applicable 
to  David  alone.  The  matter  is  in  reality  (as  we 
once  more  assert)  true  in  an  inverse  way.  The 
typical  history  has  indeed  traits  which  do  not 
belong  to  the  tertiiim  comparationis ;  but,  in 
contradistinction  to  this,  it  is  the  very  charac- 
teristic of  a  prediction,  which  proceeds  from  a 
type  and  makes  the  history  of  the  time  its  sub- 


truly:  It  is  not  to  be  thought  that  Christ,  if  ho 
would  speak  willi  foreigners,  could  not  have  at 
once  spoken  their  toiiane;  and  was  he  not  per- 
fectly at  home  in  the  Scripture,  the  true  home  of 
his  S[)irit  1  To  this  also  we  mny  apply  John  vii. 
15.  Nevertheless  he  was  so  accustomed  to  »peak 
ihe  Sc.ipture,  not  as  a  scribe,  wiih  the  people  and 
to  the  people,  that  he  u:ters  it  in  the  same  man- 
ner in  his  own  most  solitary  anguish. 
*  Just  so  iu  opposition  Psa.  ii.  and  ex.,  and  lz% 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  46. 


675 


stratum,*  that  it  should  approximate  the  sym- 
bolically imperfect  element  to  the  foreseen  fultill- 
ment,  that  it  should  anticipate,  so  to  speak, 
and  exhibit  beforehand  the  particulars  of  that 
fulfillment,  and  thus  overpass  the  historical  re- 
ference. Thus,  while  it  says  nothing  but  what 
suits  the  fulfillment,  it  says  also  many  things 
which  only  in  that  fulfillment  unfold  the  fullest 
and  most  proper  sense  of  its  letter — much  that 
has  previoudy  only  a  very  preliminary  truLh.  If 
we  will  not  admit  that  the  prophetic  spirit 
foresaw  these  things  and  so  ordered  the  expres- 
sion that  their  fulfillment  in  Christ  first  actually 
fulfilLtl  them — then  assuredly  we  have  not 
only  no  mechanical,  unmediated  inspiration 
and  prophecy,  but  actually  none  at  all  left ; 
then  it  is  all  resolved  at  once  into  a  pre-form- 
ing  history  according  to  the  system  of  Hof- 
mann.f  But  we  think  that  the  Old  Testament 
manifests  every  where  a  design  on  the  part  ol 
the  prophetic  spirit  to  pass  beyond  the  situa- 
tion and  consciousness  of  the  prophesier,  which 
both  proves  and  discloses  itself  in  the  final 
coincidence  of  the  fulfilling  history.  This,  in 
relation  to  Psalm  xxii.,  is  something  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  absurd  notion  that  the  entire 
crucifixion,  and  all  its  attendant  circumstances, 
had  been  revealed  ti  David — a  notion  which 
could  spring  only  from  thorough  misunder- 
standing, and  is  of  CDurse  to  be  protested 
against.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  absurd 
to  say  that  David,  proceeding  hpm  his  own 
personal  experiences  and  dispositions,  is  led  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  language  was  upon  his 
lips,  further  onward  to  a  delineation  which,  on 
the  whole,  as  also  in  many  particulars,  n.^w  first 
liecnnes  fully  true,  TtXrjpovrai.  This  view, 
which  quite  correctly  "makes  David  speak  at 
once  and  not  speak,"  is  by  Umbreit's  brief 
protest  very  far  from  being  refuted.  We  should 
be  glad  to  have  one  decisive  instance  pointed 
out  of  the  obscurity  and  confusion  with  which 
the  figure  of  the  suffering  Redeemer  is  alleged 
to  be  invested  by  our  theory.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  are  prepared  almost  every  where  to 
show  that  the  great,  full  words,  taken  in  their 
true  literality,  have  only  a  shadowy  suitable- 
ness to  David;  •whereas  in  Christ,  as  in  their 
light,  they  shine  as  the  purest  truth,  and  prove 
themselves  to  have  been  but  the  shadow  of  this 
great  body.  This  would  be  a  "  magical  neces- 
sity to  predict  the  most  distant  things  and  the 
most  contingent  events,"  only  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  prophet's  "  individual  self-con- 


liii.  are  purely  objective  prophecies  of  the  person 
of  the  Coming  One. 

*  So  in  a  certain  degree  of  historical  writing  it- 
self, in  as  far  as  it  has  a  typico-prophetic  refer- 
ence in  its  self^ctions  and  exhibition — the  tase,  for 
instance,  of  Melchizedek. 

t  The  more  correct  formula  would  then  be, 
TozB  Savrsftov  iit\ijpo60rj  to  i)6rf  ndXat 
iteitXrjpoo/xevov — Then  became  true  once  more, 
that  which  was  then  already  said  or  done.  Thus 
the  "  fulfillmenT"  would  rather  be  the  recurring 


sciousness  must  be  altogether  extinguished  while 
he  thus  prophesies,"  which,  however,  we  by  no 
means  assert.  Apart  from  the  fact,  that  the 
individual  circumstances  here  in  question  are 
never  mere  "contingent  events,"  but  rather 
typico-historical  incorporations  of  general  ideas, 
like  every  thing  in  the  history  of  the  God-man, 
which  the  Scripture  specifies  either  in  narra- 
tive or  prophecy.  We  confidently  sav,  there- 
fore, and  without  violating  the  laws  of  thouQ;ht 
or  of  hislory,  the  same  thing  concerning  P.sa, 
xxii.  which  Umbreit  himself  asserts  concerning 
prophecy  as  a  whole.  Does  not  the  sorrowful 
form  of  the  sufferer  rise  before  us  out  of  the 
simplest  explanation  of  the  text?  If  Umbreit 
allows  Micah's  Bethlehem  and  the  ass  in  Zech- 
ariah  to  have  been  prophecies  literally  ful- 
filled (though  in  themselves  beyond  the  self- 
consciousness  of  both  those  prophets),  why  not 
also  the  mockery,  the  parting  of  the  garments, 
the  cleaving  of  the  tongue  to  the  jaws — yea, 
finally,  the  piercing  of  the  hands  and  the  feet, 
like  the  piercing  in  Zechariah  ? 

Christ  took  the  hegiiuiing  of  the  psalm  as  his 
cry  of  lamentation,  the  end  of  it  (as  we  shall 
see)  for  his  cry  of  victory.  Ver.  8  was  most 
literally  fulfilled  in  the  mouths  of  the  mockers. 
John  refers,  as  simply  as  sublimely,  not  merely 
to  the  parting  of  the  garments,  but  even  to  the 
casting  lots,  as  found  in  the  psalm,  ver.  19. 
Yet  we  do  not  attribute  to  him  any  such  "  ab- 
surd" notion  about  the  individual  circum- 
stances as  was  referred  to  above  ;  while  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  he  finds  this  «.s  an  individual 
circumstance  really  predicted.  The  whole  delin- 
eation in  vers.  12-18  of  the  psalm  is — even 
apart  from  the  difl[iculty  v/hich  modern  the- 
ology finds  in  the  -iX3  (by  the  Masora,  how- 
ever, correctly  though  in  ignorance  defended) 
— so  wonderfully  reproduced  in  the  scene  of 
Golgotha,  that  it  seems  as  if  we  were  reading  a 
history  of  it  written  beforehand.*  Verse  22  is 
not  only  realized  in  its  striking  expression 
"  brethren  "  in  John  xx.  17 ;  but  it  is  quoted 
by  apostolical  authority  in  Heb.  ii  11,  12,  as  a 
direct  prediction.  These  are  the  salient  points 
which  are  illustrated  and  explained  in  the  New 
Testament ;  but  the  whole  as  such,  apart  from 
individual  quotations,  leads  us  directly  to  the 
Messiah.  A  Holy  One  of  God  is  described  in 
conflict  and  victory ;  in  the  deepest  anguish 
and  ignominy  first,  then  in  the  highest  honor. 
In  David's  lifet  there  are  many  things  sin^ilar, 
on  which  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  soul  might 
base  the  prophecy  ;  but  we  seek  in  vain  for 
any  single  situation  in  his  life  which  would 
entirely  correspond.  (Even  1  Sam.  xxiii.  25 
26,  which  Hofmann  points  to,  will  certainly 
not  suffice.)  For  we  see  a  righteous  man  who, 
in  ver.  1  as  in  vers.  10,  11,  can  with  perfect 

*  Less :  "  One  could  almost  believe  Ui.a  a 
Christian  had  composed  the  psalm." 

f  To  make  the  psalm,  in  opposition  to  the  su- 
perscription, a  psalm  of  the  captivity  fwith  Um- 
breit), is  very  bold ;  and  even  were  it  [)ermissible, 
it  would  not"  fundamentally  help  the  matter. 


676 


FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


right  of  liis  own — without  any  trace  of  per-  ! 
sonal  sin  or  guilt— appeal  to  God,  as  his  God  ■ 
from  his  birth)-  who,  nevertlieless,  forsaken  by 
Wiis  God  as  to  his  feeling  and  experience,  is  and 
remains  miserable,  finding  less  acceptance  for 
his  prayer  than  any  other  mortal  praying  in  ^ 
failh.     'Vers.  3-5*      A  reproach  of  men,  and  j 
despised  of  the  people  ;  not  only  threatened  by  i 
rauing   enemies,   but    internally  broken    and 
poure'i  out  like  water;  brought  by  the  dark 
counsel  of  God  into  the  dust  of  death  ;  that  is,  . 
abandoned   to   certain   death,  beholding  him-  , 
self  already  as  dying,  and  his  enemies  already 
dividing  his  garments.!     Where  and  when  did 
all  this  befall  David?     As  to  him  it  was  hyper- 
bole, to  which  the  Spirit  impelled  him,  but  on  j 
Calvary  it  became  the  simplest  truth.     So  also  i 
in  the  second  part ;  where,  not  iiif^rely  (as  Hof-  i 
mann  lowers  its  meaning)  "  the  concealed  sun  i 
of  the  resurrection  shines  through  its  clouds,"  i 
but  the  victory  is  as  glorious   as  the  conflict  j 
was  gloomy  and  dark.     The  anguish  of  death  , 
is  followed '(and  it  is  the  amicer  to  the  why)  by 
a  declaration  and   glorifying  of   the  name  of 
God,  a  salvation  for  all  the  miserable  far  and 
wide,  to  the  ends  of  the  world,  and  among  all 
the  kindreds  of  the  nations,  by  means  of  which 
tlie  hearts  of  the  comforted  live  forever,  others  | 
Iving  in  the  dust  of  death  are  lilted  up,  and  \ 
the  people  that  shall  be  born  are  made  par-  j 
lakers  of    his  righteousness — and  all  through  I 
the  full   accomplishment  of  salvation   in   this  j 
One  Sufferer,  who   hath  "  done  this."     What  j 
deliverance  of  David  ever  had,  or  ever  could 
have,  such  results  ?     Are  we  not  involuntarily 
compelled  to  think  of  Isa.  liii.?     Could  David 
have  conceived  and  uttered  all  this  without  an 
elevation    beyond  himself;    even   while  lesser 
analogips  in  his  own  history  might  make  him 
susceptible,  and   prepare  him  for  such  contem- 
l)lalions? 

Thus,  all  as  it  is  here  predicted,  has  indeed, 
its  root  m  the  experiences  of  Old- Testament 
saints,  especially  David,  who  was  also  an 
anointed  of  God  passing  through  shame  and 
suH'cring;  and  the  prophetic  word  which  had 
its  goal  in  Christ  grows  up  and  takes  its  form, 
here  as  every  where,  from  the  Old-Testament, 
human,  life  in  God — nevertheless  it  has  its  full 


*  Fur  lliis  is  by  no  means,  as  Hengstenbt ro 
lliinks,  "  :i.  (leinoiistra'.ioii,  liow  utterly  abnormal 
such  an  al)aii(loi)meiit  tMiild  he, '  a  rpasori  Jor  the 
prayer  foi'  help — Iml  in  veis.  6-15  the  contrast  ol 
actual  al:aii(loinnent  lollows,  which  by  vers.  1-3 
pipcedinii  would  be  exliibilPil  all  the  more  stroiijjly 
ami  allectMigiy.     From  pim  ii>  vo:-.  1,  down  to 

nnX  ^bH}  ^'^i"-  10,  there  is  nothing  1ml  pure  de- 
scription and  complaint,  elevated  by  the  contrast 
iiicliulcd.     In  ver.  11  lliere  is  a  gentle  pmri-^x: 

Iml  not  till  after  ver.  18  is  there  full  treedom  of 
hiil)i)Iicali()n. 

■  Kveii  Paulus  admits  that  this  parting  of  the 
raimeiil  was  not  trui>  of  David,  without  hypei  bole. 
BuL  there  is  much  more  of  such  hyperbole  in  the 
poa.m — all  simple  truth,  however,  in  Clirisl. 


and  perfect  truth  only  in  Christ.  So  especially 
and  most  properly  with  regard  to  the  cry  of  an- 
guish in  the  beginning,  which  Christ  makes  his 
own,  and  thereby  teaches  us  that  he  fully  dis- 
cerned himself  in  this  psalm.  Umbreit  says 
correctly  that  "  beyond  this  there  can  be  no 
expression  of  human  distress;"  for  it  certainly 
has  nothing  to  do  with  despair,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  it  breathes  the  supremest  faith.  To 
be  forsaken  of  God — does  indeed  sound  dark 
enough  :  such  language  we  use  either  (in  an- 
other sense)  touching  consummate  wickedness, 
or  (as  it  is  here  meant)  touching  the  deepest 
misery.  When  mortal  man  appeals  to  God, 
Forsake  me  not!  or  at  most.  Hast  thou, canst  thou 
then  have,  forsaken  me? — this  speaks  of  deep 
distress  and  anguish.  But  here  is  the  rigid 
and  actual  ^JnaiVj  Thou  hast  foi-saJcen,  as  re- 
spects the  complainant's  feeling  and  experience ; 
because  hearing, consolation,  help  and  strength- 
ening are,  notwithstanding  all  the  cries  of  his 
soul,~'far  off — nevertheless,  and  this  is  the  mar- 
v»'llou3  counterpart,  nevertheless  he  speaks  of 
this  to  his  God,  speaks  to  him  with  the  most 
confidential  and  penetrating  tJwu.  Even  there 
where  we  read,  I'htm  hringest  me  to  the  dust  of 
death.  Yea,  he  asks  his  God  like  a  son,  in  the 
boldness  of  his  complaints,  the  why  of  hia 
abandonment. 

One  after  another  has  repeated  the  thought 
that  Christ  Jiad  the  entire  psalm  in  his  view, 
and  consequently  also  the  consolations  which 
occur  afterwards  ;  and  that  it  was  his  purpose 
to  utter  and  pray  through  the  whole  for  the 
encouragement  of  his  soul,  as  we  use  hymns 
and  Scripture  in  our  sorrows,  but  that  he  could 
not  in  his  exhaustion  go  bevond  the  commence- 
ment of  it.  The  excellent  Braune  (who  cannot 
always  shake  oft'  Schleiermacher)  speaks  with 
unpardonable  boldness :  "  After  the  loudly- 
uttered  first  words  of  the  psalm  he  certainly 
prayed  through  the  whole  of  it,  or  the  whole 
was  present  to  his  soul."  How  then  in  that  cise 
could  the  beginning  of  it  have  been  a  truth  in 
his  lips?  How  unseemly  such  a  use  of  Sc^-iptnre 
now  upon  the  cross  1  How  psychologically 
inconceivable  is  the  present  consciousness  of  an 
entire  long  psalm  in  that  conflict  which  the 
soul  of  the  world's  Redeemer  is  now  sustain- 
ing I  We  must  protest  against  such  views  as 
altogether  false,  inasmuch  as  they  lose  sight  o( 
the  real  fulfillment  of  that  mystery  of  profound 
anguish  of  spirit  which  the  psalm  itself  pre- 
dicts. The  Lord  thinks  indeed  of  that  psalm 
which  he  had  often  contemplated  before  as  a 
prophecy  of  himself;  he  will  not,  however, 
pray  through  the  entire  psalm  for  his  invigora- 
tion  ;  but  the  Spirit  brings  to  his  thought,  at 
the  crisis  to  which  it  belonged,  the  word  with 
which  it  commences — in  that  ho  finds  hia  con- 
solation bound  up  with  the  expression  of  an- 
guish, and  needs  no  more  to  pray  or  lament. 
Braune  (with  Schleiermacher  and  many)  lays 
Loo  mivh  emphasis,  because  a  one-sided  em- 
phasis, upon  our  Lord's  speaking  in  the  worda 
of  the   p^ulni  ;  he  would  prematurely  occupy 


il.ATHEW  XXVII.  46. 


677 


tlie  Lord's  mind  "'">'  )l.s  wbs<rqte>it  hop,>  n-nd 
joy  of  the  psalm,  k:^sC)i'e  vlie  -'i>c"(>  of  laMftiiU- 
tion  was  uttered  ;  ai.A  t!n^  e-s<Ji.-ialIy  f^ivj  \.r> 
the  profound  meaning  of  th^t  woid  in  itself-"^ 

Thus  much  is  true:  The  divine  counssl  W. 
Scripture  so  ordered  it  that,  as  the  mockery  of 
the  blasphemer,  so  also  the  lamentation  of  the 
sufferer  before  Israel  and  the  world,  should  be 
only  the  fiOfillment  of  what  was  appointed; 
that  his  anguish  should  only  precede  his  vic- 
tory— but  ihat  was  a  consequence  which  Jesus 
at  the  moment  could  not  and  did  not  think  of 
Thus  much  is  also  true :  The  word  of  the 
Scripture  presents  to  him  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment the  expression  at  once  of  disniay  and 
trust,  as  both  were  struggling  together  in  him; 
and  he  seizes  it  as  a  rod  and  staff,  for  to  such 
an  end  was  it  written  for  him.  But  that 
implies  that  he  did  not  at  once  contemplate  in 
his  mind  the  whole  subsequent  consolation  of 
the  psalm.  For  he  does  not  take  the  Scripture 
here  into  his  moulh  as  an  objective  word,  after 
our  own  manner ;  but  enters  into  it  wholly,  is 
as  it  were  one  with  it,  and  it  becomes  living  in 
him,  he  lives  it  out.  Finally,  it  is  also  true 
that  the  Lord  could  not  thus  speak,  could  not 
mourn  over  the  abandonment  of  God,  out  of  a 
feeling  absolutely  and  originally  his  own,  and 
as  using  a  word  self-originated  in  his  own  con- 
sciousness. It  is  so  far  a  strange  word  to  him, 
a  word  which  grew  out  of  the  sufferings  of 
humanity  before  him;  and,  as  a  prophecy  in 
these  sufferings,  prepared  lor  himself  tor  a  wit- 
ness that  he  now,  as  the  Son  of  Man,  "  the 
afflicted,  tested  Righ'eous  One  in  the  midst  of 
the  unrighteous"  suffers  and  laments.  If  we 
strive  to  imagine  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh 
now  first  forming  for  himself  this  cry  of  pro- 
foundest  anguish  as  his  own  personal  word,  we 
shall  feel  how  inappropriate,  yea,  how  impos- 
sible it  is.  Bui  he  did  nevertheless  perfectly 
approj>riate  the  word  of  the  psalm  ;  rather,  it 
.had  such  a  truth  in  his  heart  and  upon  his  lips, 
as  it  never  had  before  and  never  will  again  have ; 
it  perfectly  expressed  his  meaning  and  his  condi- 
tion. Had  it  not  been  so,  there  would  have  been 
no  prophecy  fulfilled;  yea,  then  he  would  not  have 
said  it.  He  utters  it  openly,  he  withholds  it  not, 
when  it  was  given  to  his  thought  by  his  God, 
for  all  is  now  the  most  hidden  converse  with 
his  God.  He  thinks  of  no  testimony  to  those 
without;  the  loud  cry,]  forgetting  the  crowd 
around  as  if  it  existed  not,  is  the  involuntary 
expression  of  his  inmost  feeling.  But  it  was 
the  providential  ordinance  that  all  the  world 
should  know  what  was  passing  in  the  depths 
of  his  soul,  and  that  not  otherwise  than  as  it 
was  foretold. 

The  psalm  itself  shows  us  that  he  who  felt 


*  Equally  incorrect  is  Arndt :  "  He  asks  in  the 
introductory  word  of  Psa.  xxii.,  in  order  to  ex- 
hibit the  whole  psalm  as  fulfilled,  and  redemption 
as  accomplished."  If  thi.s  was  the  conscious  de- 
sign of  Jesus,  wh->re  would  be  room  lor  the  aban- 
donment and  the  why  ?  ,^ 

■j-  What  a  trial  for  the  malefactor's  faith!' 


[  himself  forsaken  was  by  no  means  actually  for- 
saken ;    and  this   is  proved   by  the  very  first 

J  word  of  t!ie  prayer,  for  he  who  can  speak  to  God 
^nusthave  Oodioithhim*  From  this  therefore 
^?p  proceed  in  our  whole  exposition.  First  of 
ail.  we  hold  fast  that  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God 
cju^a  rever  be  forsaken  by  his  Father ;  and 
thij  ^3  expressly  testified  in  John  xvi.  32. 
Sooi.ei  tray  heaven  and  earth  be  torn  asunder. 
the  ii.'ia^ure  be  dissolved  and  separated  from 
its  fauQ.Mi.ental  principle,  than  the  Father  be 
separatoQ  fi.">n.^  the  Son,  that  is,  God  irom  him- 
self. Only  llitsa  who  forsake  God  are  forsaken 
of  hira  (2  C:h.ro.^.  xii.  5,  xv.  2,  xxiv.  20).  He 
who  ]amei:ts>  ui  fh's  "  forsaken  me,"  who  feels 
himself  thus  fart,at-en,  is  the  same  Son  of  Man 
who  said  in  Gotlisen;ar<e,  Not  as  I  will ;  that  is, 
as  man,  by  meand  ol  tbe  xpvipii  Hiiding)  of 
the  divine  in  him  he  is  now  left  to  nis  human 
weakness.  The  coiifiict  ot  Qethsemane  is  here 
heightened  and  fulfilieu.  There,  it  was  the 
conflict  of  the  human  u>i:(:  but  still  in  the 
clear  consciousness  of  fwe  Spirit  triumphing 
over  the  fle-h.  Here  there  appears  even  a 
struggle  of  the  human  consciouf>ne»s,  an  actual 
obscuration  of  the  light  of  thtr  Spirit  in  the 
laboring  soul — laboring  indeed  Orily  through 
tlie  concealed  spirit.  There  the  Lo^-d  came  to 
the  bounds  of  obedience;  a  certain  not  willing 
was  present,  which,  however,  retreated  before 
obedience.  Here,  the  hardest  and  profoundesfc 
temptation  drives  him  to  the  bounds  oi  faith  ; 
a  certain  not  trusting,  and  thus  not  knowing, 
is  present,  but  firm  faith  proves  and  glori- 
fies itself  even  in  this.  Adam  forsook  God, 
though  God  had  not  forsaken  him  ;  Christ  feel- 
ing himself  forsaken  of  God,  nevertheless  leaves 
not  God,  and  thus  becomes — our  God  with  us. 
Assuredly,  for  a  moment  (at  this  extreme  end 
of  the  three  hours,  not  during  the  whole  of 
these  hours,  for  in  every  temptation  of  our 
Lord  the  transition  at  its  limits  must  suddenly 
come) — in  the  strictest  sense  for  a  moment 
Jesus  knew  not  that  for  which  his  why  must 
ask,  felt  no  longer  the  nearness  of  his  God, 
whom  he  therefore  calls  for  in  the  deepest  lam- 
entation. This  was,  on  the  one  hand,  a  volun- 
tary severance,  caused  by  love,  of  the  love 
manifesting  itself  in  time  from  the  eternal  love, 
as  Ebrard  expresses  it.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  the  demonstra- 
tion and  perfect  work  of  the  same  love,  which 
must  and  which  will  sink  entirely  into  oneness 
with  humanity — into  the  doom  and  judgment 
of  humanity  even  to  death,  the  wages  of  sin. 
In  Gethsemane  the  cup  of  death  was  brought 
near  to  him  ;  and  the  scent,  as  it  were,  of  its 
first  drops  excited  in  him  the  recoil  from  the  full 
drinking,  which  he  tasted  beforehand  in  spirit. 
Here,  he  has  fully  drunk  it,  he  has  actually  as 
God-man  in  his  humanity  tasted  and  experi- 
enced death;  he  is  seized  by  it,  though  he  was 


*  "  Thus  the  words  express  tlie  contradiction 
between  his  person  and  bis  position,  wb  n  he  en- 
tered this  hour— internal  fellowship  with  God  and 
i.baudonment  by  God  "  (Schmieder). 


678 


FOURTH  V.'ORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


not,  and  could  not  be,  holden  of  it  (Acts  ii.  24). 
He  then  spoke  relatively  with  composure,  in 
submission  to  his  Almighty  F<iihf:r  ;  but  here 
he  cries  as  if  utterly  sinking  to  his  God.  If 
we  should  imagine  to  ourselves  that  within 
him,  in  his  inmost  soul,  there  was  light  amid 
all  this  ob.?curation — the  word  of  his  lamen- 
tation would  contradict  us. 

Only  the  material  substratum  of  his  Passion, 
in  the  unity  and  mutual  interpenetration  of 
body  and  soul  which  was  perfect  in  him,  was  the 
corporeal  suffering  which  Psa.  xxii.  14,  15,  de- 
scribes— the  pouring  out  of  all  his  strength,  the 
drying  up  of  the  sap  of  life,  the  fever  of  wounds, 
thirst  such  as  all  the  dying  feel,  possibly  even 
(for  why  not  even  that?)  recurring  variations 
of  fainting  which  would  swallow  up  all  con- 
sciousness. But  under  all  was  the  suffering  of 
the  sacred  soul,  internally  lull  of  the  energy 
of  life,  which  was  conscious  of  death  for  the 
sake  of  sin  as  the  doom  of  human  nature,  and 
which  he  tasted  as  essential  death  invading 
the  most  essential  life.  (He  felt  again  what 
was  said  of  this  upon  Gethsemane.)  This  was 
now  his  real  dying  ;  the  surrender  of  his  Spirit 
to  the  Father  was  already  tiie  victory  over 
death.  "  He  felt  the  death  of  humanity;  hu- 
manity came  in  his  iieart  to  the  perfect  feeling 
of  its  own  death  " — as  Lange  says.*  This  was, 
however,  not  merely  the  pang  of  bodily  disso- 
lution, but  the  feeling  of  the  dying  soul.  Still 
less  was  it  any  thing  like  a  declining  to  die — 
Must  1  thus  actually  die?  (as  if  he  at  tlie 
close  might  have  hoped  that  this  would  be  re- 
moved, as  he  had  prayed  in  Gethsemane) — but 
the  absolute  and  "  boundless  alienation"  from 
it  which  was  in  the  supremest  degree  natural 
to  Ais  life — Is  this  death?  Is  it  so  horrible? 
Is  the  light  and  life  of  God  utterly  no  longer 
in  it?  That  is  to  say,  death,  and  dn,  on  ac- 
count of  which  death  comes,  are  to  his  con- 
sciousness and  feeling  thus  wholly  and  insepa- 
rably bound  up  together,  as  we  found  it  at 
Gethsemane.  "  Sin  is  nothing  else  but  separa- 
tion from  God,  and  now  God  withdraws  indeed 
his  light  and  himself;  then  follows  darkness. 
With  the  sin,  which  Christ  now  bears  as  the 
sin-offering,  God  mingles  not  his  light  of  grace. 
This  is  the  fundamental  reason  of  the  darken- 
ing of  the  face  of  mercy  "  {Berlenb.  Bd>el).  Thus 
the  horror  of  death  assails  him,  inasmuch  as 
(without  positive,  personal  consciousness  of 
guilt)  the  death  which  he  accepted  for  the  sin 
of  others  is  regarded  by  him  as,  and  becomes 
to  him,  the— being  xcitliout  God.  What  a  feel- 
ing must  this  have  been  to  this  Holy  One,  in 
wliom  the  conKcioum^HS of  God  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  life  were,  as  in  the  case  of  no  other,  one  I 
The  saints  in  the  Old  Testament  describe  their 


*  Wlidse  thoroush  exposhion  of  the  Eli,  E'i, 
vAwh  \vp  can  almost  entirely  agree  with,  is  among 
the  mo.st  beautiful  parts  of  liis  t)o()k.  And  it  is 
an  illustrious  exnmple  that  may  all  the  more  pro- 
foundly seize  tlio  inmost  deplli  of  tlie  atoning  pas- 
sion, if  juristical  satisfaction  and  representative 
damuaiiou  is  given  up. 


relative  failing  of  heart,  and  darkening  of  t!i« 
(internal)  eyes,  as  the  hiding  of  God's  coun- 
tenance ;  but  Christ  is  in  dying  forsaken  of 
God  as  none  else  ever  was,  for  he  had  lived  in 
and  with  God  as  none  else  had  ever  lived. 

A  three-fold  oppression,  we  may  more  pre- 
cisely say,  now  breaks  in  upon  him.  The 
wickedness  of  human  nature  from  without, 
from  others— and  its  weakness  in  himself  (the 
higher  analogon  of  2  Chron.  xii.  5)  he  must  en- 
dure. Moreover,  Satan  comes  upon  him,  the 
king  of  terrors,  the  prince  of  death  ;  speaks  to 
him  lyingly  of  wrath  with  images  for  his  fan- 
tasy which  show  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  hell 
and  their  horrors — he  «ee,9  nothing  around  and 
before  him  but  -|Qpp  TK^y  nly-J  (Psa.  xl.  12), 

sufferings  and  sins  inseparably  interwoven ; 
for  in  his  sympathy  as  the  head  and  centre  of 
humanity  he  assuredly  feels  the  sins  of  the 
world  as  if  they  were  his  own  ('ninij;  in  the 

same  passage).  Finally,  his  own  heart  forsook 
him  (\3Ty  '3^),  that  is,  God  himself,  who  is 

the  heart  and  life  of  his  heart,  had  withdrawn 
himself.  This  is  the  truth  and  the  reality  of 
the  abandonment,  concerning  which  Bengel  re- 
marks :  "  He  does  not  only  say  that  he  was  de- 
livered by  God  to  the  will  of  men,  but  also 
that /row  God  him.'telf  he  suffered  something  un- 
^Uterable  to  us."  That  is,  he  suffered  nothing 
positive* — but  the  negative  keeping  silence, 
distance,  and  obscuration  of  the  Sonship  in 
him  by  means  of  which  he  could  say  Father; 
so  that  only  the  humanity  remained,  and  that 
no  longer  feels  the  consolation  of  God.  He 
who  had  just  comforted  the  malefactor  with 
the  promise  of  Paradise  now  ''  hangs  comfort- 
less." Thus  "  it  may  be  regarded  as  more  pos- 
sible before  God  that  the  "personally-assumed 
human  nature  of  Jesus  should  be  cut  off  from 
the  infi<nning  of  the  divine  love,  than  that  the 
wrath  of  God  should  be  severed  from  sin  with- 
out propitiation"  (Winckler).  Half  true, 
that  is,  true  in  the  first  clause ;  for  in  the 
second  we  must,  according  to  the  Scripture, 
snhsi\inie  death  ioT  ior  if  h.  "Heaven  hiaes  it- 
self— hell  alone  remains"  (Pape).  But  that 
hell  remains,  applies  (in  his  meaning),  as  a 
svmbolical  warning  pointing  to  eternal  dark- 
ness (Ecclus.  xvii.  21),  to  the  sinners  without ; 
in  Christ  remains  the  "my  God,"  even  though 
the  heavens  are  hidden.  This  is  death;  but 
the  death,  in  which  life  remaineth,  saves  us  from 
death,  and  obtains  for  us  life  again.  "  As  in 
the  beginning  of  ihe  creation  the  Lord  called 
the  light  out  of  the  darkness,  so  also  now  he 
calls  the  light  out  of  the  darkness  once  more ; 
he  calls  life  out  of  death. "| 


♦  Hence,  tiot,  Why  dost  thou  pour  thy  wrath 
upon  me,  thy  heloved  Son  1  Or.  raiher  without 
tvlii/,  as  that  theory  would  require,  and  wiiliout 
the  mij — "  God,  thou  condemiiest  me.  I  sink 
under  thy  wiaih." 

+  Ralzmann.  He  coes  on  to  draw  a  sna£:PStiTe 
parallel  in  the    7ta\iyyey£6ia  of  the  exterual 


MATTHEW  XXVII.  46. 


Now  let  it  be  carefully  observed  that  Christ 
nt  the  end  of  the  three  jiiixions  hours  first  sends 
«p  to  heaven  in  its  full  and  uttered  strength 
the  cry  of  anguish  which  ended  his  anguish — 
as  llif-  final  outbreak  of  an  anguish  which  had 
been  three  hours  restrained  and  secretly  gnaw- 
ing his  soul.     Although  it  is  the  most  oppi^^s- 
€ive  moment  of  supreme  abandonment  which 
urges  the  cry,  it  is  at  the  san;e  time  removed  | 
by" that  cry;  then   does  his  heart  find  room,! 
and  light  comes  back  to  his  eyes.     We  correct-  i 
ly   translate,    Why   hist   thou    forsaken   me  ?  j 
Bengel :  "In  the  past.     At  that  uionient  the  j 
abandonment  ceased,  and  presently  afterwards  j 
the  whole  Passion."     On  the  otlier  hand  he  is 
quite  wrong  when  he  says,  "  In  the  middle  and 
deepent  abandonment  he  was  silent ;"  for  it  is 
the   deepest  abandonmf  nt   which   breaks  forth  ' 
and  is  lost  in  the  cry  of  anguish.     During  three  j 
hours  of  deefiening  oppression  he  had  kept  si- \ 
ience  before  his  God — had.  not  murmured — had 
not  complained,  even  by  a  Jijjyw^  "  I  thirst" 
— had  not  cried,  Help  rael  but  had  restrained 
tiis  sorrow  and  waited  and  been  patient  to  the 
uttermost  extreme.     This  patience,  and  what  j 
he  suffered,  this  extremity,  mast  forever  be  to 
our  understanding  a  concealed   and  impene- 
trable mv-stery,  Jeanne  we  have  in  us  no  divine- 
hmnan  experience  of  sin  and  dedtk  in  their  con- 
nection^    That  word  ^3n3]yj  forsaken  me,  spoken 

still  in  the  darkness  by  Christ  to  God,  is  itself 
a  dark  abyss  ;  "  it  conceals  a  depth  in  which 
our  thoughts  are  lost."  For  it  is  that  "  perfect 
contradiction,"  proceeding  from  sin,  into  con- 
summate death,  as  it  first  reached  actual  reality 
on  the  cross  of  reconciliation.  "  In  the  height 
of  triumph  upon  the  throne  it  will  be  made 
plain  what  the  Mediator's  sorrow  was  on  the 
edge  of  the  abyss."  That  was  the  price  of  re- 
demption. For  however  dark  and  gloomy  the 
lamentation  of  dee2)est  anguish  may  sound  to  us 
in  this  word,  these  two  things  are  clear  to  us  as 
the  light  which  now  again  emerged  from  the 
darkness — that  this  word  is  not  an  outbreak  of 
unbelieving  despair  ;  and  that  Christ  suffered, 
as  holy,  so  also  2^''''^pdiatory ,  suli'ering^,  in  our 
room  and  stead,  tor  our  sin.  We  cannot  under- 
stand this  word  in  any  other  way;  it  gives 
direct  assurance  to  every  one  who  would  not 
empty  it  or  lay  it  aside  altogether,  that  Christ, 
in  order  to  perfect  in  his  person  the  work,  and 
himself  as  the  Redeemer,  suti'ered  death  in  a 
real  connection  with  sinful  humanity. 

Bat  the  tirst  abides  also  true :  he  never 
despaired  of  his  God  ;  consequently  he  suffered 
what  he  suffered  "  Jiof  as  a  punishment  (of 
himself)  in  his  consciousness,  not  as  a  judg- 

wovld.  "  Hence  when  the  Re.storer  waged  the 
coiittict  of  f'eath  upon  the  cross,  the  sun  was 
darkened  niid  the  earth  quaked;  as  a  symbol  ot 
that  which  will  take  place  at  the  end  of  tlie  world 
when  the  great  restoration  will  be  consummated." 
So  piesnant  and  lar-reaching  are  Gods  signs. 
Here  beloniis  Psa.  viii.  4  (according  to  Bengel's 
i-euiark  on  Matt.^xvii.  45);  for  the  new  world  has 
no  new  and  other  sun,  besides  Christ  himself. 


ment  upon  his  own  heart."  The  theology  which 
goes  so  far  as  to  assert  this,  has  always  most 
unwarrantably  overlooked  the  ELoi,  S'oi,  which 
belongs  to,  and  even  precedes,  the  forsaken 
me — the  unmoved  and  immovable  my  God.* 
He  trusted  in  God — this  ceases  not  now,  but 
reaches  its  perfection.  For  God  was  his  God 
from  his  mother's  womb,  Psa.  xxii.  9,  10  (which 
psalm-word  as  respects  Christ  has  its  deepest 
meaning  in  his  miraculous  and  sacred  birth,  to 
which  he  now  refers  back  in  his  second  birth  ofi 
death).  Verily,  he  did  not  take  his  farewell  of 
God  when  he  died  ;  but  he  in  death  fulfilled  his 
course  and  kept  the  faith.  If  not — who  can 
think  out  the  consequences  of  this,  as  relative- 
ly possible  in  his  humanity? 

In  this  my  God  he  utters,  and  he  alone  in  a  sole 
and  incomparable  sense,  the  neverthdess  of  the 
"nevertheless-psalm,"  Psa.  Ixxiii.  1-26.  The 
stiuggleand  transition  was  not,  indeed,  so  easy  aa 
Urabreit  expresses  it :  "  After  the  supplicatory 
invocation  had  passed,  like  a  breath  of  the  hu- 
manity from  his  divine  lips,  he  enters  into  the 
undisturbed  consciousness  of  his  unity  with  the 
Father,  and  perfect  rest  and  peace."  But  the 
"  my  God  "  belongs,  in  the  unity  of  the  mo- 
ment of  nnguish  with  the  peace,  itself  at  the 
same  time  to  the  amazement  of  the  lamentation 
— 3fy  God  hiith  forsaken  me!  Its  repeiitioii  ia 
at  first  a  repetition  of  the  anguish — as  in  the 
psalm  originally,  according  to  its  then  psycho- 
logical truth.  But  then  it  is  also,  since  the 
fulfillment  goes  beyond  the  meaning  of  the 
type,  a  repetition  of  the  victory,  surpassing  the 
only  once  bewailed  abandonment.  While  he 
thus  calls  upon  his  God,  he  finds  his  God  again. 
And  it  now  becomes  manifest  that  the  "for- 
saken" had  not  been  an  objective,  indeed  not 
an  altogether  subjective,  abandonment.  And 
so  far  as  the  whole  is  "  not  so  much  a  cry  of 
anguish,  as  rather  a  testimony  that  he  had 
t  broken  through  into  a  freedom  becoming  to 
his  mediatorial  office  "  (Piieger).  Even  in  thi.s 
quaking  of  the  earth,  the  rock  is  unmoved.  It 
is,  as  Lange  says,  "  a  marvellous  sacred  de- 
spair, which  is  one  with  the  supremest  trust." 

He  says  with  the  Psalmist,  who  from  the 
depths  of  his  own  personal  experience  had  a 
presentiment  of  the  suffering  Messiah  and  typi- 
tied  hira,  only  God  and  not  Father;  and  this  is 
of  great  importance.  Ncr.er  elsewhere  had  Christ 
spoken  thus  of  "  his  God  "  alone  :  comp.  John 
viii.  54,  XX.  17.  Only  God,  lor  now  the  man  in 
him  speaketh — nevertheless  ray  God,  with  a 
propriety  and  fulness  of  meaning  which  no 
other  could  arrogate  before  or  after  him;  for 
the  Holy  One  of  God  speaketh,  who  experienced 
this  abandonment  for  the  sake  of  sinners.  As- 
suredly there  is  a  profound  reason  here  why  he 
does  not  this  time  dare  to  utter  the  Father- 
name — but  God  is  not  before  him  in  such  fear- 

*  Strangely  enough  the  Pesh.  loses  this,  for  we 
find  a  mere  ^^X  t  and  we  could  almost  accept  the 
supposition  of  Grotius  that  it  was  a  corruption  of 
the  text  through  transposition  of  'pK, 


FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


ful  wrath  as  to  take  from  his  lips  ihe  "  my 
God."  On  the  one  hand,  that  is  certainly  true 
which  Winckler  delivers  on  Psa.  xxii".  4-6: 
"Thus  there  was  as  great  a  difference  between 
his  suff"ering  and  the  greatest  suffering  of  other 
saints,  as  there  is  between  a  worm  and  a  man  ;" 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  abides  equally  true 
that,  trodden  in  the  dust  of  death  as  a  writhing 
worm,  Christ  is  still  and  must  ever  be  Christ. 
Only  the  Sinless  One  can  in  his  own  person  say 
still  in  such  a  depth  Mi/  God;  we  only  in  him. 
That  right  of  humanity  before  the  time  of  Christ 
to  cry  unto  God  in  prayer,  which  has  been 
appealed  to* — that  which  in  Psa.  xxii.  5,  6,  is 
admitted — came  from  the  same  j'/'aos  which  was 
procured  here  in  the  fulness  of  time  by  Christ. 
His  lamentation — it  is  in  truth  the  lament  of 
humanity — had  been  uttered  a  thousand  times 
before  he  came,  probably  in  the  same  language. 
But,  the  prophetic  word  was  already  so  framed, 
that  with  full  personal  right  and  in  his  own 
power  no  man  can  ever  utter  the  same  'i5X ; 

and  this  expression  has  its  full  truth  only  in 
Christ. 

Consequently,  Christ  does  not  speak  in  the 
person  and  in  the  place  of  condemned  sinners, 
in  any  such  sense  as  the  rigid  theology  of 
satisfaction  teaches— but  teaches  without  mark- 
ing how  its  theory  is  here  reluted.  Those 
who  are  cast  out  with  the  devil  into  everlast- 
ing torment,  who  cry  to  the  mountains  and 
to  the  rocks  instead  of  to  God,  dare  not  and 
camwt  cry,  My  God  !  He  who  according  to 
the  mmmum  jus  is  at  last  and  finally  aban- 
doned of  God  knows  well  wherefore — and  has 
no  prayer  remaining,  because  no  God.  Yea, 
if  the  "  lohy  "  were  possible  in  hell,  it  would 
receive  as  the  perfeclion  of  daring  the  most 
awful  of  all  answers.  Thus  it  was  not  "the 
punishment  of  the  damned"  which  Christ 
suffered.  It  was  not,  lo  Theremin  preaches, 
"the  feeling  of  entire  and  decided  misery" 
which  this  word  from  the  cross  expressed ; 
for  can  he  be  entirely  and  definitively  miser- 
able who  can  yet  call  upon  his  God?t  If 
God  so  absolutely  forsakes  the  sinner  as  to 


*  Lange  borders  on  this  :  '•  The  great  tvhi/, 
wliich  is  permit;ed  to  the  miserable  race  of  man 
aiider  God's  rule."  Certainly  it  is,  but  only 
tlirou2l>  grace;  and  it  is  not  permitted  to  the 
damned. 

f  It  is,  moreover,  one  of  those  tmimasinable 
things  wliicli  so  often  occur  in  dogmatic  systems, 
fliat  Christ  could  have  endured  in  a  short  space,  by 
nienns  of  liis  indwelling  divine  power,  the  whole 
torment  of  hell ;  and  as  an  infinite  person  all  the 
wrath  of  Go  1,  for  the  endurance  of  which  the 
lamni-d  require  eternity.  Tiiis  self-contnidicting 
uution  contradicts  atho  the  testimony  of  Christ, 
and  nnis'  as-ume,  to  be  intel  i2il)ie  at  all,  that 
d  ".spair  is  not  of  itself  an  essenti;d  element  of 
damnation.  Thou^ii  Lnilior  maintained  that 
"Christ  suffered  the  fe.ir  and  l)Oiror  of  a  tortured 
eonscievcc,  and  tasted  rtcnwl  wr.Xh'' — it  is  never- 
theless a  sentence  contrary  to  fact,  reason,  and 
d<;ripturc. 


leave  him  to  himself  as  nothing  but  a  sinner, 
then  there  remains  only  despair  and  severance 
from  God.  But  since  God  forsook  Christ,  and 
yet  forsook  him  not,  he  remains  the  Man  in 
God,  who  retains  God  for  himself,  and  recovers 
him  for  us.*  Here  ia  a  greater  than  Moses, 
whose  countenance  ihone  when  he  came  out  of 
the  darkness,  in  the  midst  of  which  was  God 
(Exod.  XX.  21,  xxxiv.  29). 

Thus  the  ichy,  in  its  only  meaning  as  re- 
gards Christ,  is  grounded  upon  the  my,  and 
such  a  why  Christ  alone  can  ask.  Hengsten- 
berg  says  quite  correctly  :  "  Every  one  is  justi- 
fied in  asking  this  why,  who  has  a  right  to  call 
God  his  God,  notwithstanding  his  manifold 
sins  of  infirmity " — but  whence  came,  and 
whence  to  this  day  comes,  this  right  of  a  sinner, 
but  from  the  righteousness  imparted  by  the 
grace  of  God,  that  righteousness  which  Christ 
has  here  in  himself?  His  fi  ial  questioning  of 
the  government,  this  awful  moment  inexpli- 
cable to  him,  of  the  God  who  forsakes  him,  and 
yet  is  ever  with  and  in  hira,  forms  a  remarkable 
counterpart  and  contrast,  in  its  infinitely  sub- 
limer  and  fuller  truth,  with  his  parents'  ques- 
ing  of  their  holy  child,  who  had  never  done 
any  thing  aronov  (amiss) — Why  hast  tliou 
done  this  unto  us?  This  "why"  is  something 
quite  different  from  a  questioning  in  donht,  Art 
thou  then  (or  no  longer)  my  God  ?  That  is  an 
impossibility.  His  lamentation  has  nothing  to 
do  with  any  defiance  or  despair  of  hell,  as  if  he 
had  been  oppressed  or  swollowed  up  of  it. 
But,  it  is  itself  the  victory  oi  prayer,  the  finding 
in  the  seeking;  and  the  question  brings  its 
answer  at  once  with  it. 

Thus  wrath — not  actual,  but  represented  to 
him  by  Satan — is  lost  in  love,  and  death  in 
life.  "  There  is  no  fellowship  between  God  and 
sin,  hut  Christ  comes  betwren."  Most  beauti- 
fully, though  not  in  theological  style,  Lange 
says  :  "  In'Christ  the  consciousness  ot  divinity 
itselff  touches  the  consciousness  of  death.  The 
heart  of  God  feels  the  breath  of  death  in  that 
dying  heart  which  is  the  centre  of  humanity: 
but  thereby  death  dies  in  the  heart  of  God." 
Now  we  tremble  not ;  but  if  we  fall  into  des- 
pondency, this  is  our  strength  and  our  consola- 
tion, that  he  also  was  amazed  but  did  not  fall 
into  despair. 

The  STipture  was  his  stay  and  consolation 
throughout  those  all-decisive  last  moments, 
when  the  salvation  of  the  world  was  in  the 
balance  :  he  seized  it  as  the  prophesied  word  of 
Scripture,  and  by  no  such  unconscious  coinci- 
dence as  the  mockers  spoke,  Psa.  xxii.  8.  He  nouf 
brings  to  his  mind  (not  before)  the  whole  psalm, 


*  "  lie  held  firm'y  to  God  and  retained  the  di- 
vinity of  his  lift',  at  the  t  me  when  in  his  unity 
with  mankinil,  and  in  his  huninn  f>plin<i,  tlm 
ft»eling  of  abandonment  by  God  amazed  him  " 
(Lange). 

f  For  it  was  this  which,  in  the  humanity  of  the 
God-mnn,  could  no  mre  lose  or  give  up  the  "  my 
Go  I  "  tlian  its  own  unity  with  the  Father  and  iho 
Sou  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 


JOHN  XIX.  28. 


681- 


HTi(i  its  exit  in  glory;  nence  immediately  the 
"I  thirst"  in  the  consciousness  ot  the  fulfill- 
ment of  a!l  Scripture.  Why?  he  had  asked. 
This,  according  to  the  meaning^  of  the  psalm 
(where  nO?  is  equivalent  to  Hisi';  certainly  in- 
quires first  into  the  reason— Cur  ?  quare?  qitam 
ob  rem  ?  and  Matt,  expresses  this  with  the 
8ept.*  in  his  ii'arL  But  lilark  embraces  the 
otiier  side,  connected  indeed  with  the  former, 
where  he  points  forward  to  the  design,  and  says 
«/S  ^^',  as   if  it  had  been  HDp  (to  what  end)  ; 

hence  the  readings  KTjftd,  Xe/id,  Vulg.  lemn, 
both  in  Matt,  and  Mark.  In  both  senses,  but 
pressing  on  the  latter  which  discloses  the  rea- 
son in  the  end,  the  ansicer  of  the  Father  is  re- 
vealed to  Christ,  as  he  himself  declares  it  in  the 


I  two  following  words — In  order  to  finish  and 
fulfill  that  for  which  thy  soul  thirsieth.  When 
Christ  in  Gethsemane  was  clearly  conscious  of 
the  other  will  of  his  I,  he  says  concerning  it — 
Not  as  I  icilL    When  upon  Calvary  he  cries  out 

j  the  question.  Why  ? — ne  also  gives  the  answer. 
Thus  did  his  cry  in  its  victorious  power  rend 
the  veil  of  the  darkness  of  his  anguish.  At 
once  it  is  light  without  and  within  ;  and  the 
returning  light  is  the  victorious  sign  of  life  out 
of  death.  Without,  tliere  is  mockery  again — 
thus  the  sin  of  humanity  reveals  itself  also  in 
the  new  light  of  grace.  But  to  this  belongs 
the  following  word  of  our  Lord  :  which  will 
lead  us  to  consider  and  understand  the  perver- 
sion of  the  Ei  into  Elias,  and  the  potion  given 
him  to  drink. 


FIFTH  WOPvD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


(John  xix  28.) 


We  have  already  seen  that  "  after  this  "  can- 
not be  taken  as  expressing  an  immediate  se- 
quel to  ver.  26.  Ver.  30  allows  no  more  room 
for  the  Eoi,  Eloi ;  consequently  it  must,  with 
the  three  hours'  darkness,  come  before.  And  it 
must  belong  to  ver.  28  ;  for  it  is  impossible  to 
place  Ihe  word  to  Mary  and  John  immediately 
after  the  cry  of  anguish,  with  which  the  1 
lldrst  is  strictly  to  be  connected  in  its  order. 
The  sequence  of  the  seven  words,  which  is  so 
often  misapprehended,  has  a  sound  exegetical 
foundation  ;  although  a  spirit  of  contradiction 
•which  wilfully  finds  fault  may  easily  suggest 
doubts.  The  first  has  its  uncontested  place  ; 
the  last  three  are  equally  obvious  in  their  con- 
nection. 'Only  the  second  and  third  may  admit 
of  doubt;  biit  the  connection  in  Luke  vers.  35- 
43  almost  decides  the  place  of  the  second  ;  and, 
moreover,  that  place  is  justified  and  commend- 
ed by  internal  eviden<;e.  To  the  thoughtful 
apprehension  the  Lord  must  deal  with  sinners 
(the  impenitent  and  the  penitent)  before  he 
comes  to  his  own  ;  and  further,  the  farting 
fiom  his  another  forms  the  fitting  transition 
to  the  deeper  anguish  of  his  soul.  It  is  his 
farewell  to  the  earthly  relationship  of  life  ge7i- 
erally,  the  final  preparation  and  detaching  of  his 
spirit  for  the  last  conflict.  If,  as  appears  to  be 
here  implied,  John  immediately  led  away  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  his  resuming  nerd  roCro, 
"  after  this,"  would  manifestly  refer  directly  to 
ver.  27,  and  mean — After  the  disciple  had  done 


»  S'^e  in  the  Sept.  Psa.  xHi.  5  (comp.  ver.  9 
Sxari) — P.sa.  iliii.  1,  xliv.  24,  25,  Ix.^iv.  1,  Ixxx. 
1.2,  etc. — also  for  na'^JJ?,  Numb.  xxa.  32.     Comp. 

in  the  New  Testatiient  Lr.ke  xiii.  7.  Thus  it  is  to 
be  resolved  into  zi  t6Tiv,  yeyovEv,  'iva — not, 
as  Battmaj^n  :  -daiuit  uvz<  /  ge^helie. 


this,  and  then  returned  again.*  Indeed,  we 
must  in  our  thoughts  place  the  /  thirst  imme- 
diately after  the  Eli ;  partly  because  the  vic- 
tory won  hurries  the  Lord  speedily  toward  the 
end,  and  partly  on  account  of  the  mockery  re- 
corded in  Matt,  and  Mark,  which  is  evidently 
connected  with  the  cry  heard  by  the  people. 
The  giving  to  drink  which  these  two  Evangel- 
ists relate  i?  assuredly  the  same  which  accord- 
ing to  John  was  preceded  by  the  declaration  of 
thirst;  and  that  Jesus  must  in  some  way  have 
given  utterance  to  his  being  athirst  glimmers 
(as  Ebrard  says)  through  the  narratives  even  of 
Matthew  and"  Mark. 

But  there  has  been  much  contention  about 
the  special  reference,  not  so  much  of  the  eiSoJi, 
•'knowing,"  as  of  the  '{va  teXricjOj},  "that 
might  be  accomplis!;ed."  It  is  at  first  plain  that 
the  "  Knowing  that  all  thiiiss  were  accom- 
plished— rereXeCrai  "  must  refer  pre-eminent- 
ly and  conclusively  to  the  rereledrat  uttered 
in  ver.  30.  This  is  the  general  sense  of  John's 
words  ;  but  we  cannot  on  that  account  admit 
that  this  consciousness  as  to  "  all  things  being 
fulfilled,"  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the 
raying,  "I  thirst"  which  comes  between.  So 
Ebrard  :  "  The  kno'wing,  etc.,  is  not  put  by 
John  between  '  when  he  had  received,'  and  he 
said  '  It  is  finished,'  simply  because  he  would 
show     that   both    fol.owed   in   immediate    se- 


*  On  the  re.idinss  ravra  and  iSoov  it  may  be 
remarked  that  ravza  might  be  a  gloss  aiming  to 
make  the  expression  a  more  general  postea,  and 
the  specific  meaning  of  rotTro  (which,  however,  is 
quite  plain  enoug'i  to  distinguish  it  from  ravra.) 
was  not  cle Illy  seen  ;  but  that  iSoov  does  not 
express  what  John  meant,  the  accompanying,  in- 
dwelling consciousness,  compare  chap,  xviii.  ^ 


682 


FIFTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


quence."  For  we  must  ask  with  what  con- 
sciousness and  for  what  reason  Jesus  first  de- 
clared his  thirst,  and  not  till  ailerwurds  uttered 
"  It  is  finished  ;"  that  is,  we  must  do  justice  to 
the  construction  of  "  that  the  Scripture  lui^'ht 
be  accomplished."  To  onr  mind  it  is  altogether 
inappropriate  to  refer  the  zV«,  "  that,"  preced- 
ed by  no  comma  (as  io  many  editions)  at  once 
backward  to  the  Ter£Xs6Tai,  "were  accom- 
plished"— Jesus  knew  in  liimself  that  all  was 
now  so  accomplished,  that  by  this  one  thing 
more  the  whole  Scripture  would  be  fnlfiUeei. 
Bengel,  indeed,  is  in  favor  of  this  :*  and  so  is 
Thoiuck,  comparing  chap.  xi.  4.  But  we  assert 
that  in  connection  with  the  rsreXedrat  this 
iva  would  be  superfluous  and  mere  tautology  ; 
indeed,  it  would  disturb  the  meaning  of  the 
TeXeidOcxt,  made  here  so  prominent.!  Thus 
"  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled  "  belongs 
here,  as  in  chap.  xiv.  ol  (let  this  parallel  be 
marked)  io  icliatfolkncs,  and  first  of  all  to  the  "  I 
thirst."  For,  in  John's  view,  even  such  exter- 
nal individual  circumstances  as  we  find  in  ver. 
24  belonged  to  the  accomplishment  of  Scrip- 
ture. But  now  comes  the  question,  finally, 
whether  'iva  TsAeicoO^  is  a  remark  of  the 
Evangelist  only  (as  in  ver.  24,  where  indeed  the 
soldiers  did  not  know  that  they  were  accom- 
plishing Scripture),  or  whether  the  Evangelist 
gives  it  as  the  conscious  design  of  Christ,  and 
thus  connects  it  with  the  A£>fi,  "  he  saith," 
There  are  many  important  voices  raised  in 
favor  of  the  former,  and  against  the  latter,  as 
being  unworthy.  Olshausen  says,  "  John  calls 
to  mind  that  even  this  exclamation  fulfilled  a 
prediction,  that  of  Psa.  Ixix.  21  ;"  but  that  the 
iya  is  not  to  be  referred  to  Christ,  "  as  if  his 
only  object  in  uttering  this  exclamation  was 
that  this  prediction  might  tlienhy  be  fulfilled." 
(The  "  only  object  "  is  quite  another  question. 
Certainly  it  was  not,  but  that  does  not  rem.ove 
the  accompanying  design  of  the  utterance.) 
Liicke  admits  that  the  'iva  is  dependent  upon 
the  Xeysiy  "  but  this  zVa  (he  says)  is  the  ex- 
pression of  John's  own  typological  views,  Jiot, 
of  the  Lord's  design."  And  afferwards,  "  Had 
the  Lord's  design  been  merely  to  fulfill  the 
passage  in  the  psalm  by  this  '  I  thirst,'  (y)ie 
would  not  Inoic  what  to  my."  We  shall,  by  per- 
mission, find  something  to  say  presently;  and 
meanwhile  simply  remark  that  a  typological 
thought  of  John,  that  is,  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
his  narrative,  and  therefore  finally  of"the  Lord's 
own  (revived  and  no  longer  oppressed)  con- 
sciousness, is  not  so  altogether  unworthy  as  to 
be  an  "  offence."  Lange,  however,  puts  it  most 
rigorously  :  "  That  the  Evangelist  does  not  say 
that  Je>>ns  spoke  this  word  with  a  design  only 
to  lulfill  the  Scripture  (again  this  captious  and 
needless  o«/y),  is  self-understood  to  every  unper- 


•  With  tlie  remark,  true  in  itself,  but  not  prov- 
ing Ilia  point,  "The  verb  TtXeat  is  applied  to 
thiiiiis,  teXeiuod  to  Holy  Scri|>luie." 

t  Olshausen  regards  the  retorenco  backward  to 
EiSoii  (ihouah  it  mi^ht  mtlier  be  regarded  as  to 
Uie  itiiXtdiaij  as  allogelher  uutcuable.. 


verted  mind.'''  Nevertheless,  we  feel  that  noth- 
ing IS  less  perverted  than  to  take  the  words 
'ii'a  and  Xryei  together* — as  would  be  obvioua 
to  every  reader  who  bad  not  been  persuaded  to 
take  offence  at  it — and  to  regani  the  simple 
meaning  then  given  as  perfectly  worthy  of  our 
Lord.  We  protest  against  the  consequence 
which  must  be  deduced  from  assuming  this 
alone  to  have  been  his  design — ^it  must  then  be 
supposed  that  Jesus,  according  to  the  Evangel- 
ist's view,  did  not  thirst  at  all,  and  that  it  v»ra3 
not  in  reality  his  desire  to  obtain  refreshment 
for  his  lips.  We  protest  also  against  bringing 
the  soldiers,  who  ignorantly  acted  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  into  comparison  with  the  Lord, 
who  by  the  liSoo'i,  "  knowing,"  is  distinguished 
from  them  in  this  matter,  and  perfectly  knew 
what  he  said  and  what  he  did.  But  we  m:ust 
not  regard  this  concentrated  and  summary  con- 
sciousness of  all  the  specialties  of  the  falfilledi 
Scripture  as  a  conscious  summing  np  of  all 
their  particulars  upon  the  cross — after  the  me- 
chanical manner  of  Richter's  JOibel  (preface): 
"  Thus  the  crucified  Redeemer  in  a  brief  space 
thought  over  the  whole  Scripture.  He  tested 
himself  whether  he  had  accomplished  all  that 
he  should  suffer;  but  he  tested  himself  by 
the  Scripture."  Even  tee  can  embrace  much  irs 
our  view  without  discursive  consideration  of 
particulars — how  much  more  Christ ! 

The  matter  to  our  conviction  stands  simply 
thus.  It  is  perfectly  self-evident  that  Jesus 
actually  thirsts,  and  that  he  confesses  this  in  a 
real  indirect  request.  But  to  this  we  must 
add,  that  he  declares  his  thirst,  not  merely  in 
recollection  of  Scripture,  as  Inowing  (which  is 
plainly  stated)  that  his  thirsting  and  drinking 
were  included  among  the  all  things  which  ac- 
cording to  that  Scripture  were  to  be  accom- 
plished, but  also  with  an  e-xpress  design  (shown 
by  the  'iva)  to  accomplish  that  Scripture.  Van 
Hengel  is  also  right  in  saying  that  Jesus  ut- 
tered the  exclamation  al>to  with  the  design  that 
by  the  moistening  of  his  mouth  his  weak  aind 
almost  expiring  breath  might  be  invigorated,, 
in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  utter  aloud 
his  consciousness  that  he  had  accomplished  all 
— or,  more  concisely,  that  this  refreshment  of 
his  lips  was  necessary  to  the  "  It  is  finished."" 
But  this  does  not  exclude  the  fact  that  it  was 
necessary  in  another  sense,  because  otherwise 
this  accomplishment  without  the  predicted 
"  receiving  of  drink  in  his  thirst"  would  not 
have  been  a  real  fulfillment  of  all  things.  Rie- 
ger  correctly  expresses  the  predominant  inter- 
pretation of  all  orthodox  expositors  (of  unper- 
verted  mind) :  "  The  invigorating  light;  entered 
his  inmost  soul,  and  he  saw  that  with  his  final 
thirst,  and  the  vinegar  given  him  to  drink,  all 
things  would  be  accomplished  which  beloag.e(i 


*  Ilofniann,  also  (Schriflh.  xi.  1,  208),  retracting; 
his  former  assertion,  admits  thai  iva  lielorigs  t» 
Xsyei,  and  even  nnke.s  this  an  evidence  of  the 
l)eitect  voluntariness  and  Ireedom  of  .■•pirit  with 
wliich  Jesus  surrendered  lii.s  lite.  But  LiUhardl 
caunot  accent  this  g.rauiuiaLical  cooiiiucliOJu. 


JOHN  XIX.  28. 


683 


to  the  falfillment  of  Scripture."  Arndt  preaches 
similarly  the  truth  .  "  This  exclamation  was 
the  exclamation  of  assurance  that  even  the 
greatest  sufferings  of  the  body  and  of  the  soul 
had  been  predicted  in  the  Old  Testament."  He 
knew — "  Now  is  all  almost  accomplished,  doicn 
to  this  one  Iking,"  as  Surenhusen  says,  "so  that 
nothing  more  remains,  besides  the  cup  being 
given  to  me  in  my  thirst."  Just  on  that  ac- 
count he  further  says,  it  is  i''ya  reXsiajOij  and 
not  lya  TcXrjfjGoQrj  if  ypacpr;  ("  accomplished," 
not  "fulfilled").  Yor  rtXetovv  means  to  bring 
to  an  end,  perfectly  to  fulfill ;  quite  parallel 
with  TEXedQiivai  and  teXo<;  £jti»',  Luke  xxii. 
37.  All  this  is  answer  enough  to  the  question 
raised  by  Hofmann— "In  what  connection  stands 
the  exclamation  I  third  with  his  knowing  that 
there  remained  nothing  more  for  him  to  do  in 
this  life?"*  We  answer  once  more  :  when  he 
no  longer  felt  himself  bound  to  suffer  silently 
and  unrefreshed,  when  he  called  to  mind  the 
permission,  nay,  the  appointment  of  a  final  re- 
freshment for  his  lips — he  thought  it  befitting 
to  utter  aloud  his  thirst.  Bu"t  the  assertion 
so  frequently  made,  that  the  torment  of  thirst 
alone  pressed  from  him  this  cry,  just  as  his 
anguish  had  extorted  the  Eloi,  is  incorrect  and 
most  unbecoming.!  I''or  it  forgets  that  he  has 
now  light  and  repose  in  the  midst  of  his  ex- 
tremity, as  the  remark  of  John  records  and 
proves.  Lampe  :  "  Nor  would  he  have  sought 
this  refreshment  had  he  not  known  that  this 
also  belonged  to  the  criteria  of  the  Messiah,  ac- 
cording to  the  prophets  ;  whence  arose  this  new 
motive — that  the  Scriptures  might  be  fulfilled." 
Well  would  it  be  if  some  of  our  moderns  would 
study  and  respect  old  Lampe  more,  instead  of 
being  scared  away  from  him  by  his  peculiari- 
ties. 

The  first  motive  was  the  thirst  itself,  and 
the  need  of  invigoration  in  order  to  be  able 
to  say,  "  It  is  finished ;"  the  second  was  full 
obedience  according  to  the  Scripture.  It  is 
from  this  obedience  that  the  humiliation  comes, 
in  perfect  harmony  ever  with  his  triumphing 
love,  in  which  he,  without  expressly  saying 
"  Give  me  to  drink,"  nevertheless  indirectly 
asks  his  enemies  for  this  refreshment.  Con- 
cerning this  humiliation,  as  the  first  and  most 
obvious  thing  which  the  word  itself  oflTers  to 
our  observation,  Lange  has  expressed  himself 
very  beautifully,  and  we  cannot  improve  his 
words :  "  Into  the  midst  of  the  circle  of  his 
rude  enemies  and  hard-hearted  watchers,  he 
utters  this  simple  word.  Not  pride  and  not 
resentment,  not  even  mistrust  seals  his  lips.J 


*  Weissagung  und  ErfuUuvg,  ii.  146. 

\  Luthardt's  explanation  seems  very  far-fetch- 
ed :  "  Tliat  it  might  be  seen  that  he  now  died  vol- 
untarily, Jesus  did  that  which  might  lead  others  to 
expect  someihing  different  fiom  dying,  that  which 
would  ten  1  to  the  prese  vation  of  lite — therefore  he 
said,  I  thirst."     Let  the  reader's  feeling  decide. 

X  But  the  quelilion  whether  he  might,  whether  he 
ought  not,  according  to  God's  counsel,  to  sutler  all 


The  first  word  which  he  utters,  in  his  present 
perfect  consciousness  that  he  would  henceforth 
be  the  king  upon  a  throne  of  grace,  was  a  sup- 
plicating request,  like  the  word  of  a  mendicant. 
No  resentment  restrains  him  ;  although  these 
men  had  already  wished  in  scorn  and  mockery 
to  give  him  drink,  and  are  representatives 
of  a  world  whicii  would  have  given  him  I  he 
dimi.ssing  potion  of  vinegar  and  gall.  The 
most  severe  tension  of  restraint,  which  his  long 
silence  toward  these  men  had  necessarily  in- 
volved, is  now  over.*  He  not  only  can,  but  he 
must  now  show  them  once  more  the  full  divine 
simplicity  of  his  love — in  the  form  of  so  hum- 
ble a  complaint.!  But,  what  must  appear 
most  eminently  great  in  the  word  of  Jesus  ia, 
that  no  mistrust  withheld  him  from  confiding 
his  need  to  those  who  surrounded  him."  To 
this  last  point  we  must  demur.  True  and  beau- 
tiful as  the  observation  is,  in  one  point  of  view, 
that  the  Lord  exhibits  a  confidence  that  he 
would  find  some  love  and  compassion  even 
among  these  enemies  and  mockers — yet  there  are 
two  things  doubtful  connected  with  it.  First, 
we  ought  not  to  press  the  extent  of  this. trust 
in  our  Lord's  request  so  far  as  to  say  (with 
Braune)  that  "  the  appeal  to  the  help  of  these 
enemies  demanded  a  victory  over  self  which 
was  not  so  strongly  expressed  even  in  the 
Father,  forgive  them — which  must  have  been 
the  hardest  of  all  to  a  human  heart."  For 
this  imparts  to  Christ's  "  humanity  "  an  im- 
pure element,  such  a  pride  toward  his  enemies, 
and  such  a  resentment  for  their  help,  as  could 
not  exist  in  him,  and  therefore  could  not  be 
overcome  or  renounced.  But,  secondly,  his 
trust,  in  its  real  principle,  was  not  reposed  in 
these  sinners,  from  whom  he  could  expect  no 
sympathy,  but  rather  persistent  cruelty  and 
scorn  ;  it  was  reposed  alone  in  his  God.  It 
was  not  a  "  faith  in  humanity  "  which  he  yet 
retains,  a  faith  in  some  remains  of  love  to 
which  redemption  might  attach — but  (so  strict- 
ly true  is  John)  a  consciousness  and  trust  that 
the  drink  must  be  given  to  him,  because  the 
Scripture  must  be  fulfilled.  As  in  Gethsemane 
an  angel  strengthened  him,  because  there  an 
angel  alone  could  ;  so  can  men  here  offer  him 
the  last  refreshment  (though  only  in  half-com- 
passion, mingled  with  scorn) — and  therefore  it 
was  so  appointed  and  predicted. 

But  the  Scripture  which  is  here  reforrrd  to 
without  being  cited,  is  not  Psa.  xxii.  15,  where 
the  first  is  described  (for  here  the  drinking  is 
concerned),  but  most  certainly  Psa.  Ixix.  21. 
In  this  psalm  too  the  suffering  righteous  man 
is  set  before  us  as  the  type  of  the  Messiah, 
fiartly  with  the  same  main  feataires  as  Psa. 
xxii.,  and  partly  with  some  peculiar  aspects; 
presenting,  namely,  profound   relations  of  this 


in  silence,  might  have  sealed  his  lips.  That  is  for- 
gotten here. 

*  That  is,  he  mny?ii>\,  because  the  Scripture  per- 
mits it. 

f  This  is  significantly  his  first  and  only  com- 
plaint of  bodily  pain. 


FJFTH  WORD  FKOM  THE  CROSS. 


684 


suffering  <o  the  present  imd  tlii  f'jdire,  justfiS 
P.sa.  xxii.  (in  the  firat  part;  onlera  into  the 
depth  01  the  siiflerin^  in  iLseif.  It  .8  a  i'jner* 
ing  without  cau-e  ot  personal  ortenoe  a^'iinst 
man  or  before  God  (ver^.  4,  b)—i  sjHerir.o 
ratlier  for  the  sfike  of  (lie  honor  aT.  1  tb?  house 
of  God  (vers.  7-'J),  lor  liie  deti?ive  is3u9  of 
which  all  k)ok',  who  duly  wiit  i.pon  Go],  vsr. 
6.  Thi3  decisive  issue  is  (l.-y  a  tu'ldta  (lansi- 
tion  at  ver.  21)  cet  forth  in  a  (wo- fold  way,  as 
the  confident  prophecy  of  the  complaimut  now 
surpassing  his  lamentation:  for  the  cnenr.es  a 
judgment  of  requital  breaks  in,  salvation  .ind 
deliverance  for  the  miserable  who  wait  :n  hope. 
Heng.steiiberg  oays  rightly  that  "among  uil 
the  psaitus  there  is  none,  besides  Psa.  xxii., 
which  is  so  ofleu  quoted  and  referred  to 
Christ :"  ihouglj  tins  is  saying  too  little,  for  the 
expiess  citationi  Irom  which  it  may  be  leckon- 
ed  are  more  numerous  by  fur  than  from  any 
oilier— .John  ii.  17,  xv.  25,  xix.  28,  29  ;  Acts  i. 
20;  Rorn.  xi.  9,  10,  xv.  3.  And  we  must  not 
(oraet  the  remarkable  specific  fulfillmeat  of 
ver.  8,  which  is  not  quoted. 

Verse  21  in  this  psalm  had  already  been  (ul- 
filled  'ipproximately  or  in  part,  when  they  ol- 
fered  Christ,  as  a  malefactor,  the  stupelying 
potion— but  he  did  not  receive  that  potion, 
and  the  fulfillment  therefore  yet  remains,  in 
which  the  *J^p*i:>',  "  they  gave  [would  give]  me 

— to  drink,"  actually  took  place.  John,  it  is 
true,  attaches  this  to  the  mention  of  the  (Junl 
in  ^aiO'i? — but  so  far  with  propriety,  as  the  ex- 
pression oHhe  (hirst,  which  was  responded  to 
by  the  |'Dn  (and  which  the  psalm  [ire-sup- 
poses), was  the  decisive  point.  It  is  easy  to 
answer  the  words  of  Strauss,  whose  perverted 
mind  thinks  that  "no  one  hanging  upon  the 
cross  in  the  agony  ot  death  would  go  off  with 
such  typological  play."  For,  first,  the  wonder- 
ful coincidence  between  the  prophetic  word 
and  the  most  specific  circumstances  of  the  sa- 
cred Passion  especially,  is  no  play,  but  the 
holy  earnest  oi  God,  for  the  conviction  of  such 
unbelievers  as  Strauss  and  his  confederates, 
wiienever  they  shafl  come  to  taith  in  prophecy 
and  its  lulfiUment  generally  And,  further. 
Christ  is  no  longer  in  the  agony  and  confiict 
ol  death  (as  Strauss  thinks,  simply  through 
willul  disbelief  of  John),  but  in  the  commenc- 
ing consciousness  of  fulfillment  and  the  liard- 
won  victory.  It  is  on  that  account  he  beholds 
so  clearly  this  individual  prediction,  at  the 
moment  when  it  was  to  be  fulfilled  ;  there  is 
no  playing,  but  the  most  sacred  earnestnes.s,  in 
his  di-claring  aloud  his  thirst  and  asking  drink, 
in  order  that  he,  down  to  the  last,  might  act 
according  to  tiie  light  and  guidance  of  the  fore- 
wrillen  word.  In  this  (to  contradict  Braune) 
"  He  does  not  make  himself  dependent  upon 
fortuitous  agreements,"  for  the  prophesied  in- 
timations are  not  fortuitous  to  him — "  he  lives 
in  the  precepts  and  the  will  of  his  God,"  for 
this  too  wa.s  written  in  the  Scripture  concern- 
ing him.  as  he  iiad  all  Lis  lile  testified,  and  is 


consistent  v/itli  it  in  death.  M<n^  r'vrsi-vtetift 
tliat  sucli  believing  expositors,  w:i«  are  con- 
tinually a^-cribing  to  their  Lord  and  K'^rt^' 
the  half-beiieviiig  views  ot  the  Old  Teslametv' 
v;liicli  they,  alas  !  entertain  lliemselves. 

Bot  it  is  now  time,  finally,  alter  these  ne 
cessary  preliminary  remarks  upon  the  ". 
thint"  which  Jesui  cried,  to  enter  more  deeply 
into  its  meaning  It  is  tlie  shorte.?t  of  the 
seven  words.  Tlie  parched  lips  of  the  sufferer 
can  scarcely  give  it  utterance,  for  the  loud  cry 
which  went  before  had  absoibed  all  his  power 
ot  i:,peech  ;  and  yet,  as  it  was  appointed,  so  it 
waB  r.ecesiary,  in  order  that,  being  strengthen- 
ed, ho  might  utter  his  last  two  words  of  vic- 
tory. It  proceeds  from  the  deepest  truth  and 
actuality  even  of  his  bodilv  necessity,  through 
which  he  who  called  all  who  were  athirst  to 
himsell,  the  fountain  ol  living  v/aters  (John 
vii.  37) — is  now  as  a  languishing  sufTerer  hum- 
bled. Since  the  last  Supper  he  had  eaten 
nothing,  and  yet  had  toiled  and  suffered  im- 
measurably both  in  body  and  soul.  Think  of  the 
exhaustion  of  the  bloody  sweat  at  the  very  be- 
ginning! His  present  thirst,  which  had  gone 
on  increasing  from  that  time,  is  likewise  m  his 
humanity  the  derangement  of  fever,  such  as 
the  dying  experience  generally,  and  (for  which 
Sepp  may  be  consulted)  the  crucjied  especially. 
Thus  it  is  {hecorporeal  analagon  and  substratum 
for  the  exhausting  abandonment  of  his  soul  ; 
and  tins  belongs  as  its  continuation  to  the  pre- 
ceding, from  winch  it  is  neverthless  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  return  which  it  exhibits  of 
his  repose  and  confidence.  Thirst,  it  is  well 
known,  is  keener  anguish  than  hunger,  having 
been  sometimes  used  in  the  application  of  tor- 
ture; and  so  far  the  last  temptation  on  the 
!  cross  IS  greater  than  the  first  m  the  wilderness. 
But  this'parallel  leads  us  to  something  further. 
As  then  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  concen- 
tration of  his  prayer  in  fasting  that  his  bodily 
need  came  back  to  his  feeling  and  conscious- 
ness— he  was  afterwards  an  hungered — so  here. 
In  the  wrestling  of  his  soul  with  Irs  withdraw- 
ing God  he  had  not  felt  the  boJy,  or,  more 
strictly  spealcing,  had  felt  it  only  as  soul;  even 
in  tiie  Eloi,  Eld  the  bodily  consciousne,ss  had 
been  absorbed  in  its  co-operation  with  the 
soul's  feeling.  Bat  now  the  case  is,  as  it  were, 
inverted  ;  because  the  soul's  distress  is  removed, 
and  the  body  so  strongly  claims  its  rights  that 
ail  his  combined  pains  are  compressed  intoand 
uttered  in  this  lldrst.  Thus  "this  word  ex- 
presses no  new  heightening  of  his  agony,  but 
is  rather  an  evidence  that  his  festal  rest  is  al- 
ready beginning  in  his  eoul.  It  is  like  the 
word  of  a  hero,  to  whose  consciousnnessit  now 
first  comes  that  his  wounds  bleed  and  that  he 
needs  some  invigoralion,  after  the  heat  of  the 
conflict  has  been  sustained  ;  like  the  word  of  a 
hero  who  begins  in  the  consciousness  of  his 
victory  to  think  of  his  rel'reshment  (we  add 
now — his  promised  refreshment — ;)n<l  so  far 
it  is  a  most  favorable  token  of  good  "  (fjange). 
Compare  the  far-dislant  type  of  Samson,  which 
may  slii^l'.tly  admit  of  comparison,  J  udj.  xv.  13. 


JOHN  XIX.  28. 


685 


Verily  a  greater  that  Samson  is  here!  This 
thirst  is  tae  Lord's  last  suffering — "the  con- 
summation drew  rapidly  near,"  as  Reiger  says  ; 
and  so  in  Psa.  Ixix.  the  word  concerning  it  oc- 
curs at  the  end  of  the  sufferings,  and  goes  off 

t  once  into  the  perdiction  of  vengeance  upon 
the  table  of  those  who,  in  their  first  and  last, 
their  only  act  of  compassion,  were  still  unmer- 
ciful enemies.  Christ  feels  now  "  the  bitter 
remainder  of  his  woes,  the  last  drops  condensed 
into  one"  (as  Hiller  says);  and  just  so  it 
makes  the  transaction  to  the  "  finished,"  being 
the  only  thing  now  wanting  "  tliat  the  Scrip- 
ture might  be  fulfilled."  "Pain  relinquish- 
es him  not,  until  he  has  finally  struggled 
through,"  says  Draseke.  The  word  by  which 
he  acknowledges  and  complains  of  this  pang — 
the  first  complaint  which  he  uttered  in  his 
agonies* — is  tiie  most  apparently  inconsiderable 
of  the  seven  words :  it  is  seemingly  the  most 
simple  external,  human,  and  instantaneous  ex- 
pression of  bodily  feeling — how  innumerable 
are  the  times  that  it  has  been  and  will  be 
spoken  after  him  by  dying  mortals  !  Indeed, 
this  of  itself  gives  it  a  graat  significance — as 
an  humble  avowal,  in  the  obedience  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  as  his  placing  himself  perfectly  on  a 
level  with  other  sufferers,  immediately  before 
those  most  sublime  utterances  which  were  pe- 
culiar to  himself.  It  is  litera'  y  true  in  that 
most  obvious  meaning  which  aiune  would  oc- 
cur to  those  who  heard  it  first  ;  nevertheless, 
there  must  be  something  much  deeper  contain- 
ed in  it.  It  is  not  record-^d  simply  because  all 
that  he  said  upon  the  cross  must  be  recorded  ; 
but  all  that  he  spoke  was  in  its  humanity 
divine-human,  and  the  most  external  element 
in  it  could  be  no  other  than  a  type  of  an  inter- 
nal and  spiritual  truth. 

Shall  we  in  this  word  spoken  upon  the  cross, 
in  its  place  among  the  seven  words — the  rest  of 
•which  are  simply  words  of  (he  Redeemer — be- 
tween "  My  God,  My  God  "  and  "  It  is  finished," 
discern  nothing  more  than  the  testimony  that 
he  experienced  physical  thirst  ?  Even  Lange, 
who  holds  simply  to  the  "  avowal  of  physical 
need,"  feels  himself  "  standing  before  a  text  in 
regard  to  which  we  can  hardly  say  how  far  the 
BPnsative  is  the  symbol  of  the  super-sensitive." 
Yes,  verily,  we  cannot  and  will  not  presume  to 
say  whether  and  how  far  the  Lord  himself  con- 
nected in  his  own  consciousness  a  spiritual 
meaning  with  this  "I  thirst;"  what  we  said 
just  now,  points  rather  to  this,  that  even  the 
thirst  of  his  soul  goes  out  in  and  is  felt  as  phys- 
ical need.  But  it  loas  nevertheless  his  soul 
suffering  the  jmngs  of  redemjidon  which  expe- 
rienced this  bodily  thirst ;  and  therefore  to  us  it 
is  not  merely  permitted  but  commanded  that 


*  After  a  description  of  all  his  precedina;  suf- 
feiinsis,  Bengel  jjoes  on  :  "  Amid  all  these  he  had 
never  said — I  suffer.  For  the  fact  itself  spoke  of 
the  sorrows  predicted  in  Scripture.  He  does  ex- 
press the  thirst,  u-/iich  icas  the  confluence  and  end  of 
them  all,  and  asks  for  drink,  for  the  Scripture  had 
predicted  both  the  thirst  aud  drink," 


we  should  carry  our  meditation  upon  this  word 
further,  quite  independently  of  the  instant  con- 
sciousness of  our  Lord  when  he  spoke  it.  So 
the  Ilaly  Spirit  in  the  Church  has  from  the 
beginning  typically  expounded  to  us  this  new 
Scripture,  which  records  our  Redeemer's  ap- 
pealing and  supplicating  thirst  upon  the  cross. 
Let  us  then,  finally,  contemplate  this  word 
in  the  new  commencing  light,  of  which  it  is  the 
first  ray.  The  fulfillment  of  Scripture  down  to 
this  last  potion  was  here  concerned  ;  and  even 
in  this  connection  of  the  word  with  the  fulfill- 
ment of  Scripture  we  have  the  bpginning  of  its 
spiritual  meaning.  Arndt:  "Hence  though 
Jesus  primarily  meant  by  his  fifth  word  his 
physical  thrist,  yet.  there  lay  in  the  liadground — 
since  he  now  first  uttered  it,  and  uttered  it  that 
the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled— a  sjnrittial 
thirst  of  his  soul  Likeicise ;  he  longed  for  the 
final  consummation,  the  consciousness  of  the 
feeling  of  his  eternal  union  with  God,  the  per- 
fecting of  his  sacrificial  offering."*  Thus,  if  we 
ask  in  devout  contemplation  (and  this  is  the  ful- 
fillment of  all  true  exposition)  for  what  he 
thirsted,  in  the  ground  of  his  soul,  under  and 
in  the  physical  thirst,t  we  must  first  of  all  say 
in  the  language  of  Psa.  xlii. — For  God,  for  the 
Living  God  !  But  to  tarry  there  is  not  enough, 
for  he  was  emptied  even  to  abandonment  only 
for  us,  only  as  entering  into  humanity  for  its 
redemption,  as  the  prophetic  psalms  testify. 
Thus  lie  thirsted  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
redeeming  work;  as,  in  order  to  that,  that  he 
might  be  able  to  say  "  It  is  finished  " — for  say- 
ing and  doing  are  here  one. J  'This  is  the  sub- 
stance and  soul,  as  of  all  his  bodily  suffering, 
so  also  of  this  corporeaiiy-erpiessed  word  of  his 
soul.  This  connects  itself  again,  as  the  general 
spirit  of  this  most  concrete  crisis,  with  the 
thought  that  in  this  supplicating  appeal  he, 
whose  right  it  was  to  be  refreshed  by  all  crea- 
tion, and  especially  to  be  gladdened  by  all 
humanity,  but  who  had  so  awfully  renounced 
all  this,  now  turns  again  to  this  humanity.  As 
Lange  says,  alter  giving  promience  to  that 
reflection  :  "  As  he  thus  thirsted  for  the  re!"resh- 
ment  of  this  drink,  so  he  thirsted  to  drink  of 
the  refreshment  of  love  (we  add — for  the  re- 
quital of  his  infinite  loving)  for  a  final  human 
greeting,  for  human  blessing.  If  we  pursue 
this  to  its  deepest  meaning,  we  may  say  that 
he  with  a  special  depth  oi  feeling  thirsted  for 
the  s/nils  of  men." 
This  is  the  harmony  of  the  traditional  expo- 


*  In  the  Eres*lau  sermons  :  "  The  nearer  a  trav- 
eller approaches  his  goal,  the  greater  is  his  long- 
ing to  reach  it." 

\  Because,  indeed  as  Lange  says,  "in  hh  life 
the  corporeity  and  the  life  of  the  soul  are  i:ot  sun- 
dered, and  go  not  separate  ways." 

:j:  He  now  hastens  to  the  fu'l  accomplishment  by 
fulfi.ling  this  last  remaining  prediclion.  S)  Noa- 
nus  says  (here  once  more  bringing  out,  in  the 
midst  of  his  pomposity,  the  true  thought)  :  Boai- 
repnv  j/BsXev  eivai  repj.ioi'^iji  idrajueyoio 
to  Xeiipai'oy, 


686 


FIFTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


sition  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Church  •with  the 
simple  historical  apprehension  of  the  first 
meaning  of  the  wora,  as  tlie  genuine  ncio  the- 
ology and  pxiiosition  is  called  every  where  to 
tiace  ;t.  Bat  *»ve  cannot  content  ourselves 
with  crying — How  di'ls,t  thou  thimt,  thou  great 
P;inc8o!  glory,  for  the  poor  sinner,  and  for 
God  on  my  behalf,  that  he  in  thee  might  be 
mine!  For  that  transportation  of  thought  into 
tiie  past  loses  sight  of  the  continuous  influence 
and  everlasting  presentation  of  his  suffering 
and  dentil  by  the  Spirit,  as  it  is  sealed  in  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Still  in  his  glory  he  thirsts  for 
the  consummation,  his  heart  thirsts  for  the  full 
possession  of  his  redeemed.  As  he  said,  John 
iv.  7,  to  the  woman  of  Samaria — Give  me  to 
drink  ;  and  meant  thereby  in  reality — Give  me 
tliyself  (comp.  ver.  34  in  that  chapter,  and  our 
exposition  of  ver.  7)  ;  so  does  his  whole  Passion 
cry  the  same  to  us  in  the  beseeching  of  the 
word  of  reconciliation,  2  Cor.  v.  19,  20.  "  I 
third" — that  is,  to  a  heart-seehing,  all-compre- 
hending superscription  on  the  cross.  "  He 
thirsted  that  we  might  thirst" — was  the  say- 
ing of  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  and  it  goes  to 
the  full  depth  of  the  word  :  for,  in  fact,  his 
thirsting  for  our  sake  and  consequently  for  us 
tells  us  that  toe,  whose  souls  are  in  need  of  the 
living  God,  should  thirst  for  him  and  his  snlva- 
tion,  and  aims  io  t.rcite  that  thirst  in  us.  Simi- 
larly John  Arndt:  "  When  the  Lord  said  upon 
the  cross,  I  thirst;  he  thirsted  that  he  might 
awaken  and  find  in  us  a  sacred,  spiritual,  and 
heavenly  thirst.  For  as  he  himself  satisfies 
and  quenches  our  spiritual  hunger  and  thirst, 
so  must  we  also  satisfy  and  quench  his  hunger 
and  thirst — as  he  says  in  John  iv.  34."  Ask 
thyself,  0  hearer,  as  his  word  asks  thy  soul — 
For  what  am  /tliirsting?  If  I  have  forsaken 
the  living  fountain,  and  the  hewn-out  cisterns, 
all  the  seeming  living  fountains  of  nature  and 
the  creature  become  dried  up,  and  God  in 
righteousness  forsa/ces  me — what  and  whither 
then?  The  answer  is — Give  thyself  to  him, 
and  he  will  give  himself  to  thee  ;  then  as  a  be- 
lieving Cliristian,  thou  shaltnot  in  distress  and 
the  dying  hour  lament  in  the  language  of  the 
psalm  ol  lamentation,  because  he  hath  fulfilled 
its  meaning  for  thee.  This  preaching  inter- 
pretation is  infinitely  beyond  the  application 
wliich  is  so  current,  and  which,  though  in  itself 
quite  light,  so  often  stops  short  at  mere  moral 
application — to  wit,  that  we  may,  and  that  we 
must  ttiU  refresh  our  Lord  Jesus  in  the  per- 
sons of  his  poor  and  suffering  members  upon 
earth. 


A  few  remarks  must  be  made,  finally,  upon 
the  giving  to  drink  which  followed  our  Lord's 
word.  John  records  it  simply;  Matthew  and 
Mark  mention  the  accompanying  mockery. 
Neither  the  drinking  nor  the  mockery  can  be 
supi)Osed  to  have  taken  place  during  the  dark- 
ness ;  and  this  is  an  exrgeticai  proof  that  im- 
mediately after  the  j^'oj  it  became  light;  tliat 
the  /  third  followed   the  L\oi,  and   was   the 


occasion  for  the  giving  to  drink,  which  would 
otherwise  have  no  reason  to  explain  it.  That 
which  our^Lord  received  and  drank  is  called  by 
them  all  u^w;,  for  y^n  in  the  psalm,  that  is, 

vinegar,  which  was  a  very  poor,  but  thirst- 
quenching  drink  used  by  the  common  people: 
see  Ruth  ii.  1-i.  But  the  older  translators  by 
their  ufig^cx^,*  and  the  learned  disquisitions  of 
recent  critics,  have  only  introduced  needless 
confusion.  This  vinegar  (which  is  not  neces- 
sarily to  be  considered  as  only  poor  or  sour 
wine),  mixed  with  water,  was  a  drink  in  com- 
mon use  especially  among  soldiers,  and  as  such 
is  called  posca  by  Plant.,  Sneton.,  Uipian,  and 
pusca  by  Vegetius.  In  Spartian  (Life  of  Pesen- 
nius  Niger)  we  read  :  "  He  ordered  that  no 
wine  should  be  drunk  in  the  expedition,  but 
that  all  should  be  content  with  vinegar  (acelo),'" 
with  which  we  may  compare  Lipsius,  de 
militia  Romana,  lib.  5,  dial.  16.  Thus  the 
Lord's  word  in  Matt.  xxvi.  29  remains  true, 
and  he  drank  no  wine  here.  That  which  we 
read  of  in  Luke  xxiii.  36  is- either  (which  is 
possibly  a  particular  mocking  offer  that  Luke 
alone  relates,  or  the*same  with  the  first  offer  of 
that  stupefying  draught  which  Mark  calls 
ed/iiVftyidjLteyoy  otvoy,  and  Matthew  (for  o|o? 
might  also  be  wine)  o^oi  tterd  xo^f/^  U^/^iy- 
^tsvoy,  with  express  allusion  to  Psa.  Ixix.f 
The  passage  in  the  psalm,  which  is  in  itself 
very  pregnant,  had  consequently  a  two-fold 
external  fulfillment,  in  which  the  rejected 
stupefying  wine  is  to  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  tlie  vinegar  which  was  taken. 

It  was  provided  beforehand,  that  all  things 
should  be  ready  for  this  last  refresh m^-nt — tlie 
vessel  with  vinegar,  according  to  Job,  the 
sponge  and  the  reed.  The  sponge  was,  it  may 
be,  used  by  the  soldiers  to  wipe  away  the 
blood  which  was  sprinkled  upon  them,  or  for 
any  other  purpose.  The  reed  was,  according  to 
John,  a  /i^.s.v>;>  ,|.and  this  need  occasion  no 
difficulty:  for  the  crosses  were  not  so  high  as 
is  generally  supposed,  and  there  were  several 
kinds  of  hyssop  (Muimonides  names  four, 
Kimchi  seven),  one  of  them  with  a  long  and 
stout  stem,  out  of  which  they  even  constructed 
tents  (see  in  Sepp).  That  John  has  given  this 
specific  term  not  without  allusion  to  the  use  of 
hyssop  in  the  Levitical  ritual,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  Passover,  is  thouglit  not 
improbable  even  by  B.-Crusius.  But  the 
opinion  of  some  of  the  ancients  (adopted  by 
Bochart  and  Surenhusius)§  is  quite  forced  and 
incorrect,  according  to  which  the  hyssop  was 


*  Michaelis,  Suppl.  ad  Lex.  would  justify  this. 

f  Winer  thinks  that  "Luke  generally  is  remisi 
and  confused  (!)  in  his  narrative  of  t;ie  Passion; 
but,  as  far  as  recrards  the  offered  and  accepted 
drink,  the  remissness  and  confusion  re.st  upon 
those  who  wi.l  not  make  the  proper  distinction." 

^  About  this  he  who  will  niny  read  Bochart, 
Hieroz.  torn.  i.  lib.  2,  cap.  50.  de  ngno  pn&chnli : 
but  he  will  find  tie  passage  in  John  Ijudiy  treated. 

^Tlie  former  changes  the  text  into  vijooanav. 


JOHN  XIX.  28. 


m 


an  ingredient  in  the  drink — "to  make  it  more 
disagreeable."  So  also  is  the  opposite  view  of 
Sahriasins,  that  the  smell  of  the  hyssop  would 
be  slightly  invigorating. 

Enough  of  these  things;  let  us  look  moi-a 
closely  at  the  matter  before  us.  W/io  gave  the 
Lord  to  drink  ?  The  plural  in  John  may  very 
well  indicate  the  one  spoken  of  by  the  other 
Evangelists,  together  with  those  who  were 
around  and  assisted  ;  or  it  may  be  an  indenn-ite 
rirei.  Yet  in  this  B.-Crusius  is  right :  the  oi 
Ss  (which  is  the  better  reading)  must  bt  the 
crucifying  soldiers  of  ver.  23  (thus  Gentiles) — 
it  cannot  be  supposed  that  any  others  would 
be  permitted  to  offer  him  any  thing  upon  the 
cross.  Thus  it  was  not  one  of  those  who  stood 
around  ;  the  mention  of  Elins  does  not  make  it 
necessary  to  assume  that  he  was  a  Jew,  for 
Koman  soldiers  in  Judea  might  very  well  have 
heard  and  retained  as  much  as  this,  and  would 
be  more  ready  to  think  of  this  forerunner  or 
helper,  than  have  any  regard  for  the  true  my 
God.  Tims  the  most  fearful  cry  of  amazement 
ever  echoed  upon  earth,  the  most  sacred  word 
of  lamentation,  with  its  deep  mystery  of  con- 
eolation  for  a  sinful  world — is  at  once  mockingly 
perverted  by  malignant  wit.  It  was  only  a 
prophecy  of  ten  tliousand  such  instances,  the 
same  in  principle,  which  Christendom  has  since 
witnessed.  With  as  much  open  confidence  has 
Jesus  called  upon  his  God — "  as  if  he  had  been 
summoning  a  man  near  him  to  his  help."  Ac- 
knowledging this  even  in  their  mockery,  they 
pervert  it  altogether,  and  mean :  He  says 
imthing  more  now  about  his  God,  him  he  has 
given  up  (in  heathen  daring,  he  meets  not  his 
case  now) — he  turns  now  to  man  again  and 
cries  for  help.  Or  more  definitely  :  He  cries  as 
the  3Ie>isiah  for  his  Eias:  for  even  a  heathen 
would  know  that  the  two  pertained  to  each 
other,  and  in  the  lips  of  a  heathen  this  mockery 
has  its  full  intelligibility  and  bitterness.*  It 
is  probable  also  that  the  name  of  Elias  was 
already  in  vogue  as  the  patron  and  guardian 
of  the  Jews,  appearing  in  time  of  need:  on 
this  consult  Eisenmenger  (ii.  403  ff.). 

Or,  was  the  speaking  about  Elias  no  mock- 
ery at  all  ?  Matt,  and  Mark  do  not  expres>ly 
say  that  it  was,  though  the  former  plainly 
enougli  gives  the  impression,  by  his  olro^,  of 
a  hah  pitiful  scorn.  Olshausen  (whom  Krum- 
macher  follows  in  this)  denies  the  mockery, 
and  thinks  that  a  secret  dread  seized  upon 
their  rude  minds,  and  that  they  may  have 
thought  there  might  be  some  truth  in  the  Mes- 
eialiship  of  this  crucified  one,  and  that — Elias 
might  appear  in  a  tempest.  Thus,  they  would 
have  really  viimnderstood  the  word,  and  said 
what  they  said  in  earnest — this  being  "  psy- 
chologically more  probable."  We  certainly 
think  not  :   just  at   the  crisis  of  our   Lord's 


*  A  Jew  would  have  thought:  His  Elias  (John 
thr?  Bmtist)  has  been  long  dear! — and  now  the 
i^i\s,■^  Messiah,  wlio  a'.somust  yield,  calls  upon  him 
in  vain.  The  Jews  m'ght  have  thus  added  their 
nockery,  even  thoush  that  was  first  meant. 


abandonment,  this  amazement  of  awe  appearS 
to  us  altogether  unpsychological,  in  spite  too 
of  the  wonderfully  returning  light  (which  would 
tend  rather  to  remove  their  anxifty  and  inspire 
them  with  fresh  courage).  Moreovpr,  the 
mocking  meaning  in  the  aq>Ei  and  dcpsrs, 
"  let  "  (of  which  more  anon),  is  not  to  be  got 
rid  of.  Lange  improves  upon  the  matter  by 
suggesting  that  the  great  horror  of  apparitions 
from  the  other  world — for  they  would  regard 
an  appearance  of  Elias  as  possible — came  upon 
them  in  all  its  force ;  yet  they  at  once  tried  to 
turn  the  suggestion  to  mockery,  in  order  to 
defend  themselves  against  their  fears.  He  says 
it  was  "  as  men  in  a  dark  wood  striving  to  rid 
themselves  of  fear  of  spirits  ;  they  call  out  the 
names  of  the  beings  they  dread  as  if  in  mock- 
ery. They  appear  to  scorn  them  ;  but  if  nar- 
rowly watched  and  listened  to,  it  will  be  found 
that  they  tremble."  It  may  be  so  in  ordinary 
cases ;  but  this  scene  at  Golgotha,  alone  in  its 
kind,  is  raised  far  beyond  all  such  analogies. 
If  there  had  been  horror  here,  it  would  have 
been  too  profound  to  admit  of  mockery.  It 
was  no  other  than  persevering  malignity,  kin- 
dled afresh  of  hell ;  and  so  mighty,  that  noth- 
ing like  real  compassion  could  stand  against 
it.  If  we  think  of  a  holy  shuddering  as  the 
result  of  the  Lord's  cry  of  anguish,  it  is  a  de- 
ception by  which  we  transfer  our  sense  and 
feeling  to  those  who  were  then  present ;  there 
was  assuredly  no  other  tone  in  it  than  tliat  of 
the  profoundest  lamentation,  no  other  infiuence 
could  flow  from  it  than  the  excitement  of  sud- 
den compassion,  in  conflict,  however,  with  the 
return  of  keener  mockery,  comparing  his  pres- 
ent distress  witii  his  former  loity  pretensions. 
During  the  darkness  they  might  have  felt 
amazement,  and  expected  some  marvellous  di- 
vine intervention  ;  but  when  nothing  resulted 
from  this  cry,  and  thereturn  of  thelight,  all  their 
anxiety  vanished  and  the  mockery  remained. 
Just  so  do  the  first  two  Evangelists,  in  histori- 
cal and  psychological  truth,  exhibit  its  imme- 
diate influence  ;  after  the  second  cry,  almost  in 
immediate  continuation,  had  strengthened  the 
movement  of  pity.  Some  of  the  guard  round 
the  cross,*  and  probably  others  with  them,  be- 
ean  at  first  to  steel  themselves  against  pily 
(not  fright)  by  mocking — This  man,  poor 
wretched  Messiah,  calls  in  vain  for  his  Elias. 
But  there  is  one  who  thinks  that  the  refresh- 
ment which  his  lips  crave  should  not  and  must 
not  be  denied  to  him;  and  hastens  ([irobably 
with  the  help  of  another  or  of  more)  to  make 
preparations  to  give  it.  The  oihci-s  then  speak, 
as  it  were  mocking  him  for  doing  what  might 
be  now  a  needless  thing — Let  be,  wait,  let  us 
see  whether  Elias  will  come  and  save  him! 
So  Matthew  ;  and  with  this  is  quite  consistent 
the  characteristically  more  exact  account  in 
Mark,  according  to  which  he  who  gave  the 
drink  also  said — Yea,  verily,  wait  and   let  ua 


*  For  the  following  Eii  i|  avrd^y  plainly  refers 
to  those  who  were  aloie  authorized  to  eive  help. 
These  were  the  ensl  kdrc^TSi,  the  watch. 


GSS 


SIXTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSa 


sre  whether  Ellas  will  come  and  {a"ke  him  down  \ 
(The  stronger  n.-OeXiIy  after  the  dcodcov,  the 
aq)£re  given  back  after  the  ag)E;,  has  very 
much  the  sound  of  ji  designed  echo  of  their 
words  on  his  part.  "Aqjsi  and  a<pEre  are  not 
merely  rt,7?,  but  maintain  their  proper  mean- 
ing )  The  first  words  meant  in  mockery — Do 
it  not!  "Tliou  needest  not  to  give  him  any 
refreshment,  he  has  called  upon  Elias,  who  will 
do  it  instead"  (Von  Gerlach).  He  who  gave 
t!;e  drink,  without  being  interrupted,  mocks 
v.iih  them.  Be  it  so,  we  will  wait!  Either 
with  such  a  turn  in  the  thought  as  Pfenninger 
gives:  "I'ldeed  if  Elias  should  come,  that 
would  be  better  to  him  than  a  drink  of  vinegar 
(which,  mcan.vhile,  we  may  give  him);  or, 
which  seeins  more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  his  words — Let  me,  however,  do  this;  while 
we  wait  for  Elias,  let  me  support  him  that 
Elias  may  come."  This  poor  man,  that  is, 
"thinks  he  must  conceal  his  pity  for  Christ's 
thirst  under  a  disguise  of  mockery  like  theirs  " 
— "  mookei-y  m  the  lips,  yet  under  the  impulse 


of  a  good  human  feeling."  Thus  he  is  a  type 
of  all  those  who  have  the  beginnings  of  a  good 
feeling  toward  Christ ;  but,  weak  and  double- 
tongued,  join  nevertheless  with  the  world  in 
order  to  excuse  and  hide  their  feeling.*  But 
this  admixture  of  mockery  with  pity  is  tiiat 
bitterness  and  gall  of  iin  which,  according  to 
the  ideal,  proverbial  sense  of  the  phrase  in 
Psa.  Ixix.  21  (for  ver  20  denies  the  existence 
of  any  pure  compassion),  made  the  last  refresh- 
ment of  the  Lord  an  additional  suffering. 
(Hamann:  God  desired  wine  from  his  vine; 
the  vinedressers  brought  him  vinegar  mingled 
with  gall — this  was  what  his  Son  drank  upon 
the  cross.)  On  this  and  on  no  other  view  of 
the  whole,  does  this  prophecy  appear  to  us  to 
have  been  fulfilled,  as  well  externally  as  inter- 
nally, that  is,  in  the  fullest  meaning  of  the 
word  fulfilled.  On  any  other  granting  of  his 
request  than  that  which  should  expose  him  to 
new  indignity,  Jesus,  whose  cry  probibly  was 
uttered  dunng  the  Elias-mockery,  had  by  no 
means  reckoned. 


SIXTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 
(John  xix.  30.) 


TsTElsdrazy  It  m  finished.  "This  word 
was  in  the  heart  of  Jesus  in  ver.  28,  and  now 
is  vUered  hy  his  llvs."  Uttered  with  more  vigor, 
and  with  louder  voice,  in  the  consciousness 
that  the  last  of  the  predictions  concerning  his 
sufi'ering  was  satisfied.  For  the  "  Spirit  of 
Ciirist,"  who  was  of  old  in  the  prophets,  and 
who  had  now  become  Jesus  in  person,  must 
have  brou-ht  out  to  light  the  prophetic  word 
with  a  precision  and  assurance  of  which  our 
exposition  (only  then  not  "spiritless")  can 
but  ask  in  prayer  some  slight  degree.  _  Espe- 
cially in  him  was  the  distinction  clear,  in  their 
tvpical  domain  between  what  was  figure  and 
what  was  reality;  and  what  traits  in  the 
shadowy  tvpical  figure  were  appointed  to  be 
reproduced  for  incorporation  in  the  new  type, 
replenished  with  reality,  of  the  great  eternal 
history. 

Nut  one  of  those  who  waited  in  this  Pass- 
over at  Jerusalem,  upon  the  Lord  of  hosts  to 
see  how  lip  would  sliow  himself  in  his  servant 
and  Son  (Psa.  Ixix.  6),  had  faith  enough,  even 
after  the  word  to  the  malefactor,  to  say  confi- 
denlly  in  the  words  of  Kaomi,  concerning  this 
t),-j  -^^33  ;;;>;.,  "  mighty  man  of  valor,*^  whose 
name  was  Tp.  Hmz  (in  him  is  strength)— 
"  Sit  still,  my  soul,  until  thou  know  how  the 
matter  will  fall:  for  the  man  will  not  be  in 
rest,  until  he  have  finished  the  thing  this  dav." 
But  in  the  midst  of  their  mockery — "  Tiiis 
man  bf-cjan  to  build  and  was  not  ablf*  to  finish." 
lie  did'^^tiuish  his  work,  and  ewifily.    Every 


work  of  God  delays  at  first,  and  hastens  at  the 
end.  The  last  three  word,^  of  Jesus  after  liis 
abandonment  follow  in  quick  succession  of  vic- 
tory ;  the  last  two  especially  are  almost  uttered 
together. 

It  is  remarkable  and  deeply  significant,  (hat 
Ihis  most  comprehensive  and  immeasurable  of 
the  seven  words,  this  TETiXs^rai,  is  found  ia 
most  concrete  connection  with  the  last  sqiecialt.y 
which  remained  to  be  fulfilled,  the  embittered 
drink  offered  to  his  final  thirst  P'or  no  pro- 
phetic word  in  the  lips  of  the  proohets,  cer- 
tainly no  fulfillment-word  in  the  lips  of  the 
great  Fulfiller,  is  ever  dissevered  from  the  most 
definite  and  most  actual  life,  in  which  it  has  its 
root  and  grows — altogether  different,  in  this, 
from  our  mere  forms  of  speech,  so  often  abstract, 
vague,  and  unreal.  With  all  its  similarity  to 
such  a  human  phrase,  this  "finished"  of  the 
consummating  and  consummated  Christ  in- 
cludes in  itr-elf  all  the  glories  which  s  lould  fol- 
low, with  all  the  sufferings  that  should  go  be- 
fore (1  Pet.  i.  11) — and  is  infinitely  more,  than 
any  Et'gi  or  Conftummalum  est  which  mortal 
might  utter.  Infinitely  more  than  any  rtAoS 
i'^fi  r:t  Ttdyra  uoi  of  a  dying  man — wiiicb 
Grotius  quotes  from  the  comic  poet  to  illus- 
trate this  "  proverbial  phrase."  Least  of  all 
is  it  merely— Now  have  I  surmounted  all ;  the 
end  is  come.  But  connected  with  this,  and 
making  it  a  new  beginning  for  the  agesof  eter- 


•  More  will  come  out  in  the  j>roj)helic  iuterprela- 
tioii  ot  the  whole. 


JOHN  XIX.  30. 


nity— It  is  dene  and  established  ;  Itisperjected, 
It  is  finiak'nl. 

But  Wwi .'  This  marvellous  word  both  speaks 
much  and  conceals  much.  The  mysterious  "it" 
— the  subject  of  the  predicate— is  wanting: 
history  from  that  time  onward  was  to  supply 
and  utter  it  in  its  divine  language  through 
humanity,  even  as  history  before  Christ  had 
pointed  forward  to  it.  Faith  was  to  discover 
it — every  sofker  of  God,  whose  heart  should 
live  forever  (Psa.  xxii.  26,  l.xix.  6),  will  seek 
and  find  it  in  his  own  heart,  as  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  eld  and  the  new,  which  now  agree 
together  as  "prophecy  and  fulfillment"  with 
an  infinitely  closer  concert,  more  fully  and  lit- 
erally— and  yet  in  the  spirit — than  in  the  books 
which  we  write  with  these  titles.  John,  who, 
as  also  an  e^'SoJ?,  looked  into  the  heart  of  Jesus, 
and  out  of  his  heart  into  ths  Scripture,  has  said 
already  in  ver.  28,  all  things,  all  things — all 
things,  too,  wherein  and  through  which  the 
Scripture  must  be  fulfilled.  It  is  without  ground 
and  in  vain  that  Liicke  opposes  this  first  and 
most  obvious  reference  of  the  rsXslv  to  the 
reXsiovv  of  Scripture  :  "  His  Messianic  work 
upon  earth  he  knew  to  be  accomplished — not 
p-opheci/" — as  if  these  were  contrasted,  or  as  if 
there  was  a  distinction  between  them.  Again, 
he  asks,  "  Ho  w  could  the  work  of  Christ  be  repre- 
sented by  John  as  pre-eminently  only  the  fulfill- 
ment of  Old-Testament  prophecy?"  and  an- 
swers that  it  is  "  far  more  an  syroX?}  of  God,  a 
work  anew  revealed  to  him  by  God  " — as  if  both 
r.'ere  not,  according  to  the  uniform  testimony 
of  the  New  Testament,  wie  ;  the  new  revela- 
tion in  Christ  being  itself  pre-eminently  only  an 
unveiling  of  the  old  Scripture,  which  already 
contained  all  things  written  in  it.  When  will 
our  orthodox  theology  truly  apprehend  this, 
and  cease  to  break  the  Scripture  ?*  Thus,  in 
truth,  it  is  all  things  which  were  written  (Luke 
xviii.  34),  predicted,  foreshadowed,  decreed, 
with  the  sacred  jdsl  and  "E6si,  "  must,"  on 
that  account,  in  which  Christ  every  where  con- 
templated the  EVToXi),  the  commandment,  of 
his  God.  All  things  to  which  the  Old  Testa- 
ment pointed  as  its  end,  and  hastened  toward 
in  word,  in  type,  in  work,  in  history.  All 
things  were  done  which  the  law  required,  all 
things  established  which  prophecy  predicted, 
all  tilings  abolished  which  were  to  be  abrogated, 
all  things  obtained  in  order  to  be  bestowed 
which  had  been  the  subject  of  promise.  All 
things — down  to  the  last  drops  of  scornful 
compassion  and  compassionate  scorn — after  re- 
ceiving which  Christ's  lips  uttered  this  great 
word — were  suffered  which   were  to   be    suf- 


fered :  hut  therein,  at  the  same  time,  aH  things 
were  done  and  accomplished,  nothing  was  t.efl 
icanting.  The  theolo'jy  of  ages  has  striven  to 
embrace  this  "  AH"  and  to  devclope  it ;  and 
strives  to  this  day  in  vain  to  express  it  perfectly. 

Hase  says  well — "  Suffering,  life,  work,  all  " 
— except  that  he  has  forgotten  Scripture  again, 
and  yet  according  to  this  those  great  words  re- 
main to  be  expounded.  Perfected  and  accom- 
plished is — the  great  work  of  his  life,  pre-ap- 
pointed  and  given  him  of  the  Father  to  do,  con- 
cerning the  finishing  of  which  he  had  many 
times  spoken,  the  last  time  in  John  xvii.  4  ; 
his  testimony  to  the  truth  beforehand  ;  all  his 
miracles  and  works  as  one  work  together;  and, 
in  it,  that  which  took  place  on  him  and  in  him 
as  a  sufferer,  the  greatest  and  most  essential 
act,  which  was  the  heart  of  all  his  acta.  His 
conjlict  is  fully  gone  through  even  to  the  final 
victory,  in  that  last  "  baptism  "  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  which  he  had  been  so  long  strait- 
ened (Luke  xii.  50).  Fulfilled  is  that  for  which 
in  all  his  human  hunger  and  thirst  he  had 
divine-humanly  hungered  and  thirsted,  that 
which  brought  him  into  the  world,  and  urged 
him  to  his  death — the  atonement  for  the  sins 
of  the  world.* 

It  may  be  said,  and  it  has  been  said  (with 
most  incorrect  restriction  of  this  TErsXsdrai), 
that  there  v/ere  many  things  in  arrears  of  ful- 
fillment at  this  moment — the  crisis  of  death  it- 
self (whereof  more  afterwards),  then  the  resur- 
rection, ascension,  and  all  things  to  the  end  of 
time,  which  were  signified  by  another  navra 
in  Acts  iii.  21.  Assuredly,  all  this  is  to  be 
added  and  accomplished,!  but  only  upon  the 
foundation  thus  already  laid ;  there  remains 
nothing  more  to  be  procured  and  so  far  to  be 
fulfilled.  Moreover,  all  is  already  accomplish- 
ed and  fulfilled  in  the  one  offering,  and  flows 
only  from  its  strength  and  victory.  A  new  and 
a  long  process  does,  indeed,  now  open  up  again ; 
but  to  Christ  it  is  only  a  course  of  fruit  and  re- 
ward, as  before  it  had  been  seedtime  and  labor. 
The  finished  work  itp)on  earth  is  itself  already 
the  finishing  of  all  that  which  is  further  to  be 
done  upon  this  earth  as  also  in  heaven,  since 
he  opened  and  received  the  heavens.  Thus  the 
word  is  by  no  means  merely,  although  it  is  pri- 
marily, a  "  glance  backward " — but  it  looks 
down  from  the  central  height,  its  view  being  as 


*  Liicke  even  asks :  "  If  John  meant  by  the 
TETEXe6rai,  the  fulfillment  of  the  OLl-Te.sfa- 
meiit  predictions,  why  does  h?  not  say  in  ver.  30, 
rereXedrai  v  yparpi)  ?  lie  could  not  say  tliat, 
etc."  As  it  we  liad  here  a  word  of  the  Evaiigelist 
John.  Thus  Ltick:",  if  he  were  a  preacher,  would 
b?  obbsed  on  Good  Friday  to  preach  sincerely  of 
ihi^  It  in  finished  \\li\c\\  the  fourth  Evai  ^elist  has 
W>  pnfouudly  placed  in  the  lips  of  Jesua. 


*  "  He  had  come  into  the  form  of  a  servant  and 
the  hour  of  sulFering,  not  because  he  ci  uld  not  do 
otherwise,  nor  that  he  might  simply  pass  thioimh 
and  be  able  to  say — Now  it  is  past !  but  in  order 
to  accomplish — not  merely  by  brinsins  to  its  end, 
but  by  bringing  into  act  and  reality — the  counsel 
of  God,  as  it  had  been  exhibited  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures.    This  fulfillment  of  Scripture  %\as,  also,  .n 

I  his  thoughts,  when  he  cried — It  is  finished  "  (Bock, 

j  Chrtstl.  Lehen,  i.  417,  418). 

f  Hence  it  is  a  great  error  to  deduce,  with  Einkel, 
from  this  zETsXedrat,  that  there  was  no  ascen- 
sion— and  no  real  resurreciion,  since  the  body  of 
Christ  must  "  be  conceived  of  as  aiioady  glorified 
in  ti.e  sepulchre." 


690 


SIXTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


well  forward  as  backward  in  its  range.  What  a 
vast  mrvey  in  the  soul  of  Christ — if  not  viewed 
as  being  at  that  moment  the  divine  conscious- 
ness of  omniscience,  embracing  the  minutest 
particular,  yet — as  a  human  contemplation, 
closely  bordering  upon  it,  the  vast  extent  of 
which  baffles  our  thoughts.  It  is  much  too 
little  to  say  that  "  the"  whole  history  of  the 
Passion,  the  entire  scope  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ,  yea,  even  the  whole  Bible"  is  included 
in  it ;  we  must  add  all  the  whole  history  of  the 
world  and  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Till  the  last 
day  ?  Oh,  no  ;  it  stretches  farther  than  that. 
There  is  nothing  lying  beyond  the  reach  of  this 
word,  not  even  in  eternity,  for  it  speaks  of  a 
real  rilo?,  or  end.  Here  is  the  centre  of  the 
history  of  the  world  and  the  kingdom  ;  this  is 
the  expressed  idea  and  substance  of  time  and 
eternity.  All  that  mankind,  forsaken  and  yet 
not  Ibrsaken  of  God,  had  striven  after  in  its, 
search  for  him,  is  present  here.  All  that  the 
world  had  struggled  for — especially  the  Gentile 
world  ;  all  that  the  world  had  waited  for — es- 
pecially the  Jewish  world — is  here  secured  and 
won.  Again,  in  i\n?,  finished  is  already  wrap- 
ped up  all  that  Christianity  was  from  that  time 
to  receive,  and  all  that  it  was  to  become;  all 
that  is  offered  to  entire  humanity,  which  should 
and  might  become  Christendom,  in  the  new 
and  Christ-pervaded  history  of  mankind. 

Thus,  to  return  to  the  most  obvious  meaning, 
the  deuthof  Christ,  which  followed  immediately 
or  was  almost  simultaneous,  is  assuredly  includ- 
ed. But  this  must  first  be  rightly  under- 
stood. For,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  right  to 
say  that  there  is  an  undeniable  significance 
and  trulh  in  the  fact  that  this  "Finished," 
which  comprises  at  once  and  seals  all  the  pant, 
comes  here  before  the  "giving  up  of  his  spirit" 
to  the  Father.  Thus  we  must  conclude  that  not 
the  last  breathing  forth  and  yielding  up  of  his 
spirit  in  its  precise  and  critical  moment  was 
the  essential  redeeming  death  or  suflering  of 
death,  but  that  which  took  jilace  before  the  "  It 
is  tinished."  Daub  {Jad.  hch.  ii.  83)  says  cor- 
rectly :  "The  divine  work  of  redemption  was 
declared  to  be  accomplished  in  the  word  It  is 
finished,  and  not  first  in  the  death  which  im- 
mediately followed."  But  he  commits  a  well- 
meaning  error  which,  slight  at  the  outset,  might 
lead  to  a  sad  divergencti  in  the  end,  when  he 
continues  (as  did  Altaig  formerly)  :  "The  Re- 
deemer suffered  and  died  (how  then  comes  in  the 
suffering  as  now  first  after  the  Finished?)  not 
in  order  that  he  might  be  (or  become)  the  Re 
deemer  of  men,  but  liccause  he  teas  their  Re- 
deemer." This  is  well  intended,  as  we  have 
said,  and  has  some  truth  in  it;  but  we  are 
right  only  in  saying  that  the  s^jft-nn^  of  death, 
that  which  was  now  fulfilled,  as  the  essence  of 
the  atoning  dying,  is  itself  the  consummation, 
as  of  the  atoning  work,  so  also  of  the  liedetiner. 
For  person  and  work  are  here  one;  Christ  has 
truly  bten  maile  our  Saviour  and  High  Priest  in 
the  great  conflict  of  his  life,  which  here  cele- 
brates its  victory.  He  is  himself  in  himself 
made  perfect,  consummated  (Ueb.  ii.  10,  v.  9). 


H:«  TETe\e<5vat  has  latent  in  it  a  rercActf/mt 
through  his  own  act  of  suffering — I  am  per- 
fected and  have  perfected  myself.  But  in  him 
also  his  people;  for  this  servant  of  God,  who  is 
at  the  same  time  the  Son  of  God  in  the  volun- 
tarily assumed  form  of  a  servant,  has  more  than 
done  what  it  was  his  duty  to  do,  and  therefore 
his  merit  is  of  infinite  avail  before  God  for 
man  (Luke  xvii.  10).  Consequently  all  is  now 
finished  for  the  redemption  of  tlie  world — 
"even  as  in  Adam's  fall  all  was  lost,"  adds 
Olshausen.  That  which  was  profoundly  inti- 
mated in  Psa.  Ixix.  4,  under  the  veil  of  an  ex- 
pression which  seems  (though  not  literally)  to 
refer  simply  to  the  personal  innocence'  of  the 
sufferer,  T'J^S  TX  "ni^Trxi'  lil'N,  "  Then  I  re- 
stored that  which  I  took  not  away" — is  now 
fulfiled  and  sealed  in  its  truth  :  VLe^restored  and 
7n(ule  good  that  which  not  he,  but  Adam  the 
man — thought  to  make  his  own  by  robbery, 
and  even  thereby  forfeited  (Phil.  ii.  6).  Ac- 
complished is  all  that  which  we  could  never 
have  accomplished,  but  must  have  left  forever 
undone.  All  was  restored  which  man  had 
lacked;  and  all  was  already  secured  and  laid 
up  for  us  that  might  still  be  wanting,  so  far  as 
we  are  not  yet  fulfilled  in  Christ.  The  "  Let 
there  be  !  "  of  the  new  creation  (which  is  really 
the  redemption  after  the  fall,  and  not  merehj  a 
fulfilling  of  the  already  begun  creation)  cost  an 
infinitely  greater  work  of  the  divine  power,  in- 
deed the  only  proper  work  it  had  to  do  ;  but 
now  also  the  rest  of  God  in  Christ,  of  Christ  in 
God,  is  greater  and  more  glorious  than  that 
first  rest,  which  therefore  may  be  taken  as  its 
ty}>e  (Heb.  iv).  Three  times  does  this  rest  oc- 
cur :  in  the  beginning,  Gen.  i.  31 — in  the  final 
Feyove,  It  is  done.  Rev.  xxi.  6 — and  here  in 
the  middle,  where  the  foundation  is  laid  for  that 
last. 

The  central  point,  finally,  of  this  middle  is 
the  obtaining  and  restoration  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  for  sinners — of  which  Psa.  xxii. 
speaks  in  its  final  verse.  ^Most  expositors  of 
the  psalm  pass  over  this  word  ;  few  discern 
that  the  Lord  is  here  using  a  word  of  Scrijiture, 
and  (with  supreme  propriety,  in  order  thus  vic- 
toriously to  include  the  glorious  end  of  his  an- 
guish), referring  to  the  same  psalm  the  com- 
mencing words  of  which  formed  his  lamenta- 
tion.    The  words  nt;*^  ^3,  "  that  he  hath  done 

this,"  at  any  rate  most  emphatic,  refer  to  God, 
but  to  that  which  God  in  this  sufferer  per- 
formed, prepared,  and  accomplished  for  us,  and 
which  may  now  be  preached  to  all ;  and  thus 
to  God  ill  Christ,  llengstenberg  admits  that 
"  the  last  word  of  our  Lord  upon  the  cross,  the 
TereXearar,  refers  to  this  nti'V"— and  finds  in 

it  a  plain  direction  for  the  meaning  of  this 
much-perverted  word  of  Christ.  But  now  let 
us  think  upon  ver.  26,  and  in  connection  tcith 
this  the  inpnv,  "  his  righteousness,"  in  ver.  31. 

The  finished  work  is  the  "  work  of  God," 
through  which  his  righteousness  becomes  wt 


JOHN  XIX.  30. 


691 


righteousness,  is  given  to  us.  Compare  the  Jint 
official  word  of  Christ,  Matt.  iii.  15,  at  the 
baptism  in  common  with  sinners,  typical  of  the 
crucifixion.  Look  carefully  at  Dan.  ix.  24, 
where  there  is  a  guiding  exposition  of  the  sub- 
ject of  the  TETsXedrai. 

By  what  means  and  how  did  he  accomplish 
all  this?  On  this  subject  there  is  silence  ;  the 
cross,  on  which  he  still  speaks,  itself  tells  us 
that.  There  is  much  concealed  mystery  in  the 
All:  one  thing,  however,  is  plain  and  certain, 
and  it  is  enough  for  us— tiie  announcement  in 
and  from  this  word  that  all  is  now  ready.  All 
is  yours.  Now  there  is  room  for  all  to  come 
and  receive.  The  subsequent  fulfillment  of  all 
in  us  is  not,  indeed,  independent  of  ourselves  ; 
it  requires  our  faith  as  the  condition,  but  all  is 
through  his  power,  and  out  of  the  fulness  of  the 
riciies  of  his  merit  and  grace.  All  that  may  be 
called  our  accomplishing  is  to  be  received  by 
our  faith  out  of  his*  "  It  is  finished.  One 
alone  could  say  this  in  the  fullest  sense  of 
truth."  He  might  with  perfect  right  have 
uttered,  instead  of  this  mysteriously  indefinite 
rtre'Afo'rrtz  (which  leaves  the  question  who 
had  fulfilled  vibrating  betv.'een  God  and  Christ), 
as  a  TEre\E6i.iai,  so  also  a  TEreXEHa,  a  majes- 
tic and  absolute  excgi  of  the  divine  power  in 
himself — I  have  accomplished,  /  alone,  what  1 
alone  could  accomplish.  But,  humble  in  his 
exaltation,  he  does  not  say  this  (although  it 
would  have  corresponded  more  closely  with  the 
nC'N  of  the  psalm)  :  he  does  not  make  a  "'nb'N, 

but  a  nC'NJ,  out  of  the  nb'X  of  God  in  him. 

He  says  not,  I  have  conquered  and  overcome  all ; 
nor,  i  have  fulfilled  all  my  sufferings.  Yet  all 
this  is  in  his  meaning. 

To  whom,  finally,  does  he  speak  this  word  ? 
The  first  utterance  upon  the  cross  was  spoken 
to  God,  but  for  men.  The  second  to  a  man,  to 
comtort  him  with  the  salvation  of  God;  the 
third  to  mortals,  who  in  the  love  of  God  and 
his  love  are  commended  to  each  other.  The 
fourth  is  the  first  which  he  speaks  for  himself 
alone  with  his  God — and  yet  most  impressively 
for  us  all.  In  the  fifth,  though  still  almost 
alone  with  his  own  need,  he  yet  indirectly 
turned  to  men.  The  si.xth — It  is  finished  ; 
embraces  all  the  references  of  the  others  in  the 
one :  he  speaks  it  for  himself,  for  the  world, 
and  for  the  Father. 

He  proclaims  it  for  himself,  in  contrast  with 
the  ]3receding  complaint,  as  a  crxj  of  victory  and 
joif,\  the  faint  echo  of  which  we  hear  from  his 
di.sciple,  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8.  It  is  not  "  triumph- 
antly" that  he  proclaims  his  victory  (as  we 


*  "  Assuredly,  the  disciples  becnme  Apostles  of 
Clivist  only  in  the  faitii  that  the  Scriitture  was  ful- 
filled through  the  shnmeful  deat'i,  of  their  Master, 
and  that  the  work  of  atonement  and  redemption 
teas  thereby  accomplished — not  that  it  must  first 
be  accompli^hed  in  any  sense  through  them " 
(Beck).  _ 

t  Amdt  in  his  Predigten,  p.  83  seems  to  have 
forgotten  this  \  but  see  p.  86. 


often  read  and  hear),  but  in  the  sublimest 
repose  which  has  scarcely  emerged  from  the 
conflict;  yet  this  is  indeed  the  most  internal 
commencement  of  his  e.-caltation.  Thus  out  of 
the  final  thirst  springs  at  once  the  hginning  of 
the  foretaste  of  eternal  joy,  the  satisfaction  in 
the  fulness  of  gladness  of  which  Isa.  liii.  11 
and   Psa.   xvi.   11   (ninOt' yst^)   speak.     But 

this  is  in  the  secret  of  his  heart  as  yet,  because 
he  is  yet  in  the  body  upon  the  cross  :  his  spirit 
is  yet  for  a  moment  longer  in  the  flesh.  He 
speaks  more  generally,  and  in  indefinite  an- 
nouncement, because  he  would  speak  it  at  the 
same  time  to  the  loorld,  and  be  the  herald  of  his 
own  victory  for  its  salvation,  at  that  great  crisis 
when  the  last  of  suffering  and  the  first  of  glory 
met  together.  He  here  at  the  first,  not  defer- 
ring it  one  moment,  preached  the  whole  Gospel 
in  its  entirencss  to  his  brethren,  for  the  great 
congregation  (Psa.  xxii.  22).  "The  Gospel 
which  is  now  preached  throughout  the  world, 
as  based  upon  the  sufiTerings  and  death  of  Jesus, 
is  the  uniolding  of  his  word — It  is  finished  " 
(Rieger).  This  word  was  also  in  a  certain 
sense  "  his  last  unto  men"  (as  Lange  says) — 
that  is,  as  spoken  among  the  words  from  the 
cross,  in  the  body  of  death,  during  his  humilia- 
tion. That  which  in  the  institution  of  the 
Supper  and  in  the  high-priestly  prayer  he  had 
anticipated  in  his  disciples'  hearing,  is  now 
sealed  in  its  reality  by  this  final  and  most  pro- 
per testament — Now  ye  have  my  fulfillment,  my 
perfect  work,  your  salvation  and  glory.  For 
this  is  not  a  departure  from  the  world,  in  which 
he  takes  with  him  and  reserves  for  himself  the 
fruit  of  his  fulfillment — to  show  this  he  now 
openly  proclaims  it.  Finally,  he  speaks  tlii.s 
word  out  of  the  depth  of  his  praying,  thankful 
heart  to  the  Father,  as  the  ground  and  reason  of 
what  follows — Into  thine  hands  I  commend 
now,  because  all  is  fulfilled,  my  spirit.  The 
thanksgiving  is  there  as  the  last  tribute  due 
from  humanity  to  God;  yet  it  is  connected 
with  the  personal  rejoicing  of  the  perfected 
Son  before  the  Father,  glorying  in  his  own 
triumph.  Therefore  it  is  not — Thou  hast  re- 
deemed me,  thou  faithful  Father,  thou  hast  ful- 
filled all  ;  but  he  brings  and  presents  himself 
in  his  consummated  sacrifice — Behold  it,  O 
Father !  The  Father  alone  fully  nnderstands 
his  Son :  and,  most  profoundly  considered,  the 
unmentioned  subject  of  the  predicate  is  this — 
That  is  fulfilled  which  thou  knowest,  0  Father, 
that  which  thou  didst  appoint,  and  which  thou 
seest  now  accomplished.  This  is  the  sealing 
and  ratifJcation  of  the  work  between  the  Father 
and  the  Son  for  all  eternity.  Hell  from  that 
moment  hears  the  cry  of  victorious  defiance,  as 
if  sounding  already  from  heaven  against  all 
pnemies  ;  while  upon  earth  it  might  seem  as  if 
the  death  of  Christ  would  give  his  enemies  room 
to  cry  out — "Our  work  is  now  accomplished,  and 
his  is  ruined  ;  we  remain  conquerors  and  mas- 
ters."*  The  heavens  hear  the  cry  of  exultation 


*  So  Beck,  Reden,  1.  420.  He  follows  this  further 
and  says  that  t/  Christ's  kingdom  had  been  of  ihia 


692 


SEVENTH  WORD  FRO.M  THE  CROSS. 


in  the  first  pure  tones  which  begin  "  the  songs  ]  another  word  which  is  the  last  utterance  o* 
of  deliverance."*  Yet  this  great  triumphant  victorious  faith — The  perfecting  self-surrender 
word  of  consummation,  which  is  now  but  an  of  the  Son  to  the  Father,  as  the  world's  Re- 
anticipation  of  faith,   is  followed  finally   by  1  deemer  made  perfect  in  the  spirit. 


SEVENTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 
(Luke  xxiii.  46.) 


Although  spoten  before  his  Father  and  as  a 
cry  toward  heaven,  yet  the  It  is  finished  was 
especially  directed  to  men  upon  earth — as  the 
farewell  with  which  he  goes  and  yet  remains, 
as  the  testament,  the  bestowment  and  partici- 
pation of  which  then  immediately  began.  Now 
first  comes  his  own  last  word,  which  stretching 
on  to  eternity  announces  his  entrance  into  t!ie 
presence  of  God — that  is,  as  the  forerunner,  tak- 
ing us  with  him  and  fetching  us  after  him.  For 
all  that  is  his  is  ours ;  ours  are  all  his  words  and 
his  whole  and  perfect  self,  all  his  accomplish- 
ment and  work  down  to  the  end.  Thus  we 
may  accept  Draseke's  remark,  which  springs 
from  a  right  feeling  of  the  whole  :  "  Finished — 
that  is  his  farewell  greeting  to  earth ;  Father, 
into  thine  hands — that  is  his  entrance-greeting 
to  heaven." 

Low  and  languishing  was  the  "  I  thirst " 
sighed  forth  ;  heard  only  by  those  who  stood 
near,  and  the  ready  ear  of  John.  After  this 
invigoration  the  sublime  word  of  victory  was 
uttered  with  more  strength.  But  more  loudly 
still,  with  a  marvellously  mighty  sound  {qxavrj 
/isydX^),  and  with  unexpected  quickness,  he 
proclaimed  his  voluntary  death  as  the  deliver- 
ing up  of  his  spirit  to  the  Father.  To  our 
mind,  it  was  uttered  with  as  loud  a  cry  as  the 
Eloi  {Hpac,ai,  I\Iark  xv.  39)— partly  to  make 
the  word  of  victory  the  counterpoise  of  the 
word  of  lamentation  ;  and  partly  to  indicate,  in 
the  midst  of  the  repose  of  victory,  the  critical 
violence  of  his  death,  the  rending  of  his  flesh  by 
his  own  voluntary  will,  in  order  to  the  setting 
free  of  his  spirit.  Matthew  by  "  when  he  had 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,"  Mark  by  "  cried  with 
a  loud  voice" — since  he  did  actually  cry  some- 
thing— mean  most  probably  this  last  word  of 
all,  of  which  Luke  decisively  records,  "and 
when  he  had  said  this,  he  gave  up  the  ghost." 
But  John,  who  had  heard  and  reports  the  pre- 
vious" It  is  finished,"  indicates  the  dying  word 
as  well  known  by  a  brief  paraphrascT— ;r  ap  e- 
8  a>  H  £  TO  TCyEvua,  he  gave  up  the  ghost,  in 
which  TcapiScoHE  Cyril  found  the  7tapaOi}6onai 
reproduced. t     Nonnus  renders  it  as  an  expres- 


woild  he  must  now  have  confessed — "  NoLhins  is 
accomplished,  but  all  is  lost,  my  lite  and  kingdom 
at  once." 

*  Psa.  xxxii.  7,  already  for  the  salr.ts  :  13^3  '!)-) 

t  The  transposi'.ioD  of  Sepp,  who  loakcs   the  i 


sion  of  voluntary  dying  (of  which  more  here- 
after)— ^EXTJiiioyt  6  elnaQe  TCor/uoj,  and  he 
departed  ly  a  voluntary  death. 

His  last  like  his  first  word  on  the  cross  calls 
upon  and  acknowledges  his  Father.  Indeed 
this  last  word  concerning  the  Father  corres- 
ponds as  well  with  the  first  public  word,  John 
ii.  16,  as  with  the  first  word  which  we  have 
generally,  the  child-word  of  Luke  ii.  49.  He 
does  not  yield  himself  up  in  death  to  the  blind 
power  of  nature,  he  does  not  commit  himself  to 
unknown  darkness,  or  to  "  the  womb  of  the  gen- 
eral life  of  the  universe,"  or  to  the  pantheist  uni- 
versal divinity  ;  but  he  yields  up  his  fersonal 
spirit  independently  to  the  living, ^i?rsorta^  God 
as  his  Father.* 

Because  this  separation  of  the  spirit  from 
the  body  is  the  destiny  of  man,  into  which  he 
has,  even  after  the  "  Finished,"  to  enter,  in 
order  that  the  fruit  and  power  of  his  fulfill- 
ment might  be  exhibited  in  the  domain  of 
hitherto  unconquered  death — therefore  he  ut- 
ters this  naturally  and  appropriately  in  the 
language  of  Scripture.  "  He  dies  with  the 
word  of  God  in  his  mouth.  His  whole  earthly 
existence  had  been  lived  out  in  this  word  of 
— a  saying  of  that  word  is  the  last  com- 
panion of  his  departing  soul  through  the 
dark  valley  (to  him  no  longer  dark)  of  the 
shadow  of  death"  (Arndt).  But  there  is 
something  more  to  he  observed  here  than  this 
final  use  of  scriptural  language.  Psa.  xxxi.  is 
properly  not  a  prophecy  of  Christ,  nor  do  we 
find  in  it  even  distinctive  typical  references; 
we  read  in  vers.  4,  8,  15  of  a  hope  of  deliver- 
once  from  the  danger  of  death,  and  of  the  pre- 
servation of  earthly  life,  and  other  things 
purely  pertaining  to  humanity,  such  as  in  ver. 
10  the  mention  of  iniquity. f     Nevertheless,  on 


"  It  is  finished  "  the  seventh  word,  needs  no  refu- 
tation. 

*  "  lie  who  can  imanine  that  Jesus  in  these 
words  breathed  out  forever  his  spirit  into  the  air, 
knows  nothing  of  the  truly  living  spirit,  and  cer- 
tainly nothing  of  the  livlnG:  God  and  the  livinst 
power  of  the  Crucified."  Sj  U.lmann,  S.  u.  K. 
1817,  p.  167. 

t  Unless  '^y.'^l  is  to  be  interpreted  (wi!h  Syni- 

mach.  5za  r7)v  na.Hoo6iy  /iov)  of  suflTerinss,  as 
many  so  understand  (though  doubtfu.ly)  '^Syj  in  2 

Sam.  xvi.  VI;  1  S^ni.  xxviii.  10,  etc.— or  to  bo 
read  as  ^Jiy3, 


LUKE  XXIII.  46. 


the  other  hand,  the  psalm  does  not  proceed  (as 
the  alphabetical  order  of  itself  shows)  from 
any  defined  situation  of  personal  snlFering;  but 
it  is  a  generall}'  prophetic  psalm  of  instruction, 
the  fundamental  tone  of  which  is  not  so  much 
distress  as  a  firm  and  clear  confidence  in  sal- 
vation :  see  the  very  beginning  of  it,  ver.  1, 
and  especially  vers.  7,  1-1,  15,  17,  19-24.  He 
whom  the  harassed  righteous  man  calls  his 
OoJ,  is  the  faithful  God  who  will  be,  as  he  has 
promic-ed,  a  sure  deliverer — nOX  ^JN  niiT,  "  Lord 

God  of  truth."  Hence  Hengstenberg,  with 
Cocceius,  rightly  acknowledges  this  universal 
significance  of  the  psalm.  But  this  is  again, 
at  the  same  time,  no  other  than  a  most  general 
form  of  typical  reference  to  Christ ;  and  Christ 
finally  spoke  in  the  language  of  this  psalm,  in 
order  that  taken  in  connection  with  Psa.  xxii. 
and  xlx.  it  might  show  that  he  walked  gener 
ally  the  human  way  of  faith,  that  he  appropri- 
ated to  himself  throughout  and  to  the  end  all 
that  was  said  of  human  confidence  in  distress 
and  human  appeal  to  God,  as  most  profoundly 
applicable  to  himself — he  spoke  this  language 
to  the  very  end,  where  the  Son  of  God,  consum- 
mate in  tlVfe  flesh,  dies  in  his  own  divine  inde- 
pendent power,  and  yet  as  truly  dies  the  death 
of  man.  That  which  David  magnifies  as  the 
confidence  of  the  righteous  man  in  life* — to 
commend  or  dedicate  his  soul  or  his  spirit  to 
God — he  now,  in  the  simplest  and  yet  sublim- 
est  manner,  binding  together  firmly  the  divine 
and  the  human,  makes  into  an  expression  of 
his  ceaUng  to  live  or  dying,  an  expression  used 
by  him  in  an  unapproachable  sense,  and  yet  at 
the  same  time  symbolical  for  us.  The  use  in 
the  psalm  of  m~i  instead  of  [i'SJ,  as  well  as  the 

significant  word  ms  (comp.  Psa.  xlix.  16,lxxi. 
23),  points  profoundly  to  an  eternal  redemption 
out  of  and  beyond  "this  life;  but  this  came 
first  distinctly  out  in  tlie  lips  of  Christ. 

For — let  it  be  carefully  marked — he  changes 
this  Scripture,  which  did  not  refer  personally 
to  himself;  andin  two  ways,  adding  something 
and  omitting  something.  Pie  adds  to  it  his 
new  word  Fallier,  hitherto  appropriate  to  him 
alone,  but  now  given  to  mankind  for  the  en- 
couragement of  their  confidence  :  IldrEp  here 
takes  the  place  of  ncX  h^  nin\     Again,  he 

gives  up  the  words — For  thou  hast  redeemed 
met — for  that  was  scarcely  now  befitting  on 
the  lips  of  him,  who  had  already  cried  m  "  It 
is  finished,"  I  have  redeemed  mankind.  Yea, 
his  God,  in  whom  he  trusted  even  in  the  midst 
of  his  most  distressed  lamentations,  redeems 
him  ntw,  and  takes  pleasure  in  the  consumma- 
tion of  his  suffc.-ings  for  men;  and  thus   he 


*  So  Peter  counsels  sufierrrs  (1  Pet.  iv.  19)  who 
have  time  left  lor  good  works. 

t  Or  more  e.xacMy,  Thou  redecmeftt  mo ;  an  ex- 
pression of  confidence  forever,  cousequently  for 
ev-ery  ihhig  pertaining  to  time  (v.  16) — by  no 
menns  a  mere  preterite,  Thou  hast  so  olteu  and  in 
such  minilold  ways  iaved  me. 


goes  as  a  redeemed  Redeemer,  a  delivered  Dfe- 
liverer,  after  his  consummation,  into  his  rest 
and  joy  witli  God.  Yet  even  here,  in  the  re- 
strained emotion  which  pervades  his  Passion, 
there  is  no  expression  of  exultation  in  the 
prospect  of  bliss  and  glory  :  it  is  not  from  Psa. 
xvi.  9-11  or  the  like  that  his  last  words  in  tlio 
flesh  are  taken.  Nor,  after  the  "  Finished,"'  is 
this  "Father  into  thy  hands  "  any  thing  like 
"  the  battle-cry  of  a  conqueror  who  is  figtiting 
his  way  through  to  victory;  the  death-cry  of 
one  who  is  sore  oppressed  and  whose  spirit  is 
struggling  its  way  into  a  place  of  eternal  secu- 
rity— the  arms  ot  the  Almighty  Father."*  Oh, 
no :  all  struggling  and  fearful  oppression  was 
sealed  and  closed  in  the  previous  word.  Th9 
profoundest  and  most  blessed  repose  after  toil 
IS  expre.ssed  in  this  surrender  of  the  spirit  to 
God,  to  the  Father.  It  is,  moreover,  a  human 
declaration  of  faith,  in  which  the  spirit  avows 
its  assurance  of  continuance  apart  from  the 
body,  because  God  will  receive  and  preserve 
it  ;t  but  it  is  withal  (so  perfectly  consummate  is 
the  God-man)  a  majestic  word  of  divine  au- 
thority, which  should  never  be  termed  "  his 
death-sigh." 

That  which  in  John  x.  18  he  had  spoken 
concerning  his  own  independent  power  to  lay 
down  and  take  up  his  life,  is  proved  and  con- 
firmed here  in  the  majestic  and  sublime  napa- 
07J6ojiiai,  "  commit."  Luke  the  Greek  ha^ 
given  the  whole  saying  strictly  according  to 
the  Septuagint ;  therefore  eii  x^lptxi  6ov, 
"into  thy  hands,"  for  T1'3  (which,  however, 

Christ  probably  spoke  in  the  sing.),  and  so  the 
future  napa'Jijdouai.     But  in  the  psalm  TpB?* 

is  certainly  used  with  a  present  meaning  as  the 
interchangeablecontinuationsin  vers.  7-9show; 
and  here  the  word  at  this  great  crisis  has  the 
force  of  a  napari^Jenai,  TtapaTiQiji-ii.  Beza 
and  Casaubon  noted  these  as  various  readings 
of  a  correct  gloss ;  and  Lachmann  actually 
adopts  the  Ibrmer  into  the  text.  But  it  does 
not  mean  in  the  superficial  sense  "  I  com- 
mend," as  the  Vulg.  commewla  might  mislead 
one  to  think;  but  an  actual  iraderi,  yielding 
up,  John  7tapE5cjH£y.  Thus  all  those  views 
are  incorrect  and  opposed  to  the  text,  which 
liken  this  dying  to  the  passive  dying  of  any 
other  man. J  Albertini  missed  his  way  very 
much  when  he  preached  :  "  Death  mercifully 
drew  nearer,  to  ^llay  the  bitterness  of  his  an- 
guish :  as  the  energies  of  life  sank,  his  pains 
relaxed."     Ebrard  is  equally  unhappy  when  he 


*  So  Krummacher  inadvertently  expresses  him- 
self. Similarly  Lan^e,  v/ho  lurther  speaks  of  a 
flying  before  the  terrific  form  of  death  into  the  Fa- 
ther's arras.  Assuredly  there  is  no  longer  any 
terrific  form  now. 

•j-  "  Above  the  poor  qnesfon  of  mr  tals.  To  le 
or  not  to  be"?  he  is  infinitely  elevated."  This  is 
the  beautiful  remark  of  Krummacher. 

rj:  So  Weiss  introduces  the  "  Finished  " — "  Yet 
there  is  a  limit  set  to  mortal  power;  Jesus  felt 
the  near  approach  of  death." 


694 


SEVENTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


describes  the  crisis  "  wlien  the  sudden  horror 
of  death  camf»  near."  To  him  who  now  volun- 
tarily died,  after  the  great  "  It  is  finished," 
death  had  no  lonper  power  to  draw  near  at  all ; 
but  he  who  had  now  su(!ered  and  accomplished 
all  in  the  dying  of  iiis  soul,  does  not  die  his 
bodily  death  as  a  sufferer,  but  as  in  spirit  al- 
ready the  Lord  and  Ruler  of  death.  A  sinful 
man,  though  an  Elijah,  can  at  best  utter  the 
supplicatory   'y»aj  np,    "Take    my   life"    (1 

Kings  xix.  4) — even  Stephen,  when  by  the 
counsel  of  God  death  actually  came,  can  only 
utter  the  appealing  "  Receive  my  spirit" — the 
Son  of  God  alone,  the  Lord  of  death,  said  to 
the  Father  in  the  highest  truth  of  the  word,  1 
render  up  to  thee  now  my  spirit.  This  was  al- 
ready intimated  by  John  in  the  "  knowing  that 
all  things  were  accomplislied  ;"  and  Hofmann's 
remark  is  very  correct :  "  He  received  (we  add, 
desired)  the  refreshing  drink;  not,  however, 
to  protract  his  life,  but  because  it  was  his 
Father's  will  that  he  should  not  assume  the 
appearance  of  languishing,  and  thus  of  iiivol- 
untarily  giving  up  his  life."  That  v/hicli 
Elijah,  in  the  infirmity  of  his  sinfulness,  ar- 
rogated to  himself  the  liberty  of  saying,  though 
without    result — Now  it  is  enough   (nny  21) 

the  Lord  here  speaks  with  supreme  propriety 
— Because  all  things  are  accomplished,  and 
there  remains  nothing  more  to  fulfill.  I  now 
die,  not  sooner  nor  later  than  now.  His  death 
is  thus  his  last  act ;  and  therefore  not  death  as 
in  our  case,  but  simply  the  givincr  up  of  the 
spirit  to  the  Father.  No  Evangelist  uses  the 
apostolical  word,  which  comprehends  all  in  one 
—And  he  died.  His  death  is  at  the  same  time 
miraculously  alone  in  its  kind,  like  his  birth  ;  it 
was  not  possible  to  be  otherwise.  The  utmost 
that  may  be  said  is  this,  that  in  Christ  the  phj-^s- 
ical  process  (of  dying  here)  coincided  entirely 
with  the  energy  of  his  Spirit  and  will.  But  not 
through  any  "  harmonia  prasstabilita :"  the  spirit 
is  ever  in  him  the  ground  and  strength  of  the 
bodily  life.  Thus  the  energies  of  life  do  not 
relax,  as  takes  place  in  us;  but  in  the  power  of 
the  spirit  there  would  have  been  present  suffi- 
cient energy  of  bodily  life  to  begin  a  new  life. 
He  dies  at  the  act  of  his  will  in  full  vigor  of 
life ;  and  it  was  this  which  caused  the  cen- 
turion's wonder  at  the  crying.  There  can  be 
no  agony  supposed,  at  this  crisis  after  the 
"Finished;"  lar  from  us  be  every  notion  of 
obscuration,  gradual  weakenine,  'convulsion, 
and  every  thing  of  the  kind.*  Rambach,  con- 
fused by  his  theology,  speaks  without  any 
understanding  when   he   represents   this   last 


*  S  'j>p's  perversion  of  the  truth  deserves  to  be 
put  into  liis  "  Catal  gue  of  the  sin.s  of  learned 
Prote.>itantism  :  "  "  In  |)roportion  as  his  anxiety  (?) 
increases,  his  eyes  are  dark<  ned  and  liis  l;^^t 
death-rattle  begins,  the  Kim  liecanie  more  and 
more  dark,  and  Jesus  criett  (words  which  were 
neither  dark  uor  anxioui.) — Fallier,  into  thine 
Lauds,"  etc. 


"  cry  "  of  our  Lord  as  a  cry  of  anguish  in  the 

bitterness  of  death. 

Jesus  hnwed  his  head,  when  he  uttered  his 
TiPpX,  "I  [will]  commit,"  to  the  Father;  bend- 
ing— not  under  the  pressure  of  nature,  and  not 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  the  appointment  of 
God  for  all,  but  under  the  decree  of  God  con- 
cerning his  Son,  yet  with  his  own  will  and  his 
own  act,  consummating  his  perfect  obedience 
in  this  transition  to  his  power.  He  enters  into 
rest,  that  his  work  may  begin  again  without 
suffering.  He  closes  the  eyes  of  weary  flesh, 
that  they  may  soon  be  opened  again  in  a  very 
different  way.  He  loses  his  consciousness  for 
one  single  vanishing  instant;  for  that,  as  the 
abiding  reality  of  his  death  in  the  likeness  of 
men  is  intimated  by  the  expression  that  he,  no 
longer  master  of  himself,  gave  up  his  spirit  to 
the  Father.  But  immediately  after  this  criti- 
cal moment  begins  his  being  quickened  ac- 
cording to  the  Spirit  (1  Pet.  iii.  18).  and  his 
mighty  work  in  the  underworld.  He  bowed 
his  head,  that  he  might  lift  it  up  again  (Paa. 
ex.  7). 

He  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  he  goeth 
to  the  Father,  John  xvi.  28.  It  is  his  last 
avowal — I  am  the  Son  of  God.  Uttering  this, 
he  dies.  An  "  obscure  but  great  presentiment 
of  consolation"  was  poured  by  this  "  Father" 
into  the  hearts  of  all  the  troubled  believers  who 
heard  it.  Into  thine  hand  or  hands — as  his 
body  had  been  delivered  to  the  hands  of  men 
and  sinners,  and  his  soul  into  the  hand  and 
power  of  the  tempting  enemy.  But  he  does  not 
mention  the  body  or  thefksh — it  is  self-under- 
stood that  the  hands  of  sinners  have  no  more 
power  over  it,  in  lulfillment  of  Psa.  xvi.  8,  9 — 
he  does  not  think  specifically  of  that  now  ; 
even  as  dying  sinners,  strong  in  the  blessed 
confidence  of  faith,  are  often  released  in  their 
consciousness  from  the  body.  Nor  does  he 
name  the  soul,  but  the  spirit  in  which  it  lives, 
and  which  carries  it  with  it ;  for  now  this  spirit 
reigns  most  absolutely  in  his  human  nature. 
Not  that  his  humanity  is,  in  the  sense  of  Rothe, 
converted  into  mere  spirit;  his  human  personal 
spirit,  in  the  mention  of  which  he  commits  his 
/into  the  Father's  hands,  is  the  perfect  Son 
still  and  ever,  and  by  no  means  becomes  iden- 
tical with  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  receiving  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  Father  is  still  in  the 
future  of  his  resurrection  and  glorification,  in 
order  that  in  this  distinction  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  Son  might  finally  be  accomplish- 
ed and  realized  in  humanity,  even  as  the  unity 
of  the  Son  with  the  Father. 

Into  the  Father's  hanJs,  that  is,  into  his  pro- 
tection, power,  keepine  (Wisd.  iii.  1),  he  gives 
up  his  spirit;  that  is,  first,  for  the  mean  lime, 
for  the  intermeiliate  space  till  he  should  return 
to  the  body,  and  then  with  the  body  ascend 
above  all  heavens.  Geier  has  very  well  inter- 
preted the  TpDX   in    the   psalm  :  "  Tanquam 

jni5p    depositum  "  (like  a  deposit) — and   the 

commendo  of    the   Vulg,   rightly    understood, 


LUKE  XXIII.  46. 


695 


jneani?  nothing  else.  Bat  this  traditio  ail  de- 
fiosiium  must  not  be  regarded  as  meaninpc,  con- 
trary to  all  anthropology  and  christology,  that 
in  death  the  spirit  was  separated  from  the  pouI.* 
Assuredly  not,  for  wit/tout  the  human  spirit  the 
soul  would  be  only  animal,  and,  therefore,  not 
continue  to  live.f  We  may  conceive  of  a  cer- 
tain obscuration,  a  certain  slumbering  of  the 
spirit  in  the  dreaming  soul,  as  existing  among 
the  dead  in  Sheol  in  various  degrees,  even 
among  the  happy  dead  in  the  slightest  degree  ; 
but  that  One,  who  dies  this  great  death,  can 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  the  dead  only  as  the 
Living  One,  ^oaoTtoiifjeJi  nvEv^iarty  "quicken- 
ed in  the  Spirit,"  as  the  Apostle  says.  Thus 
the  Tiysvjita.  /uov,  my  spirit,  means  the  entire 
I,  passing  over  and  leaving  the  body,  spirit 
and  soul  undivided,  just  as  the  soul  now  has 
uttered  the  /uov  ;  the  delivery  into  the  Father's 
preserving  hands  expresses  only  hii  crmjuleiice 
against  all  the  p&wer  of  Sheol ;  it  is  a  testimony 
that  now  for  Christ,  and  from  that  time  forward 
through  him  for  all  his  people,  the  might  of 
the  Father's  life  and  love  pervades  and  rules 
all  regions  of  this  kmg  lorn  of  the  dead.  "  We 
know  but  little  of  our  state  after  death;  but 
what  Jesus  said  when  dying  is  enough  for  us." 
There  is  also  in  his  words  a  glance  forward,  be- 
yond the  intermediate  state,  to  the  final  coming 
to  the  Father,  with  a  deeper  fulness  of  meaning 
than  when  the  preacher,  Eccles.  xii.  7,  mentions 
the  return  of  the  spirit  of  man  generally  to 
God  who  gave  it.  Nevertheless,  Christ's  spirit 
did  not  at  once  go  up  to  heaven  (the  word  to 
the  malefactor  would  contradict  this),  thither 
where  the  Eternal  Son  was  before  ;  that  did  not 
take  place  until  the  glorified  fle-h  could  go  there 
too.  But  all  this  as  our  forerunner.  The  fore- 
runner brings  us  thither  afterwards;  but  he 
now  carries  his  whole  Church  with  him  in  his 
spirit,  prolentically  in  this  "  It  is  finished  " 
embracing  all  in  whom  he  will  live.  On  the 
one  hand  he  first  defined  his  own  personality  by 
TivEvnd  f^iov,  as  that  which  would  "  not  simply 
continue  to  live  in  the  general  spirit  of  human- 
ity ;"  but,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  prophetic 
mediatorial  sense  he  already  commits,  after  the 
"  Finished,"  all  the  spirits  of  the  sanctified,  the 
entire  Church  as  one  with  him,  to  the  Father. 


*  Rambach  :  "  He  deposits  his  spirit  as  a  jewel 
of  inestimable  value  in  the  hands  of  God,  with  the 
hope  to  receive  it  again  on  the  third  day,  and  to  unite 
it  again  with  his  glorified  body. '  Olshatisen  : 
"  Wliile  the  soul  of  Christ  went  to  the  dead  in  Sheol 
(but  1  Pet,  iii.  18  testifies  against  thai)  and  his 
body  rested  in  the  sepulchre,  his  spirit  returned  to 
the  Father.  In  the  resurrection  all  was  le-united 
into  a  harmonious  unity." 

f  The  dead  who  appear  without  a  body  are 
called  in  Scripture  nvevnara  (Luke  xxiv.  37 
89;  Acts  xxiii.  8,  9) — j'ea,  even  Uie  torm^'niel  in 
the  pr  son,  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  as  also  the  saints  ma<le 
[lerfect  before  the  resurrection,  Heb.  xii.  23.  Willi 
this,  in  another  refeienceof  the  expression,  .iude 
cer.  19  well  agrees;  compare  my  expositioa  ol 
h.s  Epistle,  p.  101. 


Here  is  a  sla  viator  for  the  pondering  of  all 
the  living,  who  shall  die.  The  dying  word  of 
the  conqueror  and  forerunner  becomes  a  word 
of  test  for  every  man.  Whitlier  in  thy  case, 
when  it  comes  to  this?  No  ?««??.  hath  power 
over  the  spirit,  to  retain  or  release  it  on  the 
day  of  death  (Eccles.  viii.  8;  1  Chron.  xxx, 
15;  2  Sam.  xiv.  14).  What  kind  oi  finiali  d 
wilt  thou  bring  before  God  ?  Seek,  while  there 
is  yet  time,  that  which  will  be  alone  accep- 
table, through  the  finished  work  of  thy  Re- 
deemer. Then  wilt  thou  also,  with  conscious, 
voluntary  submission  in  death,  cry  with  Ste- 
phen— Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,  thou,  hast 
redeemed  me;*  and,  thus  coming  t-o  the  Son, 
come  through  him  to  the  Father. 

And,  behold,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent. 
This  is  the  first  thing  which  Matthew  mentions 
at  the  moment  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  before  the 
earthquake  which  accompanied  and  caused  it ; 
Mark  mentions  this  alone ;  Luke  only  seems 
to  place  it  lefure  the  death.  Schleiermacher 
cannot  understand  how  this  could  be  known, 
since  the  priests  would  certainly  not  betray  it, 
and  asks  further,  "  Why  is  there  not  the  laint- 
est  trace  of  a  reference  to  it  in  tlie  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews?"  But  he  did  not  rightly  read 
Keb.  X.  19,  20,  where  the  most  perfect  interpre- 
tation of  the  sign  is  given.  He  who  sleeps  in 
Jesus  will  experience  the  truth  of  this,  even 
though  he  did  not  believe  or  understand  it  be- 
fore ;  but  it  is  better  and  more  blessed  preoions- 
ly  to  be  taught  by  the  Scripture.  "The  Ohl 
Testament  is  done  away,  but  in  its  very  aboli- 
tion it  is  once  more  confirmed.  This  world- 
embracing  death  of  Jesus  has  a  more  internal 
connection  with  this  external,  theocratical  sanc- 
tuary of  Israel,  than  the  theology  or  philos- 
ophy of  history  which  places  the  Old  Testa- 
ment on  the  same  level  as  heathenism  will 
understand.  Theentrance  hitherto  closed  is  now 
laid  open  ;  humanity,  like  Israel,  has  free  access 
to  the  sanctuary  of  communion  with  God. 
Where  hangs  tliis  veil,  which  Christ  alone 
rends?  Even  in  the  symbol  and  shadow  it 
was  below  and  not  above — not  so  much  before 
God,  as  before  man.  It  is,  according  to  Isa. 
XXV.  7,  the  veil  which  is  spread  over  all  na- 
tions ;  and  the  covering  cast  over  all  the  peo- 
ples (tD1;in-^:Qj    the   face   or   the   form  of  the 

covering) — the  great  pall  of  death,  and  the 
power  of  death  through  sin  separating  from 
God  ;  that  is  (as  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
teaches),  Die.  flesh  ol  sin  and  death  which  the 
Saviour  himself  received  from  us,  in  order  that 


*  So  Huss  on  his  way  to  the  pile  repeatedly 
said,  first  when  ihey  gf^ve  his  soul  over  to  devj^s 
Willi  the  paper  crown,  ''But  I  commit  my  spirit  in;o 
J.iue  h  .lids,  0  Lord  Jesus  Chri.st;  I  coniiiieiid  my 
soul  lo  thee,  who  hast  redeemed  it" — and,  ag:iin, 
'  Thou  hast  redeemed  me,  my  Lord  Jesus,  God  of 
tiutli."  Tne  ''■  I  commend  "  has  been  hy  nuilti- 
u  les  after  him  innocently  used;  although  Ste- 
phen, lull  of  ihe  Holy  Ghost,  more  properly  re- 
mains within  the  limits  ol  what  becomes  im. 


696 


THE  SEVEN  WORDS  TOGETHER. 


dying  he  might  rend  the  veil  first  in  his  own 
flesh,  and  the  spirit  and  the  life  of  God  might 
burst  throivrh  upon  man  in  a  stream  never 
more  to  be  restrained. 

The  earth  did  quake — while  he  in  the  pro- 
foundest  repose  bowed  his  head.  Jerusalem's 
(emple  and  towers  letter — "and  the  cross  of 
Christ  alone  is  unshaken."*  The  rocks  rent — 
and  should  not  thy  heart  quake,  and  the  veil 
of  thy  flesh  be  rent,  tliou  redeemed  sinner?  No 
man  takes  harm  from  these  signs,  for  they  are 
signs  of  salvation.  A  third  sign  completes  the 
testimony  of  this  day,  of  these  hours,  of  this 
moment.  Above  in  the  heaven,  from  the  light 
of  the  sun,  began  the  first  sian  for  the  mystery 
of  the  counselof  redemption — upon  the  earth, 
the  old,  preliminary,  mutable  dispensation 
which  predicted  a  new,  immovable  kingdom, 
recedes  and  gives  place — and  in  the  depths  of 
the  world  beneath  there  is  movement  and  con- 
vulsion, which  also  must  become  manifest. 
The  graves  open.  For  the  life-creating  power  of 
this  death  begins  even  there  its  enertry  of  sal- 
vation. All  humanity  dead  before  Christ  had 
waited  for  him — even  the  saints  can  now  first 
rise  again.  Before  they,  after  his  resurrection, 
appear  as  the  first-fruits  of  the  "  first  resurrec- 
tion,"! there  is  a  quickening  toward  the  resur- 
rection even  now  at  the  crucifixion  ;  for  in  the 
kuigdom  of  death  begins  the  power  of  life,  the 


grave  is  first  opened  by  the  death  in  order  to 
the  subsequent  resurrection. 

The  centurion  presiding  over  the  crucifixion 
lifts  his  voice — the  voice  which  afterwards 
burst  forth  more  loudly  from  the  heathen  world 
against  Israel's  denial* — and  confesses  :  Thii^ 
man  was  what  he  said,  that  which  Pilnta 
declared  him — a  righteous  man — that  which  he 
had  answered  to  their  "  Art  thou  ?  " — the  Sin 
of  Ood.  The  two-fold  view  of  his  testimony  is 
true  and  significant  in  the  spirit  of  the  history. 
Whether  thou  renderest  him  at  first  the  Ebion- 
ite  acknowledgment  of  his  being  a  righteous 
man,  or  the  indefinite  and  Oentik  honor  of 
being  a  Son  of  God,  is  of  no  moment  at  the 
first :  thy  faith  avails,  thou  already  glorified 
God,  and  God  will  assuredly  glorify  his  Son  in 
thee.  But  in  order  to  that,  it  must  be  the  faith 
of  repentance.  For  the  two  immediate  in- 
fluences of  the  signs  which  took  place  around 
the  cross,  as  Luke,  vers.  47,  48,  combines  them, 
are  in  most  internal  unity,  and  reciprocal  in 
their  operation  :  first,  the  giving  God  honor  in 
sincere  acknowledgment  of  the  impression  pro- 
duced by  what  has  taken  place  ;  and  then  th© 
smiting  upon  the  breast  unto  repentance,  the 
preparation  for  Pentecost,  and  change  from  a 
mere  idle  beholding.  Thus  the  voice  of  reason 
and  the  voice  of  conscience  give  their  testimony 
I  in  answer  to  the  question — Whotoas  this  Jesus 
I  who  died  upon  Calvary? 


THE  SEVEN  WORDS  TOGETHER. 


We  cannot  leave  these  words,  though  we 
have  entered  at  large  upon  each,  before  regard- 
ing them  once  more  as  a  whole.  The  sacred 
se»en-mimlier  would  of  itself  demand  this.  Ben- 
gel  writes :  "  The  words  are  seven,  according 
to  the  four  Evangelists  :  no  one  of  them  has 
written  down  all.  From  this  it  appears  that 
their  four  books  are  as  it  were  four  voices 
which  together  make  full  symphony."  Certain- 
ly he  is  right.  Not  that  Christ  himself  thought 
of  this,  or  designed  that  his  words  should  be 
just  seven  more ;  nor  did  the  Evangelists  intend 
it  or  order  it  so,  for  no  one  of  the  Synoptics 
knew  all  that  had  been  spoken.  John  might 
have  comprised  them  all ;  but  he  has  not  done 
80,  only  supplying  what  was  wanting  and  leav- 
ing us  to  connect  the  whole.  But  the  seven 
words  prove  themselves  in  their  connected 
harmony,  alter  a  wonderful  manner  ;  thus  giv- 
ing us  one  more  testimony  and  example  that, 
as  in  the  history  of  Jesus  first,  so  also  in  the 
Scriptures  concerning  him,  there  is  a  most 
mysterious  rule  and  ord'-r  to  be  discerned 
Such  results  of  the  combination  of  the  whole, 
though  they  were  not  aimed  at  by  the  writers 

*  So  Pape  in  his  ChrUtus,  p.  220,  sings. 
f  Not  merely  as  Lange  makes  them,  "  spirit- 
appearances." 


themselves,  throw  back  a  confirming  and  glo* 
rifying  light  upon  the  truth  and  significance 
of  "the  hktory  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh,  and 
especially  of  the  history  of  his  Passion.  "  The 
suffering  Christ  speaks,  as  the  symbol  of  a  fulnes.i 
ol  most  profound  truths  and  references  the 
most  significant,  a  language  to  the  world  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  uttered  in  the  tones 
of  his  living  word" — says  Olshausen  truly;! 
yet,  however  true  this  is  of  the  impressive 
voice  of  the  history  in  all  its  circumstances  and 
details,  which  to  our  thoughtful  contemplation 
become  more  and  more  invested  with  the  char- 
acter of  symbols  and  speaking  acts — it  could 
not  fail  to  be  still  more  profoundly  true  of  these 
final  and  most  essential  words  of  the  Word. 
The  suffering  Lord,  hanging  upon  the  cross, 
broke  the  silence  and  opened  his  lips  seven 
times — these  words  are  to  us  as  the  bright  lights 
of  heaven  shining  at  intervals  through  the 
darkness,  or  as  the  loud  thunder  tones  from 
above  and  within,  which  inteiprel  the  cross,  and 
n  which  it  receives,  so  to  speak,  another  col- 


*  The  honorable  spirit  among  the  rude  soldiers, 
in  opposition  to  the  hypocritical  priests. 

f  lie  adds  that  "  the  most  unbounded  ima^ina. 
tion  could  not  produce  a  poem  which  should  equal 
this  reaiity." 


liUKE  XXIII.  31,  ETC. 


697 


kctive  superscription.  Braune  saj's  beauti- 
fully: "Tlie  poet  is  right;  the  <tos«  is  a  plant 
which  bears  fruit  without  blossoms.  But  yet 
the  last  words  of  Jesus  may  be  regarded  as  the 
most  glorous  blosaoms" — of  the  cross,  of  the 
dry  tree  planted  to  bring  forth  fruit.  For  thus 
we  would  prefer  to  close  his  sentence,  instead 
of  saying  (in  the  spirit  of  Schleiermacher), 
"  the  most  glorious  blossoms  of  pious  elevation  j 
and  communion  with  the  Father."  j 

What  significance  is  there  in  the  individual 
words  ;  how  sharply  definite  is  each  single  tone 
in  the  seven-toned  "symphony  !  The  first  word 
is  most  gracious  in  "its  invitation  for  the  com- 
mencoment  of  all  faith,  universally  embracing 
the  entire  guilty  world  of  his  enemies.  Tlie 
second  to  the  malefactor  then  follows  as  the 
most  specifically  encouraging  to  all  individual 
souls,  in  all  ages,  who  believingly  turn  in  their 
distress  to  their  sympathizing  King.  The 
third  to  Mary  and  "John  may  be  termed  the 
most  pregnant  in  its  meaning,*  inasmuch  as 
this  most  personal  discharge  of  his  obligation 
and  most  specific  care  of  these  disciples  is  at 
the  same  time  the  pledge  of  liis  equal  care  of 
all  whom  he  leaves  behind  him  upon  earth. 
The  fourth  is  without  doubt  in  its  central 
darkness  the  most  mysteriously  deep,  although 
it  contains  in  itself  the  kernel  of  all  the  conso- 
lation of  redemption — "  When  my  heart  is 
eunk  in  deepest  auk'uish,  pluck  me  out  of  my 
distress  by  the  virtue  of  thy  anguish  and 
pain."  The  filth,  /  thirst,  we  have  already 
termed  the  least  seemingly  significant:  but  its  I 
inmost  meaning,  as  the  expression  of  the  thirst 
of  Jesus  alter  our  souls,  makes  it  the  most 
touching  and  affecting  of  all  in  its  appeal.  We 
may  regard  It  w  finhhed,  as  the  most  sublime, 
the  widest,  and  most  boundless  of  the  series ; 
while  the  seventh  and  last  is  the  most  blessed 
word  of  faith;  the  sealing,  moreover,  of  the 
end  of  faith  for  all  Christ's  disciples. 

Another  thing  observable  is  this,  that  almost  j 
all  the  seven  words  iiere,  where  all  things  tend  ' 
to  final  fulfillment,  point  back  to  jirojihicy,  and  i 
are  spoken  more  or  less  in  the  words  of  Scrip-  \ 
Uere.f  Properly  speaking,  i\ie  fourth  in  its  j 
central  fulfillment  is  spoken  in  the  most  literal  | 
words  of  Scripture  ;  and  with  it  the  seventh,  as  i 
a  glorilying  application  of  a  general  human  j 
word  (which  here  alone  fii.l.s  its  true  jtAt;- i 
pcodii).  'Ihe  ^fiid  rests  upon  the  Messianic; 
prophecy  of  Isa.  liii.  12;  the  jft,ith  and  8ia:th\ 
point  to  Messianic  psalms  (that  one  which  i 
passes  from  lamentation  into  victory).  Only  j 
the  second  and  third  were  originated  by  specific 
circumstances,  and  have,  so  lar  as  we" can  yet 
see,  no  typico-prophetical  basis  in  the  Old 
Testament;  though  light  may  yet  be  shed  upon  j 


this.*  Even  these  will  be  found  the  more 
plainly  to  approve  their  place  as  belonging  to 
the  wonderfnlly  arranged  completeness  and 
unity  of  the  whole. 

We  must  make  some  further  observations,  in 
connection  with  this,  upon  the  compldetiess  o( 
the  whole,  and  then  upon  the  significant  order 
of  the  individval  words  of  the  series.  These 
seven  words  perfectly  embrace  the  fulness  of 
those  truths  and  relations  which  the  cross  was 
to  reveal.  Bengal:  "  This  summing  up  of  all 
doctrine  regards  his  enemies,  the  converted 
sinner,  his  mother  and  the  disciple  (that  is,  we 
may.  add,  the  communion  of  his  ovva),  and  his 
heavenly  Father."  This  leaches  us  not  to 
forget  that  the  Lord  in  all  these  words,  and 
not  pre-eminently  from  the  fourth  to  the  sixth, 
bears  witness  concerning  himself.  Thus  he 
lets  us  contemplate  (to  use  Driiseke's  words, 
which,  however,  we  correct)  the  object  of  the 
redeeming  work  in  the  first :  its  fruit  and 
fiower  in  the  second  and  third  ;t  its  price  (how 
much  it  cost)  in  the  fourth;  its  extent  (how 
far  his  suffering  went,  and  the  longing  of  his 
soul  still  reaches)  in  the  fifth;  its  consumma- 
tion in  the  sixth  ;  finally  its  perfect  end  in  the 
self-surrender  to  the  Father.  Thus,  at  least, 
has  the  preaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
Church,  from  the  beginning  summed  up  all 
doctrine  in  these  woids,  thus  giving  their  most 
living  and  most  profound  exposition — an  "  an- 
akephaleosis  doctrinaj,"  as  Bengel  says,  "  nobis 
protuturfe  in  nostris  fions  extremis" — all  profit- 
able traih  for  our  hist  hour. 

The  quotation  we  introduced  from  Richter's 
Ilausbiliel  is  not  strictly  exact :  namely,  that 
"  the  first  three  words  before  the  darkness  were 
spoken  to  others,  the  last  four  referring  to 
Christ  himself  alone."  Assuredly,  (he  first  word 
begins  in  the  most  absolute  selfforgelfubiess, 
sinks  with  all-embracing  love  into  the  need  of 
others.  Forgive  iiieni — what  they  do  ;  without 
adding — to  me.  The  last,  on  the  contrary,  ap- 
pears to  be  the  most  perfect  retreat  into  his  own 
personality,  which  he  gives  up  to  the  Father. 
But  the  process  and  gradation  between  these 
two  extremes  must  be  more  carefully  looked  at. 
To  the  second  word  of  special  grace,  which  ac- 
tually effects  the  forgiveness  of  sins  in  one 
pattern  and  first-fruit  of  sinners,  he  is  excited 
and  cnlled  by  the  malefactor  himself;  but  that 
word  Paradise,  which   was  the  encouragement 


*  Or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  iheviost  symhohcal, 
thenieanins  of  which  as  refening  to  us  all  is  most 
hidden  in  the  form  of  type. 

t  Riimbach  applied  Wisd.  ii.  20  to  this:  Tlien 
shall  a  m;in  be  kntwvn  by  his  words.  But  this  is 
Bot  faithlul  to  the  original  of  that  passage. 


*  That  what  Karrer  {Luth.  Zdts.  1849,  ii.  323) 
addures,  is  not  satisfactory;  lor  what  reference 
can  be  found  in  P^a.  xxii.  9,  10,  to  the  word 
spoken  to  Mary,  or  in  P.sa.  xxii.  29,  30,  to  that 
spoken  to  llie  malefactor?  So  also  the  re  erence 
of  the  "Fini.«hed  "  to  Isa.  liii.  11  is  incorrect. 

f  This  is  better  than  L'riiseke  s  view.  He  chanaes 
the  order  of  ihe^e  two,  and  s  es  in  the  lellowsliip 
of  love  symt)o;ized  in  Mary  and  John,  the  truit, 
and  in  the  obtainin<i  of  Paradise  the  jmwer  of  re- 
demption. (Comp.  his  Fredigten,  Magdeburg, 
1839.)  Is  not  the  winning  and  saving  of  this  sin- 
tier,  as  a  fiist-fruit,  its  fruit ;  and  the  cenien'.ing 
love,  its  power  f 


698 


THE  SEVEN  WORDS  TOGETHER. 


of  that  sinner,  reminds  the  Lord,  as  of  the 
anguish  to  be  passed  through  before,  so  also  of 
those  whom  lie  would  leave  behind  in  the 
world  ;  hence,  therefore,  the  testament  of  love 
for  tliem  and  for  us  all.  Then,  indeed,  in  the 
middle  of  the  conflict,  where  he  has  to  do  with 
his  God  alone,  the  Eloi,  Eloi,  is  uttered  in  the 
most,  "peviiici  furgetf Illness  of  all  others,  from  the 
depths  of  the  utter  loneliness  of  his  soul.  But 
the  consciousness  immediately  returns  to  him 
that  he  must  accomplish  for  the  world's  re- 
demption what  had  been  decreed  and  written  ; 
consequently  he  turns,  as  we  saw,  in  his  thirst, 
once  more  to  men  ;  he  cries  out  to  the  world,  as 
well  as  to  his  Father,  and  himself,  the  great 
"  Fulfilled  ;"  and  finally  (yet  not  without  secret 
conjunction  with  himself  of  those  made  perfect 
in  him)  he  yields  up  himself  as  perfected  to 
the  Father. 

All  this  has  already  indicated  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  specific  order  in  which  we  find 
them.  This  may  be  meditated  upon  still  fur- 
ther— for  the  subject  is  inexhaustible  to  medi- 
tation— and  the  more  we  meditate  upon  it,  the 
more  will  our  exegetical  arrangement  prove  it- 
self. With  what  could  the  Lord  begi7i  but  the 
great  intercession  at  the  commencement  of  his 
crucifixion,  which  embraces  first  his  crucifiers, 
and  in  them  all  other  sinners?  "  Love  first  of 
all  stoops  to  the  most  wretched  "  (Driiseke). 
Therefore  we  hear  first  this  testimony  to  the 
love  which  brought  him  to  death  and  the  cross, 
in  unison  with  his  conscious  experience  of  tlie 
love  of  the  Father  whom  he  invokes,  which  not 
onlv  suffered  this  awful  act  to  take  place,  but 
sufi'ei-ed  it  to  take  place  in  order  to  forgivene.ss. 
With  what  could  he  close  but  the — Father  into 
thine  hands?*  Further,  where  could  the  Lord 
have  spoken  those  two  v.'ords,  the  promise  of 
salvation  in  another  world  and  the  provision 
for  this  world's  happiness,  but.  in  the  all-em- 
bracing conscious  activity  of  his  love,  before 
his  own  personal  anguish  of  soul.  Again,  he 
who  was  dying  for  sinners,  and  interceding  for 
impenitent  sinners,  has  a  sinner  made  penitent 
to  encourage  and  save,  before  he  turns  to  those 
who  were  already  his  own.  Where,  if  all 
these  things  were  placed  fragmentarily  into  our 
hands,  should  we  place  the  two  other  words — 
the  avowal  ot  distress  and  need,  in  order  to  re- 
ceive from  his  enemies  the  last,  albeit  bitter 
portion,  and  the  blessed  retrospect  upon  all  the 
8utr»*ring  by  which  all  was  now  fulfilled  and  the 
world  delivered — but  after  the  sonl-angnish, 
and  hef(/re  the  immediate  dying  words  ?t   Thus 


*  Tluis  the  transposition  of  this  word  into  a 
j>Iacp  before  "  It  is  finished  "  (whicii  we  have  met 
witli)a[pppars  altow-'ttier  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
tioth  words,  when  viewed  as  spoken  in  such  cir- 
rnin^laiices  by  Ciirist  It  is  intellisible  enouijl) 
in  the  low  view  wh.ch  Weiss  tnkps  of  it :  Not  only 
i\l  first  tiie  "  reaignatton  and  confi  lence  of  the  de- 
voui  a>>d-loviiiLr  man" — hut  sill  more  joyful 
"  Tiie  vocation  was  accompiislied,  the  end  of  lite 
was  attained." 

\  Wc  cannot  cor.ceive  how  the  '•  I  thirst"  could 


the  middle  wnrd  of  the  seven  in  its  order,  is  in 
reality  the  central  and  middle  word  in  its' 
meaning  ;  before  which  we  behold,  as  it  were, 
a  descent  of  compreiiensive  and  conscious  love 
to  the  first  departure  from  this  earthly  life,  and, 
after  which  an  ascent  again  to  consummating 
elevation  and  serenity.  What  Pvieger  says  is 
true,  that  Christ  is  in  the  first  triad  of  words. 
"  so  little  moved  by  all  the  mockery  around 
from  his  heavenly  composure  and  kingly  spirit, 
that  we  may  well  glory  in  this  cross  ourselves, 
against  all  the  world's  scorn  now."  As  high 
priest  he  supplicates  for  all ;  as  king  he  dis- 
penses grace  and  salvation  to  the  suppliant  ;* 
as  the  master  of  the  household,  or,  so  to  speak, 
the  father  of  the  house,  he  makes  provision  for 
his  family.  This  is  the  triumph  of  his  love, 
which  blesses  eneinies;  of  his  grace,  which  re- 
ceives such  as  come  to  him  ;  of  his  fidelity, 
which  forgets  no  needful  care.  All  this  is  quite, 
true;  and  yet  is  there  not  manifest,  in  the 
mention  oi  Paradise  (longed  for  by  the  suflerer 
himself)  instead  of  kin//ilom,  and  still  more  in 
the  appointment  of  a  deputy  to  represent  his. 
earthly  life  and  care,  a  certain  humiliation  and 
dejection  of  tone  which  anticipates  and  waits 
for  the  great  anguish  ?  But  alterwards,  again; 
what  an  ascending  process  of  feeling  from  tha 
satisfied  thirst  through  the  Finished  to  the  ma- 
jestic napa0)](5i>i.iai,  I  commend  my  spirit! 

But  all  this  has  not  yet  pointed  out  even  the 
several  directions  which  meditation  may  take. 
How  much  lies  in  the  depths  of  each  word  in 
its  concrete  connection  with  the  history  out  of 
which  it  sprang,  and  how  much  for  general 
application  and  deep  rejection,  which  our  ex-> 
position  has  as  yet  but  sliglitly  indicated  '  Let 
us  look  once  more  at  this  pregnant  falnesSj 
that  we  may  be  on  our  guard  against  all  super- 
ficial treatment  of  them.  Thus  {.\\e  first  word 
contains  in  it  the  whole  doctrine  concerning 
forgiveness,  and  the  difTerence  between  sia. 
paidonable  and  unpardonable;  giving  the  pro- 
foundest  disclosure  of  the  condition  and  proce- 
dure of  sin,  as  ignorantly  crucifying  or  know-, 
ingly  scorning  the  Lord,  and  also  of  that  re-. 
pentance  by  which  a  salutary  knowledge  of  sin 
IS  attained,  and  which  is  the  necessary  condi- 
tion of  forgiveness.  The  second  throws  its 
enlightening  beams  into  the  darkness  of  the. 
underworld,  and  speaks  of  the  restoration  of 
that  which  was  lost  in  Adam.  The  third  obvi- 
ates a  misunderstanding  concerning  his  rela- 
tions to  his  mother,  which  has  filled  ages  with 
its  sad  results;  and  in  the  abolition  of  his 
sonship  according  to  the  fl^"sh  points  to  new 
and  spiritual  relationships  by  a  figure  which 
is  to  be  understood  as  applicable  to  all.  The 
fmirth  penetrates  the  depths  of  humanity  strug- 
gling toward  him  when  future,  and  backward 


1)6  placed   before   the  great  anguish,  as   many 
maintain. 

*  For  to  refer  tliis  word  concrrnins  kingdom 
and  Prtwrfwtf  (with  Lange  in  the  Chrtslo>erpe)mcr^ 
iy  to  the  "  i)eijitent "  and  the  "  priest,"  by  do 
means  comes  up  to  its  meaning. 


J.UKE  XXIII.  34,  ETC. 


rhetorical  words  are  to  be  taken  with  much 
niodification  :  "  These  seven  words  are  not  to 
be  expounded — they  expound  themselves.  They 
are  deeper  than  the  sea,  and  higher  than  hea- 
ven ;  but  they  are  at  the  same  time  bright  as 
the  sun,  and  need  not  the  lamplight  of  our 
explanations."  Most  certainly,  the  lamplight 
of  our  so-called  exposition  is  of  no  avail  here ; 
but  if  that  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  Jesus 
spoke  words  which  even  his  human  conscious- 
ness did  not  embrace  at  the  moment  in  all  that 
was  involved  in  them,  sheds  his  light  upon 
those  words,  we  may  surely  investigate  them 
with  humble  prayer  for  his  enlightenment. 

A  new  method  of  observation  presents  itself 
when  we  regard  all,  as  we  certainly  have  a 
right  to  do,  as  symbolical  for  the  followers  of 
the  Forerunner,  the  members  of  the  Head.  In 
them  we  learn,  as  before,  to  live  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  death  of  Christ,  so  also  and  espe- 
cially to  die  bodily  in  that  fellowship  ;  we  can 
appropriate  every  word  in  our  degree  to  our- 
selves. We  can  pray  for  our  enemies,  comfort 
with  our  own  consolation  every  tempted  soul, 
receive  all  true  penitence  as  valid  to  the  last, 
forget  no  offices  of  loving  care  through  life  and 
in  death,  cry  even  in  our  most  distressed  aban- 
donment in  faith  to  our  God,  shrink  from  and 
be  ashamed  of  no  infirmity,  work  in  suffering 
and  in  suffering  labor,  until  there  is  for  us  also 
a  final  fulfillment,  and  the  commendation  of 
our  spirits  to  our  Fatiier. 

Finally,  the  character  of  the  seven  words  as 
the  budding  blossoms  of  the  cross  is  justified 
in  this,  that  they,  like  blossoms,  prophesy,  and 
bear  in  themselves  the  future  of  their  consum- 
mation. Bengel  says,  with  reference  primarily 
to  the  individual  Christian:  "  Even  in  the  very 
order  of  the  words  there  lie  mysteries  ;  and 
they  may  be  made  to  declare  the  gradations  of 
the  persecution,  afHiction,  and  conflict  of  the 
Christian."  We  would  not  only  apply  this  to 
the  process  of  every  Christian's  life,  but  regard 
the  order  of  the  words  as  a  prophetic  type  for 
the  entire  course  of  the  Church  as  a  whole.* 
That  the  life  of  our  Lord  generally  contains  in 
itself  a  typical  prophecy  for  the  Church  called 
to  follow  in  his  steps,  has  been  ever  involunta- 
rily acknowledged  oy  believers  ;  the  conviction, 
however,  that  in  the  way  of  the  Head  there  is 
also  a  specific  preformation  of  the  history  of 
his  body,  is  not  so  generally  received:  but  it 
is  so  nevertheless.     But  this  symbolical  char- 


•  This  may  at  least  be  better  carried  throush 
than  Bennel's  piral'el  with  the  seven  pelitoiis  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  For  even  if  the  first  and  tlie  last  pe- 
titions m  y  sugsest  such  an  accordance,  the  series 
between  cannot  be  paralleled  without  violence; 
anil  indeed  the  fourth  anJ  the  sixth  words  defy  it 
a  together.  For  ihe  rest,  when  my  critic  Munch- 
meyer  declares  my  exposition  also  to  be  arbiirary 
tritiins,  and  oflTers  to  trace  in  the  sam-^  manner 
tlie  process  of  the  Church's  history  in  the  ten 
commandments — f-can  only  challenge  him  with 
all  submi&siou  to  the  test. 


acter  of  his  history,  which  is  at  the  same  time 
prophecy  (for  all  the  symbols  of  Scripture  and 
Christ's  kingdom  are  prophetic,  because  they 
all  point  forward  to  the  end,  while  any  thing 
remains  to  bo  accomplished)  is  found  in  its  more 
absolute  concentration  in  the  history  of  the  Pas- 
sion. Again,  the  cycle  of  the  seven  words  repre- 
sents a  specific  cycle  in  that.  We  cannot  sup- 
press our  own  pres?ntiment  of  this  ;  for  by  so 
doing  we  should  be  denying  the  full  truth  to 
many  of  our  readers. 

The  preaching  of  forgiveness  to  a  world  not 
knowing  what  it  did,  the  first  form  of  the  word 
on  the  cross,  specifically  opens  the  Church's  his- 
tory. The  Jews  did  what  they  did  ;  that  is, 
crucified  and  rejected  Jesus,  without  knowing 
whom  they  crucified,  and  what  they  did  there- 
by :  therefore  this  was  disclosed  to  them  for 
their  repentance,  and  mercy  was  ready  to  fol- 
low. The  Gentiles  did  not  know  that  they  had 
done  it,  that  their  sinful  deeds  were  the  cause 
of  his  sufferings — but  after  the  times  of  igno- 
rance which  were  winked  at,  grace,  obtained 
now  by  the  death  of  Christ,  is  ofTered  likewise 
to  them.  Out  of  the  first  "  Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do,"  as 
its  key-note,  flows  the  first  apostolical  preach- 
ing to  the  world  as  a  whole,  all  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  now  where  it  enters  for  the  first 
time.  The  two  following  words  from  the  cross 
then  represent  in  prophetic  type  the  two  results: 
the  first-fruits  (that  is,  of  the  Gentile  world 
also,  as  added  to  the  little  confessing  company 
of  Jews)  are  collected  together ;  and  they  are 
then,  as  belonging  to  Christ,  preserved,  cared 
for,  and  united  in  one.  The  one  malefactor  is 
the  prophetic  example  of  the  many  (comp. 
Matt.  viii.  10,  11)  who,  in  the  deepest  and 
most  internal  fear  of  God,  break  through  the 
mockery  and  offence  of  the  cross,  recognize  in 
the  Crucified  their  King  and  their  Saviour,  and 
commend  their  souls  to  him;  especially  of  all 
those  who,  themselves  enduring  the  sufferings 
arid  judgments  of  an  evil  time,  recognize  in 
these  the  just  award  of  their  deeds,  and  receive 
from  Christ  the  glorious  hope  of  a  Paradise 
beyond.  Is  not  this  the  predominant  character 
of  the  Church's  extension  and  its  missionary 
history  during  the  first  centuries  of  calamity 
and  persecution  of  Christians?  But  these  thus 
won  ever  increase  the  little  company  of  Christ's 
people,  so  small  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel, 
and  which  is  exhibited  in  the  persons  of  Mary 
and  John.  Such  are  all  who  endure  in  love 
beneath  the  cross,  whose  fidelity  will  never 
forsake  their  suffering  Lord:  he  therefore  shows 
his  fidelity  to  them  in  caring  for  their  earthly 
life  before  they  are  received  to  Paradise.  Here 
behold  the  testamentary  provision  for  the 
Church  upon  earth — and  that  in  and  by  its 
union  in  love  I  Still  more  :  as  Mary  is  here 
the  type  of  believing  humanity  in  the  old  cov- 
enant, in  and  out  of  which  Christ  was  bora 
by  the  Holv  Ghost,  so  further  she  is  the  type 
ot  the  Church,  which  beareth  him  continually 
in  sucessive  spiritual  births.  This  is  his  moth- 
er, who  travailed  and  brought  forth  the  mysti- 


>700 


THE  SEVEN  WORDS  TOGETHER 


cal  Christ  (Rev.  xii.  6) — and  yet  at  the  same 
time  not  his  mother,  as  he  is  her  exalted  Lord. 
This  Mary  is  left  in  the  care  of  John,  the  dis- 
ciple of  love,  who  through  love  penetrated 
most  deeply  the  heart  of  Jesus  and  the  myste- 
ries of  his  word — rather  than  to  the  preacher 
and  confessor,  Peter.  Preaching  may  gather, 
instruction  may  regulate,  and  confession  may 
.in  a  certain  sense  hold  it  together ;  but  it  is 
.only  love,  at  once  inward  and  contemplative 
(T\oi  so  much  dialectic  and  dogmatical)  which 
nourishes  and  takes  care  of  the  true  Church. 
The  beginning  of  the  Church's  life  bore  pre- 
eminently this  Johannean  character — See  now 
these  Christians  love  one  another  !  and  so  at 
the  end  of  its  history  John,  the  fourth  Evan- 
gelist, the  writer  of  the  epistles  of  love,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  apocalyptic  Apostle,  will  again 
take  to  himself  the  Church  bearing  the  anguish 
of  the  cross  in  her  heart,  and  be  her  refuge  and 
consolation  from  the  final  woes.  This  Johan- 
nean love,  and  in  it  the  blessed  communion  of 
secret  traditions  and  experiences  of  Jesu.x, 
Ibunds  the  new  spiritual  fellowship.  While 
peoples  and  nations  come  and  go  in  history, 
empires  rise  and  fall,  and  the  bonds  of  society 
are  more  and  more  relaxed — within  the  hidden 
Church  there  is  the  continual  realization  of 
that  first  truth,  Behold  thy  son  ;  behold  thy 
mother;  behold  your  brethren  and  your  sis 
ters !  Was  not  this  the  predominant  character 
of  Church  history  during  those  wanderings  of 
the  nations  which  prepared  lor  the  crisis  of  the 
middle  ages  in  the  world's  history  ? 

But  in  these  middle  ages,  rightly  so  called  as 
in  the  midst  of  time,  the  central  word  from  the 
cross  is  most  especially  realized  :  the  power  and 
light  of  Christ  are  hidden,  darkness  breaks  in, 
the  mystically-repeated  crucifixion  of  Christ 
begins  lor  the  struggle  and  victory  of  the  faith 
hardly  beset.  Then  comes  a  time  (although  a 
more  exact  fulfillment  is  before  us  still,  in  the 
last  hour.  Rev.  iii.  10)  when  the  people  of 
Jesus  must  raise  to  heaven  the  lamentation  of 
ahandoiiment.  Then  begins  the  crisis  of  the 
second  part  of  history.  Christ  in  his  people 
once  more  holds  firmly  to  his  God  ;  the  Scrip- 
ture, which  must  have  its  fulfillment  Lkewi.se 
in  these  sufferings  of  the  Church,  is  unsealed  in 
victorious  clearness.  (The  first  Reformation 
followed  by  a  continually  enlarging  view  of  the 
prophecies  which  predicted  anti-Christendom 
and  its  transitory  power.)  The  Lord's  thirst  in 
his  abandonment  after  the  consummation  is 
renewed  in  all  its  force  as  a  thirst  for  human 
Bouls  which  must  be  satisfied — in  the  midst  of 
the  never-ceasing  mockery  and  scoru  which  is 
now  once  more  heard.  This  is  the  revived 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  proceeding  from  the 
Spirit's  strong  impulse  to  save  the  souls  of 
men  ;  the  preaching  of  reformation  first — then, 
when  this,  alas  I  became  cold  and  frigid,  bring- 
ing over  into  our  own  age  the  Bret  hren's  and  the 
Pietists'  words  from  the  heart  to  the  heart.  In 
all  this  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  forsaken  and  yet 
no  longer  forsaken,  is  heard — I  thirst.  Those 
whom  he  thus   wins,  are,  however,  not  such  1 


thoroughly  sound,  and  earnest,  and  strong  con- 
fessoi-s  as  ihe  first-fruits  of  apostolic  preaching 
were  before  the  Church  was  forsaken,  and  who 
were  represented  by  the  malefactor  with  his 
bold  glance  onward  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Ah  no  1  they  more  resemble  as  a  whole  the 
soldier  who  gives  the  potion,  who,  half-heart- 
edly, still  clings  to  the  world  which  mocks  the 
kingly  sway  of  Jesus,  and  wonders  at  the  long 
delay  of  the  restorer  Elias.  This  is  the  his- 
torical and  predominant  character  of  the  con- 
versions within  the  Church  during  the  con- 
tinued Reformation  (hence  Luther,  with  more 
truth  than  the  Reformed,  laments  that  he  could 
not  find  John's  con.=titution  of  the  Church; 
and  even  among  the  "  Brethren,"  Mary  and 
John  do  not  truly  meet) — and  it  is  also  the 
same  now,  in  the  second  Reformation,  with  our 
missions  which  proceed  so  feebly  in  the  midst 
of  scorn.  This  little  flock  of  heathens,  which 
comes  to  allay  the  thirst  for  consummation  in 
humanity,  only  excites  it  the  more  ;  and  itself 
utters  the  great  cry,  wavering  between  unbelief 
and  faith — Why  does  Elias  yet  tarry?*  Here 
that  miserable  perversion  of  Christ's  sacred 
word  marvellously  proves  itself  in  prophetic 
truth,  such  as  all  mockery  around  the  cross  will 
fundamentally  prove  to  have  been.  He  who 
called  upon  his  God,  did  thereby  at  the  same 
time  call  upon  his  forerunner  and  the  preparer 
of  the  way  for  the  true  accomplishment  of  all 
that  has  been  promised. 

Nor  will  it  cease  till  the  great  day,  according 
to  Mai.  vi.  5,  6  at  the  end  of  prophecy.  The 
Elias-preaching  in  the  power  of  John — not 
only  the  Baptist's  to  repentance,  but  the  Evan- 
gelist's also  to  faith  and  love — will  be  difl'erent 
from  that  which  has  gone  before.  For  the  Lord 
will  bring  in  a  spealy  end  with  his  Church  and 
humanity,  even  as  in  the  last  three  words  from 
the  cross.  It  was  just  then,  when  the  potion 
was  scornfully  given  to  his  thirst,  that  the  "  It 
is  finished "  was  near.  Then  will  Israel  hear 
it,  and  the  "Crucify"  will  be  changed  to  a  true 
Hosanna,  when  he  is  seen  comii  g  in  hia  poor 
congregations  and  feeble  hearts  throughout  all 
naiions,  in  the  loud  witness  which  the  history 
of  his  Church  will  give  to  the  fulfillment  of 
Scriplure.j  Then  will  Israel  recognize  the 
suflfering  Messiah  as  glorious  in  the  Spirit;  a 
second  time  will  the  veil  l>e  rent,  the  veil  which 
now  covers  their  hearts  ;  the  cloud  upon  the 
law  and  the  prophets  will  disappear  before  the 
light  of  the  Epislle  to  the  Hebrews  and  of  the 


*  In  this  the  impatience  of  waiting  is  affect- 
inj^ly  blended  with  tho  doubt  of  half-belief  and 
the  scorn  of  unbelief. 

t  The  true,  perfect,  and  clear  "  prophetic  the- 
ology "  we  shall  not  have  till  ih'?  end  draws  nigh 
(Dan.  xii.  4).  But  its  centre,  viewed  from  whicli 
all  becomes  clear,  is  the  knowledge  of  the  suffer- 
ings {\  Pet.  i.  11)  before  the  glory,  and  that  al.so 
for  Christ  »«  h\»  people.  This  In.vt  will  be  raid© 
plain  only  in  tho  iiistorical  fHlfiliment,  just  as  it 
was  in  relation  to  Christ's  own  personal  huffer- 
iugs. 


LUKE  XXIII.  34.  ETC. 


701 


Apocalypse,  of  Paul  and  John.  Then  will  all 
nations  come,  the  consummation  break  forth  in 
humanity,  and  the  counterpart  of  the  rerf'Af- 
6vat  will  be  seen  in  tlie  kingdom  set  up. 

But  that  will  be  a  kingdom  of  his  Spirit,  of 
his  own  personality  now  consummated  in  his 
people.  All  trust  of  humanity,  which  can  com- 
mend itself  to  God  (as  it  is  expressed  by  Psa. 
xxxi.,  therefore  chosen),  is  concentrated,  elevat- 
ed, fulfilled  in  him.  His  enemies  are  beneath 
his  feet ;  the  last  enemy  death  is  abolished  ; 
and  for  eternity  the  Son  delivers  up  himself  with 


his  redeemed  ones  to  tfie  Father  (1  Cor.  xv.  24- 
26).  There  is  no  more  Sheol,  no  intermediate 
place  or  condition  ;  only  the  depth  of  hell  re- 
mains for  those  who  are  now  decisively  sepa- 
rated from  him  and  the  Father,  because  the 
hand  of  God  must  condemn  all  whom  it  cannot 
receive  and  bless.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  living  God  without  atone- 
ment and  forgiveness  (Heb.  x.  31)— a  blessed 
thing  it  is,  to  be  given  into  the  hands  of  th* 
Father  at  last  with  Christ  himself. 


THE  WORDS  OF  THE  RISEN  LORD. 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  RISEN  LORD  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 
John  xx.  15-17. 


The  first  earthquake  upon  and  around  Gol- 
gotha, extending  indeed  over  all  Jerusalem  to 
tiie  temple  and  the  graves,  was  public  and 
general ;  the  second  only  moves  the  stone  in  . 
Joseph's  garden  and  scares  the  guards  away.  I 
The  proper  resurrection  itself  was  secret,  alto- 
gether secret,  to  man  ;  the  eye  of  no  earthly 
watcher  saw  the  actual  resumption  of  the  body, 
the  rising,  and  the  going  forth.  Before  the  sun 
of  this  lower  world  had  risen  upon  the  third 
day,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  had  already 
risen,  the  Bridegroom  had  gone  forth  from  his 
chamber.  And  how  did  it  take  place?  By 
the  divine  power  of  the  Father  in  the  Son. 
That  might  indeed  have  passed  through  the 
stone,  as  afterwards  throuudi  the  doors,  yea, 
through^all  the  heavens  ;*  but  the  stone  rolled 
away  wa's  to  be  the  first  sign — explaining  all — 
for  the  children  of  men,  whether  enemies  or 
friends;  and  here  was  something  for  the  minis- 
try of  the  ever-ready  angels  too.  They  speak 
first  to  the  troubled  ones,  and  at  once  announce, 
by  shining  manifestation  and  by  words  yet 
brighter,  what  had  taken  place.  But  the  Lord 
himself  rejoices  in  silence  before  his  Father  and 
his  God;  solemnizing  his  great  victory  in  the 
human  foretaste  of  his  full  joy.  His  spirit 
comes  back  from  the  lower  world  to  his  body, 
leaving  his  commencing  conquests  there:  there 
is  woawalcing  in  his  case,  as  those  imagine  who 
wholly  rnisundenstand  the  descensus  ad  inferos 
(descent  into  hell)  ;  and  yet  is  his  resurrection 
the  consummation  of  his  great  victory,  and  he 
celebrates  it  as  such.  Although  the  impulse 
of  his  love  urged  him  at  once  to  the  company 
of  his  own  upon  earth,  who  are  still  in  the  sor- 
row of  death,  yet  he  does  not  overwhelm  them 
with  sudden  surprise  at  his  glorious  re-appear- 
ance, but  restains  himself,  yields  himself  to 
their  view  by  degrees  regulated  in  the  highest 
•wisdom   of  love.     Their  minds  are  gradually 


*  Hence  many  of  the  fathers  actually  say  that 
the  opening  of  the  sepulchre  took  place  after  the 
Lord's  departure  from  it,  as  a  witness.  L6ssel 
writes  against  this,  though  too  boldly  :  "  Was  not 
the  Son  of  God  able  to  come  forth  from  liis  grave 
without  the  ministration  of  an  aiiuel  to  take  away 
the  stone — and  yet  will  the  children  of  m^»n  think 
to  do  all  by  their  own  ingenuity  1"  Alas!  who 
will  roll  away  the  stone  for  u*  ? 

702 


prepared,  each  one  according  to  its  tempera- 
ment and  need.  Lampe  expresses  it :  "  Placuit 
ei,  non  uno  ictu,  sed  gradatira  tanti  gaudii 
amicos  suos  participes  reddere"  (It  pleased 
him,  not  by  a  single  shock,  but  gradually  to 
make  his  friends  partakers  of  so  great  a  joy). 

There  is  confusion  at  the  sepulchre,  and 
afterwards  in  the  little  room,  in  the  thoughts 
and  acts  of  the  disciples,  like  the  clouds  around 
the  rising  sun  ;  until  it  shone  fdrth  in  all  its 
glory — The  Lord  is  risen  indeed  !  It  has  taken 
place — and  yet  they  know  it,  they  believe  it, 
not.  There  is  joy — and  yet  they  are  enveloped 
in  deep  distress  ;  these  Apostles  are  doubting, 
thinking,  and  waiting  longest  of  all.  Yet  there 
is  a  latent  impulse  in  their  minds  which  drives 
them  to  the  sepulchre;  a  heavenly  gaidanco 
leads  some  among  them  at  least,  as  represent- 
ing the  rest,  wiiose  thoughts  and  feelings  are 
still  at  the  grave  of  their  Lord.  They  come  not 
singly:  neither  ^Magdalene  (although  it  might 
seem  so  at  first  from  John)  nor  the  disciples 
whom  she  called — a  bond  of  love  has  been  al- 
ready established  which  should  ripen  into  a 
fellowship  of  blessedness.  The  true  and  deep 
love  of  the  women  has  here  also  its  pre-emi- 
nence. "  Novam  hoe  mulieres  viris  palmam 
praeripiunt"  (These  women  snatch  away  a 
new  palm  from  the  men),  says  Lampe;  but 
adds,  not  quite  so  pertinently,  "  Et  sic  quoque 
fas  erat  in  regno  Christi  ultimos  evadere  pri- 
mos  "  (Thus  too  it  was  right  that  the  last  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  should  become  first) — for  ir.. 
the  sense  of  this  saying  the  women  were  not, 
properly  speaking,  the  last. 

They  know  of  the  stone  which  Joseph  had 
rolled  to  the  sepulchre  ;  but  they  do  not  think 
of  it  until  tiiey  have  approached  it :  of  guards 
and  a  seal  they  know  nothing  ;  of  the  resurrec- 
tion they  have  no  distant  presentiment :  they 
only  desire  to  finish  the  anointing  of  the  boltj 
which  had  been  abruptly  interrupted  by  tho 
Sabbath.  Yet  a  most  secret  hope,  concealed 
even  from  themselves  in  their  sorrowful  love, 
seemed  to  lead  them  out,  as  it  were,  to  meet 
the  resurrection.*     "  Their  running  was  in  tho 


♦  So  Krummacher  has  very  beautifully  depict- 
ed it  in  his  sermon  on  Easter  morning  and  M  iry 
Maijdalone.  We  shall  make  many  allusious  W 
this  sermon. 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


703 


meanwhile  an  actual  going  forth  towards  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  faith  and  ex- 
perience of  the  life  of  Jesus  "  (Rieger)  Christ 
already  lives  in  them ;  their  sorrowing,  seek- 
ing, dependence  upon  hini,  and  going  alter 
him,  is  actually  of  itself  the  pledge  of  the  res- 
urrection ;  as  the  angels'  word.  Matt,  xxviii. 
5,  6,  will  intimate  that,  always  and  every  where, 
those  who  seek  the  Crucihed,  shall  lind  the 
Eisen  Lord.*  Thus  these  women  and  disciples, 
especially  Mary  Magdalene  (who  not  only,  as 
Fikenscher  says,  takes  the  place  here  of  James, 
in  company  with  Peter  and  John,  bat  is  still 
more  highly  favored  by  the  first  appearance), 
are  a  type  of  all  penitent  souls,  who  go  out  in 
sorrow  to  meet  their  Easter  consolation. 

The  narratives  of  the  several  visits,  which 
have  been  deemed  inextricably  contradictory 
by  the  ignorant  and  wilful,  have  been  easily 
reconciled  by  believing  exposition,  one  way  or 
another,  from  the  beginning.  John  mentions  at 
first  only  Mary  Magdalene,  because  he  purposes 
only  to  speak  concerning  her;  but  we  think, in 
harmony  with  Matthew  and  Mark,  that  she 
went  out;  with  the  other  women. f  Consistent- 
ly with  this  it  is  quite  possible,  rather  quite 
probable  from  the  passionate  temperament  of 
the  Magdalene,  that  she  haste/ang  forward 
reached  tlie  place  earlier;  and  to  this  the  dif- 
ference between  Mark's  aycxtEiXayroi  r(;u 
7)Xiov,  "at  the  rising  of  the  sun,"  and  John's 
dHorta?  ETt  oi,6r]i,  "  while  it  was  yet  dark," 
seems  to  lead.  Just  so  she  runs  back  again 
(rpf'^ez,  John  xx.  2)  from  the  others  after 
the  first  glimpse  of  the  open  grave  ;  with- 
out having  approached  or  entered  it,  without 
seeing  the  angel  upon  the  stone  (her  profound 
grief  rendering  her  unsusceptible  to  this),  and 
without  having  heard  his  words,  and  those  of 
the  two  angels  within.  Then  come  the  others 
to  the  sepulchre ;  the  angel,  he  who  sat  upon 
the  stone  which  bore  the  seal  of  the  council, 
speaks  to  them  (Matt.  ver.  6  J  sv  r  a,  i'dere 
Tuv  ToTtov),  and  they  depart  in  haste,  as  he 
commanded  them.  Yet  not  all.  They  are 
probably  some  who  came  after,  or  who  now  re- 
main, who  according  to  Luke  see  the  two  an  j;e!s 
in  the  sepulchre,  who  receive  the  ri  ^Tjreirs^ 
"  what  seek  ye?  "  (for  the  re^t,  however,  with 
the  same  message  as  before,  a  similar  allusion 
to  Christ's  word's),  and  according  to  Luke,  ver. 
22-21,  merely  report  the  vision  of  the  angels.f 
We  must  assume  that  Luke'3  information  was 
not  exact  when  in  ver.  10  he  speaks  too  gener- 
ally of  the  collective  women ;    but  Matthew 


*  Or :  "No  man  can  sink  into  the  death  of  Christ 
without  rising  in  his  resurrection." 

t  Not,  with  Ebrard,  that  "Matthew  couples  the 
going  out  of  Magdalene  with  that  of  the  ot,her 
women,  quite  alter  his  manner." 

X  Thus  do  we  solve,  in  the  way  most  harmr.ni- 
ous  with  the  text  (although  other  methods  are  pos- 
sible), the  seeming  contradiction — brought  forward 
by  Cel^us — between  one  or  two  angels;  not  as 
Lucke  thinks,  that  one  of  the  Evangelists  is  mis- 
tikoa. 


designs,  by  self-restriction,  or  was  appointed 
by  tlie  Holy  Spirit,  not  to  record  the  appear- 
ance to  Mary  Magdalene,  but  only  the  circum- 
stance that  a  part  of  the  women  saw  the  Lord 
in  the  way.  Generally  speaking,  the  Sun  of 
the  true  resurrection  dispersed  by  his  bright- 
ness the  clouds  which  accompanied  his  rising, 
and  threw  them  in  some  sense  into  oblivion. 
The  details  of  the  individual  appearances  befora 
the  great  revelation  in  the  apostolical  circle, 
fell  so  naturally  into  the  background,  that  sub- 
sequent reflection  alone  attempted  to  arrange 
them  ;  and  that  not  with  such  elaborate  exact- 
ness as  was  left  to  our  later  criticism  ;*  unless 
we  prefer  to  take  the  narratives  and  the  words 
in  their  simplicity  (apart  from  the  polemical 
necessity  of  refuting  the  investigations  of  in- 
fidelity), just  as  the  Holy  Spirit  has  recorded 
them — as  annourcements  which  on  such  a  sub- 
ject transcend  all  the  petty  details  of  lower  his- 
tory, in  which  every  utterance  breathes  the 
spirit  and  life  of  the  great  event. 

Thus  Magdalene  runs  back,  according  to 
John,  ver.  2,  and  seeks  or  finds  those  two  of 
the  Apostles  first,  whose  province  it  was  to  go 
and  inspect  the  sepulchre.  Peter,  who  had 
gained  courage  enough  to  join  himself  to  the 
others,  f  had  united  himself,  since  his  fall,  yet 
more  strictly  to  John.  They  both  come  to 
the  sepulchre,  withijut  meeting  the  returning 
women.  (Luke  mentions  only  Peter  in  ver. 
12,  but  in  ver.  21  knows  of  certain  other.) 
TheT/  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  ice  know  not  where  they  have 
laid  him  !  Thus  ran  the  communication  to 
them.  This  oi'6a/i£v  of  Magdalene  (for  which 
Pol.  Leyser  read  viSa  /tsy,  and  the  Syr.  and 
other  ofd  vers,  translate  it  in  the  sing.)  cannot 
be  interpreted  impersonally,  when  connected 
with  ^pa» — he  has  been  taken  away,  it  is  not 
known  where.  This  would  be  frigid  indeed. 
Pwather,  as  her  sorrow  forecasts  the  worst,  and 
as  her  unbelief  thinks  more  of  the  hands  of 
men  than  of  the  power  of  God,  she  shudder- 
ingly  refers  to  the  enemies  of  Jesus — They 
have  persecuted  him  to  the  grave,  and  have 
now  denied  him  the  resting-place  which  had 
been  granted  to  our  supplications.^  With  this 
would  harmonize  the  general  "  we,"  as  contra- 
distinguishing his  friends  and  disciples,§  were 

*  Compare  what  Martensen  {BogmatiJc,  p.  8G1) 
says  upon  this :  So  we  should  ex])ect  only  such 
records  of  the  great  and  absorbing  fact  of  tlie 
resurrection,  as  would  leive  the  coiemporaneous 
details  uncared  for  in  its  fiist  great  imp:eision. 

■j-  For  we  may  not  say,  with  Sepp,  tint  "  the 
remaining  Apostles  were  all  dispersed,  and  no  ou© 
knew  rightly  concerning  any  otuer." 

X  It  was  far  from  her  mind  to  think  of  mlhera 
(as  Gi-otiu  ).  Still  less  are  we  satisfied  wiih  Klee  : 
Friends  might  have  removed  him  to  aiioti.er  place, 
to  secure  him  against  further  ill  treatment.  Ver. 
15  is  adduc  d  in  corroboration  of  this,  but  wo 
understand  that  passage  differently. 

^  Bengel :  "  Discipulornm  nomine,  quos  scribat 
eadera  de  re  laborare. '     So  Ebrard. 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


it  not  that  this  "  we"  must  belong  to  the  an- 
nouncement to  these  disciples,  and  therefore 
distinguish  tlie  speakers  Irom  them.  Conse- 
quently we  must  regard  the  company  of  at- 
tendant women  as  glimmering  through  this 
"Ave;"  and  therefore  inlcr  that  John  thereby 
intimates  the  presence  of  others  with  Mary 
Magdalene.*  For  although  the  others  after- 
wards encountered  the  angels  pnd  heard  other- 
wise from  them,  Mary  Magdalene  speaks  by 
anticipation  in  their  name,  as  if  they  also 
would  find,  like  herself,  nothing  else. 

John,  reporting  concerning  himself  in  a 
purely  objective  manner,  records  the  difference 
between  the  two  disciples  in  their  running  and 
inspection  ;  and  that  not  merely  as  personally 
characteristic  of  either,  but  as  a  profound  sym- 
bol of  spiritual  distinction  in  the  circle  of  dis- 
ciples, even  in  connection  with  their  closest 
union. t  Luther,  finally,  has  in  our  judgment 
rightly  translated  the  £7ti6r£v6sv  of  ver.  8 — 
"  He  believed  it ;"  adding  in  the  margin, 
"  that  he  had  been  taken  awa}',  as  Mary  Mag- 
dalene had  said."  So  Bengel:  "Vidit  et  cre- 
didit;  vidit,  non  adesse  corpus  Jesu,  et  credidit, 
id  fuisse  translatum,  ut  dixerat  Maria."  Stolz 
andSeiler:  "And  convinced  himself."  Eras- 
mus, Grotius,  Gerhard,  not  to  mention  others, 
hold  the  same  view.  The  predominant  opinion 
of  older  and  later  times,  however  confidently 
maintained,  that  this  ni6rEvEiv  must  neces- 
sarily indicate  a  faith,  though  only  dawning  or 
germinant,  in  the  resurrection, X  appears  to  us 
altogether  untenable.     The  next  verse  does  not 


*  Bencel  in  the  Harmony  :  "  Yet  was  it  in  fact 
one  united  company,  as  is  pre-supposed  by  John, 
ver.  2."  So  Michaclis  and  others ;  Doedes,  also, 
J)e  Jesu  in  vitam  reditu,  whom  Ebrard  opposes 
without  reason,  Luthardt  rightly  refers  to  this 
circumstance,  as  an  example  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Evangelist  throuahout  this  chapter 
pre-supposes  the  historical  conLcuts  ot  the  oiher 
Gospels. 

f  Peter's  slowness  proceeded  not  from  aee,  or 
depression  of  conscience ;  but  deeper  internal 
love  here  as  ever  goes  faster  than  swiftness. 
Tiien  again  John  is  satisfied  with  look  ny  into  the 
grave,  and  a  deeper  feehtig  of  holy  awe  restrains 
liim  from  ^oing  in  like  Peter.  (Wetstein,  with  as 
much  folly  as  possible  :  "  Ne  pollueretur."  Gro- 
tius, much  too  lamely:  "  Juveaili<juadam  ccnpo6- 
Ciia.") 

i  So  Cyril  and  Chrysostom,  then  Calvin,  Beza, 
Lampe.  (Nonnus  sought  to  ^ave  the  connection 
with  ver.  9  by  the  str.ange  modification :  itidrevEv 
ort  ;t9of:Gj;'  and  xoXnojy  ovpavirjv  kni 
ifi^ay  vTCr]yE^to<i  venvi,  tnrrj.)  So  very  de- 
cisively Lnnge,  in  the  3il  cd.,  though  by  argu- 
ments easily  refuted.  Neander  re>ts  upon  this 
necessary  meaning  of  ntCrtvEiv  in  John's  phrase- 
ology, which  also  decides  Alford.  So  also  Lnnge, 
Klee,  B  -Crusius,  Richter,  Von  Gerlaoh,  and  Luth- 
ardt. Iless,  leeling  the  historical  difficulty  of  this 
believing,  strangely  interpreted — lie  began  to  con- 
ceive some  hope  ;  though  he  admits  tliat  one  imght 
find  in  the  words  confirmation,  as  well  as  reluu- 
tion,  of  Mary's  suspicions. 


agree  with  this  ;  the  emphasis  falls  there  opv 
the  ayadrf/yai,  or  rising,  as  the  opposite  t« 
that  which  they  did  believe.  For  certainly  it 
is  altogether  wrong  to  regard  this  verse  as  giv- 
ing the  reason  why  Peter  only  did  not  believi 
— though  this  has  been  done,  in  spite  of  "  thev 
knew  "  and  the  entire  connection.  Hezel  even 
rendered  it,  "  But  the  others  did  not  understand 
the  Scripture,  and  therefore  did  not  believe." 
Fikenscher  says,  "  They  should  have  had  more 
than  faith,  they  should  have  Inmon  it" — s<i 
that  the  emphasis  would  fall  upon  the  muU,  af 
taught  by  the  Scripture.*  But  such  a  dictinc- 
tion  between  believing  and  knowing  is  foreign 
to  John  ;  and  it  cannot  be  evaded  that  the  spe- 
cific and  definite  passages,  Luke  xxiv.  11,  12, 
41,  and  Mark  xvi.  14,  are  inconsistent  with 
the  idea  that  any  one  of  the  disciples,  even 
John  himself,  bad  any  faith  in  the  resurrection 
at  this  time.f  Euthym.  says  on  ver.  9:  "He 
explains  the  reason  why  they  did  not  before 
believe  the  women  ;"  but  the  announcement 
of  the  women  which  was  not  believed  did  not 
come  till  afterwards.  That  none  of  the  Apos- 
tles believed  at  first,  notwithstanding  the  ear- 
lier appearances  to  the  women  which  might 
have  stimulated  their  faith,  is  as  historically 
certain  as  it  is  profoundly  signiGcant ;  and  we 
cannot  regard  John  as  the  exceptional  first  be- 
liever— before  Mary  Magdalene.  Indeed,  there 
was  a  divine  design  in  suffering  them  to  see 
the  empty  sepulchre,  with  all  its  ordered  ar- 
rangements, "to  bring  them  by  these  special- 
ties to  faith"  (as  the  Berlenh.  Bibel  says) — but 
that  design  was  not  attained.  The  clothing 
laid  by  said  symbolically,  that  "  the  form  of 
sinful  "flesh  hitherto  borne  was  now  laid  aside; 
and  that  the  Lord  Jesus  had  entered  a  lile 
of  glory,  in  which  no  garments  or  other  cov- 
ering would  ever  more  be  needful" — but  even 
that  they  understood  not.  "They  might  in- 
deed have  perceived  from  this  fact  that  neither 
friends  nor  enemies  had  taken  him  away;  for 
friends  would  not  have  taken  off  bis  garments, 
and  enemies  would  not  have  so  carefully  ar- 
ranged them  "  (Schmieder).  But  they  merely 
marvelled;  they  thought  no  further;  this  was 
all  they  believed — no  more  than  they  saw, 
that  the  body  was  actually  not  in  the  sepul- 
chre. This  is  the  simple  meaning  of  "  and  he 
saw  and  believed,"  a  phrase  which  John  de- 
signedly uses  :  employing  the  word  m6rEvcty, 
elsewhere  and  afterwards  used  with  so  lofty  a 
meaning  as  an  inexpressibly  beautiful  ironi/ — 
which  has  confused  the  expositors.  Augustine 
has  given  this  view  in  his  own  clear  manner  : 
"Some,  not  carefully  reading,  think  that  John 
here  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  ;  but 
that  which  follows  intimates  otherwise.  What 
did  he  mean  when  he  added  that  they  did  not 


*  This  is  at  least  better  than  with  Tholuck  to 
fake  the  pSstday  in  a  forced  pluj)erfect  sense 
— They  bad  not  unCU  now  understood  iLe  Scrip- 
ture. 

•f  For  it  is  mere  .irbitrary  presumption  to  insert, 
as  Klee  does,  "John  and  Peter  eipecled." 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


705 


Jit  understand  the  Scripture  that  he  must  rise 
from  the  dead  ?  That  he  therefore  did  not  be- 
lieve him  to  have  risen,  because  he  did  not 
know  that  he  must  rise.  What  was  it  he  saw, 
and  believed  ?  He  saw  the  empty  sepulchre, 
and  believed  what  the  women  had  said,  that  he 
was  taJcen  aicay  from  the  sepulchre."  "  The 
grave  is  empty.  The  Lord's  body  is  no  longer 
therein."  This,  and  only  this,  was  the  first 
Easter  tidings,  disguised  in  sorrow.  The 
•women  had  seen  nothing  more  at  the  begin- 
ning, at  least  Magdalene  had  seen  nothing 
more;  for  the  traces  of  the  earthquake,  the 
careful  arrangement  of  the  inside  of  the  sepul- 
chre, and  so  forth,  they  had  neither  eyes  nor 
thought.  The  two  disciples,  therefore,  wanted 
to  be  convinced  only  of  that  which  had  been 
testified  to  them.  John  had  gone  in  doubt 
•whether  this  was  possible;  but  now  that  he 
sees  it  with  his  own  eyes,  he  must  believe.  He 
does  believe  it  fully,  but  believes  nothing  more 
than  he  sees. 


But  let  us  come  back  to  Mary  Magdalene, 
whose  proper  relation  to  the  occurrences  of  the 
resurrection  morning  it  was  necessary  for  us 
thus  to  determine.  It  speaks  much  in  favor  of 
the  view  which  we  have  taken,  that  the  disciples 
return  home  again — not  waiting  for  his  pro- 
mised return  at  the  sepulchre,  in  the  garden  of 
manifestation.  But  Mary,  who  had  returned 
again  with  the  two,  goes  not  back  again  ;  for 
she  clings  more  closely  than  John  himself,  and 
is  of  all  the  troubled  ones  the  most  troubled. 
Her  Lord,  who  had  saved  her  from  the  power 
of  the  seven  devils,  is  alone  in  her  mind  ;  noth- 
ing that  occurs  has  any  influence,  either  to 
make  her  wonder  or  make  her  think.  She 
cannot  leave  the  sepulchre  ;  she  remains  stand- 
ing there  a  while — and  then  finally  looks  again 
within.*  Now  there  must  be  a  great  revulsion. 
At  first,  it  was  as  Pfenninger  paints  :  "  All 
things  were  as  beautiful  as  they  could  be 
around  the  sleeping  room  of  the  King's  son, 
which  he  had  left.f  The  odoriferous  air,  the 
bright  morning  sun,  the  pure  blue  heaven,  the 
jubilant  songs  of  birds,  the  blooming  garden — 
but  all  was  of  no  account  to  Mary.  She  is 
not  thinking  of  the  King's  son  as  gone  out  of 
his  chambers,  but  as  murdered,  and  his  sepul- 
chre desecrated,  his  body  stolen ;  she  thinks 
only  of  him,  and  her  last  consolation  gone,  her 
purpose  is  to  take  no  comfort,  but  to  weep  her 


soul  away."  When  she  opens  her  eyes,  not 
involuntarily,  but  to  behold  once  more  and 
more  closely  the  sad  reality ;  when  she  looks 
directly  into  the  sepulchre* — she  beholds  two 
angels.  Peter  and  John  saw  none,  for  they 
could  not,  and  it  was  not  appointed  that  they 
should,  see  any  ;  Mary  Magdalene,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  to  be  roused  to  attention,  and  thus 
elevated  step  by  step  from  her  deep  prostration. 
The  appearance  and  vanishing  of  an  angel  is 
not  a  "  most  alarming  circumstance  to  begin 
with,"  and  certainly  no  "  marvellous  capricious 
hiding  and  seeking  ; "  but  all  is  simply  volun- 
tary and  appointed.  In  this  we  may  confi- 
dently adopt  Ebrard's  words,  as  well  as  those 
of  Olahausen,  who  deduces  from  this  history 
that  "angels  have  the  power  to  make  them- 
selves visible  and  invisible" — if  that  is  not 
self-understood  in  relation  to  angels.  Yet  with 
this  objective  truth  we  may  in  some  sense  con- 
nect the  subjective  susceptibility  for  a  higher 
seeing :  not  as  Lange  makes  the  angels  alto- 
gether internal ;  but  that  the  visibility  of  the  an- 
gels is  dependent  upon  the  existing  wakefulness, 
or  susceptibility  of  that  eye  which  can  alone 
behold  angels.f  The  application  of  this  to  the 
narrative  of  the  resurrection  morning  we  must 
discover  in  our  own  thoughtful  reflection.  The 
same  Magdalene,  who  at  first  saw  not,  sees  af- 
terwards in  her  heightened  longing;  but  the  in- 
vestigating Apostles  have  no  eyes  for  angels, 
and  these,  therefore,  await  the  eyes  of  the  wo- 
men alone.  Further,  we  may  say  with  Bengel : 
"  There  may  have  been  two  other  angels  which 
Mary  Magdalene  afterwards  saw.  The  angels 
in  John  hadanother  ministry  than  those  of  the 
other  three  Evangelists."  They  sit,  one  at  the 
bead  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body 
of  Jesus  had  lain  ;  as  it  were  to  show  "  that 
Jesus  was  from  his  head  to  his  feet  in  the  pro- 
tection of  his  Father  and  his  angels  ;  so  that 
no  human  might  could  disturb,  or  could  have 
invaded  him  in  the  rest  of  the  sepulchre  " — as 
Fikenscher  most  suggestively  says. 

Woman.,  ichy  loeei^eat  thou  ?  The  affectionate 
commencement  of  sympathizing  words,  which, 
in  order  to  console,  would  open  the  hearer's 
heart  by  expression  of  sympathy  :  comp.  Luke 
xxiv.  17.  This  is  the  first  obvious,  external 
aspect  of  the  angel-word,  which,  however,  in 
the  thoughts  of  these  heavenly  spirits,  con- 
cealed much  more  •.  Whv  weepest  thou  so  alto- 
gether without  cause  ?  'Behold  the  place  where 
he  lay — he  is  no  longer  dead !  J/  thou  hadst 
found  his  body,  thou  mightest  weep  uideed..t 


*  "  When  they  found  hun  not,  they  went  back 
aga'n  together.  How  loftily  does  Mary's  !ove  rise 
^bove  theirs  !  She  thought  not  of  goin?  back ; 
rather  would  she  have  breathed  her  life  away, 
than  leave  the  place  where  she  had  seen  him  the 
last  time."  This  hyperbole  of  the  preacher  Al- 
bertini  is  better,  however,  than  Bengel's  cold  re- 
mark in  the  Harmony — "  She  was  weary."  It  is 
better  in  the  Gnomon — "  With  greater  persever- 
ance." 

\  His  attendants  have  g-acefully  arranged  all 
things  after  him. 


*  For  itapanvTtTEtv  is  certainly  r\oi—cursim 
velut  atque  obiter  inspiccre — to  behold  in  passing. 

f  This  is  otcr  canon.  Compare  something  sim- 
ilar in  Lticke,  3d  ed.  p.  781. 

^  Driiseke  prosecutes  further,  and  in  a  very 
beautiful  way,  the  allegorical  words  :  She  wept 
without,  before  the  sepulchre.  This  was  natural. 
What  can  we  do  other  than  weep,  as  long  as  we 
stand  before  a  grave  1  But  look  into  it  fixedly, 
look  death  steadily  in  the  face,  and  its  terror  is 
"one.     Tlie  grave  is  empty  to  the  hand  (the  inves- 


706 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


The  angels  would  proceed  to  give  her  consola- 
tion, and  tell  her  what  the  other  women  had 
heard.  But  Mary  will  hear  nothing  more;  she 
interrupts  them  at  the  first  word  about  her 
weeping — Should  I  not  weep?  and  pours  out  the 
same  lamentation  in  touching  simplicity  to  the 
angels  now  which  the  Apostles  had  heard  be- 
fore. Does  she  not  know  the  angels  whom  she 
sees  sitting  in  white — and  is  she  not  terrified  at 
thern  ?  Ah  !  she  is  so  altogether  swallowed  up 
of  the  sorrow  which  .forgot  every  thing  else, 
that  all  who  live  and  speak,  whether  angels  or 
men,  are  alike,  and  alike  indifferent  to  her. 
She  has  only  her  Lord,  and  his  body  taken 
away,  in  her  thoughts  ;  her  absorbed  soul  has 
no  room  for  astonishment  even  at  an  appear- 
ance of  angels.*  There  is  only  one  touch 
which  intensifies  this  repetition  of  her  sorrow- 
ful cry.  To  the  Apostles,  ver.  2,  she  had  spok- 
en of  "  (he  Lord  " — our  Lord,  in  common — but 
now,  before  these  strangers,  although  they  are 
angels,  she  appropriates  to  herself  the  beloved 
dead,  and  speaks  with  a  sensibility  which  the 
interval  had  rendered  more  keen — Mi/  Lord. 
Should  not  I,  a  poor  womayi,  weep  for  that? 
Fikenscher  incorrectly  assumes  that  she  be- 
trayed thereby  her  feeling  that  the  men  in 
white  were  neither  angels  nor  friends  of  Jesus. 
No,  she  has  no  thought  as  to  who  had  spoken 
and  interrupted  her  weeping  ;  she  speaks  sim- 
ply from  the  profound  depth  of  her  emotion. 
Is  it  not  a  deep  grief  that  one  who,  like  Mag- 
dalene, had  been  forgiven  and  saved  by  the 
Lord,  and  learned  to  know  him,  and  enjoy  his 
communion,  should  now  be  left  with  the  feeling 
of  Magdalene  in  the  world  without  him,  stand- 
ing belore  his  grave,  desecrated  by  his  enemies — 
not  knowing  concerning  his  body  what  had 
become  of  it?  So  may  many  in  after  times 
have  wept  for  a  while,  when  the  unbelief  of 
the  opposer  has  taken  away  his  Easter  conso- 
lation and  therefore  his  Lord,  leaving  him  noth- 
ing more  of  his  kingdom  of  heaven  than  the 
empty  eepulchre  and  an  "  I  know  not  where." 
Yet  such  sorrow  and  distress  endures  not  long ; 
and  one  day  of  such  waiting  before  the  sepul- 
chre, as  the  outer  court  of  the  glory  of  God,  is 
better  than  a  thousand  spent  in  the  secure 
tents  of  the  ungodly  (Psa.  Ixxxiv.  10).  My 
Jjyrd — that  is  spoken  by  the  hidden  laith  of 
love.  "  Deep  within  her  soul  sits  another 
blessed  angel,  who,  without  her  knowledge, 
gives  her  more  comfort  than  the  angels  with- 


tisating  hand,  of  course,  like  that  of  Peter) — but 
to  the  longing  of  love,  angels  are  within,  messen- 
gers of  peace." 

*  Bengel :  "  Non  attendit,  quis  quid  in  sepul- 
chre loqueretur.  Jesuni  quajrit."  Krunimacher  : 
''In  the  persons  of  these  two  angels  two  brieht 
beams  of  the  Resurrection-sun  shine  full  into  her 
lace  ;  and  yet  she  does  not  know  that  it  is  Easter. 
She  leaves  the  angels  sitting,  and  goes  forth  to 
weep ;  and  might  not  the.se  heavenly  beings  have 
(smiled  at  tlie  neglect,  and  thought  "that  they  had 
never  b<j(ore  been  so  little  regarded  as  by  this 
BobbiUij  Mary  1  " 


out ;  and  to  that  angel's  ministry  must  we 
ascribe  it  that  she  despaired  not.  It  was  the 
angel  of  a  slender,  but  real  and  inward,  hope" 
(Krummacher).  Yes,  verily,  love  believes 
even  in  the  midst  of  unbelief,  hopes  even  the 
greatest  things  even  in  the  midst  of  profound- 
est  sorrow  :  all  this  we  see  in  the  Magdalene. 
The  place  where  the  Lord  lay — so  said  the  an- 
gels. They  have  taken  away  the  Lord — My 
Lord — so  says  Magdalene.  The  word  "  Lord" 
conies  out  gradually  into  all  its  Easter  clear- 
ness. 

Then  the  Lord  himself  appears.  Mark's  as- 
surance must  be  vindicated,  that  he  first  ap- 
peared to  Mary  Magdalene  ;  for  his  statement 
shows  us  that  this  first  manifestation  was  held 
without  doubt  by  the  body  of  the  disciples.* 
But  John  alone  was  capable  of  recording,  and 
lie  alone  was  honored  to  record,  in  their  incom- 
parably beautiful  conciseness  and  depth,  the 
particulars  of  this  scene.  We  have  already 
remarked  that  Mary  most  naturally  interrupts 
the  angels;  with  this  alone  seems  to  accord  the 
expression:  vaCra  eiTtoCda,  edrpdq}}^  e/5  ra 
07Ii6g3,  "  When  she  had  so  said  she  turned  her- 
self about."  We  are  not  licensed,  with  Chrys. 
and  Theoph.,  to  assume  that  the  angels,  sud- 
denly beholding  the  Lord  himself,  broke  off 
and  pointed  out  to  her  what  made  Mary  herself 
turn  round.  (Theoph.  artificially  appends : 
rolf  ^iy  dyysXoLi  tvxov  Iv  kHnXyrvoyTL 
6)C7'ii^aTt  i(pdv7],  rrj  Si  Mania  ovxsrt,  dXX' 
£v  £vteXei  xai  xoiy gj.)  Nor  may  we  say 
with  Fikenscher,  that  "  the  Lord  spiritually 
attracts  her  to  turn  round" — or,  in  contrast, 
with  B.-Crusius,  that  she  turned  round  "  upon 
hearing  a  movement."!  But  the  ravra  eliiov- 
6a  tells  us  that  Mary  herself  had  turned  away 
from  the  coming  word  of  comfort — in  order 
that  she  might  turn  toward  and  seek  the  Be- 
loved One  whom  she  would  find.  Ebrard  well 
states  it :  "  And  therewith  she  turns  round, 
that  she  might  uninterruptedly  weep.  But 
there  stands  another  man  hifore  her,  and  asks, 
Why  weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest  thou?" 
Now  she  should  no  longer  weep,  but  find  him 
to  her  joy.  Yet  she  knows  not  this  man,  and 
does  not  "discern  the  Lord  for  whom  she  weeps! 
How  then  was  that?  May  we  say  with  Tho- 
luck,  that  "  his  death  of  agony  had  made  his 
features  unrecognizable?"  or,  still  more  harshly 
with  Hasse,  "  that  he  was  dkfigured  by  the 
deeply  engraven  marks  of  pain  ?  "  We  think 
that  such  thoughts  are  altogether  unworthy  of 
a  correct  view  of  the  resurrection — not  to  men- 
tion the  intimations  given  elsewhere  in  the 
Evangelists  of  the  glory  of  his  manifestations. 
Or  did  Jesus  stand  before  her  (as  Herder  thinks) 
"  in  a  disguise  ?  "     Or  did  he  at  first  show  him- 


*  Neander's  "  First  to  the  women  who  had  gon« 
away  belore,  then  to  Mary  who  remained  behind  " 
is  one  of  his  crbitrary  supposiiions.  The  time 
may  very  well  be  adjusted  with  Mark. 

t  Ilezel  made  this  turning  no  less  than  a  return 
to  the  city,  so  reconciling  the  scene  with  the  other 
appeal  ance  in  Matthew,  of  which  more  anon. 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


707 


to  Mary  Iv  hrepqc  fiop(pj},  "in  another  form," 
as  Mark  says  concerning  the  manifestation  at 
Emmaus,  but  not  concerning  this  one?  Scarce- 
ly so  ;  the  simple  and  right  solution  seems  to 
OS  to  be  that  Mary  only  partially  looks  up  and 
does  not  in  her  grief  steadily  look  ;  she  sees 
Jesus  standing  before  her  as  a  man,  but  does 
not  see  that  it  is  Jesus.  That  which  is  so  in- 
finitely far  from  our  thoughts,  as  the  resurrec- 
tion of  lier  Lord  was  from  hers,  we  would  not 
see  or  discern,  even  if  standing  before  our  eyes. 
"Her  tears  weave  a  veil  which  conceals  him 
who  stands  before  her  from  her  view.  The 
seeking  for  the  dead  hinders  our  finding  the 
living."  Draseke  is  right  here,  though  not  in 
referring  the  same  to  the  disciples  on  the  way 
to  Emmaus. 

Woman,  why  tceepest  thou  ?  This  fird  word 
of  the  liisen  Lord  to  a  mortal  is  an  inexhaustible 
text  for  the  resurrection — to  unfold  which  is 
the  province  of  the  preacher.  He  has  risen 
again  to  comfort  those  who  mourn.  Even  the 
"woman"  has  its  deep  significance  in  many 
ways.  He  first  in  his  sacred  dignity  addresses 
this  Mary,  as  he  had  addressed  his  mother 
from  the  cross,  by  the  general  and  common  ap- 
pellation, before  the  individualizing  and  affec- 
tionately appealing  "  Mary  "  follows — thus  in- 
timating how  highly  he  is  exalted  above  every 
particular  personal  relationship.  But  the 
dignity  of  the  female  sex  restored  in  the  re- 
generation of  humanity  is  reflected,  and  not 
fortuitously,  in  this  Jirsl  word  of  the  Conqueror 
of  pain  and  death ;  and  there  is  in  it,  further,  a 
condescending  reference  to  the  appointed  deeper 
grief  of  woman's  nature.  He  seems  to  speak 
just  as  the  angel  had  spoken,  in  simple  and 
insignificant  words ;  but  the  simple  word, 
when  uttered  by  him,  involves  a  more  lofty 
meaning  at  this  significant  moment.  Thus 
this  second  time  the  "  Why  weepest  thou  ? " 
penetrates  the  weeping  heart  with  intenser 
keenness ;  and  the  new  word  which  follows — 
Whom  seekesi  thou  ? — touches  the  inmost  secret 
of  this  sorrowful  heart.  This  is  different  from 
the  more  concealed  "  What  seek  ye  ?  "  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Gospel  (chap.  i.  SS).  For  his 
person  is  now  plainly  referred  to,  that  which 
had  already  been  manifested  to  Mary,  and  was 
to  be  yet  more  gloriously  manifested.  Thus, 
weeping  and  seeking  bring  Jesus  to  us.  He  is 
risen  to  dry  up  the  tears  of  all  who  weep,  if 
they  will  receive  this  blessing  at  his  hand — how 
much  more  all  those  tears  which  are  shed  in 
the  disconsolate  seeking  for  himself!  Thus  in 
this  first  word  of  the  resurrection  we  have  the 
reason  given  why  the  Magdalene  received  the 
honor  of  the  Lord's  first  manifestation — she 
was  the  most  troubled,  the  most  inconsolable 
of  all.  His  love  draws  him  to  all  who  weep 
for  him  in  love  :  this  is  the  sole  law  which 
reigns  here,  and  breaks  through  every  other 
gradation  in  rank.  For  this  reason  and  not  on 
account  of  his  rank  (since  his  name  comes  last)* 


*  Much  thatr  has  been  written   about  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  appearances  may  be  regarded 


was  the  angel  commissioned  to  say — Tell  his 
disciples  ami  Peter. 

The  angels  probably  designed  to  continue, 
when  Mary  interrupted  them.  But  the  Lord 
restrains  himself,  and  seeks  her  answer.  Yet 
Mary  is  not  roused  from  her  sorrow  ;  she  does 
not  look  closely  at  him,  but  replies  to  him  as 
believing  that  she  was  speaking  to  the  graden- 
er.  "  The  hodt/,  the  beloved  body,  fills  and  per- 
vades all  her  feeling  ;  there  is  no  place  for  her 
friend,  even  the  living"  (Albertini).  That  is, 
she  was  still  sunk  in  thoughts  of  death,  having 
died  with  the  Beloved  One.  Yet  there  is,  at 
the  same  time,  in  her  awakening  supposition 
as  to  who  it  was  that  spoke  to  her  aeain,  a  re- 
turning consciousness  of  external  things  which 
was  excited  by  the  secret  influence  of  the  so 
gracious  voice ;  and  this  transition  was  neces- 
sary in  order  that  she  might  be  able  to  bear 
the  sudden  revelation  which  awaited  her. 
Therefore  she  at  first  thinks  of  the  overseer  of 
the  garden,  who  might  be  thus  early  at  the 
place:  nothing  further  is  to  be  sought;  in  this 
circumstance.*  Her  words  to  the  supposed 
gardener  are  in  the  highest  degree  artless,  and 
produce  in  our  minds,  knowing  as  we  do  that 
she  was  speaking  to  the  Lord,  a  strange  im- 
pression. First,  it  is  observable,  as  a  further 
transition  from  her  state  of  deep  and  dark  sor- 
row, that,  softened  as  it  were  by  the  reiterated 
expression  of  sympathy,  she  gives  up  her  former 
gloomy  supposition,  and  expresses  the  new  idea 


as  mere  trifling,  which  might  better  be  omitted. 
For  instance  (to  quote  only  one  instance)  Geiler 
of  Keisersberg  thus  allegorizes  :  "  There  are  three 
sorts  of  men  to  whom  our  Lord  Christ  appears  in 
this  day  with  his  gifts  of  grace.  To  some  he  ap- 
pears in  early  morning  gardener-wise — these  are 
the  men  who  have  long  continued  in  sin,  but  are 
beginning  to  repent.  To  others  he  appears  in 
pilgrim-fashion  at  mid-day — these  are  those  who 
are  progressing  well.  To  the  rest  he  appears  in 
his  own  person  late — these  are  the  perfect." 

*  Natural  as  this  is,  it  d,oes  not  content  many 
who  have  all  kinds  of  notions  about  our  Saviour's 
garments.  Paulus  discovered  that  the  amnzed 
family  of  the  gardener  hastened  to  the  sepulchre 
(the  children  in  white  clothing,  being  taken  for 
anaels !)  and  provided  garments.  This  we  find 
reproduced  in  a  celebrated  commentaiy  :  "  Prob- 
ably lie  had  put  on  gardener's  clothing,  the  family 
of  the  owner  of  the  garden  (to  whom  he  first 
showed  himself!)  havrng  given  them  to  him." 
Hug's  thought  (assented  to  by  Lilcke  and  Tholuck), 
though  it  seems  more  reverent,  is  not  much  better: 
"  The  Lord  was  crucified  with  an  apron  about  his 
loins,  subligaculum,  lumbare,  and  probably  bu  led 
with  it :  this  being  similar  to  that  worn  by  gar- 
deners and  laborers  in  the  field,  occasioned  his 
being  taken  for  the  gardener,"  We  prefer  to  say 
concerning  the  clothing  of  the  Risen  Lord  (on 
which  Carpzov  wrote  a  treatise)  with  Olshausen  : 
"  The  question  must  be  answered  as  we  wouUl  an- 
swer that  concerning  the  clothing  of  the  angels." 
So  with  Fikenscher :  "His  glorified  form  needed 
earthly  garments  no  longer,  and  assumed  a  differ- 
ent vesture,  like  the  angels,  whenever  he  appeared 
to  the  disciples." 


708 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


— that  "  probably  not  enemies  but  people  with 
no  evil  design  had  removed  the  body."  (So 
B.-Crusiu3  rightly  urges,  against  the  argument, 
which  Klee  deduces,  that  she  had  not  from  the 
beginning  thought  of  enemies.)  Then  let  it 
be  observed  that  she  thrice  says  only  avrov, 
him,  without  mentioning  whom  she  means  ; 
for  it  is  to  her  as  if  every  one  must  know  that. 
So  the  Shulamite,  Cant.  iii.  3,  cries  to  the  watch- 
man: "Saw  ye  him  whom  my  soul  loveth?" 
Hence  the  Franciscan  brother  Bertholdt :  "  See 
how  warm  and  earnest  was  her  true  love  to 
our  Lord  for  whom  she  was  weeping !  she 
thought  that  all  must  know  what  her  feelings 
toward  him  were."  Further,  how  innocent  in 
its  fidelity,  how  confident  in  her  address  to  the 
man — 2'ell  me  where  thou  hast  borne  him. 
Lange  thinks  she  "  hoped  that  thn  gardener,  a 
faithful  disciple,  might  have  carried  the  body  to 
a  place  of  security  from  the  crafty  and  un- 
scrupulous plots  of  his  enemies  ;  "  but  this  is 
not  verjr  probable,  for  it  argues  too  much  re- 
flection in  the  midst  of  the  storm  of  her  pas- 
sion.* Still  less  can  we  agree  with  Ebrard 
that  she  "  speaks  as  it  were  impatiently,  be- 
cause thus  again  interrupted  ;  "  for  that  would 
have  been  a  very  inappropriate  tone  of  mind 
to  prepare  for  the  blessedness  which  immediately 
follows,  and,  moreover,  is  contradicted  by  the 
KvpiE,  "  sir,"  with  which  she  addresses  the 
unknown  person  in  the  extreme  of  respect,  as 
well  as  by  the  confidential  air  of  her  whole  say- 
ing. A  certain  confusion  which  seizes  her,  in 
connection  with  the  secret  consolation,  and  the 
constrained  turn  given  to  her  feelings,  best  ex- 
plains the  question  which  holds  fost  the  one 
object  of  her  sorrow  and  longing — Hast  thou 
taken  him  away  ?  Thus  she  characteristically 
confounds  the  living  person  of  him  whom  she 
loved  and  the  bodi/  taken  away  ;  and  would 
have  him  again — that  she  might  bury  him 
again,  bear  him  again  to  his  place.  (She,  the 
weak  woman,  says — And  I  will  taJce  him  away, 
very  different  from  the  anxious — Who  will  roll 
us  away  the  stone  ?  This  is  her  last  and  most 
artless  confusion.)  All  this  she  says  to  him- 
self, the  Risen  One,  who  had  raised  himself  from 
the  sepulchre  by  divine  power.  0  Mary,  they 
could  not  have  talcen  him  away  ;  no  other  had 
removed  him  from  his  rest.  So  may  we  cry, 
and  pcradvcnture  forget  how  like  her  we  should 
be  in  our  despondency,  sin,  and  unbelief;  and 
how  easily  we  ourselves  fail  to  discern  his  form 
and  voice  v.'hen  he  stands  before  us,  thinking  it 
the  gardener,  the  preacher,  the  man,  belonging 
to  tlie  place. 

It  was  necessary  that  we  should  thus  think 
upon  and  feel  the  force  of  her  interjection,  in 
order  to  understand  in  all  its  depth  the  emphat- 
ic word,  Mary!  by  which  the  Lord  breaks  in 
upon  this  marvellous  confusion  of  her  softened 
sorrow   and  dawning   hope.     His    voice   had 


*  Else,  indeed,  his  words  of  comfort  might  have 
sounded  to  her  as  if,  knowiiiK  or  supposinji  that 
she  sought  the  l;ody,  he  would  conce.il  from  lier 
the  removal  of  which  he  had  lakou  c.iro. 


been  restrained  (though  not  disguised)  m  the 
former  questioning,  but  now  when  he  calls  her 
by  name,  and  effectually  awakens  her,  it  re- 
sumes its  former  tone  of  perfect  gentleness — "  as 
if  he  was  continuing  one  of  his  former  conver- 
sations with  her  "  (as  Pfenninger  expresses  it — 
not  in  the  majesty  of  his  new  life,  for  this 
would  have  oppressed  instead  of  comforting, 
her  weak  soul).  This  voice  she  knows — by 
this  she  was  to  recognize  him,  thus  and  not 
otherwise  was  she  to  receive  him  back  again  at 
this  moment.*  We  perceive  that  the  adorable 
Prince  of  victory,  returning  from  the  sepulchre, 
has  human  sensibility,  and  speaks  to  human 
sensibility,  as  far  as  it  is  expedient  to  do  so. 
How  profoundly  affecting  is  it  that  such  a  word 
of  sensibility,  so  humanly  spoken  to  humanity, 
should  first  fall  from  his  lips,  before  the  sub- 
lime words  follow  which  speak  of  his  return  to 
his  Father  !  One  word,  the  calling  her  by 
name,  as  an  expression  of  intimate  confidence, 
in  all  his  manifestation  of  himself  to  Mary.  In 
one  corresponding  word  she  utters  naturally 
her  bewildered  astonishment.  2  r  pa  (pei6  a, 
she  turned  her.elf,  says  John,  once  more.  Not 
that  she  had  turned  again  to  the  sepulchre  when 
she  said,  "  I  will  take  him  away  "f — but  now 
first  does  she  entirely  turn  to  him  who  spoke 
and  called  her;  she  sees  as  she  had  heard — It  is 
he  !  and  falls,  before  him  clinging  to  his  feet. 
(B.-Cruaius  says  correctly:  "''E6rpd(prj  ver. 
14  denoted  a  half  turning ;  then  in  ver.  16  fol- 
lows 6Tpaq)El6a.")  In  this  RabhoniX  is  breath- 
ed her  whole  soul ;  the  conscious  and  inexpres- 


*  The  affectionate  tone,  accompanied  by  a 
Slance  of  his  eye  (comp.  Luke  x.>cii.  61),  in  both 
which  his  perfect  love  manifested  itself  to  the  eye 
and  ear."  So  Hasse  {Das  Leben  des  verkldrtea  Er- 
liissers,  Leipz.  1854) — Out  the  jjlance  came  after- 
wards, when  she  hearing  the  voice  turned  towards 
him.  It  is  surprising  that  Hasse  seems  to  identify 
Magdalene  with  the  sinner  of  Luke  vii. 

■}■  So  some  one  preached,  and  adds  :  "  She  aeeis 
Jesus  with  hot  tears,  and  yet  turns  away  from  him, 
because  siie  knows  him  not."  How  sliould  she 
tiien  wish  to  sp?ak  again  to  the  angels,  from 
whom  slie  had  already  turned  away  "]  How 
should  she  wi.sh  to  turn  away  fiom  him  to  whom 
she  hid  said — Tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him  1 
We  cannot  regard  Mary  (with  Luthardt)  as  b  ing 
so  renlkss  that,  even  after  questioning  the  man  in 
the  garden,  her  glance  must  again  turn  to  the 
sepulchre.  Better  is  Meyer's  note,  that  6rpa- 
rpEida  means  at  the  sime  time,  She  came  to  a  differ- 
ent m  nd — :hough  this  is  only  as  the  secret  mean- 
ing of  tha  exLernal  act. 

:j:  The  kfipa'ijri  preceding  is  needless;  nor 
would  it  show  that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  speak- 
ing Greek,  but  now  in  lier  deep  feeling  used  the 
nearer  tongue.     It  is  well  known  that  }3T  was 

higlier  than  3"),  and  'JHT  a  customary  appellation. 

Probably  also  'Jiai  (as  Mark  x.  51),  as  the  Jewish 

pronunciation  of  'J3"1,  and  yet  the  more  obscure 

(Galilean)  ^TOTi,      The  Cod.   Cant,  has  hero  also 

fjncftfSai>i'f.i. 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


1i)9 


eibly  comforting  return  to  her  earlier  fellowship 
with  the  Teacher  and  Master,  on  whose  lips  her 
ear  and  her  heart  had  hung.  Here  for  the  last 
time  is  Jesus  addressed  by  that  expression 
which  had  been  earlier  used— as  rf  in  perfect 
contrast  with  the  words  of  Thomas,  My  Lord 
and  my  God !  But  this  full  and  decisive  Eah- 
loni  has  no  "  half-questioning"  tone  in  it,  as  if 
followed  by  a  note  of  interrogation.  After  such 
a  call  as  this,  there  could  follow  nothing,  but  a 
full  recognition;  there  was  no  room  for  the 
doubtful— Art  thou  then  truly  he?  It  is  no 
matter  of  wonder  that  John  could  depict  the 
ecene  as  he  does,  without  adding  one  senti- 
mental word,  even  while  he  adds  his  quiet 
"which  is  to  say.  Master;"  but  we  might 
wonder  that  Maiy  could  find  strength  for  only 
this  Ilalihoni,ii  we  did  not  remember  tliat  the 
call  of  lljfe/Lord  had  inspired  her  with  this 
strength^The  cry  of  her  rapture  is  a  most 
beauriiul  symbol  of  all  similar  finding  of  him 
whom  the  soul  spiritually  seeks ;  and  it  is 
a  prophecy,  too,  of  the  recognition  of  him  in 
the  last  great  day.  Thus  will  every  one  hear 
himself  called  by  name,  by  a  voice  so  well 
known  and  yet  so  new  ;  then  will  sorrow  and 
death  be  forever  done  away — and  happy  he 
who  will  be  able  to  cry  Rahboni,  learned  in  the 
school  in  which  alone  it  is  taught.* 

What  now  would  be  expected  by  the  reader 
— not  yet  instructed  in  this  school — who  should 
pause  at  this  soul-absorbing  call  and  response? 
Would  it  be,  on  the  part  of  Mary,  further  out- 
pourings of  delight,  ecstatic  exultation  at  hav- 
ing found  him  again,  thanksgivings,  leaping 
3or  joy — or  all  this  mingled  with  the  reac- 
tion of  fear,  the  return  of  doubt,  unbelief 
through  gladness — or,  between  the  two,  her 
progress  to  the  wurnhipping  "  My  Lord  and  my 
God."  On  the  part  of  our  Lord,  was  there 
after  this  affectionate  beginning  a  further  con- 
descension of  love,  words  expressing  the  sweet- 
ness even  to  himself  of  this  restored  fellowship. 
the  enjoyment  of  this  gracious  hour,  the  first 
fruits  of  his  victory  in  making  another  happy, 
revelation  of  the  mysteries  of  this  victory,  and 
new  instruction  of  "the  Teacher  returned  from 
the  dead?  There  is  nothing  of  all  this.  The 
dignity  of  the  Risen  Lord  desires  now,  even 
more  than  before  his  death,  brief  words  and 
acts,  and  less  even  than  then  tolerates  tarrying 


*  Diiiseke  has  taken  John  xx.  1-18  as  the  basis 
of  an  exliibition  of  tlie  influence  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  our  Lord  upon  the  mate  and  the  female 
mind.  In  man,  or  the  male  element  as  it  were  of 
the  inner  man,  thought  rules ;  in  this  region  of  the 
testing  sjiirit  the  resurrection  changed  imhcUef  into 
faith.  In  woman  soimbi'.iti/  is  predominant,  and 
in  this  region  the  resurrection  changed  sonow  into 
j'o;/.  This  would  be  beautiiul,  if  the  text  admit- 
ted it,  and  if  this  interpretation  of  E7ti6rev6Ey 
ver.  8  couid  be  justified.  If  we  misfit  enter  into 
sucli  matters,  we  should  prefer  to  say  that  this  is 
\\\e  feminine  portion  of  man's  nature  which  is  sus- 
ceptilile  of  the  fii-st  convic;t:on  and  the  strongest 
consolation. 


in  sentiment  and  feeling.  His  lips  do  not  over- 
flow with  mysteries  of  the  other  world  ;  and 
only  at  the  right  time,  afterwards,  that  is,  when 
he  opens  the  Scripture  given  for  the  preaching 
of  salvation,  does  he  pour  out  his  words  con- 
cerning the  kingdom  to  be  established  upon 
earth — otherwise,  all  his  manifestations  and  re- 
velations bear  a  character  of  rese.ve  and  hasty 
transitoriness.  The  scene  with  Peter,  of  which 
we  know  nothing  more,  had  been  brief,  no 
more  than  an  ^qArj,  lie  appeared  ;  this  scene 
with  Mary,  which  John  describes  doubtless  in 
full,  exhibits  even  after  the  most  confidential 
approximation  a  marvellous  Ndi  me  tangere. 
It  is  strange  indeed  ;  but,  if  we  have  compared 
Scripture  with  Scripture,  and  noted  all  the 
other  accounts  of  his  appearances,  not  unex- 
pected or  incomprehensible.  We  have  already 
hinted  at  the  right  view  to  be  taken  of  it.  In- 
terpreters of  this  life  make  themselves  here 
much  needless  trouble  ;  the  crux  extends  into 
the  forty  days,  and  the  bright  ascension  itself 
becomes  a  dark  and  mysterious  riddle.  We 
will  do  our  best,  mindful  of  our  own  infirm- 
ity, to  exhibit  the  history  of  the  exegesis  of 
this  much-confused  conclusion  of  the  saying,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  arrive  at  the  truth  which 
we  have  recognized  already  in  the  beginning  of 
it 

Many   have   resorted   to  doubts    and  con- 
jectures as  to  the  text.    Gersdorff ^struck  out  the 
nn;  Schulthess  made  it  6v  nov  aitrov  ■  Vogel, 
even,  nij  ov  nroov.  But  the  text  is  absolutely 
I  firm  (save  the  nov  is  sometimes  wanting,  some- 
1  times  transposed)  ;  and  we  leave  the  easy  refu- 
I  tation    of   these  artifices    to  those  who   have 
I  abundantly  refuted  them.     The  worst  instance 
was  that  of  the  Utrecht  Profe.ssor  Bauldri,  who 
altered  the  punctuation  into  Mry  nov  anrov — 
that  is.  No,  I  am  not  the  gardener ;  only  touch 
me  to  convince  thyself,  for  I  do  not  yet  ascend, 
am  no  heavenly,  impalpable  essence.     Did  she 
then  cry  Eabho'ni  as  to  the  gardener  ?  And  how 
could  /"/  be  used  in  so  strange  a  sense  as  this  ? 
Others,  rejecting   all   these   refinements,  have 
despaired  of  the  word  and  pronounced  it  simply 
"  unintelligible."     But  we  shall  see. 

The  difficulty  lies  in  the  rigorously  literal 
idea  of  the  anreeQai,  which  we  must  certainly 
hold  fast ;  and  in  the  obscure  connection  of  the 
reason  given  in  the  yap.  All  expositions 
which  sacrifice  the  one  or  the  other  are  to  be 
rejected.  Thus  the  prohibition  to  touch  must 
first  be  literally  taken.  Wetstein's  grievous 
perversion  is — Make  thyself  not  unclean  by 
touching  one  who  has  been  buried.  Schleier- 
macher  reproduced  a  rationalistic  notion,  which 
here  and  there  finds  unaccountable  acceptance, 
that  the  new  life  of  the  newly-risen  Lord  was 
as  yet  too  tenderly  susceptible  to  be  touched. 
It  was  Paulus  who  first  conceived  that  the 
Lord  went  into  the  garden  with  his  wounds  as 
yet  unsoothed,  etc.  According  to  Brennecke 
he  said:  "  My  body  unprotected,  every  thing 
yet  pains  me  ;  I  have  not  yet  died,  but  shall 
die."  According  to  Venturini :  "  Touch  me 
not  yet.     This  afflicted  body  remains  yet  sua- 


710 


FIRST  APPEAPwANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE 


ceptible  to  pain  ;  the  wonnds  which  the  reck- 
less inflicted  upon  me  torment  me  still."  One 
can  hardly  believe  that  Schleiermacher  could 
have  fallen  into  or  adopted  such  errors :  yet  in  a 
festival  sermon,  which Olshausen  thinks  " incom 
parably  beautiful,"  we  find  this  reproduced, 
though  with  more  delicate  expression:  "The 
Lord  said  this,  as  it  were,  with  a  fearful  and 
susceptible  feeling  in  his  new  life  ;  eight  days 
afterwards  he  suffered  himself  freely  to  be 
touched  by  Thomas"  (as  if  at  the  beginning 
he  had  shrunk  from  the  opening  again  of  his 
newly-healed  wounds).  This  view,  somewhat 
spiritualized,  is  accepted  even  by  Olshausen, 
and  the  words  are  supposed  to  infer  a  preven- 
tion of  any  interruption  or  hindrance  to  the 
gradual  process  of  the  resurrection  and  glori- 
fication. Whatever  slight  element  of  truth 
there  may  be  in  this  "  gradual  process,"  the 
whole  view  has  been  rightly  rejected  by  most  ;* 
and  even  Kinkelj  concisely  asks,  "  Is  not  the 
miracle  of  the  resurrection  degraded  by  it?" 
Most  assuredly  it  is.  Either  it  was  a  seeming 
death,  as  the  first  inventors  of  this  interpreta- 
tion supposed  ;  or  there  was  an  actual  resur- 
rection, which  defles  all  such  natural  explana- 
tions as  are  inconsistent  with  the  literal  journey 
to  Einmauson  the  satna  day.  Admitting  that 
the  Risen  Lord  was  not  yet  fully  glorified,  and 
that  there  was  until  the  ascension  a  continual 
process  towards  glorification,  yet  certainly  the 
resurrection  itself  put  him  beyond  all  suscepti- 
bility of  pain, J  which  as  a  concomitant  cf  death 
had  been  overcome  and  abolished  forever.  It 
is  a  contradictory  and  utterly  incomprehensi- 
ble thought  that  one  raised  from  the  dead 
should  be  capable  of  suffering  in  the  body,  or 
of  being  kept  back  from  a  perfect  resurrection 
by  the  operation  of  any  human  hand. 

Thus  we  must  reject  this,  and  all  that  simi-  | 
larly  outrages  our  true  "  consciousness  of 
faith."§  What  then  ?  Michaelis  laid  down 
this  dilemma :  Mary  Magdalene  wished  to 
touch  the  Lord  either  out  of  curiosity  or  out 
of  deep  reverence.  Instead  of  the  former, 
which  however  womanly  is  inappropriate  here, 
we  should  substitute  doubt  whether  he  whose 
voice  she  heard  really  stood  before  her  in  his 
bodily  person.  Was  she  then  desirous  of  con- 
vincing herself  by  touching  him  ?||     But  the 


*  The  more  marvellous  is  the  idea  of  an  inter- 
ruption or  restraint  through  the  hands  of  Mary. 

f  In  his  treatise,  Stud  u.  Krit.  1841.  iii.  the  gen- 
eral result  of  wliich  we  shall  refer  to  again. 

|:  "  It  is  not  the  painless  body  of  glorification 
which  I  now  bear  "  (Di  iiseke). 

^  According  to  Weisse,  Jesus  (that  is,  again,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  narrator)  meant  that  he  was 
spiritual  as  yet,  incorporeal  and  impalpable,  and 
that  he  would  receive  his  corporeity  again  from 
the  Father. 

|i  So  Teschendorf  makes  her  say:  "But  pres- 
ently doubt  returns  and  seizes  my  breast.  The 
eyes  would  see,  the  hands  would  feel.  I  cannot 
resi.st  the  imjiulse  to  appro.nch  and  touch  his 
baud.«  and  feet,"  etc.     He  then  answers :    "  Em- 


intrusion  of  such  a  doubt — Art  thoa  really  he? 
into  the  blessed  emotion  of  happiness  which 
cries  Rahhoni !  is  altogether  inconsistent,  as  we 
have  intimated  before.  Olshausen  remarks 
very  rightly  :  "  It  does  not  by  any  means  ap- 
pear how  the  subsequent  'I  am  net  yet  as- 
cended' is  applicable  to  the  supposed  unbelief 
of  Mary."  In  that  case,  finally,  the  Lord 
would  not  have  been  able  to  say,  Touch  me 
not,  for  I  am  he,  and  thy  touching  is  not  neces- 
sary ;  but  rather  must,  as  in  Luke  xxiv.  39, 
have  challenged  her  to  the  iprjXacpdy,  or  hand- 
ling, in  order  to  invigorate  her  confidence.* 
For  it  could  do  him  no  offence ;  and  wherefore 
then  might  she  not  touch  him?  According  to 
Matthew  he  does  not  deter  the  women  pres- 
ently afterwards  from  "  holding  him  by  the 
feet,"  but  uttered  an  encouraging  "  Be  not 
afraid;"  and  he  himself  requires  the  Apostles 
in  the  evening,  and  Thomas  afterwards,  actual- 
ly to  touch  him.  How  then  is  this  contradic- 
tion to  be  solved?  Kinkel's  solution  will  be 
referred  to  afterwards  ;  but  there  is  no  method 
of  reconciliation  which  does  not  ascribe  to  the 
touching  of  Mary  a  peculiar  significance  and 
design.  The  dilemma  above-mentioned  brings 
forward  "deep  reverence  "  as  the  other  side 
of  the  alternative ;  but  this  also  has  two  as- 
pects. Either  it  is  an  actual  amazement  and 
fear,  as  is  seen  in  Matt,  xxviii.  9  ;  but  there  the 
Lord  rebukes  not  the  taking  hold  of  himself, 
he  says  on  the  contrary — Be  not^afraid  I  How 
can  we  understand  in  ny'i  nov  a  n  r  ov,  touch 
me  not,  such  a  meaning  as  this,  "  Be  not  terri- 
fied, or  pray  for  mercy,  because  ye  have  seen 
me  ?  "  Or  Mary's  design  is  to  pay  him  the  di- 
vine honor  of  worship.  But  this  is  not  to  be 
reconciled  with  the  liahfini;  she  certainly 
would  not  give  her  Lord  and  God  the  title  of 
Rabbi,  as  the  Talmudists  did  afterwards. 
Moreover,  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  per- 
ception of  her  faith  would  make  in  one  sud- 
den moment  so  great  an  advance.  But,  even 
if  we  admitted  this,  how  strange  and  unintelli- 
gible would  be  the  expression  "  Touch  me 
not" — without  any  mention  of  "feet"  or 
"  knees " — in  such  a  meaning.  Would  he, 
could  he,  have  forbidden  the  worship,  becauM 
he  had  not  yet  ascended  ?  Could  he  mean — I 
am  not  yet  clothed  with  heavenly  honor,  my 
glorification  is  yet  before  me?  l3ut  he  bad 
received  that  worship  from  Thomas  before  hia 
ascension  (as  we  shall  make  clearly  evident^  ; 
and  in  that  case,  as  Olshausen  remarks,  ne 
must  have  gone  on  to  speak,  not  of  his  abiding 
brotherhood  and  nearness  to  his  own  (my 
Father  their  Father,  my  God  their  God),  but 
rather  of    the    divine   and   adorable    dignity 


brace  me  not  so  anxiously  and  violently,  I  nm  still 
at  thou  art.''  Thus  this  view  is  connected  wilb 
the  prerious  one,  of  his  susceptibility  to  feeling. 
*  Thus  Lampe  goes  not  far  enough  aaainst  B. 
Lamy :  "  This  hypothesis  would  be  ingenious 
enough  if  there  were  any  signs  of  doubt  in 
Mary."  But  even  allowing  this,  it  would  not 
agree  with  the  words  of  Jesus. 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


711 


winch  should  be  revealed  after  his  ascension.* 
We  say,  with  Von  Gerlacli,  "  If  we  regard  her 
as  having  reverentially  embraced  his  knees, 
yet  Christ  lays  no  stress  upon  this  meaning  of 
her  act,  but  makes  prominent  another." 

What  then  is  this?  We  look  more  closely, 
and  remark  that  all  depends  upon  what  Mary 
meant  by  her  touching.  Bat  John  has  given 
us  no  record  of  that ;  we  are  left  to  draw  our 
conclusion  from  the  word  of  Jesus.t  It  may  be 
regarded  now  as  certain  that  she  sank  to  his  feet 
in  reverence  (which  might  be  without  paying 
divine  honor),  because  at  this  moment  of  deep 
emotion  to  stand  longer  was  impossible;  but 
her  accompanying  thought  and  feeling  may 
admit  of  interpretations  quite  independent  of 
the  dilemma  just  referred  to.  Is  it  her  pur- 
pose to  hold  him  fast — not  in  doubt,  but  in  her 
natural  anxiety  lest  the  wonderful  appearance 
should  vanish  again,  ami  in  the  immediate  out- 
pouring of  her  full  love?  In  the  parallel 
usually  cited,  2  Kings  iv.  27,  there  is  some- 
thing like  this  more  than  has  been  noticed  in 
the  )''?i~\2  prnni,  "  and  she  caught  him  by  the 

feet " — the  petitioner  will  not  let  the  man  of 
God  go  until  he  has  granted  her  will.  But  the 
word  of  the  Canticles  (chap.  iii.  4)  best  suits 
Mary  Magdalene — "  I  held  him  and  would 
not  let  him  go."  Entering  into  this  sense, 
a7Cr£60ai  has  been  regarded  as  signifying  "  to 
hold  fast ;"  and  Meyer's  note  (on  this  point  in- 
distinct and  indefinite)  mingles  this  feeling  with 
that  of  doubt,  and  interprets — "Thou  needest 
not  touch  me  thus,  or  anxiously  to  detain  me  ; 
I  am  he,  I  am  still  here,  I  am  not  yet  gone 
up."  There  is  some  truth  in  this,  at  least  in 
the  detaining.  .  But  in  order  to  reach  the  true 
meaning,  we  must  bring  clearly  before  our 
minds  the  inmost  meaning  of  this  holding  him 
fast,  the  disposition  and  feeling  of  Mary's  mind 
in  so  doing.  J 

The  truth  has  been  more  or  less  acknowledg- 
ed from  the  beginning.  The  earliest  explana- 
tion is  found  in  a  writing  attributed  to  Justin, 
and  found  among  his  works — Qimdiones  et  res- 
pofisa  ad  orihodoxos  (qu.  48)  :  Modera'e  thy  de- 
sire toward  me,  and  retain  me  not  with  thy 
demonstrations  of  love ;  the  time   is  not  yet 


*  Yet  this  view  is  taken  by  Kypke,  Herder, 
Less,  Kuiiibl  (earlier  also  Lucke),  Tholuck,  Meyer, 
etc.  Hasse  adheres  to  it,  because  ail  other  ex- 
planations seem  "  forced ;"  but  we  regard  this  one 
as  simply  impossible.  Sepp  completes  it :  Touch 
me  not,  scil.  Ttpo6HvvoZ6a — Worship  me  not. 
But  he  forgets  his  own  exposition  in  the  sixth 
volume  of  his  work,  where  he  rejects  the  same  in- 
terpretation, as  a  specmien  of  Protestant  unbelief, 
when  given  by  Pfiiflf:  Honor  me  not  in  a  divine 
manner,  for  I  do  not  yet  come  down  from  heaven, 
I  have  yet  to  ascend  thither. 

\  Only  one  MS.  has  the  addition — And  they  ran 
to  em  I)  race  him. 

X  Meyer  in  the  last  letter  which  I  received  from 
him  acknowledges  the  justice  of  my  resnark,  and 
substitutes  in  his-new  edition,  "  Probably,  etc., 
Interrupt  me  not  with  womanly  passion.'' 


come  for  confidential  and  permanent  inter- 
course— this  earth  is  not  the  place  of  perfec- 
union  and  fellowship.  Somewhat  similar- 
though  developed  with  more  or  less  indis- 
tinctness, are  the  views  of  Chrysost..  Theod. 
Mopsu.,  Theophyl.,  Euthym.  ;  irho,  however, 
refer  it  rather  to  the  past,'  that  alter  the  resur- 
rection such  intercourse  was  no  longer  befit- 
ting.* Cyril  seems  to  add  the  remarkable 
thought,  that  Mary,  being  not  yet  capable  of 
receiving  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  not  worthy  thus 
already  to  touch  and  hold  the  Holy  One  ;  but 
this  must  be  rightly  understood.  Indistinct 
and  wavering  as  all  this  may  be,  we  are  per- 
suaded that  it  is  upon  the  right  track.  Even 
Grotius  is  not  altogether  in  error  when  he  in- 
terprets :  "  Thou  wouldst  touch  me,  Mary, 
that  is,  thou  wishest  altogether  to  enjoy  my 
friendship  ;  that  is  not  lawful  now,  for  I  pres- 
ent myself  to  your  view  only  oiHovojuiKoS?, 
for  the  strengthening  of  your  faith.  But  when 
I  shall  have  ascended  to  the  Father,  thou  wilt 
be  able  most  perfectly  to  enjoy  my  friendship 
and  fellowship,  not  by  a  terrestrial  contact,  but 
by  spiritual — such  as  is  appropriate  to  that 
place,  that  is,  to  heaven."  This  last  is  Cyril's 
meaning  more  plainly  expressed,  and  is  in  a 
certain  sense  right;  but  he  makes  the  thought 
repulsive  by  the  mechanical  observation  that 
the  fndiio  might  be  very  fittingly  expressed 
by  the  aTtredSat.  This  is  not  so  very  ob- 
vious ;  ajtredGai  cannot,  as  many  have  sup- 
posed} (Aug.,  Calv.,  Beza,  not  Grotius),  even 
metaphorically  stand  for  mente  contrectare  vet 
adhmrere  ;  it  must  retain  its  literal  significance. 
But  this  view  of  the  meaning  generally  appears 
to  us  the  only  right  one,  when  it  is  fundamen- 
tally developed  ;  we  shall  find  the  reason  after- 
wards why  it  is  expressed  by  ht}  uov  dntov. 

That  our  conclusion  may  not  appear  to  be 
novel,  we  are  glad  to  let  others  speak.  The 
Berlenberg.  Blbel — which  we  have  done  some- 
thing, we  trust,  to  redeem  from  its  undeserved 
neglect — says  :  "  We  cannot  now  continue  our 
former  method  of  intercourse  ;  all  must  be  now 
quite  different.  This  must  thou  now  learn. 
Ye  cannot  now  act  toward  me  as  ye  did  before 
my  death."  Richter's  Rmsblhel  :  "  There  was 
in  her  prostration  before  his  appearance  some- 
thing human  and  savoring  of  passion,  which 
was  not  yet  removed  by  any  contemplation  of 
the  divine  fulness  in  Christ,  and  which  there- 
fore was  not  to  be  encouraged.  Thus  it  was — 
Hang  not  upon  me  in  thy  former  humanly 
weak  confidence.  Another  relation  now  begins, 
a  higher  relation,  and  one  both  for  rne  and  thee 


*  Euthymius  :  "  He  said  this  for  no  other  pur- 
pose, as  Chi-ys.  remarks,  than  to  teach  her  that  he 
was  now  rai.sed  to  a  higher  position,  and  must  be 
more  profoundly  reverenced.  In  that  he  was 
hastening  with  his  body  to  ascend  to  his  Father 
and  God,  it  was  manifest  that  he  had  laid  aside 
the  mortality  of  the  body." 

t  Lampe  after  Cocceius  :  "Cleave  not  in  'hy 
mind  and  thoughts  to  me,  as  in  that  state  ia 
which  thou  now  beholdest  me." 


712 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


more  glorious."  Von  Gerlach  is  especially 
good  :  "  She  should  not  touch  him  now  heamse 
he  stood  again  bel'ore  her  visible  and  tangible ; 
but  was  to  wait  with  her  touch,  until  she  could 
'Tjo  longer  touch  him  in  the  body.  The  true 
seeing  again,  and  the  true  touching,  would 
then  first  begin  when  he  was  Avithdrawn  from 
her  sight  and  from  her  hands.  The  touching 
signifies  generally  that  altogether  intimate  and 
confidential  intercourse  which  Mary,  full  of  joy 
at  seeing  him  again,  would  have  at  once  recom- 
menced." Neander :  "  Not  in  the  form  in 
which  he  now  appeared  should  men  adhere  to 
him ;  for  he  had  not  yet  been  exalted  to  his  Fa- 
ther in  heaven.  Then  when  he  should  as  the 
Glorified  manifest  himself  again,  should  they 
cleave  to  him,  touch  him,  and  embrace  him,  not 
in  a  sensible  manner  but  in  a  spiritual.  For  the 
present  his  tarrying  among  the  disciples  was 
only  transitoTy."  De  Wett  almost  comes  to  the 
same  point,  when  he  speaks  of  embracing  him 
with  the  feeling  of  contentment,  which  as  yet 
was  unseasonable.  According  to  Krummacher 
the  Lord  intimates  to  Mary  "  that  she  must  no 
longer  reckon  upon  any  such  intercourse  with 
him  as  had  hitherto  been  accorded  ;  that  she 
must  now  exchange  the  life  and  touch  of  sight 
for  the  higher  and  more  spiritual  relation  of 
faitli,  that  which  no  longer  knows  Christ  after 
the  flesh." 

All  these  are  the  expressions  of  simple  truths, 
wliich  supplement  each  other  and  make  a  per- 
fect whole;  especially  as  they  bring  out  the 
necessary  union  of  the  -'wo  'longer"  and  the 
"not  yet"  in  this  intermediate  season.  More 
might  be  quoted,  but  these  are  enough.  Thus 
the  Lord's  repelling  word  is  a  sublime  and  pro- 
found declaration — "  No,  thus  it  was  not  design- 
ed," enforced  from  him  by  the  opposition  be- 
tween the  heavenly  feeling  of  his  own  mind 
and  the  earthly  feeling  of  Mary's  spirit.  Sen- 
sible experience  and  apprehension  will  avail  no 
more  from  this  time.  Thou  wilt  not  possess 
and  hold  and  enjoy  my  presence  as  thou  didst 
before  my  death.  Did  not  Mary  betray  that 
thought  and  fee-ling  by  the  liabboni,  a  wo'rd  en- 
tirely derived  from  their  former  relation,  but 
which,  as  spoken  to  him,  and  addressing  him 
by  his  iitle  as  a  teacher,  is  in  strange  contrast 
with  the  K  V  fj  I  e  addressed  to  the  garden- 
er, and  the  vov  HtJpiov  fiov  io  men  and  angels  ? 
We  would  not  turn  this  to  Mary's  blame  or 
disparagement,  but  rather  regard  it  as  having  a 
beautilul  internal  propriety  ;  yet  it  brmgs  out 
strongly  the  propriety  of  the  Lord'a  word — 
Thou  slialt  possess  me  again,  but  not  as  before, 
it  shall  be  from  this  time  and  forever  in  the 
JS/nril.  Photius  in  Lampe  :  "She  would  con- 
verse with  the  Lord,  and  enjoy  his  communion, 
ill  a  human  manner,  and  as  she  had  been  wont 
dui 


must  apply  to  the  whole  period  of  the  forty 
days,  down  to  the  ascension  which  is  here  pro- 
leptically  mentioned.  So  Pfeninnger  makes 
Nathanael  observe,  in  relation  to  the  Lord's 
brief  manifestations  and  sudden  vanishing."*: 
"  I  understand  it,  ray  brethren  ;  he  deals  witit 
us  just  as  he  said  to  Mary  at  the  beginning 
We  are  not  to  enjoy  his  society  aa  if  bis  pres- 
ence were  to  be  with  us  always."  Knimvel 
has  equally  well  expressed  it ;  "  The  forbidding 
word  of  Jesus  to  Mary  has  this  deep  meaning: 
Refrain  from  this  corporeal  and  sensible  touch- 
ing, else  wilt  thou  never  apprehend  and  em- 
brace me.  When  I  shall  "have  ascended  to 
heaven,  thou  wilt  be  able,  in  common  with  all 
my  disciples  (to  whom  thou  must  announce  this), 
through  the  Spirit  to  apprehend  and  possess 
and  enjoy  me  as  the  Saviour  who  will  unite 
you  all  into  one  brotherly  fellowship  in  God, 
yonr  true  Father." 

Now,  having  reached  this  point,  let  us  re- 
mark the  significant  contrad,  that  it  may  help 
us  to  understand  the  concrete  and  strong  ex- 
pressioii.  It  is  just  after  that  most  internal 
and  most  living  approximation  to  her  in  the 
"  Mary  "  that  the  Lord  thinks  fit  to  retreat 
from  her  again.  For  she  interprets  it  humanly, 
but  he  divinely  ;  she  is  an  earthly  sense,  but 
he  already  in  a  heavenly.  Hess  had  some  ap- 
prehension of  this  :  "  With  all  his  confidential 
condescension  there  was  always  (especially 
now,  we  would  add)  united  dignity.  Leave 
me  untouched.  Though  I  am  not  at  once 
translated  into  the  superterrestrial,  yet  is  thi-S 
immediately  at  hand."  The  Bed.  Bihel  brings 
out  more  definitely  the  passionate  and  seni'uous 
character  of  the  act  which  the  Lord  would 
repel:  "  Her  externality  of  mind  was  altogether 
too  vivacious,  and  the  Lord  would  moderate 
it."  Krummacher  :  "  We  may  suppose  that  it 
was  the  Lord's  purpose  to  suppress  a  storm  of 
emotion  in  Mary's  soul,  the  undue  admixture 
of  human  sensibility  being  unworthy  of  that 
higher  relation  in  which  his  people  would  thence- 
forward stand  to  himself.  Many  traits  in  our 
Lord's  former  life  have  prepared  us  for  a  certain 
repulsion  on  his  part  of  that  which  we  are  ac- 
customed to  term  sentimentality."*  Consequent- 
ly, it  is  quite  right  to  say  that  the  Lord  is  aj- 
grievid  by  I\Iary's  laying  hold  on  him.  The 
injury,  however,  is  not  corporeal,  but  in  the 
pure  spirit  of  heavenly-mindedness  with  which 
he  ha;?  risen;  in  the  feeling  of  his  dignity,  which 
resents  all  human  and  sensible  approxima- 
tion and  touch,  as  bearing  in  it  too  much  of 
the  remains  of  earthly  pamon.  This  feeling 
has  at  the  first  moment  its  full  vigor :  and 
therefore  he  uses  this  strong  expression,  oppos- 
ing as  it  were  to  this  too  human  passion  the 
sacred  passion  of  his   own  supreme  repose,  re- 


man manner,  aim  as  sue  uau  ueen  woni    sacrea  passion  oi  nis   own  supreme  repose,  re- 
llie  course  of  his  incarnate  dispensation,    polling  her  first  eagerness  ana   preventing  the 


But  Christ  leads  her  away  Ironi  this  tone  of 
mind,  and  says — The  time  of  exalted  and  divine 
rel.itioiiships  is  come."  Thus  wo  have  at  the 
firU  appearance  of  our  Lord  (and  this  is  no 
Blight  confirmation  of  our  view)  a  word  of  pro- 
found ytncral  application,  the  force  of  which 


continuance  of  such   a   method  of  exhibiting 
it.     Hence  it  is  a  rigorous  and  concrete  noli  nw 


*  Yes,  verily,  and  in  so  wide  a  sense  of  lh» 
word,  tliat  Krummacher  liimself  may  well  pon.ier 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


71» 


tangere ;  and  therefore  the  aitvt60a.i  is  used, 
the  propriety  of  which  has  caused  much  need- 
less trouble  to  the  expositors.  For  in  il&elf 
axreeSat  cannot  be  made  to  mean  (as  Neander 
a«serts)  the  seizing  or  grasping  of  an  object 
which  one  intends  to  retain  hold  of;  but  it 
literally  signifies  a  "momentary  touching," 
though  with  a  specific  distinction  from  Btyya- 
vety.  We  very  much  doubt  whether  it  can 
mean  (as  Hofmann  thinks),  at  least  in  this 
place,  "  the  having  to  do  with,  or  adhering  to, 
any  one." 

"The  relation  between  us  is  somewhat  chang- 
ed ;  my  former  life  with  you  will  return  no 
more  ;  but  after  a  brief  time  of  transition  my 
elevation  to  the  Father  will  come — all  this 
thou  must  from  the  beginning  know  and  pon- 
der well."  This  is  the  Lord's  meaning,  which 
Mary's  ignorance  causes  him  thus  plainly  to 
express ;  and  therefore  the  thought  which  is 
occasionally  given  both  as  exposition  and 
translation  is  really  contained  in  it — Detabnme 
not.  But  this  lies  in  the  matter  itself,  not  in 
(he  leonl  aitrov,  where  some  have  thought  to 
find  it.  On  the  other  hand,  Silberschlag,  e.  g., 
gives  it  quite  a  different  turn — Detain  not  thy- 
stlf  with  expressions  of  reverence,  for  I  shall 
tarry  yet  longer  upon  earth.  (Hezel  goes  so 
far  as  to  say:  "Spare  now  all  ceremony.") 
We  consider  both  to  be  involved  :  Detain  not 
me  and  thyself — as  a  subordinate  thought  which 
a  complete  view  of  the  whole  position  of  the 
case  will  discern  in  the  following  clause.  But 
this  is  not  to  be  taken  as  if  his  ascension  was 
matter  of  instantaneous  haste — such  an  unin- 
telligent exaggeration  of  our  Lord's  affection- 
ate and  profound  expression  would  fairly  lay 
itself  open  to  objection  and  mockery.  But 
this  much  is  true,  that  not  only  are  the  Lord's 
own  thoughts  and  desires  (as  we  shall  after- 
wards mere  clearly  perceive)  turned  with  all 
their  force  towards  his  own  ascension  ;  but  he 
also  on  account  of  it  urges  Mary  to  a  certain 
haste  in  communicating  to  his  disciples  the  in- 
telligence at  once  of  his  resurrection  and  of 
his  ascension.  Whether  it  may  be  intimated, 
in  the  mysterious  background  of  our  Lord's 
words,  that  he  himself  had  something  more  to 
do  (in  the  superterrestrial  world  of  spirits) 
than  only  to  show  and  yield  himself  up  to  the 
women  and  the  disciples,  our  perfect  ignorance 
must  leave  undecided.*  But  there  is  no  doubt 
as  to  the  other  point,  eince  Mary  immediately 
receives  a  commission  to  go  to  the  others. f 
Thus,  that  is  denied  to  her  which  she  might 
have  deceived  herself  into  regarding  as  intend- 
ed personally  and  expressly  for  herself:  "  This 
i«  not  my  design.  To  thee  I  give  only  a  rapid 
meeting,    because   thou    mournest    overmuch  : 


*  Yet  this  may  be  in  that  "  depth  of  raeanins; 
which  has  never  yet  been  explored  by  man," 
which  Krummacher  attributes  to  this  saying. 

t  Instead  of  stopping  to  touch  me,  carry  to  my 
brethren  the  assuarice  of  my  beinj?  alive,  and  of 
my  speedy  departure  to  the  Father  (Hauff).  But 
not  this  aLoue. 


but  my  manifestation  is  not  so  much  for  thee, 
as  for  thee  in  common  with  my  h-ethren.  Thus 
the  apparent  pre-eminence  given  to  the  female 
sex  is  neutralized  ;  and  the  word  brethren  points 
rather  a  parte  potiori  again  to  the  men.  Thus 
Mary's  honor  consists  not  so  much  in  her  first 
enjoying  the  Lord's  manifestation,  as  in  this, 
that  she  was  first  to  announce  the  Risen  Lord, 
to  herald  the  resurrection  to  its  future  heralds. 
The  touching  which  he  permitted,  nay  com- 
manded, to  the  unbelieving  Thomas,  he  denies 
to  this  believer.  "  But  that  was  not  to  the 
honor  of  Thomas,"  says  the  Berlenb.  Blhel ;  and 
we  add  :  so  much  higher  is  Mary  honored  in 
beincf  required  to  delay  her  touch,  since  the 
Lord  knew  that,  notwithstanding  the  first  out- 
burst of  her  feeling,  she  was  capable  of  intelli- 
gently obeying  his  repelling  command.  To 
this  requirement  Lange  (on  this  difficult  saying 
lor  once  too  brief)  refers  :  "  She  must  compre- 
hend the  time  and  place  of  this  manifestation, 
and  not  externally  limit  its  intention,  and 
make  the  crisis  eternal."  The  same  thing  does 
the  Lord  require  of  us  all,  when  we  have  be- 
come ripe  for  it;  that  we  should  not  find  our 
rest  in  the  sensuous  sentiment  of  moments  of 
sweet  communion  with  him,  not  seek,  as  it 
were,  to  touch  him  in  love  too  much  mingled 
with  selfish  ingredients,  but  j/o  forlk  with  our 
commission  into  life,  to  do  the  work  for  which 
he  sends  us.* 

We  now  proceed  to  the  next  clause,  con- 
nected by  the /c;r  which  has  caused  so  much 
trouble  and  perplexity  to  expositors.  (Kinkel 
thinks  all  the  difficulty  lies  in  this  yocp,  and 
in  this  he  is  right.)  After  what  has  been  said 
the  matter  will  become  presently  plain.  It 
would  appear,  indeed,  at  first  that  only  the  1 
hate  not  yet  tmcewled  belongs  to  the  fjr ;  the 
common  method  of  interpreting  being  then  as 
Ebrard  expresses  it  :t  Thou  needest  not  to  hold 
me  so  firmly,  because  my  appearance  is  not  a 
momentary  one;  I  shall  yet  remain  a  while 
upon  the  earth.  Bat  if  this  is  made  the  sole 
sense  of  the  for,  then  all  that  deeper  meaning 
which  we  have  found  in  the  touch  ine  not  is  con- 
fused and  weakened  away.  Better  than  this 
is  the  already  quoted  view  of  Von  Gerlach, 
who  acknowledges  and  gives  prominence  to 
the  seeming  contradiction  according  to  which 
Mary  was  not  to  touch  and  hold  hiiu  because  he 
was  present,  and  would  continue  present.  He 
explains  this  yet  further:  "  We  find  here  the 
same  pregnant  expression  of  a  higher  meaning 
by  words  which,  understood  in  their  lower 
sense,  would   involve  a  contradiction,  as    we 


*  Lampe  :  "  He  denies  the  touchins;  to  Mary 
alone,  to  show,  on  the  one  hand,  that  she  sur- 
passed all  the  re?t,  even  the  men,  in  faith,  and  was 
so  fully  assured  of  tiio  resurrection  that  she  need- 
ed no  further  confirmation ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  teach  how  those  wlio  surpass  olkers  iu  faith 
shall  find  it  necessary  to  demonstrato  and  prove 
its  stiensth  in  tlie  absence  of  nearer  communioa 
with  their  Lord." 

t  Das  El).  Joh.  und  die  neusle  llypothese,  etc. 


714 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


have  found  in  the  being  made  blind  through 
seeing,  the  finding  life  through  dying,  and  so 
forth.  Ho  who  enters  thoroughly  into  this 
profound  character  of  our  Lord's  manner  of 
speaking,  will  find  no  difficulty  here."  But 
we  think,  notwithstanding,  that  this  does  not 
satisfy  the  whole  saying.  We  think  that  the  1 
ascend,  as  its  counterpart,  strictly  belongs  to  the 
lam  not  pet  ascended  ;  and,  consequently,  that 
the  connecting  for  must  be  referred  to  it,  or 
rather  to  the  but  go.  "  But  go  "  does  not  begin 
any  thing  altogether  new,  as  if  it  were  preced- 
ed by  a  full  stop  ;  consequently  the  for  refers 
to  the  whole  sentence  together:  I  am  (indeed) 
not  yet  ascended,  but  thou  must  go  and  an- 
nounce my  coming  ascension.  The  ascent  lies 
indeed  rather  on  this  latter  hut.  It  is  only 
subordimitely  that  the  consolation*  comes  in — I 
still  remain,  although  not  for  such  touching  as 
this — interposed  on  account  of  the  repulsion, 
that  it  might  not  grieve  her  too  much,  or  be 
misunderstood  to  mean  that  the  Lord's  pres- 
ence was  a  mere  vanishing  manifestation.  But 
the  special,  decisive,  and  conclusive  meaning 
was  :  Go  thou,  rather,  to  my  brethren,  and  tell 
them  ;  the  chief  thing  is  for  thee  the  going,  and 
for  me  the  ascending.  Understand  then  my 
manifestation  aright,  and  repair  thy  first  sad 
tidings  of  an  empty  sepulchre. 

Thus  viewed,  how  wonderful  is  this  first 
word  of  the  Risen  Lord,  in  its  suggestive  and 
emphatic  contrast  with  the  word  which  after- 
wards offered  the  touch  to  Thomas  I  How 
deep  is  its  significance  for  all  his  appearances 
before  the  ascension  !  What  a  marvellous 
blending  of  Aw/na/i  condescension  and  sympathy 
with  the  mourning  woman,  and  divine  dignity 
which  withdraws  sublimely  from  a  too  human 
touch  I  Divine-human,  rather  ;  for  even  in  this 
earnest  and  rigorous  710U  me  tangere  there  ap- 
pears, with  all  its  supreme  repose,  a  certain 
glorified  human  passion  in  his  risen  conscious- 
ness, a  yearning  toward  the  heavenly  which 
cannot  readily  endure  the  touch  of  the  earthly; 
and  which  therefore,  after  the  Mary  so  full  of 
condescending  feeling,  denies  itself  again  to  the 
Rabfx/ni  which  would  assume  too  much. 

We  now  advance  to  the  remainder  of  these 
wonderful  words.  It  is  his  Father  of  whom  he 
speaks  first — how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  His 
Father  he  calls  him,  first  only  Father,  first 
only  his  own.  His  way  goes  tip  to  him:  to 
him  his  heart  is  drawn  more  than  to  any  Mary 
or  any  brethren  upon  earth,  that  the  honor  of 
this  Father  may  abide  untarnished,  equally 
with    the    honor  of  the  Son.f     He  has    risen 


*  Pliotiu.s:  When  the  woman  was  forbidden  to 
toucli,  lest  the  rejection  of  her  eirnest  desire 
should  overmuch  sadden  her  (woman's  nature  be- 
ing inclined  to  pusillanimity),  the  Saviour  interposed 
hi.i  con.<iclation. 

t  Tiiis  clause,  "although  rot  for  such  touchinn; 
as  th  s,"  an  I  the  "  subordinately  "  beore,  .suffl- 
cicntly  obviate  the  eontradtctton  with  which  Miinch- 
meyer  charges  my  expositioii.  The  chief  matter 
01'   tiie  Kayiug  was  given   beloro,  that  the   true 


again  as  the  perfected  Son  of  God  in  Humanity; 
that  is  the  first  thing,  and  from  it  follows 
that  he  becomes  the  forerunner  of  our  salva- 
tion, of  our  glorification.  But  by  what  means? 
Even  by  his  final  ascension  to  the  Father ;  and 
as  long  as  this  is  unaccomplished,  it  must 
occupy  his  thoughts  ;  "  I  have  wA,  yet  ascend- 
ed "  must  be  the  fundamental  feeling  of  bis, 
heart  during  the  intermediate  period.  He  does 
not  suffer  this  to  be  disturbed  (to  speak  once 
more  in  a  very  insufficient  human  manner)  by 
the  return  of  that  entire  surrender  of  himself 
to  his  disciples  which  they  had  enjoyed  before 
his  death.*  If  it  were  right  to  speak  of  this 
period  as  of  the  period  past  we  might  say  that 
the  touch,  the  embrace,  of  the  Magdalene 
might  have  tempted  his  soul  to  incline  to  renew 
his  former  intercourse,  and  to  remain,  in  his 
personal  triumph,  loving  and  blessing  upon 
earth;  and  that  he  meets  this  temptation  by 
saying  to  himself — I  am  not  yet  ascended.  Bat 
we  are  no  longer  permitted  to  use  such  lan- 
guage. There  is  no  more  overcoming  of  temp- 
tation ;  but  all  is  absolute  rest  and  assurance. 
All  things  are  behind  him  and  beneath  him  ; 
his  head  already  in  heaven,  his  feet  alone  rest 
for  a  few  days  longer  upon  earth. 

So  sublime  is  the  first,  "  I  have  not  yet  as- 
cended." But  he  immediately  condescends 
from  this  height  of  dignity  and  majesty  to  his 
weak  and  troubled  disciples,  for  whose  sake  he 
yet  tarries  according  to  the  counsel  £^nd  com- 
mission of  the  Father.  He  knows  his  own 
way,  and  tells  Mary  hers — Go  to  my  brethren. 
He  has  indeed  brethren  after  the  flesh,  but.  re- 
lationship after  the  flesh  has  no  more  import 
with  him  now;  though  the  word  may  remind 
him  with  joy  that  these  brethren,  hitherto  un- 
believing, had  now  been  won  to  the  true  bro- 
therhood.f  Mary  well  understood  his  meaning 
after  ver.  18,  and  announces  her  message  to  the 
disciples.  Those  whom  he  had  finally  termed 
children  and  friends  he  now,  on  the  way  to  his 
own  highest  exaltation,  dignifies  with  the  high- 
est name,  which  has  in  it  a  loftier  sound  and  a 
richer  pledge  even  than  "children  of  God" — 
his  brethren.  It  is  here  used  as  at  least  an  in- 
direct address  to  them,  and  with  all  its  un- 
bounded fulness  of  meaaing;  consequently,  it 
is  something  very  different  from  his  former 
distant  announcement  that  all  who  should  be- 
lieve would  be  to  him  brethreu.     To  addres»^ 


touching  would  be  in  the  future ;  subordinate'y  to 
this,  however,  there  is  incluied  the  consola  ion 
that  he  would  remain,  and  bo  seen  again  by  her. 

*  The  liisen  Lord  takes  no  »pecijic  notice  of  his 
moth'r — as  we  have  remarked  before. 

f  Iless  gives  ui  a  remarkable  example  how 
esiegiously  great  men  miyeir:  "It  appears  to 
me  past  all  doubt  that  Mary  was  comra  ssioned 
to  tell  this  not  to  his  discii>les,  but  to  his  literal 
brethren  or  balf-bieihren,  the  sons  of  Joseph.  Th» 
expression  brethren  is  to  \n  understood  in  its  literal 
meaning.  Ho  needed  not  to  send  me.ssagos  to  t.ia 
disciples,  wiiom  he  would  see  during  the  day  ;  nor 
was  it  bis  wout  to  call  tha  disciplea  brethreu." 


JOHN  XX.  15-17. 


715 


them  directly  with  the  brother-name  would  not 
have  become  his  dignity,  or  suited  their  weak- 
ness ;*  he  therefore  goes  just  as  far  as  he  may 
go,  in  order  now  at  the  beginninc;^  to  testify — I 
am  not  ashamed  to  call  you  brethrea  (Heb.  ii. 
11).  The  Apostle,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, having  this  saying  in  his  mind,  refersas 
in  ver.  12  to  the  fulfillment  of  Scripture.  The 
word  of  lamentation,  and  the  word  of  victory 
upon  the  cross,  were  taken  from  Psa.  xxii. ; 
and  ver.  22  in  the  centre  of  the  same  psalm, 
the  ^rst  word  which  commences  the  transition 
to  victory  in  it,  is  here  consciously  and  pur- 
posely employed  by  our  Lord.  We  li^arn  from 
the  psalm,  combined  with  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  that  he  meant  primarily  the  Apostles, 
but  in  them  the  whole  Church,  which  would 
from  henceforth  preach,  and  in  which  he  him- 
self would  preach  on  to  the  end — and  thus,  all 
who  are  sanctified  in  him.  At  the  sam.e  time 
we  may  observe  how  significantly  this  message 
a.^sumes  that  the  flock,  scattered  by  the  death 
of  the  Shepherd,  has  remained  nevertheless 
united  in  love;  and  that  it  is  still  to  be  found 
gatliered  together,  at  least  in  its  representa- 
tives, in  one  place  (which  abiding  "  friendship 
and  bond  of  union  among  the  disciples  "  had 
been  already  shown  in  the  several  journeys  to 
the  sepulchre).  His  first  and  highest  thought 
is — To  my  Father.  But  the  second,  belonging 
to  the  first,  and  involved  in  it — For  the  sake  ol 
my  brethren,  that  they  may  now  have  one  Fa- 
ther, and  one  God  with  me.  He  is  drawn  by 
the  last  attraction  which  holds  h:m  to  earth,  to 
make  himself  known  to  his  brethren,  like 
Joseph.  Had  all  Israel  reppnted,  like  Joseph's 
brethren  I  How  would  it  then  have  been  said 
Come  ye  all  unto  me  I 

Bengel  observes  that  Jesus  never  called  God 
his  Lord,  and  only  three  times  his  God — on  the 
cross  by  the  '^X  quite  alone;  in  Rev.  ii.  7,  with 

the  mention  of  Paradise  to  be  won  by  victory ; 
and  here  in  conjunction  his  Father  and  his 
God.  Compare  1  Cor.  xi.  3,  and  mark  that  the 
Risen  Lord,  who  is  about  to  go  up  to  heaven, 
bears  witness  now  to  his  abiding  humanity, 
which  he  will  take  with  him  to  heaven,  and  ac- 
cording to  which  his  Father  is  also  at  the  same 
time  his  God.f  This  is  an  anticipatory  pro- 
test against  a  false  interpretation  of  the  subse- 
quent word  to  Thomas.  This  whole  manifesta- 
tion to  Mary,  generally,  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
counterpart  of  the  manifestation  to  Thomas, 
confirming,  qualifying,  and  explaining  it. 

He  savs  brethren  immediately  after  speaking 
of  the  Fulhir  ;  but  he  does  not  say — for  that 

*  It  is  on'y  in  the  apocryphal  narrative  that  he 
says  to  James — My  brother. 

t  "  Since  the  ascending  belongs  to  the  jl^sh " 
(Chry.s).  Thus  God  is  actually  and  truly  the  God 
of  Christ ;  not,  as  we  read  in  a  sermon :  "  The 
Almiohty  is  to  him  a  Father,  to  them  he  is  God ; 
but  in  order  to  place  himself  on  a  level  with  thf-m, 
he  calls  his  Falher  their  Father,  their  God  his  God 
likewise."  W&uld  he  not  then  have  ordered  his 
words  accordingly  ] 


would  have  been  not  merely  unbeseeming,  but 
untrue  and  impossible — To  our  Father  and  our 
God.  At  this  point  such  an  expression  was 
most  obvious,  if  admissible;  and  its  exclusion 
is  most  decisive.  A  rationalistic  Christ  must 
have  said  our,  r]nwv,  in  order  to  give  honor  to 
truth,  and  to  avoid  exalting  himself  unduly  in 
the  presence  of  the  common  God  and  Father ; 
but  the  God-man  cannot  possibly  use  such  ;in 
expression.  Cyril  of  Jerus.  observes:  "Mino 
in  one  sense,  by  nature  ;  yours  in  another,  by 
privilege."  Chrys. :  "  In  different  senses  my 
Father  and  yours.  If  he  i.^  the  God  of  just 
men  in  a  sense  in  which  he  is  not  God  of  oth- 
ers, how  much  more  does  this  hold  good  of  tho 
Son  and  you."  Augustine  :  "  He  does  not  say 
our  Father  :  He  is  mv  Father  by  nature,  and  in 
another  sense  your  Father,  by  grace.  He  saya, 
my  God  and  your  God ;  not  our  God — in  one 
sense,  therefore  mine,  and  in  ano;her  sense, 
yours.  My  God,  under  whom  I  also  am  man  : 
your  God,  between  whom  and  you  I  am  media- 
tor." Ambrose :  "  Because,  although  he  and  the 
Father  are  one,  and  the  Father  his  Father  by 
propriety  of  nature,  to  us  God  became  a  Father 
through  the  Son,  not  by  right  of  nature,  but 
of  grace."  Your  God — means  here  infinitely 
more  than  your  Creator,  Lawgiver,  Judge;  it 
includes  and  pledges  the  fulfillment  of  Old-Tes- 
ment  promise  down  to  Rev.  xxi.  3.  Your 
reconciled  God,  as  the  ordinary  language  of 
theology  runs ;  according  to  the  right  sense  of 
Scripture,  your  God  because  ye  are  now  recon- 
ciled to  him.  God  was  from  the  beginning  even 
according  to  his  humanity  the  God  of  the 
Ri<lhleouH  One,  of  Christ.  But  our  God  and 
Father  (thfse  ever  belong  together),  he  be- 
comes only  through  this,  that  he  was  the 
Father  and  God  of  Christ.  (Hence  the  apos- 
tolical word,  thus  to  be  construed — The  Gud 
and  Fuller  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.)  This  my 
is  the  ground  and  source  of  the  your ;  and 
therefore  the  Lord  thus  speaks.  Father  stands 
first,  for  his  divinity  is  and  must  ever  be  tho 
ground  of  his  sacred  humanity — not  converse- 
ly, as  it  would  have  been  if  his  becoming  God, 
and  having  God  for  his  father,  had  proceeded 
upward  from  his  humanity.  (On  the  other 
hand,  the  Apostle  might  well,  with  his  mean- 
ing, ascend  from  the  Seo's  to  the  itatnp)  The 
whole,  finally,  is  a  most  decisive  declaration  of 
the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  brother-name,  and 
the  disclosure,  finally,  of  our  present  right  to 
its  possession.  So  high  is  the  honor  put  now 
upon  us  men.  All  his  redeemed,  and  all  who 
were  to  be  sanctified,  are  here  embraced  by  tho 
Lord  in  one,  as  looking  down  upon  them  from 
above — anticipating  their  union  in  one,  as  in 
the  high-priestly  prayer. 

The  Lord  on  the  morning  of  his  resurrection 
speaks  at  once  of  the  ascension,  which  took 
place  forty  days  afterwards.  What  are  now 
lo.-ty  days  to  him?  and  how  natural,  how  ne- 
cessary to  his  thought,  his  death  being  now 
survived,  was  this  presentiating  I  ascend  with 
its  quick  prolepsis'  For  his  disciples  it  was  as 
true  as  it  was  important;  intimating  to  them 


7W 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  MARY  MAGDALENE. 


that  he  had  not  risen  in  order  to  remain  upon 
earth,  and  bringing  all  to  their  remembrance 
that  he  had  compreliensively  spoken  concerning 
his  departure  to  the  Father.*  To  the  angels 
it  was  given  in  commission  to  announce  the 
resurrection  in  itself;  but  the  Lord  assumes  a 
loftier  tone,  in  harmony  with  his  risen  dignity, 
and  does  not  say  only — Tell  them  that  I  am 
risen  ;  for  that  would  be  too  little  for  the  ele- 
vated state  in  v/hich,  for  a  few  days,  he  tarries 
between  the  sepulchre  and  heaven.  He  him- 
self is  impelled  upward;  the  clearest  conscious- 
ness and  the  most  urgent  impulse  of  his  being 
is  toward  heaven :  how  could  he  otherwise 
than  utter  in  his  first  word  his  deepest  thought? 
AVesley  :  "  He  anticipates  it  in  his  thoughts, 
and.  so  speaks  of  it  as  a  thing  already  present." 
Therefore  we  have  not  the  indirect  sentence, 
but  most  emphatically  his  own  word  is  to  be 
repeated:  not — Tell  them  that  I  ascend;  but 
say  what  I  say — I  ascend  (as  according  to  ver. 
18  she  does).  Bengel's  note  condenses  into 
few  words  what  we  mean  :  "  More  still.  He 
does  not  say,  I  have  risen  ;  nor,  I  will  ascend  ; 
but,  I  ascend."  He  refers  to  Luke  ix.  51,  where 
even  Luke,  in  the  spirit  of  John,  speaks  in  an- 
ticipation of  the  death  as  of  the  dyaXi/ipii,  or 
being  received  up.  Neander  here  rightly  per- 
ceives why  "the  Lord  did  not  commission 
Mary  to  announce  his  sensible  coming,  but  that 
he  would  fulfill  his  promise,  ascend  to  his 
Father,  and  then  first  (fully)  reveal  himself  to 
them  ;  making  no  mention  of  the  intermediate 
and  transitional  manifestation,  which  should 
only  prepare  the  way  for  the  higher  and  more 
permanent."  (Neander  says,  "here  also  ;"  and 
there  is  some  slight  incorrectness  in  this,  for 
we  have  found  in  John  xiv.  18,  19,  xvi.  IG, 
22,  and  generally,  that  the  Lord  had  tliere  inti- 
mated to  the  disciples  his  bodily  and  visible 
return.) 

On  the  one  hand,  the  present  words  make  it 
plain  that  our  Lord  did  not  in  death  leave  the 
world  and  go  to  the  Father,  but  remained  in- 
termediately in  the  underworld  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  literally 
and  properly  went  up  to  heaven  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  resurrection.  We  trust  that  our 
readers,  after  what  has  been  said,  will  not  be 
accessible  to  any  doubt  upon  this  point,  or  so 
narrowly  interpret  the  words,  in  opposition  to 
all  the  rest  of  the  account,  and  the  universal 
tradition  of  the  Church.  But  we  must  spend 
a  few  words  upon  Kinkel,  whof  argues  from 


*  Thohick  compares  John  xiv.  28.  They  shou'd 
less  r  joice  that  his  bodily  presence  was  ajiain 
with  them,  than  that  he  would  be  soon  altogether 
exalted. 

t  In  the  treatise  already  mentioned,  Slud.  u. 
Krit.  1841,  iii.  So  also  Baur ;  and  before  him 
Whiston  in  his  Sermons  and  E^say.s,  to  whom  Joh. 
Sclimid  replied  by  a  specific  dissertation  against 
the  miuttpiex  Christi  in  coe'o  asceniw.  It  is  a  neces- 
eity  ol  Rt>lhe's  whole  nyslem  that  he  should  find 
in  John  xx.  19  the  immediately  identical  resurrec- 
tion and  exalULion  of  the  second  Adam  {Ethik, 


this  word  to  ^lary,  with  which  he  makes  all 
the  rest  harmonize,  that  our  Lord  went  imme- 
diately to  heaven  ;  and  reduces  to  an  equality 
all  lurther  manifestations  before  and  after  the 
hitherto  assumed  day  of  ascension,  or  rather 
establishes  a  successive  series  of  ascensions. 
He  thinks  that  he  learned  the  lesson  of  cau- 
tion which  has  so  often  been  given,  and  had 
hesitated  to  give  forth  an  imaginary  discovery 
of  his  ov/n,  contrary  to  the  universal  belief  of 
Christendom.  Many  things  have  hitherto  been 
but  dimly  understood;  but  the  general  sense 
of  Christian  men  has  apprehended  the  truth 
far  more  correctly  than  those  speculatists  have 
done,  whose  pprverted  learning  has  so  confi- 
dently assumed  to  know.  Just  so  is  it  with 
this  dvaftaivoo.  Kinkel  (p.  G12)  proceeds 
from  the  incorrect  pre-supposition,  that  in  the 
last  discourses  of  John  the  Lord  looks  forward 
proleptically  altogether  beyond  his  death  and 
resurrection  ;  as  if  he  had  not  literally,  both 
before  and  intermediately,  spoken  of  his  en- 
tombment, dying,  leaving  his  life,  the  lamen- 
tation over  iiis  death — as  chap.  xii.  7,  24,  xv. 
13,  xvi.  20.  But  when  he  asserts  that  such 
prolepsis  of  the  ascension  which  was  to  take 
place  after  forty  days  cannot  possibly  be  imag- 
ined in  our  Lord's  consciousness  now,  he  re- 
futes himself  in  the  most  striking  manner  by 
his  own  subsequent  artless  words :  "  Occur- 
rences which  are  separated  by  an  interval  of  a 
month  and  a  half  from  my  present  existence 
would  scarcely  lift  my  soul  to  such  a  flight." 
This  we  readily  believe,  and  merely  add — But 
what  were  forty  days  now  to  the  soul  of  ChiUt  t 
His  first  axiom,  tiiat  "  the  reports  of  Christ's 
ascension  which  the  New  Testament  gives  are 
altogether  irreconcilable  in  respect  to  time, 
place,  and  circumstances,"  is  nothing  more  than 
the  thousand-times  refuted  assertion  of  pseudo- 
criticism — as  we  shall  herealter  more  fully  see. 
When  he  decrees  that  "the  ascension  of  the  Acta 
of  the  Apostles  cannot  possibly  be  identical  with 
that  of  Luke's  Gospel,"  Luke,  wlio  wrote  both, 
will  amply  vindicate  himself.  It  is  further  as- 
sumed in  the  most  arbitrary  manner  that  the 
Apostle  Paul,  1  Cor.  xv.  1-8,  makes  no  dis- 
tinction between  the  appearances  before,  and 
the  appearance  after  the  fortieth  day;  and  that 
he  therefore  knew  nothing  of,  or  allowed  no 
validity  to,  the  synoptical  narrative.  But  there 
is  a  great  difference  between  the  truth  (denied 
by  Kinkel  in  his  false  assumption),  which  was 
always  acknowledged  by  the  early  Church,  that 
tile  manifestations  of  Christ  after  the  ascension 
were  not  on  that  account  "  visionary,"  but  real 
corporeal  manifestations* — and  the  unscriptu- 


ii.  291).  But  how  the  merely  visionary  kind  of 
intercourse,  the  transitory  assumption  of  an  al- 
ready abandoned  and  formerly  material  bod/, 
which  he  asser  s,  can  bo  reconciled  with,  we  say 
not  the  rest  of  Sori[)ture,  lut  his  own  system,  it 
would  be  well  if  he  would  consider. 

*  Thus  Schenkel  in  1839  {Die  Wm^nschafl  und 
die  Kirche,  p.  122),  in  direct  opposition  to  Scrip- 
ture, termed  the  appearances  to  Taul  "  only  a  sud 


jojix  XX.  lo-r 


717' 


ral  error  Avliich  stumbles  at  and  reJeoL.-;  the  in-  , 
terval  and  intervening  state  of  llie  forty  (ir.ys. 
The  assurance  given  afterwards  (p.  G17)  is 
fearfully  bold :  "  The  words  of  John  xx.  17 
have  been  and  still  are  a  cni.x  i/Uerjirelitiu  only 
because  expositors,  resolutely  bent  upon  hold- 
ing fast  the  terni  of  the  forty  days,  have  re- 
fuser! to  yield  the  plain  and  simple  force  of  ex- 
pression its  riglits."  After  our  interpretation 
of  the  "touch  me  not"  and  the  "  I  ascend," 
and  the  "for"  which  links  them  especially,  we 
are  quite  justified  in  declaring  that  the  force  of 
the  words,  not  superficially  but  thoroughly 
siudied,  contains  no  reference  whatever  to  an 
ascension  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 
It  is  most  foolish,  therefore,  and  proves  the 
blinding  consequences  of  headlong  devotion  to 
a  hypothesis,  when  he  says,  p.  619 :  "  One 
sends  a  messenger  only  when  one  cannot  go  in 
person.  It  would  seem  very  strange  that  Jesus 
did  not  at  once  in  person  assure  his  disciples 
of  his  life,  unless  Ave  assume  that  he  had  pre- 
viously another  object  to  attain.  What  that 
object  was,  is  so  plainly  expressed  in  the  mes- 
sage to  the  disciples,  that  no  doubt  can  remain 
upon  the  question."  Thus  the  Lord  is  sup- 
posed to  have  meant  by  that  message  :  I  can- 
not come  to  you  immediately,  for  I  must  pre- 
viously and  at  once  go  to  the  Father.  If  that 
is  so  entirely  past  doubt  now,  why  haa  all 
Christendom  vntil  this  time  iinders'ood  it  other- 
wise? Our  exposition  of  the  "  touch  me  not" 
has,  further,  perfectly  refuted  the  conclusion 
which  has  been  drawn  from  a  most  wilful  and 
superficial  perversion  of  the  letter,  and  which 
runs  thus,  p.  620;  "In  the  mornmg  Christ 
forbids  to  touch,  lecnuse  he  has  not  yet  ascend- 
ed ;  in  the  afternoon  he  permits  and  commands 
it  (Luke  xxiv.  39,  ip)^Aag}?j6ar£  //£).  The  re- 
ference is  very  simple:  between  morning  and 
afternoon  every  reason  for  not  touching  him 
has  been  i-emoved — the  ascension  to  heaven 
has  taken  place."  Apart  from  the  fact  that 
during  the  morning,  and  very  soon  after,  the 
Lord  permitted  himself  to  be  touched  by  other 
women,  and  blamed  them  not  because  they 
touched  him  with  a  different  spirit  and  mean- 
ing (showing  that  consequently  the  reason  of 
the  prohibition  was  something  sfiecific  in  the 
dTtTE60ai  of  Mary),  we  simply  ask.  What  had 
the  Lord  to  do  in  the  garden  during  the  inter- 
val while  they  went  from  the  sepulchre  to  the 
city  and  back  again,  if  his  exaltation  to  the 
Father  belonged  essentially  and  immediately  to 
his  resurrection  ?  Was  it  necessary  that  he 
should  collect  his  thoughts,  and  prepare  him- 
self in  any  sense  for  the  dvafiaiyoa  ?  Or,  did 
the  Lord's  conscious  course  and  way  from  the 
opened  sepulchre  to  heaven  proceed  so  slowly 
upon  earth,  in  the  garden,  that  after  a  consid- 
erable space  of  time  he  had  not  yet  ascended — 

den  outbeaming  of  Christ  to  the  spiritual  eye  of 
the  Apostle."  How  can  he  reconcile  wiih  ihis 
the  emphatic  declaration  in  ReT.  i.  17,  18,  of  the 
personal  identity -&f  him  who  had  been  dead  and 
was  alive  again. 


nnd  still  stands  not  far  from  the  sepulchre? 
Wherefore  tlien  and  i.o  what  cud  was  Mary 
•Magdalene  t!ie  only  favored  one  who  witnessetl 
anil  enjoyed  t!i:s  brief  inlerme'liatf  glance  of 
tiie  Lord  before  h;s  ascension?  He  who  ad- 
heres so  very  tenaciously  to  the  letter,  must 
necessarily  thus  give  account  of  the  not  yet; 
the  critic  who  finds  it  "  perf',^otly  aimless"  that 
Jesus  "  at  this  crisis  should  have  nothing  more 
speedy  to  speak  of  to  his  disciples  than  that  he 
should  ascend  after  forty  days"  (because  in 
fact,  he  has  no  feeling  of  the  spiritual  signi- 
ficance of  this  crisis  itself,  and  of  the  Lord's 
reference  to  the  intervening,  transitory  charac- 
ter of  the  forty  days) — may  very  reasonably 
be  asked  to  account  for  the  "aim"  of  our 
Lord's  delay  for  the  sake  of  Magdalene  alone. 
Could  he  not  in  the  meantime  have  sent  his  mes- 
sengers to  her?  Would  it  not  have  been  nrore 
consistent  that  he  should  at  once  go  up  to  the 
Father,  that  he  might  then  be  able  to  show 
himself  all  the  sooner  to  all  of  them  with  an 
7/St/  dyafiifirfHa,  I  have  already  ascended? 
Hauff  says  well,  "  But  why  does  he  not  at 
once  ascend/  if  he  is  in  such  haste  to  do  so?" 
It  is  certain  that  ver.  17  must  have  another 
meaning  ;  not  so  much  because,  as  Liicke  says, 
there  is  no  "  now"  connected  with  the  "  I  as- 
cend," as  because  it  is  plain,  to  all  who  read 
ver.  17  with  simplicity,  that  Jesus  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  wis  stdl  xipon  earth.  That 
other  meaning  is  found  in  the  words  of  ver.  17 
itself:  "I  am  not  yet  ascended"  cannot  signify, 
1  hasten  to  ascend  ;  but.  "  I  tarry  yet  a  while 
longer  among  you."  For  it  is  at  least  as  true 
here,  as  it  was  asserted  of  1  Cor.  xv.  :  John 
makes  "  no  distinction  "  between  the  appear- 
ances which  took  place  after  the  "  I  ascend" 
announced  to  Magdalene,  and  this  first  ap- 
pearance before  it. 

The  argument  for  this  immediate  ascension 
which  has  been  drawn  from  a  supposed  impar- 
tation  of  the  Spirit  in  John  xx.  22,  will  be  re- 
futed on  that  passage  by  the  maintenance  of  a 
meaning  other  than  simply  literal  in  the  Ad- 
fSere,  "  receive."  As  to  the  endeavor  which  has 
been  made  to  establish  Kinkel's  view  by  patris- 
tic authorities  as  the  tradition  of  the  first  three 
centuries,  we  shall  leave  that  question  to 
others,  ourselves  adhering  simply  to  exegesis. 

While  we  would  recommend  the  theosoph- 
ists  to  reserve  their  speculations  as  to  the  mys- 
tery of  the  forty-number,  instead  of  obtruding 
the'm  inopportunely  to  the  oflence  of  theology, 
it  remains  evident  to  every  untheosophical  yet 
believing  apprehension,  that  "  the  time  from 
the  resurrection  to  the  ascension,  which  was  the 
connecting  link  between  the  weakness  of  tl;e 
Lord's  former  life  and  the  high  dignity  of  his 
glorified  life,  and  the  transition  from  his  obedi- 
ence to  the  supreme  rule  of  all  creation,  was  a 
necessary,  essential,  and  most  important  portion  of 
the  circle  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  Necessary,  and 
so  far  essential,  not  merely  economi>nlly  for 
the  transitional  discipline  of  his  disciples,  but 
most  certainly  indispensable  to  the  humanity  oi 
Jesus  himself,  which  was   to  be  exalted    and 


718 


SECOND  GEEETING  TO  THE  WOMEN, 


glorified.  An  immediate  ascension  of  the  Risen 
Lord,  an  vinmediated  transition  or  rather  leap 
from  obedience  into  dominion  is  to  us,  as  Kleu- 
ker  says,  an  unimaginable  thing  as  to  Jesus 
liimselt";  although  the  lack  of  revealed  instruc- 
tion upon  the  subject,  and  moreover  the  in- 
capacity of  our  minds  for  such  instruction, 
keeps  us  in  ignorance  of  the  internal  process  ol 
this  transitional  state  of  our  Lord.  The  descent 
into  hell  was  not  this  transition  in  itself,  for 
the  resurrection  from  the  sepulchre  connects 
him  at  once  with  the  earth  again.  Here  are 
mysteries,  and  it  is  better  to  acknowledge  these 
in'silent  reverence,  than  over-curiously  to  spec- 
ulate upon  them.  A  process  of  gradational 
glorification  in  the  person  and  body  of  Christ 
himself  is  an  idea  by  no  means  self-contradic- 
tory ;  indeed  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
subject  drives  us  necessarily  to  assume  it.  And 
we  may  confidently  assert,  to  bring  back  these 
observations  upon  the  text  which  we  are  ex- 
pounding to  the  point  from  which  they  set  out, 
that  the  Lord  uttered  this  presentiating  "I  as- 
cend "  to  Mary  because  his  present  intermediate 
state  was  a  continual  advance  towards  his 
ascending,  and  preparation  for  it.    Tholuok : 


"Thus  the  Lord  declares  his  resurrection  to  b® 
already  a  glorification,  although  not  yet  his  fuU 
glorification." 

Neither  Magdalene  nor  the  brethren  under- 
stood at  the  first  announcement  the  depth  of 
the  Lord's  word ;  but  it  was  not  spoken  simply 
for  that  purpose.  Enough  that  in  loving  obe- 
dience, des'nng  no  further  touch,  the  same  wo- 
man who  in  ver.  15  had  bewailed  to  the  Lord 
himself  the  taking  away  of  her  Lord,  departs 
and  joyfully  declares  his  message  :  koDpaxa — 
T  av  r  a  e  i  it  e  v ,  I  have  seen — these  tilings 
she  said.*  The  note  of  Grotius — "  Dubitabat 
iterum,  annon  fuisset  visio  incorporea"  (She 
doubted  whether  the  vision  were  not  incorporeal) 
— has  not  the  slightest  ground  for  its  folly  ; 
certainly  not  in  the  emphatic  words,  "  that  she 
had  seen  the  Lord  and  that  he  had  spoken 
these  things  unto  her."  For  it  is  plain  that 
she  needed  not  to  relate  specifically  her  own 
aTtre6^ai  in  addition  to  the  Lord's  Mrj  iiov 
ccTtrov.  The  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus 
(according  to  Luke  xxiv.  22,  23)  had  certainly 
not  yet  received  this  message  of  Magdalene  ; 
but  the  "disciples"  were  not  all  assembled 
together  in  one  company  on  this  day. 


SECOND  GREETING,  TO  THE  WOMEN  LEAVING  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


(Matt,  xxviii.  9,  10.) 


Matthew  is  to  be  reconciled  with  Mark  and 
John,  without  having  recourse  to  all  kinds  of 
artifices — the  strangest  of  which  is  the  suppo- 
sition that  there  were  two  Magdalenes.  We 
have  said  already  that  the  same  one  Magdalene 
(>}  MayScx\r/v7J)  went  and  came  with  the 
others  to  the  sepulchre;  but  she  hastened  be- 
fore, and  went  away  again  earlier.  We  know 
not  whether  Matthew  was  acquainted  with 
this ;  we  do  not  alSrm  it  as  a  dogma  that  each 
Evangelist  knew  every  paiticular.  The  first 
mentions,  ver.  1,  in  addition  to  Mary  Magda- 
lene, only  the  other  Mary  ;  yet  we  must  sup- 
pose other  women  to  have  been  present,  as 
otherwise  there  would  be  left  for  vers.  9. 10, 
only  the  second  Mary — Mary  Magdalene  hav- 
ing, according  to  John  and  Mark,  seen  the 
Lord  at  first  alone.  In  this  Ebrard  is  right, 
but  not  in  thestranjje  supposition  that  vers.  9, 
10,  refer  to  the  manifestation  which  had  been 
made  to  the  Magdalene  alone,  but  merely  con- 
tinue in  the  indefinite  plural,  because  that  had 
already  been  adopted — the  Magdalene,  how- 
ever, being  solely  intended. 

If  we  yield  to  Ebrard,  and  those  who  think 
with  him,*  this  section  of  our  exposition  must 


*  Groiius,  Olshausen,  Thouck,  Von  Gerlach. 
We  (hid  llie  same  view  Uev;'loping  its  consequen- 
ces where  we  should  not  have  expected  it.  For 
instance,  Aib  rtini  preaches  lliat  "  Magdalene 
had,  as  Mattleiv  express';/  relates,  embraced  the 
Lord's  feet."    Situiarly,  iSepp'a  "  scientific  eran- 


fall  to  the  ground — because  our  present  narra- 
tive would  then  be  only  Matthew's  "  depictur- 
ing "  of  the  simple  occurrence  which  took  place 
with  Mary  Magdalene.  But  such  an  apparent 
extension  of  the  manifestation  granted  to  Mary 
to  all  the  women  would  be  much  more  than 
what  Olshausen  terms  "  inexactness  '.'  in  Mat- 
thew. Of  such  inexactness  we  admit  no 
"possibility."  Have  those  who  adopt  this 
theory  considered  it  in  all  its  bearings'/  Is  it 
possible  that  the  x<x'/^^^^  of  JIatthew  is  the 
same  as  the  apostrophe — Mary  ?|  Is  this  •  Be 
not   afraid,"  no   other    than    the  "  Touch  me 


celicalcriticijm  "  perceives  in  Matthew  two  events 
blended  into  one  narrative.  AVe  hoj)?,  however, 
in  spite  of  Weizsackers  protest,  that  our  book 
will  have  some  influence  in  helping  to  abolish  such 
a  method  of  dealing  with  the  Gospels. 

*  Lango  says  :  '■  This  Mary,  who  thus  leaves 
his  face  to  celebrate  her  Easter,  and  can  find  her 
Easter  joy  in  tliis  form  of  announcement  of  his 
new  lif?,  sliows  r.n  obedience  ripened  into  the 
character  of  that  of  angels  ;  hers  is  the  blessed- 
ness of  heaven,  for  she  can  lor.ve  the  nlor.ous 
manifestation  of  heaven  in  order  to  cany  the  me."*- 
sase  of  consolation  to  the  comfortless  circle  of 
her  fellows  upon  earth."  Tiiis  is  beautiiully  sa!d, 
though  somewhat  extravagant. 

t  Grotius  actually  adds:  "  Addre^siTin;  Miry 
also  by  name,  as  is  usual  with  tho^e  who  s.-ilu;e." 
But  w.iere  is  the  "  Wonnn.  wliy  weojieiu  thou  1  " 
And  what  of  the  meeting  them  as  tliey  inopeij' 

OYVO  f 


MATTHEW  XXVIIl.  9,  10. 


719 


not  ?  "  Can  the  announcement  that  the  dis- 
ciples should  see  him  in  Galilee  be  only  another 
form  of  the  "I  ascend  "  in  John  ?  The  sending 
to  his  brethren  is  the  only  particular  which 
remains  common  to  both  ;  all  the  rest  is  totally 
distinct.  We  confess  that  we  cannot  account 
on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  inadvertence 
for  Meyer's  admission  in  his  note  that  all  this 
may  pomlly  refer  to  Mary  Magdalene  alone — 
pointing  (with  Von  GerJach)  to  Matt,  xxvii. 
44.  Oh,  no;  this  notion,  which  the  Wolfen- 
luVel  Fragmentht  broached,  is  altogether  im- 
practicable. We  cannot  even  admit  the  view 
which  Lange  propounds  :  "  Matthew  makes  the 
second  appearance  of  the  angels  to  Magdalene 
coincide  with  the  first  to  the  other  women  ; 
and  blends  the  first  manifestation  of  Christ 
which  was  granted  to  the  Magdalene  with  his 
second  appearance,  which  the  women  report- 
ed." There  is  no  such  blending  or  making  to 
coincide  in  his  account;  but  what  Matthew 
relates  is  a  characteristic  and  independent  re- 
cord, just  as  is  that  of  John,  who  records  what 
he  had  omitted.  The  inexactness  complained  of 
springs  from  this,  that  without  the  other  Evan- 
gelists we  misunderstand  Matthew ;  making 
him  mean  in  ver.  1  that  only  these  two  women 
were  present,  and  consequently  including  Mary 
Magdalene  in  vers.  9,  10.  But  how  much 
slighter  is  this  difficulty  than  that  which  makes 
Matt,  xxviii.  9,  10,  historically  the  same  as 
John  XX.  14,  17  ! 

This  does  not  invalidate  Von  Gerlach's  ex- 
cellent remarks  upon  the  climax  of  the  several 
manifestations  of  Christ  on  the  day  of  his  re.s-  | 
urrection  ;  it  rather  adds  new  features  to  it.  i 
Mary  Magdalene  is  initiated  into  the  mystery  j 
aft(r  an  anxious  testing  by  tiie  angels  and  by  i 
Christ  himself;  some  of  the  other  women  see  an  | 
angel  and  presently  the   Lord  also  ;  but  some 
(Luke  xxiv.)  have  only  a  view  of  the  angeU 
who  said  that   he  lived  ;  to  the  dismayed  di.s- 
ciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus  the  Lord  him- 
self as  unknown  first  opens  the  Scriptures,  and 
when  they  believe  gives  them  a  momentary 
sight  of  himself;  between  Peter  and  John,  who 
were  not  convinced  even  by  the  view  of  k.v 
sepulchre,  there  is  a  distinction  made  on  ac- 
count of  I'eter's  penitence  ;  finally,  the  rest  of 
the  Apostles  who  did  not  believe,  even  those 
who  had  seen  him  after  he  had  risen  (Mark 
xvi.  14),  are  in  the  evening  humbled,  reproved, 
and  blessed. 

But  now  let  us  turn  to  the  matter  itself 
The  Lord  connects  his  words  with  those  which 
an  angel  had  spoken,  though  somewhat  differ- 
ently. The  angel  had  said,  "  Fear  ye  not,  and  be 
not  ye  terrified  like  the  guard,  and  his  enemies 
— I  have  good  tidings  lor  you  who  seek  Jesus 
the  crucified."  The  angel  terms  him  indeed 
afterwards  "the  Lord"  (as  Luke  ii.  11) — but 
the  first  name  is  the  name  of  reproach  and 
death  glorified  into  a  title  of  honor.  Accord- 
ing to  Mark  it  is  expressly  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
(comp.  Acts.  xxii.  8) — and  in  addition,  the 
Crucified.  This  is  the  first  high  name  of  thf 
Risen  Lord,  as  it  was  given  and  sanctified  at 


first  by  the  mouth  of  an  angel ;  tnus  was  the 
Lowly  One  called  now  in  the  world,  thus  would 
he  be  ever  named  both  in  heaven  and  upon 
earth  ;  of  this  cross  it  would  be  proclaimed,  in 
the  glorious  preaching  of  salvation,  that  all 
things  were  obtained  in  it.  Ye  seek  him,  even 
in  disgrace  and  death  ;  yea,  it  is  this  cross  which 
has  attracted  you,  and  makes  you  still  no  other 
than  those  who  were  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Ye  seek  him,  although  in  the  wrong  place ; 
but  ye  shall,  nevertheless,  find  him.  Thi.s  is 
the  message.  He  is  not  here,  he  is  7-isen,  and  that 
as  he  told  you.  The  Lord  had  pointed  to  the 
Scripture,  but  now  the  angels  point  back  to  his 
words  ;  for  every  testimony  to  truth  which  ever 
fell  from  his  lips  is  confirmed  and  sealed  by  the 
sign  of  the  resurrection  ;  the  first-born  from  the 
dead  is  the  Faithful  Witness  (Rev.  i.  5).  The 
power  of  God  hereby  impresses  the  seal  upon 
all  that  he  had  spoken  ;  the  Father  himself  ut- 
ters his  Amen  to  the  Finished  upon  the  cross. 
Come  and  see — not  indeed  himself,  but  the  place 
where  the  Lord — as  dead — lay.  Tarry  not, 
however,  in  the  place,  go  on  further — is  the 
meaning  of  the  word  "  he  is  risen  "  to  the  dis- 
ciples. Do  ye  believe  ?  Will  they  believe 
it?  Behold  ye  shall  see  him,  even  as  he  said, 
in  Galilee :  and  now  let  it  suffice ;  for  behold 
I,  his  and  his  Father's  messenger,  have  told 
you. 

Most  mighty  words!*  Nothing  but  peace, 
joy,  and  life.  Yea  and  Amen.  But  the  women 
are  affrighted  at  him — this  is  the  combined 
sjies  ei  horror  mortahum — they  shrink  from  the 
world  beyond  the  grave;  fear  contends  (as 
often  in  the  case  of  us  all)  in  their  hearts  with 
their  g  eat  joy.  And  they  said  nothing  to  any 
man,  as  Mark  adds,  ver.  8;  that  is,  they  said 
nothing  in  the  way,  before  they  came  to  the 
disciples. t     Their  fear  itself  helps  them  right- 


"  Still  more  mighty,  to  excite  faith  without 
-;i2ht,  is  that  word  to  the  others — Why  seek  ye  the 
living  among  the  dead  ]  (Isa.  viii.  19).  In  the 
question  lies  its  answer.  The  Crucified  is  never- 
theless the  livii>!j.  He  was  among  the  dead,  as  he 
/fty  in  death.  He  was  intermediately  below  amonj 
the  dead,  but  nevertheless  as  the  living — and  noiv 
he  liveth  for  evermore  (Rev.  i.  18).  He  is  the 
Lord  and  God  not  of  the  de^d  but  of  the  living. 
We  children  of  men  are  the  dead,  but  he  the  liv- 
ing who  maketh  alive !  Thus  he  is  not  to  be 
sought  among  ourselves,  in  the  world,  in  any  par- 
ticular place.  (This  answer  of  tha  angel  s  was 
once  more  siven,  as  Hezel  says,  at  the  sepulchre 
ot  our  Lord  to  the  crusading  world.)  Not  among 
dead  "  Christians  " — not  in  the  dead  letter  of 
Scr  pture,  dogma,  preaching — for  he  himself,  th» 
living,  is  to  be  sought.  The  angel  could  not  then 
say — Seek  him  among  the  living  :  but  there  are  liv- 
ing now,  araonrj  and  in  whom  he  lives,  and  is  to  be 
found.  Yea,  those  who  seek  him  as  the  living  ara 
to  him  as  living,  and  will  surely  find  him.  Thus 
the  seeking  is  with  the  seekers,  but  not  amojig 
them,  for — seeking  is  r.ot  yet  finding. 

t  Not,  as  Von  Gerlach  thinks,  that  they  did  not 
at  first  tell  even  the  Apostles,  for  this  would  not 
agree  with  Matthew. 


720 


SECOND  GREETING  TO  THE  WOMEN: 


ly  to  under^land  the  commission  to  tell  it  onhj 
to  the  disciples.  They  go  in  the  way  of  simple 
obedience;  their  own  dawning  faith  overcom- 
ing the  temptation  to  ask — Shall  we  find  cre- 
dence? or  to  say — Let  us  wait  until  we  have 
ourselves  seen  the  Lord.  Therefore  they  re- 
ceive their  recomoense,  that  of  being  able  to 
Kay  with  Mary  Magdalene-  I  have  seen  the 
Lord.  To  them  also  he  makes  himself  present, 
as  they  walk  in  the  way :  for  the  Living  One 
is  no  more  restricted  by  limitations  of  space, 
as  we  are  to  observe  at  once  by  the  succession 
of  the  first  two  appearances.  It  is  not  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  sepulchre  (as  Hess  thinks) 
that  he  appears  to  them  ;  but  as  ^latthew  re- 
lates, he  met  them  as  they  went  in  the  icay. 
Bengel  says,  "  He  came  not,  therefore,  from 
the  sepulchre,  but  from  the  city  :"  and  we  add, 
as  always  goinrj  befi/re  us,  according  to  the  an- 
gel's word.  But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that 
Mary  Magdalene  was  already  again  with  them, 
nor  is  it  probable  that  the  mother  of  the  Lord 
was  in  this  group  of  women  (as  Lange  sup- 
poses, in  order  at  all  events  to  introduce  her 
somewhere)  ;  she  would  in  that  case  have  been 
mentioned.  The  Berlenb.  Blbel  tells  ns  that 
the  holy  mother,  in  her  more  silent  and  deeper 
mind,  did  not  seek  the  living  among  the  dead, 
but  waited  for  him  in  perfect  composure. 

XaipEze,  Hall,  is  his  first  greeting  now  :  ap- 
parently an  unpretending  word  of  human  confi- 
dence, but  in  his  lips  retaining  its  fullest  truth 
and  essential  reality.  It  is  more  than  a  mere 
Atde,  as  translated  by  the  Vulg. ;  certainlynot 
a  mere  translation  of  an  Israelite  23-5  DitJ"'} 

"Peace  be  unto  j-ou  :"  both  kinds  of  greeting, 
that  of  the  Jews  and  that  of  the  Greeks,  the  Lord 
had  himself  from  the  beginningsanclified(comp. 
Acts  XV.  23,  and  James  i.  1)  ;  hence  the  He- 
braizing Matthew  records  ;t;a//'jtr^,  and  the 
Greek  LukeEi/j;;K7;  v^ly.  But  j nj  must  now 
overcome  the  fear.  That  is  its  meaning  as 
closely  connected  with  the  immediately  follow- 
ing "  Be  not  afraid,"  for  which  Matt.  ver.  8 
had  prepared.  Because  it  had  been  already 
announced  to  them,  the  Lord  can  begin  with 
bis  gracious  encouragement.  These  women 
are  less  "  beside  themselves  "  through  sorrow, 
or  rather  less  sunk  into  themselves,  than  Mary 
Magdalene ;  they  at  once  know  their  Lord, 
they  boldly  approach  nearer,  come  close  to  him, 
fall  down  and  grasn  his  knees,  and  worship 
him  without  a  word.  (Bongel :  Jesum  ante 
passionem  alii  potius  alieniores  adorarunt, 
quam  discipuli.)  Ho  does  not  icject  it,  be- 
cause there  was  nothing  in  it  to  be  repelled  ; 
he  encourages  still  more  those  who  were  again 
affrighted  even  while  they  embraced  his  feet, 
and  gives  them  from  his  own  lips  their  com- 
mission. 

His  words,  like  those  to  Mary  Magdalene, 
are  generally  only  a  repetition  of  the  words  of 
the  angcI ;  in  the  case  of  these  weaker  women 
he  does  not  go  beyond  that  repetition,  for  to 
them  the  higher  declaration  concerning  the 
"ascending"  would  Lave  been  too  high.     He 


therefore  m  his  condescension  simply  contlrm* 
tliem  in  their  mission.  He  repeats  not  onh 
iiis  servant's  "  fear  not,"  but  also  the  commano 
to  go,  and  the  promise  that  the  disciples  shouW 
see  him  in  Galilee — all  the  angel's  message  be 
ing  thus  confirmed.  These  are  Uie  three  branch 
es  of  our  Lord's  saying.  All  fear  must  at  one* 
subside  ;  for  the  Comforter  and  Conqueror  is 
there,  to  silence  all  agitation,  to  dispel  all 
anxiety,  to  overcome  all  weakness  and  sin. 
Nothing  now  remains  but  the  "great  joy,'' 
now  more  clearly  revealed  and  more  abun- 
dantly won,  than  when  it  v.'as  announced  bj 
the  angels  at  the  birth  of  this  Lord*  The 
angel  had  said — Tell  his  disciples ;  the  Lord 
now  says,  in  a  stronger  and  more  dignified  ex- 
pression— Announce  to  them.  The  angel's  word 
was — That  he  is  risen.  The  Lord  does  not  first 
say — I  am  risen.  The  angel  had  said  only— 
Tell  his  dacip'es:  the  Lord  says  the  second 
time,  as  before  to  Magdalene — My  brethren  ; 
that  the  comparison  and  concert  of  these  two 
messages  might  produce  all  the  greater  joy 
and  assurance.  The  disciples  are  his  brethren  ; 
new  demonstration,  if  any  more  were  needed, 
of  the  true  meaning  of  this  word.  Neverthe- 
less, he  does  not  say  even  to  those — Announce 
to  all  the  world,  tell  every  man  who  will  hear 
it;  but,  as  to  Magdalene,  and  confirming  the 
angel's  word — On']/  to  my  brethren.  The  first 
message,  indeed,  even  to  the  disciples,  was 
committed  to  women  ;  but  not  on  that  account 
(as  Gossner  says)  must  the  women  exa't  them- 
selves into  Apostles.  Not  to  them  was  after 
wards  said,  "  Go  ye  forth  into  all  the  worlif 
and  preach."  That  the  Apostles  do  not  first 
see  the  Lord  himself,  nor  even  the  angel,  but 
were  required  to  believe  the  women  without 
seeing,  was  not  only  ordained  for  their  greater 
honor,  but  arranged  in  wisdom  with  regard  to 
their  office.  They  were  not  made  to  wait,  as 
many  say,  because  they  had  been  ofT-nded  and 
fled;  forhow  would  that  agree  -y^th  the  grace 
shown  to  Peter,  and  the  Lord's  unpunishing 
benignity  generallv?  The  reason  lay  in  their 
specific  office.  Their  slowness  to  believe — 
grounded  upon  men's  more  deep  and  inquiring 
thoughtf — their  unbelief,  mixed  with  it  and 
yet  overcome,  would  afterwards,  when  related, 
itself  strengthen  their  certain  testimony  :  as 
Leo  the  Great  says,  "  They  had  doubted,  that 
we  might  not  doubt,  but  be  all  the  more  urged 
to  believe."  The  remembrance  of  their  own 
unbelief  would  teach  them  to  bear  patiently 
with  the  unbelief  of  their  hearers  ;  and  we 
may  suppose,  with  Bengel,  that  the  Apostles 
would  afterwards  in  their  humility  think  more 
highly  than  of  themselves  of  many  who  believ- 
ed  at  once  without  seeeing.     They  regarded, 


*  Yet  Nilzsch  rightly  preaches  :  "  IIow  instiuc- 
tiv©  it  i.o,  that  the  revivification  of  the  disciples  /a- 
(/ins  in  the  feeling  of  fear  !  Most  assuredly,  in  the 
tear  thus  excited  was  a  germ  of  joy  and  salva- 
tion." 

^  For  a  flower  is  more  easily  planted  than  a  tre« 
— in  Dengel'B  remark. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  15-17. 


721 


indeed,  as  XrjpoZ,  an  idle  tale,  not  merely  (ac- 
cording to  Luke  xxiv.  11)  tlie  report  of  tlie  ap- 
pearance of  ti)e  angels,  but  also  the  announce- 
ment that  the  Lord  himself  had  been  seen. 
"  On  th.e  one  hand,  at  the  bottom  of  all  this 
unbelief  there  laj''  a  certain  confidence  in  his 
love— If  he  had  actually  risen,  he  would  him- 
self have  appeared  even  to  me.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  If  lie  were  alive,  would  he  not 
first  appear  to  the  chosen  ambassadors  of  his 
kingdom?"  (Ptenninger).  They  could  not 
understand  tlie  preference  given  to  insignifi- 
cant "  women  :"  "if  the  law  of  his  kingdom 
did  not  require  his  first  and  most  immediate 
appearance  to  themselves,  would  not  his  heart 
move  him  to  show  himself  to  John,  and  to  his 
mother?"  Peter  especially  could  not  believe 
that  lie  was  mentioned  by  the  angel,  and  John 
passed  by. 

Suffice  it  that  the  Lord  would  thus  test  them 
and  reveal  to  them  their  hearts,  and  give  them 
full  experience  of  the  true  nature  of  r.iibelief  in 
its  fairest  forms.  He  well  knew  that  at  this 
great  beginning  of  fulfillment  all  his  disciples 
and  brethren,  even  the  Apostles,  would  urgent- 
ly need  and  desire  to  see  him  ;  therefore  he  gave 
to  them  by  these  women  (as  the  supplement  to 
the  word  to  Magdalene  concerning  his  ascen- 
sion) the  promise  of  that  sight.  But  must  they 
go  away  to  Galilee  (from  Jerusalem),  and  there 
see  him  first?  This  has  been  a  great  difficulty 
to  many;  and  even  Sepp  regards  this  as  evi- 
dence that  Matthew  intends  here  only  an  inex- 
act account  of  the  appearance  to  Mary  Magda- 
lene ;  yea;  more,  that  this  word  concerning 
Galilee  is  placed  in  the  angel's  mouth  by  an 
incorrect  anticipation,  and  therefore  in  our 
Lord's  is  only  a  pleonasm.  For  "  we  cannot 
suppose  (he  says)  that  any  one  who  would 
meet  others  to-day,  and  again  repeatedly  after- 
wards in  the  same  place,  would  reler  them  by 
a  third  person  to  a  more  distant  time  and 
place."  So  indeed  it  would  appear;  but,  when 
we  closely  examine,  the  angel's  and  the  Lord's 
words  are  perfectly  consistent  and  right.  It 
was  not  without  reason  that  the  angel  (see  in 
Mark)  referred  back  to  our  Lord's  own  former 
words  upon  this  subject  (Matt.  xxvi.  32  ;  Mark 
xiv.  28) :  this  designation  of  Galilee  as  the 
general  place  of  reunion  for  the  scattered  flock 
we  have  already  enlarged  upon.  The  reference 
here  is  to  be  understood  in  precisely  the  same 
sense  as  that  in  which  our  Lord  first  gave  the 
command.  And  that  is  referred  to  here  at  the 
outset,  because,  as  Storr  remarks,  "  this  was 
the  last  prediction  of  the  resurrection  which 
Jesus  gave  to  his  disciples,  when  they  were  go- 
ing forth  to  the  place  of  his  capture,  immedi- 
ately before  their  dispersion."  Thus  he  brings 
his  own  words  to  their  minds,  which  they  should 
ponder  for  the  assistance  of  their  faith — words 
which  must  be  fulfilled;  but  he  does  not  by 
any  means  contradict  thereby  his  own  purpose 
to  show  himself  previously  to  his  Apostles. 
Lange  has  well  said  that  this  lomng,  this 
texLof  the  re&«rrection-day — To  Galilee  !  ap- 
plied not  so  much  to  the  Apostles  exclusively 


as  to  the  Apostles  in  union  with  the  whole 
greater  company  of  his  disciples  and  brethren.* 
Not  all  of  these  were  fit  and  prepared  to  see 
him  at  once,  at  least  in  Jerusalem,  where  a 
premature  and  unsanctified  triumph  might 
have  easily  broken  out.  The  Apostles  were 
themselves  indeed  surprised  on  the  same  day  by 
an  appearance  of  the  Lord  :  this  was  seasonable 
and  necessary,  in  order  that  they  might  be  the 
leaders  of  the  flock.  But  that  "this  might  ap- 
pear to  be  a  surprise  of  his  free  grace,  and  not 
interfere  with  the  test  of  their  faith  and  obe- 
dience, he  did  not  appear  to  them  at  once,  but 
directed  their  thoughts  to  that  future  general 
meeting  promised  to  the  whole  flock  by  their 
Shepherd  going  before  them.  It  may  be  asked 
why  the  Apostles  remained  in  Jerusalem  in- 
stead of  obeying  at  once  the  order  received 
from  their  Lord;  and  the  answer  is,  not  only 
!  (as  Ambrose  remarks)  that  their  unbelief  pre- 
[  vented  them,  but  that  the  Lord's  orders  were 
j  not,  when  rightly  understood,  intended  in  that 
i  sense.  The  Lord's  command  pre-supposed  their 
j  tarrying  through  the  eight  days,  according  to 
the  rule  of  the  feast;  for  the  intimation  (as  it 
more  plainly  appears  in  the  angel's  words) 
meant  no  more  and  no  less  for  the  collective 
disciples  than  this— that  they  should  without 
fear  or  dismay,  in  joyful  assurance  of  his  resur- 
rection,! afler  the  feast  journey  back  again  in 
all  sobriety  to  their  own  Galilee,  and  that  there 
he  would  more  perfectly  reveal  himself  to  them 
all  at  once. 

Paulus  asserts  that  the  Lord  here  once  more 
"altered  his  plan,"  and  turned  back  from  his 
way  to  Galilee  through  Emraaus,  having  been 
induced  to  do  so  by  the  unexpected  exhibition 
of  the  wilfulness  of  his  disciples'  unbelief.    But 
our  reverence  recoils  from  all  such  thoughts.J 
The  Risen  Lord  "journeyed  "  no  longer  from 
place  to  place  as  he  had  been  v/ont  to  do  ;  ho 
no  longer  could  change  his  mind,  or  turn  back, 
I  'or  all  that  he  would  do,  and  all  that  should 
j  happen,    was   perfectly  well   known    to   him. 
I  Moreover,  the  direction  to  go  to  Galilee,  under- 
I  stood  as  we  have  explained  it,  is  by  no  means 
I  in  contradiction  with  the  command  to  tarry  in 
Jerusalem,  Luke  xxiv.  49  :  the  investigation  of 
this,  however,  must  be  reserved  for  that  pass- 
age.  Suffice  it  that  we  mark  here  that  the  "go- 

*  Hofmann  {Schriftbewes,  II,  i.  864):  "Because 
Galilee  was  the  land  of  his  believing  people — 
there,  where  ho  had  found  faith  among  the  poor 
and  ignorant,  and  not  in  Jerusalem,  where  the 
rulers  had  crucified  him  in  their  enmity,  it  was 
that  he  should  assemble  together  the  flock  which 
his  death  had  scattered." 

f  Without  expecting  any  revelation  of  his  king- 
dom in  Jerusalem — as  Et)rard  (againbt  S:rau8s) 
finds  in  the  words. 

:[:  Olshausen,  alas !  assents  to  this:  "Probably 
the  Lord  would,  according  to  his  promise,  have 
shown  himse  f  to  the  disciples  only  in  quiet  Gali- 
lee, i/  these  had  attained  to  a  living  faith  in  the 
resurrection  at  once."  This  sentence  would  bo 
quite  true  wiihoxit  the  clause — "  according  to  his 
promise." 


722 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


ing  to  Galilee"  is  a  general,  diffusive  intima- 
tion for  all ;  just  as  in  ver  16  we  find  that  a 
particular  mountain  in  Galilee  was  appointed 
lor  the  great  assembly  of  his  disciples.  There 
shall  they  see  me — oipovTai — all  shall  see 
me  as  ye  have  already  seen  me  ;  it  is  not 
uipECOs,  as  the  angel  had  said.  The  Lord  pro- 
mises the  geeing — that  is,  once  more  before  the 
ascending — not  therefore  his  visible  continuance. 
There  shall  they  see  me — are  his  significant 
words,  intimating  that  his  coming  to  this  or 
that  place  was  not  a  journey  on  his  part,  but 
simply  his  making  himself  visible  there.*  The 
angel's  npodysi,  go  Itefore  you,  ver.  7,  was 
only  taken  from  the  Lord's  own  words,  in 
which  he  figuratively  represented  himself  as 
the  Shepherd,  collecting  and  leading  his  flock. 
The  Evangelists  never  use  concerning  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Risen  Lord  the  expressions 
epX^GOai,  itopevEdOat,  "  coming,"  "going,"  or 
the  like;  but  the  dnr'ivrrjdEVy  "  met,"  here  in 
ver.  9  is  the  strongest  expression  at  the  outset, 
meaning  only  that  he  (suddenly)  came  against 
them,  stood  in  their  way.  Kis  vanishing  is  not  ex- 
pressed according  to  ver.  10,  but  all  the  more 
plainly,  therefore,  pre-supposed.  So  in  ver.  17 
there  is  the  sudien  xai  iSovrei,  before  the 
nearer  approach  in  TcpudsMElv  follows.  In  Mark 
xvi.  9  it  IS  IqxxvTj — ver.  12  eg)ayE,jcJ9tj,  he  ap- 
peared— in  strict  contrast  with  the  nopsvone- 
voii  of  the  disciples.   In  ver.  14  kqiavepojOT],  he 


appeared,  without  any  subsequent  departnre.  It 
is  true  that  in  Luke  xxiv.  15  we  read  evvETtO' 
pEiETo  avroli,  went  with  them — but  not  till 
after  the  tyyidai,  dreio  near,  which  is  thus 
an  kqjavEpoaBrj,  and  that  in  another  form,  as 
ver.  16  shows  in  a  different  expression.  Con- 
sequently in  ver.  28  the  "going  further"  is 
shown  by  the  "  made  as  though  "  to  be  an  ap- 
pj^arance  regulated  by  his  own  will.  In  ver.  31 
aqiavToi  kyEVETo,  he  vanished — in  ver.  36,  he 
stood  in  the  midst.  Finally  in  John  xx.  \i, 
^EoopEl  E6rd5ra — in  ver.  19  the  ^XOev  (and  in 
ver.  24)  is  shown  to  be  a  miraculous  "  coming  " 
by  the  »ai  £6rrj,  through  the  closed  doors. 
Thus  the  "coming  and  standing,"  ver.  26, 
must  be  similarly  understood,  since  in  vers. 
17,23,  29  there  is  no  driEpxEGOai,  no  depar- 
ture, spoken  of;  and  in  ver. 30  his  appearances 
are  reckoned  among  the  signs,  the  GrjuEla.  So 
again  in  chap,  xxi,  1  "Jesus  showed  himself" 
— and  in  ver.  4  the  miraculous  "stood"  with- 
out any  j/Xf^Ev.  No  one  ever  says — He  came  to 
me,  or  was  tcith  me  ;  but — /  have  seen,  we  have 
see7i,  he  had  been  seen,  Mark  xvi.  11.  Even  in 
Luke  xxiv.  35,  concerning  his  walking  with, 
them,  it  is  only  rd  sy  r^j  odoj,  what  things 
were  (mysteriously)  done  in  the  way.  All  this 
exhibits  the  commencing  glorification  of  his 
body,  which  was  not  completed  till  the  ascen- 
sion. 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


(Luke  xxiv.  17-27.) 


The  notion  which  was  formerly  urged,  that 
Mark  xvi.  12  refers  to  two  other  persons  than 
those  mentioned  by  Luke,  has  been  for  some 
time  exploded.  The  two  disciples  journeying 
out  of  the  city  over  the  country,  to  whom  the 
Lord  appeared  as  they  walked,  are  as  fully  de- 
scribed as  the  Lord's  appearance  Iv  irepa 
ixoptpfiy  in  another  fovm.  This  cannot  mean 
"  in  a  disguise,"  if  clothing  is  supposed  to  be 
the  foundation  of  it;  but  it  might  well  be  the 
same  vestment  which  had  hindered  his  being 
recognized  in  the  garden.  Certainly  it  was  not 
"  in  the/orm  of  a  traveller;"  if  by  that  is  meant 
that  they  took  him  for  a  fellow-traveller,  as  Mary 
had  taken  him  for  a  gardener.  But //o/9<p57  added 
to  iq)a%'Epc60t]  points  to  something  objective, 
proceeding  from  Christ  himself,  and  present  in 
nim.  Yet  it  is  not  a  general  notice,  applicable 
to  the  collective  appearances  of  the  Risen 
Lord—"  that  the  form  of  Christ  had  been 
changed  since  his  death."  For  such  a  change, 
as  the  beginning  of  his  glorification,  would 
have  enabled  them  to  recognize  him,  rather 


*  Origen  rightly  maintained  that  "  the  body  of 
Christ  was  seen  during  the  forty  days  when  he 
would,  and  by  whom  he  would." 


than  otherwise  ;  but  it  is  their  not  recognizing 
him  which  Mark,  compared  with  Luke,  de- 
scribes in  this  first  manifestation.  It  is  cer- 
tain, too,  that  he  points  out  the  cause  of  their 
not  knowing  him,  and  not  merely  the  not 
knowing  itself;  for  /nopquj,  as  we  have  said,  is 
something  objective,  and  cannot  possibly  stand 
for  an  appearance  assumed  in  the  eye  of  others, 
or  for  the  notion  which  others  form  of  a  person. 
Ebrard  correctly  says  that  "  in  the  perfect  in- 
terpenetration  of  the  corporeity  by  tne  perfect- 
ly sinless  soul,  the  formal  character  first  has 
its  true  significance,  and  the  body  becomes  an 
expression  of  the  spiritual  being  " — but  we  would 
add  that  according  to  the  same  law  the  will  of 
the  soul  then  sxiljecLs  the  body  to  itself,  gives  to 
the  expression  of  its  form  as  much  or  as  little 
as  it  will,  and  can  weaken  or  withdraw  this 
characterizing  expression  even  to  the  becoming 
invisible.  A  relative  degree  of  this  vanishing 
is  that  general  indefinite  /.lopcpi},  without  per- 
sonal recognizability,  which  the  Lord  assum- 
ed ;*  and  therefore  it  is  rightly  termed  by 
Mark  eve  pa,  that  is,  a  strange  form.     Bengel 


*  As  to  Magdalene  atfrat  it  was  a  voice  not  yet 
personal  and  cognizable  as  bis. 


LUKE  XXIV.  17-27. 


72S 


calls  it  with  propriety,  "an  intermediate  grade  j 
of    revelation,   between   the   messengers    and 
manifest  appearance."*  ( 

Luke,  ver.  16  appears,  indeed,  in  contradiction  j 
with  this,  to  assign  the  cause  of  their  misap- 
prehension to  the  eyes  of  the  disciples  them- 
selves ;  but,  when  we  closely  consider  it,  the 
contradiction  is  only  apparent.  Proceeding 
from  the  opposite  point  of  view,  it  gives  pro- 
minence to  the  fact  that  as  his  manifesta- 
tion generally,  so  his  manifestation  in  this 
or  that  way,  was  conditioned  by  a  corres- 
ponding influence  upon  those  who  beheld,  and 
accompanied  by  it.  The  corporeity  of  the 
Risen  Lord  was  corporeal ;  but  no  longer  in 
such  a  sense  like  our  own  that  it  might  or  mmt 
have  been  seen  by  the  eyes  of  every  man  who 
might  meet  him,  as  in  ordinary  life.  This  im- 
penetrability, subjecting  the  spirit  to  the  ab- 
solute law  of  matter,  is  a  concomitant  of  a 
condition  of  death,  and  consequently  no  longer 
to  be  thought  of  in  relation  to  Christ :  we 
therefore  do  not  teach  Docetism  by  such  an 
explanation,  but  only  the  truth  and  reality  of 
his  resurrection.  They  are  in  great  error  who 
would  press  Luke's  words  into  a  demonstration 
that  it  was  not  the  Lord  himself  who  took  an- 
other appearance,  but  that  the  cause  of  their 
not  knowing  him  was  merely  in  their  own  eyes. 
The  two  causes  are  not  at  all  in  conflict,  but 
are  inseparably  connected  together.  The  Lord's 
suffering  himself  to  be  seen  was  in  every  case 
at  the  same  time  an  opening  of  men's  eyes  to 
that  end  ;  consequently  his  being  seen  as  man, 
but  not  as  Jesus,  was  a  relative  reservation  of 
himself,  the  hindering  them  from  seeing ;  as  it 
were,  half  opening  their  eyes,  which  lel't  them 
still  half  shut.  'EKparoCvzo,  "  were  holden," 
is  not  to  be  taken  as  in  the  midle  voice  or 
niphal — they  were  in  a  state  of  blindness — but 
as  a  passive,  which  Seiler  more  appropriately 
translated  by  algehalten,  than  De  Welte  by 
sugehalten.  (Kparelv,  conlinere,  retinere,  cohi- 
here.)  By  whom  then  but  by  the  Lord,  who 
would  be  seen,  indeed,  but  not  be  known? 
Grotius  :  "  Divinitus  inpediebantur."  Hasse  : 
"  The  absolute  passive  refers  to  the  influence 
of  God."  That  is,  of  course,  in  the  present  case, 
of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Luther,  indeed,  says  very  decidedly  :  "  Not 
that  he  was  different^  or  would  not  be  known  ; 
but  that  their  heart  and  thoughts  were  at  the 
time  so  alien  and  far  from  him."  But  this 
method  of  explanation,  referring  their  misap 
prehension  to  the  disciples'  prepossession,  which 
rendered  it  impossible  that  they  should  think 
it  could  be  Jesus,  leads  us  away  altogether  from 


the  text.  That  might  indeed  explain  their  first 
mistake,  but  certainly  not  the  continuance  of 
it  from  two  or  three  hours  until  the  instanta- 
neous "  and  their  eyes  we/e  opened  ;  "  for  their 
attention,  gradually  more  and  more  excited, 
must  certainly  have  made  them  put  the  ques- 
tion more  and  more  urgently.  Who  (his  stranger 
was,  or  could  be?  Kleuker :  "If  those  who 
knew  him  not  had  been  calm  and  collected,  and 
certainly  assured  of  the  Lord's  return  to  life, 
they  would  at  once  have  known  him  by  his 
tone,  voice,  and  gesture."*  But  how  was  it 
that,  when  fully  convinced  out  of  the  Scripture 
that  Jesus  was  alive  again,  they  nevertheless 
were  so  little  aware  that  the  stranger,  who 
spoke  so  much  and  whose  influence  upon  their 
hearts  was  so  powerful,  was  Jesus,  that  they  re- 
quested him  as  a  mere  traveller  to  take  up  his 
abode  with  them  for  the  night  ?  Again,  how  was 
it  that  the  deeply  troubled  Mary,  quite  certain  of 
the  death  of  Jesus,  at  once  recognized  him  who 
called  her?  If  the  Lord  had  designed  not  to 
be  known  by  the  disciples  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus,  as  Luther  thinks,  why  and  to  what  end 
did  he  so  strangely  begin  his  discourse  in  ver, 
17?  As  Jesm).ie  could  not  thus  have  begun 
it.  The  error  in  this  matter  has  been  fallen 
into  by  orthodox  expositors,  and  by  preachers 
upon  the  disciples'  holden  eyes,  simply  because 
they  have  confused  the  typical  meaning  with 
the  historical  sense,  in  this  most  typical  his- 
tory. It  is  true  that  our  Lord  would  here  at 
the  same  time  symbolically  show  how  many  of 
his  people,  in  after  times,  and  through  their 
own  fault,  might  fail  at  once  to  discern  him 
when  near  to  them  in  the  career  of  life  ;  but 
he  has  connected,  as  we  shall  see,  his  full 
manifestation  with  the  typically  significant 
breaking  of  bread — which,  however,  was  not 
on  that  account  an  actual  sacrament. 

Luke's  expression  {Ttopevojjevot  eH  Ha)/.n^y) 
renders  it  very  doubtful  whether  they  were 
purposing  to  journey  further  toward  Galilee  ; 
ver.  29  makes  it  probable  that  both,  or  at  least 
one  of  them,  dwelt  in  Emmaus.f  But  this 
going  away  on  the  -very  same  day  (comp.  ver. 
21)  indicates  that  they  had  as  good  as  given  up 
the  hope  of  Christ's  resurrection.  Who  were 
these  diwiples?  'Eiavrcov,  of  them,  says 
Luke  :  and,  as  the  sequel  shows,  not  with  im- 
mediate reference  to  the  Apostles,  ver.  10,  but, 


*  Maywahlen,  in  his  recent  work  on  Death  and 
the  Kingdom  of  the  Dead,  etc.,  a  work  which 
darkens  a  sound  scriptural  truth  by  much  stranse 
exposition,  speaks  of  a  change  in  the  Risen  Lord 
which  prevented  his  being  recognized.  Has-se  is 
right,  also,  in  the  assumption  of  a  change  cones- 
ponding  with  the  beginning  glorification,  but  we 
think  that  this^would  make  his  personality  only 
the  more  distinct. 


*  Biie/e  uber  die  Herderische  Schrift,  p.  200. 

j  Not  the  capital  of  a  Toparchy,  22  miles  dis- 
tant, afterwards  called  Nicopolis  (1  Mace.  iii.  40, 
57);  but  the  villaoe  mentioned  by  Josephus,  60 
stadia  from  Jerusalem,  that  is,  a  journey  of  two  or 
three  hours.  (The  readings  30  or  160  stadia  are 
manifestly  errors.)  There  was  a  third  place  named 
non  or  jion  from  its  warm  springs  ;  and  so  prob- 
ably was  this.  See  Winer's  Bcalicorterh. ;  and 
Lange's  excellent  remarks  in  reply  to  Rohr,  who 
in  his  geography  marks  the  place  on  the  foolish 
supposition  that  the  Risen  Lord  intended  to  travel 
to  Upper  Galilee  through  Emmaus,Bethhoron,  and 
the  mountains  of  Ephraim — in  order  to  avoid 
meeting  the  caravans  connected  with  the  feast. 


724 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


foing  further  back,  to  the  "rest,"  ver.  9.  Ver. 
3  ia  decisive  for  this,  as  also  the  name  Cieo- 
phas.  We  see  that  there  were,  apart  from  the 
twelve,  men  worthy  and  capable  of  such  in- 
struction as  these  men  here  received  before  the 
Apostles  (ver.  45).  Whether  KXsoTtai  is  the 
KA.cjTtd';  of  John  x\x.  25,  or  Alphseus,  is  more 
tlian  doubtful,  since  K^-soTtai  (instead  of 
KXeoTcarpoi)  appears  to  be  a  quite  different 
name  from  KXcoTtdi for  ^AXcpato'^,  ^sbn.      And 

who  was  the  other  ?  We  find  in  Braune  the 
confident  assumption  that  the  two  men  were 
father  and  son,  together  in  Christian  friendship 
and  communion  :  Alpha3U3  and  his  son  James 
the  Apostle,  to  whom  then  the  apocryphal  ac- 
count of  the  known  manifestation  is  referred, 
as  a  variation  of  our  report.  In  this  all  is 
confused  and  misapprehended.  An  old  tradition 
in  Epiphanius  named  the  other  Nathanael  (not 
in  that  case  an  Apostle),  and  Griesbach  has 
received  this  among  his  various  readings. 
Origen  contra  Celsttm  quotes  it  as  a  ysypaTtvai 
in  Luke,  that  the  Lord  gave  the  bread  to  Simon 
and  Cleopas;  whence  (as  Grotius  rightly  re- 
marks) it  must  be  concluded  that  he  read  in 
ver.  Si  Ae'/oKreS  instead  of  Xsyovra?.  But 
the  text  remains  firm  ;  and  this  whole  view  is 
most  forced,  making  "  the  eleven  "  in  ver.  33 
merely  nine,  and  just  here  when  the  tenth 
comes  to  them.*  We  prefer  to  agree  with 
Valer.  Herberger,  who  preached  to  his  people  : 
"  The  learned  cannot  come  to  any  agreement 
who  the  other  was,  and  I  will  give  you  this 
good  counsel — Let  each  of  you  take  his  place." 
This  is  better  than  the  hypothesis  which 
Lango  once  more  brings  forward — that  the  un- 
named companion  was  the  Evangelist  himself 
He  meets  the  objection  of  Grotiusf  by  saying 
that  in  chap.  i.  2  the  emphasis  must  fall  upon 
the  ftV  dpxjji — Luke  was  not  indeed  an  eye- 
witness at  the  heginning,  but  ho  was  at  the  end. 
This  appears  to  us  to  be  very  arbitrary  ;  as  is 
also  all  that  has  been  said  about  the  Hellenist 
derivation  of  both :  to  wit,  that  the  Lord  ap- 
peared first  to  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Jews, 
and  then  to  the  Hellenists,  who  with  Hellenist 
freedom  wandered  so  far  from  the  place  of  the 
feast,  and  who  as  such  were  furthest  from  ap- 
prehending the  cross,  etc.,  etc. I  Wo  would 
carefully  abstain  from  all  that  the  text  itself 
does  not  contain,  or  that  may  not  be  developed 
from  it ;  and  thus  shall  we  find  the  rich  fulness 


*  Neither  of  these  disciples  could  have  been  an 
Apostle,  eitlier  Jame.s,  or  S  mon,  or  Nathanael. 
The  attempt  of  LiglUfoot  and  others  to  establish 
tliat  it  was  Peter,  leaving  tiie  Xsyovrai  of  ver. 
34  undisturbed,  but  understanding  tlio  words  as  a 
question — lias  the  Lord  indeed  r.sen,  and  appear- 
ed to  Simon  "?  we  leave  to  those  who  may  be  in- 
clined to  consider  it. 

+  "  Many  have  thounht  that  the  othor  was  Lnko, 
bu  ho  himself  refutes  them  in  his  preface,  where 
Le  distinauibhcs  himself  from  the  eye  witnesses." 

\  As  Hellenists  were  they  lo  bo  convinced  by 
Oi.e11.n3  ilio  £cri;)tuic. 


of  true  significance  which  is  contained  in  this 
discourse  of  the  Lord,  their  fellow-traveller, 
who  thus  turns  his  hand  upon  the  little  ones 
(Zech.  xiii.  7). 

In  connection  with  the  oniXftv^  "commun- 
ing," which  stood  comprehensively  alone  at 
first,  the  6v^ijte'lv,  "  reasoning,"  expresses  no 
unfriendly  contention,  and  yet  an  <^T'rz/?a/lA£iv' 
\6yovi,  "  having  communications,"  a  friendly 
interchap-^e  of  opposite  and  differing  thoughts 
and  fee'nngs  concerning  all  the  dark  mysteries 
which  had  just  been  enacted.  Here  again  we 
observe,  as  we  have  seen  at  the  sepulchre,  the 
difference  between  man's  thmking  and  investi- 
gating, and  woman's  emotional  temper.  But 
the  deep  sorrow  remains  the  same  in  both,  sor- 
row because  of  no  longer  having  and  no  longer 
seeing  him  ;  but  here  there  is  the  additional 
sorrow  that  they  as  thinking  men  know  not  in 
what  light  therj  must  regard  this  Prophet,  and 
for  what  they  must  hold  hira.  To  this  griev- 
ous uncertainty  the  Lord  reveals  himself  in 
consolation  ;  but  leading  them  onward  pre- 
paratorily by  instruction  in  this  consummating 
continuation  of  his  prophetic  office,  testifying 
concerning  his  own  person  and  guiding  them 
to  the  knowledge  of  himself.  Luke  does  not 
record  that  he  came  behind  the  travellers,  so 
that  we  must  ask — From  whence?  but  by  a 
mysterious  iyyida?,  "  drew  near,"  ho  marks 
beforehand  the  symbolical  significance  of  the 
whole  (Jesus  would  prove  himself  to  be  near  to 
his  people,  as  a  fellow-traveller  in  their  way) 
in  the  first  revelation  of  himself  out  of  invisi- 
bility ;  and  then  follows  the  "  going  with  them  " 
as  in  "another  form."  Let  it  be  marked  and 
pondered,  that  instead  of  a  public  triumph  in 
Jerusalem  he  seeks  the  two  sorrowing  pilgrims 
without,  that  he  may  bless  them  in  solitude 
with  conviction. 

Verse  17.  Confidentially  approaching,  as  a 
fellow-traveller  in  the  same  way,  disposed  to 
friendly  converse,  he  takes  up  the  word  when 
he  comes  quite  near  them.  We  cannot  sup- 
pose the  ordinary  friendly  greeting  to  have 
preceded  as  an  introduction,  for  Luke  would 
have  recorded  it ;  it  is  significant  that  without 
preface  ho  at  once  appeals  to  and  penetrates 
their  souls  by  his  friendly  ir:quiry.  The  Lord 
asks  here  once  more,  as  so  often  before,  about 
that  which  he  perfectly  well  knew — in  order 
that  the  answer  might  be  plainly  spoken.  The 
first  sound  which  they  hear  seems  to  be  that 
of  an  inquisitive  atranger,  crone  who  would 
gladly  have  their  company — I  am  going  the 
same  way,  take  mo  with  you,  I  would  converse 
xoith  tjou.  But,  then,  the  second  part  of  the 
question  added  another  meaning — I  take  part 
in  your  sorrow,  and  'probably  can  comfort  you. 
Pfenninger's  sketch  imagines,  strikingly  enough, 
that  while  ho  was  ut'tering  these  words  he 
went  into  the  midst  between  them.  But  we 
cannot  agrco  with  Lange  :  "  He  asked  them  the 
question  in  sympathy,  about  what  they  thus 
held  communication  ;  and  gently  rebuked  them 
that  they  were  so  troubled,  and  strengthened 
themselves  in  their  anxiety  by  this   sad  inter- 


•.,;,; a  LUKE  XXIV.  19. 


125 


course."  For  to  assume  any  tinng  like  reproof 
here  at  the  beginning  dioturbs  the  full  and 
gracious  confidence  of  the  kyyiZ,Eiv,  which 
opened  their  hearts ;  and  would  be  a  prema- 
ture anticipation  of  the  turn  given  to  the  dis- 
course in  ver.  25.  The  dvTifi'oiXXEivXoyovi 
(comp.  2  Mace.  xi.  13,  not  simply  a  Latinism) 
does  indeed  express  a  certain  zeal  of  differing 
discourse  about  matters  of  great  moment ;  this, 
however,  is  not  blamed  as  discord,  which  it 
was  not,  but  regarded  as  the  natural  and 
friendly  interchange  of  thought.  In  the  gen- 
eral interpretation  of  the  whole  history  this 
symbolizes  that  fellowship  and  mutual  commu- 
nication which  is  the  laudable  requisite  in  order 
to  the  Lord's  drawing  near  to  ourselves. 
^HvQpcoTtoi,  "sad"  (before  which Tischendorf 
omits  the  ^oci  idre)  marks  the  external  impress 
of  .sorrow  upon  the  countenance  (as  in  Matt. 
vi.  16),  and  gives  the  reason  why  the  Sympa- 
thizer knew  that  they  were  in  need  of  comfort: 
I  hear  that  j'e  are  exchanging  communications 
about  very  weighty  matters ;  /  see  also  that 
they  are  sad  ones.  Does  not  this  address  at 
once  show  that  our  Lord  would  not  at  once  be 
known,  but  rather  be  regarded  as  a  traveller 
who  casually  met  them?  Nevertheless,  he 
makes  prominent  already,  as  if  in  a  distant 
manner  to  betray  or  herald  himself,  the  deci- 
sive mark  of  his  own  company  of  disciples  in 
these  days  of  their  sorrow  (John  xvi.  20) — 
that  he  may  found  his  appeal  upon  that,  and 
extract  from  them  their  confession.  In  the 
joyous  spring-time,  and  in  the  feast  of  joy  they 
were  mourners — this  rendered  them  the  fit  sub- 
jects for  the  reception  of  joy.  The  Lord  in  our 
day  fulfills  in  another  sense  that  which  he  then 
began ;  and  draws  nigh  in  spirit  to  many  of  his 
baptized  ones  whom  he  must  rebuke:  What 
manner  of  idle  and  evil  communications  are 
these  that  ye  have ;  how  are  ye  so  joyful — 
without  me  ? 

Assuredly  the  first  impression  which  this 
bringer  of  consolation  would  create,  was  that 
of  an  unseasonable  interruption ;  how  gladly 
would  they  have  evaded  him  when  they  saw 
him  first  approaching  I  But  to  recoil  from  him 
when  he  now  addresses  them — is  a  thing  no 
longer  possible.  He  did  not  speak  to  them  ob- 
trusively, but  frankly,  confidently,  and  pene- 
tratingly. Weiss  adopts  the  current  style  and 
says,  "They  scarcely  fixed  a  direct  look  upon 
Jesus  " — but  this  reason  for  their  not  knowing 
him  seems  to  us  unnatural;  and  we  should 
say,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  looked  with 
anxious  scrutiny  upon  this  stranger.  Their 
first  word  of  response,  recorded  in  the  purest 
historical  truth,  seems  to  be  midway  between  a 
certain  uneasy  alienation  from  such  a  sudden 
and  interrupting  question,  and  the  confidence 
which,  instantly  excited,  enters  into  the  in- 
quiry, and  gives  information  in  reply  to  it. 
Thou  shouldst  knov/  what  we  are  conversing 
about;  and  know  m  by  this  mark,  that  we  are 
mourning  over  a  matter  which  makes  the 
world  rejoice.  Who  can  speak  now  of  any 
thing  but  the  great  event  ?     Who  can  in  good 


conscience  be  joyful  after  tlie  crucifixion  of 
Jesus?  Thus  we  may  understand  both  the 
rising  of  their  slight  displeasure  in  the  counter- 
question,  and  their  free  answer  given  at  the 
same  time  in  their  question.  We  must  leave  it 
to  every  one's  feeling  to  decide  whether,  as 
Lange  says,  "  his  extraordinary  calmness  was 
somewhat  offensive  to  them ; "  to  our  own 
feeling  the  words  of  Jesus  are  not  the  expres- 
sion of  calmness,  but  of  sympathy  which  would 
mourn  with  them.  The  main  point  is  this, 
their  wonder  that  he  should  know  nothing 
about  the  great  matter  which  moves  them  so 
much,  and  should  not  take  it  for  granted  that 
that  was  the  cause  of  the  sorrow  in  which  he 
found  them.  It  has  been  very  needlessly  con- 
cluded that  Jesus  betrayed  himself  to  them  in 
some  particular  way  as  a  stranger  or  foreigner; 
and  even  Bengel  refers  to  the  Galilean  speech. 
But  it  is  plain  that  the  disciples  judge  merely 
from  the  ignorant  question  that  he  is  a  strang- 
er, and  allege  that  as  the  reason — Truly,  thou 
must  be  a  real  stranger  here  !  IlapoiHElY 
(besides  here,  only  Heb.  xi.  9)  might  in  Luke's 
genuine  Greek  mean  neighborhood,  or  resi- 
aence  near:*  Dwellest  thou  (as  it  seems,  going 
now  to  Emmaus)  so  near  to  Jerusalem,  and 
yet  k newest  thou  not  what  must  be  known  far 
and  wide  around?  But  this  on  the  one  hand 
pre-supposes  too  much;  and,  on  the  other,  it  is 
not  in  harmony  with  the  Hellenistic,  biblical 

Ehraseology  derived  from  the  Septuagint,  which 
as  given  a  different  sense  to  itapot/cslv,  ita- 
poiHia,  itccpovioi.  Thus  napoiKEli  'lepov- 
6aki)ix  (or  with  tv\  especially  in  connection 
with  //0K05,  is  a  designation  of  the  many  guests 
who  came  from  abroad,  and  for  the  time  abod$ 
in  Jerusalem.  But  as  this  expression  itself, 
used  of  an  unknown  person  concerning  whom. 
they  know  nothing,  either  whence  he  came  or 
where  he  belonged,  might  be  a  mere  figure 
in  their  excited  speech,  we  might  almost  "trans- 
late it,  finally,  as   if  ^Evoi  ei   (Syr.  NJi35J) 

had  been  writte:i :  Art  thou  only  in  the  full 
and  perfect  sense  alien  and  unJcnoion  in  Jeru- 
salem, whence  thou  now  comest  ?  For  dv 
Hovoi  irapotxEi?  has  a  tone  in  it  quite  different 
from  the  translation — Art  thou  only  among  the 
strangers.  Suffice  it  that  the  fundamental  idea 
is  the  same  ;  and  it  is  a  type  and  symbol  that 
the  Lord  would  in  the  future,  and  in  the  person 
of  others,  draw  nigh  to  us  and  go  with  us  as 
one  at  first  apparently  unknown  and  ignorant. 
He  allows  himself  to  be  reproached,  and  ac- 
cused even  of  strange  ignorance,  that  he  may 
all  the  more  impressively  himself  teach  and  re- 
buke afterwards. 

Verse  19.  The  Lord  in  this  most  gracious 
condescension  to  the  likeness  of  our  own  ordi- 
nary humanity,  gives  us  by  the  way  an  instruc- 
tive example  how  we  may  in  the  wisdom  of 
love,  and  without  sinful  dissembling,  keep  back 
and  reserve  our  thoughts,  yet  without  speaking 

*  But  not,  as  many  incorrrectly  say,  dwelling  in  ; 
for  a  TtdpoiHoi  is  certainly  not  a  xavoiucav. 


726 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


positive  untruth.  For  the  Lord  does  not  af- 
firm that  he  was  one  of  the  strangers  at  the 
feast,  nor  does  he  deny  that  he  knew  what  had 
occurred  in  these  days :  he  asks  simply  in  con- 
tinuation—  What  then?  What  and  what  kind 
of  things  do  ye  mean  and  lament  over?  That 
sounded,  indeed,  as  if  he  had  said — If  I  am  a 
stranger,  give  me  information;  but  it  might 
also  have  seemed  to  them  as  only  a  continua- 
tion of  his  first  sympathizing  question  :  Who 
can  tell  whether  I  know  it — let  that  pass — but 
I  have  asked  you,  tell  me  what  it  is*  No  man 
could  attribute  to  that  first  "  Woman,  why 
■weepest  thou? "an  unwarranted  dissembling 
of  that  which  he  very  well  knew  ;  and  so  this 
"  What  manner  of  communication  have  ye  as 
ye  walk  and  are  sad?"  and  again,  "  what  then*  " 
are  but  the  same  expression  of  that  desire,  with 
which  he  has  risen,  to  comfort  all  who  mourn. 
This  brief  and  pregnant  word  Ilola  (much  too 
diffuse  in   the   Heb.  version,  nDH  n^S  HD— 

more  correctly  in  the  Pesh.  only  fcij©)  at  once 
elicits  from  them  the  whole  section,  vers.  19-24, 
■words  which  flow  on  and  cease  not  until  they 
have  opened  all  their  heart  and  told  him  every 
thing.  Such  a  secretly-working  power  to  draw 
men's  hearts  proceeds  from  the  Risen  Lord, 
even  in  this  other  form.  Without  that  the 
whole  matter  cannot  be  explained,  and  would 
be  scarcely  probable.  Compare,  moreover,  the 
similarly  penetrating  effect  of  the  words  of 
Christ's  servant  in  Acts  viii.  30.  How  neces« 
sary  was  it  for  the  entrance  of  the  consolation 
which  was  to  follow,  that  he  should  give  them 
occasion  to  speak  out  all  their  mind.  How 
symbolical  is  this  wisdom  of  consolation  for 
ourselves  !  What  a  testimony  of  his  will  that 
we  should  begin  by  speaking  to  him,  and  open- 
ing to  him  all  our  hearts  ! 

They  said :  that  may  naturally  be — Both 
alternately  and  mutually  supplemented  each 
other;  only,  not  as  Paulus  supposed,  that  vers. 
19  and  21  express  different  and  opposite  senti- 
ments in  the  two  men.  We  shall  understand 
the  entire  discourse,  which  Luke  combines  into 
one  whole  (so  in  ver.  29  the  words  of  both 
given  in  common),  very  differently  in  its  in- 
comparable living  truth  and  unity.  2'hat  con- 
cerning Jesus  of  Nazareth — thus  they  at  once 
give  the  sum  of  the  whole,  confessing  the  ab- 
horred name  without  fear:  that  they  cannot 
cast  off,  they  cannot  be  offended  at  that. 
Happy  all  who  in  this  resemble  them  I  They 
begin  with  the  prophet  (really  more  honorable 
still — dyr'ifi  npocpr/TTji)  as  of  a  truth  known 
most  surely  to  all  the  people  (Matt.  xxi.  11)  ; 
as  the  Pentecost  sermon.  Acts.  ii.  22,  begins 
afterwards.  In  ver.  21  more  of  their  own 
previous  faith  comes  to  light,  so   that  wo  see 


*  "  If  he  had  said  that  he  knew  all  full  well, 
Cleopas  would  have  drawn  back — Why  should  I 
recount  it  to  him  1  No  would  not  have  been  truth, 
lie  therefore  so  ordors  his  answer  that  it  was 
neither  Yes  nor  No :  What  things  1  I  would  hear 
wh.at  ye  mean  "  (Q.  K.  Rieger). 


that  they  keep  nothing  back,  t)ut  confidentiatly 
tell  him  all ;  but  because  they  have  erred  as  to 
his  being  Redeemer,  they  fall  back  now  tipon 
that  first,  preparatory  faith  :  a  prophet  at  least 
he  certainly  was,  for  many  prophets  have  been 
shamefully  put  to  death.'  And  what  was  the 
evidence?  The  same  expressions  which  we 
find  (probably  as  proverbial  and  customary) 
used  in  Acts  vii.  22  concerning  Moses;  only 
with  a  two-fold,  not  accidental,  difference,  that 
here  the  stronger  unity  of  the  entire  lite  is  in- 
dicated in  the  sinf/ukir,  and  the  worh  is  placed 
before  the  word.  Before  God  and  all  the  people  : 
this  is  scarcely  to  be  paraphrased  as  Lange 
does — "  Equally  great  in  secret  contemplative 
holiness,  and  in  public  acts  of  beneficence" — 
for  what  is  a  secret  and  contemplative  epyov 
before  God  ?  But  Acts  ii.  22  gives  us  the  right 
interpretation  at  once — Approved  of  God  be- 
fore the  people  through  the  divine  power  im- 
parted to  his  word  and  work.  Hence  the  Berl. 
Bibcl :  "  They  take  God  and  man  together  ;  for 
it  was  of  God  that  the  people  discerned  the 
finger  of  God  in  this  person."  He  who  at  first 
only  acknowledges  him  as  a  prophet,  will  go 
further  in  faith  ;  but  he  who  rejects  that  con- 
cerning Jesus,  is  not  of  the  truth. 

Now,  nevertheless,  it  is  only — This  he  was. 
For  his  life  and  work,  mighty  as  it  was,  has 
come  to  a  miserable  end.  Our  high  priests 
and  rulers — thus  they  continue  in  deep  grief 
thereupon  ;  this  first  tee  seems,  as  addressed  to 
the  stranger  visiting  the  feast,  to  be  spoken  in 
the  name  of  Israel  (ver.  21 ).  Ttius,  in  passing, 
these  disciples  were  no  Hellenists,  but  Israelites. 
This  prophet,  notwithstanding,  nay  rather  on 
account  of  his  might  and  truth  in  the  word 
and  work  of  God,  the  ungodly,  hateful  and  un- 
worthy rulers  of  God's  people  (mark  here  fur- 
ther the  pre-supposed  unity  of  view  as  re- 
spects the  sad  condition  of  things  in  Israel) 
have  delivered  over  to  the  Gentiles  for  the 
confirmation  of  their  sentence  and  death,  and 
— God  has  suffered  it  to  take  place,  they  have 
by  unrighteous  hands,  and  with  the  greatest 
ignominy  and  suffering,  crucified  him.  This 
fearful  word  closes  the  sentence  which  belongs 
to  oTTOJ?,  "  how  ;"*  but,  as  the  silent  stranger 
appears  to  be  earnestly  listening,  there  follows 
a  new  and  bold  disclosure,  expressed  with  the 
more  and  more  confidential  "  we  "  of  the  spe- 
cial adherents  of  this  condemned  and  crucified 
prophet.  Before  the  unknown  personage  they 
openly  avow  their  lost  faith,  thereby  as  it  were 
strengthening  themselves,  if  it  might  be,  to  re- 
cover it.  We  hoped:  it  has  been  said  that 
this  was  less  than  faith  ;  but  we  regard  hope 
as  the  stronger,  and  as  built  upon  the  faith. 
Yet  that  view  may  be  profitably  taken  in  ap- 
plication; and  certainly  they  do  not  use  the 
term  believe.  More  important  than  this  ques- 
tion is  the  fact,  that  they  now  declare  this  their 
hope  to  be  past ;  and  yet,  which  is  still  more 
important,  that  hope  could  have  been  based 


♦  Instead  of  this  Dav.  Schulz  groundlessly  con- 
jectured Hfiooi. 


UTA'IiUKE  XXIV.  19. 


ITU 


<iT>iy  upon  the  personal  word  and  teBtimony 
df  that  prophet,  who  had  said  and  promised 
All  this  concerning  himself.  But  as  to  the 
present  ?  Cross  and  Messiah  ?  Redeemer  of  Is- 
rael ?  lie  cannot  have  truly  been  such— but 
what  then?  Ah,  had  he  but  been  all  this! 
That  a  Redeemer  of  Israel  was  promised  in 
the  prophets  as  to  come,  they  understood  and 
believed,  as  their  prophets  had  declared ;  but 
did  they  hope  for  redemption  with  an  intelligent 
apprehension  of  its  meaning?  To  us  it  is 
very  improbable  that  (to  quote  Olshausen) 
Avi-povcQat  Tuv  'idpai'iX,  "redeem  Israel," 
in  their  meaning  had  only  "  a  very  subordinate 
and  in  part  political  signification."  For  the 
very  word  Xvzpoid'Jai  reaches  beyond  that 
(comp.  AurpajdzSand  Coorijpia,  Luke  i.  68,  69 
\vith  ver.  75) ;  moreover,  disciples  so  entirely 
entangled  in  Jewish  feeling  would  scarcely 
have  been  thought  by  the  Lord  worthy  of  such 
a  manifestation ;  and  they  would  not  have 
brought  with  them  the  first  essential  founda- 
tion for  his  conviction  out  of  the  prophets 
(which  concerned,  too,  only  the  eSsi  TtaOsIv). 
Thus  in  the  hoping  for  "redemption"  the 
spiritual  character  of  their  faith  was  in  some 
Blight  degree  expressed;  but  with  this  there 
was  mingled  the  expectation  of  an  immediate 
Betting  up  of  the  kingdom  (Acts  i.  6).  Like 
all  the  others  down  to  this  time,  they  could  not 
represent  to  themselves  a  spiritual  redemption, 
without  at  least  connecting  it  with  a  political, 
or  rather  externally  manifest,  redemption.  They 
waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  re- 
demption as  one  (Luke  xxiii.  51,  ii.  38).  That 
through  the  death  of  the  cross,  to  them  so 
incomprehensible,  not  merely  Israel,  but  the 
-whole  world,  was  actually  already  redeemed, 
does  not  in  the  most  distant  degree  enter  their 
imagination;  while  they  thus  affectingly  com- 
plain to  the  already  victorious  Redeemer.  Fi- 
nally, they  mention  ike  third  day  ;  and  it  was 
scarcely  fortuitous  and  without  some  peculiar 
thought  in  the  background.  They  do  not  say 
" — Three  days  have  now  rolled  away  ;  but,  as  we 
think,  their  rpizriv  i]i.iepavy  "  this  day,"  faint- 
ly echoes  the  saying,  which  was  made  known 
in  mockery  under  the  cross,  that  he  himself 
had  promised  a  decisive  event,  or  resurrection 
on  this  third  day.*  But  they  scarcely  confess 
this  to  themselves  ;  it  is  but  gently  and  iuvol- 
Tintarily  spoken.  We  must  certainly  not  give 
it  the  harsh  interpretation:  But  the  time  is 
come,  and  he  has  not  risen,  and  almost  appears 
now  to  be  a  faLe  frophet.  For  such  a  flat  con- 
tradiction with  the  firm  avowal  of  ver.  19, 
could  not  have  shaped  itself  in  their  thoughts. 
Yea,  more  than  that:  on  this  third  day 
something  has  actually  transpired,  which  has 
thrown  them  into  astonishment,  and  engen- 
dered thoughts  which  waver  between  faith  and 


*  It  is  indifferent  whether  we  take  ayei  as  im- 
personal ;  the  nomin.  being  omitted,  and  the 
m  aniiig  being  iertins  agitur  dies :  or,  as  in  later 
Greek,  supply  'Itpjovi  as  the  nominative.  The 
latter  does  not  commend  itself  to  us. 


unbelief.  This  is  further  proof  that  we  have 
rightly  understood  the  previous  verse.  With 
expressions  of  a  still  more  confidential  and 
trusting  character  they  now  declare  themselves^ 
to  be  members  of  the  little  company  which  was 
and  still  is  united  in  dependence  on  this  Jesus: 
in  ver  22  i?  j'/jiiojy,  "of  us,"  is  a  continuation 
of  the  previous  y/usJi,  "  we,"  as  opposed  to 
the  rulers;  and  then  m  ver.  22  rivis  rooy  6vy, 
r/l.i'iv,  "certain  of  our  company,"  plainly  and 
without  fear  avows  their  secret  confederacy., 
The  £c£(jr77(Ja>',  "  made  astonished,"  is  gen- 
erally interpreted — They  have  ra.ihev  affri(j/Ued 
us  more,  than  comforted  us ;  but  this  appears 
to  us  (especially  when  Acts  viii.  9  is  compared) 
incorrect.  When  they  name  the  third  day, 
they  record  that  at  least  in  the  early  morning 
of  this  very  day  (yet  passing  in  the  ayet),*  a 
rumor  of  resurrection  was  circulated  which 
threw  them  into  astonishment.  But  these  women 
had  done  no  more  than  excite  thei;;  astonish- 
ment, and  the  doubt  which  could  not  believe; 
certainly  they  had  not  given  them  back  their 
"hope"  again.  For  what  after  all  does  it 
amount  to?  Certain  women — found  not  the 
body  in  the  sepulchre — said  they  had  seen — r 
what?  An  appearance  or  vision  of  angels. 
It  remains  doubtful  whether  they  were  really 
angels,  or  all  was  an  oTtvadia  of  the  women  \ 
These  angels,  again,  are  said  to  have  said — that 
he  lived.  ""Theypause  now  before  the  amazing 
thought  which  well  might  eii  euCradiv  ayeiv^ 
"  lead  to  astonishment "  He  lined !  Jle  i^ 
risen — they  venture  not  to  express. 

Still  more:  Certain  of  them  which  were  con- 
nected with  us  (Peter  and  John  of  course,  but 
probably  not  only  these  ;  others,  it  may  be,  not 
Apostles,  might  have  gone  later  in  the  day,  all 
the  confusion  and  distraction  of  which  is  not 
recorded) — certain  men  went  to  the  sepulchre, 
to  investigate  this  saying  of  the  women  con- 
cerning what  angels  had  said — but  they  found 
the  sepnlchre  emjAy ;  in  this  the  women  said 
right — but  himself,  who  was  said  to  be  alive, 
they  saio  not. 

They  saw  not !  This  they  say  now  before  his 
own  face.J  Yet  he  does  not  emerge  from  his 
other  form  ;  he  reveals  not  himself ;  but  begins 
as  an  unknown  one  to  point  their  faith  to  the 
word  of  all  the  prophets.  But  we  must  pause 
to  consider  for  a  while  the  words  which  th^y 
uttered,  that  we  may  understand  the  whole 
aright.  It  is,  as  Lange  beautifully  says,  "  the 
first  report  of  the  Easter- message,  as  yet  in 
the  form  of  a  lamentation ;  Easter- tidings  ia 


*  Hence  the  opOpiat  (or  opBptvai)  is  not 
forgotten. 

\  Had  these  disciples  left  before  the  message  of 
the  others  who  had  seen  the  Lord  himself  1  This 
can  hardly  be  admitted,  when  we  reckon  the  time 
to  and  from  Emmaus,  before  otpia  John  xx.  19, 
and  connect  with  it  Luke,  ver.  29.  But  tlie  disei- 
ples  were  not  all  together  in  one  place ;  and  these 
two  had  not  received  the  inteUigence. 

%  So  Magdalene  asked  him— Where  hast  thou 
laid  him  1 


728 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


the  Ash-Wednesday  spirit ;  the  Sun  of  the  res- 
urrection is  envelopea  in  thick  clouds  of  des- 
poriHency  and  sorrow,  scarcely  penetrated  by  a 
ray."  They  have  fully  exposed  their  own 
hearts,  and  shown  how  all  was  with  them. 
Weak  toward  faith — blinded  in  their  folly 
(while  thinking  themselves  thoughtful  in- 
quirers) against  joyful  intelligence — slow  of 
heart  to  understand  the  divine  word  :  all  this 
indeed  they  are  ;  but  it  is  equally  evident  that 
they  are  sincere  viitha,],  dificipks  who  still  love 
Christ.  To  see  him  and  to  have  him  again — is 
what  they  want,  and  that  to  which  all  their 
desire  and  sorrow  tends:  if  he  does  not  live, 
they  also  would  not  wish  to  live.  "  Nothing 
would  they  more  deeply  desire  than  that  what 
they  have  heard  about  his  resurrection  should 
be  true" — says  Luther.  For  that  reason  the 
Lord  gives  them  this  manifestation.  On  the 
one  hand,  it  is  easy  to  dilate  upon  the  folly 
which  gave  so  little  credence  to  the  saying  of 
the  women  and  of  the  angels  ;*  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  Tholuck  is  right  in  saying:  "  Does 
not  this  word  sound  as  the  language  of  those 
in  whose  hearts  the  flax  yet  glimmers,  though 
nigh  to  extinction?"  Yes,  certainly,  their 
secret  thought  was  profoundly  sorrowful,  but 
had  not  absolutely  and  altogether  given  up  the 
previous  hope :  "  Something  may  yet  occur, 
something  will  yet  appear."  Thus  their  du^j/- 
relv,  or  "reasoning,"  previously,  was — What 
BJiould,  will,  or  may  that  be  ?  What  is  now  to 
be  hoped,  or  feared?  But  observe  that  as  to 
what  bad  taken  place  after  the  rauraeyEveTo, 
ver.  21,  they  are  only  astonished:  they  are 
yet  in  some  slight  degree  ii:niii7ig — but  nothing 
more.  Tliey  do  not  remember  or  remind  them- 
selves of  his  words,  and  that  they  could  not 
fail ;  nor  do  they  think — What  saith  the  Scrip- 
ture to  all  this  ?  Oil  that  some  one  would  ex- 
plain it  to  us  !  For  as  John,  chap.  xx.  9,  refers 
the  unbelief  of  the  Apostles  themselves  to  their 
not  knowing  the  Scripture,  and  not  Iringing  it 
to  mind  ;  so  in  this  intimation  all  the  Evangel- 
ists concur,  Luke,  however,  confirming  it  most 
emphatically  as  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  him- 
self. With  this,  that  is,  with  this  deficiency  in 
the  words  which  be  heard  them  speak,  our 
Lord  impressively  connects  his  saying  ;  and,  as 
Luke  records,  in  direct  and  emphatic  contrast. 
We  cannot  think,  as  some  have  supposed,  that 
the  disciples  after  ver.  24  continued  to  speak  in 
most  positive  terms  of  unbelief,  and  thus  gave 
occasion  to  the  Lord's  rebuke  in  ver.  25.     The 


*  Zinzendorf  gives  a  stronser  coloring  to  their 
thou2lit :  "  If  that  were  true,  half  tlie  world  would 
h  ive  been  in  amazement,  and  tlie  city  would  hive 
been  overturned :  it  cannot  be  more  than  idle 
tales  of  the  women.  Yea,  if  the  report  coes 
abroad,  they  will  say  that  wo  have  substituted 
some  one,  and  lay  hold  of  us  on  that  account," 
etc.  But  all  this,  and  what  follows,  is  based  upon 
an  uncertain  translation  of  the  word  l^E6rT/6ay. 
"  Otherwise  they  would  not  have  .said — The  women 
affrighted  us ;  but  merely  that  tliey  created  in  us 
a  vaiu  joy." 


final  lamentation,  him  they  saw  not — allows 
nothing  further  in  their  deep  emotion  ;  they 
keep  silence  in  the  presence  of  their  hitherto 
sympathizing  fellow-traveller,  who  now  know* 
all. 

Verse  25.  It  is  now  his  turn  to  apeak,  and 
theirs  to  listen  and  give  heed.  Observe  at 
once,  and  at  the  outset,  the  sudden  and  entire 
diversion  of  their  thoughts  from  the  con:  used 
and  mysterious  accounts  of  the  passing  time — 
his  having  been  seen,  and  their  not  seeing  him 
—to  the  Scripture,  sublimely  elevated  above  all 
things  that  are  passing,  from  the  beginning 
above  all  history.  We  learn,  indeed,  in  the  res- 
urrection, on  the  one  hand,  that  the  actual  ful- 
fillment alor^e  makes  us  capable  of  fully  under- 
standing the  prophecy  ;  but  now  with  profound 
propriety  the  Lord  proceeds  from  the  other 
side,  and  opens  vp  the  historical  event  hy  first  un- 
folding the  Scripture.  They  cannot  comprehend 
and  reconcile  the  things  which  have  come  to 
pass  ;  but  he  leaves  these  things  in  their  specif- 
ic character  alone  for  a  while,  and  tells  them — 
All  will  be  rightly  adjusted  to  your  minds,  if 
ye  only  understand  and  receive  the  fore-written 
word.  He  will  not  have  their  faith  to  be 
grounded  upon  any  appearance  and  word  of 
angels,  upon  any  human  report  of  women  or  of 
men,  upon  any  seeing  or  not  seeing,  yea,  not 
upon  their  personally  seeing  hiime{f—h\\t  sole- 
ly and  essentially  upon  the  self-consistent,  har- 
monious, and  convincing  word.  This  is  so  plaia 
before  his  own  eyes,  that  their  ignorance  can 
only  excite  within  him  earnest  reproof.  The 
sympathizing,  questioning,  and  listening  strang- 
er is  at  once  transformed  into  a  mightily  rebuk- 
ing Master  of  Scripture  instruction.  Can  he  be 
the  same?  was  the  question  which  they  must 
ask,  once  more  looking  at  him  more  fixedly 
than  before.  But  it  is  the  same  graciousness 
and  love  which  now  rebukes;  and  tliis  their 
rebuked  and  smitten  hearts,  penetrated  by  the 
fire  of  his  love,  begin  at  once  to  feel.  It  is,  at 
the  same  time,  as  if  he  would  cover  the  rebuke 
with  consolation :  0  ye  poor  men,  who  so 
groundlessly  sorrow  and  doubt,  and  cannot  be- 
lieve— what  ye  might  and  would  so  gladly  be- 
lieve !  Why  can  ye  not?  If  ye  understand 
the  Scripture,  and  toould  understand  it,  all 
things  are  there  rightly  and  clearly  set  forth 
concerning  the  career  of  your  Christ.  "  Smit- 
ten, and  as  if  translated  to  another  world,  they 
listen  to  their  fellow-traveller,  as  he  thus  talks 
to  them"  (Hess).  What  words  are  these — no 
man  has  ever  thus  spoken  in  Israel  before  him 
— what  manner  of  scribe  is  this?  'AyoTjroi  he 
calls  them — unintelligent  and  not  understand- 
ing ;  "  perceptionless  "  fools,  as  Lange  has  well 
translated.  (Compare  Beck's  Bibliache  SeeUn- 
lekre,  p.  51,  for  the  moral  import  of  the  word  ) 
And  wherefore?  Because  faith  is  what  is 
wanting ;  but  the  heart  is  indisposed  and 
averse,  too  shio  or  dull  and  idle  to  believe. 
Certainly  napSia  is  not  merely  rod  or  under- 
standing again  ;*  this  would  involve  tautology. 


♦  So  Stolz  :  "  Slow  of  approheusion." 


LUKE  XXTV.  26. 


!?a> 


and  indeed  a  softening  retractation,  in  some 
»ense,  of  the  dvorjrot.  But  the  deeper  reason 
of  their  ignorance,  and  which  properly  was  the 
object  of  rebuke,  lay  in  the  heart — as  all  Scrip- 
ture attests  in  relation  to  divine  things— in  the 
slowness  of  the  heart,  as  the  error  of  the  will 
and  disposition.  BpaSeli  r^  xapSia  is  some- 
thing different  from  the  mere  state  of  3!?  ^"l??* 

or  the  like,  as  the  inf.  rov  ittdrsvetv,  belong- 
ing to  it,  shows :  this  tarditas  infers  a  moral  im- 
putation, a  not  ab'e  springing  from  3.not  willing. 
Just  so  our  Lord  had  often  similarly  rebuked 
his  disciples.  If  these  two  disciples  (as  is  pro- 
bable) had  often  walked  with  him  before,  his 
words  might  now  have  appealed  to  them,  as  if 
he  were  alive  again,  and  were  saying  to  them 
as  in  former  time — Have  ye  not  yet  further  ad- 
vanced in  ray  school?  They  do  not  mark  that  ; 
but  we  wh.o  know  who  it  is  that  speaks,  ob- 
serve that  he,  the  Risen  Lord  of  glory,  has  not 
left  the  requirement  of  faith  in  these  old  Jew- 
ish prophetical  books  behind  him  in  the  sepul- 
chre, as  if  that  had  been  no  more  than  a  mere 
ac<X)mmodation  on  his  part  before — but  that  he 
demands  it  now  more  rigorously  and  earnestly 
than  ever.  We  would  submit  ourselves  to  his 
supreme  criticism,  grounded  upon  his  victory 
6ver  death  as  the  express  and  actual  ground  of 
all  demonstration;  a  criticism  which  does  not 
refer  so  much  to  the  books  as  to  their  readers  ; 
which  terms  those  fools,  whose  hearts  are 
guilty,  who  find  not  in  these  prophets  what  he 
had  lound  in  them — his  suffering  and  his  glory, 
and  all  spoken  purely  concerning  himself.* 
For,  had  not  the  same  Spirit,  who  gave  all  this 
to  the  prophets,  provided  for  their  readers  also, 
yea,  for  all  Israel  from  the  beginning  ;  so  that 
all  misunderstanding  must  have  sprung,  so  far 
as  its  essentials  are  concerned,  only  from  sin  in 
the  heart  as  its  cause  ?  How  much  more  now, 
when  in  the  new  Church  of  the  Risen  Lord,  the 
Spirit  is  poured  out  in  all  his  fulness  !  Who 
will  be  able  to  stand  before  him  with  his  igno- 
rance or  false  science  and  theology,  when  he 
ahall  one  day  pronounce  in  a  very  different 
manner  his  rebuke  of  unbelief? 

Believe!  This  great  word,  constantly  recur- 
ring as  the  decisive  test  for  man's  heart  and 
will,  and  as  leading  to  understanding  {voelv) — 
he  now  opposes  to  their  hooting,  in  order  to  give 
them  back  again  something  more  than  hope. 
They  had  shrunk  from  openly  expressing  that 
decisive  liltle  word,  but  he  makes  it  all  the 
more   prominent  on   that   account.     Yet   (to 

3uote  Braune),  "He  does  not  so  much  con- 
emn  their  unbelief  in  the  report  of  the  women 
('which  was  only  a  consequence)  as  their  want 
of  faith  in  the  prophetic  word."  They  had  de- 
clared that  they  slill  held  Jesus  as  a  prophet,  at 
least,  and  therefore  as  that  last  and  greatest 
one,  whom  Moses,  the  first  of  them,  had  pro- 
mised as  greater  than  he:   then  they  ought 


clearly  and  firmly  to  have  combined  together 
and  held  fast  the  words  of  this  prophet  and  of 
all  the  prophets.  That  which  Jesus  had  pro- 
phesied concerning  his  own  suffering,  dying, 
and  rising  again  on  the  "third  day,"  had  its 
sure  foundation  in  the  words  of  all'  who  had 
spoken  before  him  and  about  him.  Terlullian 
tells  us  that  Marcion  had  altered  it — "  To  be- 
lieve all  that  he  (Jesus)  had  spoken  to  you  ;" 
but  he  allows  this,  in  the  argument,  to  his  ad- 
versary, in  order  to  confirm  the  a>ithority  of 
the  prophets  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself.* 
Th»^  two  things  are  inseparable:  If  these  dis- 
ciples had  fully  believed  Jesus,  they  must  have 
believed  the  prophets  also  ;  and  so  conversely. 
It  is  the  latter  which  Jesus  now  makes  tho 
ground  of  his  appeal ;  but  not  without  sub- 
ordinately  including  the  former,  in  the  abso- 
lutely expressed  and  independent  iti6rev£iv. 
It  is  usual  to  connect  it  with  the  following  words 
— to  believe  in  all — and  that  would  have  its 
own  impressive  truth,  just  as  in  Acts  xk'iv.  14 
the  emphasis  falls  upon  a  similar  Tta6t :  to  be- 
lieve not  only  the  word  concerning  the  king- 
dom and  the  glory,  but  that  also  concerning 
the  sufferings.  Philip  (John  i.  45)  had  found 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  Moses  and  the  prophets 
(yet  as  the  son  of  Joseph);  but  much  was 
wanting  to  the  believing  apprehension  of  all 
that  was  written  in  them,  else  they  would  not 
have  almost  lost  again  him  whom  they  had  found. 
Only  in  Act's  xiii.  12  can  we  in  any  way  con- 
strue TiiOTEheiv  with  eiti  and  the  dative; 
hence  it  is  more  natural  to  interpret  here — Oh 
ye  slow  of  heart  to  believe  (in  itself  and  gen- 
erally) after,  or  notwithstanding  all  that  the  pro- 
phets have  spoken.  So  Bengel :  "  The  worde 
of  the  prophets  are  among  you,  and  yet  ye  be- 
lieve not.  Comp.  Luke  xvi.  26  prm'-er  hiec 
omnia,  or  Mark  vi.  52  even  post."  Faith  in 
the  prophetic  word  is  of  course  included ;  but 
the  thought  is  made  more  comprehensive  and 
more  penetrating  when  we  regard  the  prophetic 
word  as  the  auxiliary  or  instrument,  the  ad- 
miniculum,  and  not  the  object  of  faith.  Tha 
Tttdreveiv,  the  believing,  has  itself  a  wider 
range  than  faith  simply  in  the  Bible. 

Verse  26.  "Christ'"  instead  of  the  preced- 
ing "he  that  should  redeem  Israel;"  for  the 
the  Lord,  hastening  rapidly  onward,  substitutes 
in  his  convincing  appeal  the  true  word  instead 
of  all  their  more  indefinite  expressions.  They 
had  not  ventured  to  say  plainly  either  believe  or 
Messiah — not  through  any  want  of  candor,  but 
through  the  hesitation  of  fear — but  he  sets  both 
words  before  them  in  all  their  clearness ;  and  in 
this  connection  and  progress  we  have  new  evi- 
dence that  the  Lord  meant  by  the  "  believing" 
of  ver.  5  "  believing  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ." 
Indeed,  this  is  the  same  with  believing  all  that 


I  *  Still  greater  fools — may  the  preacher  now  cry 
to  the  congegatioa — who  will  not  seek  and  read 
kodfindl 


*  "  Christus  enim  Jesus  in  evangelio  tuo  meu» 
est"  (see  in  Grolius).  So  may  it  be  said  to  all 
such  heretics :  Would  ye  turn  away  from  the  Old 
Testament  to  the  simple  "  pure  doctrine  of  Jesus  " 
— be  it  so,  this  pure  doctrine  sends  you  back  to 
the  Old  Testament  again. 


730 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


the  prophets  had  spoken  ;  for  the  Christ  in  the 
prophets  so  entirely  coincides  with  this  cruci- 
fied and  risen  Jesus,  that  tliere  only  remains 
the  plain — Ought  not  these  things  to  have  taken 
place?  The  very  thing  which  was  matter  of 
scruple  and  obiection  to  the  Apostles— the 
grievous  suffering  of  death — is  turned  into 
most  decisive  arguii.ent  and  demonstration. 
Teschendorl  well  paraphrases  thi  word,  in  its 
immediate  connection  :  "  Has  this  thrown  you 
into  amazement  ?  Ye  could  not  then  hold  him 
for  the  Messiah,  because  he  had  died;  and 
when  it  was  told  you  that  he  had  risen,  were 
ye  astounded,  and  would  not  believe?  O  ye 
fools — was  it  not  then  necessary  that  the  Mes- 
siah should  suffer  such  things;  and  must  he 
not  attain  to  his  glorification  through  such 
sufferings  ?"  Kinkel,  blinded  by  his  theory  of 
the  ascension,  finds  here  a  demonstration  of  it ; 
"suffering  and  entenng  his  glory  "  he  reads 
together,  as  if  both  were  spoken  oi  a.s  past.  But 
it  13  easy  enough  to  explain  away  this  sem- 
blance of  such  a  meaning  from  the  words.  It 
is  more  correct  to  tay  that  neither  the  suffering 
nor  the  entering  here  is  regarded  as  past;  the 
words  are  aoristical,  and  dogmatically  refer  to 
what  was  to  befall  the  Christ  according  to  the 
Scripture.  Moreover,  the  "  suffering  "  in  its 
connection  with  "  (Jiese  things"  points  distinct- 
ively to  the  history  already  fulfilled.  The  em- 
g basis  lies,  as  should  be  self-evident  io  every 
hristian  reader,  upon  the  great  truth  which 
was  now  conceided,  which  had  been  concealed 
from  Israel  through  its  own  wilful  blindnesss, 
and  was  now  not  known  even  to  the  disciples, 
that  Christ  was  a  suffering  Messiah— 7raO;/ro; 
6  Xpt6T6i  (Acts  xxvi.  23,  comp.  xvii.  6).  It 
is  equivalent  to  naOoyra  £i6£XQ£7y,  that  he 
should  enter  as  suffering.  The  66^a  avrov, 
hii  glory,  the  glory  appropriate  and  due  to 
Christ,  is  sc>meXh'\ng  pre-suj^osed  ;  but  the  con- 
dition of  that  glory  and  the  tony  to  it  (on 
which  account  the  word  tieeXQEiy  is  used)  are 
shown  in  the  suffering.  It  is  zaCra  TraOelv. 
with  reference  to  ravra  iysysro,  ver.  21. 
Just  that  which  has  taken  place,  and  in  the  way 
in  which  it  took  place,  mud  have  come  to  pass, 
for  thus  was  it  written.  Thus  to  collate  the 
^;'£Vf  ro  with  iho  y/;ypa7erai,  and  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  glory  with  the  prophecies  of  the  ."uf- 
fering,  would  have  been  a  far  more  profitable 
rtVr//ia'AA£?i',ordiscussion  and  argumentative 
communication.  Then  would  the  conclusion 
of  faith  have  been  easily  reached  :  As  his  suffer- 
ing is  now  fulfilled,  nothing  remains  of  that 
which  is  written  but  the  entering  into  his 
plory.*  Thus  they  would  have  hoped  and  be- 
lievf  d  in  the  rising  again  as  the  bcijinning  of  the 
entering  (this  alone  is  the  historical  reference 
of  this  word  here,  a  repetition  of  dyadaivc.-) 
ditcipri)  before  they  had  heard  and  seen  ;  at 
least  they  would  not  have  been  amazed  at  the 


•  In  this  diehotmny  there  lies  latent  the  thonnht 
(commonly  rejiarded  ns  John's)  that  tlie  ■itt\6xtiy 
ts  even  iU>elf  the  eidapxeCOai  eii  du^ay. 


intelligence  thereof  as  an  amdroy — 3  thing 
incredible  (Acts.  xxvi.  8). 

Apart  from  and  beyond  this  immediate  and 
necessary  reference  to  the  thoughts  of  the  dis- 
ciples, the  Lord's  saving — which  shines  like  the 
Easter  sun  upon  all  the  darkness  of  the  pro- 
phets— teaches  us  the  clear  fundamental  truth, 
that  all  the  prophets  have  predicted  the  suffer-' 
ings  and  the  glory  of  the  Coming  One,  both  ii^ 
their  unity,  as  it  is  declared  in  1  Pet.  i.  11.  To 
understand  these  two  things,  each  separately 
first  and  then  both  in  their  connection,  is  the 
only  key  which  can  open  the  entire  prophetic 
word.  The  glory  of  Christ,  that  is,  is  no  more 
a  mere  internal  and  spiritual  glorification  (aa 
many  are  disposed  to  assume,  in  their  inter- 
pretation of  John's  Gospel  especially)  than  the 
sufferings  which  preceded.  Its  beginning  was 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead;  but  its  end 
was  not  the  glorifying  ascension  into  heaven. 
There  are  yet  unfulfilled  "glories  that  should 
follow,"  as  there  are  for  the  Church  in  Christ,, 
and  for  Christ  in  the  Church,  yet  remaining 
"  sufferings."  The  edei  in  the  past  tense  refers, 
when  strictly  viewed,  only  to  the  Scripture, 
which  had  been  long  with  them  as  contain- 
ing the  eternal  counsel  of  God  ;  not  to  the  suf- 
fering of  "  all  things  "  independently  of  the, 
"  these  things,"  still  le.ss  to  an  already  accom- 
plished "  entering  into  his  glory."  He  him- 
self in  his  own  person  is  led  through  the 
suffering  of  death  into  glory  ;  but  the  same 
way  is  now  before  his  members,  and,  conse- 
quently, as  far  as  he  lives  in  his  members,  that 
same  way  is  still  belore  the  head,  until  all 
the  "sufierings"  are  accomplished  and  all  the 
"glories"  obtained.  Suffering  is  ever  the  way 
to  glory,  as  faith  is  to  salvation — this  is  the 
Easter  lesson  which  our  forerunner  teaches  us. 
He  who  understands  and  experiences  this,  criea 
with  all  his  saints  in  growing  confidence,  chal- 
lenging all  things  that  may  transpire — But  we 
hofie,  that  he  will  certainly  redeem. 

Verse  27.  The  ve7-ha  ijisissinwi  (identical 
words)  cease  ;  but  as  Luke  summarily  records 
how  the  Lord  established  the  raiglity  paradox 
of  ver.  2&,  and  pointed  them  to  the  Scriptures, 
he  doubtless  received  his  special  expression* 
from  the  lips  or  from  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  and 
we  are  justified  in  interpreting  this  verse  also 
as  part  of  our  Lord's  own  discourse.  Now 
toUowed  in  quick  succession  answers  to  the 
inquiries  which  lay  deep  in  the  doubting  hearts 
of  the  disciples,  and  which  may  be  reduced  to. 
two  or  three  leading  questions:  IIow  could, 
Jesus,  and  wherefore  must  he,  if  he  was  the. 
Christ,  suffer  these  things?  What  must  and 
what  will  iollow  after  these  sufferings?  Where, 
have  the  prophets  tlms  spoken  of  both?  In 
order  that  the  law  of  his  kingdom  concerning 
faith  in  the  word  might  not  be  invaded,  he 
does  not  at  once  say — See  ye,  feel  ye,  that  I  am 
he  I  He  himself  rather  points  to  himself  ia 
the  Scripture,  and  thus  opens  their  under- 
standing, before  he  opens  their  eyes  to  behold 
his  commenced  glory.  Thus  he  places  the  word 
above  all  visible  manifestation ;  and  thus  the' 


LUKE  XXIV.  27. 


781 


beginning  of  faith,  and  the  Wcay  to  it,  is  ever 
the  knowledge  of  the  word.  None  among  those 
who  beheld  him  would  have  apprehended  the 
Risen  Lord  in  faith,  without  a  certain  prepara- 
tion through  the  word,  such  a  preparation  as 
was  not  altogether  wanting  to  these  Emmaus 
disciples.  Even  for  the  Apostles  afterwards, 
the  great  essential  was  that  which  Luke  re- 
cords in  his  Gospel,  chap.  xxiv.  45,  and  in  the 
Acts  chap.  i.  3  ;  for  without  that  nothing  would 
have  been  able  to  strengthen  their  faith  for  its 
victory  over  the  world.  Faith  is  a  matter  of 
experience,  but  in  and  in  order  to  experience, 
yea,  in  a  certain  sense  befiTe  experience,  and 
in  order  that  it  may  be  possible,  faith  is  as- 
suredly matter  of  knowledge. 

The  Lord  has  no  need  of  the  Codex,  the  en- 
tire Scripture  lies  open  before  him— and  the 
disciples  have  at  least  so  much  of  it  within 
them,  that  they  can  recognize  the  passages  he 
quotes,  as  such.  "  If  he  had  the  spirit,  the 
two  disciples  had  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures. 
How  good  a  thing  it  is  to  pet  firm  possession 
of  the  Bible  in  early  youth;  the  letter  itself 
does  not  kill  unless  it  drive  away  the  Spirit, 
but  it  is  there  in  readiness  for  his  coming"  j 
(Braune).  If  thou  knowest  the  Scripture,  the 
Lord  may  come  to  expound  it.  The  earlier  in- 
struction of  Jesus  (as  Hess  remarks)  "  had  not 
been  a  proper  and  detailed  explanation  of  Scrip- 
ture," at  least  in  the  great  connection  of  the 
whole  ;  for  before  the  ravra  iyeyeto,  or  fact, 
all  representation  of  their  Sei  yevedOai,  or 
necessity,  would  be  vain.  Remark,  once  more, 
the  reciprocation  :  before  its  fulfillment  in  his- 
tory there  is  no  perfect  understanding  of  the 
Scripture  ;  while  the  history  itself  is  not  to  be 
understood  without  the  Scripture. 

'Aft^dfiEvoi,  beginning,  has  a  sirong 
emphasis  :  he  began  to  speak  and  to  teach,  as 
no  lips  upon  earth  had  ever  vet,  before  this 
crisis,  spoken  and  taught.  We  may  under- 
stand it,  further,  that  he  began  and  continued 
long ;  that  he  began  now  a  long  detail  and  ex- 
hibition of  the  scriptural  truth.  Or,  that  he 
each  time  began  anew  with  the  toord  of  Scrip- 
ture,'in  order  then  to  append  the  SiepntjvtvEiv, 
the  comparison  of  it  with  the  facts  which  had 
occurred — as  it  were  already  preaching  upon 
the  text  of  the  prophets  his  own  Gospel  (Acts 
viii.  35).  At  least  we  prefer  such  interpreta- 
tions as  these  to  that  which  connects  the  specif- 
ic dno  Mffi>i<j£(a;  alone  with  the  word*  (as 
Alford  maintains  against  me).  Luke  does  no^ 
mean  lo  say  that  the  Lord  began  with  Moses  ; 
but  his  "  beginning  "  has  a  much  more  com- 
prehensive sense  than  that  of  merely  express- 
ing the  order  of  progression  ;  therefore  it  imme- 


*  Kai  and  Ttocvrcov  is  hard  to  reconcile  with 
this.  It  is  strange  to  read  in  Altord  :  "  He  began 
with  Moses  first ;  he  began  with  each  as  lie  came 
to  them."  AViner,  Gr.,  affirms  the  phraseology  to 
be  inexact,  and  compares  Acts  ill.  24.  But  there 
the  rcay  «a9£|^s,  standing  in  a  kind  of  attrac- 
tion, is  solved  by"the  following  06 ot  iXdXrjdav y 
aad  the  passage  is  so  far  not  strictly  parallel. 


diately  follows — And  from  all  the  propheta. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  self-understood  that  t!ie  Great 
Interpreter  would  advance  through  the  series 
in  order,  for  this  alone  would  luminously  set 
forth  the  progrpssive  development  of  the  pro- 
phetic word.  Would  that  all  our  teachers  and 
learners  would  now  also  begin  with  the  Scrip- 
ture, and,  as  God  has  appointed  it,  with  the 
first  and  earliest  Scripture,  HaOsqtji  (in  order)  ! 
Moses  wrote  concerning  Christ  (John  v.  46)  not 
only  in  the  Abrahamic  promises,  in  the  pass- 
age concerning  the  future  prophet,  in  the  pro- 
tevangelium,  but  al?o  in  the  whole  law  which 
condemns  sin,  and  figuratively  predicts  atone- 
ment, in  the  whole  of  his  typical  history,  espe- 
cially that  of  the  first  deliverance  of  Israel,  and 
before  that  in  the  original  historv  of  the  crea- 
tion which  testifies  of  "the  Eternal  Word.  Our 
Lord's  exposition  was  assuredly  not  confined  to 
what  we  call  prophecies  in  the  narrower  sense; 
but,  as  the  Spirit  in  the  Apostles  teaches  us,  all 
the  types,  both  of  the  history  and  of  the  law,  were 
included  in  it.  His  deep-drawn  sSei,  "ought," 
embraced  the  necessity  of  an  atoning  Redeemei' 
from  the  sin  which  the  Old  Testament  reveals, 
and  of  a  dying  Redeemer  from  the  dea'A  which 
it  denounced  as  the  consequence.  Moses  him- 
self was  a  prophet,  yea,  the  first  and  the  great- 
est, with  whom  Christ  alone,  as  a  prophet  com- 
pleting the  whole  series,  is  compared;  nai  cxTta 
T a  V  T  u}  V  ,  "and  from  all,"  has  also  the 
meaning  that  Moses  is  in  no  sense  opposed  to 
the  prophets.  But  inasmuch  as  afterwards  "  in 
all  the  Scriptures"  is  plainly  synonymous  with 
"  all  the  prophets,"  we  learn  further  that  all  the 
holy  writers  of  the  canon  wrote  as  prophets,, 
under  divine  inspiration.  The  Christ,  toward' 
whom  the  entire  Old  Testament  pointed  and 
pressed  forward,  was  not  an  idea  and  a  hope, 
which  grew  up  in  the  national  mind;  but  the 
prophets  spoke  and  wrote  concerning  him 
under  the  light  and  counsel  of  God.  This  is  to 
all  unbiassed  historical  investigation  the  pecu- 
liar characteristic  of  the  Hebrew  people,  that 
their  national  character  was  not  like  that  of 
other  people,  developed  only  from  within  out- 
wards, but  by  continual  inspiration  from  above, 
continual  miracles  of  guidance,  miracles  of  re- 
velation. These  last  form  the  system  of  pro- 
phecy in  its  most  general  sense,  which  pervades 
the  whole  life  of  the  people,  and  yet  at  the 
same  time  is  ever  bringing  out  new  ideas,  sub- 
limely elevatad  abovj  the  people. 

How  wonderfully  did  the  Lord  in  concen- 
trated brevity  disclose  this,  through  all  the 
prophets,  all  the  Scriptures  I*  We  may  adopt 
rfenninger's  thought :  "  Both  listened  with  one 
rapt  attention — hung  upon  his  lips,  went  ex- 
citedly on  their  way,  heedless  of  fatigue.  Oft. 
did  he  for  a  brief  space  restrain  his  worcs.  But 
without  speaking  they  gave  him  to  understand 
their  desire  that  he  would  renew  his  discourse." 
Hennell  expresses    his  wonder   that  such  an 

*  Mark  azain  this  raii  ypaqtaii  as  the  corifir- 
mation  of  the  canon  which  was  then  received,  ia 
every  individual  part  of  it. 


732 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


epitome  and  summary  of  truth  should  have 
been  forgotten  in  the  Church,  and  not  rather 
have  been  preserved  as  a  precious  document. 
We  have  this  document  in  the  entire  New 
Testament,  in  which  the  Apostles,  taught  in 
the  school  of  Christ,  interpret  to  us  the  Old 
Testament  ;  but  more  than  any  document 
in  definite  paragraphs  have  we  in  the  commu- 
nication of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom 
Jesus  to  the  present  day  continues  and  ever 
renews  his  office  of  expositor.  Let  us  hear  and 
learn  from  him  ;  then  shall  we  ever  more  deep- 
ly penetrate  and  understand  the  things  said 
eoncernlng  him.  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary 
that  all  obscurities  in  the  mere  external  and 
historical  rela'ions  should  be  cleared  up.  That 
may  rather  be  left  to  natural  investigation  and 
its  uncertain  criticism  ;  although,  on  the  other 
hand,  these  things  are  never  altogether  distinct 
from  the  essentials.  But  the  great  essential, 
the  kernel  of  the  Scripture  is  Christ.  Here  it  is 
said — ra  nepi  avrov, '"'  the  things  concerning 
himself,"  identical  with  the  ra  Ttepi  zou  Xpi- 
6tov,  ver.  26.  Consequently,  all  that  is  written 
concerning  Christ  is  written  concern' ng  Jesus, 
the  fulfilling  person.  This  is  infinitely  more 
than  the  longing  and  anticipating  type  of  a 
Coming  One  which  alone  many  in  our  day  find 
in  the  Old  Testament:  in  the  counsel  of  God 
that  which  really  took  place  in  Jesus  was  fore- 
seen and  written  in  an  anticipatory  history. 
Kor  are  they  mere  detached  and  unconnected 
vaticinations  here  and  there,  such  as  the  old 
exegesis  termed  "  Messianic  passages."  There 
is  one  great  connected  unity  in  the  whole;  his- 
tory, type  and  prophecy  all  coinciding  in  their 
harmonious  progreisive'development.*  Finally, 
it  is  not  merely  the  personal  Christ  manifested 
in  Jesus,  the  head,  which  is  meant,  but  also 
the  mystical  Christ  in  his  people  and  members ; 
and  no  man  will  thoroughly  hnd  the  true  con- 
nection of  all  the  Scriptures,  who  does  not  re- 
cognize that  Christ  and  his  Israel,  the  true  Is- 
rael, as  the  Son  and  servant  of  God,  are  ever 
as  head  and  members  embi'aced  by  the  Spirit 
in  one. 

It  is  not  that  "  the  life  under  the  old  cove- 
nant is  the  historical  ground  and  foundation  of 
the  life  in  the  new  ;  "  but  there  was  an  actual 
prophecy,  which  when  it  was  given  transcended, 
^nd  went  beyond  all  history  ;  a  specific  inspira- 
iion  of  the  holy  writers,  the  pro})fi^ts,  furnishing 
them  for  their  work.  The  older  theologians 
were  in  great  error  through  not  rightly  perceiv- 
ing the  connection  between  the  prophetic  tes- 
timony and  the  historical  time  of  the  prophets 
thems^elves,  and  consequently  they  apprehended 
both  prophecy  and  inspiration  in  too  mechani- 
cal a  manner — but  the  exegesis  of  Jesus,  as  he 
taught  it  to  his  disciples,  is  at  the  utmost 
remove  from  this  error.  For,  inasmuch  as 
it  speaks  from  the  living  centre  of  the  whole 
Old  Testament,  in  all  its  individual  quotations. 


*  Alford  lays  a  proper  emphasis  upon  the  ex- 
pression of  the  English  Bible  :  "  Tiie  things  con- 
cerning himself" — uoL  XXxQparlt, 


it  not  only  requires  us  to  enter  upon  a  thorotigS 
investigation  of  the  whole,  in  order  that  the 
abrupt  citation  may  be  understood,  but  it  also 
proves  itself  to  all  inquirers  as  adjuslins;  the 
history  in  a  manner  most  systematic.  The  old 
faith  of  Christendom  in  the  expounding  word  of 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  will  never  have  to  re- 
treat before  the  young  science  of  our  modern 
times.  As  often  as  hearts  which,  burning  like 
the  disciples',  and  hearing  the  one  Master's 
words,  come  to  the  Old  Testament,  they  make 
the  captious  tenets  of  critico-historical  specu- 
lation pay  tribute  to  the  genuine  hermeneutics 
which  the  Scripture  itself  contains.  In  this 
way  of  the  opened  understanding  those  most 
critical  and  strange  special  fu^JUlmcnU,  which 
are  the  very  pith  of  all  convincing  demonstra- 
tion, justify  themselves  more  and  more  fully 
to  the  inquirer.*  But  tliat  the  suffering  of  Christ, 
as  certainly  as  his  glorification,  is  predicted,  be* 
longs  to  the  immovable  axioms  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  preaching — even  its  catechetical 
and  elementary  torm.  On  the  one  hand,  as  we 
find  on  the  wav  to  Eramaus,  the  death  of 
Christ  was  (as  Do  Wette  says)  "a  mystery 
which  was  first  disclosed  in  the  history  and  by 
the  history."  But  that  mvstery  is  at  the  same 
time  an  eternal  decree  of  God.  from  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world  (s^ei)  ;  and  this  had 
been  revealed  previously  to  the  prophets,  his  ser- 
vants (Amos  iii.  7).  (the  copi6niyoy,  in  xxii. 
22  is  a  ysypaTcroLi,  Matt.  xxvi.  24.)  On  tiie 
other  hand,  in  the  universal,  all  pervading 
principle,  according  to  which  the  whole  Scrip- 
ture announces  and  typifies  no  other  way  to 
glory  for  the  Coming  One  but  that  of  suffering, 
the  most  express  and  particular  specialties  are 
embraced — the  "these  things"  which  were  to 
be  sufTered.  This  the  Risen  Lord,  without  any 
accommodation  to  E,abbinical  hermeneutics, 
pointed  out  to  the  two,  and  afterwards  to  the 
Apostles  in  their  writings:  whence  did  the 
Apostles  and  Evangelists,  among  whom  the 
Galilean  fishermen,  Peter  and  John,  had  no 
previous  knowledge  of  llabbinism,  obtain  their 
citations  but  from  this  highest  authority  and 
school?  Either  Christ  did  not  say  what  Luke 
here  records  of  him,  and  then  we  are  on  the 
foundation  of  Strauss,  that  is,  we  have  no 
foundation  under  our  I'eet ;  or  we  find  through 
the  enlightening  Spirit,  who  willingly  proves 
himself  such  to  all  who  prav,  as  Christ  himself 
found,  the  ravra  e.6s.i  naOecr,  "  must  suffer 
these  things."  "In  short"  (says  Olshausen) 
""a  man  must  be  altogether  a  Christian,  or  not 
a  Christian  at  all.  lie  who  will  not  confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  is  Anti- 
christ ;  and  he  who  does  not  believe  all  that 


*  Nitzsch,  with  all  his  one-sided  polemics 
against  what  ho  terms  "  Voihersau;ung,"  con- 
fesses :  "  riediction  attains  its  lull  perfection,  hi 
the  cases  to  which  it  refers,  only  in  the  most 
definite  precision  in  tiie  peculiar  nnrks  of  ilie 
tact."  We  would  t^rm  this  de  criptive  prediction 
of  future  eveutb  not  tubordiiiaU  but  rather  to-ortU' 
naie. 


LUKE  XXIV.  27,  ETC. 


738 


the  incarnate  "Word  of  the  Father  teaches, 
proves  in  fact  that  he  does  not  believe  that 
God  in  him  manifested  hin;self  in  the  flesh. 
But  he  who  would  believe  these  words  of  the 
Son  of  God,  and  of  those  disciples  concerning 
whom  it  is  said  that  he  himself  opened  to  them 
the  Scriptures,  must  also  explain  the  Scripture 
as  the  Lord  himself  and  his  disciples  expound 
it."  Meyer  also  writes  :  "  If  the  exegete  should 
read  the  Old-Testament  Scriptures  without 
knowing  to  whom  and  to  what  they  every 
where  point,  the  New  Testament  clearly  directs 
his  understanding,  and  places  him  under  an 
obligation,  if  he  would  be  a  sound  Christian 
teacher,  to  acknowledge  its  authority  and  in- 
terpret accordingly.  Doubt  as  to  the  validity 
of  our  Lord's  and  his  Apostles'  method  of  ex- 
pounding, involves  necessarily  a  renunciation 
of  Christianity." 

Two  reasons  as  clear  as  day  forbid  us  to  as- 
sume, in  the  exposition  which  the  "  sacred 
writers"  of  the  New  Testament  give  of  the 
Old  Testament,  any  thing  like  a  "  tponoi 
itatSeiai  which  must  be  directed  according  to 
the  education  and  needs  of  the  age."  First, 
this  exposition  and  this  use  of  Scripture  is  so 
strictly  connected  with  that  most  essential 
principle  of  the  whole  Gospel — Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  that  God's  providence  (thus  for  once 
to  speak  rationalistically)  cannot  be  conceived 
of  as  that  of  a  true  God,  if  it  had  introduced 
the  great  truth  of  salvation  into  the  world 
through  the  medium  of  a  confusing  error.  But, 
secondly,  the  Apostles  point  to  Christ  in  the 
Old  Testament,  not  as  "  writers,"  but  as  Apos- 
tles, who  in  this  very  particular  received  their 
Lord's  full  directions  ;  and  it  is  altogether  im- 
possible to  attribute  to  the  E,isen  Lord  of 
Glory  a  rpJffoS  naideiai  in  the  esoterical 
doctrine  which  he  gave  his  Apostles  for  their 
new  preaching  to  the  world.* 

The  Risen  Lord  shows  himself  to  the  sor- 
rowing and  doubting  disciples  in  the  Christ  of 
the  Scriptures,  as  sufferirfig  and  through  suffer- 
ing entering  into  his  glory — before  he  opens 
their  eyes  to  behold  himself,  and  to  see  that 
he  still  lives  and  had  said  all  this  to  them  him- 
eelf.  The  gracious  explanation  of  vers.  17-19 
(by  which  their  offence  at  the  cross  was  to  be 
brought  out  into  full  utterance)  is  followed  by 
earnest  instruction  ;  by  sharp  rebuke,  ver.  25 ; 
by  paradoxically  decisive  assertion,  ver.  26  ; 
by  convincing  proof  from  the  entire  body  of 
Scripture,  ver.  27.  The  conclusion  of  ver.  30, 
with  its  full  return  of  graciousness,  we  shall 
also  learn  to  understand.     Suffer  thyself,  dear 


reader,  to  be  thus  rebuked  and  taught  by  hira: 
it  will  be  no  disgrace  to  thee,  and  will  bring 
thee  great  joy  !  Take  to  thyself  the  rebuke 
and  the  instruction  ;  the  demonstration  will 
then  follow.*  Know,  mark,  and  feel  that  he 
who  approaches  thee  for  thy  consolation,  and 
he  who  comes  to  thy  unbelief  with  the  severe 
rebuke  of  Scripture,  are  one  and  the  same  (and 
so  is  it  also  of  the  servant  who  comes  in  his 
Lord's  name)  ;  and  that  these  two  functions 
are  united  and  one.  If  thy  heart  begins  to 
burn,  know  that  it  is  Jesus  under  another 
form  who  would  thus  prepare  thee  for  a  living 
understanding  of  the  Scripture.  Hear,  read, 
search,  begin  and  continue  to  understand  the 
Scripture  with  the  heart — the  longing,  seek- 
ing heart  which  feels  its  need  of  redemption, 
and  already  begins  to  burn  in  love  to  the  Re- 
deemer. This  is  the  test  of  true  exegesis. 
Dost  thou  rejoice  to  find  in  the  Old  Testament 
a  Christ  who  is  thy  atonement  and  thy  fore- 
runner to  glory,  so  that  thereby  the  New-Tes- 
tament preaching  concerning  him  finds  in  thy 
heart  the  "  sure  foundation  "  of  a  divine  de- 
cree ?  Dost  thou  say  sincerely,  and  not  as  a 
mere  phrase — The  message  I  hear,  but  faith  fails 
me?  Then  mayest  thou  and  thou  wilt  mark 
that  he  draws  nigh,  to  demonstrate  to  thee  hia 
own  claims.  Canst  thou  not  call  upon  him  to 
come?  Pray  in  confidence,  as  if  he  were 
really  near,  for  he  is  so— Expound  thou  to  me 
thine  own  Scripture  I  He  will  expound  it.  He 
will  indeed  rebuke,  but  only  in  love.  He  will 
not  even  require  of  thee  that  thou  shouldst 
interpret  and  understand  it  like  himself,  be- 
cause he  would  have  it  so — but,  as  this  blessed 
history  shows,  he  will  concsal  and  renounce 
his  own  highest  authority,  in  order  to  give  thee 
insight  and  understanding  through  personal 
conviction.  Thus  only  would  we  have  all  the 
previous  rigorous  expressions  of  requirement 
to  be  understood ;  their  propriety  rests  upon 
the  comparative  impossibility  of  remaining 
honestly  in  doubt,  since  the  glorification  of 
Christ;  as  also  upon  an  experimental  assur- 
ance that  the  Lord  continues  to  the  present 
day  to  act  as  he  acted  towards  the  disciples  on 
the  way  to  Emmaus. 


*  Thus,  not  as  Hase's  unbelief  in  this  Lord  utters 
itself:  "  A  dying  Messiah — could  be  recoanized 
by  Jesus  as  a  divine  decree,  and  Jy  allegoriccd  ex- 
pcsition  found  in  the  prophecies,"  etc.  Or,  as  D5pke 
babbles  on  Luke  xxiv. :  "  Christ  must  open  it  to 
their  conviction  from  Moses  and  the  prophets  (hat 
such  a  Messiah  had  been  promised  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ;  and  he  could  do  this  according  to  the  then 
aeneral  allegorical  method  of  explanation,  which  he 
uimself  received  and  used." 


Thougli  there  are  no  more  of  our  Lord's  tcords 
in  it,  we  must  not  decline  to  pursue  the  narra- 
tive to  its  conclusion.  After  a  thorough  glance 
at  the  whole  we  shall  be  able  to  understand  it  in 
all  its  significance;  and  thus  alone  make  it  a 
fit  preparation  for  our  Lord's  next  appearance 
in  the  circle  of  the  Apostles,  npoderroteiro, 
"made  as  if"  (or  npo^ertoiT/daro)  ver.  28, oc- 


*  Cade,  mododoce — was  a  word  even  of  Diogenes. 
"  The  Lord  would  reveal  himself,  but  instead  of 
immediately  disclosing  his  glory,  he  leads  them  as 
it  were  by  a  by-way,  through  the  whole  of  Scrip- 
lure.  He  would  comfort  them,  and  he  begin* 
by  rebuking  them  as  fools  and  slow  of  heart *• 
(Leipoldt). 


i^ 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  EMMAUS. 


curs  only  here  in  the  New  Testament  ;*  it  indi- 1 
cates  no  feint  or  deception,  which  itself  would 
require  justification,  and  means  that  he  would 
go  furtlier,  if  they  did  not  retain  him,  and 
would  actually  have  gone.  Thus  does  he  test 
them,  whether  his  words  had  duly  pene<rated 
their  hearts,  or  whether  they  were  satisfied  or 
satiated.  It  is  his  will  to  be  retained,  to  be 
entreated,  when  he  draws  near  ;  not  only  are  we 
ourselves  to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  his  pres- 
ence, but  we  are  ourselves  to  hold  him  fast. 
Alas!  how  many  are  there  to  whom  he  has 
drawn  near,  but  with  whom  he  has  not  tarried, 
because  they  have  suffered  him  to  go  away 
again  in  his' living  and  heart-moving  words! 
It  was  not  so  here  •.  they  rejoice  at  heart,  not- 
withstanding their  humiliation  ;  thankful,  and 
still  desiring  more,  they  condrain  him  with  the 
utmost  confidence.  (Comp.  Acts  xvi.  15,  the 
same  word  :  here  as  there  it  is  only  by  urgent 
appeal,  napaHLxXEiv ;  they  did  not  of  course 
lay  hold  of  and  retain  him,  which  would  have 
be'en  opposed  to  the  reverence  mingled  with  their 
trust.)  Tneir  request,  through  it  has  some- 
times been  too  allegorically  dealt  with,  invites 
most  suggestively  to  a  typical  view  of  the  whole 
transaction — of  which  more  anon.  First,  and 
in  its  siuiple  historical  sense,  "  they  make  their 
care  of  him  the  jiretext  of  their  request,"  as  the 
sure  token  that  they  do  not  yet  suspect  who  he 
is.  So  in  Gen.  xix.  2,  3  ;t  Judg.  xix.  9,  they 
say.  Thou  canst  not  traval  farther  now  that  it 
is  night— and  would  thus  give  emphasis  to 
their  abide  with  us,  the  true  reason  of  which  they 
might  probably  proceed  to  give  in  their  further 
eondiainiiig.  Or  still  better,  this  simple  word 
of  request  was  to  him  a  sufficient  constraint. 
And  now  they  entertain  him,  preparing  the 
meal  with  hiin  alone.  But  he  does  not  go  on 
so  abundantly  to  teach  and  expound  as  he  had 
done  in  the  way  ;  he  becomes  gradually  more 
silent  and  more  invested  with  sacred  solemnity. 
When  they  sit  down— i/e  taketh  the  bread.  Ei- 
ther they  resign  to  him,  as  the  obvious  prerog- 
ative oi  a  Kabbi  or  teacher  of  Scripture,  the 
office  of  blessing  the  table— or  he  suddenly  as- 
sumed on  his  own  part  the  function  of  the 
master  of  the  household,  as  a  transition  to  the 
revelation  of  himself.  Both  suppositions  agree 
very  well  together  ;  as  he  alone  was  the  teach- 
er, rebuker,  comforter,  and  giver  of  blessing 
through  the  word,  so  can  he  alone  give  thanks 
and  pray — this  is  self-apparent.  He  utters  the 
benediction  ;  he  breaks  the  bread  and  gives  it 
to  them  ;  then  were  their  eyes  opened,  and 
they  knew  him.  Luke,  by  using  du/yoixO'/oay 
as  corresponding  to  the  previous  tHparovvro, 
obviously  assigns  a  specific,  miraculous  inllu- 
ence  as  the  reason  of  their  knowing  him.  He 
does  not  intend  to  intimate  that  they  knew 
him  by  the  circumstance  of  his  blessing  and 
breaking  the  bread.  'Ev  rj;  M\d6Ei,  ver.  35, 
may  as  well  mean  "  in  connection  with,  at  the 
time  of"  the  breaking,  as  "  by  the  breaking," 


in  the  sense  of  Luther's  tran? i^lic-  j  Here  in 
ver.  31  Luke  does  not  say  tot^c  or  .»/  tovtco: 
but  the  somewhat  opposite  Si.  Tirus  it  is  not, 
as  commonly  said,  that  they  knew  him  by  his 
customary  manner  of  taking  food,  and  "  break- 
ing bread;"  although  as  a  consequence  of  the 
opening  of  their  eyes,  they  might  immediately 
observe  this  also.  Certainly  those  two  dis- 
ciples could  not  have  been  immediately  re- 
minded of  the  Lnrd'n  Sufiper,  at  which  they  had 
not  been  present,  or  of  any  manner  of  break- 
ing bread  peculiar  to  that  sacrament.*  L^ast 
of  all  can  we  allow,  or  reconcii3  it  with  our 
theory  as  developed  on  the  sacrament,  that 
Christ  here  celebrated  his  Supper  with  them, 
or  gave  to  them  his  body  (now  visible  before 
them,  and  not  yet  glorified  and  perfectly  capa- 
ble of  impartation)  in  the  bread.  Pfenninger 
makes  the  Lord  speak  first  of  a  "  pledge  of 
that  food  which  should  endure  unto  eternal 
life,  which  tlie  Son  of  Man  will  give  unto  you," 
and  then  adds  the  solemn  form — Take,  eat,  this 
is  my  body,  which  was  given  for  you,  etc.  This 
is  most  questionable,  under  two  aspects.  He 
could  really  and  essentially  no  more  give  his 
body  now  than  he  could  at  the  first  institution 
(for  John  vi.  62  still  holds  good) — such  a  sup- 
position would  lead  us,  if  not  into  the  error  of 
a  mere  symbolism  in  the  sacrament,  yet  into 
that  magical  notion  of  a  body  apart  irom  the 
body,  which  we  for  our  own  part  must  protest 
agamst.  And  then,  secondly,  the  Lord's  Supper 
would  here  be  partaken  of  under  one  form,  the 
body  without  the  blood  ;  as  it  is  well  known 
that  the  Romanists  press  this  instance  into  a 
scriptural  demonstration  for  their  perversion. f 
Thus  we  have  here  no  celebration  of  the  sacra- 
ment in  the  historical  and  actual  sense.  But 
it  is  a  difierent  thing,  and  quite  consistent  witli 
this,  to  assume  a  typical  significance  as  de- 
signed  by   our  Lord    throughout   the    whole 


•  John  viii.  6  in  an  explanatory  gloss. 
\  Where  ver.  9  Sept.  has  napsfiidl^ovTo. 


*  Nltzsch  :  "  We  are  njt  clear  that  Jesus  broke 
the  bread  in  any  peculiar  manner  (as  if  sailing 
the  symbolism  of  his  violent  death),  and  was  liius 
known  bj'  the  two  disciples  in  Luke  xxiv.  30,  35. 
For  it  is  not  said  that  he  was  recognized  in  the 
breaking  of  bread,  but  at  or  during  the  break- 
ing of  thread ;  that  is,  in  the  confidential  meal, 
when  his  gi-stnies  or  words  would  remind  fliem 
of  his  former  intercourse  jr.st  before  he  died,  or 
of  the  last  Supper."  While  we  agree  with  the 
former  part,  we  must  contend  against  their  being 
reminded  of  their  last  Supper,  and  against  the 
Lord's  "  words  "  reminding  them.  [On  the  con- 
trary kv  wiih  the  dative  here  most  niitirrally  indi- 
cates the  means  or  manner  of  the  d.sclosure. — 
Am.  Ed.] 

f  In  the  so-called  "  Refutation  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession,"  after  referring  to  Acts  ii.  42,  xx.  7, 
we  read  :  "  Certainly  Christ,  the  Inslitutor  of  tlrs 
most  sacred  sacrament,  when  he  rose  from  the 
dead,  aJministered  the  Eucharist  to  ine  discijiles 
at  Eiumaus  under  one  species  only  :  for  he  took  the 
bread,  brake,  and  gave  it  to  them.  But  they 
knew  him  in  the  breaking  of  the  brend.  Augus- 
tine, Chrysostom,  TheophylncL,  and  Beza  alBrm 
that  this  meal  was  the  bucrameut." 


LUKE  XXIV.  27,  ETC. 


735 


•cene,  and  especially  now  at  its  impressive  con- 
clusion The  opening  of  their  eyes  in  imme- 
diate connection  with  the  breaking  of  bread  was 
intended  by  the  Lord  to  say — la  that  will  I  be 
ever  known  ;  in  that  I  will  make  myself  felt  to 
be  living  and  near.  This  also  still  more  plainly 
appears  in  the  expressions  of  the  disciples,  ver. 
35,  or  of  the  Evangelist  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Spirit  (and  in  John  xxi.  the  early  meal 
on  the  shore  will  be  found  to  bear  a  similar 
application).  Grotius  quotes  it  as  a  "  mystical 
interpretation  of  the  ancients"  which  he  is 
not  displeased  with  ;  and  even  Neander  ad- 
mits, though  he  weakens  away  the  force  of  it, 
that  "his  manifestation  in  this  manner  mi^ht 
have  reference  to  the  promise  given  at  the  last 
meal,  and  thus  remind  his  disciples  that  he  in 
their  common  meal  (it  should  be — in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Supper)  would  be  always  as 
certainly  in  their  midst."  The  renewed  pro- 
mise which  is  contained  in  this  revelation  in 
the  breaking  of  bread,  points  to  the  future 
sacrament  which  should  bring  his  invisible  but 
corporeal  presence;  but  there  is  not  a  repeated 
eekhraiion,  for  that  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  plain  record  that  the  Lord,  known  by  his 
countenance  and  form,*  immediately  vanished 
without  further  speaking  or  act:  thus  there 
■was  no  eating  and  drinking  with  him,  and 
therefore  no  common  meal.f 

Their  knowing  him  and  his  vanishing  are  in 
swift  succession.  To  these  disciples  he  has 
nothing  further  to  say;  and  nothing  more  to 
give  than  the  longed  for  "seeing  of  himself" — 
for  this  suffices  one  great  critical  moment, 
which  refers  them  back  to  the  enlightenment 
given  to  their  understanding  in  and  in  order  to 
ihe'iv, believing.  The  very  beginning  of  faith  is 
2reater  assurance,  a  stronger  internal  persua- 
ision  rather  than  direct  knowledge  ;  but  afler- 
iDirds  reflection  will  go  back  and  collect  all. 
Thus  these  disciples  themselves  subsequently 
wonder  that  they  had  not  sooner  discerned  the 
stranger  who  exerted  so  miglity  an  influence 
upon  them.  He  had  touched  their  hearts,  and 
opened  them  to  trust  him,  even  in  the  first 
question  ;  and  in  and  after  the  rebuke  of  \  ct. 
25  he  had  set  them  on  tire.  "  The  expression 
— a  burning  heart — was  not  coined  in  the  school 
of  human  wisdom;  these  disciples  had  not 
found  it  in  the  treasure-house  of  the  divine 
word. J     It  is  a  new  word,  which  was  given 


*  Possibly — and  there  is  something  touching  in 
this — by  the  print  of  the  nails  in  the  hands  which 
broke  the  bread,  and  which  were  beheld  by  their 
opened  eyes. 

f  Nitzsch  says :  "  The  Lord  made  himself  cog- 
nizable at  once  after  his  resurrection  by  the  repe 
tition  ot  this  festival."  But  this  is  inexactly  ex 
ptessed,  and  seems  to  retain  the  opinion  which  he 
formerly  expressed,  that  sacraments  were  held  with 
the  disciples  afier  the  resurrection.  This  view  it- 
self we  cannot  adopt ;  but  there  it  is  even  stated 
that  in  thei-e  subsequent  celebrations  the  properly 
instituting  coiftraandment  was  given. 

X  Psa.  xxxis.  4  is  ditferent ;  but  Gen.  xliii.  30 ; 


them  in  connection  with  a  new  and  hitherto 
unfelt  experience.  How  surely  and  swiftly 
does  internal  experience  lind  the  right  word  for 
its  emotions  "  (Leipoldt).  Yes,  verily,  what 
this  word  means  wf  must  experience  to  know. 
It  is  far  more  than  Zinzendorl's  too  superficial 
paraphrase;  "Ah!  how  did  our  hearts  bent 
with,  emotion  !  "  This  burning  speaks  not  only 
of  new  life  in  the  joy  and  hope  of  faith,  but 
especially  of  a  most  internal  impulse  of  lone  to 
the  Lord,  and  to  this  marvellous  strangor  for 
the  Lord's  sake.  Not  only  did  he  kindle  the 
light  of  their  understanding  in  opposition  to 
their  folly,  this  light  of  life  became  a  tiro  in 
opposition  to  their  slowness  of  heart ;  but 
this  fire  was  most  internally  the  drawing  and 
the  energy  of  love.  Tlie  cold  moonlight  of 
illuminism  is  dead,  and  leaves  us  in  death; 
but  when  Christ,  after  his  ascension,  begins 
onlv  to  teach,  the  sincere  and  receiving  hearts 
begin  at  once  to  burn.  Did  not  our  hearts 
(more  and  more)  burn  "within  us,  when  he 
spoke  with  us,  or  rather  to  its — spoke  so  might- 
ily to  our  hearts?  (Bengel:  IXdXet  ijulv ; 
to  us,  which  is  more  than  icdh  ns.)  And  when 
he  opened  to  us  the  Scripture — both  are  here 
viewed  as  one.  The  first  rebuking  word  to 
their  slow  hearts  was  continued  in  exposition  ; 
the  exposition  which  opened  and  won  their 
hearts  began  already  in  the  rebuke  and  declara- 
tion of  vers.  25,  26.  But  the  Scripture  is 
opened  to  us,  when  in  us  the  yoiS  and  nocftSia, 
the  eye  of  faith  and  the  eye  of  the  heart,  aie 
opened,  ver.  45.  This  was  to  them  a  foretaste 
and  anticipatory  beginning  of  the  Pentecoslal 
fire,  of  which  also  Luke  xii.  49  speaks.  Oh 
that  it  would  descend  now  upon  our  exposi- 
tors, to  melt  away  all  their  previous  unworthy 
thoughts  !  Oh  that  the  frightful  coldness  of 
many  were  exchanged  for  a  warm  heart  toward 
the  "Scripture,  which  speaks  of  Christ,  and 
through  which  Christ  speaks  !  The  living  de- 
monstration of  faith  is  found  only  in  this  way 
of  the  Emmaus  disciples  ;  but  Christ  is  always 
ready  thus  to  draw  near  and  go  with  us. 

Leipoldt,  the  excellent  preacher  on  Emmaus, 
is  exegetically  incorrect  when  he  lays  the  em- 
phasis on  the  past  tense — "Burned  not  our 
heart  within  us?  Thereby  they  declare  that 
it  was  tiol  the  same  with  them  then,  while  he  was 
yet  speaking,  and  now,  when  he  had  vanished 
from  their  eyes.  Even  the  still  life  of  faith 
and  love  is  not  the  less  on  that  account  a  burn- 
ing of  the  heart."  What  he  means  is  true, 
and  may  find  its  proper  application  to  their 
subsequent  remembrance  of  the  whole;  but  it 
is  quite  foreign  to  the  historical  reality.  Did 
not  our  hearts  burn  within  us  already  in  the 
way?  that  is  their  meaning  here,  just  after 
the  crisis  of  the  manifestation;  and,  althougii 
he  had  vanished,  the  zeal  of  their  faith  and 
love  burns  still  more  fervently  and  joyfully 


1  Kings  iii.  26,  are  analogous.  Thus  the  expres- 
sion is  not  exact,  but  it  is  true  that  the  disciples 
spoke  only  from  their  own  impulse,  and  did  not 
think  of  scriptural  words. 


736 


ON  THE  V/AY  TO  EMMAUS. 


^vithin  them.  Proof  of  this  is  their  hastening 
hack  to  Jerusalem,  after  they  had  tasted  but  a 
little  of  the  bread  blessed  by  him.  "They 
now  fear  not  the  journey  in  the  night,  who  had 
before  dissuaded  from  it  their  unknown  com- 
panion." Kai  dya6rdyr£i,  "and  they  rose 
up,"  as  themselves  risen  again.  They  find  the 
eleven  together  with  the  others.*  These  open  at 
their  knoching,  and  the  doors  are  then  pru- 
dently and  securely  shut.  But  the  message  of 
joy  which  they  bring  is  anticipated  by  the  in- 
tonation of  tiie  antiphony  of  tne  Easter  hymn 
— T/ie  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  halh  appeared 
unto  Simon. 'f  It  is  not  meant  that  they  all 
eaid  this  in  concert;  nor  does  ver.  35  intimate 
that  all  of  them  fully  and  firmly  believed  the 
new  report.  For  Mark  xvi.  13  must  retain  its 
force,  and  in  ver.  14  the  rebuke  of  the  unbelief 
and  hardness  of  heart  even  of  the  eleven.  J 


Such  is  theEmmaus  history,  in  which  Jesus 
fpenbs  from  beginning  to  end,  even  in  the  bread- 
breaking,  the  manifestation,  the  vanishing,  in 
the  witness  of  his  power  which  the  narrative 
gives.  The  event  was  ordered  by  him  thus, 
and  thus  recorded  to  us,  in  order  that  it,  and 
he  in  it,  might  speak  to  us  still  more.  .  The  first 
aim  of  his  "being  seen"  in  these  exhibitions 
of  himself  was  that  he  might  show  himself  to 
be  alive  ;  the  second  was  that  he  might  speak 
and  teach  (Acts  i.  3).  But  the  appearances  as 
TeH/.(7Jf)ia  and  signs  speak  (o  us  a  symbolical 
language  of  promise  for  the  future ;  and  we 
may  now  in  a  final  glance  at  the  whole  ask 
•what  is  the  significance  of  our  history.  He 
who  had  been  previously  visible  will  henceforth 
invisibly  draw  near  to  his  people  (ver.  15, 
lyyi6ai),hQ  their  fellow-traveller  upon  earth, 
yea,  enter  and  abide  with  them  :  to  give  them 
a  pledge  of  this,  to  detach  them  from  depend - 


*  Now  a  general  term,  referring  to  the  chasm  in 
the  number  ot  the  Apostles;  it  does  not  follow 
necessarily,  that  Luke  did  not  know  of  the  ab- 
sence of  Thomas. 

f  Peter,  certainly,  according  to  Mark  xvi.  7,  and 
1  Cor.  XV.  5.  But  even  after  such  a  favor  the 
fallen  one  is  not  yet  mentioned  by  h!s  name  of 
honor.  Did  he  see  the  Lord  before  and  after  the 
Emmaus  disciples  1  Chrys.  thinks,  "  to  liim  first 
among  the  men,  as  most  deeply  desiring  to  see 
him — or  m'  st  deejjly  needing,"  Possibly,  but. 
who  know.s  that  1  It  was  a  private  mys.ery  be- 
tween the  Lord  and  his  disciple. 

X  On  the  one  hand,  according  to  Benjel :  "  They 
believed,  but  suspicion  and  even  iircredulity  recur- 
red. Their  rising  faith  when  the  first  joy  was  re- 
moved, which  had  in  it  an  admixture  of  some- 
thing unwoiited  and  ecsfat  c,  was  not  faith, 
when  comjiaied  with  that  purged,  and  satisfied, 
and  apostolical  faith  which  followed  afterwards." 
On  the  other  hand,  according  to  Von  Oerlach, 
"tho  rebuke  of  Jesus  fell  upon  all  together  on  ac- 
count of  B(,me  individuals.  It  appears  that  the 
vvTcoi  here  is  directed  against  some  known  un- 
belief," 


ence  on  visible  intercourse  and  accustom  them 
to  this,  was  certainly  thedesiun  and  meaning  of 
all  the  appearances  of  the  Risen  Lord  in  the 
transition  to  the  day  of  Pentecost. — but  here  it 
was  most  plainly  shown.  Thus  it  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  given 
long  before.  Matt,  xviii.  20,  and  finally  in  Matt, 
xxviii.  20.  He  was  not  yet  properly  omnipres- 
ent through  the  Holy  Spirit  during  the  forty 
days ;  but  he  gave  a  final  typical  example 
thereof,  which  was  the  germ  of  its  full  accom- 
plishment. This  narrative  is  to  be  interpreted 
in  that  light;  but  this  being  perceived,  the 
natural,  historical  meaning  of  the  incidents  is 
to  be  distinguished  by  sober  exposition  from 
the  typical  meaning  which  was  shadowed  forth 
in  it :  the  unskilful  blending  of  the  two  tends 
much  to  the  disparagement  of  God's  word. 
Thus  at  the  very  outset :  the  eyes  of  the  di.s- 
ciples  were  holden  by  Christ ;  but  now,  alas  ! 
they  are  closed  by  our  own  fault,  so  that  we 
know  him  not.* 

The  narrative  teaches  us  in  the  details  and 
in  the  whole  what  the  Lord,  approaching  and 
going  with  us,  will  do :  this  need-j  no  further 
development.  But  the  answer  is  not  always 
quite  so  clear  which  we  must  give  to  the  ques- 
tion—  When  may  and  should  we  believe  that 
the  Lord  is  near  to  us  and  will  reveal  himself? 
First  of  all,  when  we  nmrrn  the  Comforter 
draws  nigh  with  his — Why  weep  ye,  and  are 
sad  ?  Specially,  however,  when  our  sorrow 
concerns  him  ;  but  such  sorrow  is  in  principle 
every  doubt  which  troubles  the  God-seeking 
heart,  all  inability  to  believe,  all  abandonment 
of  faith  and  hope.  For  all. swcerd  doubters  and 
seekers,  Psa.  xxii.  26  holds  good — in  wliich 
word  of  prophecy  the  Emmaus  history  itself 
seems  to  be  marvellously  pre-typified;  and  then, 
as  the  consequence  of  this  at  the  same  time  that 
it  is  the  condition  of  it,  when  we,  forsaking 
Jerusalem's  pernicious  uproar,  betake  ourselves 
into  seclusion  with  our  sorrow.  Again,  thirdly, 
when  we  do  not  selfishly  and  with  self-will 
shun  the  fellowship  of  those  like-minded  ;  but 
go  on  our  way  together  in  mutual  communion 
and  opening  of  heart.f  Oh  how  gladly  does  he 
make  the  third  or  the  fourth  of  such  little  com- 
panies of  two  and  three  I  Fourthly,  we  must, 
when  he  incites  us  to  it  in  the  form  of  another, 
mourn  to  him  and  tell  him  out  all  that  con- 
cerns us  ;  this  we  can  do,  even  in  the  beginning 
of  faith,  immediately  by  prayer.  Thus  it  pro- 
ceeds :  He,  fifthly,  points  us  to  Scripture  and 
Scripture  inquiry.  When  we,  with  seeking 
and  susceptible  hearts,  read  ourselves,  or  yield 
ourselves  up  to  be  preached  unto,  expounded 
to,  and  exhorted,!;  he  himself  is  near — and  then 
shall  we,  sixthly,  soon  begin  to  mark  that  our 
hearts  burn  within  us — until,  seventhly  and 


*  To  intimate  this,  is  the  reason  why  LuAe  here 
expresses  the  matter  in  this  particular  w.iy. 

t  They  might  hive  gone  sadly  and  silently 
one  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left. 

:t:  For  he  comes  now  to  men  by  the  medium  of 
other  men,  whom  Le  sends  in  bis  own  name. 


LUKE  XXIV.  27,  ETC. 


737 


finally,  while  we  are  holding  him  fast  in  our 
presentiment,  he  breaks  to  us  the  bread,  seals 
the  word  in  the  sacrament,  and  gives  us  more 
without  seeing  and  touching,  yet  by  the  taste 
of  inmost  experience,  than  all  the  understand- 
ing previously  given.  Those  are  the  seven 
steps  of  our  "Lord's  drawing  nigh.  Or  they 
may  be  condensed  into  three;  \\Qdraios  nigh  to 
us  and  teaches  us,  when  we  turn  and  open  our 
hearts  to  him  ;  he  abides,  when  we  ask  him  to 
do  so  (we  should  now  know  that  it  is  he)  ;  he 
gives  himself  to  be  known  by  us,  if  and  when 
we,  entering  into  ourselves,  take  him  with  us. 
But  most  important  in  the  whole  recital  is  his 
condescension  to  the  weak,  a  condescension 
which  our  rigorous  dogmatists  are  slow  to  learn  : 
he  does  not  at  once  demand  firm  faith  from  the 
slow  hearts,  which  he  nevertheless  penetrates, 
probes  and  blesses  ;  still  less  does  he  expect 
clear  perception  from  the  fools,  whom  he  is 
ready  with  equal  grace  to  rebuke  and  to  con- 
vince.* He  who  thinks  that  he  has  from  the  be- 
ginning known  and  understood  all  without  fail- 
ure, is  not  sincere  and  not  the  man  for  Christ's 
school,  who  gives  in  his  instruction  all  that  is 
found  wanting. 

Let  him  to  whom  error  still  adheres,  be 
humble  and  patient !  We  see  the  divisions 
and  sore  weakness  even  of  believers  (the  worse 
their  guilt) — and  should  we  so  rigorously  con- 
demn those  who  are  without  ?  If  so  few  of  us 
stand,  yea,  all  of  us  so  seldom,  in  the  full  power 
of  the  ?w?'t/,  because  not  in  perfect  consecration; 
it  with  us,  alas  !  there  is  dulness,  and  it  may  be 
such  impurity  of  vision,  as  the  Lord  must  re- 
buke—should we  demean  ourselves  so  rigor- 
ously, so  exactingly,  towards  unbelievers? 
Alas  1  that  in  many  instances  the  spiritually 
striving  life  is  on  the  side  of  those  who  sliil 
err ;  and  opposed  to  them  is — we  will  not  say 
what.f 

Further,  in  as  far  as  the  ^first  preliminary 
and  then  perfect  revelation  of  himself  by  the 
Lord  is  the  type  of  our  present  internal,  yet 


*  But  he  reproves  and  convinces  even  now  only 
by  Scripture.  We  have  no  right  even  in  liis  name 
to  use  the  rebuke— 0  fools  and  slow  of  heart  to 
believe  all  that  "  the  Church  "  has  established  and 
taught!  Become  mi<Thtyin  the  Scrip; ure thyself 
through  him — and  what  avails  it  1  No  man  shall 
then  rebuke  thee  as  a  fool. 

t  This  is  tho  meaning  of  the  173d  of  my  Un- 
lutheran  Theses,  which  must  not  be  retracted, 
whatever  offence  they  may  have  given.  Sincere  seek- 
ing avails  more  in  the  Lord's  sight  than  an  imagin- 
ary having  found,  which  without  love  and  without 
w;6dom  puts  d.fSculties  in  the  way  of  the  Neeker. 


still  more  living,  experience  of  his  power  and 
fellowship,  so  the  narrative  symbolizes  to  us — • 
how  the  internal  loord  and  the  internal  experience 
are  related  to  each  other.  It  repels  all  enthusi- 
astic seeking  and  enjoying  of  the  latter  alone, 
and  also  all  self-sufiicient  dealing  with  the 
former.  For  we  see  here  that  the  be2;inning  of 
fiiith  conies  from  the  word  and  proceeds  through 
the  word — but  in  and  after  the  word  comes 
also  the  Lord  himself,  giving  life,  and  in  it  as- 
surance. Desire  not  at  once  and  prematurely 
to  enjoy  and  possess  only  himself:  it  is  he 
himself  who  (with  some  exceptions)  leads  to 
the  lile  of  faith  through  the  Scripture  and 
preaching.  Here  learn  with  docility,  for  here 
13  the  living  transition.  Yes,  indeed,  already 
in  and  under  the  word  he  himself  seizes  thy 
heart — but  he  comes  himself  more  properly 
after  it,  as  not  only  drawing  nigh  but  clearly 
disclosed.  Therefore  be  thou  never  satisfied 
with  any  mere  understanding.  The  word  tes- 
tifies concerning  the  Living  One,  breathes  as  it 
were  his  breath,  but  it  is  not  himself.  He  who 
has  the  word  concerning  Christ  merely  in  the 
external  understanding  (without  the  urgent 
seeking  of  the  heart) — has  essentially  nothing, 
and  although  most  orthodox  has  no  sound 
faith.  He  who  believes  the  word  from  the  heart 
— is  in  the  way  with  the  Lord,  already  his 
companion.  Then  will  the  day  dawn,  and  the 
day-star  arise  in  his  heart  (2  Pet.  i.  19) ;  but 
it  will  be  evening  again,  and  the  Lord  will  test- 
ingly  seem  to  be  going  farther — then  pray  and 
hold  him  fast,  constrain  him.  He  who  possesses 
him  as  him  that  liveth,  has  reached  the  goal. 
But,  again,  it  is  not  as  if  the  external  word 
must  be  rejected,  as  the  mere  staff  by  the  way. 
The  history  is  ever  being  renewed.  The  word 
also  as  the  medium  of  his  Spirit  abides  ;  and 
we  need  it  for  a  continual  test  whether  our  in- 
ternal experience,  possession,  and  enjoyment  is 
genuine — and  in  order  to  our  increasing  en- 
lightenment and  assurance.  Let  us  well  observe 
how  through  the  word  and  sacrament  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  Sjiirit  is  attained.  With  these 
we  should  be  content,  since  the  ascension  has 
withdrawn  from  us  the  "  seeing  of  himself,"  and 
he  holds  our  eyes  ;  until  one  day  our  eyes  and 
our  hearts  will  be  finally  and  fully  opened. 
For  finally,  this  way  to  Emraaus  is  a  figure 
of  our  life  pilgrimage :  he  who  now  in  the 
beginning  is  olten  for  a  long  time,  in  a  certain 
sense  down  to  the  end,  an  unknown  Guide, 
Teacher,  and  Comforter,  will  in  the  eventide  be 
perfectly  adored — then  will  he  visibly  break  to 
us  the  bread  of  eternal  life,  without  vanishing 
again  out  of  our  sight. 


rr.? 


.dt:^' 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 
([Mark  xvi.  14] ;  Luke  xxiv.  36-41 ;  John  xx.  19-23.) 


Few  words  are  needful  to  establish  our  con- 
viction that  the  section,  Mark  xvi.  9-20,  is 
genuine.  Reuss  decides  (appealing  to  Tischen- 
dorf),  on  the  evidence  of  a  purely  diplomatic 
criticism  of  manuscripts,  that  this  is  an  "  addi- 
tion of  a  very  late  period,"  and  Hofmann  ad- 
heres to  this  view  ;  but  we  perfectly  agree  with 
Guericke,  who  has  fully  settled  the  question. 
We  appeal  to  his  demonstration,  that  the  ex- 
ternal arguments  against  it  are  not  uncon- 
ditionally valid,  and  that  much  internal  evi- 
dence is  strongly  in  its  favor.  The  conclusion 
of  a  Gospel  with  merely  the  words  of  the  angel, 
with  the  report  that  the  women  said  nothing 
to  any  man,  with  "  they  were  afraid  " — appears 
to  us  never  to  have  been  the  original  design  of 
the  Evangelist,  and  Hofmann  himself  admits 
the  same.  Against  Greg.  Nyss.,  Euseb.,  and 
Jerome,  stand  Irenteus,  who  mentions  ver.  19 
as  "  the  end  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark,"  the  Pe- 
shito,  and  all  the  old  versions.  The  alleged 
difference  of  style  is  partly  not  true,  and  partly 
to  be  explained  by  the  recapitulating  concise- 
ness of  such  a  conclusion.  Its  omission  might 
have  proceeded  from  the  Evangelist's  having 
jor  a  time  allowed  his  writing  to  be  devulged 
in  a  state  of  incompleteness — while  he  hesitat- 
ed how  to  sura  up  all  the  rest  in  few  words. 
This  at  any  rate  is  imaginable;  but  not  so 
Hofmann's    theory    of    a   definitely    imperfect 


Qoapd. 
Th 


.'he  Evangelist  Mark  (we  therefore  con- 
fidently maintain)  gives  us  in  ver.  14  a  very 
rapid  report  of  the  first  appearance  of  the  Lord 
in  the  circle  of  the  Apostles,  on  the  evening  of 
the  day  of  his  resurrection.  For, "  it  is  clear  that 
we  have  here  the  colloquy  on  Easter  evening;  " 
this  much  we  concede  to  Kinkel,  but  not  that 
vers.  15-18  also  belong  to  the  same  colloquy, 
thus  making  the  ascension  coincide  with  the 
same  day.  (But  more  of  this  in  due  time.) 
The  r6TEftoy,  aftencanh,  is  by  no  means  aL 
last  (Vulg.  mvisnime),  in  the  sense  that  this  (as 
we  find  in  Allioli)  "  was  Lue  last  appearance  of 
Jesus  Christ,  shortly  before  the  ascension." 
Nor  is  it,  as  Bengel  (who  in  his  Oerm.  N.  T. 
translates  "  finally  ")  interprets  in  the  Gnomon: 
"  Not  absolutely  the  last  of  the  appearances, 
but  of  those  which  Mark  records."  For  the 
following  xai  eiTCey  evidently  belongs,  if  we 
compare  the  others,  to  a  later  appearance  (it  is 
indeed  parallel  with  Matt,  xxviii.  18-20)  ;  and 
Mark  embraces,  as  ver.  19  teaches,  all  the 
\a\fj6ai  avtoti,  before  the  ascension,  in  a  few 
leading  traits.  Thus,  as  Grotius  decided  for 
the  obvious  chronological  sense — "  Non  est 
postremo  sed  deinde."  What  he  concedes  after- 
wards, that  it  may  be  taken  for  aCOii,  is  less 
appropriate,  for  it  corresponds  in  the  series 
738 


with  the  TtpcSrov  of  ver.  9,  and  jerd  Si  ravra 
of  ver.  12.  It  is  a  repeated  postca  (comp. 
Matt.  iv.  2),  and  will,  before  the  brief  summing 
up  of  the  XaXeiy  is  introduced,  arrange  the 
three  remarkable  appearances  of  the  ^first  day 
of  the  ID  eh  (ver.  9),  and  intimate  by  the  ex- 
pression which  seems  to  pass  over  into  fmstremo 
— that  not  till  late,  and  as  the  last,  the  eleven 
(sitting  at  the  evening  meal)  received  their 
manifestation.* 

Once  more  "he  appeared,"  itpavepooOTf,  but 
710'.  now  in  another  form — this  is  emphatically 
contrasted  in  Mark's  words,  and  perfectly  agrees 
with  the  record  of  the  others,  which  represents 
the  Lord  as  most  perfectlv  and  certainly  re- 
vealing himself  to  them.  When  this  Evangel- 
ist gives  prominence  only  to  the  rebuke  of 
their  unbelief,  he  shows  us  generally  that  it 
was  his  purpose  only  to  hasten  over  this  as  a 
connecting  link  for  his  concluding  words  ;  no 
thoughtful  reader  can  suppose  that  the  mission 
of  ver.  15  was  thus  immediately  connected 
with  the  sharp  ovstSiZ^iv.  Further,  Mark 
pre-supposes  that  the  more  precise  tradition 
of  that  which  he  briefly  hinted  was  known  to 
most  of  his  readers :  and  hence  we  understand 
the  6HX7]poHaf}8ia,  "slowness  of  heart  "  (Luke 
xxiv.  25)  which  would  say  :  "  He  rebuked  the 
Apostles  not  less  than  the  di-sciples  from  Era- 
maus."  How  this  rebuke  is  reconciled  with  the 
peace  and  the  showing  himself  which  the  oth- 
ers record,  we  shall  see  in  the  end.  Mark  calls 
the  company  of  the  Apostles  without  Thomas 
tlie  eleven,f  just  as  in  Luke  ver.  33  ;  and  as  1 
Cor.  XV.  5  the  two  appearances  on  this  and  the 
following  Sunday  are  embraced  together  as — to 
the  twelve.  Here  in  Mark  Thomas  is  not  in- 
cluded among  the  ayaxEt/usyoii  ;  but  the 
Evangelist  has  this  reason  for  speaking  so  gen- 
erally, that  one  of  the.^e  eleven  remained  long 
and  firmly  in  unbelief,  and  then  received  the 
7nost  gracious  rebuke. 

Mary  Magdalene  had  announced,  the  other 
women  had "  related  ;  to  one  of  the  Apostles, 
though  not  as  an  Apostle,  but  as  the  troubled 
Simon,  the  Lord  had  appeared  for  his  abundant 

•  "  At  last,  that  is,  on  h  s  departure  and  as  his 
farewell  belore  his  ascension,  the  Lord  adminis- 
tered rebuke"  (llelt'erich).  There  is  a  certain 
truth  in  this  as  I'ar  as  regards  Mark's  summary ; 
but  it  is  not  true  that  after  the  intercourse  of  the 
forty  days,  and  the  faith  of  Thomas,  etc.,  the 
Lord  left,  as  his  testament  and  farewell  rebukes 
of  faults  which  were  altogether  past  and  oveii 
Every  unprejudiced  feeling  must  contradict  this. 

t  The  conjecture  of  Michaelis  avroli  xai  roH 
eySsHcx  might  do  very  well,  but  cannot  be  de- 
fended, nor  is  it  necessary. 


LUKE  XXIV.  36-41,  ETC. 


739 


consolation ;  but  the  others,  most  of  them  at 
least,  find  their  hearts  quite  unprepared  to  be- 
lieve those  who  had  seen  the  Lord  as  risen.* 
Then  come  the  two  joyful  messengers  from 
Emmaus,  with  their  burning,  melting  hearts, 
and  shame  them  by  the  artless  account  of  their 
own  fnith,  in  the  word  brought  home  to  their 
understanding  before  they  had  seen — but  neither 
lelicvcd  theij  t)um,  says  Mark,  that  he  may  con- 
nect with  this  his  immediately  following  after- 
wards.  Consequently  we  are  not  to  suppose  in 
the  converse  which  Luke,  ver.  36,  records  by 
"  as  (hey  thus  spake  "  any  general  and  perfect 
unbelief— after  vers.  34,  35 ;  but  certainly  there 
was  no  unanimous  and  joyful  faith,  which 
would  not  be  mentioned  with  a  mere  ravra 
XaXsIv,  iaUdngof  these  things,  and  Luke,  vers.  37 
and  41,  decisively  confirms  this.  So  far  all  agrees 
very  well.  We  cannot,  however,  adopt  the 
concise  words  of  Richter's  Uaudtibel :  "  But  as 
Ihey  were  speaking  thereof,  disputing  away 
tlieii  faith  "f — though  there  is,  on  the  one 
hand,  some  general  truth  in  this.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  not  altogether  as  Tholuck 
eays :  "  Full  of  joy  and  of  that  internal  lile 
which  increasing  assurance  must  create,  the 
disciples  are  talking  together  about  it" — though 
there  is  also  some  truth  in  this.  Suffice  it  that 
they  waver  and  doubt  even  yet  whether  they 
might  dare  to  believe  the  great  fact ;  this  is  es- 
timated by  the  Lord  as  dni6ria,  or  unbelief, 
and  therefore  is  recorded  by  Mark  as  ovde 
t7Ci6tEv6av.  In  his  deep  wisdom  the  Lord, 
although  his  love  to  his  chosen  Apostles  and 
witnesses  must  have  drawn  him  mightily,  had 
Wilhheld  himself  from  them  down  to  this 
vdT6f3oy  ;  he  administered  to  the  future  preach- 
ers of  the  faith  the  severest  test,  as  was  fit. 
But  he  had  at  the  same  time  by  degrees  pre- 
pared them,  attracted  them  more  and  more 
f>owerfully  towards  faith,  by  varying  evidence, 
rom  the  empty  sepulchre  to  the  tidings  of  the 
Emmaus  disciples  ;  for  this  was  needful  to  their 
disposition  of  mind,  which  as  it  more  deeply 
pondered  all  things,  so  was  more  slow  in  decis- 
ion. They  did  not,  as  he  foreknew,  altogether 
stand  when  they  were  tried ;  but  they  were  so 
far  prepared  that  he  anticipated  the  promised 
meeting  in  Galilee,  and  entered  among  them 
now  with  his  graciously  rebuking  peace.  Di- 
vided between  laith  and  unbelief,  they  are  never- 
theless gathered  together  into  one  place  {6vvri- 
6poi6uevovi^)  as  his  disciples,  who  can  speak 
and  think  only  about  himself;  thus  he  finds 
them   desiring  most  earnestly  to  believe  the 


in  the  same  sacred  paschal  room  where  he  had 


*  LTchmann's    test    adds   with    emphatic    Ih 

VEHp(Sv. 

f  Most  assuredly  not  as  Teschendorf  exagger- 
ates: They  sousht,  to  bring  all  into  suspicion,  the 
declaration  of  Mary,  of  Peter,  and  of  Cleophas — 
that  Mary  had  only  seen  the  gardener,  Peter 
probably  a  wiKul  Sadducee  who  deceived  him  (!), 
the  two  disciples  a  learned  scribe  who,  becoming 
aware  of  their  error,  made  that  a  handle. 


last  sat  in  the  midst,  spoken  with  them,  estab- 
lished his  testament,  and  prayed  in  their  hear- 
ing. Farewell  and  welcome  tenderly  join  their 
hands  over  this  sad  interval.  We  must  not 
too  lar  press  the  "  toward  evening"  and  "  the 
day  is  far  spent"  of  the  Emmaus  disciples; 
we  must  assume  a  very  rapid  hastening  back 
on  the  part  of  these  happy  men  ;  and  the  oipicx, 
John  ver.  19  (still  the  first  day  of  the  week), 
is  not  already  dark  night,  as  Nonnus  describes 
it.  We  may  understand  it  of  the  Jirst  evening 
of  the  Jews,  as  Matt,  xxvii.  57.  2^/iis  is  now 
the  sanctuary  and  Church  of  the  Lord,  not 
where  the  evening  sacrifice  is  brought;  the 
High  Priest  comes  here  to  his  people  with  his 
benediction  and  peace. 

Inasmuch  as  John  has  already  mentioned 
the  ecentiile,  ha  cannot  mean  by  the  "  doors  be- 
ing shut "  to  indicate  the  tune,  but  the  actually 
shutting  of  the  doors  of  the  houses  where  the  dis- 
ciples were.  He  gives  also  the  decisive  reason 
for  fear  of  the  Tews.  For  Sid  rvv  (pu/jov  with- 
out any  comma  must  not  be  connected  only  with 
6uvT/y,ii£voi  ;  at  furthest  it  must  be  referred 
to  both  together  (Grotius,  Lampe,  Bengel),  re- 
ferring both  to  the  shutting  of  the  doors  and 
their  own  assembling* — that  is,  if  6vvyyi.i£voi 
itself  is  genuine.  According  to  our  feeling, 
John  as  certainly  gives  the  cause  of  the  unu- 
sual door-shutting  ;  and  further  marks  by  the 
latter  something  miraculous  in  the  Lord's  en- 
trance. Hezel  thinks  that  the  'louS(x2oi  were 
not  the  high  council  or  the  rulers  of  the  people 
(as  elsewhere  in  John  lor  the  most  part)  but 
the  Jews,  those  who  were  generally  Jewishly, 
that  is,  evil  disposed  towards  Jesus  ;  but  a 
comparison  with  chap.  vii.  13,  ix.  22,  xii.  42, 
shows  us  the  contrary;  and  the  Evangelist 
thereby  intimates  that  even  the  disciples,  the 
Apostles  themselves,  were  not  more  bold  than 
those  half-believing  but  not  confessing  indi- 
viduals among  the  people  whom  he  had  for- 
merly mentioned.  Assuredly,  had  not  these  af- 
frighted disciples  seen  the  Risen  Lord  himself, 
they  never  could  have  been  his  witnesses  to 
the  world. 

Then  came  he  unto  them  himself,  after  so 
many  announcements  of  his  living  had  pre- 
cedent The  7}X0£y,  he  came,  in  John  has 
certainly  a  designed  reference  to  the  closed 
doors,  although  it  is  not  said — thrmigh  the 
doors;  nor  is  there  expressly  recorded  any 
miraculous  opening  of  them  (as  in  Acts  xii. 
10,  comp.  V.  19,  23).  Lampe,  indeed,  thinks 
it  possible  according  to  the  text  that  the  Lord 
knocked,  and  that  it  was  then  opened  to  him  ; 
or  that  he  entered  immediately  after  the  Em- 
maus disciples,  before  the  door  was  again  shut 
(which  is  not  to  be  reconciled  with  Luke)  ;J 


*  It  would  then  symbolize  the  secret  assemblies 
of  disciples  which  is  winked  at  or  in  a  sense  per- 
mitted to  our  weakness,  in  fear  of  the  world. 

f  In  Luke  the  6  'l?/6ovi  after  avro?  must  be 
struck  out,  as  most  critics  agree. 

^  According  to  Teschendorf  he  knocked  twice 
before  the  door  was  opened  to  him. 


i*6 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


but  the  hiocking  and  opening  would  certainly 
(as  in  Acta  xii.  13)  as  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance have  been  precisely  recorded,  after  the 
closing  of  the  doors  had  been  mentioned  so  ex- 
pressly.* Instead  of  this  we  read  in  Luke  the 
mysteriously  sounding,  instantaneous  £6Ttj  kv 
/ue'6a),  he  stood  in  t/ie  midst,  and  nothing  more  ; 
in  John  it  is  true  we  read  e6z7]  eii  to  i.ie6ov 
(with  which,  however,  chap.  xxi.  4,  ^H  tov 
aiytaXuy  is  to  be  compared)  ;  but  this  in  con- 
nection with  the  "doors  shut  "  has  the  meaning 
of  a  miraculous  circumstance,  and  this  is  com- 
municated to  the  7}XQsy,  he  came.  We  think 
that  they  saw  him  not,  as  it  were,  coming 
through  the  (still  shut  or  self-opening)  door; 
nor  (as  Lampe  says)  "coming  forward  in  his 
ordinary  manner;"  but  his  sudden  presence 
there,  standing  in  their  midst,  was  his  comin.'j, 
here  as  in  ver.  26.  That  he  could  thus  appear, 
unimpeded  by  the  closed  door,  is  self-under- 
stood in  the  analogy  of  all  his  other  appear- 
ances and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  spoken 
of;  although  we  have  no  experimental  insight 
into  the  character  of  his  risen  body.  Lucke 
maintains  decidedly  that  a  medium  between 
etherial  angel  corporeity  and  material,  bodily 
solidity  is  to  him  unimnginable ;  and  we  may 
allow  this,  without  finding  in  it  any  argument 
against  those  who  have  from  the  beginning 
thought  otherwise.  To  the  intervening  con- 
dition of  the  forty  days,  as  the  Scripture  ex- 
hibits it,  there  corresponds  nothing  but  a  me- 
dium between  perfect  spiritualization  or  glori- 
fication, and  perfect  similarity  to  the  state  be- 
fore death ;  all  our  error  may  be  traced  to 
an  unhappy  leaning  either  to  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  extremes.  Many  of  the  fathers, 
with  whom  we  cannot  at  all  agree,  speak  with- 
out consideration  on  this  subject,  and  only  ren- 
der the  marvel  more  marvellous.  Most  un- 
founded is  that  of  Theodoret:  "He  passed 
through  the  door,  even  cj5  Ic.yX'^Ev  eh i-n'/rpai." 
Better  Augustine:  "It  had  been  already  in 
his  pov/er  to  walk  upon  the  water."|  Quite 
right,  but  to  what  end  is  such  a  mere  miracle 
of  omnipotence  here,  as  he  views  it  ?  Christ 
must  have  designed  to  point  out  something  to 
his  disciples  by  the  manner  of  his  coming  ;  and 
nothing  remains  but  that  we  say — he  will 
teach  them  two  things  :  that  he  lives  bodily 
(as  will  presently  be  seen  to  follow)  ;  and  that 
this  bodiiiness — to  obviate  all  misunderstand- 
ing— is  at  the  same  time  different,  and  already 
less  bound  than  before.  Hence  Epiphanius 
most  correctly  ascribes  to  the  body  of  the  Risen 
Lord  a  XcTtrorj/i  TtvEvfiariHjj^  a  "spiritual 
subtility  ;"  Euthymius  says, J  "  His  body  being 


*  Apart  fro  n  the  thoualit  that  such  a  manner 
of  coniins  would  be  unsuitable  to  the  majesty  of 
the  Conqueror  of  death — even  as  a  condescending 
symbolizinji  of  Rev.  ill.  20. 

I  Throuiih  want  of  insight  into  the  power  of 
the  spirit  ruling  ihe  body,  he  rejiards  this  as  "  con- 
trary to  the  nature  of  the  body,"  which  it  abso- 
lutely is  not. 

t  Poetically  in  Nonnus  :  gjJ  itTSpor  iji  vo-qixa 


now  subtile,  thin,  and  unmixed."  The  ques- 
tion has  been  lately  confused  by  the  Lutheran 
champions  of  the  so-called  uUqnitas  corjwri* 
Chrisli.  This  is  not  to  be  held  in  any  such 
sense  as  they  teach  it,  certainly  not  before  the 
ascension  ;  and  this  passage  cannot  be  made 
evidence,  since  it  says  nothing  about  penetrat- 
ing or  coming  in  any  way,  indeed  penetration 
opposes  the  notion  of  ubiquity.  (Lampe  : 
Why  should  he  penetiate  and  approach,  if  he 
was  there  already  by  his  omnipresence?)  Cal- 
vin, therefore,  termed  this  penetrating  through 
the  door,  and  so  forth,  puerile  conceits.  But 
when  he  assumed  that  the  Lord's  ?}\OEy  was 
connected  with  a  display  of  his  power — "on 
the  Lord's  coming  the  closed  doors  opened  at 
the  nod  of  his  divine  majesty"* — we  can  only 
say  that  this  opening  is  not  in  the  text,  the 
HEHXEi6nivoov,  "  being  shut,"  of  which  sounds 
rather  as  if  they  remained  closed.  Suffice  it 
that  we  must  leave  all  exact  definition,  and 
confine  ourselves,  on  a  subject  of  which  we 
know  nothing,  to  the  simple  truth  that  the 
Lord,  as  he  could  be  either  visible  or  invisible. 
so  could  come  into  a  closed  room  ;  that  this  was 
a  miracle  connected  with  the  relatively  miracu- 
lous nature  of  his  present  body ;  and  that  John 
records  it,  as  and  because  the  Lord  did  it,  to 
indicate  this  characteristic  of  his  risen  body. 
We  agree,  further,  with  Tholuck,  in  regarding 
the  otherwise  unrequired  repetition  of  this  cir- 
cumstance in  ver.  26  as  decisive  for  this  mean- 
ing in  his  account. 

But  we  say  finally  :  More  important  than  the 
instruction  which  the  Lord  here  gives  concern- 
ing the  XETtrorrji  of  the  body  of  his  resurrec- 
tion, is  the  symbolico-jirophitical  significance  of 
this  sign,  in  the  analogy  of  all  the  similar  ap- 
pearances of  the  forty  days.  To  this  the  Evan- 
gelist points  our  attention  by  the  mention  of 
the /far,  and  we  should  understand — Thus  does 
the  bringer  of  peace  penetrate  all  the  bolts  of 
fear  and  weakness  in  the  hearts  of  his  disicples, 
and  comes  with  his  blessing  when  they  are  as- 
sembled as  a  company  of  his  own.  Doors  hinder 
him  not,  like  closed  hearts. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  the  word  of  entrance — 
Peace  be  nnto  you — testified  alike  by  Luke  and 
John.  The  Apostles  receive  the  resurrection- 
greeting  at  the  latest,  but  it  is,  therefore,  all 
the  more  emphatic  and  sure  :  the  Lord  enters 
with  this  greeting  only  to  thorn,  and  for  their 
sake  to  those  who  are  assembled  with  them. 
His  word  connects  itself  with  the  jiejce  which 
he  had  at  his  farewell  both  left  and  promised  to 
give  :  the  first  word  on  his  return  reminds 
them  of  that,  and  points  to  the  fulfillment  of 
the  promise.  See  John  xiv.  27,  xvi.  33,  and 
what  we  have  already  said  upon  the  profound 
meaning    of    this   ordinary  greeting    as   used 


tterdf36io?  eH  liiedov  tGrrj.  Tie  afterwards 
handled  corporeity  by  no  means  "  contradicts  " 
this  '■  spiritual  entering  through  an  unopened 
door  " — but  both  in  their  union  attt^st  only  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  in  the  body  of  the  Loid. 
*  Jeiomo:  Creatuia  cedente  Creatori. 


LUKE  XXIV.  36-41.  ETC. 


741 


by  the  Lord  himself.  The  whole  fulness  of  ac- 
complished and  attained  salvation  lies  in  this 
one  word,  which  the  Apostles  afterwards  so 
often  gave  to  the  Church  for  inexhaustible  ex- 
perience ;  here,  however,  it  was  first  obviously 
intended  to  take  from  them  not  merely  all  fear 
of  the  Jews,  but  all  that  fear  which  his  appear- 
ance excited  in  their  hearts.  The  Lord  gives 
his  peace  first,  before  he  renews  the  rebuke  of 
his  love.  This  "  Peace  be  with  you  !  "  was,  as 
Dietz  preaches,  "  a  mighty  heart-quickening 
assurance  that  all  the  past,  its  sin,  and  per- 
versions, was  forgiven  and  forgotten.  Be  not 
afraid,  would  Jesus  say.  I  come  not  as  a 
wrathful  judge,  to  reckon  with  you  thus  for 
your  unbelief  and  unfaithfulness;  I  do  not 
enter  among  you  as  one  who  has  been  injured, 
to  reproach  you  for  your  blameworthy  conduct. 
I  bring  to  you  (and  all  the  world)  from  my 
sepulchre  something  very  different  from  iip- 
braidings."  These  indeed  followed  afterwards  ; 
how  could  the  Apostles  escape,  who  deserved 
them  more  than  those  two  disciples  in  the  way  ? 
Yet  it  is  love  that  rebukes,  in  peace  and  unto 
peace.  With  all  the  weakness,  and  even  ob- 
duracy of  their  unbelief,  they  are  nevertheless 
children  of  peace,  worthy  and  susceptible  of 
receiving  it  (Luke  x.  5,  6).  But  as  to  the 
Jews,  fur  fear  of  whom  they  have  shut  them- 
selves in,  whether  they  are  enemies  or  only  in- 
difTerent— how  could  Jesus  bring  and  offer 
peace  to  them  ? 

Tiiere  is  a  very  plausible  reading*  which 
follows  Luke's  "  Peace  be  to  you  "  by  the  re- 
assuring comfort  eyoS  £i/.n,  Mt)  (pu/JeieOe.  But 
we  preler  to  adhere  to  John  ;  this  addition  to 
the  sublime  and  all-comprehending  word  at  his 
entrance  seems  premature,  and  scarcely  in  har- 
mony with  the  fear  and  terror  which  follows  in 
Luke  ver.  37.  They  are  terrified  at  the  peace, 
they  are  afraid  of  the  Lord  and  Master  whom 
they  had  so  painfully  longed  for — for  they  sup- 
pose they  see  a  spirit.  Klee  says  :  "  His  com- 
ing so  marvelloudy  into  their  midst  was  the 
reason  why  they  took  him  for  a  spirit."  Almost 
right,  in  as  far  as  this  bodily  penetration  of  the 
Lord  through  a  closed  door  must  have  at  once 
excited  doubt  as  to  his  real  corporeity  ;  and  so 
this  circumstance  would  be  a  new  argument 
for  our  previous  exposition.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, this  alone,  but  generally  the  novelty  of 
the  appearance  of  the  form  of  him  who  had 
been  dead,  that  made  such  an  impression  upon 
them.  Mark  here,  as  in  its  highest  exposition, 
the  fear  of  spiriis  which  belongs  to  the  natural 
man,  and  which  could  only  be  "overcome  by  the 
peace  of  the  Pusen  Lord.  We  may  even  say, 
penetrating  deeper  into  its  most  general  mean- 
ing (and  to  this  end  TtvsCjua  is  here  chosen) — 
Thus  fears  the  flesh  before  the  spirit — before 
the  spirit  only  improperly  regarded  as  utterly 


without  body.  Meanwhile,  itvsvua  here  signi- 
fies something  specific  ;  it  is  not  altogether  the 
same  as  (po'VracJyua  in  the  similar  want  of  recog- 
nition upon  the  sea,  Matt.  xiv.  26.  Nor  is  it 
"an  appearance  without  essence"  (lor  see 
afterwards,  ver.  39,  the  recognition  of  the  ex- 
istence of  such  nvFii/iuxra)  ;  nor  "a  higher 
superhuman  being,"  as  Von  Gerlach  says  on 
this  passage;  nor  a  damovtov  d6cJ/iiaroy,  as 
we  find  in  Ignat.  ad  Smym.  c.  3  ;*  but,  as  in 
Acts  xxiii.  8  with  ayyeXoi,  correlative  of 
dva6ra6ii,  a  human  soul  without  the  body 
(yet  seen  visibly),  an  sl'dcoXov  from  the  king- 
dom of  the  dead — thus  rather  a  being  in  nnother 
manifestation  than  that  with  whicli  we  are 
familiar.  The  disciples  do  not  think  as  "  a 
spirit "  might  mislead  us  to  suppose,  of  an  evil 
spirit;  but  their  doH£iy,m  connection  with 
the  perfectly  cognizable  form  of  Jesus,  indi- 
cates only  that  this  Jesus  who  had  certainly 
been  dead  appeared  to  them  without  a  body, 
that  is  as  nvsvua:  they  cannot  yet  apprehend 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Tlie  whole  scene 
.•^hows  us  "superstition,  unbelief.and  true  faith  in 
reference  to  the  kingdom  of  spirits"  (Heubner) 
— concerning  which  much  might  be  said  in  more 
precise  development.  Perverted  man,  until  he 
has  come  to  sound  faith,  vibrates  contradictorily 
between  too  much  and  too  little  faith,  between 
superstition  and  unbelief.  The  "thing  in- 
credible" is  altogether  too  great  and  wonderful 
for  him— he  may  maintain  it  in  his  system  and 
as  a  dogma  ;  but  if  God  actually  re-awakens  in 
the  bo3y  such  as  have  been  bodily  dead,  he 
cannot  believe  it  (Acts  xxvi.  8).  He  has  a 
superstition  as  to  the  mere  spirit,  that  there  may 
and  is  such  alone  ;  he  has  nevertheless  (in  tes- 
timony of  the  error  and  unnaturalness  in  his 
too  much  faith)  "a  secret  horror  of  all  pure 
spirit,  unclothed  of  bodily  investiture."  He 
>-as  an  unbelief  m  the  continuance  and  restora- 
tion of  corporiety  beyond  death ;  the  very 
(supposed)  appearance  of  such  corporeity  amazes 
him," as  if  it  could  only  be  a  lie  of  the  abominated 
spirit ;  nevertheless,  he  is  pacified,  and  brought 
to  true  and  certain  faith,  to  peace  even  as 
respects  the  world  beyond,  only  by  the  con- 
vincing demonstration  of  a  bodily  human  life 
which  has  gone  through  and  survived  death. 
This  last  is  the  surest  proof  that  the  body  and 
the  soul  of  man  belong  inseparably  together, 
and  that  the  resurrection  is  the  only  complete 
victory  over  death.  Whence  else  the  horror  of 
an  unclothed  spirit,  and  of  being  unclothed 
generally  (found  even  in  the  Apostle,  2  Cor.  v. 
4) — even  among  those  who  hope  to  be  such 
spirits  ?  Here  there  is  co-existing  with  a  germ 
of  faith  superstition  and  infidelity  still,  the  in- 


*So  the  Pesh.  \6nin  iib  J<JX  i<JS-Vu]g. 
"  Ego  sum,  nolite  timere."  Ambrose  thus  quotes 
it,  and  the  Arab.  Vers,  so  translates.  Bengel  too 
accepts  it. 


*  This  being,  as  by  Grotius,  understood  of  a 
bad  spirit  or  of  the  devil ;  thou  h  the  word  was 
at  a  later  time  used  of  departed  men.  Moreover, 
the  passaae  in  Ignatius  (concerning  whicli  Euse- 
bius,  iii.  36,  says  that  he  knows  not  whence  it  was 
derived)  is  referred  by  Jerome,  fatal,  to  the  Gospel 
of  the  Nazarenes ;  by  Origen,  Ttspi  apxc^Vt  to 
the  doctrina  Fetri. 


742 


FIRST  APPEAEANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


distinctness  and  baseleness  of  which  brings  its 
own  tear;  but  which  at  the  sarre  time  rests 
upon  unbelief  in  the  reality  of  oQr  corporeity, 
as  triumphing  even  over  death. 

As  unbelief  in  the  disciples  now  degenerates 
thns  into  superstition,  and  confounds  them 
with  feur,  the  Lord  graciously  goes  on  to  en- 
courage them.*  Luke,  vers.  38-40,  is  evidently 
paralhd  with  John,  ver.  20.  Because  John  will 
report  the  following  and  more  important  words, 
he  pa-ses  over  those  which  are  mentioned  by 
Luke  as  accompanying  the  shvwing.  As  he  had 
formerly  spoken  in  Mark  iv.  40;  Matt.  viii. 
26,  the  Lord  must  still  continue  to  speak  to 
his  disciples — even  down  to  this  time,  when 
he  comes  to  them  to  abide  with  them  forever 
in  the  Spirit,  he  must  bear  with  their  unbe- 
lieving and  perverted  thoughts  (Matt.  xvii. 
17).  Were  he  yet  capable  of  suffering,  his 
Passion  would  now  begin  again.  But  the  con- 
summate power  of  his  high-priestly  patience 
and  long  forbearance  now  elevates  his  bearing 
our  weakness  above  every  thing  like  suffering 
it;  and  he  knows  that  such  weakness  will  be 
of  perpetual  recurrence,  and,  moreover,  that 
his  peace  penetrating  through  the  doors  of  their 
fear  will  soon  most  perfectly  enter  their  hearts. 
L"  an  anticipatory  "Be  not  afraid,  it  is  I!" 
was  not  before  suitable  to  the  occasion,  it  is 
appropriate  now  and  is  most  emphatically 
spoken.  Btfore  there  was  the  expression  of 
one  humbling  question — Wherefore  do  ye  still 
fear?  in  which  the  word  "fear"  is  designedly 
omitted  ;  then  follows  an  incontrovertible  eyaj 
tini,  evident  both  to  their  sense  and  to  their 
understanding.  He  convinces  them  by  the 
very  tone  and  substance  of  the  well-known  and 
gracious  appeal,  ver.  38,  before  in  ver.  39  he 
directs  them  to  the  visible  and  palpable  cor- 
poreity of  his  manifested  presence.  It  is  as  it 
(opposing  the  mildest  report  to  their  excite- 
ment) he  should  begin — Children,  do  ye  not 
then  know  me  again  ?  (at  the  same  time,  as  if 
the  death  which  had  intervened  came  not  into 
consideration ;  as  if  he  had  entered  and  was 
speaking  to  them,  just  as  in  earlier  times). 
He  terms  their  amazement  and  fear  merely  a 
disquietude,  a  confusion  of  the  heart ;  and  ap- 
plies his  instructing  conviction  at  once  to  their 
erroneous  thoughts.  I  know  well  what  ye  now 
think.  What  follows  shows  us  this  meaning  in 
his  question,  for  he  goes  on  to  refute  their  de- 
lusion about  "  spirit."  ^laXoyiC/noi  are  not 
here  simply  cogitationes,  as  the  Vulg.  translates, 
but  critical  questionings,  doubting  and  contra- 
dictorv  thoughts,  as  in  chap.  ix.  46  ;  Phil.  ii. 
14 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  8.  These  arise  out  of  the  hidden 
(ground  of  nature,  contemplated  by  the  Lord 
in  its  depths,  in  the  hearts  of  the  disciples — 


*  His  word  of  Peace  was  scarcely  heard  by 
them  before  the  sudden  beholding  of  his  form. 
This  in  a  measure  justifies  Luther's  application  (in 
the  Tab'.e-talk')  as  to  the  virtue  of  the  human  word 
against  fanaticism :  "  They  thought,  before  he  spoke 
to  them,  that  ho  was  a  spirit  or  apparition  ;  but 
when  he  spoke  to  them,  their  fears  were  stilled." 


a  most  distinctive  expression*  (not  eii  rdi 
napdiai,  as  the  Vulg.  reads),  as  if  they  came 
from  without.  He  at  once  contradicts  these 
reasonings  ;  he  condescends  to  the  need  of  hu- 
manity, not  otherwise  to  be  supplied  in  these 
Apostles  at  first,  by  offering  himself  to  external, 
sensible  experience.  Yet  this  is  not  the  abso- 
lutely decisive  evidence,  for  we  may  be  deceived 
not  only  by  sight,  but  also  by  the  (supposed) 
touch;  but  the  subsequent  testimony  of  the 
Spirit  inbreathed  must  be  first  prepared  for  by 
a  seeing  and  tociching,  in  the  case  of  these  dis- 
ciples and  for  all  mankind;  yea,  as  united  with 
this  internal  testimony,  even  the  testimony  of 
sen.'ie  has  its  abiding  reality  and  importance. 

In  the  middle  stands  the  decisive  aurd? 
eyoj  eiftz— not  merely  /  am  he  myself,  but  it 
absolutely  connects  his  new  life  with  his  pre- 
vious weil-known  life;  lam  indeed  the  same 
who  was  with  yoa  before  death;  it  is  my 
whole  human  personality,  and  not  merely  as  a 
spirit.  This  humanity  rose  and  continued  in 
the  resurrection  ;  it  remains  in  and  after  the 
ascension.!  At  first  he  challenges  them,  in  his 
closer  approximating  transition,  to  feAo^ci;  that 
is,  to  the  calm,  unaffrighted,  and  unconfused 
contemplation  of  his  hands  and  feet :  his  hands 
which  he,  the  well-known  and  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, stretches  out  to  them  in  kindness;  hU 
feet,  on  which  he  now  stands  before  them. 
What  was  specifically  to  be  beheld  in  them,  we 
already  plainly  mark — he  will  presently  show 
it  to  them.  Not  till  after  the  It  is  I  (for  this 
strong  encouragement  might  at  first  have  only 
increased  their  terror),  will  he  also  be  fell  and 
touched.  (It  is  carefully  expressed — Handle  me, 
when  ye  touch  these  hands  and  feet  as  mine.) 
Hereupon  there  is  a  second  "  Behold,"  which  is 
obviously  not  a  mere  repetition  of  the  first,J 
but  passes  over  into  the  meaning — Behold  me 
so  as  to  know.  For  the  convincing  demon- 
stration immediately  follows,  to  silence  their 
thoughts  concerning  the  "  spirit."  Discern  ye 
(I'Sers)  that  I  am  not  a  spirit,  but  that  it  is  I 
myself,  with  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  sen- 
sibly (Ssapeire). 

Very  important  is  this  asserted  and  demon- 
strated fact  of  the  Risen  Lord's  "  possessing 
flesh  and  bone  ;  "^  but  there  are  two  qualifica- 
tions which  must  be  carefully  observed.  First 
that  this  tangible  corporiety  does  not  contradict 
the  sudden  appearance  and  vanishing,  the  com- 
ing through  a  closed  door  :  he  coidd  make  him- 


*  Or  still  strongly  marked  iu  Lachmann's  read- 
ing iy  rj7  xapSia. 

\  It  is  not,  therefore,  as  Gregg.  Nyss.  maintain- 
ed against  Apollinaris,  th.it  the  aVOpcJ.TiKa 
ISioJ/jara,  the  "  human  peculiarities "  were 
done  away,  there  being  no  longer  Jicsh,  but  liis 
human  nature  being  changed  into  the  ddcoftoorof 
and  (x6xrji.i(xri6Toy — "  bodiless  and  formless." 

X  So  many  inexactly  translate  :  V.".n  Ess,  Feel 
and  mark ;  Seller,  Touch  aiid  look  ut  tne ;  Stolz, 
Handle  end  observe  me  ! 

^  Marcion  perverted  thus — As  ye  see  that  I 
have  not  (TertuU.  Adv.  M.  iv.  43). 


LUKE  XXIV.  36-41,  ETC. 


Y43 


self  palpable,  condensing  his  bodj'  (so  to  speak)  i 
into  tangibility  by  his  will ;  but  he  could  also 
assuredly  withdraw  himself  when  he  would 
from  the"  feeling  as  well  as  from  sight.  Second- 
ly, it  is  very  natural  that  for  the  ipr/Xacpdv,  or 
touching,  the  hones  should  be  mentioned  which 
are  to  be  felt  in  the  flesh,  instead  of  the  bhod 
usually  connected  with  it ;  but  there  are  other 
reasons  why  blood  might  not  be  ascribed  to  the 
Risen  Lord — reasons  not  indeed  exhibited  here 
but  at  least  confirmed.* 

The  Lord  finally  enters  with  condescending 
conviction  into  ihe  thoughts  of  the  disciples 
concerning  the  spirit— jnst  so  far  as  they  had 
ill  them  a  basis  of  truth,  and  no  further.  A 
spirit,  that  is,  a  dead  man,  not  yet  partaken  of 
a  risen  corporeity  (!or  this  is  in  tlie  disciples' 
thoughts — but  the  same  holds  good  of  an  angel, 
or  ot'her  extraordinary  being)  may  indeed  be 
seen,  but  not  fe.t  or  handUd  ;  cannot  be  sub- 
jected, like  the  boily  ot  a  man,  to  the  calm  and 
collected  test  of  the  sense.  It  may  possess  a 
certain  relatively  so-called  corporeity  and  me- 
dium of  individual  existence  (concerning  which, 
as  to  angels  and  the  dead,  nothing  specific  is 
now  to  be  said),  but  by  no  means  tangible  like 
the  flesh  and  bones  of  "man.  If  ever  there  was 
a  time  for  the  annihilation  of  man's  notions 
about  the  appearance  of  bodiless  spirits — sup- 
posing those  opinions  groundless,  and  mere 
superstition — this  was  ihe  time,  when  the 
Risen  Lord  brings  trom  the  oiher  world  sure 
intelligence  and  certainty.  But  he  does  not 
say  by  any  means — "  Tliereare  no  such  Ttvev- 
fiara;"  but  he  admits,  he  undeniably  confirms 
their  existence  and  visibility,  when  he  thus 
makes  "  spirit  "  the  subject  of  his  sentence,  and 
speaks  of  what  it  "  has  not."t  For  to  assume 
here  anything  like  the  silent  reservation — "as 
ye  falsely  suppose" — would  be  to  attribute  to 
our  Lord  an  accommodation  to  a  pervalent 
error,  when  a  single  word  u'ould  have  sufficed 
to  root  it  out  for  all  future  time. 

If  we  now  turn  to  John,  he  says  in  ver.  20 
merely  that  he  showed  them  his  hands  and  his 
side — while  Luke  says,  ver.  40,  his  hands  and 
his  feet ;  and  with  the  (probably  genuine)  ad- 
dition of  the  stronger  iTtdSeiiev,  "  showed." 
Instead  of  deducing  from  a  comparison  of  John's 
words,  with  his  chap.  xix.  34,  that  the  wounds 


*  See  what  f.e  have  remarked  on  John  vi. 
against  tr.e  strange  protest  of  our  critic  Munch- 
meyer.  \fe  maiiitfun  that  he  sets  himself  in  op- 
position to  all  scriptural,  and  especially  Christolo- 
gical  anthropology,  according  to  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  blood  essentially  belongs  to  the 
life  of  the  entire  man,  and,  on  the  other,  flash  and 
b.ood  inseparably  are  tpoken  of  only  in  a  condi- 
tion of  nior;ality.  Can  we  admit  then  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  flesh  and  blood  ?  That  would  be  un- 
scriptural  and  untrue.  Even  in  Ezek.  xxxvii., 
there  is  no  Taention  of  the  blood,  as  a  mystcrium 
singulare. 

t  Just  so  Hie  line  of  Homer,  quoted  by  Grotius  : 
Dv    yop    f'zi^ddpHaS   re    xai    cdrea    tVeS 

£XOV(Str. 


of  Jesus  on  the  cross  were  here  in  question,  and 
that  therefore  Lake's  additional  reference  to  the 
feet  establishes  the  wounds  on  his  feet,  some 
have  set  aside  Luke's  words  altogether,  and 
pressed  John's  into  an  argument  that  the  feet 
were  not  nailed  to  the  cross.  Herder,  referring 
to  the  Mtmxn-ahUia  of  Paulus,  thought  that  the 
plain  intimation  of  John  made  it  a  matter  be- 
yond question  that  the  feet  remained  unwound- 
ed  ;  for  he  spoke  of  the  hands  and  the  feet  "  to 
point  out  distinctly  the  effects  of  his  crucifix- 
ion." But  how  can  we  be  so  certain  of  that  ? 
Might  he  not  have  omitted  the  mention  of  the 
feet  because  they  were  pre-supposed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  liands,  and  because  it  was  his 
purpose  to  refer  expressly  to  the  side?  How 
shall  we,  without  breaking  the  Scripture,  dis- 
patch the  eqiudbj  plain  declaralion  of  Luke? 
The  omission  in  the  former  is  certainly  moro 
easily  to  be  accounted  for  than  the  addition  in 
the  latter.  The  showing  ol  the  feet,  if  Luke 
also  (vers.  39  and  40)  reports  the  truth,  can 
have  had  no  other  than  the  same  reason ;  espe- 
cially as  according  to  John  the  side  also  was 
shown.  Stolz  and  Paulus  explain  ridiculously 
that  "  he  showed  merely  the  parts  of  his  body 
which  were  not  covered  with  clothing,  to  show 
that  he  had  actualy  flesh  and  bone."  This 
might  apply  to  the  hands,  the  arms,  the  breast 
or  side,  but  certainly  noo  to  ihe  feet.*  The  con- 
troversy which  has  been  carried  on  concerning 
the  independent  quesLion  of  the  feet  has  been 
abundantly  decided  ;t  we  will  not  enter  into 
antiquarian  researches  upon  it,  but  maintain 
as  the  duty  of  the  expositor  the  authority  of 
Luke's  testimony.  Here  the  Lord  incontro- 
vertibly  shows  also  upon  his  feet  "signs  of  his 
crucifixion,"  as  Lange  simply  says;  we  see  fur- 
ther from  ver.  39,  that  it  was  in  evidence  that 
it  was  av  T  6  s  tyoo  ;  that  is,  that  it  was  him- 
self, the  same  who  died  upon  the  cross,  and 
therefore,  according  to  their  thoughts,  could 
come  back  again  only  as  a  "  spirit."  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  Von  Gerlach's  remark, 
"  There  was  in  the  feet  something  more  con- 
vincinof  and  touching  than  in  the  hands,  on 
account  of  the  wonder  that  one  who  had  been 
so  grievously  wounded  could  move" — it  is 
pre-supposed  thereby  that  the  pnnts  of  the 
naih  were  what  the 'Lord  presented  to  their 
touch.  To  the  mere  feeling  that  he  "  had  flesh 
and  bones,"  the  hands  and  "  easily  uncovered 
arms"  would  have  been  enough. 

But  there   is  one   thing  more.     The   Lord 
showtd  his  wounds  not  merely  as  the  tokens  of 


*  Notwithstindins  Luthardt's  objection,  I  must 
hold  that  the  exhibition  of  the  feet  would  be  al- 
together superfluous  and  unsuitable  for  the  assur- 
ance of  the  reality  of  his  body.  As  if  the  Lord 
might  not  rather  in  his  dignity  have  removed  the 
clothing  which  concealed  his  limbs!  When  he 
showed  his  feet  to  the  disciples,  it  was  to  show 
something  visible  upon  them,  as  well  as  upon  the 
hands. 

t  See  Friedlieb's  ArchM.  der  Leidensffc$chicht«,  p. 
144. 


744 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


his  cructfxion  for  the  identity  of  his  bod)' ;  but 
evidently  also  as  the  tokens  of  victory,  the 
proofs  of  his  triumph  over  death,  and  therefore 
also— and  this  is  its  deepest  meaning,  as  per- 
training  to  his  introductory  greeting — as  the 
peace-tokens  of  his  sacrificial  death,  of  his 
accomplished  atonement.  This  had  reference, 
indeed,  rather  to  the  future  understanding  of 
the  disciples  (which  soon  followed  in  the 
opening  of  Scripture),  in  the  symbolical  mean- 
ing of  this  his  revelation  for  his  whole  future 
Church  ;  yet  we  may,  as  Diez  says,  expound 
it  as  historically  true,  that  "  they  began  to 
have  a  presentiment  of  the  mysterious  con- 
nection between  this  peace  and  the  wounds 
of  Jesus."  Luther  also  preaches,  how  Christ 
presents  to  us,  when  he  reveals  himself  to  us, 
his  death  of  crucifixion  through  the  word.  He 
adds,  "  This  is  the  true  token,  by  which  he  com- 
lorts  the  terrified  conscience  and  heart."  Yes, 
verily.  ^  The  Lord  himself  here  justifies  the 
Church's  celebration  of  his  sacred  wounds, 
though  not  its  unworthy  trifling  with  them. 
That  he  retained  in  the  resurrection  these 
marks  of  his  wounds  on  the  body  which  was  to 
be  exalted  to  heaven  (marks  which  otherwise 
as  the  concomitant  of  death  might  or  should 
have  been  abolished),  and  that  he  retains  them 
till  now  and  for  eternity,  as  the  glorious  tokens 
of  his  victory  and  atonement,  is  of  great  and 
blessed  significance  for  our  faith.*  It  is  as- 
suredly the  Lord's  will,  as  we  see,  to  appear] 
himself  to  his  disciples  as  "  the  Crucified,"  as  ' 
the  angels  in  the  empty  sepulchre  termed  him  ;  I 
and  thereby  to  manifest  his  glory,  thereby  to  seal  I 
his  feace.  To  this  referred  that  suggestive  le- 1 
gend  of  Satan's  appearance  in  the  form  of  the 
glorified  Saviour,  when  St.  Marlin  repelled  him 
by  asking  for  the  prints  of  the  wounds.  No 
(pdyra6jua  could  counterfeit  these  wounds,  for 
these  were  chosen  and  sanctified  by  the  Lord 
of  glory  as  the  tokens  and  the  marks  by  which 
he  would  be  known. f 

Did  the  disciples  actually  touch?  As  re- 
gards Thomas  afterwards,  we  shall  see  that  it 
is  not  to  be  assumed ;  and  here,  too.  Von  Ger- 
lach  thinks  that  the  disciples  declined  it,  and 
that  this  was  the  basis  of  Thomas'  doubting. 
We  think  on  the  contrary  that  Thomas  wanted 
aUo   himself  to  touch,  as  they  had  reported 


*  An^ustino,  de  Civ.  lib.  22,  cap.  19,  deduces 
from  this,  with  a  "  peih^ips  we  .shall  see,"  the 
same  wi;h  respect  to  the  wounds  of  the  martyrs. 
Be  it  as  it  m  y,  we  Lold  it  with  the  "  current 
view"  against  Delitzsch,  who  {Proph.  Theol.  p.  222 
would  sive  up,  with  Iluntiius  and  KrUirer,  the 
mirks  of  the  wounds  of  ihe  glorified  Lord.  This 
matter  has  more  signiiicaiico  and  weight  than  is 
often  thought. 

+  Meyer  (J5/.  fixr  hoh.  Wahrh.  iv.  475)  writes  : 
"  U  is  obvious  that  the  Risen  Lord  might  have  ap- 
y)eared  in  anotlier  form  than  with  the  wounds  of 
tlie  cross."  That  is  not  stated  with  precision,  at 
fiirtliest  it  is  only  abstractly  true ;  for  he  would 
not,  then  or  ever,  appear  otherwise,  and  therefore 
that  was  actually  his  form. 


themselves  to  have  done ;  1  John  i.  1  leads  m 
also  to  this  conclusion.  "  If  he  patiently  al- 
lowed himself  to  be  handled  by  his  murderers, 
why  not  by  them  who  loved  him?"  This 
thought,  according  to  Pfenninger,  gave  them 
courage  to  do  so.*  In,  during,  and  after  such 
palpable  conviction,  we  must  suppose  the  re- 
buke of  their  previous  unbelief  mentioned  l>y 
Mark — Are  you  now  convinced  ?  Thus — Not 
before  ?  Wherefore  were  your  hearts  so  tiard 
as  not  to  believe?  We  might  be  almost  tempt- 
ed to  say — Herein,  in  -the  circumstances  men- 
tioned, Luke  vers.  38-40,  consisted  this  re- 
buke; as  B.-Crusius  remarks,  "the  matter  is 
thus  explained  by  Mark."  But  the  expression 
is  too  specific  for  that — they  had  not  believed 
those  who  had  seen  him  after  his  rising  from  the 
dead.  This  seems  to  us  to  be  equal  to  an  indi- 
rect, though  not  verbal,  intimation  Of  another 
word  of  Jesus,  in  which  the  external  testimony 
for  faith  of  the  second  degree  is  established  in 
its  place  and  prerogative.  Thus  it  was  fit  in 
respect  to  those  who  were  to  be  sent  into  the 
world  to  demand  every  where  faith  in  their 
own  having  seen.  He  says  nothing  about  their 
fleeing,  being  offended  and  falling ;  he  speaks 
only  of  their  unbelief  in  the  message  of  peace 
and  of  joy.  But  it  was  scarcely  the  first  thing, 
before  Luke  ver.  38  (as  Lange  supposes) ;  we 
think  that  since  it  is  love  which  rebukes  them 
with  most  gracious  earnestness,  that  rebuke 
was  not  administered  until  after  the  abundant 
evidence  was  given  for  their  conviction.  Else 
it  remains  true  that  the  reproof  of  unbelief 
is  an  indispensable  preparative  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  peace  of  faith  ;  and  we  may  inter- 
pret this  rebuke,  at  the  first  appearance  of  the 
Risen  Lord  in  the  greater  circle  of  his  disciples, 
which  represents  his  Church,  as  the  Bsrlenb. 
Bibel  does :  "  We  must  not  suppose  that  our 
Lord's  dealing  was  so  complacent  and  gentle 
that  no  sin  was  regarded  by  him.  When 
Christ  came  to  their^'hearts,  and  searched  out 
their  thoughts  with  his  light,  as  a  glorified,  pure, 
and  mighty  being,  his  reproof  could  not  spare 
any  thing  evil.  Let  us  therefore  prepare  for, 
and  rightly  understand  the  rebuke  of  our 
Lord."t  But  the  ground  of  all  evil  is  the  unbe- 
lief of  the  hard  heart,  and  that  is  always  best 
seized  and  condemned  in  its  last  manifestation. 
There  is,  however,  a  distinction  between  the  un- 
belief which  the  Lord  can  reprove  and  take 
away,  and  the  unbelief  which  hastens  to  utter 
condemnation  ;  yet  even  the  former  goea 
never  unreproved  in  any  man,  so  long  as 
it  exists  in  his  soul.     Thus  the  Lord  during 


*  But  he  makes  the  touciiing  follow  imnied  - 
atcly  ujion  the  chaI''"nG;e.  so  that  the  "  as  ye  see 
me  "  refers  directly  to  that  which  is  contrary  to 
ver.  40. 

f  Beck  derives  from  this  a  very  excellent  word 
against  the  delusion  and  demmd  of  the  world, 
Ih  it  the  preachers  of  the  Go<pel  of  peace  should 
not  chido  :  Christ  hero  on  the  glad  festival  of  his 
resurrection  rebuked  even  his  Apostles  with  puri- 
fying and  sanctifying  love. 


LUKE  XXIV.  36-41.  ETC. 


745 


the  forty  days  begins  the  convincing  function 
of  the  koly  Spirit,  predicted  in  John  xvi.  9 ; 
and  begins  it  first  in  his  Apostles.  With 
every  advance  to  a  higher  degree  of  the  life  of 
faith,  the  reproof  of  previous  unbelief  recurs  ; 
only  at  the  end  in  its  final  established  matu- 
rity do  we  hear  the  pure  and  perfect  praise  of 
God. 

Then  were  the  disciples  glad  that  they  saw 
the  Lord,  kxccprj^av  ovv — iSovre?.     By  this 
John  notes  the  fulfillment  of  his  promise  in 
chap.  xvi.  22;  and  how  must  the  remembrance 
of  that  hour  have  stirred  in  his  heart  when  in 
old  age  he  thus  wrote  of  it.     He  hastens  away, 
in  his  pure  and  deep  remembrance  of  the  peace 
and  joy,   from   the   other  individual  circum- 
stances ;  but  Luke,  on  the  other  hand,  records 
them  all  with  exact  minuteness.     The  disciples 
Lad  beheld,  touched,  and  gladly  received  their 
rebuke — but   there  is   again   a  "  wondering  " 
among  them,  before  the  final,  clear,  and  tran- 
quil  assurance  fills   their  hearts.     As   before 
through  fear,  so  now  through  astonished  joy, 
they  cannot  altogether  and  fully  believe.*     A 
record  this   which    proves  its   own    profound 
psychological  truth.    Psa.  cxxvi.  1  has  been  un- 
suitably compared — for  it  has  a  different  mean- 
ing.    In   this  joi/  at  having  the   Lord  again 
there  is  an  actual  faith — and  yet  it  does  not 
reach  to  peace  and  joy  combined  in  their  ful- 
ness.    And  wherefore  so?     Because  their  joy 
itself  has  in  its  first  vehemence  and  disquietude 
too  little  peace.     Assuredly  there  is  a  violent 
joy  in  which,  notwithstanding  its  semblance  of 
overpowering  feeling,  a  deep  and  firm  faith  can 
scarcely  fix  its  roots.     Therefore  the  wise  and 
patient  Master  gradually  brings  them  to  the 
peace  of  faith  :  the  first  sign  of  his  wounds  had 
been  a  rather  exciting  appeal ;  he  now  follows 
it  by  a  second,  and  one  more  composing.     He 
takes  them  back,  at  least  for  a  short  space,  into 
the  peaceful  communion  of  their  former  rela- 
tion restored  ;  and  puts  an  end  to  all  mere  ec- 
Stacy  by  the  indescribably  confidential,  though 
perleetly   unexpected    question — Haiie  ye  here 
any  tiling  to  eatf     Their  evening  meal  might 
have  been  over,  and  yet  they  sat  according  to 
Mark  still  at  the  table.     What  condescension  ! 
Like  so  much  else  in  these  manifestations,  this 
eating  was  an  expressif)n  of  the  love  which  en- 
tered into  and  would  salisfy  the  need  of  their 
weakness.     As  in  the  case  of  the  daughter  of 
Jairus,  the  eating  was  at  once  the  surest  sign 
of  perfectly  restored  life ;  so  here  there  is  an 
apparent    resemblance,   though   with  a  very 
great  difference.     Assuredly,  need  of  nourish- 
ment had  nothing  to  do  with  this  act  of  our 
Lord.     But   that  he  could  eat,  if  he  would,  is 
proved  here  by  the  fact:  he  did  eat,  though 
certainly  without  "organic  necessity"  of  his 
body — a  supposition  which,  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, must  be  earnestly  repelled.!     But  yet 


there  is  no  Sonrfdii,  no  mere  docetic  sem- 
blance (as  Liicke  supposes  in  this  case) ;  no 
"deception"  as  Hasse  says.  If  we  must  as- 
sume that  in  Gen.  xviii.  8,  xix.  3,  there  was  a 
reality  in  the  miraculous  eating  of  the  angels, 
and  of  the  appearing  Lord  himself,  how  much 
more  was  the  eating  of  the  same  Lord,  in  his 
present  actual  body,  a  reality — however  dis- 
tinguished from  our  own.  That  he  asks  them 
to  eat,  and  eats  before  them  "  in  order  the  more 
fully  to  assure  them  that  he  had  not  merely 
the  appearance  and  form,  but  the  inward  reality 
of  the  human  body  "  (as  Schmieder  says),  we 
would  scarcely  atfirm,  at  least  in  such  easily 
misunderstood  words;  but  he  did  assuredly  in- 
tend to  give  proof  of  his  actual  bodiliness 
against  every  docetic  conceit.  Let  the  reader 
refer  back  to  what  we  have  said  upon  Luke 
xxii.  16,  18  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  29,  concerning  eating 
and  drinking  in  the  kingdom  of  glory.  Let 
not  the  words  of  C.  Kapplinger  be  despised: 
"  The  tangibility  of  his  members  was  no  longer 
an  attribute  of  his  earthly  body,  but  the  result 
of  the  divine  energy  of  his  supreme  will,  ex- 
erted upon  his  heavenly  body.  So,  that  which 
he  partook  of  after  his  resurrection  was  a  sacri- 
fice of  his  heart's  love  to  his  disciples  ;  but  the 
nourishment  of  the  system  of  tlie  body  could 
no  longer  be  created  within  the  body.  He 
consumed  what  he  received  in  the  fire  energy  of 
his  life,  as  a  holy  sacrifice  in  love,  to  the  honor 
of  the  Father."*  ^ 

In  ver.  42  xaiaitd  fteXiddiov  xrjpiov,  "and 
of  a  honey-comb,"  is  wanting  in  many  MSS. ; 
if  it  is  genuine,  we  must  supplement  nai  ri 
cxTCu  or  Kai  iiepoiy  and  understand  the  exact 
description  which  the  redundant  ue^tddiov 
(for  ^^A/pz'ou  itself  points  to  no  other  than  the 
honey  of  bees)  as  intimating  that  the  wonder- 
ful incident  was  to  be  described  with  precision 
— and  this  would  be  in  favor  of  its  genuineness. 
Atui  taking  it,  lie  did  eat  (it)  before  them.f  Thus 
after  the  greeting  he  gave  them  advancing  de- 
monstration of  his  lite  :  by  his  gracious  word, 
by  their  seeing  and  feeling,  by  the  rebuke  of 
their  unbelief,  and  finally  by  his  taking  and 
partaking  this  fipoodii-ioy,  which  would  reduce 
to  peace  the  yet  half-unbelieving  joy  of  faith. 
He  did  not  desire  to  drink  ;  we  no  where  read 


*  Lachmann's  text  very  appropriately  puts  nai 
davjiiaZuvrcov  before  and  zfji  x^^di — as  also 
the  Vuljj. 

t  Alas !  Hasse  speaks  in  the  same  tone,  that 


"  the  receptive  and  digestive  organs  of  bodily  life 
were  not  abolished,  the  resurrection  body  assimi- 
lated matter — precisely  as  our  present  body,  and 
the  human  earthly  body  of  Jesus  before."  This 
is  one  of  the  individual  blemishes  of  an  excellent 
book.  Assuredly  there  was  g.-eat  diffareace  be- 
tween his  present  and  his  former  condition. 

*  Schmieder  speaks  of  the  spirituality  of  the 
body  consisting  in  this,  that  it  had  no  matter  in  it 
foreign  to  the  spirit  and  the  soul ;  that  the  pre- 
dominance of  the  power  which  appropriates  all  to 
itself  transubstantiated  all  matter,  like  burning  fire 
{Hohepr.  Gebet,  p.  40). 

f  Vulg. :  Et  cum  manducasset  coram  eis,  su- 
raens  reliquias  dedit  eis.  This  clause,  found  also 
in  the  Arab,  and  Armen.  versions,  may  he  apocry- 
phal, having  probably  originated  ia  a  false  view 
of  Acts  X.  41. 


746 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


that  he  drank.*  Bengel  on  this  passage  says 
— "  Ke  eats  spontaneously,  without  any  need, 
and  tlierefore  he  does  not  also  drink."  If  this 
is  not  enough,  may  we  not  connect  it  with  tlie 
hidde:i  propriety  of  his  now  bloodless  body  ? 
But  about  this  we  will  contend  with  no  man. 
Only  this  much  we  assert,  that  according  to 
the  account  of  Luke  and  John,  the  Lord  by  no 
Tae^xns  mt  ihwn  with  his  disciples  to  speak  with 
theiu  still  further ;  nor  did  the  Apostles  eat 
witli  him  any  more.  The  little  morsel  of  fish 
and  honey  was  enough  for  the  design  of  his 
eating.  That  he  did  not  terminate  this  revela- 
tion by  thus  eating,  but  continued  to  speak, 
though  not  the  words  which  now  follow  in 
Luke,  is  established  by  Stein,  in  his  commen- 
tary. We  know  from  John  xx.  21-23  what  he 
went  on  to  say;  but  for  this,  any  sitting  as  at 
a  meal  seems  to  be  inappropriate  :  and  further 
it  appears  contrary  to  the  propriety  of  this 
first  revelation  to  his  Apostles  to  separate  John 
XX.  20,  21,  from  Luke  xxiv.  37-43  by  any  in- 
tervening sitting  conversation.  That  which 
Luke  further  record.s  belonged,  as  we  shall  see, 
not  to  the  same  evening  ;  he  lets  it  follow  in 
hi»  own  order  of  the  whole,  in  order  to  show 
that  the  .sensible  demonstration  which  they  had 
had,  required  to  be  followed  by  instruction  out 
of  the  Scripture.  For  the  preaching  of  the 
Apostles  concering  the  Risen  Lord  had  for  its 
foundation  their  assured  conviction  first,  by  no 
means  the  external  experience  of  their  sense ; 
secondly,  their  insight  into  the  counsel  of  God 
through  the  opening  of  the  Scripture;  and, 
finally,  the  power  Irom  on  high  experienced 
within  themselves  :  it  is  this  which  Luke 
would  teach  at  the  end  of  his  Gospel,  in  the 
summary  account  which  is  his  transition  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But  John  brings 
forward  this  nece-ssary  supplement  to  the  ex- 
perience of  sense  in  a  more  precise  historical 
manner;  for  he  records  the  »«ws/o/i  which  was 
accompanied  by  the  breathing  on  the  very  first 
evening. 


This  evening  manifestation  had  reference  to 
the  Afosdes  especially,  though  according  to 
Luke,  ver.  43,  others  were  present  and  enjoyed 
it  with  them.  The  same  Luke  in  his  continu- 
ous avToii,  avrccyy  vers.  44-46,  and  vjueii, 
ver.  48,  does  not  go  beyond  the  before-chosen 
witnesses.  John  has  used  the  word  "disciples" 
according  to  his  prevalent  phraseology  (only 
once,  chap.  xiii.  16,  has  he  mentioned  the  name 


'  *  Yet  we  find  in  LUcke  (as  in  many  others)  the 
unscrujmlous  words  :  '•  Jesus  conies  anfl  goes  l;ke 
oltier  men,  and  eats  and  drinks."  But  Acts  x.  41 
does  not  prove  this,  as  we  have  already  .said.  Not 
after  his  re.surrection,  but  before,  they  were  his 
compminns,  eating  and  drinkin^r,  and  therefore 
1> Mtectly  knowing  him.  This  only  correct  con- 
st ruclion  is  established  too  by  Knapp's  text. 
Hasse  is  here  wrong  once  more;  the  weak  side  of 
his  theologically  important  work  is  ia  its  esi^ecial 
tzegeais. 


I  aVo^rolo?  in  the  general  sen?e)  ;  yet  we  ob- 
serve even  in  his  account  also,  as  in  vers.  24,  25, 
so  already  in  vers.  21-23,  that  there  is  a  special 
reference  to  the  twelve.  Thus  the  strongest 
conviction  which  we  have  yet  considered  wa3 
especially  for  them  :  and  for  Ih'im  the  solemn 
confirmation  and  sealing  of  the  mission,  to  which 
we  now  come.  At  once  on  this  day  of  the  res- 
urrection, the  great  day  of  the  Lord,  we  meet 
with  the  first,  preliminary  institution  of  the 
New-Te.stament  preaching  o^ti  which  the  Spirit 
records.  (The  second  and  perl'ect  one  follow.s 
in  the  Synoptics.)  Nothing  could  be  more  ap- 
propriate than  that,  as  the  Berlenh.  Blbel  says-, 
"  by  virtue  of  the  resurrection  is  the  office  ot 
preaching  living  with  the  life  of  Christ.  Preach- 
ing is  a  benefaction  of  the  resurrection,  for  it  ia 
nothing  else  but  awakening" 

Once  m'jre  must  the  Lord  say — Peace  be  with 
you  !  it  is  repeated  until  it  thoroughly  enters 
and  is  established.*  There  is  literal  and  actual 
truth  in  this  observation,  in  as  far  as  the  first 
greeting  of  our  Lord  was  scarcely  h^ard  or  re- 
ceived by  the  affrighted  disciples.  But  the  re- 
petition has  a  deeper  significance  than  this. 
Certainly  it  was  not  (as  Tholuck  says)  at  the 
close  of  a  meal,  and  as  the  conclusion  of  a  long 
colloquy,  that  the  Lord  rep'^xted  his  greeting;! 
and  yet  we  say  that  its  repetition  is  rat'.ier  a 
farewell  in  relation  to  the  first,  which  was  an 
introductory  srreeting.  For  the  sending  them, 
tlirough  the  Spirit  in  his  name,  with  uuthority 
in  his  stead  over  sin  into  the  worla,  is  itself 
another  farewell  word  of  hi.s  departare.  Yea, 
still  more.  All  the  Lord's  enterings  and  com- 
ings during  these  forty  days  were  but  one  great 
farewell  before  the  ascension  ;  they  leave  be- 
hind his  final  words  and  farewell  blessing  on 
his  going  back  to  the  Father.  Hence  Schmieden 
rightly  preaches  :  "  The  greeting  here  (on  this 
first  occasion)  is,  as  respects  the  present  ap- 
pearance of  Jesus,  a  welcome  of  entrance;  as 
respects  his  whole  presence  with  the  disciples, 
a  word  of  farewell.  For  all  the  appearances  of 
the  Risen  Lord  collectively  are  to  be  regarded 
as  th.e  return  of  one  who  has  been  absent,  who 
looks  round  for  those  whom  he  is  about  to 
leave  behind,  saying  repeatedly.  Farewell,  fare- 
well !  adding  to  each  farewell  vet  a  lew  words 


*  This  should  satisfy  Olshauseu's  scruple,  who 
would  prefer  to  place  this  repeated  consecration 
and  renewal  ol  the  Apostles'  commission  (which 
it  was  not,  however,  exclusively)  at  the  end  of  the 
forty  days,  as  a  matter  of  final  import ;  and  there- 
fore was  almost  inclined  to  assume  that  John  ab- 
breviated and  anticipated  here.  But  this  last  is 
opposed  by  the  Tta'Xiv,  ver.  21,  and  the  definite 
statement  of  vers.  24,  26. 

t  To  repeat  once  more :  lie  did  not  sit  down 
ag  lin  to  eat  and  drink  with  tliem,  nor  did  he  thus 
at  the  table  expound  the  Scripture  (Luke  ver.  44) 
— nor  did  he,  after  the  meal  and  discourse,  breathe 
upon  tliem  for  their  mission.  Ttie  solemnity  t)f 
tliis  breathing  of  the  Ilisen  Lord  permits  to  our 
feeling  no  such  representation  ;  but  we  think  gen- 
erally that  he  no  more  in  any  such  coufiJeulial 
way  continued  sittiug  long  with  them. 


LUKE  XXIV.  36-41.  ETC. 


747 


of  love  and  exhortation."*  (Comp.  chap.  xvi. 
38.)  As  regards  this  evening  appearance  itself 
vi^ith  its  redoubled  "  peace,"  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  entrance  and  the  departure  may 
justify  Driiseke's  arrangement  for  his  sermon  -. 
"  The'  Lord  had  the  two-fold  design,  to  make 
the  disciples  glad  in  what  had  taken  place,  and 
to  consecrate  them  for  what  was  to  come." 
Thus  the  first  greeting,  with  the  showing  which 
accompanied  it,  spoke  of  the  past :  I  have  over- 
come the  world,  have  brought  life  to  light — I 
was  dead,  and  behold  I  live  !  But  the  second 
greeting,  with  the  accompanying  breathing, 
speaks  for  the  future  :  And  1  so  send  you. 
Thus  we  may  finally  say  that  the  first  peace 
was  rather  for  the  disciples  themselves,  to  as- 
sure them  and  gladden  their  hearts  ;  while  the 
second  was  through  them  to'pass  on  to  all  others, 
although  the  second  was  obviously  only  the  es- 
tablishing confirmation  of  the  first. 

To  the  sending  of  the  ambassadors  of  Jesus 
belongs  the  peace,  in  which  they  have  their  own 
preparation,  and  on  which  their  own  feet  stand 
firm    (Eph.   vi.    15,    erot/:ia6ia,  |i30).       The 

sons  of  peace  are  not  to  retain  it  for  themselves ; 
its  possession  makes  them  also  messengers  of 
peace.  This  is  the  deepest  ground,  the  inmost 
might  and  power  of  the  evangelical  office  and 
preaching  ;  the  mission  and  equipment  has  this 
universal  meaning  here,  and  although  it  refers 
pre-eminently  to  the  Apostles  properly  so  call- 
ed, yet  it  holds  good  not  of  them  alone,  but  all 
others  participate  in  it — as  we  find  the  words 
spoken,  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20,  Mark  xvi.  15,  to  a 
larger  a,ssemb]y  of  the  disciples  in  common. 
On  this  point  it  is  remarkable  and  should  be 
carefully  noted,  that  throughout  the  Gospels 
the  strongest  authorization  and  promises,  which 
afterwards  are  referred  in  their  fullest  preroga- 
tive and  degree,  and  in  a  certain  sense  exclu- 
sively, to  the  apostolical  office,  are  uttered  in 
tlieir  most  conprehensive  universality,  and 
leave  it  open  to  every  disciple,  as  it  were,  to 
press  into  an  apostolical  position. 

According  to  John  the  Lord  had  spoken, 
chap.  xiii.  16,  20,  and  specially  chap.  xvii.  18, 
with  the  same  comprehensiveness ;  and  he 
seems  to  refer  back  to  these  sayings  when  ful- 
filling them.  The  Apostles,  indeed,  had  been 
specifically  sent  already,  and  had  more  than 
once  been  pointed  out  as  those  who  were  to  be 
sent  pre-eminently  and  beyond  all  others;  but 
the  proper  mission,  now  once  more  confirmed, 
was  yet  in  the  future,  and  thus  TtEjunco  in  ver. 
21  is  no  other  than  a  promissory  future,  point- 
ing onwards  to  another  time,  as  we  intimated 
when   explaining   the  breathing   of  ver.    22.t 


*  Lnthardt  doas  not  seem  to  have  understood 
this  excellent  representation  of  the  matter,  in  its 
larse  comprehension  of  the  forty  days,  when  he 
confines  it  lo  this  single  appearance,  and  speaks 
of  "  an  intolerably  quick  interchange  "  of  greet- 
ing and  farewell. 

t  Bengel's  n«te  seems  plausible  at  the  first 
glance,  seeking  to  establish  a  subtle  distinction 


"  Ux/iiTrGo  is  in  the  pres.,  like  the  dvafiaivca 
to  Magdalene.  But  he  does  not  send  them  at 
once,  anv  more  than  he  then  at  once  ascended" 
(Lnthardt). 

The  Son  of  the  Father,  indeed,  himself  the 
first  and  highest  Apostle  (Heb.  iii.  1),  stands 
as  mediator  between  the  Father  and  all  sub- 
delegated  Apostles:  the  Father  sent  him  alone 
by  a  mission  which  is  sole  and  incomparable; 
thence  and  therefore  lie  sends  all  others.  But 
he  sends  them  as  the  Father  had  sent  him  :  iu 
this  «a0flJ5  (which  we  already  had  in  Luke 
xxii.  29  and  John  xvii.  18)  very  much  is  in- 
volved. First  of  all,  it  shows  that  the  Son  is  a 
sender  in  equal  authority  with  the  Father. 
Then,  as  to  the  commission  :  I  send  you  to  hear 
witness,  and  that  concerning  me,  through  the 
manifestation  that  I  am  and  that  I  live  in  you, 
as  the  Father  sent  me  to  testify  and  make 
manifest  that  he  is  in  me.  See,  further,  John 
xiv.  24,  viii.  26,  28,  29,  and  all  similar  passages. 
Yea,  it  contains  a  reference  to  the  entire  ex- 
ample and  type  of  his  own  life — that  they  were 
to  live,  to  teach,  to  act,  and  to  suffer  even  as  he 
had  in  this  world.  Thus,  as  Luther  says, 
"  he  first  takes  away  the  carnal  notion  which 
the  disciples  still  retained,  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, that  he  would  rule  like  a  worldly  king 
with  external  and  physical  authority.  There- 
fore he  says — Ye  have  now  seen  what  kind  of 
office  I  have  sustained  upon  earth,  that  it  was 
a  spiritual  kingdom  which  I  should  establish. 
I  send  you  in  the  same  manner,  to  be  my  mes- 
sengers; not  encompassed  with  earthly  trap- 
pings, but  exercising  the  same  office  which  I 
liave  hitherto  executed,  that  of  preaching  the 
word  which  ye  have  heard  and  received  of  me — 
an  office  by  which  those  are  to  be  saved  irom 
their  sins  and  from  death,  who  feel  their  sia 
and  death  and  desire  to  be  saved." 

Christ  was  sent  to  preach  glad  tidings  to  the 
miserable,  to  heal  broken  hearts,  and  to  com- 
fort all  who  mourn.  But  as  he  was  anointed 
thereunto  with  the  Spirit  (Isa.  ixi.  1,  2),  so  the 
disciples  need  the  same  anointing  for  the  per- 
formance of  their  ^unctions  ;  only  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  received  from  the  Lord  can 
they  go  forth  with  success.  Tims  ver.  22  be- 
longs necessarily  to  ver.  21,  to  obviate  the 
anomaly  of  his  sayings — You  poor  sinners, 
ignorant  Galileans,  insignificant  fishermen,  etc., 
I  send  into  the  world.  Have  they  for  them- 
selves and  in  themselves  peace,  it  is  the  Si)irit 
who  seals,  preserves,  defends  it,  and  distributes 
it  with  power.     Braune  :  "  So  far  as  we  are 


between  the  dnidzXHe  he  and  TtEfxno)  vjxd<i  : 
'■  In  aTtodreWrsj  is  regarded  the  will  of  the  send- 
er and  the  sent ;  in  ne/CTTOJ  the  will  of  the  sei;der, 
apart  from  that  of  the  sent."  If  it  had  only 
grammatical  ground!  But  nsunoo  is  used  by 
John  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  (chap.  iv.  34, 
vers.  23,  24,  30,  vi.  38,  44,  vii.  16,  etc.) ;  drtodreX- 
Xeiv  is  used,  Matt.  ii.  16,  of  Herod's  servants, 
Acts  V.  21,  X.  8,  xiii.  15,  of  official  servants,  and 
Matt.  X.  16,  of  the  A-iostles  themselves.  In  Joha 
xvii.  18,  aTto^TdXXsiv  u  both  times  used. 


748 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


einful,  Clirist  is  sent  from  the  Father  unto  us  ; 
but  so  far  as  we  are  redeemed,  we  are  sent  as 
his  witnesses  to  others."      I  would  say  more 

Elainly — So  flir,  that  is,  as  we  are  partakers  of 
is  Spirit  and  of  his  life. 
But  now  for  the  mucli-contested  question — 
How  is  this  Receive  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the 
lips  of  Jesus  on  the  day  of  resurrection  related 
to  the  outpouring  which  did  not  take  place 
until  the  day  of  Pentecost?  We  must  not 
proceed  recklessly  and  say  that  Jesus  here  al- 
ready communicated  the  Holy  Spirit — thus 
opposing  the  rest  of  Scripture,  throwing  doubt 
upon  the  miracle  of  the  Pentecost,  and  deduc- 
ing with  Kinkel  an  ascension  already  accom- 
plished. All  this  is  plain  enough  for  thought- 
ful people  at  the  outset.  It  is  the  Gospel  of 
John  which  makes  the  coming  of  the  Comfort- 
er dependent  upon  the  going  to  the  Father,  and 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  ascen- 
sion and  glorification  ;  but  since,  as  we  have 
earlier  seen,  an  ascension  cannot  be  regarded 
as  having  taken  place,  what  John  here  records 
must  have  another  reference.  When  we  take 
the  rest  of  Scripture  into  account,  we  find  that 
in  Luke  xxiv.  49,  Acts  i.  5,  8,  the  Lord  even 
at  the  ascension  promises  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
bis  disciples  as  a  gift  not  to  be  received  until 
eome  days  had  passed.  This  must  be  taken  in 
its  simple  truth.  But  it  is  not  necessary,  on 
that  account,  to  make  this  present  Adfjers 
simply  equivalent  to  a  future  Xtfip£60e — as 
many  are  content  to  do,  e.  g.,  Liicke  in  the  first 
edition,  and  Tholuck,  following  Chrys.,  Theod. 
Mopsu.,  and  other  fathers.  For  even  if  there 
be  no  "exegetical  arbitrariness"  (as  Kinkel 
complains)  in  making  this  imperative  a  prom- 
ising future,  there  must  yet  be  some  adequate 
reason  for  it.  C^n  we  not  find  that  reason  in 
the  entire  connection  ?  The  mission  itself, 
■which  was  then  the  subject  of  discourse,  was 
as  yet  in  the  future  :  that  is  one  reason.  The 
ascension  to  the  Father,  to  which  the  Lord  had 
before  so  plainly  pointed  as  the  condition  of 
the  sending  of  the  Spirit  (see  only  chap.  xvi. 
7),  was  after  the  message  by  Magdalene  like- 
wise still  in  the  future  :*  this  is  a  second 
reason.  Finally,  the  circumstance  that  Jesus 
connects  an  external  sign,  his  breathing  with 
this  Receive  ye^a,  circumstance  which  Kinkel 
strangely  assumes  to  be  undeniably  in  favor  of 
his  view— permits  us  to  regard  ihe  whole  as 
prophetical  and  symbolical,  and  therefore  as 
making  the  future  present,  and  giving  in  this 
form  a  most  absolute  promise.  Why  should 
not  the  Lord,  who  had  spoken  so  often  and  so 
much  in  the  sanctified  style  of  the  prophets, 
continue  now  at  the  last  to  act  in  this  man- 
ner? Why  should  he  not  present  his  promise 
to  his  disciples  in  a  form  so  appropriate  to  the 
occasion  as  that  of  a  symbolical  action  ?    We 


*  This  is  still  future  even  now,  according  to  the 
plain  meanini;  of  John.  For  should  ho  uol  then 
nave  recorded  something  nioro  concerning  it  than 
this  dvafJaivcD,  which  had  been  spoken  in  con- 
nection wilii  an  ovnoj  dvafiefirjxa  t 


are  firmly  convinced,  and  believe  .that  ev<»ry 
one  may  soon  convince  himself,  that  here,  first 
of  all,  "  the  promise  of  the  Paraclete  is  sym- 
bolically renewed."  (So  B.-Crusius  without 
much  argument  decidedly  expresses  it.)  Let 
the  reader  receive  with  unbiassed  mind,  that 
according  to  John's  own  representation  of  this 
act  of  Christ,  it  could  be  no  other  than  sym- 
bolical; and  that  no  Christian  reader,  who 
was  acquainted  with  the  event  of  Pentecost, 
could  have  understood  it  otherwise  from  the 
beginning.  The  propriety  r.nd  proof  of  the 
realizing  in  the  present  what  was  to  take  place 
a  few  days  aft^^rwards,  rests  upon  that  hasting 
unto  the  ascension  which  we  have  discerned  in 
the  Lord's  Spirit  from  the  day  of  resurrection, 
and  which  expressed  itself  in  the  dvafiaivoa 
of  ver.  17  :  in  the  same  disposition  of  mind 
which  thus  looks  forward,*  he  now  speaks  this 
"  Pieceive  ye,"  and  would  thereby  elevate  the 
disciples  preparatorily  into  the  same  sentiment 
and  feeling.  Finally,  we  have — to  our  appre- 
hension at  least — in  the  "Take,  eat  "of  the 
sacramental  institution  a  most  perfect  parallel 
of  this  mystico-symbolical  anticipation.  As 
the  body  of  our  Lord  piven  to  death,  and  his 
poured-out  blood,  could  not  then  have  been 
actually  received,  and  yet  were  promised  in 
such  terms  as  if  they  were  actually  received — 
so  here.  Both  events  mutually  explain  and 
confirm  each  other. 

What  a  significant,  pregnant  sign,v!h\c\\  ac- 
companies the  promise  as  a  preliminary  pledge, 
as  for  symbolical  interpretation  !  That  in  the 
Gentile  world  also  spiritual  communication  of 
energy  and  influence  was  regarded  as  afflat.un 
numinis,  iniTtvota,  etc.,  is  only  a  most  general 
and  distant  illustration  of  the  matter.  Spirit, 
breath,  wind,  breathes  or  blows — Ezek.  xxxvii. 
9.  The  quickening,  energizing  Spirit  of  God 
(whether  in  natural  or  spiritual  things)  is 
called  in    the   Old   Scripture  'T4»-n?^!;0,  Job 

xxxiii.  4— vs-mi,  Psa.  xxxiii.  7— rnsb  nn, 

Isa.  xi.  4.  Thus  when  the  Son  of  God  with 
the  breath  of  his  mouth  breathes  out  the  Holy 
Spirit,  this  is  in  its  divine  majesty  altogether 
parallel  with  that  first  record  concerning  the 
creation,  when  the  Lord  God  breathed  into 
man  the  breath  of  life  (Gen.  ii.  7) — after  which 
passage,  let  it  be  well  observed,  such  a  breath- 
ing, as  imparting  spirit  or  life,  never  again  oc- 
curs in  Scripture  as  the  act  of  man.t  (Ezek. 
xxxvii.  9  is  the  one  only  parallel  between  the 
Creator  and  the  Picdeemer;  comp.  in  Isa.  xl,  7 
the  counterpart,  and  in  Ecclus.  vii.  25,  dtfiii 
Tjji  rov  ^Eov  Swdi-ucci.)  That  which  at  the 
original  creation  is  recorded  of  God,  with  all 
its  profound  reality  yet  in   anthropomorphic 


♦  Wo  may  be  permitted  still  humanly  to  speak 
of  our  Lord's  disposition  of  mind,  but  not  that  he 
"  felt  himself  excited  toward  any  thing  " — as  some 
one  expresses  it. 

t  For  in  1  Kings  xvli.  21  *non»1  is  arbitrarily 
translated  by  Uie  Sept.  xai  ivi(pv67]6t. 


JOHN  XX.  22. 


Tir 


etyle,  that  he  inbreathed  life  with  his  breath,* 
has  in  the  case  of  the  incarnate  Son  of  God, 
as  respects  his  glorified  humanity,  penetrated 
with  divine  life  (not  consummately  so  yet,  but 
soon  to  be  so) — its  literal,  perfect,  historical 
reality.  To  testify  this,  the  Lord  performs 
this  act  now  preliminarily,  in  symbolical  truth 
as  by  a  true  symbol.  Hence  Cyril  Jerus. 
(Cati'ch.  xvii.  12),  finds  the  restoration  of  the 
divine  life  after  the  fall  in  this  "  Sevrepoy 
ku(pv6i}ua,"  secand  inhreathlng  of  Jesus  ;  and  so 
Augustine,  de  Civ.  xiii.  24,  combines  profoundly 
both.  Hence  John  has  used  the  same  expres- 
sion iyE(pv6T^ds  with  the  Sept.  in  Gen.  ii.  7. 
It  is  not  merely  that  in  the  former  (as  1  Cor. 
XV.  45  might  be  incorrectly  interpreted)  the 
natural,  animal  life  was  inbreathed,  while  here 
it  was  the  spiritual  and  pneumatic.  There  it 
was  also  the  immortal  breath  of  the  Almighty, 
the  communion  of  the  human  spirit  with  the 
Spirit  of  God;  here  the  restoration,  and  more 
than  the  restoration,  of  that  which  was  lost  in 
the  fall.t 

The  Lord  in  his  majesty  does  not  bestow  the 
hss ;  but  his  sacred  breath,  mightily  felt  far 
ofT  as  well  as  near,  is  more  than  that  would 
have  been.  But  with  all  the  majesty  of  this 
breathing  there  is  a  certain  cordial  familiarity 
in  the  symbol  of  this  secret  influence  passing 
from  his  inmost  life  into  their  inmost  life. 
"  Like  the  Ireath  of  a  friend  on  the  cheek,  so 
graciously  and  confidenlially  should  the  Spirit 
of  God  come  upon  the  spirit  of  man" — says 
Braune,  probably  following  Draseke,  in  whom 
we  read  somewhat  differently,  "  Gently  like  the 
breath  of  a  friend,  would  he  signify  that  the 
fulness  of  the  Spirit  would  follow."  Assuredly, 
as  Lange  has  observed,  this  breathing  is  •pri- 
marily "  the  last,  and  most  loving  sign  of  the 
co7-poreity  of  his  new  life" — as  proof  that  there 
dwelt  sensible  and  energetic  pov.'er  in  this  body 
which  they  had  seen  and  felt.t  But  he  imme- 
diately goes  on  to  term  this  breath  of  his  mouth 
the  iloly  Spirit,  in  prophetic  promise  to  typify 
and  show  that  now  when  he  was  exalted  power 
would  go  forth  from  him  otherwise  than  ever 
before.  The  breath  of  his  mouth  refers  also  to 
the  word,  the  medium  of  the  Spirit:  "  It  is  a 
pure  and  holy  Spirit  who  will  henceforth  speak 
through  your  lips,  as  hitherto  through  mine  " 


*  Philo :  "  The  evEipvdTjdev  is  equivalent  to 
kv£nyEv6£Vy  or  the  informinjOf  the  soulless  with 
a  soul.  But  we  must  not  think  so  unbecomingly 
of  God  as  that  he  u^ed  the  mouth  or  physical  or- 
gans in  this  breathing,"  etc. 

f  Yet  according  to  Augustine's  remark,  there  is 
a  reason  for  Tti'o?}  and  not  7tyev/na  being  used  in 
Gsn.  ii.,  because  in  the  Hebrew  it  is  n!D'i*J, 

^  Lange :  "  He  gives  them  to  feel  the  warm 
breath  of  his  new  life,"  but  we  should  take  ex- 
ception to  such  a  representation,  as  coming  too 
near  the  breath  of  a  mortal.  Pfenninger  says,  "  It 
came  upon  them  like  a  strongly  invigorating  air," 
But  he  erroneously  regards  the  ten  Apostles  as 
alone  breathed  -en.  He  certainly  breatlied  on 
them  altogether  and  at  oace. 


(Hess).  So  Weiss:  "  Tht  same  Spirit  by 
whom  I  have  always  spoken  to  you,  and  pro- 
claimed to  you  the  glad  tidings  of  the  king- 
dom of  God."  But  this  is  far  from  being  all  its 
meaning;  for  the  breath  of  Christ  promised 
much  more  than  even  the  words  of  Jesus  could 
give  before  the  ascension.  It  was  not  merely 
a  "symbolical  description  of  the  breathing 
from  heaven"  (Neander),  but  intimated  that 
the  Spirit  would  thenceforward  actually  and 
essentially  come  from  the  inmost  life  of  the 
glorified  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man  ;  and  so 
far  as  proceeding  from  the  Sm.  He  breathed 
upon  them — "  in  order  to  impart  unto  them 
with  his  breath  his  life  and  his  love,  his  in- 
most, his  all"  (G.  K.  Rieger).  Yea,  that 
which  had  at  this  time  its  initial  truth,  was 
perfect  reality  after  the  ascension — the  heaven- 
ly-bodily breath  of  the  Lord's  life  is  itself 
Spirit  and  divine  energy.  It  is  in  vain  that 
Miinchmeyer  contradicts  our  exposition  of 
John  vi.  and  vii.  37,  38,  denying  altogether 
that  the  notXia  of  Jesus  is  the  o^croS  of  the 
TtvEvna,  that  is,  that  the  Spirit  comes  from 
his  inmost  corporeity  to  us ;  for,  not  to  men- 
tion other  passages,  this  very  hrealhing,  wheth- 
er viewed  as  symbolically  prophetic  for  the  fu- 
ture, or  as  actually  influential  at  the  time,  af- 
fords the  proof  which  has  been  found  wanting 
for  this  scriptural  doctrine.  C.  H.  Rieger 
touches  the  point  when  he  says :  "  Jesus  es- 
tablishes here  the  true  meaning  of  his  human- 
ity. Not  only  was  it  during  his  life  upon 
earth  his  appropriate  pilgrim-garment  ;  not 
only  the  flefh  in  which  he  should  suffer  ;  but  it 
was  after  his  resurrection  (more  correctly,  from 
his  resurrection  onwards,  but  periectly  in  his 
ascension)  so  pervaded  by  his  life-giving  Spirit, 
(hat  it  sliould  be  for  all  eternity  our  icay  to  God, 
and  the  medium  through  which  God'a  gracious 
communications  shotdd  hs  made  to  us." 

Having  gone  so  far  toward  the  understanding 
of  the  profound  symbol,  we  must  now  attempt 
to  define  the  medium  between  the  two  extremes; 
one  of  which  attributes  to  it  the  impartation 
of  all  power  and  truth,  while  the  other  empties 
it  of  them  altogether.  Jesus  was  not  yet  fully 
glorified,  but  he  had  begun  his  glorification: 
this  .is  the  simple  foundation  of  our  middle 
view.  It  is  certain  that  the  disciples  did  not 
receive  the  whole  full  Pentecostal  Spirit;  but 
"  they  had  a  preparatory  pledge  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,"*  before  its  richer  outpouring,  as  in  a 
v/ider  sense  (2  Cor.  i.  22).  Their  weakness 
and  ignorance  yet  remained  in  part;  and  when 
Kinkel  alleges  "  the  mighty  word  and  act  of 


*  Meyer.  This  probably  was  intended  to  be 
meant  by  TfvExJi.ia  ayiov  without  the  article. 
Hofmann  (Schriftb.  II.  i.  376)  lays  emphasis  upon 
the  fact  that  breathing  upon  is  not  breathing  info  ; 
and  in  general  ho  is  right,  while  he  maintains  that 
they  received  something.  But  when  he  intimates 
that  the  breath  did  not  enter  into  them,  we  know 
not  how  he  can  really  mean  that  ihey  received 
aught.  What  they  received  was  a  breathing  upon 
their  itiner  man. 


750 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


Peter  at  the  choice  of  an  Apostle  before  the  day  ' 
of  Pentecost,"  he  overlooks  (with  most  others') 
that  tliis  uncalled  for  and  unratified  choice  was  ' 
a  final  example  of  his  presumption  and  misnn- 
derstandina*  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
certam,  as  Alever  says  :  "Jesus  stood  now  in 
the  Spirit,  1  Tim.  iii.  16,"  that  is,  in  a  sense 
which  harmonizes  with  Acts  ii.  23;  conse- 
quentlv  his  breathing  was  not  altosether  empty 
or  inetHcient,  it  was  no  mere  token  of  a  pro- 
mise, but  carried  with  it  as  the  pledge  of  a 
future  fulness  the  beginnings  and  the  first- 
fruits  of  tlie  gift.f  "  Christ  completes  the  as- 
surance of  the  resurrection  in  their  hearts, 
when  he  breathes  upon  them.  But  this  con- 
summation is  the  fulfillment  of  the  prepara- 
tion of  their  inner  life  for  the  reception  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  beginning  itself  of  the  commu- 
nication of  that  Spirit.  As  soon  as  the  life  of 
the  Christ  stands  consummate  before  their 
souls,  it  begins  as  Spirit  to  come  upon  them- 
selves." So  far  we  accord  with  Lange;  but 
when  Olshausen  would  teach  us  that  the  com- 
munication of  the  Spirit  to  the  disciples  must 
generally  be  "viewed  as  in  fvogressivc  increase," 
we  cannot  appropriate  this  unhappy  expres- 
sion, but  must  leave  the  great  fact  of  Pente- 
cost ail  its  full  significance,  and  say  more  cau- 
tiously with  Neander  that  the  divine  influence 
connected  with  this  breathing  is  "  an  impor- 
tant mediatinfi  memler  between  the  first  pro- 
mise and  its  fulfillment."  This  also  is  Lange's 
meaning,  when  he  speaks  of  a  "  previous  con- 
dition and  point  of  connection  for  the  coming 
miracle  of  Pentecost."  Thus  we  have  in  this 
partly  prophetic,  partly  already  influential 
inq)i'.6i]itay  recorded  by  the  esoteric  Gospel, 
which  includes  all  the  more  mysterious  begin- 
nings, nothing  but  a  concentrated  expression 
for  the  whole  influence  of  the  forty  days,  as  it 
was  a  necessary  middle  term  before  the  Pente- 
cost, assuring,  comforting,  and  preparing  their 
hearts.  If  this  was  what  Hofmann  meant  by 
his  somewhat  inadequate  expression,  that "  this 
preliminary  impartalion  served  for  thestrength- 
ening  of  their  penonal  faith,  and  the  Pente- 
costal gift  made  them  capable  of  their  great 
testimony" — v/e  agree  with  him.  But  Braune 
has  most  appropriately  spoken  of  this  ■.  •"  If 
the  day  of  Pentecost  was  the  birthday  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  the  disciples,  this 
was  the  time  of  his  conception  with  them.'"| 


*  See  what  is  said  upon  this  in  my  Jieden  dcr 
ApoHtd,  j.  18-21,  a  view  wiiich  I  am  unable  lo  re- 
tract. 

f  Meanwhile  we  cannot  sc-ipturally  spealt  of 
eirlier  first  fruits  of  the  New-Testament  nvev/ia 
ayiov,  not  even  at  the  mission  of  Matt.  x. ;  tor 
the  power  of  miracles  is  not  the  power  of  the 
S[)ir;t,  and  so  vice  versa.  Glassins  was  wrong 
when  he  said :  "  This  is  to  be  received  of  the  in- 
crease (.f  the  fiifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  they  had 
already  received  the  first  fruits.  When  he  used  a 
new  symbol,  ho  bi)eak3  as  if  Ihcy  then  first  re- 
ceived it." 

^  This  is  more  accurate   than  the  two  loose 


For,  although  in  fact  the  power  from  on  high 
came  upon  them  at  once,  the  susceptibility  for 
it  must  have  been  gradually  prei)ared  in  the 
depths  of  their  hearts;  and  in  this  sense  Braune 
is  right:  "That  which  s'/chfenly  comes  is  always 
gradually  prepared  for."  But  this  is  not  one 
and  the  same  with  progressive  advancement: 
as  according  to  2  Cor.  i.  22,  the  consummate 
gift  of  the  Spirit  after  the  day  of  Pentecost 
was  itself  only  a  pledge  of  future  fulness  ;  so 
analogously  the  quickening  which  the  disciples 
experienced  from  the  Risen  Lord,  was  only  the 
pledfjje  of  the  Pentecostal  gift. 

We  have  said  that  the  inbreathing  Receive 
must  be  viewed  first  of  all  only  as  symbolical, 
this  being  intended  with  relerence  to  the  per- 
fect Pentecostal  reception  ;  that  being  the  case 
it  is  no  contradiction  when  we  now,  on  the 
other  hand,  maintnjn  that  it  bestowed  a  pre- 
paratory power  and  experience.  The  disciples 
received  in  the  breath  of  Jesus  the  "  Holy 
Ghost,"  not,  however,  the  promiserl  Spirit,  the 
Paraclete,  but  something  mediating  between 
the  word  of  Jesus  upon  earth  and  the  Spirit  of 
Pentecost,  an  aVar/a;^;/ and  so  far  an  anticipa- 
tion of  the  promise.  In  this  view  Luthardt  is 
sound. 

On  the  other  hand,  inasmuch  as  the  Apostles 
were  not  assembled  alone,  and  consequently 
were  not  alone  breathed  upon  and  further  ad- 
dressed, the  exclusive  reference  of  this  gitt  to 
the  Apostles  alone  which  has  been  common 
from  the  earliest  times,  is  altogether  inappro- 
priate. Von  Gerlach  very  positively  advocates 
that  view,  however :  "This  first  iwpartation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  has  regard  to  the  apostolical 
office,  to  the  founding  and  government  of  the 
Church  immediately  ;  and  the  Lord  here  com- 
municates the  apostolical  official  gift."  Here 
again  a  distinction  has  been  made,  as  by  Chrys., 
Cyril,  and  others:  to  wit,  tiiat  now  at  first 
the  power  and  gift  was  bestowed  for  '.he  for- 
giveness of  sins  with  reference  to  the  internal, 
spiritual  government  of  the  Church  ;  while  the 
day  of  Pentecost  added  the  spiritual  endow- 
ments which  worked  outwardly,  the  power  of 
miracles,  the  gift  of  tongues,  etc.  But  we  are 
not  permitted  to  understand  by  the  "  Holy 
Spirit"  here  solely  the  former,  nor  at  the  day 
of  Pentecost  solely  the  latter;  and  such  a  divis- 
ion is  generally  untenable  (as  Liicke  rightly 
says)  ;  nor  does  it  at  all  appear  why  that  one 
portion  of  the  gift  should  have  been  bestowed 
upon  the  Apostles  before  the  foundation  of  the 
Church.  We  think  that  our  exposition  has 
left  no  room  for  these  erroneous  thoughts. 

The  ILhj  Spirit,  by  which  he  living  before 
their  eyes,  not  a  "  spirit"  appearing  as  they 
had  tho\ight,  who  had  been  dead  and  was  alivo 
again,  whose  body  and  wounds  they  had  touch- 
expressions  of  Steinmeyer's  otlierwise  benutiful 
sermon  (ii,  114):  "Supposing  that  the  receivers 
themselves  did  not  use  the  treasure,  that  they 
scarcely  felt  it  as  a  liviiif;  gift,  and  tliat  it  Iny  un- 
sealed in  their  hearls— yet  had  they  received  it  in 
fact  and  truth." 


JOHN  XX.  23. 


751 


ed,  now  breatlies  tensibhj  upon  them — is  no 
epirit  of  deception,  no  doubtful  matter  for 
future  dia\oyi6i.iovi,  but  the  most  assured 
experience.  This  also  is  typified  by  the  symbol 
for  the  future,  as  it  is  also  sealed  to  them  al- 
ready in  the  present.  So  also  it  is  typified, 
that  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  must  be 
received  by  an  independent  receptivity,  going 
ont  to  meet  it.  But  this  last  less  in  the  symbol 
of  the  breath  which  came  upon  them,  than  in 
tho  explanatory  and  accompanying  word  re- 
ceive, which  is  to  be  understood  just  as  we 
understood  the  same  word  at  the  Lord's  Supper 
as  pointing  to  that  truth.*  Yea  in  this  Ee- 
ceive  ye  we  may  perceive  the  true  interpretation 
of  the  whole  once  more  confirmed,  as  if  it 
should  say — Be  ye,  become  ye,  from  this  time 
forward,  through  this  demonstration  of  my  liv- 
ing before  yoa,  susceptible  for  the  promised  Holy 
Spirit. 

This  brings  us  to  ver.  23,  the  words  of  which 
describe  the  future  demonstration  of  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  in  themselves — not,  however,  by 
the  detailed  exhibition  of  prerogatives,  but  by 
showing  their  kernel  and  centre,  around  which 
a  periphery  of  various,  and  otherwise  evident, 
demonstrations  would  revolve.  For  if  the 
true  peace,  which  he  utters  and  gives  to  them, 
is  in  its  ground  the  same  with  the  grace  of 
God,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  so  the  really  highest 
authority  of  the  messengers  and  bringers  of 
this  peace  is  no  other  than  the  impartation  of 
this  forgiveness.  This  was  to  be  the  Spirit's 
authority  in  them  over  hearts,  the  gift  of 
higher  power  for  the  gathering,  the  consolida- 
tiun,  the  furthering  of  the  Church  ;  but  since 
in  the  world,  and  not  only  so  but  also  in  the 
Church,  the  power  of  sin  would  continue  its 
opposition,  and  all  would  not  be  capable  of  or 
prepared  for  forgiveness,  the  correlative  au- 
thority to  deny  grace  and  retain  sin  must  ne- 
cessarily be  added.  Thus  Christ  himself  had  in 
the  world,  as  also  in  the  apostolical  company, 
done  both;  and  thushencelorward  his  disciples 
were  to  act  in  his  place.  (The  ay  coming  first, 
like  r'/y,  contracted  of  tdy,  which  is  Lach- 
mann's  readmg.)  It  might  appear  that  dcpi'r.w 
rai  (pret.  instead  of  dtpelyrat,  as  in  Acts 
dqiswKa,  see  Winer,  I  xiv.  3)  should  be  pre- 
ferred, according  to  Lachmann,  because  then  it 
would  run  parallel  with  xEHpdzrjyzai.  Lucke 
thinks  that  the  perfects  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary, because  the  meaning  was  to  be — What  ye 
remit  or  retain,  remains  thereby  remitted  or  re- 
tained before  God.  But  there  "may  be  involved 
a  prorjresi  in  the  strength  of  the  expression  : 
first,  What  ye  retain  is  retained  ;  then,  stronger 
still,  What  ye  remit  is  aircadi/  remitted.  The 
sense,  however,  is  clear,  and  the  same  in  both. f 
Kpareiy,  to  hold  fast  or  hold  back,  corresponds 


*  "  The  Spirit  is  a  gift,  my  gift.  Ye  can  only 
receive;  I  alono  impart.  Bat  receive,  and  neglect 
not ;  for  ye  need  it "  (Diaseke). 

t  Cut  the  remittentur  of  the  Vulg.  is  incorrect, 
as  if  the  remittere  of  the  disciples  was  t\ie  preceding 
cause  of  the  divine  remission. 


to  the  Heb.  "IVJ^,  which  the  Sept.  expresses 
now  by  xpaTEly,  now  by  dsslv ;  and  as  the 
opposite  is  perfectly  plain.  Thus  much  for  the 
words ;  and  now  for'the  matter  itself,  in  which 
two  all-comprehending  questions  arise :  2b 
whom  is  this  authority  committed?  and,  IIow  is 
it  exercised? 

As  to  the  first,  there  is  not  the  slightest  inti- 
mation in  the  text  that  this  authority  was  to 
be  an  exclusive  prerogative  of  the  Apostles ;  the 
reference  back  to  Matt.  xvi.  19,  xviii.  18  (where 
according  to  the  connection  the  forgiving  or 
the  retaining  of  sins  must  be  included),  shows 
very  plainly  that  those  who  were  here  present 
received  it  as  the  representatives  of  the  whole, 
and  also  as  the  representatives  of  the  future 
Church  of  Christ.  That  afterwards,  in  fact,  the 
specific  gift  of  the  discernment  of  spirits  (which 
however,  according  to  1  Cor.  xii.  10,  was  not 
their  exclusive  prerogative),  placed  the  Apostles 
especially  in  a  condition  to  act,  as  respects 
the  retaining  of  the  sins  of  individuals  more 
particularly,  with  self-evidencing  authority  in 
the  government  of  the  Church,  is  a  matter 
apart,  and  not  lying  in  these  words,  any  more 
than  they  speak  of  the  Apostles'  miraculous 
authority  to  decree  punishment  and  doom. 
Consequently  the  passage  knows  nothing  of  a 
priesthood  of  successors  of  the  Apostles  elevated 
above  the  Church,  such  as  the  Eomanist  expo- 
sition finds  in  it,*  and  also  too  many  Lutherans 
are  fast  coming  to  find.  It  is  easy  enough  to 
confute  the  consequence  drawn  from  it  (see  ia 
Sepp  that  the  institution  of  ecclesiastical  con- 
fession  and  penance  must  be  pre-supposed, 
since  "  without  this  the  authority  imparted  by 
Cnrist  would  be  incapable  of  realization)."  For, 
first,  how  is  it  said  by  this  £  d  v  and  r  i  r  c5  k, 
("  whosesoever"),  that  to  any  individual  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  either  remission  or  retention 
of  sin  must  b3  declared?  The  aulhority,  in- 
deed, rather  extends  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Church  into  the  world  without  also.  He  who 
has  received  the  Spirit  will  assuredly  remit  or 
retain  the  sin  in  each  individual  case  only  ac- 
cording to  the  truth  of  God's  Spirit,  only  when 
he  is  rendered  capable  of  doing  so  either  by 
confession  received  by  word  or  witnessed  in  the 
life,  or  as  in  the  case  of  the  Apostles,  through  a 
supernatural  insight  into  hearts  ;  but  when  he 
has  no  certainty  the  Holy  Spirit  will  teach  hira 
to  withhold  himself  from  any  individual  appli- 
cation.f     We  must  not  rend  the  passage  from 


*  In  the  Com.  Trident.  Scss.  xiv.  cap.  3,  the  insti- 
tution of  the  .sacrament  of  penance  is  establislied 
by  the  passage,  "as  declaring  in  plain  words  that 
this  authority  was  given  to  the  Apostles  and  their 
legitimate  successors."  The  appeal  made  to  the 
universorum  consensus  Patniin  lias  no  lorce  for  us, 
and  moreover  it  is  baseless, 

t  Oetinger  (in  the  Wbrterb.  p.  251)  appropriates 
the  binding  and  loosing  to  the  Church,  and  says  : 
"  The  chief  thing  here  is  a  sure  judgment  :  that  we 
know,  without  swelling  wordsof  vanity  (Jude  16), 
without  youthful  precipitance,  that  as  we  judge 
here  it  is  judged  in  heaven.    But  to  this  essential- 


752 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


its  essential  connection  with  ver.  22,  which 
makes  ver.  23  mean — If  ye,  after  ye  have  re- 
ceived the  Spirit,  through  ray  Spirit  and  in  my 
place  forg've  the  sins  of  any,  etc.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  the  office  or  position  which  acts,  but 
the  possession  of  the  Spirit.  That  which  had 
never  before  been  ascribed  to  any  prophet 
throughout  the  Scripture  is  now  given  to  every 
disciple  of  Jesus  according  to  the  measure  of 
his  participation  in  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  "  The 
Redeemer  commits  the  forgiveness  of  sins  to 
sanct'ifieil  personalUies."  This  excellent  word  of 
Braune  strikes  at  the  root  of  the  unscriptural 
and  most  irrelevant  assertion  of  Klee  :  "  It 
cannot  be  said  that  this  authority  is  in  any 
sense  conditioned  by  the  life  of  the  successors 
of  the  Apostles,  or  by  the  manifestation  of  the 
Spirit  in  themselves  ;  for  the  Spirit  works  by 
them  and  lives  in  their  dispensation  of  the 
mysteries,  though  he  may  not  be  in  their 
general  life.  As  this  holds  good  of  baptism,  so 
must  it  hold  good  of  the  sacrament  of  absolu- 
tion." There  is  absolutely  no  evidence  what- 
ever for  any  such  "  sacrament  "  as  committed 
to  any  such  "  successors."*  As  every  Christian 
should  look  upon  himself  as  sent  by  Christ  into 
the  world  to  bear  witness  to  his  truth,  and 
carry  his  message  of  peace,  if  and  as  far  as  he 
is  a  partaker  of  his  Spirit,  so  he  has  likewise 
his  portion  in  the  prerogative  attached  to  that 
privilege,  of  uttering  the  forgiveness  of  sins  or 
pronouncing  his  repelling  testimony.  Where 
there  is  forgiveness  of  sins  there  is  also  the 
breathing  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  where  he  is 
there  is  always,  tliough  in  diverse  degrees,  the 
authority,  power,  insight,  and  experience  which 
are  requisite  in  order  to  declare  forgiveness  of 
eins  to  others  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The 
sure  knowledge  of  men  and  of  the  human 
heart,  derived  from  deep  inward  experience  of 
our  own  heart,  and  the  enlightenment  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  alone  qualifies  us  for  this  priest- 
hood. He  who  has  that  is  as  much  a  "  spirit- 
ual" man  as  any  other,  and  when  he  assumes 
the  prerogative  which  is  here  bestowed  upon 
him,  the  Lord  will  confirm  it,  however  much  it 


]y  belongs  deep  experience  in  the  fear  of  God  and 
tlie  gravity  of  age.  Children  and  youths  should 
not  dare  to  hazard  such  judgments. 

*  In  this  way  Lutz  {Bthl.  Dogm.  p.  448)  speaks 
well  on  this  matter:  "  The  Apostles  are  conceived 
of  as  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  wider  which  condi- 
tion it  is  quite  true.  All  tlie-.e  representations 
have  on  the  one  ^ide  the  actual  in  view,  the  sin  of 
individual  persons  ;  on  the  other  side,  they  regard 
the  ideal  (a  condition  which  should  be)  in  the 
Church  and  the  bearers  of  the  declaration  of  the  word, 
the  Apostles.  The  idea  of  the  Clinrch  is  through- 
out kept  before  our  eyes,  and  it  cannot  therefore 
be  rightly  regarded  as  an  external  ordinance.  We 
shall  not  enter  more  largely  into  the  conflicting 
theories  of  our  new  Lutherans  toucliing  the  niin- 
istiy  and  its  prerogatives  ;  but  simply  refer  for  all 
essentials  to  U>e  treatises  of  Krahnnr  in  the 
Deulsch.  Zcitsch.—l\\a.i  concerning  the  office  cener- 
ally  (1852  and  1 854 \  that  concerning  absolution 
in  parUcalar  (1861,  No.  49-61)." 


may  appear  to  be  a  nudum  minuterium,  as  op- 
posed to  the  hierarchy.  Any  of  the  least  of 
those  who  believe  on  Jesus  might  apply  to  me 
the  consolation  of  grace  with  more  spiritual 
power  than  one  of  the  greatest  of  unbelieving 
priests  in  his  official  garments.  For  wca'led 
spiritual  men,  who  are  puffed  out  with  the 
spirit  of  the  world,  can  breathe  out  only  the 
spirit  of  the  world  again — as  Gossner  says. 
Most  evil  it  is  that  the  authority  of  the  ke'ys 
should  be  committed  with  their  ordination  to 
such  men  ;  and  far  better  than  such  usurpation, 
that  those  who  are  personally  incapable  of  it, 
because  unsanctified,  should  go  even  to  the  op- 
posite extreme,  and  renouncing  the  solemn  com- 
mission of  Christ,  leave  whatever  power  it  may 
involve  to  the  Apostles  themselves — thinking 
it  with  Hezel  "  most  unbecoming  that  this  pass- 
age should  be  referred  to  our  present  minis- 
ters." 

All  this  has  led  us  slightly  to  anticipate  the 
answer  to  the  second  of  the  questions  before 
mentioned,  and  to  show  that  we  certainly  ac- 
knowledge the  special  apylication  of  tlie  judg- 
ment concerning  forgiven  or  retained  sins  to 
individual  and  definite  persons.  The  Council 
of  Trent  has,  indeed,  imposed  its  anathema 
upon  any  man  who  shall  say  that  these  words 
are  not  to  be  understood  of  the  "  sacrament  of 
penance" — "but  shall  pervert  them,  contrary 
to  the  institution  of  this  sacrament,  into  the 
merQ  authority  to  preach  the  Qospel."  But  this 
does  not  terrify  us,  and  we  say,  with  exegetical 
consciousness,  in  Calvin's  words  :  "  Nor  is  this 
power  of  remitting  sins  to  be  separated  from 
that  office  of  teaching  with  which  it  is  united 
in  the  context " — that  is,  in  the  gending  of  ver. 
21,  which  primarily  meant  their  testimony.  Fur- 
ther, does  not  its  application  to  the  person  pre- 
suppose the  general  testimony  of 'preaching, 
according  to  the  norm  of  which  this  preroga- 
tive is  now  used  ?  Do  not  this  general  testi- 
mony which  precedes,  and  this  specific  declara- 
tion which  follows,  coincide  and  become  one 
in  the  office  of  the  Spirit?  To  take  away  the 
preaching,  and  assert  the  office  of  the  keys, 
can  lead  only  to  unspiritual  and  blind  caprice. 
What  is  absolution,  now  but  "  the  Gospel,  spo- 
ken to  an  individual  man?"*  Thus  we  may 
and  we  must  certainly  at  first  understand  it  as 
if  it  ran  :  Qualibus — to  whomsoever  in  general 
we  announce  the  remission  of  sins,  etc.  For 
the  testimony  in  the  preaching — Those  who 
thus  and  thus  believe  and  live  have  forgive- 
ness, but  none  else — is  the  necessary  first  exer- 


*  As  Luther  says',  Wirke,  xvi.  2174.  This  single 
kernel-word  disposes  of  all  the  attempts  made  by 
"  Lutherans  "  to  elevate  absolution  into  a  specific 
prerogative  of  office.  MUnchmeyer  holds  to  such 
a  prerogative,  and  laments  that  I  deny  it  to  the 
sacred  ( ffice.  He  may  charge  me  with  being  nn- 
Lutheran  if  he  will,  but  "unscriptural"  I  must 
decVne  to  admit :  2  Cor.  v.  18,  and  Eph.  iv.  11, 
speak  of  the  ministry  of  the  word  generally,  but 
uotiiinff  of  any  tacrament  cf  absolution  restiug  upon 
a  specific  prerugalivt)  of  office. 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


'785 


cise  of  the  sp'ri'-Dal  authority  here  entrusted, 
without  &ny  applic3.tion  as  yet  to  individuals, 
for  they  must  appropriate  it  for  themselves  to 
their  own  consciences.*  But  then  it  is  not 
right  to  go  no  further  than  this  ;  he  who  only 
thus  understands  the  word  of  Christ  does  not 
yield  it  its  full  rights.  The  direct  appeal — 
Thou  art  the  man  !  must  not  be  wanting;  it  is 
that  which  completes  the  power  of  preaching 
to  the  individual"  heart.  Thus  it  is  also :  Qui- 
hus,  to  those  to  whom  ye  remit,  or  retain,  etc., 
in  the  specifically  so  termed  power  of  the  keys. 
That  the  application  to  individuals  which  fol- 
lows upon  the  universal  preaching  is  plainly 
involved  in  the  rivo^y,  and  indeed  made  promi- 
nent, we  have  already  acknowledged  in  Matt, 
xvi.  But  let  this  be  well  understood.  The 
divine  forgiveness  or  retaining  of  sins  is  not 
made  so  altogether  dependent  upon  human 
mediation  and  witness,  that  it  might  be  said — 
Only  those  whom  ye  forgive  are  forgiven,  etc. 
But  if  one  who  is  truly  authorized  in  the  Spirit 
testifies  to  any  man  his  forgiveness,  that  word 
shall  be  valid  though  ten  thousand  liars  con- 
demn him;  if  such  a  one  retains  his  sin,  it 
shall  be  retained,  though  ten  thousand  liars 
should  acquit  him.  This  is  a  prerogative  of 
the  Spirit  of  truth  which  our  Lord  has  impart- 
ed to  his  disciples — a  prerogative  as  elevated  as 
it  is  self-approving  through  all  ages  of  time. 
But  that  which  belongs  to  the  whole  disciple- 
ship  and  Church  together,  and  to  every  be- 
liever and  possessor  of  the  Spirit,  is  indeed  to 
be  exercised  as  a  rule,  in  the  ministry  of  an 
office.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of  that,  the 
authority  is  so  earnestly  and  solemnly  intended 
that  the  Lord  calls  the  testimony  of  the  dis- 
ciples themselves  an  actual  forgiving  and  re- 
taining, the  validity  of  which  is  thus  as  it  were 
self-understood:  idv  dcpiJTEy   dgjievrai   (or 


with  the  reading  d(psa>vrett  ^hich  makes  the 
full  parallel) — kdv  xpcxTTJre,  KSHpdrrjyrat.* 
For  it  is  indeed  himself  who  by  the  Spirit  in 
and  from  them  testifies  and  effects  this. 

Finally,  in  this  is  included  as  a  final  conse- 
quence that  which  many  have  strangely  made 
the  sole  exposition — the  right  and  authority  of 
the  Apostles  first,  and  then  of  all  rulers  and 
officials,  in  the  Church's  name  and  the  Lord's 
to  receive  into  the  Church  by  the  declaration  of 
God's  grace  ;  or,  by  the  denial  of  it  (never  of 
course  unconditionally  absolute)  to  exclude 
from  the  fellowship  of  the  communion,  and  to 
refuse  that  fellowship  in  baptism. t  But  it  ap- 
pears further  from  this  that  the  words  do  not 
speak  of  any  one-sided  government  with  its  ex- 
communications, and  without  the  assembling 
of  the  Church  ;  as  also  that  for  such  a  case  as  is 
recorded  in  1  Cor.  xi.  29  the  distributor  himself 
is  not  always  to  be  regarded  as  responsible. 

Thus  we  trust  that  we  have,  with  as  much 
conciseness  as  possible,  done  enough  in  the  ex- 
position of  this  most  important  word  of  our 
Lord  for  the  further  development  of  his  mean- 
ing by  his  devout  people.  It  was  a  Spirit- word, 
speaking  of  the  authority  and  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  be  received  in  the  future  ;  and  as 
it  were  a  continuous  breathing  forth  of  aspira- 
tion toward  the  future  spiritual  dominion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  over  the  sin  which  opposes  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  With  this  word 
concerning  the  8pirit,]ie  vanishes,  he  withdraws 
his  bodily  appearance  into  invisibility  again. 
It  is  thus  that  we  understand  and  interpret  the 
sudden  breaking  off  of  John,  for  that  which  fol- 
lows in  Mark  and  Lukc^  was  not  spoken  at  the 
first  appearance ;  we  shall  find  that  it  is  only 
their  summary  report  of  what  was  spoken 
afterwards. 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES,  THOMAS  BEING  PRESENT. 
(John  xx.  26-29.) 


Thomas,  one  of  the  twelve,  to  whom  the  mis- 
eion  in  the  consecration  of  the  Spirit  assuredly 
pertained,  received  it  not  yet,  and  appears  to  be 
excluded ;  for  he  was  not  with  them  when 
Jesus  came.  This  is  John's  simple  statement; 
he  leaves  to  our  own  thoughts  the  investigation 
of  the  reason.  But  may  we  at  once  say  ( with 
many)  that  he  was  "  acidentally  "  absent,  or 
(with  Grotius)  that  he  was  "  occupied  with 
some  imaginable  business?"  That  would  tempt 
us  to  speak  further  in  the  spirit  of  the  Berlen. 
Bibel  of  "  the  misfortune  for  him  that  he  was 


*  "  The  office  is  instiluLed  that  it  may  announce 
by  divine  commission  what  brings  salvation,  and 
delivers  and  makes  the  soul  happy ;  what  also 
leads  to  perdition,  and  retains  the  soul  in  bondage 
and  misery  "  (Bunsen,  Kirche  der  Zukunft,  p.  92.) 


not  present,"  and  by  thus  lamenting  the  un- 
happy accident  derange  the  proper  point  of  view 
for  the  whole  narrative.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
imaginable  that  on  this  day,  when  the  disciples 
were  driven  together  by  all  events  in  the  in- 
tensest  suspense  and  expectation,  any  kind  of 
business  would  detain  one  of  the  twelve  from 
this  most  important  assembly  ;  or,  if  we  can 


*  There  is  no  ground  for  Lampe's  attempt  to 
soften  the  words  by  distinguishing  between  "  re- 
misso  piffiparatoria"  and  "remissio  peremtoria" 
Ilollaz,  more  correctly  spoke  of  "  potestes  ai.  ro- 
Hparoptw)  end  ^lanoviw),  so  jhat  even  the  lat- 
ter x&zWv  forgives  sins  opyaviH^?. 

t  For  without  the  sanction  of  the  power  of  the 
keys  the  sacrament  could  not  be  administered— 
as  Nitzsch  says  in  bis  Trak(.  Theol. 


754 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


suppose,  this  to  have  been  the  case  for  a  few 
moments,  that  the  Lord  would  strangely  come 
at  that  very  time  when  one  was  wanting.  On 
the  oAer  hand,  it  is  highly  natural,  and  John's 
concise  words  seem  to  regard  it  as  self-evident, 
that  the  cause  of  this  absence,  which  deserved 
this  exclusion,  should  be  sought  in  the  personal 
disposition  and  tone  of  feeling  of  Thomas  him- 
self. Even  the  repetition  of  6  Xsyo/nEyoi  Ji- 
6vuoi,  "called  Didymus"  (which  was  other- 
wise needless),  seems  to  point  back  to  the  first 
characterization  of  this  one  among  the  twelve 
in  chap.  xi.  16.  The  three  passages  in  which 
Thomas  appears  (chap.  xi.  16,  xiv.  5,  and  this 
one)  exhibit  to  us,  in  connection  with  the  most 
internal  love  to  Jesus,  a  certain  specific  tenden- 
cy to  morbid  feeling  which  takes  thought  for  the 
worst  contingency,  and  (as  the  ground  or  con- 
comitant of  this)  a  harsh  and  critical  zeal  of  in- 
vesitigation  and  doubt  in  things  which  concern 
the  faith  of  the  feeling.  His  inward  feeling  was 
not  a  filial  one,  we  must  say  ;  his  desire  to  know 
was  too  rationalizing ;  his  profound  emotion  of 
love  was  mingled  with  melancholy  doubt ;  and 
with  all  this  combination  Thomas  was  a  highly 
energetic  character,  holding  fast  his  peculiari- 
ties, whose  way  in  all  things  was  the  hard  and 
troubled  way.  Accordingly  it  is  probable  al- 
most to  certainty  that  on  the  day  of  the  resurrec- 
tion  he  least  of  all  believed  the  intelligence: 
that  he  isolated  himself  in  the  sorrow  of  dea'h 
with  strong  and  wilful  decision  of  woe;  and 
consequently  that  by  his  own  fault  he  lost  the 
first  word  of  peace  and  the  breathing  which  fol- 
lowed it.*  Thus  it  was  that  the  same  man 
who  once  would  die  with  Jesus  continues  reso- 
lutely in  the  same  mind,  and,  as  much  as  in 
him  lies,  will  not  rise  again  with  Jesus.  Thus 
the  spirit  of  doubt,  of  dismay,  and  of  despond- 
ency had  isolated  and  distracted  this  soul  so  far 
that  Thomas  went  comfortless  his  own  way — 
as  Lange  says,  and  as  the  Bsd.  Bihel  hints — 
"  Distraction  of  mind  and  wilful  separation 
find  little  blessing."  But,  finally,  this  caprice 
and  self-will  of  the  disciple  was  subject  to  that 
higher  guidance  which  subordinates  every  in- 
dividual thing  to  the  good  of  each  and  of  all  ; 
we  must  say  also  (with  Gregory  the  Great) 
that  all  this  both  m  its  beginning  and  issue 
was  not  fortuitous,  but  took  place  according 
to  a  divine  and  overruling  providence  :  "  Su- 


*  But  not  as  Augustine,  Bede,  and  others  as- 
sumed, wrongly  ptessing  the  eleven  of  Luke  xxiv. 
S3,  that  alter  the  Emmaus  intellisence  he  went 
away  almost  in  scorn  because  of  these  deceptions  : 
tiiis  is  not  conceivable  in  itself,  nor  is  it  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  connection  in  Luke.  Nor  does  tlie 
Evpov  of  Luke  relate,  as  Lampe  supposes,  that 
Thomas  had  been  earlier  wiih  them,  but  was  no 
longer  ihf  I e  when  the  di'^ciples  came  from  Eiu- 
mins.  But  least  of  all  can  we  tolerate  the  notion 
of  B  -Ciusius  that  the  isolating  incredulity  of  the 
morbid  doubter  amounted  to  an  absolute  abandon- 
ment of  the  cause  of  Christ :  "  lie  regarded  him- 
self afier  the  death  of  Jesus  as  sundered  from  the 
comiiany  of  the  disciples :  their  tociety  had  tw 
longer  any  mtaning  for  him," 


preme  mercy  so  wonderfully  ordered  it,  tliat 
that  doubting  disciple,  when  he  touched  the 
wounds  of  his  Master's  body,  healed  in  us  the 
wounds  of  unbelief;  for  the  incredulity  of 
Thomas  has  been  more  profitable  to  our  faith 
than  the  faith  of  the  believing  disciples.'"'' 

That  his  unbelief,  which  he  holds  fast  against 
the  unanimous  testimony  of  all,  was  not  a  ma- 
lignant and  damnable  unbelief,  is  proved  by 
all  that  is  elsewhere  recorded  of  him,  and  es- 
pecially by  the  immediate  sequel,  in  which  the 
Lord  graciously  shames  him,  and  yet  shows 
him  compassion.  He  was,  as  Tholuck  says, 
"  a  critical  nature — one  of  those  prudent  and 
incredulous  spirits  which  must  always  feel  the 
ground  upon  which  they  are  called  to  walk, 
and  who  dare  to  make  no  spring  over  the  pit 
which  they  have  not  first  exactly  measured." 
Yet  we  must  not,  with  Olshausen,  find  this 
critical  nature  merely  in  a  "  preponderance  of 
the  reflecting  reason,"  but  also  and  equally  in 
the  strong  and  deep  feeling  which  bursts  forth 
in  the  apostrophe  of  the  convinced  doubter. 
Draseke :  "  Thomas  was  a  man  cf  power,  with 
a  decision  bordering  on  self-will;  just  as  much 
heart  as  head." 

How  may  we  suppose  him  to  have  been  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  disciples,  who  pierced  him 
with  the  joy  of  their  faith !  John  simply 
expresses  it  by  his  "  They  said  unto  him  ! "  but 
we  must  expand  this,  and  by  no  means  limit 
ourselves  to  the  single,  once-uttered,  "  We  have 
seen."  Whether  (as  Bengel  thinks  with  less 
probability)  he  had  come  to  them  not  long  af- 
terwards, or  whether  they  had  sought  him  out 
(as  Hess  represents  it)  in  order  to  tell  him,  is 
not  settled  in  the  text ;  but  we  prefer  to  as- 
sume the  latter,  which  is  slightly  intimated  by 
the  contrast  of  i'Xeyov,  "said,"  with  ovk  j}y 
f.iET  avrcav,  "  was  not  with  them."  They  say 
again  merely  "  We  have  seen" — as  corresponding 
with  the  higher  character  of  the  appearance  or 
revelation,  but  they  include  in  John's  meaning 
every  report  of  his  words,  and  their  own  hand- 
ling which  had  not  been  declined.  Thomas, 
therefore,  could  not  have  doubtfully  asked  (as 
in  Pfenninger) :  "  Have  ye  seen  aright  in  the 
evening  and  the  uncertain  lamplight  ?  Did 
ye  touch  him  and  handle  him  ?  His  side, 
too,  pierced  so  certainly  with  deadly  wounds?" 
For  to  all  this  they  have  given  the  most  con- 
fident answer  (see  John  ver.  20).  Neverthe- 
less Thomas  cannot  and  will  not  believe;  he 
has  questionings  and  doubts  in  abundance  re- 
maining.    "  Why  did  he  not  come  before,  and 


*  So  Driiseke  points  in  his  beautiful  sermon  to 
"  the  traces  of  this  overruling  guidance."  But  he 
can  at  the  same  time  excellently  paint  the  other 
side  of  the  question  ;  that  Thomas,  whoso  happi- 
ness was  now  a  heap  of  ashes,  because  ho  could 
not  apprehend  the  idea  of  a  suffering  Messiah, 
fled  from  men — how  foreign  to  his  feeling  was  th» 
rumor  of  the  resurrection — how  that,  having  had 
enough  of  scorn,  he  would  separate  himself  from 
the  company  of  men  who  were  so  fearfully  de- 
ceived. 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


755 


longer  remain  ?  How  long  did  the  manifes- 
tation continue?  Where  then  is  he  now?" 
Above  all,  the  great  doubt  of  his  heart,  con- 
scious of  love  and  fidelity,  was  this:  Why  did 
he  not  show  himself  to  me  !  Should  I  alone 
of  the  eleven  have  been  excluded  from  the 
mission  with  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  Should  he  who 
denied*  receive  the  authority  to  remit  sins 
from  him — and  his  faithful  Thomas,  whose 
heart  he  knows,  not  receive  the  same,  not  re- 
ceive a  special  consolation,  like  Peter  ?  Where- 
fore should  this  be?  I  do  not  discern  the 
Lord,  my  Lord,  in  what  ye  relate?  "  This  last 
gives  proof  and  illustration,  that  the  contra- 
diction of  his  understanding,  as  it  were,  sought 
and  found  its  reason  in  the  adherence  of  his 
heart  to  the  Lord.  Thus  while  the  other  dis- 
ciples were  glad  because  they  had  seen  the 
Lord,  Thomas  remained  sorrowful ;  and  was 
still  more  sorrowful,  because  he  already  in  an- 
ticipation would  feel  in  his  soul  the  impending 
disenchantment  of  his  credulous  brethren. 

John  gives  us  only  the  strongest  and  most 
decisive  expression  of  his  contradiction  and 
unbelieving  asservation  ;  probably  also  the 
last,  cutting  short  all  further  remark.  We  see 
that  the  sight  of  the  Lord's  death  had  sunk  too 
deep  into  Thomas'  heart  for  any  thing  to  re- 
move it  buta  perfectly  corresponding  testimony 
of  his  sense ;  the  fixed  idea  and  image  had 
fastened  too  securely  upon  his  doubting  reason 
and  his  morbid  feeling:  If  Jesus,  though  the 
raiser  of  Lazarus,  was — and  it  was  but  too 
certain — put  to  death,  then  all  that  had  gone 
before  went  for  nothing,  all  was  a  dark  riddle, 
the  powers  of  the  world  and  death  and  hell  had 
conquered  him.  Out  of  this  morbid  sadness — 
a  feeling  to  which  we  are  too  apt  to  attribute 
now-a-days  much  rejection  of  plain  testimonies 
for  Jesus — out  of  this  gloomy  grief,  which  has 
swallowed  up  all  his  other  feelings,  he  utters 
his  intense  and  exaggerated  word.  He  says 
nothing  about  seeing  Jesm  himself,  but  must 
see  in  his  hand  the  print  of  the  nails.  But 
then  seeing  is  no  longer  enough ;  he  must  touch 
with  his  fingers,  and  be  as  certain  as  that  he 
feels  this  hia  finger.  Finally,  he  goes  on  to 
surpass  even  this — "  And  I  must  put  my  whole 
hand  into  the  broad  and  deep  wound  in  his 
side,  which  I  too  plainly  saw:  have  ye  all 
done  this?  Ye  may  have  been  deceived  in 
your  touching."!    That  he  does  not  expressly 


say  this  is  to  be  explained  by  the  tenderness  of 
his  love  to  them  ;  and,  moreover,  this  silence, 
this  pausing  at  the  mere  assertion — "  I  must 
also  myself  touch,  like  yourselves  at  least,  and 
more  certainly  " — seems  an  involuntarv  add 
mission  after  all  the  possihility  of  this.  Yet  he 
consciously  and  designedly  abstains  from  say- 
ing it  again,  as  Bengel  has  finely  and  truly 
remarked  :  "  Nor  does  he  say — If  I  shall  see,  I 
will  believe  ;  but  only — Unless  I  shall  see,  I 
will  not  believe.  Nor  does  he  think  that  he 
will  see,  though  others  said  that  they  had 
seen."  He  closes  all  by  an  absolutely  express- 
ed ov  /Jj}  Tti6TEv6a3,  "  I  will  not  [at  all]  be- 
lieve."* This  is  a  "  professed  incredulity,"  in- 
finitely more,  but  at  the  same  time  also  less 
than  if  he  had  shared  the  resurrection  feast  of 
the  Church,  and  yet  had  entertained  in  silence 
these  perverse  thoughts.  For  this  asserted  and 
stronglv  confronting  avowal  of  his  unbelief 
proved  the  integrity  of  his  character. 

May  it  then  be  said  that  it  appears  at  last  to 
have  been  an  almost  praiseworthy  and  ber.uti- 
ful  unbelief  of  a  sincere  character,  driven  by 
the  excess  of  love,  conjoined  with  a  keen  and 
anxious  reason,  to  fly  with  impetuosity  from 
the  most  dismal  of  all  possible  deceptions  ?  Oh, 
no;  it  is  not  this.  With  all  his  earnestness  and 
zeal  there  is  united  a  self-will,  sinful  and  to  be 
rejected  ;  there  is  the  exaggerated  assertion  of 
the  individual  and  personal  against  the  united 
testimony  of  the  whole  believing  brotherhood, 
when  he  looks  upon  them  and  says— Unless  I 
mvself  see  and  feel.  This  is  and  must  ever  be 
a  great  error  and  wrong — to  will  to  touch  all 
with  the  hands  of  self,  and  even,  for  it  comes  to 
this,  to  determine  to  understand  all  by  his  own 
self-sufficient  understanding,  and  to  recAce  no 
testimony  apart  from  that.  Even  the  Spirit,  to 
the  investigation  of  which  the  report  of  the 
Emmaus  disciples  had  so  expressly  pointed, 
avails  now  nothing  with  Thomas.  Just  as 
little  the  unanimous  assurance  of  all  Avho  had 
seen  the  Lord.  His  ten  fingers  shall  be  more 
decisive  to  him  than  the  ten  other  Apostles.f 


*  That  Peter  was  partaker  of  this  consecration 
before  his  re-establishment  in  chap.  xxi.  15-17, 
appears  further  to  prove  that  it  was  not  tlie  apos- 
tolical vocation  which  was  here  involved. 

f  It  is  foolish  to  demand  that  Thomas  should 
have  here  mentioned  the  feet  also.  The  hands 
lead  his  feeling  at  once  to  the  side  ;  but  that  feel- 
ing would  not  permit  the  painful  detail  to  go  down 
to  the  very  feet.  Another  question  is  suggested 
by  the  reading  which  has  roitov  instead  of  rvnov 
in  the  second  instance;  as  the  Vulg.  translates 
first yfarwram  {fguram)  then  locum.  Grotius  thought 
this  probably  correct :  "  tvnoi  is  seen,  rd;roS 
is  occupied."     The   expressiou   would  then  ad- 


vance: to  look  at  the  form  of  the  wound— to 
place  the  finger  in  the  place  where  the  nails  passed 
through.  But  rt's'oe  is  also  "  occupied  ;"  and  the 
variation  in  the  expression  is  not  so  natural  as  the 
repetition  would  be.  We  therefore  with  Ltlcke 
regard  the  roTtov  as  an  error  of  transcription, 
notwithstanding  Tischendorfs  Palimpsest.  As  to 
the  latter's  "  internal  reasons,"  we  should  like  to 
liear  them,  before  we  accept  the  reading. 

*  Not  believe  what  f  Certainly  that  the  Lord  had 
risen  indeed  (Mark  xvi.  11,  14;  Luke  xxiv.  11). 
This  seems  so  perfectly  plain  that  we  cannot  un- 
derstand how  the  short-sighted  Hasse  can  maintain : 
"  Thomas  did  not  doubt  of  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  but  could  not  reconcile  his  idea  of  a  resur- 
rection-life with  an  appearance  of  the  Risen  One." 
On  the  contrary,  his  conclusion  was :  If  he  ib 
risen,  he  will  and  he  must  appear  also  to  me. 

\  So  with  ingenious  simplicity  Valerius  Her- 
berger  says,  whose  incomparably  profound  sermon 
on  Thomas,  uniting  the  most  searching  applicatioo 


766 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


"  He  does  not  distrust  their  honesty,  but  he 
distrusts  their  understanding.  He  will  be  more 
teise  than  they,  more  prudent,  and  more  unpre- 
judiced." So  says  JDraseke,  and  terms  this 
conduct,  in  which  he  "  sets  all  the  outgoings  of 
his  feeling  against  faith  as  against  an  enemy," 
very  properly  his  "  prejudice,  which  he  thought 
candor."  Bengel  similarly  :  "  Without  doubt 
he  thought  he  was  thinking  and  speaking  very 
judiciously  ;  but  incredulity,  while  it  is  imput- 
ing defect  of  judgment  to  others,  itself  often 
nourishes  and  betrayj  hardness  and  slowness 
of  mind."  Lavater,  with  all  his  tolerant  mild- 
ness, says  :  "Nathanael  and  Thomas  were  two 
extremes  among  the  good  and  believing.  He 
who  said,  Unless  I  put  my  hand  into  the  print,  | 
etc.,  may  indeed  have  been  a  very  sincere  soul,  i 
but  he  cannot  have  been  an  ab.solntely  simple,  | 
artless,  collected,  innocent,  and  Nathanaelite  ! 
soul  as  such  ;  for  he  had  before  him  many  un-  | 
impeachable  witnesses  whom  he  could  not  hold 
to  be  deceivers,  and  to  whom  he  could  not  deny 
the  possession  of  sound  senses  and  some  spirit- 
ual sense  of  truth."*  Nor  can  we  regard  the 
unbelief  of  Thomas  as  a  denial  or  doubt  spring- 
ing merely  from  love  to  Jesus :  the  humble  love 
of  such  as  John  would  not  have  thought  of 
making  such  a  demand  of  the  Master  for  itself. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  a  certain  softening  of 
his  requirement  in  the  fact,  generally  uncon- 
sidered, that  he  demanded  to  see  and  to  handle, 
only  like  the  rest ;  but  even  this  demand  was  too 
much,  and  we  must  say  with  Lange  that  "the 
worst  was  his  venturing  to  impose  specific  con- 
ditions on  the  Lord  himself."  We  behold  in 
this  a  warning  type  of  all  such  making  conditions 
as  preachers  constantly  denounce.  Thus  it  was 
not  as  a  "  lover  "  of  the  Lord  that  he  demand- 
ed this  evidence,  but  with  the  "wilfulness  and 
self-will  of  a  sad  lover  "  (as  Braune  says)  who 
will  have  this  evidence  in  the  dealh-ai(jns  upon 
the  Risen  One.  "They  gave  him  his  anguish, 
they  alone  can  take  it  away."  As  the  other 
disciples  for  joy,  so  Thomas  for  grief  could  not 
and  would  not  believe  ;  but  we  cannot  proceed 
with  Braune — "  Love  to  the  Lord  was  the  sole 
ground  of  that  joy  and  of  this  grief."  For  the 
holding  fast  his  grief,  in  spite  ot  the  testimonies 
which  appealed  so  strongly  to  his  love,  was  in 
his  case,  as  in  the  case  of  many  others,  self-ioill. 
Luther's  German  translation  gives  this  its 
more  than  full  emphasis:  If  I  see  not — I  toill 
not  believe.  But  something  of^  this  "will" 
was  certainly  expressed  in  the  ov  ftj)  ■n:i6TEi')- 
(JttJ.j  On  the  other  hand,  the  ground  of  his 
heart  is  better  than  what  he  thinks  and  says. 
Many  say  plainly  I  toill  not  believe ;  whose 
words  are  estimated  by  the  Lord's  grace  as 

with  the  simplest  expression,  we  would  recommend 
to  all  readers  who  can  get  acceis  to  his  Jlencpos- 
tile. 

*  Nathanarl,  p.  27. 

f  NieiTieyer  has  no  foundation  for  makinij 
Thomas  cry,  "  full  of  joyful  uncertainty" — "Ah, 
I  see  him  not,  so  can  I  not  bslieve  !  "  This  op- 
poses the  inmost  meauiog  of  the  narratiro. 


meaning  in  many  instances  that  they  cannot. 
Thousands  of  others,  alas  1  Ivingly  say  that  they 
cannot — but  the  Searcher  of  hearts  knows  that 
thev  will  not. 

Eight  long  days  is  the   unhappy  Thomas 
punished  by  himself,  and  punished  by  his  Lord. 
The  others  may  have  been  obliged  to  give  up 
appealing  to  him;  but  still  they  pray  for  him. 
For  what  does  he  himself  pray  ?     Possibly,  in 
his  blindness — "0  God,  help  these  unhappy 
men  out  of  their  blind  deception  I "  as  Pfen- 
ninger  imagines.     The  unbelief  gf  their  fellow 
would  be  a  test  even  to  the  ten ;    for   they 
might  think — Will  our  testimony  in  the  world 
be  no  better  treated  than  this  ?    At  the  same 
time  it  is  a  requital  of  their  own  unbelief, 
as  Larape  says  :  "  By  that  in  which  the  Apos- 
tles sinned  they  are  punished."    The  wisdom 
and  the  love  of  the  Lord  waits  with  super- 
abounding  grace  until  the  right  hour  has  come 
for  Thomas,  broken  down  in  his  grief,  perhaps 
also  slightly  repenting  of  his  self-will,  and  ce*r- 
tainly  prepared   by  the  internal  work  of  the 
Spirit.    Then  he  who  was  still  unclean  by  rea- 
son of  the  dead  body  of  Jesus,  and  afar  off  by 
reason  of  his  sadness,  kept  his  joyful  after- 
passover  unto  the  Lord  (Deut.   ix.    10,  11). 
Olshausen    would   traiislate    this    appearance 
into  Galilee,  as  did  Rupert  before  him  ;  but  we 
agree  with  Liicke  that  there  is  no  trace  of  a 
Galilean  locality,  and  that  the  i<Sa>  indicates 
the   accustomed   place  of  meeting,    the   same 
place  therefore  as  that  in  which  they  had  met 
eight   days   before.      If   this   word  elsewhere 
stands  for  ^y  oi'«qj  (comp.  Acts  v.  23;  Matt. 
I  xxvi.  58;  Mark  xv.  16,  xiv.  54,  and  the  Sept. 
I  at  Gen.  xxxi.x.  11;  Ezek.  xliv.  17;  2  Chron. 
I  xxix.  16,  18),  yet  the  ndXiv  is  decisive  here, 
especially  with  the  repetition  in  other  respects 
I  of  the  whole  former  scene,  on  which  the  em- 
{  phasis  lies.     The  feast  which  the  disciples  at- 
tended in  Jerusalem  was  indeed  ended  by  the 
I  Sabbath  ;  but  they  delayed  their  journey  to 
I  Galilee,  they  were  not  in  haste  to  sever  them- 
selves from  the  city  which  the  death  and  res- 
I  urrection  of  Jesus  had  sanctified  anew  ;    and 
j  the  weak  in  faith  whom  they  would  leave  be- 
I  hind  were  another  argument  for  waiting.     We 
I  think  that  Thomas  especially  was  the  object  of 
I  their  hope,  and  that  they  expected  a  favorable 
I  result  in  his  case.     Indeed,  the  Lord  had  prom- 
ised to  show  himself  in  Galilee;  but  if  he  had 
already  anticipated  that  fuliillraent,  having  ap- 
peared five  times  en  the  first  day — might  he 
not,  would  he  not,  come  back  once  more   to 
justify  them  to  Thomas  before  they  must  set 
forth?     This  was  their  hope,  not  confident  but 
enough.     Finally,  as  Grotius  supposed,  a  feeling 
of  which  they  were  half  conscious  might  have 
'  prevented  them  from  journfving  on  the  new 
'  Sabbath,  the   day  of  the  Lord,  on  which   they 
would  celebrate   his  resurrection.     But   \i    is 
more  correct  to  sav  that  tlie  Lord,  by  his   re- 
turning on  that  day,  directed  them  and  us  to 
sanctify  its  recurrence. 

During  the  whole  intermediate  week  he  ap- 
peared not ;  this  followfl  from  the  enumeration, 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


767 


chap,  xxi.  14.  Possibly  Thomas  may  have 
been  asking  his  cutting  question — Are  ye  so 
sure  of  your  account  ?  But  we  cannot  feel 
positive  about  this;  he  may  have  been  silent, 
and  all  the  more  eagerly  solicitous  ;  and  this 
■we  prefer  to  think.  So  much  is  ti'ue,  that  in 
this  whole  time  "  they  are  serviceable  to  each 
other:  he  to  confirm  their  faith,  they  to  shame 
his  incredulity."  The  Lord  lets  them  so  long 
wait  together  ;  for  (Krafft)  "  he  does  not  urge 
his  people  too  fast."  Certainly,  the  fact  that 
at  this  assembling  Thomas  is  present,  shows  a 
softening  of  his  wilfulness,  an  approximation 
towards" faith.  They  had  not  rejected  the  un- 
believer— and  it  may  be  well  to  remind  some 
ecclesiastic  zealots  of  that,  in  passing.  They 
had  earnestly  prayed  him  to  return,  and  not 
renounce  his  connection  with  their  fellowship 
altogether.  In  the  fact  that  Thomas  (probably 
now  with  a  slender  wish,  the  germ  of  a  hope 
of  being  convinced)  unites  himself  with  them, 
we  see  that  he  did  belong  inwardly  to  the  be- 
lievers, and  therefore  that  so  far  he  submitted 
to  the  rule  of  Christ,  though  he  had  made  so 
irregular  a  demand.  Then  does  the  Good  Shep- 
herd seek  and  find  his  refractory  sheep  in  the 
fold,  and  soon  is  he  won.  For  the  sake  of  one 
soul  he  appears  and  shows  hi?  wounds — a  ten- 
derness which  Chrysostom  points  out  and  ex- 
patiates upon.  Thus  may  Thomas  with  his 
special  experience  of  the  goodness  of  Christ  be 
an  example  und  encouragement  for  our  faith  in 
all  ages;  just  as  Peter  was  elsev.-here,  though 
in  a  difi'erei:^  way.  For  the  demonstrations  of 
his  grace  are  ever  inexhaustibly  new ;  but  at 
the  same  time  they  conform  to  strict  and  re- 
vealed rules.  Thomas  had  sinned  against  the 
testimony  of  the  brotherhood  ;  he  had  wilfully 
separated  himself  from  their  communion  ;  there- 
fore the  Lord  does  not  appear  to  him  alone,  but 
justifies  and  asserts  the  duty  of  union  with  his 
believers.  Peter  received  at  first  for  himself 
the  general  authority,  which  he  then  almost 
forfeited;  Thomas  at  first  appears  to  be  exclud- 
ed, but  is  soon  added  to  the  rest. 


The  Lord  enters  altogether  as  o-n  the  pre- 
vious occasion,  eight  days  before:  this  of  it- 
self was  a  most  decisive  confirmation  of  the 
testimony  which  they  had  given,  and  which 
they  would  probably  utter  again,  in  living  re- 
membrance of  the  same  hour  a  week  previous 
--Thus  did  he  then  come ;  thus  did  we  see 
him — and  at  the  same  time  the  most  humbling 
demonstration  to  the  doubter.  In  order  to 
rnark  the  repetition  of  the  scene  John  men- 
tions the  door  being  shut ;  but  he  does  not  now 
add— /or  fear  of  the  Jeics*  A  third  time  the 
same — Peace  be  unto  you  !  This  confirming 
repetition  says  every  thing  at  once,  for  it  in- 
cludes  Thomas,  then   present,   in   the   Peace. 


*  Bengel :  "  They  had  not  yet  ceased  to  fear," 
But  we  doubt  this,  and  would  rather  assume  that 
the  motive  for  shutting  the  doors  was  now  the  ex- 
clusion of  eve:y  unpleasant  interrupiiou. 


The  gracious  Lord  comes  even  to  the  unbeliever 
among  the  faithful,  not  that  he  may  cast  hira 
out  in  judgment,  but  that  he  may  bless  him 
with  the  same  peace  which  his  companior.s  had 
received.     We  may  suppose  a  brief  pause  after 
this  greeting  at  his  entrance.     What  a  sea  of 
feeling  swelled  in  all  hearts  I     What  a  glance 
of  the  Saviour  upon  Thomas,  and  what  an  in- 
stantaneous  melting   followed   it  !     But   long 
time  is  not  allowed  him  ;  his  profound  shame 
and  confusion  are  cut  short  in  grace  :  and  the 
!  Lord  presently  {Eita)  proceeded  to  his  milder 
i  and  reconciling   humiliation.     He   gives   him 
I  back  his  words,  for  he  knows  every  thing.     It 
j  is  most  unthinking  folly  to  suppose  that  the 
j  disciples  had  told  him  these  words;  but  at  the 
'same  time  we  must   not   think  of  immediate 
divine  omniscience  as  yet  before  the  ascension. 
But  as  the  Lord   in    his  lower   estate  knew 
through    the  Father's    revelation   Nathanael's 
prayer  of  faith  and  longing  under  the  fig-tree, 
so  now  the  Lord  had  actually  heard  the  words 
of  Thomas'  unbelief — may  we  not  suppose  that 
during    the    interval   he   "  invisibly    hovered 
around  "  the  disciples  ?     To  point  this  out  to 
them  all,  and  especially  to   Thomas,  he  thus 
speaks:   Behold  I  was   around  thee  and  with 
j  thee,  when  thou  deniedst  my  being  alive.     He 
gives  him  back  his  words  almost  literally,  only  in 
his  sacred  dignity  and  gentle  tenderness  he  says 
nothing  expressly  concerning  the  vvTtoi  zcav 
7/Ag5J',  "  print  of  the  nails  " — it  was  enough  to 
offer  these  hands  with  these  tokens  to  ihQ  finger. 
"Reach  hither  thy  finger" — thus  the  Living 
j  One  in  dignified  silence   refers   to  the  all-holy 
signs  of  his  suffering  and  death,  which  the  bold 
word  of  the  doubter  had  as  it  were  desecrated. 
I  (The  cpepEiv  is  at  first  somewhat  more  gentle 
than  the  too  confident  ftdXXEtv,  the  repetition 
of  which,  however,  in  the  second  clause  is  not 
I  spared  to  him  who  had  dared  to  say  it.)  "  And 
!  ie,'joW  my  hands  " — this  is   in   part  like  Luke 
I  xxiv.  39,  spoken  in  the  general  sense  according 
to  which  seeing  is  equivalent  to  investigating, 
and  making  oneself  sensibly  sure  of  any  thing; 
I  while  in  part  it  rests  upon  the  supposi1;ion  that 
'i  Thomas  will  nevertheless  be  satisfied  with  look- 
ing.    What  humiliation  to  Thomas  !     First  of 
all,  in  the  necessary,  solemn  requital  before  the 
face  of  all  ;  "  in  the  presence  of  the  disciples 
he  had  spoken  the  words,  in  their  presence  he 
must   blush   for   them,  and   solemnly    retract 
^hem"  (Draseke).     Yet,  how   gentle   too;  for 
this  demand  that  he  should  do  according  to  the 
word  of  his  unbelief,  in  order  to  his  believing, 
says  at  the  same  time:  I  know  thy  heart,! 
punish  thee  no  otherwise,   I   reject  thee  not. 
Bengel:  "If  a  Pharisee   had  demanded   this, 
he  would  have   obtained   nothing ;   but   to   a 
di&ciple  already  teUed  nothing  is  denied."     Even 
the  side  with    the  deep  death-wound   therein 
the  Lord   vouchsafes  once   more   expressly — 
himself  to  show  and  to  mention;  for  this  mys- 
terious sign  is  hallowed   in   the  word  of  pro- 
phecy ;  see  Zech,  xii,  10 ;  John  xix.  37 ;  Rev. 
1.  7.     Not  merely — "  to  the  prints  of  the  nails, 
to  the  side" — in  the  words   of   Thomas  and 


J5S 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


the  Lord.  The  rvieot  referred  to  mucti  raore 
than  "scars"  or  "cicatrized  wounds,"  as  we 
often  hear  them  called  ;  and  the  f/5,  concern- 
ing the  hand  ia  the  side,  indicates  a  wide  and 
deen  opening. 

But  the  whole,  with  all  the  corporeal  reality 
of  the  narrative  itself,  is  at  the  same  time  a 
symbol  for  future  doubters,  who  are  pointed  to 
the  riglit  contemplation  of  the  C'ntcified  in  the 
proof  of  his  resurrection.  So  far  Thomas  un- 
consciously prophesied  in  his  arbitrary  words 
of  the  true  sign  which  Christ  would  give  to  the 
world,  and  which  he  continues  still  to  give. 
MoU  writes  upon  this  with  significant  force, 
that  there  are  so  many  unprofitable  investiga- 
tions, so  many  criticisms  on  the  life  of  Jesus, 
and  recensions  of  the  scriptural  canon,  which 
are  driven  away  by  the  winds — "  because  they 
will  not  set  out  with  Thomas'  criticism  on  the 
identity  of  the  Risen  and  the  Crucified  Lord." 
Yes,  indeed,  if  there  is  to  be  a  criticism  which 
shall  lead  to  the  true  end.  Ah,  that  there 
were  among  our  doubters  men  with  the  heart 
ot  Thomas,  who  would  sink  in  low  sorrow  into 
the  death  of  Jesus  in  order  to  be  convinced  by 
grace  and  become  lovingly  conscious  of  the 
identity  of  him  who  liveth  in  the  Spirit  with 
liim  who  thus  died  ;  that  so  they  might  even 
(as  Lange  further  says)  in  the  locly  of  the 
Uhurch,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  feel  the 
heavenly  light  in  its  marks  of  suffering  and 
great  heart-wounds.* 

And  be  not  faithless  lut  lelieving.  "Thus 
the  Lord  (to  quote  Lange  once  more)  changes 
the  hard  and  presumptuous  demand  of  Thomas 
into  a  confession  of  his  poverty  and  helpless- 
ness " — since  he  permits  him  to  use  his  finger 
and  hand  that  he  may  attain  to  the  peace  of 
faith.  For  this  unbeliever  has  experienced  for 
eight  days,  among  the  believing  disciples,  all 
the  disquietude  and  pain  of  unbelief;  and  so 
bitter  has  been  the  experience  that  he  heartily 
•welcomes  deliverance  from  it.  'ATti6ro';  and 
Tci6T6i  do  not  define  merely  the  not  believ- 
ing and  the  believing  as  regards  the  resur- 
rection ;  but  here  as  always  refer  to  the  condi- 
tion of  mind  generally,  the  habit  of  faith  or 
unbelief  (according  to  Nonnus:  xai  rsov  7/0o5 
aniCrov  dvaiyeo).  Gal.  iii.  9  may  be  adduced 
as  further  proof.  The  Lord's  words  fully  con- 
tradict the  foolish  defence  of  Thomas,  which 
some,  after  the  manner  of  Niemeyer.f  have  set 
up  ;  for  there  is  as  much  rebuke  as  encourage- 
ment in  his  requiring  him  to  remain  no  longer 
tinbe'icving,  and  not  to  become  more  so.  Ficker 
has  fallen  into  the  same  strange  aberration 
from  the  word  of  Christ :  "  The  occurrence  here 
narrated  has  given   needless  occasioa  for  the 


♦  Conversely,  the  Lord  also  knows  his  disciples 
by  the  marks  of  suflering — a  saying  of  Pascal,  if 
we  re:nember  rightlj'. 

\  In  the  CharaJcteri$tik,  p.  74,  we  read  :  "  We 
shall  lose  nothing  if,  aftf-r  ages  have  been  preach- 
inir  about  unbelievins  Thomas,  we  begin  now  to 
preach  about  the  faithlul  and  inwardly  believing 
Thomas." 


name  of  unbelieving  Thomas."  He  even  so  far 
forgets  himself  in  his  apologetical  zeal,  as  to 
preach  :  "  The  other  disciples  had  seen  the 
Lord  ;  why  should  he  not  also  desire  to  con- 
vince himself  in  the  same  way  of  the  truth  of 
his  resurrection  ?  Why  might  he  not  long  for 
such  a  handle  for  faith  to  lay  hold  of?  His 
whole  bearing  before  and  after  his  doubting 
testifies  that  he  already  believed  with  half  his 
heart,  and  that  the  grace  and  faithfulness  of  the 
Redeemer  was  shown  to  one  Avell  able  to  profit 
by  it."*  This  is  evidently  dealing  too  tenderly 
with  Thomas.  Why  then  did  the  grace  and 
faithfulness  of  the  Redeemer  leave  him  longing 
(as  his  wilful  demand  is  called)  for  eight  long 
days,  and  then  at  the  end  call  him  one  who  had 
been  hitherto  nnhelieting  ?  We  must  interpret 
the  saying  much  more  rigorously,  and  say  that 
one  who  was  believing  with  half  his  heart 
would,  through  persistent  unbelief  in  the  res- 
vrrection  of  the  Lord,  the  great  essential  point 
(1  Cor.  XV.  14),  either  prove  himself  an  unbe- 
liever, or  be  in  very  great  danger  of  becoming 
one.  Let  us  diminish  nothing  of  Thomas'  sin, 
that  we  may  do  full  honor  to  the  grace  of 
Christ.  *ATCi6Toi  has  in  the  Saviour's  lips  its 
full  rebuking  and  hortatory  significance;  yivov 
means  for  "unbelieving"  and  "believing" 
rather  the  becoming  thanthe  being.  Bs  or  be- 
come believing,  would  be  a  precious  imperative 
indeed,  if  it  brought  with  it  its  own  fulfillment, 
as  a  word  of  Christ's  absolute  authority,  like 
his  "  Woman,  be  loosed  from  thine  infirmity," 
and  the  like.  Then  would  unbelievers  be  easily 
won ;  then,  indeed,  since  Jesus  would  not  fail 
to  have  compassion  upon  all,  there  could  be  un- 
believers no  more.  But  it  is  not  so  :  and  G. 
K.  Rieger,  who  at  first  spoke  in  that  style, 
afterwards  restricted  thus  the  word  of  authority  : 
Be  believing,  thou  canst  if  thou  toilt.  There- 
fore we  may  say,  in  better  terms,  that  the  be- 
coming not  faithless  but  believing  is  matter  of 
command.  Grotius:  "Incredulity  has  in  it  some- 
thing voluntary  " — nay,  is  altogether  matter 
of  the  will.  But,  on  Uie  other  hand,  as  the 
Lord's  word  here  shows  :  One  may  even  see  and 
touch  Christ,  have  the  most  convincing  demon- 
stration and  experiences,  and  yet  not  become 
believing.  On  this  point  we  may  compare 
Acts.  xxvi.  19  with  Gal.  i.  16— and  ponder  it. 
Did  Thomas  actually  thrust  his  finger  into 
the  print  of  the  nails,  and  his  hand  into  his 
side?  If  the  Lord  commanded  it,  he  must  of 
course  have  obeyed.  Pfenninger  (in  this  agree- 
ing with  Nonnus)  represents  the  matter  as  if 
the  Lord,  while  he  was  speaking,  took  the  finger 
and  hand  of  the  amazed  Thomas,  and  placed 
them  upon  the  wounds.  But  the  simple  Af>fr»'* 
^ipE — /Sa'Af — records  nothing  of  the  sort,  but . 
rather  excludes  it ;  and  in  ver."28  we  read  noth- 
ing of  it.  We  confidently  maintain  that  the 
word  of  Jesus  was  not  properly  a  command  ; 
for  that  would  have  been  far  too  harsh  a  con- 
demnation, pressing  to  its  utmost  consequences 


*  Ficker,  "  The  Doubters  of  the  New  Testa, 
ment." 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


m 


his  foolish  word.  In  its  tone  and  meaning  it 
was  merely  a  permission  :  Thou  mayest  do  so — 
if  thou  still  wilt — see  I  am  ready!  Au2;ns- 
tine:  Although  it  may  be  said  that  the  disciple 
dared  not  touch  him,  when  he  presented  him- 
self to  be  touched  ;  for  it  is  not  written — And 
Thomas  touched  him.*  For  cur  own  part,  we 
regard  an  actual  touching  and  handling  as  al- 
together irreconcilable  w)lh  the  feeling  which 
changed  the  unbeliever  into  a  believer,  and 
cried  i/y  Lord  and  my  God.  We  sav  with  Tho- 
luck :  "At  this  point,  when  the  test  was  in  his 
power,  all  test  and  proof  is  forgotten,  and  the 
might  of  faith  maintains  its  right.  What  reeds 
he  to  lay  hold  with  his  hands?  His  heart 
feels  it  ail;"  and  with  Draseke:  "What  does 
he  now?  Nothing  of  all  that  which  he  had 
himself  specified  as  a  condition.  Hj  believes  ; 
his  faith  came  to  his  aid  on  the  spot.  His 
heart  overcomes  his  reasoning ;  therefore  he 
uses  not  his  hand  and  his  fingers."  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  partly  the  seeing,  a:?  our  Lord 
says,  ver.  29,  yet  not  this  alone  (for  then  all 
Israel  would  have  needed  only  to  see,  in  order 
to  be  able  or  to  be  obliged  to  believe),  trans- 
formed Thomas  into  a  believer;  it  was  es- 
pecially the  heart-reproving,  heart-winning  love 
of  Jesus,  in  which  Thomas  finds  him  again  and 
spiritually  sees  him,  which  overcame  his  un- 
belief. T.'ils  's  the  truth  of  his  faith,  which  our 
Lord  acknowledges;  and  this,  as  Lange  says, 
"  was  made  manifest  in  his  not  taking  the  last 
step,  and  making  the  manual  experiment  upon 
the  body  of  Jesus." 

His  responding  exclamation  in  ver.  28  has 
been  in  all  ages  perverted,  in  spite  of  its  clear 
self-evidencing  truth,  so  as  to  evade  his  call- 
ing Jesus  his  Lord  and  his  God.  Theod.  Mops, 
referred  his  words  to  the  Father,  whom  Thomas 
glorified  for  the  resurrection  of  Christ— '^  At  v  y- 
6  ai  v6v  ^s6y  tyEipavra.  This  is  at  least 
more  imaginable  than  the  subsequent  artifice 
of  the  Socinians,  of  Crellius  (under  the  name 
Artemonius)  and  others,  who  either  refer  the 
double  exclamation  to  Jesus  and  the  Father 
(who  was  now  altogether  in  Jesus),  or  make  it 
the  cry  of  utmost  amazement — Ah,  my  Lord 
and  my  God,  can  this  be  possible !  But 
Socinus  himself  confuted  this  easily  refuta- 
ble shift,  which  therefore  does  not  appear  in 
the  Catech.  Racov.  Could  Thomas  at  this  mo- 
mentous crisis  have  turned  away  from  the  per- 
son of  Jesus  in  an  exclamation  to  God  above,  as 
one  distinct  from  this  Jesus?  Furt-her,  it  cannot 
be  proved,  yea,  it  is  false  rather,  that  the  Jews 
had  our  wicked  habit  of  crying  out  in  amaze- 
ment— My  God!  Therefore  we  must  at  least 
understand  it  as  Theodore  does  above.  But 
neither  will  that  endure  examination :  for 
the  xvpios,  "  Lord,"  in   connection  with  the 

♦  Alter  having  explained  the  word,  ver.  29 — Be- 
cause tlioii  hast  seen — after  ver.  27,  as  referring  to 
sensible  exjierience  thioiigh  other  senses  than  the 
sight.  But  we  Liiink  that  "  seen  me  "  is  not  the 
same  as  ver.  27,  And  plainly  excludes  all  touch- 
Ins. 


Srso?,  "  God,"  as  in  ver.  25  and  always  in  the 
Gospels,  meant  in  the  disciples'  lips  Jestis  ;  and 
the  EiTtev  av  r  ^,  said  unto  him,  is  almost 
absolute  evidence,  for  which  reason  Socinian 
writers  have  always  been  anxious,  in  spite  of 
the  fullest  authority  of  manuscripts,  to  expunge 
it.  Thus  Thomas  utters  his  exclamation  in 
adoring  reverence  (probably  sinking  before  the 
Lord),  with  the  most  profound  and  mighty 
feeling,  which  was  also  at  the  same  time  the 
victorious  outburst  of  the  clearest  perception, 
when  he  addressed  Jesus  and  said — My  Lord 
and  my  God!*  He  calls  him  not  merely 
Hvpioi,  like  lilagdalene,  and  as  the  disciples  at 
last  spoke  of  him,  but  hecalls  him  God,'\n  per- 
fect harmony  with  the  transcendent  influence 
of  the  overpowering  crisis.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  omniscience  discerned  in  the  echoing  of  his 
own  words  that  moves  him  to  this  (for  comp. 
John  i.  49),  as  the  awful  and  at  the  same  time 
vivid  impression  which  the  open  bloodless 
woundsf  makes  upon  him,  showing  him  one 
who  was  ?is  it  were  dead  and  yet  living — in- 
stantaneously confounding  the  unbelief  which 
had  clung  to  the  certainty  of  his  death,  and 
consequently  exhibiting  instantaneously  to  his 
faith  the  dc'ath-dcslroying  divine prncer  and  God- 
head which  livingly  dwelt  in  the  person  of 
Jesus.  Thus  he  is,  as  Zinzendorf  said,  "  the 
first  divine  who  ever  concluded  from  the 
wounds  of  Jesus  that  he  was  God."  This  is 
the  immediate  link  in  the  interpretation  ;  but 
more  may  appear  in  it  when  we  consider  that 
he  can  utter  such  a  word  (contrasting  and  yet 
harmonious  with  Jesus'  own  word  to  Mary, 
ver.  17)  :  all  those  earlier  sayings  and  testi- 
monies of  Jesus  which  pointed  to  the  unity  of 
the  Son  with  the  Father,  which  such  a  deep- 
thinking  spirit  as  his  had  apprehended  and  re- 
volved from  the  first,  now  all  seem  to  combine 
into  clearness,  and  he  beholds  at  once  ex- 
ternally  and  internally  their   perfect  truth.J 


*  Lampe,  indeed,  regarded  the  vocative  as 
doubilul,  and  preferred  artificially  to  supply — 
T/mc  art  my  Lord  and  my  God !  But  such  a  plirase- 
ology  was  common  among  the  Greeks,  and  also  in 
tlie  New  Testament,  a<!  may  be  seen  in  Winer.  In 
particular  we  have  Kvpioi  and  3edS  thus  in  the 
Sept.,  e.  g.  Psa.  xxxv.  2t,  Psa.  xxii.  3,  comp. 
Mark  xv.  34.  It  is  of  no  significance  to  the  con- 
trary that  Jesu-i  is  elsewliere  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment addressed  by  nvpts,  for  here  in  connection 
with  the  Sc  JS  the  Oid-Tes.ament  aud  so.emn  for- 
mula is  used. 

f  According  to  the  natural  course  of  things  the 
blood  again  circulating  would  have  issued  anew 
from  the  wounds,  as  G.  Muller  observes.  Thus 
these  ojien  wounds  are  at  the  same  time  testimony 
to  the  bloodlosneis  of  the  resurrection-body. 

^  This  is  infinitely  more  than  Hofmann's  as- 
sumption that  SeJs'here  is  only  to  be  understooil 
as  it  might  have  applied  to  a  man — The  Lord  had 
now  become  God  to  him,  and  therefore  he  gave 
him  this  predicate.  By  no  means,  but  he  seeks  and 
recognizes  God  in  Christ  in  the  unity  of  nature,  in 
conformity  with  John  xiv.  7-10.  We  lament  to 
have  Schmieder  also  {Eohc^rieilerl,  Gebet,  p.  14)  to 


760 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


The  doubter  overcome  now  believes,  as  is  often  | 
the  case,  all  the  more  swiftly,  readily,  deeply,  | 
bedause  of  his  having  long  doubted.  What  no  i 
Apostle  iiad  hitherto  said,  what  the  Lord  him-  j 
self  had  never  said  directly,  he  utters  as  the  ; 
first  witness  of  the  last  truth  ;  and  John  can  | 
close  his  Gospel  with  his  confession  of  faith, 
going  back  as  it  does  to  the  prologue  in  the 
beginning.  Whether  in  the  excitement  of  the 
moment,  he  "  uttered  prematurely  more  than 
his  calm,  dispassionate  rellection  would  have 
dictated  "  (as  Tholuck  thinks),  we  very  much 
doubt ;  for  at  such  moments  the  might  of  the 
Spirit  goes  far  beyond  all  mere  human  passion 
and  excitement,  affording  the  clearest  and  the 
surest  perceptions  of  truth.  We  must  rather 
observe  that  the  "  Lord"  here  connected  with 
the  "  God"  means  more  than  all  the  disciples 
had  ever  intended  when  they  so  termed  Jesus; 
it  here  really  takes  place,  as  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  the  permanent  New-Testament  phrase 
of  Jehovah  or  Adonai  ;  the  combination  of  the 
two  words  is  essentially  parallel  with  the  ex- 
clamation of  the  people,  when  the  fire  fell  from 
heaven — The  Lord  he  is  God  (1  Kings  xviii.  39), 
only  so  to  speak,  in  an  inverted  deduction  of 
reasoning  from  below  upward,  as  there  it  was 
from  abm-e  downward.  But  inasmuch  as  no 
man  without  the  Holy  Ghost  can  call  Jesys  in 
»!uch  a  sense  Lord,  and  know  hira  to  be  God  the 
Ijord,  Adonai-Elohim  (1  Cor.  xii.  3) — we  see 
tli&t  Thomas  in  the  same  great  crisis  has 
abundantly  received  the *b'/)U7'J, opening  his  eyes. 
Hence  it 'is  foolish  to  assume  that  the  Lord  at 
the  close  of  this  manifestation  breathed  also 
upon  Thomas  supplementarily,  and  said — All 
that  I  have  spoken  to  the  ten  applies  also  to 
the  eleven.  There  needed  no  repetition  of  the 
breathing,  no  repeated  "  I  send  thee  also."  All 
this  was  internally  and  really  accomplished  in 
Thomas  without  symbol  and  word.  But,  finally, 
the  most  gracious  and  touching  thing  in  his 
word,  which  the  power  of  the  Lord's  love  put 
into  his  heart  and  upon  his  lips,  is  the  two-fold 
internal  "Mi/  Lord!  my  God!"  This  was 
wanting  to  the  cry  of  the  people  upon  Carmel  ; 
this  is  wanting  to  many  who  sound  with  the 
trumpet — The  Lord  is  God.  This  discloses  the 
kernel  o(  his  appropriating  and  self-consecrating 
faith.  He  would  cry  in  the  fulness  of  his 
heart — "  How  have  1  sinned  against  thee!  be 
merciful  to  me ;  "  but  grace  has  anticipated 
him.  He  would  testily — "  Yea,  I  believe,  love, 
adore,  arn  thine  henceforth  forever;"  but  all 
tins  is  merged  in  one,  and  is  poured  forth  in 
the  only  address  of  which  his  feeling  is  capable. 

The  Lord  accepts  the  God  added  to  the  Lo7'd 
from  the  mouth  of  Thomas:   this  gives  the  say- 


contradict,  who  finfls  in  (lie  pxclitniat'on  of  Thomns 
"  fw  avowal  of  the  divinily  of  Ciirist,"  and  de- 
grade.s  SecJs,  by  the  side  of  Hvfunc,  into  a  mere 
"  relative  term  " — instead,  conversely,  of  givinir 
Mvfiioi,  by  the  side  of  Sto'S,  a  hiyber  meanii)<; 
than  belore.  The  Old-Testanietit  phrase,  which  is 
8aid  to  npp'y  liere,  was  no  lonjjor  current  among 
Ihe  Jews,  as  we  plainly  see  in  John  x.  ZZ, 


ing  its  dogmatic  demonstrative  force,  for  it 
shows  that  the  Spirit  of  truth  had  spoken  by 
Thomas.*  "  Christ  termed  this  exclamation  of 
Thomas,  who  in  amazement  and  ecstasy  (rather 
in  adoration)  had  called  him  Lord  and  God, 
faith  simply,  the  first  thing  and  the  last  which 
he  required  from  man  ;  and  pronounced  hia 
benediction  upon  those  who  should  possess  thia 
faith,  though  they  saw  him  not  with  their 
eyes  "  (Kleuker).  Yes,  verily,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen  in  the  faithless  and  believing  of  ver. 
27,  it  is  now — Thou  hast  believed,  thou  hast  be- 
come believing,  thou  believest  from  this  time. 
Not  merely — Thou  doubtest  ray  resurrection 
no  more ;  but  it  has  the  great  all-comprising 
meaninjc  which  the  Evangelist  connects  with  it 
in  ver.  31.  Thomas  did  not  simply  say — Thoa 
hast  verily  risen  again  ;  but  at  once  deduces 
every  thing  from  it  to  which  it  must  lead. 
The  Lord  also  embraces  in  the  confirmation 
and  sanction  which  he  gave  to  this  avowal  all 
that  was  included  in  it — Thou  believest  that  1 
am  the  Son  of  God,  and  myself  God  ;  yea,  more 
— Thou  dost  altogether  yield  thyself  up  to  me 
in  this  adoring  and  loving  faith,  thou  becomest 
mine,  while  thou  callest  me  thine ;  thus  all  is 
included  that  nidvEvsiVy  "believe,"  involves 
in  its  fullest  meaning  when  used  by  Jesus,  by 
his  Evangelist  John,  and  in  the  Scripture 
thenceforward.  To  put  a  note  of  interrogation 
here  (with  Lachmann  and  others,  and  the  Vulg. 
also)  is  as  perverse  as  to  put  it  in  chap.  i.  50 
(in  the  Greek  ver.  51)  or  xvi.  31;  see  what 
was  said  especially  upon  the  latter  passage.  If 
the  faith  of  Thomas  was  in  any  sense  made 
matter  of  question,  the  Ttidtevdavrei  in  the 
subsequent  parallel  clause  would  altogether 
fail  to  correspond ;  and  Thomas,  whom  we  may 
suppose  happy  in  his  faith  though  not  expressly 
pronounced  blessed  by  the  Lord,  would  after 
all,  contrary  to  tlie  gracious  character  of  the 
whole  manifestation,  and  as  if  that  manifesta- 
tion had  altogether  failed  of  its  gracious  objecf, 
be  sharply  rebuked  and  rigidly  condemned  to 
the  last.  Such  doubt  thrown  by  our  Lord 
upon  the  genuineness  and  purity  of  the  faith 
which  uttered  its  exclamation  in  ver.  28,  must, 
so  to  speak,  have  plunged  him  again  into  new 
and  deeper  doubt — and  the  Lord's  immeasur- 
al)le  grace  would  have  been  utterly  in  vain. 
Who  that  thinks  it  out  can  conceive  this  to 
have  been  so?  Oh,  no;  but  as  Ijange  says, 
"  Jesus  acknowledged  the  truth  of  his  faith,  and 
thereby  the  blessedness  of  his  believing  is  also 
expressed."  Thou  believest — that  remains  true 
and  firm,  although  with  it  there  is  hlended  a 
gentle  reproof  still — because  thou  hast  i^een 
rae.t    The  seeing,  the  seeing  himsef,  is  all  that 


*  B.-Crusius  s^ems  confident  that  it  ought  to  b« 
very  plain  that  it  is  only  a  liistorioal  passage,  or 
word  of  Thomas  reproduced  by  the  Evangelist  j 
that  this  word  was  not  used  in  any  dogmaLical 
sense,  but  only  as  it  occurs  in  the  0.  T.  concern- 
ing angels,  etc.,  regarding  Christ  as  a  Thcophany. 

f  The  personal  address  with  G)(»//a  (which  ia 
wanting  also  iu  ver.  27,  when  it  would  have  beeo 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


M 


the  Lord  refers  to ;  he  says  nothing  further 
about  the  touching  with  finger  and  hand,  as 
Thomas  himself  wanted  nothing  more  of  that 
kind.  One  might  be  well-nigh  tempted  to  re- 
ceive this  as  a  keen  and  almost  reproachful 
oxymoron — Is  it  actually  believing  if  one  is  con- 
vinced by  seeing  ?  But  such  severity  of  allusion 
would  pass  beyond  the  truth  ;  the  Lord  knew 
better,  and  testified  even  by  this  that  seeing  still 
leaves  room  for  believing.  We  have  onl}''  to 
remember  that  even  the  other  ten  Apostles  (as 
they  themselves  admitted  by  their  "  We  have 
seen,"  ver.  25)  believed  after  thev  had  seen, 
thus  taking  no  higher  place  than  Thomas,*  in 
order  to  understand  that  the  Lord  certainly 
does  not  hereby  deny  to  them  all  the  reality  of 
their  believing.  There  are  here  gradations  of 
feeling  and  position,  which,  while  they  are  re- 
ferred to  by  like  expressions,  must  he  carefully 
distinguished.  When  the  daring  mockers  under 
the  cross,  Mark  xv.  32,  would  see  in  order  to 
believe,  their  case  was  quite  difTerent ;  for  they 
were  altogether  ignorant  what  believingis,  while 
they  thus  spoke,  and  no  seeing  would  have 
brought  them  to  faith.  When  the  Lord,  John 
iv.  48,  condemns  the  Galileans  who  must  see 
signs  and  wonders  before  they  would  believe, 
he  nevertheless  recognizes  by  this  word  the 
faith  itself  which  would  follow  and  which 
would  receive  those  miracles  as  sigm:  more- 
over our  Evangelist  tells  us  presently  after- 
wards in  ver  31  that  the  signs  are  designed  to 
assist  the  faith  of  all,  even  as  merely  recorded. 
Finally,  in  the  first  creation  and  establishment 
of  the  faith  in  the  divine-human  miraculous 
person  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  which  was  itself  the 
wonder  of  all  wonders,  in  the  resurrection  and 
exaltation  of  him  who  had  been  crucified  in 
disgrace,  the  seeing  was  indispensable  to  all, 
especially  to  the  Apostles  whose  testimony 
concerning  their  having  seen  him  was  in  future 
to  be  believed  by  others — first,  the  seeing  of  his 
glory  in  his  previous  life  full  of  the  works  of 
bod  (hence  John  vi.  40)  ;  and  then  the  bodily 
seeing  of  the  E,isen  Jesus.  The  Lord  is  conse- 
quently very  far  from  singling  out  Thomas  for 
blame  in  the  first  clause  of  ver.  29  (the  addition 
ol'  "  Thomas"  has  sprung  from  such  a  miscon- 
ception); he  includes  him  with  the  rest,  with 
all  those  who  hitherto  had  been  able  to  believe 
only  in  con.sequence  of  seeing ;  the  special 
hardness  of  his  character  is  merged  into  the 
common  attributes  cf  that  class  in  opposition 
to  which  our  Lord  now  places  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent class,  composed  of  those  who  in  future 
would  believe  through  the  word  and  the  Spirit 
(chap.  xvii.  20).  It  will  appear  significant 
that  lie  does  not  praise  and  bless  this  believing 
confessor,  and  ail  the  others  with  him,  as  he 


more  in  place)  is  hirdly  genuine,  and  Griesbach 
rejected  if.  It  would  la  this  passage  mark  too 
emphatically  liis  being  one  example,  whereas  he 
represented  a  class. 

*  They  were  superior  to  Thomas  in  nothing  but 
that  they  believed  earlier,  because  tliey  earlier 
saw  the  Lord  (Niemeyer). 


had  once  pronounced  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona, 
blessed  whose  faith,  in  a  lower  stage  had  attain- 
ed the  word  of  his  confession — Thou  art  the 
Son  of  God — from  the  word  and  life  of  Jesus 
For  the  Lord  now  looks  much  higher,  and 
looks  far  beyond!  For  the  present,  all  those 
who  still  needed  the  evidence  of  sight  must  be 
reminded  of  their  own  weakness  and  hardness 
of  heart,  in  order  that  they  might  all  the  more 
humbly  look  forward  to  the  future  faith  of 
many  in  the  word  of  their  mission. 

But  now  there  is  an  altogether  new  pronun- 
cialion  of  blessing  for  the  new  and  great  futu- 
rity. A  final  benediction,  sealing  the  first  with 
which  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  had  com- 
menced— one  that  embraces  all  that  was  there 
set  forth  as  the  individual  conditions  of  bless- 
ing, in  that  one  principle,  wiiich  was  even  there 
pre-supposed  in  them  all — Blessed  are  thase 
wliohelieva;  a  sentence  (his  which  remarkably 
returns  to  that  first  testimony  of  the  Spirit  at 
the  commencement  of  the  New  Testament, 
that  word  of  Elizabeth  lo  Mary,  through  whose 
faith  alone,  as  prepared  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Christ  could  be  born — Mcxuafiia  ij  -at- 
6reL.6a6a.  But  what  then  is  the  spirit  and  sub- 
stance of  the  faith  here  pronounced  blessed  and 
magnified  at  the  close  of  John's  Gospel  ?  What 
but  the  person  of  the  Lord,  our  Lord  and  our 
God,  in  whom  all  revelations  of  God  addressed 
to  our  faith  are  blended  and  consummated  into 
one?  And  that  too  his  manifestation  in  tlve 
flesh,  in  the  l!esh  of  true  humanity,  which, 
even  in  the  resurrection  and  glorification  of 
this  personal  life,  is  and  abides  a  real  and  tan- 
gible body.  It  is  consequently  by  nothing  but 
the  most  wilful  and  blind  perversion  of  this 
passage  in  which  the  historical  corporeal  per- 
son of  Jesus  is  so  distinctively  presented  to 
faith,  that  Baur  can  make  John  testify  here, 
"that  a  faith  resting  simply  upon  exl  rnals 
must  bring  its  own  confusion  after  it.  for  all 
this  seeing  and  touching  demonstrated  noth- 
ing ;  and  therefore  that  John  quotes  the  Lord's 
word  concerning  not  seeing  in  order  to  bring 
back  his  readers'  thoughts  to  the  faith  in  the 
Xoyoi  adapHo?  with  which  he  began  his  Gos- 
pel." This  miserable  folly  has  already  been 
amply  refuted  by  others ;  as  if  the  forme*" 
clause  had  not  established  the  seeing  as  firmly 
as  the  faith  which  was  to  spring  from  it  alone, 
in  order  thereby  to  proceed  to  faith  in  the  Risen 
Lord  who  had  been  seen. 

It  is  well  known  that  other  and  still  more 
malicious  mockers  in  Christendom  have  in  an- 
other way  perverted  this  sublime  saying — 
Blessed  are  they  who  not  seeing  will  believe  ; 
commending  in  their  ridicule  all  unreasonable 
credulity  in  earthly  things,  and  placing  on  the 
same  level  a  supposed  irrational  faith  in  the 
word  of  God.  But  it  may  be  remarked  that 
this  saying  was  by  no  means  given  as  a  rule 
for  earthly  things,  in  which  there  may  be  every 
prudent  inquiry  before  fa:th;  but  for  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  divine  things,  and  the  way 
of  salvation.  There  is  indeed  a  certain  unde- 
niable truth  ia  its  applicatioa  even  to  the  lower 


762 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLEa 


domain  of  earthly  life;  for  how  would  a  man 
fare  on  the  principle  that  he  would  believe 
nothing  which  he  saw  not  with  his  eyes  ?  But 
its  essential  meaning;  refers  to  the  supersensible 
world.  In  this  the  sayinq  is  so  universally 
true,  that  it  actually  includes  (as  we  shall  see 
on  a  nearer  contemplation  of  its  meaning)  in 
some  degree  those  also  who  are  believers 
through  seeing,  and  speaks  of  the  universal 
and  most  intornal  nature  of  all  true  faith. 
Tiierefure  the  Lord  does  not  speak  of "  those 
who  see  not  me  and  yet  believe  in  me  ;"  but  he 
continues  the  general  neiriarfVHai  in  a  yet 
more  general  form.  IL7i<'e  the  aorist  form 
(signifying  "wont")  of  both  these  verbs,  as 
Liicke  rightly  mentions,  in  order  to  embrace 
the  past  under  the  comprehending  rule  :  Blessed 
are  all  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  been 
believing.*  Bat  these  are  not  at  first  opposed 
merely  to  Thomas,  but  to  all  who  liave  seen 
Jesus  in  order  to  faith  ;  then  again  those  who 
see  are  themselves,  in  as  far  as  they  actually  at 
last  ielieve,  embraced  under  the  same  rule.  For, 
according  to  Heb.  xi.  1,  a  not  seeing  belongs  to 
the  nature  of  all  true  faith,  where  the  seeing 
stands  for  the  testimony  of  sensible  experience 
generallyl  (as  above,  ver.  27).  If  this  has  al- 
ways held  good,  it  has  its  fullest  truth  in  the 
New-Testament  economy,  which  begins  with 
the  withdrawal  of  the  visible  appearance  of 
Jesus  in  the  ascension,  and  continues  to  com- 
mit to  the  faithj  which  overcometh  the  world 
the  contest  with  the  whole  mighty  power  of  a 
world  lying  under  God's  patience  in  wicked- 
ness, yea,  finally,  clothed  in  anti-christian 
strength.  During  this  period  the  believing 
have  to  c«y  more  and  more  loudly — But  now 
we  see  not  yet  that  all  things  are  put  under  our 
exalted  Lord — though  they  themselves  are  sub- 
ject to  him  in  the  Tiiomas-word  of  faith.  They 
even  ice  too  in  the  mirror  of  the  word,  and  in 
history  which  accords  with  it,  that  it  is  Jesus, 
who  through  the  suffering  of  death  was  crown- 
ed with  glory  and  honor  (Heb.  ii.  8,  9). 

What  is  the pjwnise  connected  with  this  last 
benediction,  beyond  which  nothing  further  is 
given  even  in  Mark  xvi.  IG?  There  is  no 
specific  expression  of  promise  connected  with 
it;  for  as  believing  includes  every  thing,  so  all 
is  already  said  in  the  llesned.  They  go  onward 
and  believe  towards  blessedness,  when  all  will 
be  fulfilled   that  has  been  spoken  of  by  the 


*  Luthardt  thinks  it  needless  to  resort  to  this 
"  improved  meanins  of  habit  and  wont,"  and  says 
that  they  are  viewed  as  such  as  have  not  seen  .ind 
yet  have  beheved  !  There  is  no  essential  (liflt>r- 
ence ;  but  my  view,  wliich  is  erammatically  de- 
fensible, lays  more  stress  upon  the  universal  rule 
(ev.Mi  before  Christ). 

f  In  tlip  Scripture  nXT  stands,  e.  g.,  concerning 
hearing,  E.xod.  xx.  18 :  Jer.  ii.  31 ;  concerning 
sniplliiig,  Gen.  xxvii.  27 — tasting,  Psa  xxxiv.  9, 
etc. 

X  1  John  V.  4.  It  is  a  mos*,  profound  spleclion 
wliicii  lias  made  this  pericope  the  Ep.slle  tor  Qua- 
iimodo  Sunday. 


Lord.  But  they  have  already  in  faith,  anrf  a« 
far  as  they  believe,  the  pledged  and  uttered 
feace  of  victory  over  the  world  ;  and  this  they 
retain  and  prove  through  the  continuance  of 
faith.  The  believer  says:  I  know  in  ichnm  I 
believe — whom  and  what  I  possess  in  my  iailh. 
Even  his  Lord  himself  cannot  declare  to  him 
in  terms  how  and  wherein  he  is  so  blessed  ;  but 
he  knows  it  by  experience  and  utters  it  in  the 
adoring,  responding  cry — Yea,  thou  art  my 
Lord  and  God,  thou  makest  meh!esse.l. 

This  deeper  view  of  the  transcendent  saying 
will  help  U3  to  understand,  and  reply  to,  the 
questions  which  various  exposition  has  en- 
deavored to  solve — Whether  they  who  believe 
because  they  have  seen  are  not  blessed,  and 
how  far  those  who  have  not  seen  are  more 
blessed.  It  is  faith  which  brincrs  blessedne.sa 
always  and  every  where:  that  is  most  certain 
at  the  outset.  In  as  far  as  those  who  saw  re- 
tained not  their  privilege  of  seeing  in  continu- 
ance (as  these  Apostles  only  saw  the  Lord  a 
short  time,  and  then  pprmanently  believed) 
this  seeing  had  only  led  them  to  faith,  and  thus 
they  were  happy:  thus  the  second  clause  re- 
moves the  contradiction  which  seems  to  be  in 
the  first,  ascribing  as  it  does  a  believing  to  hiiu 
who  sees. 

He  again  who  would  believe  only  where,  be- 
cause, and  as  long  as  he  sees — would  never 
have  thus  attained  faith;  but  the  Lord  speaka 
of  a  TrE7Ti(jT£V){a?y  having  believed,  which  is  no 
other  than  the  having  become  believing  alter 
the  having  seen.  Moreover,  as  Lange  says  very 
truly  on  this  question,  even  in  the  moment  of 
external  seeing  every  man  must  (like  Thomas 
here,  hence  yivov  rrzcfro?)  "  at  last  come  to 
the  leap  of  faith,"  ina«!much  as  no  man  can 
ever  behold  the  essential  glory  of  Christ  with 
the  eyes,  or  handle  it  with  hands.  Is  it  there- 
fore altogether  without  significance  that  the 
Lord  pronounces  his  Nessed  upon  those  alona 
who  see  not,  thus  as  it  were  strongly  contrast- 
ing them  in  this,  almost  as  if  with  "but?" 
Fikenscher  gives  it  this  turn — They  shall  bo 
equally  happy  with  thyself  in  thy  present  faith; 
but  that  13  manifestly  against  the  feeling 
which  must  apprehend  here  at  least  a  rela- 
tive contrast.  Niemeyer,  on  the  other  hand, 
makes  a  comparative  out  of  the  solemn  ftaxd^ 
piot — "  It  is  still  more  blessed,  not  to  see  and 
yet  to  believe" — as  Grotius  :  They  are  to  ba 
preferred,*  for  which  he  groundlessly  comparea 
Luke  xi.  27.  But  this,  so  nakedly  stated,  does 
not  correspond  with  the  specific  and  delicato 
intimations  of  the  whole.  Certainly,  an  earlier 
and  relatively  greater  blessedness  was  enjoyed 
by  those  Emmaus  disciples  (the  only  men  at 
tiiat  time  who  already,  even  beyond  the  Apos- 
tles, could  now  lookbeyond  into  the  economy 
of  the  future)  while  their  hearts  were  burning 
through  only  hearing  the  words  of  Scripture 
which  were  spoken  to   them.     On  the  other 


*  So  Nonnus  :    xsiyoi  tidXXoy  ratji  jjrtxno' 
TFfioifOi  ft?)  iSoyTFf  uei^ova  itiQviv  i^^oudij 
\Kai  ov  x'^ziovdiv  uTioomji* 


JOHN  XX.  26-29. 


763 


Iiand,  those  who  will  see  beforehand  (like 
Thomas,  and  that  is  the  warning  of  the  first 
clause)  have  no  promise,  and  are  not  really  yet 
before  us  as  a  type.  It  is  grace  sujierabounding , 
and  having  special  regard  to  human  infirmity, 
which  leads  these  through  seeing  to  faith,  and 
makes  them  blessed  :  so  Driiseke  preaches — 
"  Was  not  Thomas  very  near  forfeiting  the 
blessedness  of  faith  altogether?"  Thus  our 
Lord's  word  declares  i:he  rule  and  order:  "  Thou, 
O  Thomas,  with  all  who  like  thee  will  require 
first  to  see  me,  art  an  exception  to  the  rule 
which  has  ever  held  good,  and  will  be  now 
more  fully  established  :  yea,  so  much  as  ye  all 
become  blessed  in  iaith,  it  is  not  the  result  of 
your  seeing,  but  of  your  believing."  This  pre- 
rogative of  faith,  as  the  law,  is  confirmed  by 
the  exception,  which  is  partly  a  real  exception, 
but  partly  only  an  apparent  one.*  Through 
Iaith  alone  is  the  salvation,  peace,  and  blessed- 
ness of  man  restored.!  But,  on  the  other  side, 
nothing  is  wanting  to  the  blessedness  of  those 
believers  who  first  required  to  see,  if  they  hold 
fast  and  reach  perfection  in  faith.  "Not  that 
those  who  first  see  and  then  believe  are  less 
blessed;  Paul  came  thus  to  faith,  but  who  was 
ever  more  blessed  in  faith  than  he?"  (Lange). 

Eichter's  llausbibel  suggestively  requires  us 
on  these  words  to  distinguish  those  who,  l.see 
and  believe  :  2,  who  see  not  and  yet  believe ; 
3,  who  see  not  and  believe  not;  4,  who  see  and 
do  not  believe.  Let  this  be  well  pondered. 
Kot  only  is  condemnation  denounced  upon 
those  who  even  see  and  still  do  not  believe 
(and  on  the  contrary,  exceptional  grace  pro- 
vided for  those  whose  seeing  is  alone  wanting 
in  order  to  their  believing),  but  as  a  hidden 
contrast,  5,  the  uiMessei  are  all  those  who  at 
last  will  be  obliged  to  see  the  Lord  with  terror, 
without  being  able  forever  to  believe  in  him  as 
a  Saviour. 

Further,  a  ftiture  seeing  is  not  by  any  means 
denied  to  tho.se  who  believe  now  without  see- 
ing ;  rather  as  Peter  has  said,  with  plain  allu- 
sion to  this  word  (1  Pet.i .  8),  that  seeing  is  held 
out  as  the  goal  and  recompense  of  believing, 
and  as  consummate  blessedness.  Through  faith 
to  sig/U — is  the  scriptural  law  of  progression. 
Therefore  the  desire  to  see,  which  is  inseparable 
from  the  love  and  longing  of  faith,  is  neither 
lorbidden  nor  in  any  degree  blamed — provided 
only  It  remains  within  the  limits  of  faith,  and 
becomes  not  a  condition  of  that  faith.  We 
may  lawfully,  with  Augustine,  wish  to  have 
seen  Christ  in  the  flesu.  We  may  adopt  the 
strain  of  the  song  with  which  Dnlseke  closes 


I  his  sermon,  and  envy  Thomas'  happiness  which 
I  we  would  go  a  thousand  miles  to  share  ;  pro- 
I  vided  only  we  leave  faith  its  high  prerogative, 
j  and  say  with  the  same  hymn,  "  If  mine  earthly 
I  eyes  thou  bind,  thee  my  unbound  heart  shall 
I  find."     Yea,  the  heart  can  feel  after  and  find 
j  Jesus  (Acts  xvii.  27) ;  it  can  hear  his  voice  in 
his  word  and  Spirit,  even  taste  his  love  and  his 
life,  when  he  invisibly  conies  in  his  ordinances, 
or  breaks  the  bread  to  us  in  his  supper.    "  Ah, 
Lord  Jesus,  thy  being  near  fiUeth  my  soul  with 
joy;  thou  canst  make  thyself  most  surely  felt, 
though  thou  be  not  seen  f"     Neverthelsss,  our 
I  Lord's  normal  word  concerning  the  pre-emi- 
nence of  faith  alone  has  an  important  meaning 
as  a  protest  against  all  such  Moravian  feeling 
as  too  vehemently  longs  for  the  revelation  of 
the  "  Prince  with  the  bloody  side"  to  the  feel- 
ings of  his  people :  for  its  meaning  is  as  if  it 
had  further  said — Blessed  are  they  who   feel 
not  and  yet  believe.*     Hence  we  do  best  to 
adopt  the  more  temperate  strains  which  hold 
fast  the  word  of  Christ  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
and  say  with  Speratus  ;  "  Thus  let  the  devout 
Christian  study  well  the  true  lineaments  of 
faith.     Nothing  more  than — My  blessed  Lord, 
thy  death  shall  be  my  life."     This  is  the  true 
experience  of  the  salvation  which    has  come   to 
us  through  the  wounds  of  Jesus.     Thus  also 
we  understand  that  the  word  to  Thomas — a 
word  for  the  commencement  of  the  establish- 
ment of  his  kingdom — expresses,  in  connection 
with  this  specific  example  of  the  Lord's  conde- 
!  scension  to  the  demand  to  see  and  handle,  noth- 
j  ing  but  the  general  truth  that  all  the  manifes- 
;  tations  of  the  forty  days  were  designed  to  form 
i  a  transition  to  the  believing  without  seeing  at 
all.    This  was  said  in  express  opposition  to  the 
notions  of  all  the  Apostles  (John  alone,  it  may 
be,  excepted),  who  might  have  expected  and 
hoped  for  a  new  form  of  seeing  the  glorified 
Lord  abiding  in  his  established  kingdom.     It 
pointed  once  more  to  the  ascension  and  the 
descent  of  the  Spirit,  but  gave  also  to  Thomas 
with  them,  and  to  them  all  with  Thomas,  the 
promise — Ye  shall  find   faith,  the  faith  which 
bringeth  salvation,  in  the  world,  when  I  send 
you  into  it. 

The  Evangelist  himself  expounds  to  us  most 
fully  in  his  concluding  saying,  vers.  30,  31, f 
the  last  great  word  with  which  as  a  word  of 
our  Lord's  own  he  would  include — the  word 
believe  :X  for  he  testifies  of  the  ground,  the  sub- 


*  "  Here  one  miaht  say :  How  gladly  would  I 
believe  and  adore  my  Lord  and  my  God  if  he 
showed  nie  such  love  as  he  showed  "Thomas,  and 
would  appear  to  me  in  his  own  person  !  T/te  Lord 
tees  this  from  afar,  and  therefore  provides  for  such  a 
suggestion,  by  saying — Because  thou,"  etc.  So 
Val.  Ilerber^er. 

f  According  to  the  well-known  simile  of  Hess : 
If  we  are  to  be-trained  on  the  Island  of  Test,  it 
uusb  liave  no  bridge. 


*  So  Zinzendorf  writes  with  reference  to  the 
seeing  wished  for :  '■  Would  we  then  see  him  as 
John  saw  him,  when  he  fell  down  as  a  dead  man  ? 
What  would  be  the  result,  if  every  man  who 
would  hold  communion  with  Chri-st  every  dny  tell 
as  dead  1  We  should  have  ccnvulsionanes  and  uo 
Church,  a  nest  of  enthusia.sts." 

f  Where,  according  to  our  conviction,  he  in- 
cludes the  TEHfii'jpicx  of  the  Risen  Lord  among 
the  6rju£i(X  general'y ;  and  thus  makes  the  mirac- 
ulous facts  the  basis  of  his  whole  Gospel. 

X  "  The  last  word  of  Christ,  like  the  last  word 
of  the  Evangelist,  speaks  not  of  yiycoGntirf  but 


764 


SECOND  APPEARANCE  TO  THE  APOSTLES. 


stance,  and  the  power  of  the  Christian's  faith. 
On  what  basis  is  it  grounded,  or  why  do  we  be- 
lieve ?  Not,  because  we  have  seen  the  Lord 
ourselves  ;  that  would  not  be  pure  faith  ;  and 
although  the  first  witnesses  must  see  him  in 
order  to  the  establishment  of  faith  in  them,  it 
was  not  so  meant  as  if  that  must  necessarily 
continue.  We  receive  the  testimony  of  men, 
of  these  sincere  though  slowly  believing  Apos- 
tles, and  receive  therein  the  testimony  of  God. 
The  history  has  become  a  word,  even  a  written 
word.  But  all  is  not  written  ;  and  that  which 
is  written  is  designedly,  in  order  to  leave  room 
for  Jaitk,  written  "'in  such  a  form  as  to  give 
occasion  for  manifold  doubts  to  the  understand- 
ing which  inquires  independently  of  the  relig- 
ious consciousness  and  sense  of  need"  (Nean- 
der).  In  and  besides  this  word  the  living 
Lord  himself  comes,  though  now  unseen,  in 
the  water  and  in  the  blood  of  the  sacraments, 
but  in  all  these  with  the  testimony  of  his 
Spirit.  Thus  what  is  the  subdunce  of  our  faith, 
or  what  do  we  believe  ?  Not  any  thing  in  doc- 
trine, dogma,  or  formula  of  truth,  but  himself 
personally,  to  whom,  all  the  signs  which  go  forth 
from  him  point  back — is  the  object  and  great 
matter  of  faith  :  thus  Jesus — in  his  humanity 
the  Christ  who  was  the  promised  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  whose  coming  is  its  fulfillment, 
anointed  by  the  Holy  Spirit — in  his  divinity 
the  Son  of  God,  who  himself  is  called  and  is 
God.  Here  again  John  does  not  say  3fo's, 
"  God,"  as  he  has  just  recorded  from  Thomas' 
lips,  but  vioi  Tov  SeoC,  "  Son  of  God ;"  for  he 
well  knew  that  the  former  ascription  was  ap- 
propriate only  to  the  very  highest  moments  of 
adoration,  and  that  the  giving  absolute  promi- 
nence to  this  w.rd  would  lead  to  the  jeopardiz- 
ing and  the  partial  forget I'ulness  of  the  true 
humanity  of  Jesus.  But  we  understand  from 
ver.  28  how  ver.  31  is  to  be  interpreted.  We 
must,  like  the  Apostles,  believe  ourselves  up 
to  that  knowledge;  as  it  here,  by  a  wonderful 
exception,  breaks  upon  Thomas  mstantaneously 
with  his  new  faith.  He  came  down  and  be- 
came man  that  we  going  up  might  find  the  God- 
head in  his  humanity.  Even  the  Apostles  did 
not  find  this  until  the  last ;  the  whole  Church 
long  struggled  towards  it,  and  our  knowledge  is 
still  spelling  out  the  word  of  Thomas — My 
Lord  and  my  God.  After  a  long  perioil  of  one- 
sided, partial,  and  unintelligent  marvelling 
merely  at  the  divinity,  it  is  now  the  great 
question  rightly  to  understand  the  Humanity 
of  the  Son  of  God,  which  has  gone  up  to  heaven 
glorified  with  the  marks  of  his  wounds.  But 
now  comes  the  great  question — For  what  do 
■we  believe  ?  what  is  the  power  and  fruit  of 
faith?  That  we  may  have  life — in  his  name. 
The  mere  name  indeed  avails  not  before  him, 
and  saves  us  not ;  but  this  name  alone  secures 
our  lile,  when  apprehended  and  invoked  in  faith. 


of  TTtdzevEiy."  So  Luthardt  against  the  over- 
valuation ot  yycodii,  and  against  tlie  progression 
ot  Ttidrii  into  yyoo6ii  as  the  supposed  tendency 
of  John's  Gospel. 


Many  so-called  believers  are  unbelieving,  be- 
cause their  hearts  say  not  in  living  truth — My 
Lord  and  my  God.  He  who  can  in  all  ear- 
nestness say,  Thou  art  mine  with  all  thy  life 
and  all  thy  love,  says  also  in  the  same  word — 
I  am  thine.  He  loveth  Christ  and  liveth  to 
him.  Tliis  is  to  live,  and  to  have  this  life  is 
to  have  himself.  We  have  it  thenceforward  in 
proportion  as  we  believe  ;  but  the  faith  and  the 
life  are  far  from  being  at  once  perfect.  It  still 
remains  written  for  testimony  and  exhortation 
in  order  that  ye  may  believe.  Who  is  he  thai 
overcometh  the  world  but  he  who  believeth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ?  So  conversely . 
Who  fully  believeth  this  but  he  who  perlectlj 
overcometh  the  world,  within,  and  without  him- 
self? 

But  in  connection  with  thehistory  of  Thomas, 
this  demand  oi  faith  becomes  at  the  same  tira( 
an  exhortation  to  patience  with  those  who  be- 
lieve not.  See  to  it  that  ye  believe.  But  knov\ 
as  regards  others  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
unbelief,  having  the  same  ground  indeed  in  the 
sinful  nature  of  man,  but  only  one  of  which 
has  damnation  for  its  issue.  They  whose  office 
was  to  preach — He  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned  1  had  been  themselves  again  and  again 
rebuked  for  their  unbelief.  How  many  amon^ 
the  enemies  of  our  Lord,  to  whom  he  showed 
not  himself,  afterwards  believed  the  preaching 
without  having  seen — some  earlier,  some  later. 
Yea,  a  Saul  persecutes  the  Church  of  God ;  yel 
he  is  dealt  with  in  the  greatest  compassion,  sc 
that  he  himself  can  term  his  unbelief  an  ig- 
norance which  was  in  some  sense  excused 
Assuredly,  when  the  Lord  appears  and  speaka, 
no  man  can  he  guiltless  who  rejects  him.  VVher 
he  says  :  "  Be  not  faithless,  but  believing  (anJ 
does  he  not  say  this  in  his  word  loud  enough 
to  us  all),  we  learn  that  unbelief  is  essentiallj 
and  internally  a  matter  of  the  will  at  last 
But  there  is  a  "not  able"  which  in  the  esti- 
mate of  mercy  is  clearly  distinguished  from 
that  wicked  "  not  willing  " — though  the  line  of 
distinction  is  not  easily  discerned  by  man 
Our  own  experience  teaches  us  how  subtle  u 
the  intermingling  of  the  two,  and  bids  us  con- 
fidently leave  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  the  fins.1 
abandonment  of  the  sinner — T/wu  woaldst  not* 


*  "  Is  Jesus  and  is  his  doctrine  tdcrant  ?  C.in  thf 
word,  lie  that  bsheveth  not  sh.ill  be  damned — 1)« 
reconciled  with  perfect  pitieiice'!  Passing  by  i 
thousand  tilings  wliicli  might  be  said  upon  ihit 
.sulij  "Ct,  Luke  X.  30,  John  xiv.  1,  and  so  on,  let  us 
dwell  upon  that  which  we  have  just  read.  One  oi 
the  elected  disciples  of  Jesus  had  heard  liis  piedic- 
tions,  and  had  heard  from  ten  to  thirteen  eye-wit- 
nesses declaring  his  resurrection,  and  yet  sweara 
— Except  I  shall  put  my  finger,  etc.  This  man  eigh( 
days  afterwards  is  met  by  his  merciful  Master 
with  the  words,  Reach  hither,  etc.  Now  let  any 
man  say  whether  the  question  about  our  Lord'd 
tolerance  is  not  quite  superfluous.  Is  not  Thomaa 
a  pledge  to  all  who  like  him  are  slow  to  believo 
that  every  severe  word  spoken  to  unbelief  rcfent 
only  to  those  who  will  not  believe.  As  to  tliis  not 
«i.«and  not  xcilling,  God  must  judge  "  (Pfenninger). 


JOHN  XXI.  5,  6,  10,12. 


7es 


We  must  do  the  duty  of  our  office,  that  for 
which  he  sends  us:  testify  urgently,  rebuke 
with  autliority,  and  threaten  faithfully — but  all 
with  the  prudence  and  patience  of  love,  wait- 
ing to  know  what  the  Lord  may  finally  do. 
Every  Thomas  within  the  Church,  and  every 
soul  without  it,  has  his  hour — after  eight  days 
or  years— and  the  last  may  be  first.  It  is  no 
where  written  that  if  Thomas  or  Saul  should 
die  before  that  hour,  and  pass  into  the  other 
world  as  Thomas  and  Saul,  the  living  Lord  is 
not  there  the  Lord  of  the  dead  even  as  he  is 
here  the  Lord  of  the  living.     But  as  to  thee, 


whom  the  Lord's  words  through  the  Spirit  of 
testimony  should  penetrate  and  convince  more 
effectually  than  any  palpable  evidence,  whose 
rebuking  appeal  should  touch  thy  heart  with 
more  than  the  Emmaus  burning — i?='  not  faith- 
lens,  consult  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  make  no 
tarrying  to  obey.  For  be  assured  that  no  man 
abides  long  in  his  present  state:  the  unbeliev- 
ing becomes  ever  more  unhelieving  even  down  to 
utter  hardening.  For  him  there  is  no  throne 
of  grace,  where  Thomas'  benediction  or  Saul's 
conversion  may  be  obtained. 


THE  EARLY  MEAL  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 
(John  xxi.  5,  6,  10,  12.) 


Among  the  ten  appearances  of  the  Risen 
Lord  which  are  certainly  recorded  in  Scrip- 
ture,* the  seventh  in  itself,  the  third  to  the  col- 
lective disciples,  is  now  recorded  by  the  same 
Evangelist  John  who  has  recorded  three  mir- 
acles of  the  Lord  in  Galilee  and  three  in  Judea. 
For  although  we  perceive  in  John  xx.  30,  31, 
an  evident  first  conclusion  of  the  Gospel,  this 
does  not  prevent  our  holding  the  following 
chapter  to  be  genuine,  and  most  firmly  regard- 
ing it  as  a  necessary  supplement  to  the  whole. 
We  know  the  objections  of  the  critics,  but  we 
know  also  the  refutations  of  these  objections  ; 
and  hope  to  increase  and  strengthen  the  latter 
by  our  exposition  of  the  profound  and  self-as- 
serting words  of  this  final  section.  Its  oppo- 
nents and  its  defenders  are,  at  least  the  most 
important  of  them,  mentioned  in  Liicke  and 
Guerioke  :  the  former  have  been  recently  re- 
inforced by  Schweizer,  Wieseler,  and  Reuss, 
though  with  no  new  arguments  of  any  force. 
All  the  manuscripts  and  versions  have  the 
chapter ;  Clemens  and  Origen  refer  to  it ;  the 
accidental  silence  of  Irenajus,  in  the  writings 
which  we  possess,  is  no  argument  acainst  it,  as 
even  Lucke,  its  most  decided  rejector,  admits. 
No  one  in  the  whole  Church  doubted  of  its 
genuineness  until  Grotius ;  ver.  25  alone  is 
sometimes  wanting,  or  marked  as  an  addition. 
Even  Credner  admits  that  there  is  not  the 
slightest  external  evidence  against  this  chapter, 
and  that  it  exhibits  almost  all  the  peculiarities 
of  John's  style — a  point  which  Guericke  has 
lately  established  most  fully.  Indeed,  its  con- 
tents, as  well  as  the  manner  of  presenting 
them,  have  been  appreciated  in  all  their  pathos 
by  all  modern  preachers  with  one  consent ;  and 


Hence  we  may  further  see  that  the  "  retaining  of 
sin  "  is  not  at  once  a  dimnation  of  the  unbelieving 
and  impeniient. 

*  That  to  James  in  part,  1  Cor.  xv.  7,  included. 
Whether  thei  e  were  two  distinct  appearances  in 
Luke  xxiv.  wo  uiTOt  leave  undecldtd,  as  we  shall 


the  narrative  of  the  former  part  of  the  chapter, 
with  the  discourses  of  the  Lord  which  followed 
it,  iiave  been  in  a  thousand  forms  applied,  re- 
produced, and  elaborated  even  into  legends  and 
poems.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  have 
been  opposite  views  as  to  the  integrity  of  the 
chapter  which  we  feel  ourselves  bound  to  al- 
lude to  briefly,  in  order  that  every  reader  may 
be  put  in  possession  of  the  certain  ground  on 
which  our  faith  in  it  rests. 

Grotius  with  his  first  arUtror  gave  littlo 
other  reason  for  his  rejection  than  the  super- 
fiical  and  premature  argument  from  the  con- 
clusion with  which  chap.  xx.  ends.  As  in  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of  Joshua,  so  here 
after  John's  death  the  postscript  was  added  by 
the  Ephesian  Church,  and  for  the  exclusive 
reason  that  it  might  refute  the  saying  referred 
to  in  ver.  23  by  the  authentic  word  of  the  Lord 
concerning  this  disciple's  remaining  till  he 
came.  All  else  he  violently  explains  as  "  added 
to  show  the  time,  place,  and  occasion  of  this 
oracular  saying  ;  "  save  that  he  draws  a  similar 
hasty  conclusion  from  the  o'idausv  of  ver.  24 
that  the  whole  chapter  was  drawn  up  by  those 
who  thus  say  "we  know."  This  first  attack 
was  of  no  great  moment ;  but  G.  Voss  soon 
trode  in  his  steps,  and  referred  first  to  the 
presbytor  John,  supposing  that  he  in  the  name 
of  the  Church  added  the  supplement  which  he 
had  heard  from  the  Apostle,  or  which  had 
been  privately  written  by  him.  Clericus  fol- 
lowed, then  PfafI,  and  the  long  series  of  critical 
opponents,  seeking  with  more  and  more  bold- 
ness their  arguments  in  the  contents  of  the 
chapter,  which  they  would  not  apprehend  in 
the  spirit  of  faith,  but  subjected  to  the  licen- 
tious criticism  of  unhallowed  minds.  Paulus 
was  the  most  notorious  example  of  these  :  and 
his  notion  was  that  some  well-meaning  person- 
age intended  the  postscript  to  show  that  the 
death  of  the  Apostle  before  the  coming  of 
Christ  ought  not  to  occasion  any  doubt  or  un- 
belief. Liicke,  finally,  who  is  the  highest  au- 
thority with  many,  entered  the  lists  with  hia 


766 


THE  EARLY  MEAL  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 


wonted  confidence  against  this  "  strange  com- 
position "  whicli  sets  forth  "  the  strangest  of 
all  manifestations  of  the  Lord,"  and  declares 
with  those  who  went  before  (though  we  see 
not  why)  that  the  authenticity  of  the  whole 
chapter"  stands  or  falls  with  the  genuineness 
and' authority  of  the  last  two  verses.  But  we 
are  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  say  of  a  man  so  re- 
nowned and  esteemed  as  tliis  commentator, 
that  with  all  his  excellencies  he  was  utterly 
deficient  in  perception  of  that  which  is  speci- 
fically Jolmnnean  in  John — we  mean  the  sym- 
lolicu  nii/s  i-al  deimnt  of  his  Gospel.  He  plainly 
reveals  this  want  throughout  the  present  chap- 
ter, and  then  much  more  glaringly  throughout 
the  entire  Apocalypse.  From  one  who  can 
find  here  a  "  debased  John,"  and  a  plain  bias 
toward  apocryphal  hyperbole  and  adventure, 
we  must  turn  av/ay,  and  with  a  very  different 
spirit  and  taste  unite  ourselves  with  the  great- 
e.'it  part  of  Christendom. 

The  subscription,  ver.  24,  is  a  powerful  argu- 
ment against  any  invention  of  the  narrative — 
whether  the  Apostle  himself  speaks  in  the 
oTdai-iEv  (as  he  uses  the  plural  in  the  Epistles, 
see  especially  3  John  12),  in  the  name  of  the 
apostolical  company,  as  in  chap.  i.  14 — or,  as 
we  ourselves  prefer  to  interpret,  the  Church 
speaks.  For,  such  a  solemn  attestation  would 
not  have  been  so  early  and  so  firmly  attached 
to  an  invented  or  even  a  disfigured  account; 
and  the  divine  providence  which  watched  over 
the  canon  could  never  have  permitted  such  a 
deception  to  be  appended  to  the  greatest  of  all 
the  Gospels,  or  the  whole  early  Church  to  re- 
main in  blindness  concerning  it.  Where  are 
those  plain  reasons  which  are  said  absolutely  to 
demand  an  assumption  that  would  be  based 
upon  a  far  greater  wonder  than  any  attributed 
to  the  narrative  ?  To  us,  all  appears  periectly 
consistent  with  the  phraseology  of  John  ;  the 
specific  objections  are  easily  relutable,  as  many 
very  great  names  admit.  Such  defenders  of 
the  genuineness  of  the  chapter  as  R.  Simon, 
Michaelis,  Eichliorn,and  Wegscheider  were  not 
biassed  by  any  dogmatic  prejudice ;  but  on  this 
point  were  periectly  sincere.  The  specialissima 
of  the  most  minute  circumstantials  are  so 
plain.'y  and  simply  exhibited,  that  even  Lucke 
]s  once  or  twice  constrained  to  say — This  has 
the  ftemlilance  of  authenticity. 

Why  might  not  then  John  have,  after  chap. 
XX.  30,  written  in  his  book  yet  one  more  of  the 
many  «/>/««  ?*  We  will  not  a.ssume,  because  a 
conclusion  now  stands  between,  that  "  by  acci- 
dent certain  tilings  were  moved  out  of  their 
place,  or  that  John  himself  must  be  thought 
not  to  have  accurately  preserved  the  order  of 
liis  Gospel  " — but  reject  both  suppositions,  with 
Lampe.     R.  Simon  spoke  with  confidence  of 


*  The  reckoning,  chap.  xxi.  14  with  the  un- 
doubted Ti5ff,  is  very  plainly  Joliannean  (comp. 
chap.  iv.  54),  whether  the  httle  word  means — this 
present  miracle,  or  as  better  suiting  chap.  xx.  80 — 
now  a  ready  the  third  time.  (Understand — After- 
wards still  ot'icuer.) 


John's  slender  adherence  to  order — but  I  think 
that  we  may  with  equal  confidence  assert  the 
contrary.  Lucke  says,  indeed,  that  if  John 
had  himself  written  the  supplement,  he  would 
have  more  intelligently  retracted  the  conclusion 
already  written  ;  but  we  have  a  very  dififerent 
notion  of  the  intelligence  of  John,  and  think 
that  there  may  have  been  many  reasons  not 
lying  on  the  surface  which  might  induce  him 
to  add  this  chapter  as  a  supplement,  after  the 
profound  colloquy  between  Thomas  and  our 
Lord  which  presented  itself  to  him  as  a 
glorious  conclusion.  We  cannot  agree  with 
Hug,  who  ascribes  the  whole  of  ver.  24  to 
the  Apostle,  and  makes  it  prove  the  prudence 
of  John,  who  took  this  method  of  obviating 
scruple  concerning  this  appendage;  for  if  the 
Evangelist  wrote  down  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
had  suggested  to  him,  we  must  suppose  him  to 
have  been  elevated  above  any  such  anxiety  to 
repel,  in  any  such  manner  at  least,  the  attacks 
of  future  lying  criticism  upon  his  details.  He 
knew  well  that  his  testimony  would  be  re- 
ceived; but  the  Church,  in  its  somewhat  lower 
position  and  relations,' appended  this  assurance 
of  its  own  knowledge  and  faith.  We  cannot 
bring  ourselves  to  think  that  John  took  up  his 
pen  again  at  a  later  time  only  on  account  of 
his  own  and  Peter's  personality,  to  obviate  a 
false  depreciation  of  the  denier  and  a  false  ex- 
altation of  the  disciple  who  it  was  thought  was 
not  to  die ;  lor  any  such  relative  appreciation 
of  the  apostolical  personalities*  as  it  is  the 
fashion  to  ascribe  to  this  earliest  period  of  the 
Church's  history,  v/as  altogether  beneath  the 
sublime  standing-point  of  John's  Gospel,  in 
which  Christ's  person,  word,  and  life  are  all  in 
all.  The  last  chapter  is  in  no  sense,  as  B.- 
Crusius  thinks,"  a  personal  supplement,  which 
would  record  something  specific  concerning 
John  the  Apostle,  after  the  author  had  hitherto 
so  studiously  kept  his  own  personality  in  the 
background ;"  for  this  author  writes  down  to 
the  last,  neither  from  nor  concerning  his  own 
personality.  Nor  can  we  on  this  point  agree 
with  Weitzel,  who  thinks  that  the  Apostle  is 
brought  by  this  glance  over  the  histories  of  the 
twelve  to  speak  finally  of  himself  as  the  last, 
and  to  give  his  final  reference  to  himself  as  the 
reporter  in  this  Gospel.  If  his  last  word  con- 
cerning John  was  the  main  point  in  this  post- 
script, why  is  the  whole  preceding  narrative 
so  diffusely  introduced?!  Nor  can  we  adopt 
the  suggestion  of  Lampe,  that  this  final  chapter 


*  Quit3  otherwise  than  our  Lord  speaks  in  this 
same  chapter  of  tlie  persons  of  his  witnesses  and 
followers. 

f  Or  was  Peter  the  chief  personage  in  it  ?  The 
Catholic  Allioli  asks,  "  How  could  the  record  of 
Christ's  work  upon  earth  better  end  than  by  the 
institution  of  his  representatives  1  Matthew  end- 
ed with  the  institution  of  the  Church."  Bellarmine 
finds  even  in  the  first — I  go  a  fishing,  the  pre- 
eminence of  this  ruler  of  the  Church.  The  sin- 
cere and  unblinded  eye  of  Protestants  needs  no 
argument  against  this. 


JOHN  XXI.  5.  6.  10,  12. 


767 


was  added  "  that  the  authority  of  the  Evangel- 
ist himself  might  be  demonstrated."  God  did, 
indeed,  order  it  so  that  this  supplement  evoked 
the  witness  of  the  Church  in  the  subscription, 
ver.  2-1 ;  but  John  had  not  that  in  view,  nor 
did  the  Spirit  in  him  make  that  the  main 
design.  As  he  had  begun  with  the  Auyoi,  so 
he  cannot,  either  the  first  or  the  second  time, 
conclude  with  iiimself ;  during  the  course  of  it 
he  had  more  and  more  openly  and  plainly  re- 
ferred to  himself  as  the  writer.  That  was 
enough  for  him;  this  final  conclusion  cannot 
possibly  refer  to  his  person  alone,  for  Peter  has 
rather  the  prominent  part  in  it,  while  he  intro- 
duces himself  modestly,  ver.  2,  only  as  one  of 
the  sons  of  Zebedee. 

After  all  this,  we  are  prepared  to  assent  to 
the  clear  view  of  Lange,  and  proceed  with  it 
to  the  further  development  of  our  e.xposition. 
The  chapter  does  not  now  record  another  mani- 
iestation  which,  in  the  same  sense  as  those 
which  had  preceded,  should  evoke  faith  ;  hence 
the  previous  conclusion,  which  was  not  so 
much  introduced  by  John  according  to  any 
particular  plan  of  his  own,  as  marked  by  the 
Lord  himself  in  his  word  to  Thomas.  The  ap- 
pearances after  this  first  consummation  oi  faith 
in  the  Apostles,  even  the  most  slov/  to  believe, 
have  in  themselves  another  meaning ;  John 
has  no  designed  plan  according  to  which  he  in- 
troduces this  explanatory  supplement,  but  he 
only  discloses  by  what  he  writes  that  which 
the  history  itself  furnished  in  conformity  with  a 
higher  plan  and  purpose  than  his  own — as  we 
have  often  had  to  maintain  throughout  his  en- 
tire Gospel.  The  first  six  appearances  of  the 
Lord  (two  especially  to  the  Apostles,  two  to 
the  women,  one  in  preparatory  grace  to  Peter 
personally,  and  one  pointing  to  faith  in  the 
word)  had  a  predominant  backward  reference, 
and  would  say — 1  was  dead  and  am  alive  ;  must 
1  not  have  thus  suffered,  and  thus  enter  into  my 
glory  ?  Enough  was  now  done  for  this ;  and 
now  comes  more  clearly  forward  another  sig- 
nificance in  them  (a  significance  indeed,  which 
to  us  appears  already  involved  in  the  former, 
and  the  background  of  all  of  them),  to  wit,  as 
pointing  forward  to  the  future,  to  pledge  an  i 
Joreshadoio  the  future  spiritual  fresence  and  work- 
ing of  the  Lord  from  the  time  of  his  ascension 
onwards  to  give  directions  and  promises  for 
the  preaching  of  his  disciples  in  order  that  men 
might  believe.  It  is  true  that  there  is  inter- 
polated in  the  penultimate  place  the  gracious 
conviction  of  James,  as  ic  were  a  second 
Thomas  :*  yet  that  which  John  in  chap  xxi., 
and  the  Synoptics  at  the  close  (Matt.  ver.  18- 
20  ;  Mark  ver.  15-18  ;  Luke  ver.  44-49)  still 
record,  points  most  assuredly  (though  in  Luke 
with  one  more  glance  backwards)  to  the  future 
of  the  called  and  consecrated  witnesses.     All 


declare  unanimously — /  send  you  ;  go  ye  forth 
(when  the  Spirit  shall  have  come)  ;  I  am  with 
you;  and  co-operate  with  you!  Thus  we 
establish  from  the  history  itself  that  which 
Lange  prefers  to  regard  as  John's  plan,  and 
with  reference  to  which  he  terms  this  supposed 
supplementary  chapter  an  epilogue  correspond- 
ing to  the  prologue  :  "  The  prologue  intended  to 
exhibit  the  eternal  life  of  Christ  as  it  preceded 
his  manifestation  in  the  world  ;  the  epilogue 
appears  to  have  this  for  its  scope,  to  exhibit  his 
spiritual  mony  in  the  world,  an  it  would  continue 
after  hia  return  to  the  Father."*  This  is  indeed 
the  great  antithesis  to  that  "  institution  of  his 
representatives "  w\nc\\  the  Papists  force  upon 
the  text,  expounded  assuredly  in  conformity 
with  the  Johannean  mind  of  Christ. j  This  of 
itself  gives  us  tlie  foundation  for  the  figurative 
interpretation  of  the  early  meal  on  the  shore, 
and  this  amply  satisfies  Lvicke's  demand  at  the 
close  of  his  rejecting  decision,  showing  us  in 
reality  the  "  peculiar  transition  of  John's  repre- 
s^'ntation  into  the  region  of  universal  ideas." 
Would  that  Lucke's  eye  had  been  capable  of 
beholding  this  under  the  veil  of  the  externalities 
of  this  chapter.  Even  in  the  colloquy  with 
Peter  we  shall  contemplate  "the  entering  into 
individual  relations  as  at  the  same  time  a  pro- 
phetico-symbolical  setting  forth  of  such  uni- 
versal ideas." 


♦  At  least  if  we  allow  any  truth  to  the  displaced 
apocryphal  narrative.  Paul  distinguishes,  1  Cor. 
XV.  7,  this  brother  of  the  Lord  from  all  the  Apos- 
tles ;  but,  on  ths'other  hand,  in  ver.  5,  he  opposes 
to  Cephas,  only  the  twelve. 


Now  for  the  details.  But  we  cannot  at  onr^o 
begin  with  the  first  word  of  Jesus,  ver.  5.  Hi 
showed  him<ielf — this  is  at  the  outset  a  very 
significant  description  of  the  whole  following 
narrative  as  pre-eminently  testifying  concern- 
ing the  Lord  himself  First,  in  as  far  as 
t\\6  Eq)avEpa}6Ev  fauroV,  "  showed  himself," 
has  the  same  meaning  as  kqxxvrjy  ecpai'spooOt^, 
"appeared,"  there  is  involved  m  it — not,  in- 
deed, the  now  habitual  natural  invisibility  of 
the  (J&v/a  acpOcxprov,  as  only  to  be  exhibit- 
ed Sid  6vyHaTdfja6iv  (according  (o  Chrys., 
Euthym.,  Theoph.) — but  the  characteristic  of 
these  appearances  generally  as  dependent  upon 
the  will  of  Jesus.  Then,  there  is  truth  in  what 
Bengel  says :  "  It  has  a  grander  tone  than 
eq)dyri :"    that   is,    the   kavroVf    he   showed 


*  In  the  third  book  L.anse  grows  bolder,  and 
terms  the  prologue  and  epilogue  the  two  wings  of 
tlie  eag'e.  He  tells  all  who  would  take  away  the 
twenty-first  c'lapter  that  they  will  in  the  end  find 
that  it  is  easier  to  wrench  ofi"  a  wing  from  a  aead 
lark  than  from  a  living  eagle. 

•f-  So  also  Rudelbach  :  "  John  recorded  the  last 
and  the  first  miracle  of  our  Lord,  and  in  both  of 
iLem,  with  apparent  insisniflcance  of  d?lail,  ti-.ere 
is  the  profoundest  significance.  In  this  manifes- 
tation there  is  the  reflection  of  a  higher  world  ;  no 
individual,  isolated  sign,  but  a  figure  and  symbol 
of  the  almighty  and  gracious  government  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  his  C'.mrch  to  the  end."  Sa  Luthardt 
speaks  of  the  glance  here  opened  into  the  future 
of  the  vocation  and  work  of  the  Church,  etc. 


768 


THE  EARLY  MEAL  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 


himself,  points  to  his  inmost  personality  and  I 
operation  ;  and  thus  the  tpavspovv  eavro^' 
(certainly  a  Johannean  phrase,  though  not  oc- 
curring literally,  comp.  also  Mark  xvi.  12,  14) 
is  the  complement  and  consummation  of  thf 
<pavEf3ovy  Tijv  S6^a%'  airov,  chap.  ii.  11, 
concerning  the  signs  given  before  the  resurrec- 
tion. The  kq)avef)oo6Ev  Si  ovru)i  emphati- 
cally points,  as  Luthardt  observes,  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  all  that  is  to  follow.  The  locality 
was  on.  (he  sea.  for  certainly  tTti  is  thus  to  be 
understood.  What  a  contrast  appears  in  this 
record,  that  they  who  had  received  the  mission 
of  cban.  XX.  21-23  are  now  once  more  occupied 
with  their  nets.  But  it  is  perfectly  natural  ; 
could  it  be  well  otherwise,  as  soon  as  thev  re- 
turned back  to  Galilee,  according  to  the  Lord's 
appointment  ?  In  fact  this  time  must  be  spent, 
as  Driiseke  says,  "  in  arranging  their  earthly 
affairs,  and  closing  with  the  world  ;*  but  to  do 
that  they  must  for  a  short  time  return  to  it." 
Let  us  try  to  set  plainly  before  our  minds  their 
position  and  state.  It  was  certain  to  them 
that  they  must  not  as  yet  preach  openly  ; 
though  in  per.''ect  seclusion  they  might  carry 
the  resurrection  tidings  to  many  of  tlie  Gali- 
lean disciples.  Then  they  must  wait  upon 
events  which  would  bring  about  the  final  de- 
velopment.f  Christ  had  promised  a  manifes- 
tation in  Galilee.  He  leaves  them  long  waiting 
for  this,  as  was  necessary  and  salutary  for 
them  ;  and  in  this  deep  sileiice  they  had  enough 
to  do  to  arrange  and  firmly  to  "establish  the 
revolution  which  the  resurrection  had  as  it 
were  effected  in  all  their  notions,  feelings,  and 
hopes.  We  can  hardly  think  that  after  the 
lapse  of  another  eight  days  the  Lord  appeared  : 
if  so  John  would  have  slated  it,  as  in  chap.  xx. 
26,  instead  of  saying  only  "after  these  things." 
The  sacred  narrative  gives  reason  to  assume 
an  interval  of  more  than  eight  days  ;  although 
it  would  most  probably  be  on  another  Sunday. 
He  seeks  them  again  in  the  scene  of  his  acts  and 
discourses,  in  the  place  of  his  most  dear  resort ; 
''  on  that  sea  where  every  thing  reminded  them 
immediately  of  Jesus:  the  smiling  bank  of 
■which,  and  even  its  dark  waves,  had  borne  his 
holy  footsteps"  (Jacobi).  In  confidential  fel- 
lowship together  .-J  that  is,  probably  in  a  house 
at  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  or  wherever  else 
there  might  be  sevai  disciples.  It  might  have 
been  on  the  bank  itself,  "half  by  concert,  half 
accidentally  "  (as  Ptenninger  says)  they  were 
together;  certainly  they  were  habitually  as 
much  together  as  circumstances  would  allow. 
We  cannot  tell  whether  (as  Lighlfoot  thinks)  the 
two  unnamed  disciples  were  Andrew  and  Philip 


*  For  it  is  not  true — at  least  with  regard  to  Peter 
— that  tliey  had  c'lven  up  their  property  and  occu- 
pation on  iheir  first  calling. 

f  For  if  notliing  further  had  occurred,  they 
might  have  gone  back  to  their  nets  forever. 

%'0/uo€' — whicli  John  only  of  the  Evangelists 
nses  (>ee  cliap.  jv.  3G,  xx.  4) ;  it  occurs  afraiii 
through  tiie  entire  N.  T.  only  in  Acts  ii.  1,  xx.  18, 
among  various  readings. 


(who  indeed  seem  necessarily  connected  with 
Peter  and  Nathanael),  or  two  of  the  seventy, 
belonging  to  the  number  of  the  Galilean  dis- 
ciples.  That  John  does  not  mention  their 
names  is  no  proof  that  they  were  not  Apo.?tles  ; 
there  may  have  been  other  reasons  for  the  si- 
lence ;  and  it  certainly  shows  that  the  persons 
of  the  disciples  themselves  were  not  especially 
concerned  in  the  history.  The  absent  ones 
were,  it  may  be,  arranging  their  affairs  else- 
where. But  the  manner  in  which  the  five 
names  are  introduced  is  remarkable.  The  high- 
ly favored  doubter  Thomas  comes  forward  by 
the  side  of  Peter  (row  and  ever  the  first)'; 
thus  the  two  who  had  severally  had  such  pe- 
culiar experiences  are  united  lovingly  together. 
To  them  is  added  Nathanael,  who  had  been 
from  the  beginning  without  guile  ;  whose  home 
in  Cana  would  suggest  the  first  miracle.  Fi- 
nally, here  and  here  only  John  mentions  himself 
with  his  brother  as  sons  of  Zebedee  ;  and,  in- 
stead of  condemning  this  by  a  very  external 
criticism  as  un-Johannean,  we  should  observe 
that  he  thereby  marks  out  (he  fishers,  &nd  re- 
minds the  reader  of  the  al'-ady"  known  synop- 
tical account  of  Luke  v.  10. 

We  suppose  that  on  the  Sahba'h  they  had 
been  assembled  till  evening  for  pious  conver- 
sation ;  and  therefore  that  the  morning  of  this 
manifestation  was  a  Sunday  morning.  Peter 
would  go  a  fishing  ;  and  the  others  are  ready 
to  go  with  him.  Certainly  not  to  pass  the 
time  away;  as  Klee,  too  readily  following  the 
fathers,  says,  after  Chrys.  and  Euthym.* —  and 
even  still  stronger,  "out  of  weariness."!  They 
have  to  provide  for  their  sustenance;  they 
must  eat,  and  sell  for  their  necessities;  and 
Euthym.  needed  not  to  be  anxious  about  the 
cpiXoHspSao?.  But  the  main  point  is  this  :  the 
narrative  exhibits  them  to  us  as  actively  en- 
gaged, thoughtful,  and  without  any  fanaticism 
or  enthusiasm  (as,  in  a  sense,  afterwards  when 
they  gazed  into  heaven.  Acts  i.  11),  applying 
to  the  business  of  their  earthly  relations.  And 
in  (his  is  symbolically  reflected  the  future;  for 
this  going  to  fish,  as  Rieger  remarks,  "comes 
under  that  farewell  word  of  Jesus — Now,  let 
him  who  has  a  purse  take  it."  Peter — "  the 
beginner  of  the  great  fishing  " — only  announces 
what  was  his  own  purpose,  and  the  others  are 
ready  in  their  fellowship:  xai  t'/zueli  dtv  dot, 
"  we  also  with  thee" — the  subsequent  ci'Oi  ?, 
"straightway,"  if  genuine,  only  confirms  their 
alert  readiness  for  their  business.  Thus  would 
the  Lord  find  all  his  disciples,  when  he  visits 
them. 

Jn  (he  evening  they  set  out  on  their  fishing, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  craft ;  and  (hi» 
night  they  catch  nothing.     May  we  not  almost 


*  The  latter :  "  Having  nothing  to  do,  they 
would  fisli." 

f  According  to  Gossner  Peter  had  thought  and 
said :  "  Tiie  Lord  has  been  so  long  witlioui  .show- 
ing himself,  who  knows  what  will  come  1  1  will 
letake  my.self  to  my  calliug."  Cut  such  unbelief 
has  uo  longer  place. 


JOHN  XXI.  5,  6,  10,  12. 


769 


confidently  assume  that  they  thought  of  that 
other  night  in  Luke  v.  5?  "Then  when  he 
called  us  first  it  was  just  so."  They  remem- 
bered that  occasion,  and  so  was  it  intended. 
Pfenninger  describes  the  fishermen  as  having 
come  gradually  through  the  fruitlessness  of 
their  labor  back  to  the  fj^irit  of  their  craft  ;  and 
that  Nathanael,  Thomas  and  Philip  began  the 
impatience  which  then  spread  among  and  mas- 
tered the  others — but  this  is  much  too  human 
for  the  Aporitli^s  afiei'  the  resurrection.  No,  it 
was  not  thus  that  the  Lord  (who  was  the  cause 


the  mist  which  lay  on  the  sea  ;  but  their  mia- 
apprehension  was  similar  to  that  of  Luke  xxiv- 
16 :  it  was  not  his  will  to  be  at  once  recognized. 
When  they  afterwards  understood  it,  this  be- 
ginning of  his  manifestation  would  appeal  to 
ihera — Thus  am  I  every  day  with  you,  though 
unseen.  After  every  night,  when  it  is  morning 
and  the  day  breaks,  he  is  found  to  be  there,  he 
stands  on  the  shore  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sea  on  which  v/e  are  sailing  and  living — but  he 
speaks  with  us.  Even  Grotius  thus  allegorizes, 
"  Signifying  that  he  through  his   resurrection 


of  their  want  of  success)  preparrd  them  lor  his  I  was  already  on  land,  while  they  were  still  upon 

appearance;  the  penetrating    Pfenninger  goes  I  the  sea;"  and    gives   us  a  hint  not   to  be  de- 

■■        ■  '        '  .. r,,,    •  ,      spised,  which  points  to  that  distant  futurity 


unusually  astray  when  he  says:  "Their  souls 
lost  all  noble  sentiment,  weariness  and  vacuity 
took  possession  of  their  hearts,  such  as  they 
had  not  known  for  years ;  the  fishermen  were 
absorbed  in  their  fishin*.  and  the  others  long- 
ing for  the  land,  like  the  commonest  souls." 
Tlie  Evangelist  records  nothing  of  weariness  or 
dejection  of  mind  or  degradation  of  spirit.  He 
does  not  indeed  mention  reminiscences  of  their 
Lord,  and  converse  about  their  expectations  of 
him  ;  but  only  because  all  that  was  to  be  un- 
derstood of  itself.  The  Lord  would  thus  con- 
nect his  new  revelation  with  that  earthly  busi- 
ness from  which  he  had  called  them  away  ;  and 
at  this  final  mission  bring  to  mind  that  first 
call,  when  their  fishing  gave  him  the  significant 
figure — see  our  observations  in  tlie  first  volume. 
Pfenninger's  remark  on  this  is  better;  he  makes 
Andrew  say  when  they  set  out — "And  we 
must  not  iorget  that  we  are  to  bo  fishers  of 
men."  His  manifestation  of  himself  in  connec- 
tion with  their  fishing  engagement  put  a  con- 
clusive end  to  the  earthly  and  past  of  their 
history,  by  bringing  it  into  direct  comparison 
with  their  future  and  heavenly  employment ; 
and  thus  he  most  graciously  stUUd  all  "the  yet 
remaining  hesitation  and  fear  of  their  thoughts 
and  feelings.  This  is  the  inmost  character- 
istic of  this  appearance,  over  which  there  is 
diffused  an  inexpressible  glow  of  profoundest 
peace,  in  the  meeting  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
and  as  far  as  this  goes  it  is  the  luminous  point 
of  the  forty  days.  The  Lord  "gives  his  final 
benediction  to  their  earthly   employment  "  (as 


with  which  this  typical  meal  corresponds,  "so 
that  he  would  not  go  upon  the  sea  after  the 
resurrection  ;  comp.  P>,ev.  xxi.  1."  At  least  it 
is  a  significant  circumstance  that  he  does  not 
now,  as  before,  come  to  them  in  the  night. 
Who  could  imagine  a  manifestation  of  the 
Pusen  Lord  in  the  night,  and  tipo)i  the  sea? 

The  disciples  mark  nothing,  when  the  man 
upon  the  shore  cried — Children,  have  ye  any 
thing  to  eat?  It  was  nothing  new  that  one 
should  buy  from  them  ;  and  it  only  appeared 
that  an  early  traveller  wanted  his  early  meal, 
and  was  waiting  for  the  landing  of  the  fishing- 
boat  which  he  had  seen.  Ilpodipdyioy,  the 
accompaniment  of  bread  (Attic  oipov  and 
7tpo66tpif^a),  means  of  course,  as  spoken  to 
fishermen,  fishes,  which  might  be  prepared  as 
oTpdpiov,  ver.  9;  but  the  Lord  designedly 
uses  the  more  general  expression,  which  al- 
most sounds  like  fipooGij-iov^hvAiQ  xxiv.  41.* 
He  speaks  familiarly  as  it  were  (absit  blas- 
phemia  verbo),  to  his  still  earthly  brethren, 
when  he  alludes  to  that  first  scene  in  which  he 
ate  before  them  ;  and  therefore  he  calls  them 
Ttaidia,  "  children,"  for  these  appointed  am- 
bassadors of  his  kingdom  are  to  him  who  was 
conversant  already  with  higher  regions,  like 
little  children.  But  this  TtatSia  is  designedly 
not  the  same  as  the  TEuvia  of  chap.  xiii.  33, 
or  the  T£Hva  of  Mark  x.  2-4  ;  but  so  expressed 
that  it  might  be  understood  as  the  ordinary 
address  of  a  stranger  (to  laboring  men,  as 
Euthym.  says) — possibly  also  with  a  similarity 


Lange  says);  and  this  may  pass  as  included,  |  which  would  remind  them  of  Jesus,  as  Luth 


though  not  as  the  only  meaning.  Lange  point 
out  three  critical  points  ;  the  two  latter  being 
the  re-establishment  of  Peter,  and  the  glance 
forward  into  the  future  of  the  Church  through 
the  future  of  Peter  and  John.  But  the  first 
part  of  the  narrative  also  has  to  do  with  the 
future ;  as  being  both  an  institution  and  a 
revelation. 

The  night  is  past — and  Jesvs  stood  on  the 
shore*  But  they  knew  him  not,  even  when  he 
spoke  his  first  words,  although  they  wpre  only 
two  hundred  cubits  from  the  land.  This  was 
not  owing  to  the  still  remaining  gloom,  nor  to 


*  He  did  not  "  travel  "  out  of  Galilee — that  is  in 
the  e6Trf.  'Etii  instead  of  ei?,  which  marks  the 
drawing  near,  is-^n  unnecessary  conjecture  :  see 
thap.  XX,  18, 


ardt  almost  too  precisely  finds.f  Hence  in  this 
place  the  use  of  the  word  (which,  however,  ac- 
cording to  1  John  ii.  13,  18,  is  not  by  any 
means  foreign  to  John's  style).  The  disciples 
still  mark  nothing.  The  question  with  /n; 
does  not  pre-suppole  a  negative  answer  (as  we 
have  seen  before;,  which  would  give  it  thus— 
Is  it  not  so,  that  ye  have  caught  nothing?     I 


*  Hence  the  Pesh.  Dy^D^  DnO— fhe  Vulg.,  on 

the  contrary,  the  quite  corvespondin^ pidmentarium 
{ like pulme>iiwn).  Whether  npodcpdytuv  meant 
fish,  specially  in  ordinary  speech,  is  a  quastion. 

t  It  is  very  questionable  whel.her  the  Lord 
spoke  this  in  Greek  ;  in  such  delicacies  of  expres- 
sion the  great  point  is  to  catch  the  exact  meaning 
of  the  Apostle,  who  gives  the  authentic  sense.    , 


770 


THE  EARLY  MEAL  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 


will  aivise  and  help  you.  It  sounds  like 
mockery  in  the  ears  of  the  disciples  that  one 
should  "ask  them  in  the  morning  for  the  pro- 
duce of  their  fishing  as  a  matter  of  course; 
but  they  will  not  complain — Alas!  none;  we 
have  toiled  all  night  for  nothing,  and  are  re- 
turning empty — they  answer  characteristically, 
with  as  much  brevity  as  possible,  an  abrupt 
and  bare  Xo.  Now  probably  they  felt  some- 
wiiat  ot  a  sense  of  vexation  and  weariness,  in 
the  awakened  consciousness  of  their  absolute 
poverty.  And  this  the  Lord  would  elicit,  in 
order  to  the  full  significance  of  the  whole  scene. 
It  was  not,  as  Lange  thinks,  looking  back  only 
to  the  past,  that  they  were  once  more  to  ex- 
perience the  night  side  of  their  employment 
and  "  find  out  tliat  they  were  ruined  for  the 
fisherman's  craft ;"  but  the  Lord  who  so  order- 
ed it  will  extract  from  all,  especially  from  the 
fishers  of  men,  the  confession  of  their  need  be- 
fore he  gives  his  abundant  blessing.  This  Ifo 
(we  have  nothing,  notwithstanding  all  our 
pains)  must  first  be  confessed  and  declared. 

Tne  second  word,  almost  like  Luke  v.  4 
(only  they  are  not  now  to  go  out  to  the  deep, 
but  to  cast  the  net  at  once,  and  that  specifical- 
ly, according  to  their  direction,  on  the  right 
side) — brings  more  strongly  to  their  remem- 
hrauM  that  "former  sign,  of  which  they  must 
certainly  have  thought  during  the  night.  Will 
the  disciples  observe  or  suspect  now  who  the 
man  upon  the  shore  is?  It  is  easy  enough 
for  us  who  know  to  speak ;  but  we  should 
hardly  perhaps  have  apprehended  at  once  the 
unwonted  and  so  condescending  form  which  his 
manifestation  assumed.  It  was  praiseworthy 
in  tiiem  that  they  could  without  delay  or  con- 
tradiction follow  the  counsel  of  a  good  adviser, 
or  more  skilful  fisherman,  and — although  they 
had  already  thrown  their  nets  both  to  the  right 
and  the  left  with  all  industry — yet  be  ready  to 
throw  them  once  more  on  the  moment.  Such 
is  the  true  character  of  Christ's  disciples,  as  he 
seeks  to  find  them.  The  old  man  is  almost 
dead  within  them  already.  Even  if  we  say  with 
Lampe,  concerning  this  docility,  "The  pow- 
er of  the  Lord  was  bending  their  minds,"  the 
matter  remains  the  same.  Their  susceptibil- 
ity for  such  influence  exerted  by  the  Lord 
under  anothci  lurm  is  the  good  thing  in  them. 
"  Does  not  the  Lord  often  use  a  voice  which 
we  do  not  at  once  know?"  (Driiseke). 

Scarcely  is  it  thrown  out,  when  they  cannot 
draw  it  in  again  through  the  multitude  of  the 
fishes;  and  the  simple  "  ye  shall  find"  has  its 
superabundant  accomplishment.  Then  finally 
does  John  mark — It  is  the  Lord  !  The  tender- 
est  love  has  the  first  and  surest  instinct  of  the 
object  beloved.  It  is  not  that  he  sees  with 
younger  and  keener  eyes,  or  any  thing  of  that 
kind  ;*  he  already  had  a  presentiment  when 
tiie  /jaXere,  "  cast  ye,"  was  uttered,  but  now 


the  wonderful  blessing  makes  him  sure,  and  be 
keeps  silence  no  longer.     Let  him  whose  privi- 
lege it  is  to  be  first  conscious  of  the  Lord's  so 
near  neighborhood,  tell  it  to  others  in  the  true 
ministry  of  love.     But  let  him  tell  it  in  the 
wisdom  and  tenderness  of  love  to  the  right 
person,  to  him  that  is  nearest.     This  was  on 
the   present   occasion  PcLer,  who   is   standing 
here   once   more   in    confidential   nearness   to 
John  ;  to  whom  the  beloved  disciple  still  leaves 
his  place  of  pre-eminence,  after  the  denial  has 
been  forgiven  ;  who  as  the  first  of  the  Apostles 
and  the  head  of  this  fishing  company  ought  to 
have  been  the  first  to  observe;  and  who  was 
j  most  concerned  in  this  remembrancer  of  the 
j  former  vocation  to  be  fishers  of  men,  prepara- 
I  tory  to   his   own   restoration.     This   Peter  is 
I  once  more  the  first  to  act,  as  John  had  been 
I  the  first  to  discern  and  know,  the  same  as  ever ; 
yet  not  the  same  as  when  he  cried — Depart 
from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man  !     He  is  not 
"precipitate,"  as  if  his  act  was  blPiueworthy ; 
but  his  fervent  love  to  him  who  bad  already 
forgiven  his  denial  cannot  wait  until  the  ship 
can  take  them  to  the  Lord ;  it  is  not  over  the 
waves,   nor   wading    through    them,   but,   as 
I  "casting  himself   into"  can   alone   mean,  he 
swam  first   toward  the   shore.     Nevertheless, 
I  we  must  observe  (with  Driiseke)  "the  rever- 
I  ence  which  observes  even  at  such  a  moment  of 
excited  feeling,  the  petty  proprieties  of  cloth- 
ing."!    The  coilededness  of   his  excitement   is 
observable — as  a  proof  of  advancement  in  the 
spirit  of  Simon  refer.     Still  as  in  Matt  xiv. 
28  he  will  and  must  be  first  to  reach  the  Lord  ; 
but  all  superfluity  of  curiosity  is  gone. 

Among  the  other  disciples  (although  John 
may  have  spoken  softly  to  Peter)  no  man  any 
longer  doubts  who  the  giver  of  the  great 
draught  of  fishes  is.f  But  they  can  wait  with 
John";  they  are  not  all  like  Peter.  That  they 
j  are  all  so  calm  and  collected  in  the  matter  ia 
proof  of  their  advancement  also,  as  Braune  ob- 
serves (though  doing  injustice  to  Peter).  The 
net  of  benediction,  which  Peter  had  altogether 
forgotten  in  his  zeal  for  the  giver,  must  how- 
ever be  preserved  and  brought  to  land ;  it  was 


•  Weitzel  refers  this  to  the  general  typical 
meaning  of  the  whole :  John  is  the  thoughttul 
and  penetrating  eye,  th'»  light  of  the  circle  of  dis- 
ciples— Peier,  the  working  and  strong  ami. 


*  'E7t£vSvTr]iy  in   the   Sept.   twice  for    7'yD 

(where  Symm.  and  Aquila  have  InevSvua,  and 
which  pass.'d  into  the  Ileb.  m312S>  is  according 

to  Stiidas  TO  vnsfxxvco  iudriov),  as  the  word 
shows,  possibly  a  fi>liiiig-lrock  (Noniuis.-  novriov 
(XHq)i(jK7]ua),  such  as  was  seen  by  Niebnhr 
{liciseksckr.  i.  254  and  pi.  6G).  lie  was  naked; 
liiat  is,  without  an  over-garment,  and  the  girdi>g 
of  the  garment,  to  be  let  down  aga:n  on  the  land, 
was  lor  the  sake  of  swimming. 

t  Not  as  Jacobi  preaches :  "  The  other  disciples, 
cool  and  slow,  seem  yet  to  doubt;  they  regard 
the  draught  a.s  the  result  of  following  good  coun- 
sel. Even  when  they  saw  the  coals,  with  fish  and 
broad,  tliey  might  still  doubt  whether  John  was 
right.  But  when  he  said — Come  and  dine!  they 
knew  him  and  asked  no  more."  We  shall  other- 
wise understand  ver.  12. 


JOHN  XXI.  5,  6,  10,  li 


771 


not  far,  and  they  came  sonn,  ■which  the  paren- 
thesis, ver.  8,  with  its  y^P*  "  ^r,"  means  to 
intimate.  There  is  a  6vpeiy,  or  "  dragging,"  of 
their  united  power  now,  the  iXuveiy,  or 
"  drawing,"  of  ver.  6  was  no  longer  enough. 
"  It  is  the  Lord  !  "  That  fills  all  with  joy  and 
peace — had  they  been  able  to  say  the  same  at 
the  sepulchre  and  under  the  cross.     Let  it  be 


merly  in  the  desert)  ;  his  eating  is  not  men- 
tioned throughout  the  narrative. 

'Oipcipiovy  "  fish,"  was  exp-lained  by  Gro- 
tius  to  be  a  "word  of  a  singular  form  with  a 
plural  signilication  ; "  and  most  take  it  col- 
lectively. That  may  indeed  be  right,  and 
Luther  so  translates^it ;  yet  we  find  in  ver.  13 
-  V  apTov  and  to  oipdptoy  together,  and  •- 


noted  that  it  is  the  Lord  from  now  forwards  ;  I  ver.  10  the  plural  aVci  tcSv  otpapiooy,  and 
no  longer  Master,  which  Magdalene  the  first  and  j  moreover  in  chap.  vi.  9  Svo  oipapta.*  Conse- 
kst  time  uttered.  2/ie  Lord — not  my  Lord,  not  (  quently,  it  must  not  be  said  that  in  ver.  13  the 
our  Lord— thus  alone  wa'i  it  fit  to  say  after  |  article  simply  serves  to  refer  back  (Luthardt). 
the  word  of  Thomas.  j  The  fishes  taken  by  the  disciples  were  nothing 

Well  were  it  if  the  expositors  would  answer  '  but  great  ones  ;  not  so  that  which  was  already 
the  question,  who  placed  there  the  coals  j  there,  since  oipocpiov  is  first  used  concerning 
and  the  fish  thereon  and  the  bread,  by  the  it.  We  doubt  whether  the  disciples  were  re- 
simple  word  of  John — It  is  the  Lord.  But '  quired  to  bring  forward  their  fishes  in  order 
Chrysos.  and  Euthyra.  began  by  speaking  defi- 1  that  by  comparison  they  might  assure  them- 
nitely  of  a  creation  out  of  nothing^vhich  ]  selves  of  the  equal  reality  of  the  miraculous 
Olshausen  too  sharply  calls  "adventurous:"  on  ,  provision  ;t  for  such  an  inquiry  would  never 
the  other  hand,  we  are  told  now-a-days  that  1  enter  their  thoughts,  or  both  provisions  would 
the  fire  had  been  made  by  other  fishermen,  the  ;  be  to  them  equally  miraculous.  The  Lords 
food  left  on  it,  and  Jesus  and  his  disciples  came  j  word  in  ver.  10  has  in  the  symbolism  of  the 
just  at  the  right  time  to  the  place.  Our  ex-  j  whole  no  other  meaning  than  to  typify  the  fel- 
cellent  Lange  (this  time  prosaically  enough)  j  lowship  with  him  in  work  and  enjovment  upon 
savs  that  it  was  easy  enough  for  our  Lord  to  |  which  they  were  now  to  enter.  When  he  now 
make  such  provision  on  the  banks  of  the  sea,  j  (for  so  may  we  almost  think)  requites  to  them 
where  a  thousand  fishers'  hearts  glowed  at  the  i  their  recent  entertainment,  he  speaks  conde- 
sound  of  his  name.  Let  those  who  can  content  |  scendingly  of  the  gift  which  had  come  from  his 
tliemselves  with  thinking  that  Jesus  revealed  ,  own  band  as  if  it  was  their  own— which  ye 
himself  first  to  some  other  of  his  fisher  depen-  i  have  taken — and  permits  them  to  add  their 
dents  that  they  might  prepare  this  fire  andj^jar^.  But,  again,  inasmuch  as  that  word  would 
this  food,  and  then  depart  again.  Or  did  Peter  ;  suffice  to  show  his  meaning,  and  it  would  have 
at  the  Lord's  request  swiftly  prepare  it  all,  be-  i  been  contrary  to  propriety  that  they  should 
fore  the  others  (two  hundred  cubits  off)  came  j  prepare  the  food  in  the  Lord's  presence  in 
to  land— or  even  the  Lord  himself  in  the  ordi-  j  order  that  they  might  eat,  he  does  not  wait 
nary  manner  ?  Had  Peter  been  so  employed,  I  for  that,  but  (as  Gerhard,  Bengel,  and  others 
the"^ narrative  otherwise  so  exact  would  have  |  rightly  maintain)  he  satisfies  his  guests  as 
mentioned  it;  but  whence  without  a  miracle  i  their  host  with  one  loaf  and  the  little  fish, 
could  the  Lord  have  so  early  procured  fish  and  j  This  is  plainly  intimated  by  the  to  oipdptov, 
bread  ?  If  we  must  add  any  thing  to  the  sim-  j  ver.  13  as  in  ver.  9.  Thus  they  do  not  partake 
plicity  of  John's  "  they  see,"  we  would  con-  {  of  this  feast  of  love  with  "  their  combined  pro- 
fidently  say  that  the  ministering  angels  pro-  |  visions  "  (as  Pvoos  says) ;  nor  does  the  Lord 
vided  the  "coal  fire  and  its  appendages— for  1  eat  with  them  this  double-meal  (his  own  and 
they  must  be  regarded  as  always  ready  for  the  ;  theirs?),  as  Luthardt  strangely  says,  assuming 

service  of  Jesus.    (So  Nicephorus,  UUt.  Ecd.  i.  i -r 

35.)  Lampe's  protest  is  both  needless  and  in-  j  if^Otpov,  orijrinallj-  prepared  food,  came  to  be 
correct,  when  he  ^ays — No,  it  was  provided  i  ^^^(j  rspecially'of  fishes,  according  to  Athenaius 
miraculously  by  the  Lord  himself:  as  if  it  ^  (2)(?()>«os.  vii.  p.  276.  sect.  4):  tt,tviKJ]6ev  6  {)(Ovi 
•were  not  more  decorous  to  introduce  the  ser-  I  j^ia  Ti)y  i^aipETov  edaiSyv  novoi  oyTooi 
vice  of  the  ever-ready  angels.  Whether  and  to  j  HaXEi6Qai.  Hence  Numb.  xi.  22,^  Sept.  ndv  to 
what  extent  creation  from  nothing  enters  into  i  ot/)o5  r?)?  ^aXd66rj<;.  Hence,  oipotpayelv  or 
the  question,  thus  viewed,  we  know  not,  and  j  dipocpdyoi  was  applied  to  love-sof  fish.  Athen. 
-    ■ ^  .    ■  ix_  3g5_  386  plainly  admits  that  the  sin2.  and  the 


must  refrain  from  all  idle  curiosity.  Better  is 
it  to  fall  back  upon  practical  exposition,  and 
fay  that  the  Lord  cares  not  only  for  the  great 
biit  also  for  the  little  things.  To  spread  a  table 
for  his  children  after  the  toil  of  the  night,  ac- 
cording to  the  wont  of  his  former  Galilean  be- 
nevolence ;  to  testify  to  them,  by  anticipating 
as  of  old  their  wants,  that  he  can  and  that  he 
will  provide  for  their  earthly  necessities;  and 
tLUS  to  symbolize,  by  a  little  circumstance,  a 
very  great  one — all  this  is  not  beneath  the  i  ixBvSta. 
thought  of  Jesus.  For,  certainly,  it  was  not  i  f  Bengel :  "  Thus  the  disciples  perceived  that 
himself,  who  tieeded  food  no  longer,  whom  the  that  fislTwas  as  really  such  as  those  which  they 
angels  had  thus  provided  for  (as  it  may  be  for-  i  brought." 


plur.  were  differently  applied.  Phavor.  is  very 
dpcisive :  "  They  alterwards  limited  the  word 
{oipov)  to  fish  alone— wlience  also  ojpapioy." 
Suidas:  6^dpiov,ix^vdioy.  (Nonnus  g.ives  on 
our  passage  only  ix.^t,y,  although  incorrectly  af- 
terwards, ver.  13,  itepimJKKTOv.,  This  malies  it 
plain  that  according  to  John's  phraseolosy  our 
Lord  terms  even  ihc  great  fishes  dipdpia,  like  that 
which  lay  upon  the  r,';'Opaw?a,  just  as  in  Matt. 
\v.  34  ^comp.  Mark  viii.  1,  the  disciples  said  only 


772 


THE  EARLY  MEAL  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 


that  tlieir  Cslies  were  prepared  also  on  the  fire. 
That  Peter  should  vigorously  obey  the  Lord's 
"bring  hither,"  is  as  characteristic  as  his  pre- 
vious conduct.  As  the  master  of  the  ship,  and 
the  leader  of  the  little  company,  he  now  brings, 
of  course  with  the  assistance  of  all  the  rest,  the 
draught  of  benediction  to  land. 

The  graciously  condescending  host  invites 
them  at  once — Come,  and  dine,  dpidrrjdars.* 
Bengel  translates  this  of  the  "  mid-day  meal," 
and  in  the  Gnomon,  deduces  from  it  that  the 
manifestation  had  continued  many  hours  since 
ver.  1 ;  but  that  is  not  in  the  record.  For  al- 
though the  phraseology  had  become  indefinite 
(hence  Sept.  dpidrdv  simplv  for  eating, 
strengthening  one's  self,  ^yo  1  Kings  xiii.  7) — 
yet  Lticke  is  right  in  insisting  upon  the  original 
signification  of  dptdrdv  and  dpidrov  as  the 
early  meal,  and  the  whole  historical  connection 
is  in  favor  of  this  interpretation.  Von  Gerlach 
supposes  that  there  was  "something  mys- 
terious" in  the  form  and  appearance  of  the 
Lord  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  are  thus  sudden- 
ly with  him  ;t  but  here  in  ver.  12  the  Evangel- 
ist speaks  of  no  doubting  uncertainty,^  he 
rather  says  decidedly  "hwwing  that  it  teas  the 
Lord."  Either  it  v/as  reverence  which  prevent- 
ed them  all  from  putting  the  question  which  in 
the  joy  of  their  supreme  confidence  sprang  to 
their  lips — Is  it  then  actually  thy&dlf?  or 
eroX^ta  may  signify  that  no  man  was  able  to 
ask,  being  so  fully  convinced.  Comp.  Rom.  v. 
7.  The  question  itself,  which  though  it  was 
presented  to  their  minds  was  nevertheless  sup- 
pressed, is  reverently  conceived — Who  art 
ihou?  instead  of  the  urgent — Is  it  thou,  0 
Lord,  who  dost  so  condescendingly  come  to  us 
this  day  ? 

Wherefore  and  to  what  end  did  the  Lord 
thus  act  toward  them?  Without  doubt  there 
is  a  special  significance  in  this,  as  in  all  the 
CyjiJ.Eta,  "signs,"  and  not  only  those  which  John 
records;  but  especially,  as  we  have  already 
found,  in  the  appearances  of  the  Risen  Lord. 
J.Ialdonatus  observes  that  the  ourai,  ver.  1, 
ftfter  this  manner,  points  at  once  to  the  mystery 
of  the  external  procedure.  First  of  all  the 
Lord  manifests  his  condescending  love  to  his 


*  Alhontcus  {Dc'piws.  I.  p.  11.  sect.  19)  points 
out  in  Homer  two  ))as'ages  which  mention  the 
d/ncjrov  as  djipdridna:  the  fcrmPi  (erroneous- 
ly quoted  in  Giolius)  kvrvvoyTo  dpi6rov  di.i 
1/01,  7{£ia;t£i'cp  Ttvp  {Odtjss.  xvi.  2).  and  tlie 
oilior  in  tlie  ll'ccl.  lis  c"?'^  on  to  esiablish  the 
meaning  as  to  Ttpooivuv  f'i.tftpcoua  (as  Apol- 
lonius  also  explains  it),  by  quotations  in  which 
Q)cpcxTiZ,e6'iai  is  iiarallel  with  dpiCrdv. 

t  lies  speaks  f  though  inap;iroi)riately)  of  a  de- 
sijiiied  chiiige  in  tlio  voice  or  in  llio  countenance 
diirins  tlie  several  appciranccs,  as  prep-irinj;  fo;- 
liiS  iiivisih  c  state;  though  tills  is  strangely  at  va- 
i  anco  with  his  general  repiesentalion  of  Iho  Risen 
Lord. 

X  Yet  Chrysos.,  Theoph.,  and  otlieis  so  under- 
stood it.  Hence  the  Berlenh.  Bihel  says,  "  We  see 
how  far  the  teudeucy  lo  doubt  may  follow  and 
molest  men/* 


own  in  the  most  gracious  aspect,  Dy  tnus  once 
more  most  affectionately  entering  into  the  real- 
ity of  his  former  life  with  his  disciples.     Here 
is  much  more  than  the  visit  which  Abraham 
received    in    Mamre.     He  abstains    indeed — 
which  might  be  needful  to  obviate  misunder- 
standing— from  himself  eating,*  but  he  comei 
nevertheless  at  the   last  to   place  himself  by 
their  side,  to  give  them  their  sustenance,  to  af- 
ford them  his  society,  just  as  of  old.     Hess  car- 
ries this  too  far,  however,  when  he  imagines 
what  is  not  in  the  text:  "  A  joyous  tone  reigns 
over  the  whole,  though  not  much  is  spoken 
during  the  meal."     So  Reiger  also  is  inexact : 
"  There  was  no  lack  of  profitable  discourse  at 
this  repast."     Driiseke :  "  How  many  precious 
words  may  have  flowed  from  the  lips  of  their 
Risen  Master  I "     We  think  that  nothing  at  all 
was  spoken  ;  ver.  12  implies  that  no  man  ven- 
tured to  hazard  a  word  ;  and  the  Lord  kept  si- 
lence also,  that  this  feast  might  speak  rightly 
for  itself  to  all  futurity. f     In  solemn  silence,  as 
vers.  12  and  13   describe,  they  eat   what  he 
gives  them,  though  not  for  many  minutes ;  they 
taste  and  see  how  gracious  the  Lord  is,  now 
altogether  without  amazement  and  terror  ;  they 
might  at  last  have  forgotten  that  death  and 
the  resurrection  lay  betwixt  him  and  them,  if 
in  ver.  15  solemn  earnest  had  not  followed  the 
grace  of  his  dealing.     Even  if  nothing  more 
had  been  recorded  than  the  fact  of  such  a  re- 
past of  the  disciples  in  the  presence  of  their 
condescending  Lord,  we  could  by  no  means  put 
the  dry  question — 7s  there  nothing  more?     O's- 
hausen's  zeal  carries  him  too  far  when  he  says 
that  the  narrative  down  to  this  point,  if  only 
externally  considered,  would  have  been  "  poor 
and  meaningless;"  for  certainly  the  chief  thing 
which  it  records  is  not  a  successful  draught  of 
fishes,  but  the  most  heart-touching  and  confi- 
dential approximation  of  the  Risen  Lord  ;  and 
that  is   in   itself  nothing  (x'ernal.     But  it   is 
most  certain  that  this  postscript  of  the  sCay- 
yiXiov  TtysvjiiattKoy  (spiritual  Gospel)  has  a 
yet  deeper  significance.      The  second  object  of 
it,  springing  immediately  from  the  first  purely 
historical  view,  was  the  presenting  a  type  of 
that  nearness  and  fellowship  to  which  the  Lord 
would  in  future  times  condescend,  in  his  invis- 
ible relations  with  his  people.     We  must  in- 
voluntarily ascribe  such  a  significance  to  the 


*  Many  regard  it  as  certiin  that  he  ate  with 
tliem,  but  we  must  dlfier.  He  said  only  to  ihcin — 
"  Dine  ;"  and  in  ver.  13  "He  gave  to  them,"  does 
not  mean  that  he  shared  with  them.  Hiiler  aiter 
Benijel  says  :  "  Ho  serves  even  though  glorified  ; 
yet  .sliows  the  g:eat  difTerence  there  was  between 
ilicm,  for  he  has  no  need  lo  cat." 

f  Wo  nny  doubt,  even,  whether  (he  thaulfffivwff 
for  the  benediction  of  the  food  (which  Tlieoil. 
Heryc.  forgets  not  to  mention)  is  to  bo  self  evi- 
dent. The  expression  and  solemn  formula  was  not 
always  and  essentially  requisite,  when  the  spirit 
of  Iho  act  wr.s  necessarily  understood.  Yet  there 
may  have  bceu  a  prophetic  reason  for  the  omis- 
siuQ, 


JOHN  XXI.  5,  6,  10,  12. 


773 


Emmans  narrative  in  Luke ;  and  can  we  not 
go  so  far  with  John  ?  But  thirdly,  we  hear  in 
the  narrative  a  specific  promise  to  the  disciples, 
and  to  us  all,  which  has  this  force — Nothing 
shall  ever  be  wanting  to  you  in  the  service  of 
the  Lord.  Specifically  for  their  earthly  need — 
I  myself  will  and  shall  feed  you,  and  take  care 
of  you.  From  the  tender  regard  which  at  first, 
so  to  speak,  provided  at  once  for  their  morning 
refreshment  after  the  labor  of  the  night,  before 
he  said  any  thing  more  to  them,  down  to  the 
abundant  draught  of  fishes  the  produce  of 
which  would  supply  their  need  till  they  reached 
Jerusalem — what  speaking  prophecy  and  pro- 
mise of  care!  Thus,  as  was  appropriate  and 
to  be  expected — though  without  this  narrative 
it  would  be  lacking — among  the  last  manifes- 
tations of  the  grace  of  the  Redeemer  the  whole 
kingdum  of  nature  is  embraced  in,  and  made 
one  with,  the  kingdom  of  grace.  Or  was  not 
this  necessary  for  these  first  disciples  ?  Scarce- 
ly, indeed,  were  they  at  this  time  concerned 
about  their  temporal  sustentation ;  but  there 
came  other  and  sterner  times  both  for  them  and 
for  believers  following  them,  who  are  still  com- 
forted and  encouraged  by  this  meal  at  Tiberias. 
"  Love  to  Jesus  must  arm  us  with  contempt  for 
all  temporal  things;  but  we  must  not  press 
this  truth  so  far  as  to  think  that  neither  good 
nor  evil  can  accrue  from  the  abundance  or  the 
withdrawal  of  earthly  goods  :  else  we  should 
not  feel  the  goodness  of  the  liberality  of  God's 
supply  of  our  wants,  and  the  lesson  which  the 
closing  of  his  hand  should  teach  would  be 
lost." 

Nevertheless,  when  all  this  is  admitted,  we 
must  as  expositors  ask — Is  there  nothing  more? 
If  this  di'aught  of  fishes  points  hack,  and  no 
one  with  a  sound  mind  can  deny  it,  to  that  of 
Luke  v.,  reminding  them  at  the  close  of  the 
beginning  of  their  calling,  the  promise  also  to 
the  fishers  of  men  must  be  meant  concerning 
another  net  than  that  which  they  used  in  their 
earthly  calling.  The  "  smgularis  consensus," 
therefore,  of  the  fathers,  as  to  this  synibolico- 
prophetic  meaning  of  the  transaction,  rests 
upon  a  good  ioundation.*  If  there  have  been 
many  fanciful  errors  developed  from  the  de- 
tails, that  does  not  impeach  the  correctness  of 
our  view  of  the  whole.  For  instance,  when 
Augustine  refers  the  right  side,  on  which  the 
disciples  were  to  cast  the  net,  to  the  elect  ;\ 

*  Weiizel's  rennrk  is  a  good  one,  that,  as  the 
second  half  of  this  final  chapter  deals  directly 
and  specially  with  the  destiny  of  the  two  chief 
disciples,  £0  ihe  first  half  points  generally  and  in- 
directly to  the  discipleship  as  a  whole,  to  the  re- 
sult of  apostolical  labor. 

t  Gro;ius,  on  the  other  hand,  found  in  the  abun- 
dant draught  vcar  ihes\ore,  where  it  was  not  to  be 
expected,  the  ble  sing  of  the  Apostles  preaching 
among  the  heathen.  Weitzel  sees  in  the  fruitless 
toil  of  the  night  the  first  want  of  success  among 
the  Jews,  in  the  cr.sting  the  net  on  the  other  side 
the  entering  upon  the  mission  to  the  Gentiles.  All 
this  we  may  leave  -itndeciiied,  though  it  is  much 
moro   rational   tlian   Dj  Wet:e'a   noiioa  that  the 


gives  his  strange  interpretation  of  the  number 
seven  of  the  disciples;  and  even  finds  in  the 
broiled  fish  a  symbol  of  Christ  (piscls  asam 
Ckrisiys  est  pas&us) ;  we  may  leave  all  this  to 
him.  But  we  are  willing  to  agree  with  him, 
not  because  he  says  it,  but  because  it  proves 
itself  to  our  own  mind,  when  he  makes  this 
draught  of  fishes,  similar  to  the  first,  yet  with 
so  many  differences,  refer  to  the  final  future  of 
the  lingdom.  That  in  the  former  the  good  and 
bad  were  taken  together,  while  in  this  the 
good  only,  is  not  to  be  rejected,  if  it  be  pro- 
foundly interpreted  ;  but  that  the  Lord  is  not 
now  in  the  ship  but  on  the  thore,  that  he  ex- 
pressly commands  that  the  net  be  brought  to 
land,  that  the  net  does  not  now  break,  and, 
finally,  that  the  revelation  of  the  Eiseii  Lord 
of  its'elf  points  to  something  beyond  the  for- 
mer— all  this  is  significant  and  most  evidently 
true.*  The  number  of  the  fishes,  recorded  with 
such  striking  precision,  and  which  may  be  re- 
regarded  as  the  reason  of  their  counting,!  ap- 
pears to  us  to  shadow  out  some  mystery. 
Apart  from  the  marvellous  interpretations 
which  carry  their  own  confutation  with  them,  J 
we  cannot  but  think  that  it  signifies  the  num- 
ber which  will  be  gathered  in  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  the  7zX?/pcona  rdy  tfivcov,  "  ful- 
ness of  the  Gentiles,"  Pvom.  xi.  25— a  number 
known  to  the  Lord,  but  not  to  be  counted  by 
us  till  the  end.  The  net  not  breaking — a  most 
evident  note  of  distinction  from  the  previous 
draught  at  their  initiatory  call  (should  not 
John  on  this  account  record  it  ?) — appears  less  a 
"  presage  of  wonderful  unity  "  for  the  whole 
Church  s  history  generally  (Grotius),  than  as  a 
prophecy,  stretching  forward  to  the  future,  of 
the  last  glorious  manifestation  of  the  net  never- 
theless not  broken.  Gossner  :  "  That  which 
men  call  the  Lord's  net  is,  alas  !  much  broken, 
but  the  Lord  has  his  own  net,  which  is  not 
rent."  The  former  actual  reading  in  its  exter- 
nal manifestation  was  foreshadowed  in  Luke  v. 
6  ;  and  it  took  place  not  because  "  men  arbi- 
trarily and  by  their  own  despotic  w  U  pull  on 
the  net,  some  to  the  right,  some  to  the  left" — 
it  was  so  even  in  "  apostolical  hands,"  accord- 
ing to  1  Cor.  i.  11,  xi.  19.  But,  "  when  Christ 
will  be  glorified  in  his  glorious  net,  then  at  the 
second  conversion  .of  the  Gentiles  the  net  of  the 


right  side  was  mentioned  as  the  fortunate  one — ac- 
cording to  popular  superstition. 

♦  See  the  passage  in  Olshausen,  from  Augus- 
tine. 

■)•  Without  the  &5?or  cj^ei,  which  is  usual  in 
the  reckoning  of  Scripture — even  the  three  above 
the  round  sum  not  lorgo'ten.  Lilcke  speaks  of 
the  hjperhoUeal  tone  of  this — but  we  have  nothing 
to  say  to  that. 

%  The  first  and  most  celebrated  was  that  of 
Jerome,  ad  Ezech.  cap.  47,  that  these  were  just  so 
many  species  of  fishes,  as  in  Matt  xiii.  47,  Ik 
TtavToi  yivovi  (compared  also  by  Bengel). 
The  typical  number  of  strangers  in  Israel,  2 
Chron.  ii.  17,  has  bc^a  referred  to — and  much 
else. 


774 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


Church  will  no  longer  be  broken."  Then,  when 
the  net  will  be  drawn  to  the  shore  out  of  the 
sea  of  nations  (Matt.  xiii.  48) — the  great  Shep- 
herd and  Lord  will  be  on  that  shore,  waiting, 
receiving,  entertaining;  and  the  end  will  be  a 
ftmi  of  most  gracious  fellowship  with  him — 
but  it  will  be  the  antitype  of  the  Lord's  S  ;pper 
(Abendmahl),  an  earli/  meal  {FrUhmnhl)  of  the 
great  resurrection  morning  which  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  permanent  eternal  day  of  joy  (Rom. 
xi.  15).*  Not  then  the  bread  and  wine  as  the 
body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  but  the  Ircad  of 
the  renewed  creation,  prepared  without  seed- 
time, harvest,  and  making,  will  be  the  sancti- 
fied food  of  the  righteous,  no  longer  needing 
any  special  benediction  for  its  sanctification  ; 
and  in  the  bringing  in  of  the  great  draught,  the 
first  fruits  of  which  the  Lord  himself  had  pre- 
pared as  representing  the  whole,  all  the  fisher- 
men together  and  individually  will  spiritually 
enjoy  ihe  result  of  their  toils  with  the  joy  of 
eternal  life. 

If  this  is  regarded  as  too  venturesome  and 


far-fetched,  we  wi!I  return  back  with  the  ob- 
jector to  the  dawning  and  instinct  presenti- 
ment with  which  he  would  prefer  to  invest 
this  typical  meal  on  the  shore  of  (he  preachhig- 
sea.  He  must  not,  however,  reject  the  history 
itself  while  dwelling  on  what  it  dimly  shadows ; 
he  must  not  view  it  as  a  "  little  idyllic  figure ; " 
but  must  at  least  say  with  John  :  It  is  (he  Lord 
— he  must  assuredly  have  intended  something 
in  this.  Thus  much,  however,  is  clear  to  our 
view,  that  the  Lord  begins  aiiew,  in  his  ancient 
manner  (Matt.  xiii.  35)  to  speak  in  parable, 
to  turn  events  into  similitudes,  and  propheti- 
cally to  pre-typify  the  far-distant  future.  By 
this  he  not  only  demonstrated  his  abiding 
humanity,  and  its  paternal,  condescending 
power  and  love  to  bless — but  he  points  the 
first  of  his  fishermen,  in  order  that  it  might  be 
recorded  and  transmitted  to  us,  throu.^li  this 
earthly  type,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  kingdom 
reserved  for  the  end,*  when  all  nature  appears 
renewed  around  the  pure  produce  of  his  great 
1  fishing,  while  he  says — Come  ye  and  feast. 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


(John  xxi.  15-22.) 


The  immediate  purport  of  this  manifestation 
of  our  Lord — which  in  connection  with  its  pro- 
phetic symbol  pointed  also  far  into  the  future — 
was  a  confirmation  of  the  calling  of  the  fishers 
of  men,  and  a  re-establishment  of  them  all,  in 
the  persons  of  those  who  were  present  in  their 
office — a  more  direct  exhibition  of  chap.  xx. 
21.  With  this  it  is  naturally  connected  that — 
according  to  the  Lord's  purpose  from  the 
beginning  in  this  manifestation — he  turns  es- 
pecially to  Peter.f  He  receives  after  the 
figurative  blessing  the  word  of  its  interpreta- 
tion, being  still  as  heretofore  the  representative 
of  all,  and  this  involves  in  itself  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  him  who  had  fallen.  But,  in  the 
next  placf^,*the  words  are  spoken  to  him  in  a 
manner  which  points  them  directly  to  himself. 
The  Lord  had  appeared  to  him  in  mercy  already 
on  the  day  of  his  resurrection;  had  recognized 
him  in  the  two  following  appearances  to  the 
Apostles,  including  him  in  the  general  bless- 
ing;  we  cannot  therefore  suppose  him  to  have 
been  the  subject  of  such  profound  sorrow  as  is 


*  We  do  not  mean  this  (as  Lutliardt's  objection 
misunderstands  it)  of  the  "lime  alter  death" — 
but  of  the  hislorical  concluding  period  of  all 
propliPticil  pers7)ective  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
the  reference  to  which  is  surely  ap[)ropriale  liere. 

t  Yet  we  may  not  say  that  all  before  ver.  13 
(wherein  the  Evangelist  sees  the  real  manifestation 
itself)  was  related  merely  on  account  of  what  fol- 
lows. It  was  no  more  related,  than  it  happened,  on 
that  account.  » 


sometimes  attributed  to  him.  Nevertheless, 
the  deep  impression  made  by  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  his  denial  had  not  been  eflfaced. 
We  must,  on  the  other  hand,  regard  Peter 
therefore — for  such  deep  heart  wounds  are  not 
soon  healed — as  retaining  enough  of  that  smit- 
ten feeling  to  prevent  his  experiencing  his 
former  joy  in  the  Lord;  and,  on  the  other,  we 
must  remember  that  the  offence  which  was 
given  to  all,  and  which  corresponded  with  the 
public  warning  given  to  all,  could  be  properly 
and  fully  forgiven  only  by  a  public  word  of  re- 
conciliation. Certainly  it  must  have  been 
Peter's  necemty  and  iciah  that  the  Lord  should 
refer  to  the  matter  before  all  and  pronounce 
his  forgiving  peace — quite  in  opposition  to 
that  most  unworthy  notion  which  Niemeyer 
thus  expressed:  "Jle  probably  was  fearing 
every  moment  that  Jesus  would  speak  to  him 
about  his  fall,  before  the  rest  of  the  disciples." 
Such  a  fear  as  that  would  have  effectually  pre- 
vented his  receiving  the  consolation  of  grace,  as 
it  would  have  been^inconsistent  with  true  peni- 
tence in  his  soul.  Thus  it  is  the  Lord's  love, us 
we  shall  soon  observe,  which  now  turns  thus  to 
Peter,  to  do  him  favor  ;  but  the  solemn  earnest- 
ness of  truth,  ever  inseparable  from  such  love, 
completes  in  the  presence  of  the  most  important, 
of  the  disciples,  who  represented  the  whole, 
his  perfect  re-estahUshment ;  thus  giving   him 


♦This  draught  of  fishes  was  "not  a  sp-cial 
preparation  "  for  any  still  remaining  Jewish  and 
impatient  ideas  about  his  kingdom. 


JOHN  XXL  15-22. 


7T5 


©ppDrHiinty  to  assume  and  exhibit  a  becoming 
tiumiliation,  and  to  utter  the  amending  confes- 
tiion.  Tliere  was  x\o  Y>^'opev  rebuke  uttered,  lor 
the  matter  was  already  forgiven  ;  this  asking 
about  his  love  was  at  furthest  a  most  gentle 
and  affectionate  reproof.  But  it  was  certauily 
a  re-establishment  of  Peter  after  the  fall  which 
it  thus  touchingly  brought  to  his  remembrance  ; 
and  was  as  sofemn  and  formal  as  the  denial 
had  been. 

It  might  be  concluded,  from  vers.  19,  20  af- 
terwards, tliat  Jesus,  leaving  the  others,  walked 
along  the  shore  in  special  conversation  with 
the  two,  Peter  and  John  ;  but  this  is  rather 
connected  with  the  improbable  supposition  of 
certain  omitted  converse  generally,  and  is  al- 
most excluded  by  the  definite  words  of  ver. 
lo — "  Wh'eii  they  had  dined,  he  said."  It  is 
certain  that  Jesus  after  rising  from  the  meal 
did  not  w-a-lk  alone  with  these  two  along  the 
bank  ;  all  must  and  ought  to  hear  this  conver- 
sation, ibr  the  reason  just  assigned.  The  mat- 
ter had  already  been  spoken  of  with  Peter  in 
secret ;  nor  is  the  trXelov  or  TrXeoy  t  o  v- 
zoovs  "than  tkexe,"*  in  our  Lord's  question 
a  reference  to  the  rest  of  the  disciples  at  a  dis- 
tance. If  we  try  to  throw  ourselves  into  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  nothing  was  more 
natural,  after  the  manifestation  of  such  confi- 
dential and  condescending  love  on  the  part  of 
Jesus,  than  that  the  general  question  should 
have  been  pi-epared  for  in  the  minds  of  all,  as 
the  opening  of  the  conversation — Do  ye  not  all 
truly  love  me?  Althou<_'h  this  was  not  ex- 
pressed, it  is  involved  in  the  TtXelov  rovrcov  : 
and  here  we  think  we  see  the  point  of  connec- 
tion for  the  direct,  address  to  one  of  the  num- 
ber— Lovest  thou  me?  As  Hess  paraphrases: 
"  Simon,  son  of  Jona,  thou  seest  that  all  love 
me.  Can  I  rely  with  equal — with  more — con- 
fidence upon  thy  fidelity  and  love  ?  "  But  that 
the  Lord  ?L?ks  three  timea,  ».s,  a  retnembraucer  of 
the  three-fold  denial  which  he  had  been  so 
jsolemnly  warned  of,  we  shall  not  need  to  de- 
monstrate ;  though  there  are  not  wanting  ex- 
positors who  strangely  resist  the  clearest  evi- 
dence of  what  lies  before  their  eyes,  and  inter- 
pret it  otherwise.  De  Wette's  "'elwas spklewl ," 
as  if  it  were  a  mere  passing  allusion,  is  repug- 
nant to  every  sound  and  heartfelt  realization 
of  the  whole. 

Simon  J'(ywat— as  the  Lord  says  to  Simon 
Peter  (mark  well)— was  in  no  case  "  the  usual 
manner  in  which  the  Lord  addressed  Peter  " 
(Lucke).  It  was  a  return  to  that  first  word  at 
tiie  bestowment  of  his  name  of  honor  (chap.  i. 
43)  which  is  not  now  indeed  taken  away  from 
the  forgiven  disciple,  but  yet  is  placed  "^inten- 
tionally in  seeming  question  ;  so  that,  when  he 


j  was  thus  addressed  the  second  and  the  third 
'time,  he  might  naturally  think — Is  the  name 
\Pder,  then,  cone  entirely?  Comp.  however, 
not  merely  Matt  xvi.  17  (where  the  "son  of. 
I  Jona  "  was  named  in  suggestive  parallel  with 
1  "  flesh  and  blood"),  but  in  Luke  xxii.  31  es- 
pecially the  warning  »Siimo?i .'  Simon!  in  order 
j  to  perceive  and  unilerstand  the  manifold  re- 
membrancers which  this  address  would  in- 
I  volve.*  He  would  remind  him  of  his  entire 
I  past  from  birtii  upwards,  of  his  natural  ha- 
I  inanity  (just  as  afterwards  in  ver  18),  but  es- 
j  pecialiy  of  the  lamentable  fall  which  had  orig- 
I  inated  in  the  Simon  and  not  in  the  Peter. 
I  Nevertheless,  in  the  gentlest  tenderness  there 
I  is  no  express  mention  of  what  was  past  and 
I  forgiven — only  a  hint  of  his  earlier  self-exalta- 
I  tion,  as  we  shall  presently  hear.  The  first 
\d  X  aTt  a  5  he,  loved  thou  me,  expresses  only 
!  the  tenderness  of  love  which  desires  only  to  be 
j  loved,  which  prizes  the  return  of  love,  and  is 
j  satisfied  with  it,  yea,  asks  for  it  not  in  doubt 
;  but  with  complacency.  This  gracious  demand 
i  of  his  love,  which  honors  Peter  by  the  un- 
I  troubled  expression  of  the  perfect  love  of i  his 
I  Lord,  is  not  retracted,  nor  is  that  love  with- 
I  drawn,  when  in  the  solemnity  of  earnest  truth 
j  it  is  blended  with  the  reproof  of  reconciling 
:  grace  in  the  addition — Lovest  thou  me  more 
I  than  these?  . 

I      nXelov  rovTGiv  (Vulg.  plus  his)  is  grara- 
1  matically,  and   without    the   context,  an   amy 
j  biguous  expression,  inasmuch  as  rovrwv  may 
i  be  referred  either  to  the  objects  which  are  loved 
I  or  the  subjects  which  love  ;  but  the  entire  cor\r 
I  text,  and  especially  that   point  of  connection 
j  which   has  been  referred  to  already,  makes   it 
I  evident  that  it  must   be  understood  as  almost 
I  all   Christendom   has  agreed  to  understand  it 
(with    the   Pesh.)— more   than    these,   all   my 
disciples  and   thy  brethren,  love   me.f     From 
!  the  beginning,  most  expositors   have  seen  in 
I  these  words   the  gentle   but  sufficiently  plain 
remembrancer  of    that   self-exalting    word   of 
j  the  disciple — And  if  all  men  should  be  offended, 
yet  will  not  I  (xMatt.  xxvi.  33  ;   Mark  xiv.  29). 
I  bishausen  strangely  lollows  a  very  few  in  de- 
I  nying  this,  and  supfioses  the  Lord  here  actual,7 
i  ly  to  admit  that   Peter  in  consequence  of  his 

I  *  The  address  wit  i  Peter  occurs  indeed  as  if  in 
irony,  Luke  xxii.  8i ;  but  even  as  such  pre-sup- 
l)0sing  the  oidiiiary  use  of  it.  In  the  two  pas- 
sages in  which,  besides  Lulie  xxii.  31,  Simon  alone 


*  On  ihe  genuineness  of  this  there  is  no  con- 
tention, although  it  is  wanting  in  a  few  manu- 
scripts. 

\  The  reading  'looolvov,  'looocwov — accord- 
ing to  Evasmus  also  /ajaKj/a— chap.  i.  43.  and 
here  (where  Vulg.  ^anms,  j'et  also  with  the  var. 
/i)m)  is  of  no  significance  for  the  matter  in  band. 


occurs,  !t  IS  very  sijiiifioiiiit  (_Matt.  xvii.  25;  Mark 
xiv.  37) — and  not  mean  ng  the  same  as  the  lull 
Simon  Baijona. 

t  Lampe  quotes  from  Bernard  :  Amas  nif  plus 
quani  tua,  p. us  cja.\m  tuos,  plus  qunni  te  ?  Whitby 
and  Bolton  after  iiim  have  mucli  worse  interpreted 
— Lovest  thou  me  more  than  these  things  ?  (what 
a  collocation  I)  tliit  i^^,  more  than  the  fi.shes,  an.i 
tlie  fiiliiiig  ap(>aratus,  the  nets,  etc.;  assuming 
that  the  di'^ciples  mioht  have  wished  to  go  back 
to  their  fishing.  This  is  not  merely  "  improb- 
able," as  Hegel  says  coldly — or  "  almost  ridicu- 
lous," as  Lucke  says  more  warmly— but  is  utterlj 
irrational 


776 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


spiritual  pre-eminence  in  relation  to  power 
workins:  fxternaliy — as  if  lave  consisted  in  that 
— loved  hini  more  s'rongly  than  all  the  others 
{more  also  than  John  ?) ;  and  that  this  was  the 
result  or  the  cause  of  the  Lord's  making  hinn 
thesaephcrd,  although  he  may  not  be  supposed 
to  liave  said — No,  1  love  thee  far  less,  lor  I  was 
capable  of  denying  thee.  If  any  of  our  read- 
ers tiiink  such  an  idea  deserving  of  refutation, 
he  will  have  found  it  already  in  what  has  been 
sajd  as  to  the  necessity  for  our  Lord's  once 
more  publicly  returning  to  the  fact  of  the  de- 
nial, and  he  will  find  it  still  further  in  the  suc- 
ceeding exposition.  Liicke  disputes  this  refer- 
ence back  to  something  unrecorded  in  John's 
Gospel,  and  asks — Had  the  author  of  this  chap- 
ter Matthew's  Gospel  before  him?  We  think 
that  Jesus  who  thus  spoke,  accoixling  to  the 
genuine  record  of  the  fourth  Evangelist,  very 
well  knew  the  earlier  words  of  Jesus;  but  the 
Spirit  in  the  Evangelists  reckons  in  many 
things,  and  in  a  sense  every  where,  upon  our 
own  collating  the  several  records.  The  thought, 
further,  is  not  to  be  absolutely  rejected,  that 
this  question  as  to  a  greater  love  than  that  of 
the  others  refers  to  the  immediately  preceding 
fact  of  Peter's  springing  first  into  the  water, 
to  come  to  Jesus.  The  distinct  meaning  of 
rovTGOv,  as  limited  to  those  present,  is  in 
favor  of  this ;  as  also  the  fact  that  afterwards 
in  ver.  18  there  is  a  similar  allusion  to  what 
had  just  transpired,  in  the  girding,  etc.*  Yet 
this  is  certainly  only  a  concomitant  meaning 
and  not  (as  Olericus  supposed)  the  only  one. 
Peter's  swimming  toward  the  Lord  had  just 
shown  that  he  now  as  formerly  would  anticipate 
t'lie  rest  in  his  fervid  zeal — -'after  the  most  pro- 
found love  of  another  had  discerned  the  Lord. 
But  there  was  nothing,  on  the  present  occasion, 
presumptuous  or  blameworthy  in  his  act ;  and 
therefore  the  gentle  reference  to  it,  which 
might  have  been  discerned  in  our  Lord's 
words,  was  rather  a  mild  softening-  of  his 
vehemence;  it  was  a  recognition  of  the  pure 
and  the  true  in  Peter's  character,  and  in  his 
"  loving  moro" — even  at  the  same  time  that 
the  expression  of  it  is  repioved  and  repelled,  to 
3uch  extent,  that  is,  as  this  was  merited. 
Tfien  alone,  when  Peter  would  make  himself 
faithful  beyond  the  rest,  in  opposition  to  the 
warning  of  his  Master,  there  lay  in  his  com- 
parison— I  love  thee  more,  a  fal  e  strength,  and 
Something  of  taint  in  his  love,  such  as  Alber- 
tini  thus  preaches  of;  "  Our  many-formed  and 
evil  self-love  is  the  alloy  which  debases  the 
silver  of  our  love."  Tnus  the  Lord  would 
awaken  the  purer  thought  of  Peter's  mind,  and 
fan  within  him  the  fiame  of  his  love,  a  love  no 
longer  now  unreflecting  and  carnally  measur- 


ing itself  with  others  ;*  and  therefore  he  asks 
him  the  well-understood  question,  gives  him 
graciously  the  welcome  opportunity  to  retract 
in  pure  simplicity  his  improper  comparison, 
and  to  utter  anew  with  purer  confidence  and 
joy  his  real  and  inward  love.  We  heartily 
a^ree  with  Grotius  here:  "Wonderful  is  the 
wisdom  of  Christ,  whose  words  as  so  ordered 
that  Peter  is  satisfied  after  his  three-fold 
denial,  and  his  colleagues  are  satisfied,  over 
whom  he  had  exalted  himself;  and  this  example 
he  gives  for  the  discipline  of  hii  Church."  An  ex- 
ample this  which  has  l>een  too  often  neglected 
by  the  stern  and  unrelenting  disciplinary  enact- 
ments of  the  Church,  which  making  no  differ- 
ence, have  often  kept  penitent  Peters  far  too 
long  waiting  for  the  absolution  of  love. 

The  answer  of  the  Apostle  is  in  its  kind  as 
noteworthy  as  the  Lord's  question,  and  exhibits 
him  to  us  now,  as  it  exhibited  him  to  the  disci- 
ples then,  in  the  most  beautiful  light  of  his  new 
nature  created  by  grace.     It  is  impossible  for 
any  man  to  object  any  thing  to  his  perfect  re- 
establishment,  or  to  regard  it  for  an  instant  as 
opposed  by  the  strictest  laws  of  the  kingdom  of 
grace.   We  may  almost  adopt  Albert ini's  words: 
i  "  Doubtless  Peter  noio  loved  the  Lord  more  than 
!  all  the  rest,  for  he  had  more,  much  more,  for- 
I  given  " — although  the  rule  of  Luke  vii  47  (like 
j  every  rule,  not  without  its  exceptions)  might  be 
j  regarded  as  holding  good  rather  on  the  side  of 
I  the  less  loving,  and  moreover  must  not  be  ap- 
plied  merely  according  to  the  measure  of  actual 
and    visible    sins.     Cyril,    Bucer,    and   others, 
I  whom  Lampe  quotes  approvingly,  and  Olshaus- 
i  en  follows,  take  away  all  rebuking  allusion  to 
j  his  former  assertion  that  beloved  more;  bnt 
j  they  think,  however,  that  the  more  love  which 
j  the  Lord  demanded  pointed  to  the  sin  which 
I  had  been  forgiven  to  him  beyond  all  the  others. 
I  What  shall  \Ve  say  to  this?     Assuredly,  that 
the  Lord  rather  pre-supposes  than  demands  that 
internal  love  in  a  sense  surpassing  that  of  all 
the  rest ;  he  knoics  and  recognizes  in  the  heart  of 
the  forgiven  man  that  greater  love  which  it  was 
befitting  that  he  should  feel — t'liis  seems  evi- 
dently implied  in  his    being  singled    out   and 
questioned  in  the^e  express  terms.    But  the  wocij 
as  spoken  in  the  presence  of  the  others,  could 
not  be  meant  by  him  as  demanding  from  Peter 
that  he  should  testify  his  own  consciousness 
of  a    love   beyond  that   of  the  others:    that 
would  be  contrary  to  the  truth  and  sincerity 
of  love;    as  we  must  feel  ourselves,  when  we 
think    of  our  own  comparing  or   magnifying 
beyond  that  of  others  the  love  of  which  we 
are  conscious.f      How  aad   to  the  rest,  how 


*  Grotins,  a  little  too  strong  :  "  All  thinr/t  which 
our  Lord  liere  .says  have  allusion  (that  is  at  the 
tame  time)  to  the  tacts  which  ])rpceded  ;"  for  in 
addition  to  the  two  thinirs  mentioned  above  he 
finds  a  leterence  of  the  miiidatum  e.ximium  apos- 
lolici  nuneris  to  the  circumstance  quod  ret*  per- 
traxerat. 


*  Theodor.  Ileracl.  well  expresses  it :  "  To 
raise  him  out  of  the  dejection  resulting  from 
Irs  denial,  and  inflame  his  love  by  the  sama 
means." 

f  Olshau'^en  goes  too  far,  and  uses  very  doubt- 
ful language  when  he  says  :  True  humility,  pov- 
erty, and  release  from  se.f  does  not  consL-bt  in  our 
sa.itig  that  w«  have  no  love  wlien  we  have  it, 
but  iu   regardiug   the  operations   of  grace   "as 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


iH- 


fiangerons  to  himself,  would  it  have  been  for 
Peter  to  say — Yes,  verily,  0  Lord,  I  love  thee 
more.  The  question  demanded  any  thing  rather 
than  this  ;  his  answer  beautifully  shows  that  he 
umlerstood  it  as  humbling  him  by  reference  to 
his  former  elevation  of  himself — and  can  we 
otherwise  understand  the  Lord?  He  had  de- 
eignedly  uttered  no  word  which  should  make 
prominent  the  great  change  between  formerly 
and  now,  that  which  had  intervened;  it  it  7wt 
— "  Lovest  thou  me  now  more  than  others?"* 
although  the  whole  question  in  itself,  after  the 
restoration  of  the  fallen  man,  was  no  other  than 
such  an  appeal — "  Moio,  beloved  Simon  ?  How 
stands  the  love  between  us  ?  "  But  Peter  right- 
ly understood  all  that  the  Lord  had  omitted  to 
say  ;  and  himself  likewise  omitting  it,  gives  as-  ! 
surance  of  his  love  without  any  side  glance,  j 
without  any  pre-eminent  /.  His  humbled  re- 
membrance does  not  enter  upon  the  question 
of  the  inor^e  ;  and  his  answer  is  thus  at  the  same 
time  an  affecting  deprecation  to  the  other  dis- 
ciples, whom  his  former  proud  words  had  in- 
jured. 

It  is  remarkable  here  that  he  does  not  an- 
swer the  dyandi  with  dyaTCca,  but  with  (piXoi 
[both  rendered  "love"  in  the  English  version], 
and  that  even  the  second  time;  in  the  third 
question  the  Lord  takes  up  his  word,  and  asks 
/pike li  fit f  to  which  change  John  in  the  repe- 
tition, ver.  17,  expressly  gives  prominence. 
Tliis  cannot  possibly  be  altogether  without  sig- 
nificance, though  Augustine  {de  Civ.  xiv.  7) 
denied  the  distinction  between  amm  and  diligis 
here,  and  Grotius  settled  the  point  very  quick- 
ly, "  John  used  the  words  dyaitdv  and  qjiXEli/ 
prom.scuously,  just  like  fiodneiv  and  Ttoi/uai- 
e/fzr.t  We  must  not  make  over-subtle  dis- 
tinctions here."  But  although  (he  distinction 
may  not  have  been  preserved  in  ordinary 
phraseology,  yet  here  where  the  change  is  de- 
eignedly  introduced  it  must  have  its  signifi- 
cance, and  point  to  the  fundamental  difference 
in  the  respective  expressions.  But  what  is  the 
difference?  We  touched  the  question  lightly 
upon  John  v.  20,  compared  with  iii.  35  ;  but 
me  must  now  enter  upon  it  more  closely.  Casau- 
bon  (see  Lampe)  acknowledged  that  ayandy, 
diligtre,  was  rather  the  mnor  perfeclus  which  be- 
longs to  God,  and  therefore  that  throughout  the 


transitory  gifts  which  the  Lord  who  gave  them 
may  at  any  time  withdraw  if  he  will."  But  cer- 
tainly in  loving  there  is  the  personal  decision  on 
our  own  part,  and  a  possession  certainly  not  to  be 
taken  from  us  of  which  we  are  surely  conscious. 

*  And  indeed  not  merely  positive,  as  Gossner 
paiaphra.ses :  "Thou  lovest  me  still  1  I  know 
we'll  that  thou  hast  f^ome  great  evil — but  thou 
lovest  me  after  all  ]  And  are  we  still  then  friends 
together  f  "  But  tlie  question  as  to  the  nXeiov 
was  a  test  whether  and  how  Peter  would  now  un- 
derstand and  answer  this. 

I  We  shall  find  with  regard  to  these,  as  also  the 
dpvia  and  Tt(j6(iara,  thit  John  did  not  thus 
merely  vary  the  expression,  but  historically  re- 
porled  the  words  wilh  accuriicy^ 


Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  not 
(piXelv  but  dyaitdv  is  used  for  love  to  God 
(so  that  even  the  Hellenists  preserved  the  dis- 
tinction). From  this  it  followed  that  Peter, 
deeply  conscious  of  his  infirmity,  used  design- 
edly "  a  certain  Syriac  expression  which  would 
rather  correspond  with  the  Greek  q)iXe.1v." 
That  might  be  the  more  intei-nal  Dm,  which  the 
Syr.  used  also  in  chap.  v.  20.  But  as  we  are  in 
ignorance  about  the  si/nonymoiiJi  relations  of  the 
language  then  u.sed,  we  are  refprred  rather  to 
the  Greek  again,  which  the  Evangelist  un- 
doubtedly used  precisely  in  harmony  with  ilie 
distinction.  We  quite  agree  with  Bengel  that 
Peter's  feeling  could  not  have  intended  to  an- 
swer the  Lord's  question  by  a  word  of  strength- 
ened emphasis:  that  wouhi  have  been  alto- 
gether alien  to  his  humbled  feeling.  But  when 
Bengel  maintains  that  "  dyaitdv ,  amare,  est 
necessitudinis  et  affedus  ;  cpiAalv,  diligpre,  j>i- 
dicii" — we  must,  according  to  our  conviction, 
just  invert  his  sentence.  For  it  may  be  estab- 
lished, though  we  do  not  feel  ourselves  called 
upon  to  enter  minutely  upon  the  philological 
discussion,  that  q>iXeiv,  nmnre.  more  nearly  re- 
lated to  £pa)i,  issues  rather  from  the  natural 
human  feelimj  (the  love  of  kinship,  and  then 
of  friendship);  while  dyaitdv,  diligtre,  po'mia 
to  the  love  of  the  tcill,  exhibiting  at  once  the 
loftiest  valuation  and  the  profoundest  subjec- 
tion. It  is  not  altogether,  as  Tholuck  (on  John 
xii.  25)  lays  down  the  distinction  too  sharply 
— *'  The  natural  bias  and  the  intelligent  affec- 
tion towards  " — his  meaning  is  fundamentally 
right,  though  it  should  be  added  that  dydrtij 
may  become  interchangeably  the  natural  per- 
sonal (piXslv,  and  the  <ptXia  also  be  ennobled 
as  it  were  into  the  dyanr},  and  yet  retain  its 
own  character.  Con.sequently,  the  Lord  does 
not  here  ask  simply  for  the  honoring,  adoring 
love,  but  in  that  for  the  love  of  personal  affec- 
tion also,  which  7ioic  would  be  added  to  it  in 
Peter's  soul  ;  and  Peter  does  not  testify  only 
the  personal  love  of  friendship* — though  there 
is  some  truth  in  that.  Assuredly,  it  was  Pe- 
ter's desire  to  descend  from  the  perfect,  etuico- 
religious  meaning  of  the  dyartdv,  the  full 
weight  of  which  he  feels  in  the  great  question, 
to  the  personal  tpiXia  of  which  at  least  his 
heart  was  certainly  conscious.!  As  if  he  v,'ould 
say — Yes,  verily,  just  as  a  man  may  humanly 
love  his  brother,  or  his  friend,  or  his  gracious 
Lord.  (For  dyaitdv  and  qjiXelv  miuht  al- 
most be  distinguished  in  German  as  luhen  and 
liebhahcn.)  But  in  this  we  proceed  at  once  to 
observe  a  new  element  which  qualifies  the  deli- 
cate relation  of  the  two  expressions.  It  is  true 
that  (ptXeiv,  as  the  personal  affection  of  the 
natural  inclination,  is  so  far  less  than  that  love 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  will  with  which  God  ia 
to  be  loved,  who  is  himself  love ;  and  yet,  on  the 


*  So  brefly  De  Wette :  "  Jesus  asks  first  for 
the  love  of  reverence,  Peter  attests  his  personal 
love." 

t  The  Bed.  JBihel:  He  uses  a  word  of  less  ^em- 
j;>hasi& 


T73- 


KESTQRATION  OF  PETER. 


other  hanil,  il,  is  in  a  rprtain  sense  more,  as  be- 
ing more  imcnrd.  (Hence  in  John.  v.  20  the 
Lord  gives  intensity  to  l)is  saying  by  the  cpiXel, 
for  he  will  speak  antiiropomorpliica!iy  concern- 
ing tiie  Father  and  the  Sjh  ;  while  the  Baptist, 
not  venturing  on  such  an  expression,  adheres 
to  the  'Tinre  becoming  ayana  in  chap.  iii.  35.) 
Kiiw  first  shall  we  ttiorouglily  understand  our 
text.  The  anti-climax,  in  which  Peter's  modesty 
speaks,  is  turned  involuntarily  into  an  intenser 
and  more  elevated  afSrmaiion  ;  ior  what  could 
n  man  who  loves  his  Lord  testify  more  than 
tiiut  the  ayaTt?/,  which  contradicts  the  flesh, 
and  is  not  a  natural  emotion  even  to  a  John, 
liie  oydmj  which  the  Lord  seeks,  has  become 
in  him  a  tpiXia,^  human  personal  affection 
ot  the  heart? 

With  this  fundamentally  aerees  Fikenscher's 
re-^ark  :  "The  former  (amplecti)  signifies  to re- 
C..VC  gladly,  to  be  inwardly  satisfied  with,  to 
hold  in  liighest  regard.  The  other  to  embrace 
with  desire  {aman),  to  hang  upon  with  friend- 
BJiip."  If  this  does  not  altogether  hit  the 
point,  what  follows  is  better:  "  The  former  is, 
in  all  divine  things  which  are  the  objects  of 
faith,  necessary  (the  truth  in.  Bengel's  necessi- 
tndo);  but  the  latter  pre-snpposes  an  actual 
participation,  a  fidelity  and  dependence  which 
13  fell  in  every  nerve.  He  who  has  the  former 
will  come  to  have  the  latter  too."  Although 
Peter,  by  his  present  (piXslv  i?  only  struggling 
upwards  to  the  perfect  ayaTtdv,  yet  this 
(TiXEiv  is  in  fact  derived  from  and  strengthened 
by  his  ccyaTtLx^'  ;  it  therefore  pleases  the  Lord 
^as  Cicero  says,  "Non  diligi  solum  verum 
ctiam  aman."  God's  commandment  cannot  at 
once  run — Thou  shalt  q)i\tlv  me;  but  the 
ayandv  is  required.  But  then,  the  divine 
must  first  be  the  object  of  the  dyaitdv  before 
it  can  be  the  object  of  the  tpiXsiy  ;  just  as  in 
the  mttiiral  relation  to  man,  conversely,  the 
ipiXia  should  be  altered  into  the  dyanr)  to- 
wards God. 

The  bles-'^ed  Apostle  utters  first  a  heartfelt 
and  open  Nai,  xvpis,  "  Yea,  Lord,"  without 
being  so  amazed  or  embarrassed  by  the  sudden 
appeal  to  himself  by  name,  as  to  be  unat)le  to 
answer  and  pour  out  his  heart;  it  would  al- 
most appear  as  if  the  yea  would  at  first  afllirm 
the  mnre,  in  response  to  the  supposition  in  the 
question.  But.  because  he  has  also  well  under- 
stood the  humbling  meaning  of  that  question, 
he  not  only  restrains  himself  from  any  com- 
parison of  self-exaltation,  and  corrects  and  re- 
stricts as  it  were  the  yea  which  had  burst  from 
his  full  heart  by  the  simple,  less  impetuous, 
but  still  earnest  rpiXcu  6f.,  "  1  love  thee,"  but 
ai.'5o  declines  to  testify  even  this  as  matter  of 
Ins  own  knowledge,  leaving  it  entirely  to  the 
Searcher  of  hearts.  This  "thou  knowest" 
immediately  attached  to  the  "Lord"*  is  in- 
comparably tender,  beautiful,  and  true.  Ac- 
cording to  Liicke,  "it  appears  as  if  the  echo 


*  Hence  we  cnn  hardly  sny  whether  Ki  pie  be 
kags  rather  to.  Nat  or  to  &C\ 


was — Is  there  then  still  question  of  ihisf  I^ot* 
withstanding,  Peter  rejoiced  in  his  heart  that 
the  Lord  did  put  the  question,  and  give  him 
both  opportunity  and  permission  to  utter  this 
long  suppressed  yea.  It  has  not  therefore  cer- 
tainly any  such  stronger  meaning  as — "  Where- 
fore then  askest  thoa  of  that  about  which  thou 
knowest  best  I "  For  Peter  perfectly  under- 
stands why  and  with  what  secret  design  the 
Lord  put  the  question  to  him — else  indeed  he 
would  have  renaarked  nothing  in  it,  which 
however  is  incon.ceivabl&,  considering  that  he 
could  not  have  approached  the  Lord  without  a 
profound  sense  of  Ins  late  fall.  Thus,  "  Thou 
knowest  it"  springs  from  the  deep  experience 
which  he  now  had  of  the  facility  with  which 
his  own  heart  might  deceive  him,  and  of  how 
little  value  ia  testimony  concerning  self,  and 
the  resolution  or  promise  which  springs  from 
self.  "  Man  himself  connot  sound  the  depths 
of  his  own  breast.  Had  not  Peter  found  this, 
out  to  his  inexpressible  shame?"  (Driiseke). 
Nevertheless — for  thus  must  we  turn  round  the 
diamond  word,  to  see  its  brilliance — he  could 
not  possibly  mean,  with  any  uncertainty, 
"  Thou  knowest  whether  I  love  thee."  He 
knows  the  Lord's  knowledge  of  his  love,  anJ 
on  that  alone  he  rests — what  modesty  and 
what  confidence  united,  in  this  perfect  solution 
of  the  apparent  contradiction!  It  is  as  if  he 
should  say — "  Thou  hast  known  me  throughout 
and  from  the  beginning  as  the  soa  of  Jona, 
hast  called  me'  Peter ;  hast  drawn  me  toward 
thee  in  patience,,  hast  kindled  love  in  my  soul, 
hast  warned  my  blindness,  forgiven  my  fore- 
seen fall,  looked  both  before  and  since-  thy 
death  into  my  heart  with  eyes  of  grace — and 
how  shouldst  thou  not  know  all  ?■"'  And  thus 
we  say  (better  than  Olshausen's  words,  before 
quoted),  the  true  humility  and  modesty  con- 
sists in  this,  that  we  should  be  more  anxious  to 
receive  testimony  to  the  reality  of  that  deep 
love  which  we  feel  from  the  Lord  himself,  than 
to  bring  it  to  him.  "  What  /  know  concerning 
my  love  is  this,  that  I  am  far  from  loving  thee 
as  much  as  I  ought  and  thou  art  worthy  ;  but 
thou,  0  Lord,  knowest  that  with  all  my  weak- 
ness and  deficiencies  I  nevertheless  love  thee. 
If  I  were  left  to  the  knowledge  and  testimony 
of  my  own  feeling  concerning  it,  I  must  for- 
ever (mindful  of  my  fall)  doubt  of  my  love; 
but  thou,  who  hast  had  mercy  upon  me,  and 
received  me  into  thy  favor,  and  couo'ted  me- 
worthy  of  thy  manifestation — knowest  that  1 
love"  (Wagner).  This  is  the-great, symbolical, 
best  answer  forever  to  the  earnest  and  deep, 
question  of  our  Lord,  as  Tlieremirv  prays  in  the- 
spirit  of  this  reply  :  "  An>  I  to^  turn  away  from 
tlieo  to  myself,  from  the  infinite  to  the  finite-, 
from  the  Lord  of  heaven  to  a  poor,  sinful  man?" 
Wherefore  dost  thou  ask  this  ?  Why  is  it  for 
me  to  give  answer  for  myself?  Why  may  not 
the  question  be  left  undecided  ?  Lord,  thoa 
knowvst  all  things,  and  this  is  my  answer,  like 
thy  servant  Peter's.  Thou  askest  what  I  should 
ask.  Thou  knowest  whether  thou  lovest  thy- 
self ia  me.    I  cannot  know  myself."     But  this 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22 


779 


last  goes  too  speculatively  beyond  the  simple 
yea  ol'  Peter. 

The  Lord  is  perfectly  contented  with  the  r,n- 
8wer,  so  perfectly  that  he  admits  the  appeal 
without  reply,  not  even  confirming;  it  by  a  word 
—  Vcrihj  I dolcrmn  it.  ;  but  the  strongest  confir- 
mation follows  by  the  commission  given  to  the 
accepted  love.  It  is  the  commission  of  the] 
apostolical  office  g.^nerally  ;  not  however  given  I 
alone  to  Peter  and  the  Apostles  absolutely,  for  i 
every  disciple  in  every  age  may  in  his  degree 
take  his  part  in  it.  But  it  has  a  particular  j 
significance  for  Peter;  it  solemnly  reinstates 
him  in  his  full  honor  as  first  of  the  Apostles. 
It  was  said  before — Upon  thee,  on  this  man  of 
rock,  I  will  build  my  Church ;  but  in  this 
deeper  crisis,  and  at  this  time  of  profounder 
feeling,  that  gentle  and  more  penetrating  figure 
is  employed  which  the  Lord's  discourses  had 
long  ago  taught  the  disciples  to  understand. 
Be  thou  henceforth,  in  thy  first  and  most  im- 
portant place,  the  shepherd  of  my  flock,  as  I  am 
■myself.  "  He  himself  is  about  to  go  from  the 
world;  and  therefore  needs  tinda--s/iephcj-ds:" 
thus  much  is  true  as  to  the  deputyship  upon 
earth,  which  the  Lord  hastening  to  his  ascen- 
sion once  again  appoints.  After  he  had  already 
confirmed  and  blessed  the  office  under  the 
figure  of  the  taking  of  the  fish,  he  significantly 
changes  the  figuTe,  and  makes  the  pastoral  fol- 
low the  fishing  employment.  Thus  must  it  be: 
for  it  is  not  enough  that  souls  be  caught  in  the 
ne'  ;  the  kingdom  will  require  that  those  who 
are  won  for  Christ  be  pastured,  taken  care  of, 
and  defended,  as  sheep  and  lambs.  What  then 
is  their  pasture?  Nothing  else  but  the  per- 
sonal love  of  the  gr^at  Shepherd  himself;'yet 
as  respects  the  under-shepherds  it  is  the 
preaching  and  teaching  of  that  grace  and  love 
of  the  great  Shepherd  which  they  have  them- 
selves experienced,  and  which  has  entered  into 
their  lives;  concerning  that  return  of  love  in 
us  which  that  makes  us  capable  of  offering,  and 
■constrains  us  to  offer,  from  which  every  thing 
else  follows.  Thus,  altogether  as  in  Luke  xxii. 
32  (and  referring  to  that)  the  Lord  speaks: 
"  Lead  them  back  from  their  fall,  as  I  have  led 
thee;  strengthen  their  weakness,  as  I  have 
strengthened  thine  ;  so  prove  thy  love  to  me, 
to  v/liom  thou  canst  give  nothing,  and  repair 
through  my  grace  the  evil  which  thou  hast 
done." 

B66'^8  rd  dpv  ia  uov,  "  Feed  my  lambs  " 
— the  Lord  says  the  first  time,  changing  it 
afterv/ards ;  and  there  is  the  same  relation  be- 
tween the  two  words  as  between  dyaTtdv  and 
(piXely.  Certainly  they  are  not  used  promis- 
cuously ;  and  the  literal  repetition  would  have 
been  more  emphatic,  if  some  distinct'on  had 
not  been  here  intended.*     It"  only  npu/Jara, 


*Lt\^ko  says  that  they  are  self-'-vidently  sy- 
nonymous, and  that  the  view  which  would  distin- 
guish them  carries  with  it  its  own  refutation.  But 
suoh  do2:mntic  assertions  have  no  terror  for  us; 
»nd  the  uncertainty  of  tho  readings  prores  only 


"sheep,"  is  John's  word  elsewhere,  here  dpvi'a 
also  is  used,  because  there  was  something  in 
our  Lord's  own  expressions  with  which  John 
would  make  his  own  word  correspond.  We 
cannot  adtnit  that  it  is  merely  "  a  more  affec- 
tionate expression"  (De  Wette  and  Meyer)  in 
these  sayings  of  the  Risen  Lord,  which,  while 
they  are  pervaded  with  deep  feeling,  are  most 
profound  and  significant  in  every  word.  In 
Luke  X.  3  we  found  some  meaning  in  the  inter- 
change of  apvEi  and  npo/iara.  Even  the  con- 
jectural reading  of  Bellarmine  for  ver.  16, 
TCpofiaria  (which  is  actually  found  in  ver.  17, 
though  probably  inserted)  deserves  remark  ;  as 
also  that  the  Vulg.  has  twice  agnos,  and  finally 
ovcs.  It  may  be  that  the  npofiazay  having 
become  the  usual  expression,  was  thrust  into 
the  place  of  the  Ttpoftavia  of  the  second : 
while  this  again  was  incorrectly  restored  to  the 
third  place.  So  we  should  hold  fast  the  plainest 
progression  of  the  three  diverse  words,  dpvicc, 
Tzpofiaria,  npofiara;  in  favor  of  which  (with 
Bellarmine  against  Bengel,if  that  be  permit- 
ted!) not  only  the  literal  Pesh.  declares  in  its 
three-fold    npx— ""nny— 'niip3,   but   also  and 

very  remarkably  the  passage  of  Ambrose  on 
Luke  xxiv.,  who  has  agnoa,  oviculas,  and  oves,  as 
well  as  that  of  Maximus,  who  distinguishes 
oviculas  and  oves  (probably  after  itpofiaria  had 
been  lost).  Did  Lucke  wilfully  omit  all  this? 
Has  Luthardt  nothing  more  to  say  against  the 
reading  than  his  mere  appeal  (by  no  means 
decisive)  to  the  Cod.  Alexandrinus  and  Ephrae- 
mi?  Finally,  1  John  ii.  13  gives  us  a  not  un- 
important parallel,  after  we  have  found  the 
beginning  of  such  trichotomy  in  the  Gospel.* 
With  this  distinction  further  corresponds  the 
interchange  oi  fiuOxE  and  7roiiitaty£,y  concern- 
ing which  therefore  something  must  be  said  at 
once.  Bengel  is  here  too  concise  and  inde- 
finite:  "  B66H£iy  is  part  of  the  ttoiii aire iv," 
ibr  it  may  be  asked  at  once — how?  BuOhgj, 
related  to  ndonai,  is  certainly  the  proper 
pasco  in  the  sense  of  t pi<p^c,  and  hence  ia 
thus  metaphorically  used ;  comp.  also  fio^uE- 
60ai,  to  be  nourished,  to  live.  On  the  other 
hand,  Ttoinaivco,  belonging  definitely  to  noi- 
l.n)v,  is  rather  parallel  with  vehoo,  and  used 
metaphorically  of  governing.  This  is  a  dis- 
tinction most  appropriate  to  our  passage, 
which  the  revised  German  Bible  now  gives  by 
the  terms  weiden  and  huten.  Thus,  first,  tho 
care  of  the  lambs  is  entrusted  to  the  Apostle  ; 
afterwards  he  is  appointed  to  be  the  proper 
shepherd  and  guide  of  the  sheep  ;  thus  not 
only  for  the  care,  but  also  for  the  guidance  of 
the  flock.     But   that,  in    the   third   instance, 

that,  as  the  words  are  not  understood  by  all  now' 
so  was  it  in  early  times. 

*  For  the  co-ordinate  reference,  at  least,  of  this 
passa.'o  to  spiritual  a^e  we  will  not  surrender. 
The  words  of  Je-us  and  John's  profound  refer- 
ence mutually  illustrate  each  other. 

\  This  the  Vulg.  could  not  well  express  in 
Latin. 


780 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


fic6KE  Tci  TtpoftaTa  recurs,  is  capable  of  a 
very  valid  reason,  if  we  are  content  to  give  up 
the'idea  of  a  vague  general  repetition,  and  seek 
for  that  deeper  reason.  The  apvia  in  the 
beginnings  of  the  spiritual  life  (comp.  Isa.  xl. 
11,  the  prophetic  parallel,  which  makes  the  dii- 
tingn.i><hing  expression  more  probable)  need 
pre-eminently  nourishment,  that  they  may 
grow  and  prosper  ;  the  growing  up  Ttpofiaria, 
on  the  other  hand,*  doubtl.ess  most  need  care 
and  guidance:  finally,  the  adults  need  to  be 
nourished  with  strong  meat  (as  becoming  as 
necessary),  and  this  may  be  regarded  as  the 
last  stage,  and  the  most  important,  in  the 
shepherd's  office  (see  2  Pet.  i.  12,  13,  how  soli- 
cituous  the  Apostle  was  in  this).  Yet  it  must 
always  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  are  not  so 
much  individual  classes  which  are  here  designa- 
ted in  a  three-fold  manner,  as  each  Christian  ac- 
cordingtohis  three-foldage:  incach  therefore  the 
wfwlejiock and  Church  in  this  stageof  its  develop- 
ment. This  justifies  Draseke's  rendering  of  the 
first,  "My  little  flock" — comp.  what  was  said 
upon  Matt.  xxvi.  31,  32  concerning  the  DHyV 

in  Zechariah.  x\gain,  with  Lange  :  First,  only 
the  office  of  caring  for  the  juvenile  Church ; 
then  the  ofSce  of  leading  the  adult  (more  pro- 
perly, the  becoming  adult)  ;  lastly,  that  of 
nourishing  with  spiritual  lood  the  whole  bulk 
of  the  mature  Church.  Thus  it  is  not,  as 
Lightfoot  interprets,  that  the  lambs  are  the 
Church  from  out  of  the  Jews,  still  in  its  youth  ;t 
although  (according  to  Bengel)  there  maybe 
reference  on  a  large  .scale  to  three  ecclesiastical 
periods,  which  were  already  represented  during 
the  life  of  Peter  down  to  his  martyr-death,  and 
•were  then  reproduced  in  wider  history — in  this, 
further,  being  included  the  three  stages  or  classes 
of  spiritual  age  co  existing  in  every  period. 
There  is  no  relerence,  as  Gregory  the  Great  and 
Bernard  thought,  to  three  stages  of  love  cor- 
responding to  the  former  :  there  is  but  one  uni- 
form love  which  qualifie.s  the  shepherd  to  pas- 
ture, defend,  and  guide  the  lambs,  or  the 
motiiers  of  the  flock. 

That  the  Lord,  looking  at  the  commence- 
ment and  first  state  of  his  flock,  should  Jint 
commit  his  tender  lambs  to  bo  cared  for,  is  very 
natural.  They  still  are  liable  to  fall,  like 
Peter;  and  necdfii.t  to  be  fed  with  love  by 
him  whom  love  had  cared  for  and  lifted  up. 
He  who  had  so  much  reason  to  humble  himself 
Bliould  even  on  that  account  condescend  to  the 
little  ones  and  the  feeble  :  this  is  obviously  the 
first   point  of   connection.     Although,   again, 


*  Or  with  Boniel,  the  crpvire  given  over  to  the 
iroi).taiyf.iv.  The  sense  would  he  tlie  same,  only 
thai  on  account,  of  1  John  ii.  13  we  prefer  lluee 
nouns. 

\  Or,  with  Se[>p,  who  s-ys :  Doth  lambs  nnd 
Flieep,  ».  e.,  youn^  and  old.  liiyh  and  low,  believer."*, 
with  t!:eir  rulers  and  bishops,  are  all  alike  to  be 
ruled  by  thy  staff;  and  then  (foigettins  himself, 
as  is  very  common  with  him) :  The  lambs  being  the 
proselyte's,  as  it  were  the  lambs  of  the  Jews  ! 


spiritual  age  and  tlir»  beginning  of  the  Church 
are  obviously  first  meant,  yet  we  are  justified  in 
applying  this  text  to  children  (for  baptized  chil- 
dren are  really  beginners  in  grace  and  the  spir- 
itual life),  and  in  regarding  it  as  showing  that 
the  school  is  a  church,  the  teacher  an  under- 
shenherd  appointed  by  Christ  and  responsible 
to  liim,  and  the  office  of  catechist  the  first 
step  toward  the  apostolical  ;  and,  moreover,  as 
hinting  that  practice  and  exercise  in  the  spir- 
itual instruction  of  little  ones  is  the  best  path 
to  the  pastoral  office.  For  with  the  same'^  far- 
reaching  glance  onward  to  the  conversion  of  the 
nations  which  we  shall  find  in  the  words  of 
Christ,  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20,  the  pcedeutic  and 
pedagogic  function  of  the  pastor  takes  the 
place  of  the  fishing  for  sotds.  Finally,  it  is  not 
to  be  overlooked,  for  it  has  its  manifold  im- 
portance, that  the  Lord  says  definitely  My 
lambs,  my  young  sheep,  my  sheep.  Thereby 
he  testifies  first  his  own  authority  and  right 
as  giving  the  vocation,  when  he  appoints  the 
shepherd  over  his  own  possession  ;  then,  "  as 
he  commits  to  Peter  the  most  precious  thing 
which  cost  his  blood,  he  gives  him  and  chal- 
lenges from  him  at  once  the  greatest  expression 
of  love"  {\  on  Gerlach).  lie  sets  before  him, 
also  (as  in  Acts  xx.  28)  that  most  weighty  ar- 
gument and  impulse  which  must  animate  all 
pastors — to  love  all  that  are  his  out  of  love  to 
himself ;  and  to  regard  them  with  reverence 
as  the  Lord's  inheritance.  My  sheep,  not 
thine* 

Verse  16.  HaXtv  Sevtepov,  "again  a 
second  time,"  is  generally  Johannean,  as  in 
chap.  iv.  54 ;  but  here  with  emphasis,  like 
7toc?^iy  tx  Sevrepov,  Matt.  xxvi.  42.  01s- 
hausen  has  well  refuted  the  supposition  of 
Tholuck  that  there  had  been  other  discourses 
which  are  unrecorded:  "This  certainly  rests 
upon  a  misunderstanding;  for  the  immediate 
repetition  of  the  questions  one  after  another 
produced  that  dee'p  impression  which  it  was 
the  Lord's  purpose  to  produce."  We  think  it 
in  harmony  neither  with  the  text  nor  the  na- 
ture of  llie  case  that  more  than  one  short 
pause  should  have  intervened.  The  repetition 
was  most  impressive  ;  its  expression  at  once 
affectionate  and  piercing;  De  \Y  die' a  "  spiel- 
end,"  however,  is  utterly  repugnant  to  our 
feeling  in  this  sublime  colloquy.  Assuredly, 
Peter  was  surprised  at  the  une.-pected  repe- 
tition of  the  question,  before  he  could  rightly 
appropriate  to  himself  the  commission  given  to 
him;  but  he  was  not  terrified  or  disturbed, 
because  such  a  repetition  might  have  a  very 
gracious  intention.  In  the  omission  of  the 
"more  than  these  "on  our  Lord's  part  we  do 
not  perceive,  with  Lange,  a  tone  of  increased 
doubt  thrown  into  the  question,  as  if  the  Lord 
would  ask  "  whether  he  loved  him  at  all  gener- 
ally "  (for  such  doubt  thrown  upon  Peter's  an- 
1  swer  would  have  required  the  Lord  to  use  his 
j  qjiXeli)  ;  we  regard  it  rather  as  an  accepting 

I      •  How  mmh  belter  sounds  in  t^-e  pulpit  "  Con- 
I  gregaticn  of  Christ !  "  luan  "  TJy  dear  flock!  " 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


781 


confirmation  of  that  answer.  "  Thou  hast  un- 
derstood me;  thou  hast  abstained  from  any 
comparison  of  thyself  with  others,  and  this  is 
well."  But  yet  it  is  the  ssimefim'laincntal,  cen- 
tral question  atked  once  more  ;  and  this,  before 
we  perceive  in  the  third  repetition  the  refer- 
ence to  the  denial,  has  its  inexhaustible  mean- 
ing and  importance.  "  Ail  that  the  Saviour 
has  lorever  to  ask  of  his  own,  all  his  dealings 
with  their  souls  come  back  at  last  to  this  word : 
this  is  the  root-question,  from  which  all  others 
grow"  (Albertini).  Therefore  also  the  Lord, 
as  Driiseke  says,  "deferred  this  conversation 
until  the  meal  was  over,  that  it  might  form 
the  concluding  point  of  their  intercourse  ;*  and 
every  disciple,  deeply  convinced  that  it  is  the 
Lord  wlio  gives  t/u  blessing,  must  come  to  the 
personal  (question,  Is  his  love  in  my  heart?" 
Whatever  may  have  passed  between  thee  and 
thy  Lord,  it  must  issue  in  this  result;  what- 
ever dealings  he  may  leave  in  store  with  thee, 
he  suras  all  up  in  this  one  thing. 

Peter,  with  all  his  surprise,  can  rejoice  that 
the  Lord  thus  affectionately  pauses  upon  his 
love;  but  a  third  time  somewhat  alters  the 
case.  Driiseke  says  again  quite  rightly,  that 
"  the  Lord  in  the  second  question,  seizing  the 
answer  which  Peter  had  given,  points  to  the 
fulness  of  that  which  the  answer  affirmed — 
Dost  thou  indeed  Zopeme?"  He  would  say — 
Understandest  thou  truly  all  that  this  means  ? 
But  when  Driiseke  explains  the  meaning  of  t!ie 
third  question,  "as  asking  whether  his  being 
was  certainly  and  fully  pervaded  by  that  love, 
in  the  essential  meaning  of  that  great  word — 
Ilast  thou  such  love  to  me?"  he  seems  to 
trifle  sin-.ply  with  the  German  translation. 
But  it  only  seems  so  ;  for,  the  thought  is  quite 
in  harmony  with  the  original,  in  which  the 
versonal  vitei'nal  aflection  of  Peter  is  given 
back  in  the  question  by  the  use  of  his  own 
(piXEiv.  The  tenderly  piercing  word  of  our 
Lord  could  not  have  been  intended  to  throw 
doubt  upon  his  love,  and  thus  trouble  his  soul ; 
for  it  was  designed  rather  to  confirm  his  confi- 
dence and  reinstate  him  fully  in  his  office — 
the  B66HS  and  Jloijuatye  are  sufficient  wit- 
nesses for  this.  Consequently  Lange  also  is 
not  correct :  "  He  makes  questionable  the  love 
of  the  disciple  even  in  that  more  qualified 
sense,  in  which  Peter  had  assured  him  of  it  ; 
as  if  he  would  ask  him — Dost  thou  even  gen- 
erally regard  me  so  highly,  as  thou  myestf" 
But,  although  Peter  had  designed  to  qualify 
his  expression  the  first  and  the  second  time 
(he  could  do  no  more  than  repeat  the  words 
the  second  time,  for  the  Lord  had  done  so) — 
yet  the  Lord  intimates  by  his  final  q)iX£U  he 
ihat  he  would  receive  this  internal  cpiXelv  as 
an  intenser  assurance :  Art  thou  indeed  so  en- 
tirely mine,  and  depending  on  me  as  the 
branches  on  the  vine?  a.  first  question  with 
<pi\Eli  fiE,  without   the  foundation  of  Peter's 


*  For  ver,  18  is  immediately  connected ;  but 
vers.  19-22  are  somewhat  further  removed  Iromihe 
preceding,  and  spoken  in  specific  confidence. 


assurance,  would  have  been  too  much,  and  too 
anticipating. 

Peter  is  by  no  means  "  hurt "  (as  Hug  ex- 
presses it);  it  is  not  his  feeling  simply  which 
is  touched,  but  he  is  sorrowful — and  the  dis- 
tinction must  not  be  forgotten  here.  Driiseke 
remarks  with  keen  psychological  propriety, 
that  it  is  "a  deep  feeling  of  self "  in  which  he  now 
answers  with  heightened  emphasis — "  for  this 
basis  of  Peter's  whole  character  could  not  and 
should  not  be  altogether  overturned."  After 
the  "  proud  presumption"  with  which  he  had 
overvalued  himself,  and  again  the  "  cowardly 
debasement"  with  which  he  had  denied  his 
Master,  we  see  now  the  "modest  firmness" 
which  will  not  be  led  astray,  but  holds  fast  to 
the  Lord's  knowledge  of  his  love.  But  his 
sorrow  bears  witness  to  both  these  feelings  at 
once — the  humility  which  remembers  the  fall, 
and  the  firm  love  which  a  consciousness  of  par- 
don produces.  Nor  is  it  as  if  he  now  first 
marked  generally  that  the  Lord  would  remind 
him  of  his  denial.  Oh,  no;  this  had  been  in  liis 
mind  throughout  all,  when  the  Lord  thus  sin- 
gled him  out  before  the  rest ;  the  allusion  in 
the  "more  than  these"  he  had  perfectly  well 
understood,  as  his  answer  showed.  But  this 
keener,  and  long-delaying  direct  exhibition 
of  the  thii'd  denial* — is  brought  keenly  to  his 
mind  by  the  third,  question  ;  he  now  first  feels 
with  the  deepest  grief  how  severely  the  Lord 
deals,  even  after  forgiveness  and  while  rein- 
stating him  in  his  office,  with  the  sin  which 
was  past,  with  the  lack  which  he  had  formerly 
shown  of  devotion,  love,  and  fidelity.  Wo 
may  indeed  preach  upon  this,  calling  1  Cor. 
.xvi.  22  to  mind — Let  nothing  give  thee  more 
trouble  than  if  the  Lord  should  call  in  question 
thy  love  to  him.  But  Peter  could  not  so  re- 
gard it,  not  even  when  a  third  time  his  name 
of  office  and  honor  was  denied  to  him;  for 
the  flock  had  been  twice  already  given  into 
his  keeping.  His  grief  therefore  is  not — 
Does  not  the  Lord  believe  and  trust  me  any 
longer?  but  his  sorrow  is  that  of  a  perfect 
contrition,  awakened  by  the  superabounding 
grace  which  nevertheless  fails  not  to  bring 
his  fall  to  his  mind;  and  so  far  this  iXvTti',Orf, 
"  was  grieved,"  penetrates  more  deeply  than 
the  sorrow  of  the  bitter  tears  in  the  beginning. 
But  he  also  observes  (as  the  fathers  beautifully 
remark)  that  the  Lord's  benignity  gives  hira 
an  opportunity  to  efface  his  triple  denial  by  a 
triple  confession  ;  this  gives  him  in  the  midst 


*  Ambro'-e  :  Some  have  said  that  the  Ihrop-fr  Id 
question  was  put  because  his  denial  h  id  been 
ihrice  u'.terert;  that  his  thrice  declared  avowal  of 
laith  micht  obliterate  his  thrice  deep  f.,11  {Eiiarr.  in 
Ps.  1.  with  which  "  some  "  he  agrees  in  de  Sjnrit.  S. 
ii.  11).  Augustine:  The  triple  confession  lollcws 
he  tiiple  denial,  that  his  tongue  should  not  spem 
to  serve  love  less  heartily  than  it  had  served  fear, 
etc.  Isid.  Pelusiota:  The  pood  physician  cured 
the  three-fold  denial  by  the  three-lold  confession. 
So  Apellin.,  Cyiil,  Chiys.,  Epiphan.,  and  other* 
of  amiquiiy. 


782^ 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


of  his  sorrow  his  joy  ac^ain,  and  enables  him 
witli  boldness  to  maintain  once  more  the  avow- 
al of  h;s  love,  and  even  to  utter  it  in  stronger 
words.*  The  twice  commencing  Yea  he  now 
omits  ;  but  he  strengthens  the  appeal  to  the 
Searcher  of  licarts,  not  only  by  yiyG66xsiS 
instead  of  oiSai,  but  by  adding  further — 
T/iou  kihnoe&t  all  things.  There  is  no  promise — 
I  wdl  from  this  time  faithfully  pasture  thy 
sheep  ;  no  challenge  to  a  test  of  love  ;t  but 
simply  and  alone — Thou  knowest.  But  by 
these  words  his  whole,  full,  opened  soul  is  laid 
at  the  Lonl's  feet,  or,  as  it  were,  placed  upon 
his  heart.  Woe  to  the  man  who  cannot  say 
this ;  who  can  only  say — /  Icnow,  I  am  con- 
vinced, 1  think  of  myself  that  I  love  thee,  in- 
stead of  this  sole  decisive — 27iow,  Lord,  Icnowest 
it.  Did  Peter  in  these  words  think  literally 
and  consciously  of  a  divine  omniscience  in  the 
Risen  Son  of  Man,  about  to  ascend  to  heaven  ? 
Did  "  this  confession  of  Christ's  omniscience  at- 
test his  failh  in  Christ's  divinity?  "  (Von  Ger- 
lach).  Lampe  says:  "  Thus  Peter  was  as  sure- 
ly persuaded  of  the  true  divinity  of  the  Saviour 
as  Thomas  was."  We  must  affirm,  in  historical 
truth  and  dogmatic  exactitude,  although  con- 
trary to  the  ordinary  theory  of  the  human  life 
of  Jesus,  that  he  who  was  from  eternity  God, 
and  had  been  properly  so  called,  even  in  his 
humbled  immanity,  became  in  his  perfectly 
glorifying  ascension  omniscient,  as  he  became 
omnipresent  and  almighty. :t  -But,  notwith- 
standing this,  we  may  safely  assume  that  Peter, 
not  thinking  and  not  knowing  precisely  the 
full  bearing  of  his  words,  spoke  in  the  warmth 
of  his  adoring  feeling,  like  Thomas,  anticipat- 
ingbj  of  the  actual  omniscience  of  the  Lord,  who 
had  now  dealt  with  him  as  a  heavenly  being. 
The  dogmatic  and  relative  indistinctness  of  his 
word  was  abundantly  compensated  by  the  sub- 
jective truth  of  his  iaith,  which  only  failed  to 
distinguish  accurately  the  stages  by  which 
Jesus  proceeded  to  the  full  use  and  manifesta- 
tion of  every  divine  attribute — ^just  as  we  now 
tolerate,  and  (more  than  that)  as  the  Lord  also 
allows,  the  thoughts  of  believing  readers  who 
cannot  but  perceive  in  his  miracles  one  who  is 


*  So  should  it  he.  To  this  would  the  Lord 
brirg  us  back  alter  every  fill.  Mark  here  tlie 
perfection  ot  i)enitenco  in  llie  perfection  of  jusli- 
ficaiion  ;  mark,  at  the  same  time,  the  law  of  grace 
according  to  which  there  slioukl  be  on  our  part 
a  direct  atonement  lor,  and  retraction  of,  the  sin 
corresponding  with  its  forgiveness,  and  responding 
to  that  grace. 

\  "  The  tliird  qufstion  excites  him  out  of  his 
cnhnncmt.  Atbreliiiie  he  would  have  been  full  of 
tlie  velienionce  of  protestations.  Now  we  observe 
only  the  expression  of  cairn  sorrow."  So  write.s 
Niemcyer,  w.lh  some  propriety ;  though  W3  do 
not  observe  merely  a  calm  sorrow,  but  a  pure  ve- 
hemence still,  though  of  a  difTeicnt  kind. 

X  Not,  therefore,  as  Bengel  {Harm.  <\  282)  enu- 
merates on  this  passage  the  proofs  oi"  the  (.muis- 
cience  of  Jesus  fi  om  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of 
John,  Irom  chap.  i.  4u  to  chap.  xix.  58. 


almighty  and  omniscient  in  their  performance. 
Thus,  we  do  not  contend  against  this  meaning 
of  Peter's  word ;  but  would  rather  allow  tha 
full  application  of  the  great  "  Lord,  thou  hnow- 
est  all  thing>i  "  as  a  general  symbolical  word.  But 
in  our  exegelicul  feeling,  it  seems  more  appro- 
priate, natural,  and  even  »ignijicant,  that  Peter's 
;raVra  should  not  mean  all  /Ai/iy^  absolutely, 
but — Every  thing,  that  is,  all  that  concerns  me, 
my  person,  rny  inmost  heart,  my  life  through- 
out (comp.  chap.  ii.  24,  25).  And  so  more 
concretely  and  internally — "  Lord,  thou  know- 
est a// <  A  I'/i^s  in  me  and  about  me;  thou  saidst; 
at  first  that  I,  this  Simon  son  of  Jona,  was 
and  should  be  Cephas ;  thou  didst  foretell  my 
fall;  thou  didst  look  upon  me  when  I  had  fall- 
en ;  thou  didst  see,  and  accept,  and  requite  my 
tears ;  thou  hioicest,  thou  dost  perceive  that  I 
love  thee ;  yea,  that  even  in  my  denial  I  did 
not  utterly  cease  to  love  thee,  but  my  false, 
blind  love,  led  me  to  the  palace,"  etc. 

Tliis  then  was  the  Lord's  examen  for  office, 
the  second  and  practical  examination,  decisive 
pro  licentid  not  only  conclonandi  but  also  pnscen- 
di — after  the  first  dogmatical  examination,  so 
to  speak,  which  had  taken  place  long  before 
(Matt.  xvi.  15,  etc.).*  The  knowledge  of  the 
faith  is  confirmed  and  consummated  only  in 
the  full  experience  of  love,  but  letineen  these  lie 
profound  personal  experiences  of  falls  and  of 
establishing  grace.  Would  that  our  human  ex- 
aminers would  direct  their  inquiries  that  way 
— so  far  at  least  as  is  possible  without  the 
glance  that  reads  the  heart.  Properly  speak- 
ing this  examination  the  Lord  alone  can  hold  ; 
and  it  is  often  late,  in  the  midst  of  the  office, 
and  the  question,  it  may  be,  more  than  three 
times  asked.  But  let  it  also  be  observed,  es- 
pecially by  all  who  deal  too  rigorously  with 
evangelical  love,  that  the  Lord  first  gave  his 
blessing  and  then  demanded  gratitude.  "All 
the  relreshing  communications  of  God  lead  us 
to  love,  fidelity,  and  duty" — saysRieger;  thus 
the  refreshment  and  invigoration  first,  then 
afterwards  the  love,  fidelity,  and  work.j  "  In 
the  school  of  Christ  the  examination,"  says  the 
quaint  Be}-lenb.  Bibel,  "  comes  ai'ter  the  meal, 
with  us  men  it  mostly  comes  before." 

Must  we  then  turn  to  the  confutation  of  the 
Papists,  with  their  primacy  of  Peter,  and  Papal- 
Cidiphate?  Our  evangelical  readers  will  not 
need  this.  But  there  may  be  an  occasional 
Romanist  who  will  listen  to  my  words,  which 
shall  begin  with  the  sharp  saying  of  Bengel: 
"  The  7nofe  than  tliese  is  a  token  that  Peler  was 


*  As  we  hare  already  said,  there  might  very 
fittiniily  be  added  to  our  second  exnminatioa  the 
vocation  to  the  catechist  office  for  the  lambs. 

I  Feler  may  skilfully  draw  the  net,  lay  the  foun- 
dation in  prenching,  etc.,  but  to  rai^e  th"se  living 
stones  liarmoniously  in  Christ,  to  feed  and  takt 
care  of  the  flock,  must  have  the  personal  loving 
Simon  so'i  of  Joni,  with  his  own  personal  experi- 
ence of  sin  forgiven.  Thus  we  see  that  the  seem- 
ing denial  of  the  name  of  honor  m'aht  design  a 
blessing  to  the  whole  perscnaliiy  of  Peler, 


JOHN  XXL  15-22. 


783 


restored  to  the  place  wliich  he  liad  Inst  by  the 
denial ;  and  at  Ihf)  same  time  that  something 
was  conCeri-ed  upon  him  beyond  the  remaining 
disciples,  nothing  however  which  excluded 
them.  For  they  likewise  loved  Jesus.  Let 
him  thcrelore  cease  to  usurp  this  for  himself 
alone,  who  neither  loves  nor  feeds  but  strips 
the  flock,  under  the  pretence  of  being  the  suc- 
cessor of  Peter."  Upon  this  conceded  so)ne- 
thin(j,  which  however  means  no  dominion  given 
to  Peter,  or  to  Rome  in  which  is  found  the 
blood  of  the  saints  (Rev.  xviii.  20,  24),  we 
have  already  spoken  on  Matt,  xvi.,  the  great 
text.  This  passage  contains  nothing  addition- 
al ;  for,  in  chap.  xx.  all  the  Apostles  had  al- 
ready received  the  same  authority  and  mission, 
and  "received  it  again  in  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  Luke 
xxiv.  46-49.  Well  mav  we  ask  with  Nitzsch  : 
"  If  Pelerwas  the  first  Pope,  the  first  oecumeni- 
cal Primate,  what  then  was  Paul?  An  anti- 
Pope?"  The  fanatical  Sepp  (whose  excellen- 
cies and  whose  learning  we  thankfully  acknow- 
ledge, but  whose  senseless  and  almost  insane 
hatred  of  Protestantism  we  must  forgive  and 
pass  by)  throws  around  the  text,  clear  to  him 
as  the  sun,  an  infinite  confusion  of  myths,  and 
after  thus  darkening  it  deliberately  imposes 
his  meaning — "The  Lord  here  declares  this 
Apostle  to  be  his  representative  and  successor." 
But  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  would 
contradict  him  and  his  party  if  they  would 
allow  themselves  to  hear  it.  According  to 
Acts  XX.  28  all  the  eJdei-s  are  to  f.ecl  (notjitai- 
VEiv)  the  flock  as  well  as  Peter  ;  and  1  Pet.  v. 
1-4  this  exhorting  fe  low-elderknows  of  no  other 
Chief  Shepherd  than  the  Lord  himself,  and 
desires  no  other  crown  of  glory  than  that 
which  is  to  be  shared  in  common  with  all — in 
this  like  his  brother  Apostle  Paul,  2  Tirn.  iv.  8 
He  then  makes  a  very  critical  distinction  and 
antithesis  between  feeding  and  rtding.  As  the 
Lord  here  commits  to  him  the  feeding  espe- 
cially, he  appears  indeed  not  merely  as  the  re- 
presentative of  all  the  under-shepherds  of  the 
Chief  Shepherd,*  but  receives  something  beyond 
them.  But  that  was  not  government,  and  has 
no  succession.!     ^U  sheep — not  thine. 


The  sayings  of  vers.  15-17,  while  giving  pro- 
minence to  the  personality  of  Peter,  were 
spoken  with  a  general  significance  for  all. 
Now  the  Lord  turns  more  specifically  to  the 
Apostle  in  his  own  person,  and  pre-announces 
to  him  a  destin'y  in  life  and  death  which  was  to 
be  at  last  literally  accomplished,  but  in  which 
he  was  also  a  representative  type  of  the  whole.  J 


Meyer's  note  gives  the  direct  cennection  be- 
tween ver.  13  and  ver.  17  briefly  and  well : 
"  Thy  assurance  in  relation  to  my  commission 
is  n;ost  important ;  all  thy  firmness  is  needed  ; 
it  will  involve  a  martyr's  death."  (This  trans- 
ition is  expressed  by  the  "  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee,"  which  appears  here  once 
more  to  be  affectionately  brought  forward  from 
the  time  past  into  the  forty  days.)  Yet  we 
would  not  say  (nor  does  Meyer's  note  mean  it) 
that  Jesus  applies  the  last  test  to  the  fidelity  of 
his  disciple  by  presenting  him  with  the  pros- 
pect of  a  martyr's  death — \Yilt  thou  follow  me 
even  unto  death?*  For  there  is  no  trace  in 
these  futures  of  any  questioning  or  test  still 
continued.  The  Lord's  word  may  indeed  be 
used  as  a  profitable  test  to  ourselves,  even  as 
it  afterwards  was  of  Simon  Peter ;  but  here  ori- 
ginally (as  his  comforted  soul  must  have  dis-. 
cerneii)  the  question  is  not  continued;  the 
words  continue  the  honorable  commission,  and 
are  a  confirming  and  rewarding  promise  for  the 
confession.  For  thus— by  suffering  and  death 
endured  in  the  imitation  and  following  of  himself 
— does  the  heavenly  Lord  ever  wonderfully  re- 
ward our  love  to  him.  We  have  found  gener- 
ally that  in  these  manifestations  of  the  Risen 
Lord  the  main  reference  was  to  the  great  ./«- 
ture  ;  and  nothing  was  more  natural  now  than 
a  prediction  for  the  Apostle  now  established  as 
a  pastor.  "  However  obscure  these  words  may 
seem,  we  must  have  perceived  in  them  the  an- 
nouncement of  something  in  the  future,  even 
if  the  Evangelists  had  said  nothing.  The  Re- 
deemer thus  at  once  proved  that  Peter  was 
riaht  when  he  said — Thou  knowest  all  things  " 
(Jacobi).  This  prediction,  further,  still  con- 
tinues a  certain  reference  to  the  denial;  for 
Jesus  fortells  (Ebrard)  "that  Peter  would 
once  more  be  placed  in  such  a  position  that  he 
must  again  choose  between  denial  and  confes- 
sion!' But  as  the  reward  and  encouragement 
of  his  present  good  confession  he  is  promised 
that  he  shall  confess  even  unto  death. 

AVe  remark,  at  the  outset  that  this  word  had 
its  specific  meaning  for  Peter;  and  for  him  a 
two-lold  meaning,  inasmuch  as  its  conclusive 
literal  fulfillment'through  bonds  and  the  cross 
only,  consummated  the  bound  and  devoted 
character  of  his  age  generally.  But  it  had  a 
general  meaning  for  all  pastors,  and  finally  for 
all  disciples.  Let  us  begin  with  the  former, 
that  we  may  find  in  it  the  latter  included  and 
foreshadowed.  John  brings  into  prominence, 
ver.  19,  the  final  fulfillment,  because  v.-hen  he 
wrote  it  had  become  a  historical  fact  ;t  but  this 


*  Or  "  represents  the  Church  of  Christ  upon 
earth  " — as  Fikenscher  indisincUy  says. 

f  Tiie  slightest  trace  of  this  is  sought  in  vain 
throuuhout  ihe  New-Testament  histoiy. 

X  But  tlie  Pope  (to  whom  Peter  says  in  va'n — 
Follow  me,  as  I  follow  Christ)  is  the  reverse  : 
The  older  he  has  grown  the  more  arl)i:rarily  will 
he  gird  and  lead  others,  whiLher  /«  will. 


*  So  Liicke,  observing  that  Peter  in  fact,  ver.  21, 
does  nntappeirso  pure  nnd  so  fi;m  as  he  had 
said.  Faidelbach :  The  Lord  evidently  gives  an- 
other turn  to  his  question,  and  opens  up  its  deep- 
est meaning — Wilt  thou,  when  I  and  the  cause  of 
salvation  demand  it,  seal  this  coufessioa  with  thy 
blood  ? 

t  Ltlcke  himself  says  at  first  thit  "  glorifyin? 
God  ly  a  death  "  seems  to  be  Johannean  ;  hut  ha 
afterwards  refers  it  to  later  ecclesiastical  phrase. 


784 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


does  not  prevent  as,  as  we  have  found  elsewhere, 
from  interpreting  the  word  in  its  fulness  of 
spiritual  meaning  as  based  upon  the  actual 
event. 

NoiD,  in  the  Lord's  own  time,  Peter  should 
and  would  go  with  his  Lord  into  prison  and  to 
death  (as  he  had  declared  before,  without  being 
ready  lor  it),  should  lay  down  his  life  for  him, 
should  follow  him  in  the  way  which  he  himself 
liad  gone.  Luke  xxii.  33;*  John  xiii.  36,  37. 
Jesus  assuredly  reminds  him  of  these  sayings 
in  vers.  18  and  19  ;  but  gives  him  at  the  same 
time  a  most  important  and  instructive  declara- 
tion as  to  that  maturity  and  age  which  would 
be  requisite  in  order  to  such  following,  more  es- 
pecially in  his  own  case.  He  speaks  profoundly, 
and  as  in  all  prophecy  symbolically  too,  of 
spiritual  age  (to  which  he  had  just  referred,  in 
respect  to  "his  sheep)  under  the  figure  of  phys- 
ical age :  both  will,  as  he  predicts,  coincide  in 
the  life  of  Peter,  who  will  not  be  early  ripe  for 
the  crown  of  martyrdom,  like  James  the  son  of 
Zebedee.  When  thou  wast  young— when  thou 
lecomeit  old  :  thus  strikingly  does  the  Lord  lay 
down  the  antithesis,  seeming  to  say  nothing 
about  the  middle  time  of  his  present  life  ;  yet 
he  thereby  makes  it  plain  that  he  reckons  Peter, 
albeit  no  "longer  J'oung,  as  a  vEoJrepoi*  _  This 
is  as  if  he  should  say  :  Then  in  thy  age  it  will 
be,  When  thou  wast  young — and  indeed,  more 
exactly,  yaunger,  \\'\th.  the  comparative.  Thus, 
let  it  be  oLiserved,  the  Lord  himself  constrains 
us  to  think,  in  relation  to  Peter  himself,  of  a 
youth  and  age  in  spiritual  growth.  How  may 
we  suppose  the  fervid  and  vigorous  Simon  as  a 
young  man,  to  have  girded  himself  after  his  own 
■will.  But  the  word  seems  only  to  hint  at 
Buch  remembrances  as  that  would  call  up  ;  it 
finds  its  immediate  figures  much  nearer  at 
band.  Had  not  Peter  just  now  in  his  impetu- 
osity, ver.  7,  girded  himself,  when  he  swam  to 
the  Lfird  ?  Had  he  not  commenced  the  whole 
transaction  by  the  expression  of  his  own  blame- 


ology  concerninjj  the  death  of  a  mnrtyr  :  as  if  the 
Cliuich  niiiilit  not  have  adopted  the  language  of 
John.  B.-Crusius:  "  6 o^aZeiv  Be 6v  was  taken 
from  this  passage  as  the  ecclesiastical  formula  for 
the  death  of  martyrdom."  The  Spirit  taught 
Peter  this  beautiful  phrase,  1  Peter  iv.  16  (comp. 
Plill.  i.  20) ;  but  John  may  have  had  a  lower  anal- 
ogy witli  cliap.  xvii.  1  in  his  mind.  It  is  certain 
en  other  crounds  that  he  wrote  after  the  death  of 
Peter;  Ihoiicrh  not  from  the  5o|a(?£i  instead  of 
e/ieXXe  So^d^eiv. 

•  Iless  paraphrases  :  "  Hear  !  thou  art  now  in 
middle  age.  Thou  still  walkest  aliout,  r.s  in  ear- 
lier years,  free,"  etc.  Lutliardi  thinks  on  the  con- 
trary that  "it  is  inappropriate  to  include  the  pres- 
ent lini''  in  the  vecJrepoi,  since  the  future  sub- 
mission of  his  will  is  grounde<l  upon  his  firesent 
love  to  the  Lord."  But  wou'd  not  tlie  Lord  .«ay 
any  thins  at  all  about  the  j)retienl  and  the  near  fu- 
ture (to  whicli  the  old  age  is  here  ojiposed  as  far 
as  distant)  1  Would  not  Peter  for  a  considerable 
time  be  able  to  say  in  his  apostolical  vexation, 
without  sin— I  will  go  a-fishing  1  and  with  free 
determinaLioa  gird  himself } 


less  and  unfettered  resolution — I  go  a-fishing? 
Let  it  be  here  once  more  observed  with  what 
marvellous  comprehensiveness  of  meaning  the 
Lord  chooses  his  every  word,  and  says  here — 
tl^wyrveiCeavrov,  "  girdedst  thyself"  (which 
would  give  him  afterwards  a  similitude  Jor  an- 
other kind  of  girding),  and  then  in  addition — 
nepiETtciTeii  Znov  j'/OcAc?,  "  walkedst  whither 
thou  wouldest."  These  expressive  references  in 
the  sacred  words  are  too  frequent  and  too  certain 
to  allow  the  charge  to  be  urged  against  our  expo- 
sition, of  finding  these  our  own  lusus  ingenii* 
But  it  is  possible  to  go  too  far,  as  e.  g.  Fiken- 
cher:  "  When  a  fisherman  hung  around  him  his 
upper  garments,  and  girded  himselt,  he  was  free 
for  the  work  of  his  vocation,  hecoxdd  do  lohat  he 
woidd;"  for  the  reference  to  ver.  3  includes  this 
working  according  to  his  own  will  in  the  nEpt- 
nazEiv.  So  had  Peter  the  fisher  of  men  often- 
times as  a  vecorEpoi,  without  any  seveiiy  im- 
posed self-denial,  girded  himself  (or,  to  antici- 
pate what  follows,  bound  himself),  and  went  on 
his  labor  whithersoever  he  tcouUl,  under  the 
impulse  of  love  to  Christ  and  to  souls.  But  in 
his  age  it  would  be  otherwise,  more  and  more 
otherwise  as  he  went  on  in  life,  and  finally  most 
absolutely  and  corporeally  otherwise,  in  the 
literal  fulfillment  of  the  Lord's  words.  The 
word  of  prediction  contains  three  clauses  follow- 
ing each  other  ;  but,  inasmuch  as  they  are  not 
to  be  regarded  as  arranged  prophetically  in 
strict  chronological  succession,  we  may  begin 
with  the  middle  one,  the  direct  contrast  to  the 
previous  girding  of  himself. 

Another — not  thyself,  that  is  the  first  and 
most  obvious  point — will  gird  thee.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  "  will  gird  "  is  closely  connected  with 
the  "  girdedst  thyself"  going  before  ;  and  if  one 
must  be  clothed  by  others,  that  of  itself  is  a 
want  of  freedom,  a  binding  of  one's  own  haruli, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  not  to  be  themselves 
stretched  out.  We  think  we  observe  that,  as 
before  the  free  impetuous  spirit  of  youth  had 
furnished  the  basis  of  the  figure,  so  now  help- 
less age,  in  which  man  cannot  as  it  were  gird 
himself,  is  the  basis  of  our  Lord's  view.  But 
only  the  basis,  for  the  Lord  beholds  and  speaks 
pro]iheticalli/,  that  is  (his  language  being  to  the 
last  in  harmony  with  the  ancient  Scripture),  he 
speaks  in  ii/pe  and  intimation.  The  Lord  ap- 
pears to  mean  by  his  words — Another  shall 
gird  thee  in  quite  a  difftrent  sense,  just  as  Aga- 
bus.  Acts  xxi.  11,  bound  himself  with  the  gir- 
dle of  Paul  in  order  to  symbolize  the  binding 
with  fetters.  For  girding  naturally  enough 
passes  into  binding;  although  Draseke  incor- 
rectly assured  his  hearers  that  the  word  in  the 
original  signifies  ambiguously  either  the  gird- 
ing with  a  garment  or  the  binding  with  fetters. 
This  is  not   the  case.    The  false  construction 


♦  Here  Grotius  acknowledges  thnt  "  nil  has  al- 
lusion to  preceding  tacts  "  (see  our  former  q'lota- 
tion) — "so  ihe^e  words  to  ids  having  come  tc 
shore  fftrt.  Kai  TteptETCareti — and  walkedst — 
as  now  from  the  ship  iuid  to  the  ship,  at  thy  own 
Oi)tiou." 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


785 


and  exegesis  of  Kimclii  upon  Psa.  Ixxvi.  10 
(^adduced  by  Grotius)  is  no  argument;  Tholuck 
is  quite  right  in  saying  tliat  ^ajyvvsiv  has  not 
the  signification  of  '•  binding,"  but  that  the 
girding  symbolically  signifies  binding.*  The 
question,  iinally,  whether  this  prophetically  ex- 

t)ressed  Zooyyveiy  refers  to  the  binding  of  the 
lands.in  imprisonment,  or  to  the  binding  upon 
the  cross,  we  may  (with  Olshausen)  salely 
leave  undetermined;  but,  inasmuch  as  the  au- 
thentic interpreter,  ver.  19,  refers  the  whole 
saying,  ((/lis  he  said)  and  its  signification  (6T/iuai. 
vsiy)  to  the  Mnd  of  death  {noico  SavccTGn^, 
we  are  quite  free  to  take  tlie  collective  words 
with  both  meanings.  The  stpartum  e  cmce  in 
Piin.  11  N.  xxviii.  11,  as  generally  the  binding 
of  crucified  criminals,  sometimes  with,  some- 
times without  nails,  is  well  known  ;  and  it  was 
anciently  understood  in  (he  sense  of  Tertullian 
(Sc  rpioce,  cap.  xv.) — "  Peter  was  bound  by  an- 
other when  he  was  fastened  to  the  cross."  This 
appears  to  us  more  simple,  obvious,  and  de- 
scriptive than  a  reference  to  the  subordinate 
circumstance  of  the  girding  of  the  loins  at  cru- 
cifixion with  a  napkin  (according  to  Ecang. 
Nicod.  c.  10) — which  Bruckner  deemed  a  more 
correct  interpretation  of  the  Z,c66ei.  Exegesis 
has  nothing  to  say  about  any  distinction  to  the 
efTect  that  the  Lord  was  not  crucified  with 
nails  driven  through  his  hands  and  feet.  But 
if  we  thus  clearly  apprehend  the  girding,  much 
needless  contention  about  the  stretcJdng  out  of 
the  hands  will  be  at  once  obviated.  It  is  only 
ignorance  of  the  full  and  manifold  meaning  of 
the  prophetic  word  which  has  led  to  so  much 
wrangling  about  this  or  that  meaning;  all  the 
views  of  the  various  expositors  are  true  in  va- 
rious aspects.  What  Grotius,  however  (in  the 
name  of  many  who  hold  the  same  error  still), 
maintained — "  Thou  wilt  be  forced  to  stretch 
out  thine  hands  by  another,"!  we  must  declare 
against  as  absolutely  incorrct ;  for  the  predicted 
s»/j^e?7;igr  begins  plainly  with  the  xaLa^.Xoi^ 
another,  while  the  stretching  out  in  order  to  the 
leing  girded  indicates  a  voluntary  activity  on 
his  own  part.  This  act  forms  indeed  of  itself 
the  antithesis  to  the  "girdedst  thyself,"  and 
"walkedst;"  yet  only  as  indicating  a  deport- 
ment of  another  kind.  Thus  is  it,  as  the  coun- 
terpart of  his  previous  energetic  action — Feeble 
and  defenceless  i\\o\x  wilt  stretch  out  thine  hands, 
and  give  thyself  up  to  another's  pov,'er?t  or, 
with  Lange— As  a  spent  old  man  must  help- 
lessly stretch  out  his  hands,  and  let  himself  be 
clothed,  defended  and  led  ?  Certainly,  all  this 
is  the  first  meaning,  but  only  as  being  the 
physical  figure.^     It  invclves  in  itself  the  sec- 


*  The  three  places  where,  according  to  Klee,  the 
Sept.  has  ^coy  yv/in  for  "IDX,  we  cannot  find.  In 
the  first  two  there  is  another  word,  and  the  third 
must  be  an  error  in  the  ty])ography.  See  on  the 
other  hand  Neh.  iv.  18,  in  the  original  ")DX  for  gird- 
ing, 

f  Nonnus  also  introduced  an  dyaynp. 

X  So  e.  g.  Jacot>;  paraphrases. 

^  We  must  not  therefore  say  with  C.  Weiss : 


ond  meaning,  which  brings  out  its  spiritual 
import:  Does  not  he  who  gives  himself  up  to 
be  bound  by  another's  power  prove  himself  to 
h&  willing  to  suffer?  As  an  old  man,  in  the 
becoming  consciousness  that  he  cannot  do  oth- 
erwise, alloios  himself  to  be  girded  and  guided 
— "  So  Peter  will  one  day,  free  from  all  sinful 
self,  stand  in  the  spirit  of  most  decided  self- 
resignation  to  his  Lord."  (So  does  Lange  con- 
tinue with  perfect  propriety.)  Fikenscher  al- 
legorizes upon  this  in  a  one-sided  manner,  giv- 
ing up  the  physical  basis  of  the  expression  al- 
together, though  bringing  out  correctly  the 
fundamental  thought:  "  Peter  ripened  towards 
his  death  {yr}pd67;ii) — devoted  all  his  activity 
{XElpai)  only  to  the  Lord  ;  and  in  his  work  for 
the  kingdom  of  God.he  is  also  a  sufferer,  gives 
himself  up  altogether  and  without  reserve  to 
all  which  the  Lord  might  send  upon  him."  So 
Weitzel  well  says:  "In  the  inreyeli  ra? 
Xslpdi  6ov  Peter's  own  willingness  and  joy  in 
dying  the  death  of  a  martyr  for  Christ  and  his 
cause  is  beautifully  connected  with  the  physical 
constraint  to  which  he  would  be  required  to 
submit  himself;  perfectly  voluntary  resignation 
seen  in  the  most  violent  physical  constraint." 
Thus  we  explain  eHrevEli  ra's  x^'P^^  dov^ 
"Thou  wilt  act  as  a  sufferer  and  as  a  willing 
sufferer,  like  an  aged  man  who  by  necessity 
and  yet  resignedly  stretches  out  his  hands  to 
another's  act ;"  and  we  believe  with  Fikenscher 
that  by  this  is  intimated  for  the  whole  period 
of  his  y?jpd6HEiy  generally,  "  the  entire  pas- 
sive demeanor  of  Peter  to  the  glory  of  God 
down  to  his  dying  sacrifice."  Lange  maintains 
that  the  stretching  out  of  tlie  hands  could  not  al- 
ready contain  an  allusion  to  the  death  of  the 
cross,  because  the  concomitant  girding  and 
leading  does  not  follow  till  afterwards  ;  but  we 
see  no  reason  for  agreeing  with  him  in  this, 
since  the  one  does  not  exclude  the  other.  Does 
not  the  propJietic  language  often  thus  speak, 
taking  expressions  chosen  to  give  a  more  gen- 
eral sense,  and  which  are  also  found  to  be  true 
in  specific  fulfillment?  And  does  symbolical 
prophecy  give  every  detail  always  in  strict 
historical  sequence?*  We  regard  that  inter- 
pretation as  correct  which  finds  in  this  stretch- 
ing out  of  the  hands  a  reference  to  Peter's  cru- 
cifixion ;  and  further  agree  with  Draseke  that 
"  these  words  were  the  most  express  in  their  al- 
lusion to  the  kind  of  death  which  Peter  should 
die."  Can  we  find  in  Zoodsi  or  oi6st  any  thing 
equally  specific  for  the  tto/oj  Sayocroj  ?  Wet- 
stein  adduces  the  striking  passages  from  Ar- 
rian  and  Artemidorus,  especially  that  of  Arri- 
an:  iurEiyai  dEavroy  <»;  oi  Idravpcoftsyoz 
— which  Litcke  also  cites  :  the  hysteron  jwoteron 
in  the  prediction  is  of  no  moment;  indeed  it 


"  When  thou  wilt  in  old  age  stretch  out  thine 
hands  for  another's  help — it  will  be  very  different 
with  thee." 

*  This  historical  sequence  Luthardt  also  urjies 
against  the  specific  reference  to  the  cross  :  lie  re- 
gards the  prediction  as  that  of  "  a  violent  death  " 
gene;  ally. 


^96 


RESTORATION  OF  I^ETER. 


is  tot  really  such,  Ibr  the  commamied  and 
afjsrwards  lul filled  stretching  out  of  tlie  hands, 
in  order  to  be  first  bound  and  then  nailed,  ac- 
tually takes  precedence  in  time.  And  now  for 
the  oiosi  (in  one  reading  oi'det  dE),  where  an- 
other ambiguity  has  been  found  bv  thedifTering 
interpreters.  Is  it  leading  or  carry  in  g  ?  In  his 
2f.  T.  Bengel  translates  by  "  heben  ;"  but  in  his 
Gnomon  he  admits  that  the  antithesis  is  neftt- 
ndreii.  We  think  the  latter  correct,  and  in- 
terpret accordingly— Thou  wilt  not  thyself  ?ca//t 
whither  thou  wilt;  but  another  will' ^m^Z  thee 
whither  thou  wouldst  not,  to  something  entirely 
repugnant  to  thy  own  natural  will.  Bat  it 
comes  to  this,  as  with  the  girding  and  binding— 
the  expressly  cho-sen  (pe'petv  (certainly  stronger 
than  ayeiy)  must  involve  something  specific 
in  connection  with  the  lohither  thou  iconUst  not, 
which  mysteriously  hints  at,  but  leaves  un- 
spoken, the  last  word  of  the  dark  saying;  that 
is,  this  leading  is  to  be  finally  fulfilled  as  a 
bearing  or  lifting  up  to  or  with  the  cross.*  For 
it  is  not  "oppo.sed  to  the  whole  archaeology  of 
crucifixion,"  that  the  victim  bound  to  the 
recumbent  cross  should  be  lifted  up  with  it,  no 
bearing  forth  to  another  place  being  implied. 
But  the  three  predictions  of  the  stretching,  the 
girding,  and  the  leading  may  describe,  as  being 
merely  generally  combined,  both  the  crucifixion 
and  the  imprisonment  (and  even  also  the 
internal,  spiritual  binding  or  crucifixion).! 

This  would  now  be  enough,  were  there  not 
an  ambiguity  to  be  set  right  which  has  been 
wronglv  understood.  Who  is  that  other,  to 
whom  Peter  would  stretch  out  his  hands,  who 
would  gird  him  and  lead  him,  bind  him  and 
carry  him  ?  Lange,  after  having  spoken  of  the 
"  Apostle's  devotion  to  his  Lord,"  continues : 
"And  then  will  he  gird  him,  determine  his 
will  ;  he  will  decide  his  fate,  and  lead  him 
whither  he  would  not,  to  an  exit  from  life  which 
the  will  of  his  former  being  had  most  abso- 
lutely resisted.  Matt.  xvi.  22."  This  reference 
to  Peter's  former  recoil  from  the  cross  of  his 
Lord  we  cordially  receive  as  a  very  suggestive 
combination  ;  but  we  cannot  agree  witn  this 
interpretation  of  the  aXXoi.  Bleek  also  has 
independently  come  to  the  same  exegesis : 
"  Peter  was  told  to  expect  that  in  his  latter 
years  another  and  a  higher  authority  would 
direct  his  activity,  and  his  preparation  for  it, 
by  such  energies  as  should  be  necessary  " — 
strange  interpretation  of  the  ^oodEi.  But  it  is 
inconceivable  that  the  loving  Lord  should 
speak  to  the  loving  disciple  concerning  himself 
with  a  cold  and  distant  aWoi — and  thus  as 


*  Hence  it  is  best  translated  by  an  ambiguous 
expression,  as  in  the  JIo'.l.  Jhhel  "  brennen  "  {lier- 
Inib.  "  brinsen  "V  and  in  the  English  "  carry." 
Comp.  Mark  xv.  22. 

+  Tlius  in  the  development  of  the  meaning  we 
have  embraced  much,  but  only  becausp  all  is 
really  combined.  On  the  other  hand,  the  being 
firded  on  the  ero.is  (wilh  the  Xevtiov)  does  not  be- 
long to  it.  _  Theojiliylacl  is  riabt:  Tt'>y  Ini  ToC 
dravpov  iKzadiy  nai  ra  ded/ia  ^l/^.ui, 


one  to  whom  the  disciple  would,  though  witli 
a  certain  repugnance,  submit.  Nor  mu!;t  we 
think  of  Ood,  apart  from  Christ ;  for  the  Lord 
is  here  himself  the  immediate  disposer  of  his 
servants'  destinies.  Thus  the  other  is,  first,  as 
the  antithesis  with  the  previous  clause  neces- 
sarily requires  every  "  other  "  to  whom  Peter, 
instead  of  determining  for  himself,  will  be 
obliged  to  submit  (here  Nonnus  is  right: 
dtpetSsF?  dvsftEi  dWoi);  and  in  its  final 
meaning  in  his  crucifixion  no  other  than  the 
executioner — and  in  this  personified  the  Coesar, 
or  even  the  prince  of  this  world,  who  in  the 
deepei^t  sense  may  be  called  another.  It  is  true 
that  Christ  is  he  who  wills  that  Peter  shoald 
be  crucified — a  meaning  wdiich  the  well-known 
saying  of  Ambro-e  expresses,  according  to 
which  the  Lord  met  Peter  when  he  would 
have  withdrawn,  and  said — I  come  hither  to  he 
I  crucified  once  more.  But  Christ  is  not  that 
other,  in  whose  act  it  was  the  task  of  the  Apos- 
tle's faith  to  discern  and  submit  to  the  will  of 
his  Lord. 

In  all  this,  we  have  not,  as  our  readers  will 
readily  admit,  denied  the  general  figurative 
reference  of  this  predicted  suffering  submission 
to  the  whole  later  life  of  the  Apostle.  What 
crucifixions  of  his  own  will,  what  profound 
and  penetrating  subjection,  had  not  long  be- 
fore his  death  been  required  of  him  !  There- 
fore it  is  that  in  his  Epistles  he  speaks  with 
such  power  of  living  experience  concerning 
the  manifold  trials  and  sufferings  which  are 
borne  by  those  wlro  are  in  Christ,  the  being 
subject  and  the  suffering  unrighteously,  the 
fire  of  tribulation — and  the  patience  of  the 
Lord.  Here  rises  the  application  of  the  word 
in  its  spiritual  meaning  to  us  all.  Of  its  spe- 
cial application  to  the  pastors  themselves,  and 
its  connection  with  the  feeding  of  the  flock  by 
those  who,  in  order  to  lead  others,  must  wil- 
lingly consent  to  die  themselves,  we  shall  say 
nothing  now.  But  we  would  endeavor  to  ex- 
hibit its  general  significance  for  all  the  disci- 
ples who  love  their  Lord  ;  though  they  only 
who  have  spiritual  knowledge  and  experience 
will  understand.  Is  it  not  perfectly  true  that 
the  older  we  are  in  the  following  of  Christ,  the 
more  deeply  we  enter  into  the  denial  of  our 
own  will?  The  youth  of  our  Christianity  re- 
tains its  similarity  with  natural  youth,  even 
by  the  permission  and  api)ointnient  of  the  all- 
wise  Educator.*  In  the  first  power  which  we 
receive  we  are  required  to  walk — certainly  no 
longer  whither  we  would  previously  have 
willod,  but  yet  whither  wo  now  in  tlie  new 
nature  will ;  murh  of  our  own  purpose,  will, 
and  plans  is  permitted  to  us ;  the  girding\  is 


*  Not,  however,  as  Von  Oerlach  exhibits  the 
contrast :  "  As  a  rule  the  youni:  man  is  the  more 
dejjendent,  the  older  attains  to  more  and  more  in- 
dependence." Tiiis  holds  good  only  of  ezterml 
relations;  but  tliese  are  not  referred  to  here — 
only  the  will  and  the  disposition. 

\  Th's,  according  to  Mayer's  note,  belongs  to 
the  walking,  as  the  purpose  does  Lo  tiie  life. 


JOHN  XXI.  15-2: 


7«7 


actually  required  of  us,  in  general  and  in  par- 
ticular, as  peculiarly  becoming  and  appropriate 
in  that  age  (1  Pet.  i.  13-15).  We  love,  labor, 
witness,  and  exert  our  influence  rather  as  those 
who  are  Iree,  and  have  the  heavier  tasks  im- 
posed upon  us  by  our  Lord — or  otherwise  we 
do  not  rightly  discern  and  lake  upon  ourselves 
the  work  assigned.  Tims  does  it  go  on  even 
unto  old  age,  through  walking,  falling,  rising 
up,  and  joylul  running  again — until  through 
all  these  the  deeper  experiences  are  prepanid 
for,  and  our  yr)pQ(3Heiv  draws  nmh.  I'tu- 
more  energetic  the  basis  of  oar  natuic  i?,  the 
more  surely  and  the  more  severely  will  the 
crosH  come,  though  its  heaviest  pressure  may  be 
in  a  multitude  of  little  crosses.  Then  comes 
the  stretching  out  of  the  hands,  and  the  time 
lor  standing  still !  Less  and  less  Irequent  are 
the  demands  to  go  out  a  fishing.  Better  and 
Letter  must  we  learn  to  feel — 1  can  myself 
neither  plan  nor  do  any  thing.  All  special 
purposes  and  projects  are  merged  in  the  one, 
that  of  following  Christ,  as  he  himself  has  ap- 
pointed and  shows  by  external  arrangements 
ol  his  will.  This  he  requires  of  us  as  the  test 
and  the  consummation  of  love,  not  merely  the 
still  sweet  love  of  earlier  times.  Instead  o! 
walking  is  the  being  led  by  others  ;  we  are 
more  and  more  bound  in  the  lollowing  ot 
Christ,  and  yet  more  and  more  free,  because 
more  and  more  free-minded  to  lollow  him. 
"Oiiov  ov  ^sXeii — Lampeincorrectly  refers  tins 
to  the  present  time,  as  Peter  would  afterwards 
have  no  ov  ^eXsiv  more,  no  longer  any  repug- 
nancy in  his  will — for  it  is  the  ojtposite  cer- 
tainty to  Znov  y'/OsXei.  The  iwf,  wUlinq  ol  the 
weak  flesh  remains,  as  with  Christ  himself  in 
Gethsemane ;  but  the  spirit  proves  itself  all 
the  more  willing — Not  as  I  will  I  Whatever 
specific  vocation  there  may  be  for  pastors  and 
ministers,  the  general  meaning  is  the  same  for 
all — Self-denial,  the  cross,  the  following  of 
Christ  by  the  crucified.  This  word  most  spe- 
cifically addressed  to  Peter  has  its  individual 
application  to  each  of  us,  and  shows  to  each  of 
us  his  personal  way;  for  none  of  his  words, 
yea,  of  no  word  of  Scripture,  may  it  be  said-- 
Whnt  IS  this  to  thee  ? 

Thus  we  have  already  to  a  great  extent 
expounded  the  immediately  following  "  Fol- 
low me" — which  certainly  was  not  meant 
merely  for  the  present  moment.  This  word 
carries  back  the  prediction  of  the  Apostle's 
specific  way  of  life  and  death  into  the  general 
commandment  for  all  again.  Indeed,  Peter  had 
.specially  asked— Tr/uV^erjio^;  thou?  and  now 
he  knows  whither,  and  that  he  must  follow. 
Eut  must  not  we  all  thus  follow,  each  one  under 
the  same  guidance  ?  Follow  me  ly  the  icatj  of 
the  aoss !  How  could  the  Risen  Crucified  mean 
anything  but  this?  "When  before  his  death 
the  Lord  had  uttered  the  requirement  to  follow 
him,  he  had  been  wont  to  add  what  he  meant 
thereby  (Matt.  xvi.  24).  But  the  Crucified  and 
Risen  Lord  needed  to  make  this  addition  no 
more"  (DraS^eke).  The  very  beginning  of 
this  devotion  and  following  is  a  self-surrender 


to  him,  who  says — Afterme.  But  the  end  must, 
always  be,  though  in  a  difTerent  manner,  our 
being  j^erftdly  crucified  in  order  to  ripe  prepara- 
tion lot  his  glory.  The  more  lully  open  our 
ears  are  to  these  words,  with  the  more  readi- 
ness vvc  stretch  out  our  hands,  when  the  tirne 
comes  a.nd  it  is  required  ot  us~so  ruuch  the 
sooner  and  the  easier  shall  we  reach  the  goal. 
Did  Peter  understand  ail  these  words,  and 
tins  last  word  especially  ?  That  would  be 
matter  ol  indiflerence  as  to  our  own  under- 
.standmg,  but  we  need  the  answer  hero  in 
Older  lo  the  exposition  o(  liis  question,  ver.  21, 
on  which  liif!  ra(;aning  ot  the  word  in  vcr  2<i 
again  depends.  Not  a  lew,  with  wliom  even 
Meyer  classes  himself,  agree  with  Michieli.^ 
that  Peter  understood  the  ofwoA  ,nOft  as  only 
meaning — Com",  now  trithme,  I  have  something 
to  say  lo  thee,  la  fact  we  learn  (rom  ver.  20 
that  Jesus  when  he  spoke  Uiks  vvord  went  for- 
ward and  beckoned  hiin  lo  lollow  ;  hence  John 
diho foUoiced.  Hut  with  this  it  is  quite  con- 
sistent, that  such  a  movement  and  imtimation 
ol  Jesus  was  hut  ihe  symhohcal  expression  which 
made  the  spiritual  meaning  more  clear.  The 
opinion  that  the  Lord  himself  neither  thought 
nor  designed  more  m  this  connection  than  their 
accompanying  him  at  the  moment  is  altogether 
too  insipid.*  if  every  thing  is  typical  here,  so 
certainly  must  the '/Jxo-iouC/ii  be.  Grotius: 
"As  he  had  made  the  things  which  had  been 
done  before  signs  of  things  to  be  said  by  him, 
so  now  he  expresses  fiy  a  plain  sign  that  which 
he  had  already  said."  in  the  previous  words, 
as  Draseke  clearly  puis  it,  all  stood  still  in  a 
circle,  the  Lord  among  the  disciples;  at  the 
words  Follow  me  I  Jesus  slowly  re"moved  him- 
self. Quite  right,  and  then  Draseke  proceeds 
— "To  the  conclusion  that  the  Lord  meant 
nothing  more  than  this  accompanying,  and 
that  Peter  discerned  nothing  more  in  it  than 
this,  would  be  a  very  tame  interpretation."  If 
Jesus  spoke  this  "  Follow  "  with  a  deep  mean- 
ing, referring  directly  to  the  words  which  had 
already  been  uttered,  that  does  not  require  us 
to  assume  his  being  disposed  to  give  Peter  cer- 
tain further  explanations  of  his  meaning.  The 
symbolic  gesture  of  going  on  before,  in  order 
lo  stamp  the  force  of  his  word,  was  sufficient; 
he  had  said  quite  enough  to  the  Apostle  .  he  had 
given  him,  indeed,  so  much  to  ponder  and 
arrange  in  his  mind,  that  we  might  have  as- 
sumed that  he  vanished  at  once,  were  it  not 
that  the  probability  is  in  favor  of  his  having 
made  some  further  appointments.  We  are  per- 
fectly disposed  to  admit  that  this  call  to  Peter, 
to  follow  Ihe  retreating,  removing  Lord,  had 
some  such  tone  as  '-Come  with  me.  Follow 
me  over  into  ray    new  home   beyond."     But 

*  This  would  ihen  have  its  reference  also  lo  ver. 
22,  and  the  last  words  and  colloquy  ot  the  Gos- 
pel of  John  would  have  to  do,  merely,  as  Sepp 
says  in  ndicule,  with  the  accompanying  of  the 
Lord  a  few  pace*  We  feel  by  anticipation  that 
(he  question  of  Peter  must  have  another  groucd 
and  occasion. 


T88 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


when  Lange,  whose  expression  this  is,  goes  on 
to  attribute  to  Peter  a  misunderstanding  which 
vibrated  between  the  merely  external  and  the 
true  internal  meaning  of  our  Lord's  word,  we 
think  that  he  speaks  without  foundation.  It 
was,  he  thinks,  to  him  "  as  if  Jesus  designed  to 
make  him  familiar  in  sacred  solitude  with  the 
terror  of  the  transition  to  the  other  world ;  " 
he  expected  some  "  initiation  into  the  awful 
mystery  of  the  great  passage  ;  and  his  following 
the  Lord  nevertheless  in  confidence  was  his 
atonement  for  having  once  stood  in  the  way  of 
the  Lord's  cross."  But  all  this  may  be  classed 
with  the  fantasies  of  this  poet-expositor,  who 
mi-jes  so  much  wild  imagina'aon  with  his 
beavutiful  gifts.  Nothing  of  this  kind  is  inti- 
matvjd  here ;  the  question  concerning  John — 
ovroi  6e  ri,  "But  what — this  man?"  con- 
nected with  the  answer  given  to  it  obliges  us 
to  infej:  that  Peter  understood  the  Lord's  word 
much  more  fully  than  this. 

Assuredly,  he  well  understood  all,  at  least 
the  fundamental  point,  from  the  beginning,  and 
as  soon  as  the  Lord  put  his  hrst  question. 
"  The  days  of  foolish  misunderstanding  were 
past,"  says  Driiseke  truly  and  decisively. 
Therefore  he  had  understood  this  much  at 
least  of  ver.  18,  that  a  later  life  of  suffering,  and 
an  end  from  which  nature  recoils  with  horror, 
were  appointed  to  him:  even  if  the  "Follow 
me  "  which  was  added  did  not  directly  point 
his  thoughts — tiiough  we  think  that  it  did — to 
the  stern  necessity  of  his  finding  that  end  on 
the  cross.*  This  understanding  alone  could 
have  given  rise  to  his  question  concerning 
John  ;  but  this  of  itself  needs  to  be  carefully 
looked  at  on  all  sides.  John  would  go  too,  and 
this  is  marked  by  Peter.  May  we  say  with 
Von  Gerlach — "  That  he  was  also  called  by 
Jesus?  "  We  read  nothing  of  this  ;  and  Liicke 
takes  occasion  from  this  lack  of  clearness,  which 
is  not  usual  in  John's  genuine  narratives,  to 
complain  of  the  utter  impossibility  of  represent- 
ing with  any  thing  like  clearness  the  grounds 
and  the  connection  of  the  whole  scene."  We 
think  that  nothing  is  wanting  but  a  willing 
penetration,  deep  and  accurate  thought,  judi- 
cious arrangement  of  all  which  we  find  record- 
ed, and  a  little  waiting,  in  order  to  find  the 
whole  scene  clear  enough.  Jesus,  while  he 
humbled  Peter,  had  at  tlie  same  time  exalted 
him  to  higher  honor,  and  to  him  once  more 
especially  committed  his  Church.  What  this 
meant,  and  what  it  did  not  mean,  John  had 
at  once  understood  beyond  the  rest  of  the 
hearer.^  ;  he  had,  so  to  speak,  sympathized 
most  deeply  with  the  feeling  of  the  Apostle's, 
as  well  as  of  the  Lord's,  heart.  He  also  knew 
full  well  how  near  he  too  was  himself  to  that 


heart.  And  now  comes  this  mysterious  and 
confidential  prediction,  and  the  new  expression 
of  perfect  confidence  which  calls  Peter  with  the 
significant  follow  me.  John  cannot  remain  be- 
hind ;  and  all  the  less  so  as  he  understands  full 
well  that  no  exclusive  prerogative  of  Peter 
was  implied.  Was  he  not  himself  the  disciple 
icliom  Jesus  loved* — did  he  not,  formerly,  as  the 
most  trusted  one,  lying  on  the  Lord's  bosom, 
ask  the  Lord's  mind — and  should  not  he  also 
now  follow  ?  Lange  thinks  that  on  this  ac- 
count the  specific  reference  in  ver.  20  is  given  ; 
since  John  would  thus  delicately  bespeak  that 
he  had  understood  and  felt  in  his  heart  the 
permission  or  the  requirement  to  follow  too. 
So  in  Brandt's  Bibel  concisely  :  "  John  makes 
this  remark  to  give  the  reason  why  he,  without 
being  called  by  Jesus,  ventured  nevertheless  to 
follow  him."  We  observe  this  too,  but  in  a 
somewhat  different  sense.  It  would  have  been 
enough  for  this  to  say  merely  "  whom  Jesus 
loved :  "  but  the  rest  was  indispensable,  for 
how  otherwise  could  he  have  indicated  his  own 
person,  especially  here  ?  We  cannot  reconcile 
it  with  our  feeling  that  this  express  reference  to 
his  earlier  confidential  relation  to  Christ  was 
intended  to  explain  his  affectionate  following 
without  being  called.  The  addition  of  this 
former  "asking"  has  a  significant  connection 
with  Peter's  present  question.  Driiseke  misses 
the  point  of  the  whole  when  he  represents  John 
as  thinking — "  Do  I  then  receive  no  commis- 
sion?"! and  speaks  of  a  "  holy  emulation  of 
his  elevated  nature  which  led  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple to  say,  Desirest  thou  proofs  of  love,  Rab- 
boni?  Forget  not  John!"  This  is  going 
too  far,  but  thus  much  is  true :  John  in  his 
affectionate  simplicity  involuntarily  accompa- 
nies, hence  there  is  no  trace  of  our  Lord's  blam- 
ing this  only  apparently  uncalled  accompany- 
ing. J  love  thee  also.  This  had  been  the  cry 
of  his  heart  during  the  whole  colloquy  with 
Peter,  in  the  full  consciousness  that  there  was 
nothing  intended  exclusively  for  Peter,  at  least 
nothing  which  would  exclude  himself  from  the 
love  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  pasturing  of  his 
flock.  Tlius  he  utters  this  "  I  love  thee  also, 
and  follow  thee  "  with  inmost  modesty,  without 
the  slightest  admixture  of  a  spirit  of  intrusion, 
solely  from  the  impulse  of  his  heart's  feeling  to 
go  with  liim.:t 

And  Peter  f  He  does  not  so  tenderly  under- 
stand all  this,  and  makes  a  stumbling-block  of 
his  beloved  John,  who  had  no  intention  to 
come  in  his  way  as  an  offence.  There  was 
something  wrong  at  first  in  the  "  turning  him- 


*  A  later  nndeistandina;  on  his  part  is  not  ex- 
pressly implied  by  '1  Peter  i.  14.  For  "as  tiie 
Lord  lialh  slio.ved  me,"  caimot  possibly  go  back 
to  the  prediction  al  the  sea  of  Tiberias;  it  rasher 
means  a  new  revelation  that  the  death  (of  which 
the  Apiisile  here  spoaks  with  such  remarkable  a»- 
BUrauce)  was  impending,  raxiyy  l6rir. 


*  Hero  rises  a  delicate  parallel  betwe»n  the  dis- 
ciple who  loved  Jesus,  and  the  disciple  Wiiom 
Jesus  loved — on  which,  however,  Auiustino  went 
astray,  because  he  minf;U'd  with  it  the  "more." 

t  Whom  Braune,  as  often,  follows ;  adding — K 
there  no  prediction  for  me  1 

X  In  this  D.iiseko  is  right :  "  Not  another  word 
falls  from  his  lips.  No  word  was  needed.  More 
eloquent  than  any  language  was  b.s  sileut  acconi- 
pauying." 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


789 


self" — he  was  commanded  to  follow  and  not  to    stood  enough  to  know  that  it  was  a  prophecy 


look  around.  Thus  there  was  certainly  an  un 
called-for,  and  not  artless  looking  aside,  a  side- 
glance  once  more  of  comparison  toith  others. 
After  his  deep  humiliation  some  light  trace  still 
ofthe  ancient  vSimon.  Tiiis  willnotlead  usastray 
in  the  interpretation,  but  illustrate  to  us  the 
loving  patience  of  the  Lord,  which  anticipates 
such  disciples  in  blessing,  and  leads  them  into 
the  depths  of  self-renunciation.  Chrys.  :  "  S;nce 
Peter  was  always  in  haste  to  put  such  ques- 
tions as  these."  Peterhas  too  much  advantage 
given  him  (as  John  too  little)  by  Draseke  : 
"  The  heavenly  bond  of  friendship  between  the 
Master  and  this  disciple  passed  before  his  soul 
as  he  thus  went  with  Jesus  :  hence  the  ques- 
tion— But  thi'i  man.  Lord?  Didst  thou  not 
also  mean  him?"  For  this  does  not  perfectly 
correspond  with  the  words  of  the  question, 
which  pre-supposes  something  else  for  this  dis- 
ciple; and  further,  as  the  Lord  gives  a  rebuk- 
ing and  repelling  answer,*  there  must  have 
been  something  blameworthy  in  the  question. 
Its  very  abruptness  shows  a  want  of  genuine 
jtarrhesid,  a  certain  exuberance  of  precipitate 
zeal.     What  then  does  he  a^ik?  "He  who  can 


His  abruptly  ending  rz',  which  is  therefore  to 
be  supplemented  by  the  whole  of  ver.  18,  dops 
not  merely  say — Shall  this  man  also  suffer?  but 
—  What  shall  this  man—?  What  hast  thou 
appointed  for  him  ?  He  is  lar  from  thinking  his 
foUmolng  also  an  impropriety,  or  blaming  it  ; 
his  glance  falling  upon  John  raises  the  ques- 
tion in  his  mind  concerning  John's  destiny,  and 
this  prompts  the  unconsidered  and  inopportune 
wish — Wilt  thou  not  reveal  something  to  me 
and  to  him  concerning  the  future  of  our  lite 
and  death  ?  But  what  was  the  inducement  to 
this  question  ?  Many  reasons  might  have  con- 
curred, but  we  have  only  to  do  with  the  pre- 
dominant impulse,  which  the  answer  rebuked. 
Driiseke  thinks  that  it  was  sympathy  which 
dictated  this  question — What  hast  thou  des- 
tined for  him  ?  Thou  knowest  his  love  !  What 
lot  is  decreed  for  him?  But  this  was  not  the 
sole,*  nor  was  it  the  predominant,  feeling  of 
the  question.  Ebrard  concisely  says — "  Peter 
asked  with  concern  what  should  befall  John." 
So  Lange  :  "  With  a  feeling  of  sympathy  which 
would  spare  to  John  the  experience  of  a  sharp 
lestiny,  such  as  he  considered  the  lot  of  him- 


thus  expound  the  words — Hast  thou  called  this  !  self  alone."     Thus — This  man,  will  he  not  have 


man  also.  Lord?  Wiierefore  doth  he  follow  vs? 
unders.ands  not  the  question,  nor  the  disciple, 
nor  any  thing  in  the  matter."  In  this  Draseke 
is  right.  If  the  ri  is  made  to  signify — Where- 
fore, or  to  what  end  doth  this  ni'in  also  go  with 
us?  the  answer  of  our  Lord  does  not  in  any- 
wise suit;  although  that  answer  has  been 
feebly  interpreted  as  referring  to  merely  the 
present  going  or  remaining.!  Olshausen  has 
mcontrovertibly  shown  this:  "Two  supposi- 
tions only  are  conceivable.  Either  it  seemed 
right  to  the  Lord  that  John  should  accompany 
them,  and  he  intended  a  reproof  to  Peter : 
then  the  words  must  have  run  thus — Let  him 
come  with  us  unhindered,  he  may  hear  what 
we  say  ;  or  the  like.  Or,  he  meant  to  blame 
John's  ill-timed  following:  and  then  the  words 
must  have  run — Follow  not,  tarry  where  thou 
art.  We  cannot  possibly  discover  how  in  that 
case  Christ  should  come  to  use  the  word 
fxivEw,  for  the  disciple  didi  not  remain,  but 
went  with  them;  moreover,  in  this  interpreta- 
tion of  the  passage,  the  f  gjs  epxoncci  is  alto- 
gether unintelligible.  For,  if  it  is  taken  to 
mean — Until  I  come  back  again,  that  is,  from 
the  walking  aside  with  Peter — this  would  not 
have  been  in  opposition  to  Peter,  but  according 
to  his  will ;  as  if  he  would  not  have  John  fol- 
low them,  while  yet  his  word  appears  as  a  re- 
buke only  to  Peter." 

Thus  the  meaning  of  Peter's  question  must 
refer  directly  to  that  ju-ojihecy  which  he  had 
himself  just  received,  and  of  which  he  under- 


an  easier  lot  than  mine?  But  Fikenscher  gives 
it  an  opposite  turn — "He  hoped  to  share  with 
John  the  glory  of  a  death  of  martyrdom  ;"  and 
finds  in  the  question  "  a  proof  of  Peter's  humil- 
ity, and  an  illustration  of  true  love  which  seek- 
eth  not  its  own."  But  this  loving  sympathy 
(whether  the  question  be — Shall  not  this   man 


escape 


?   or — Shall  he    not  suffer, 


well    as 


myself?)  cannot  possibly  have  been  the  main 
impulse  of  Peter's  inquiry — would  the  Searcher 
of  hearts  have  repelled  it  with  the  sharp  ri 
7tp6idE?\  It  is  true  that  Peter  would  now 
ask  for  John,  as  John  had  in  chap.  xiii.  24  asked 
by  his  own  desire  for  him  :  it  is  to  mark  this 
parallel  of  requital  that  the  express  addition 
IS  here  made  to  the  description  of  John's  per- 
son ;  though  this  has  been  rarely  understood  at 
all,  or  ofien  interpreted  in  a  manner  unworthy 
the  Apostle  John  himself  It  is  not  (according 
to  B.-Crusius)  "  to  intimate  that  Peter,  who  oix 
that  occasion  requested  this  disciple  to  put  the 
question,  knew  well  his  pre-eminence  ;"  but,  as 
Chrys.  clearly  expressed  it,  to  show  that  now 
John  was  the  silent  disciple,  Peter  asking  for 
him — "  thus  making  requital :  thinking  that  he 
wished  to  ask  concerning  himself,  but  was  not 
bold  enough,  Peter  put  the  question  in  his 
stead."  We  may  further  observe,  with  Chrys., 
"  how  great  holiness  Peter  had  attained  to  alter 
his  denial " — how  confidently  he  ventures  to 
ask  such  questions  as  he  did  not  venture  upon 


*  Chrys. :  "  Sriklng  down  his  undue  exuber- 
ance, and  hindering  him  Irom  further  excess  of 
inleimoddling." 

f  If  I  will  that  he  abide  here  until  I  come 
back  with  thee — -^-and  this  as  the  answer  to  the 
question — May  or  should  this  man  go  with  us  1 


*  So  in  Luthardt:  "Peter  cou  d  have  been 
filled  with  nothing  but  loving  sympathy  with  his 
fellow."     But  how  is  this  could  proved  l 

\  According  to  Sepp,  Peter  was  amazed  at  his 
own  exaltation — ^liis  kingly  dignity — and  asked 
whether  the  disciple  of  love  miglit  not  be  some- 
thing, his  coadjutor  or  Aaron.  But  the  answer, 
the  tiTtpoi  0s  somewhat  abates  this  loftiness. 


790 


EESTOPwATION  OF  PETER. 


even  in  his  confidpnh  days.  We  may  also  think 
how  graciously  the  Lord  must  have  spoken  his 
severe  words,  when  Peter  could  thus  confident- 
]v  interpose  his  words.  But  this  is  not  all,  for 
Peter's  boldness  was  not  pure  and  perfect,  as 
the  answer  shows.  The  impurity  in  it  was  not, 
however,  such  "acertain  envious  thought  about 
the  milder  destiny  of  John,"  as  Olshausen  with- 
out any  reason  attributes  to  the  blessed  Apos- 
tle.* Nor  was  it  a  mere  "  idle  curiosity,"  as 
Tholuck  explains;  but  it  was  (what  Lange  in 
vain  denies,  since  the  answer  pre-supposes  it) 
"  a  conscious  desire  to  receive  such  detinite  ex- 
planation as  to  the  future  of  John" — in  short  a 
kind  of  curiosity.!  Instead  of  pondering  in 
silence  the  great'things  which  had  been  said  to 
him,  and  following  in  obedience  as  he  was  bid- 
den to  do  (hence  th;s  is  expressly  repeated  by 
the  Lord),  he  supposes  that  John  (into  whose 
mind  this  had  not  entered)  would  be  very  glad 
to  know  something  about  himself,  and  once 
more  unbidden  (differently  from  John's  asking 
for  him)  asks  about  anotlier,  though  in  reality 
Jor  himself — "curiositate  quadam  humani  in- 
genii,"  as  Grotius  rightly  says.  So  Bengel : 
"  Facilius  nos  ipsos  voluntati  divinas  impendi- 
mus,  quam  curiositatem  circa  alios,  aquales 
pra3sertim  aut  suppares  deponimus."  By  this, 
at  the  same  time,  the  first  part  of  our  Lord's 
answer  is  fundamentally  explained. 

What  is  thai  to  thee?  This  rinpCide — al- 
most like  an  humbling  echo  of  the  equally  brief 
ovToi  8e  r:— indicates,  after  all  the  Lord's 
kindness,  no  little  severity.  The  greater  the 
grace  exhibited,  the  more  strictly  are  errors 
marked.  The  whole  denial  was  not  so  severely 
rebuked  as  this  new  expression  of  curiosity. 
This  is  the  answer  we  receive,  whenever  our 
"  prying  anxiety  about  others  "  comes  forward. 
The  dealings  of  the  Lord  with  his  own  in  lile 
and  death  are  very  diverse;  it  is  enough  for 
every  one  that  he  do  not  himself  neglect  the 
way  of  his  own  following  the  Lord.  There- 
fore, also — Follow  thou  me  1  Nevertheless, 
with  all  his  severity,  there  is  not  only  the  pro- 
pitiating, acknowledging  "follow  me"  (confir- 
mation of  the  former)  at  the  conclusion,  but 
an  actual  reply  given  concerning  John's  destiny, 
at  the  outset.  This  is  the  JCord's  manner,  to  give 
almost  always  the  information  asked  under  the 


*  Zinzer.dorf  also  in  an  inconsiderate  manner 
sets  it  forth,  in  another  place  where  he  gives  an 
exaggerated  view  of  sin  and  grace:  "Indeed, 
when  Pt'ter  would  afterwards  expostulate  with 
John,  and  was  envious  for  what  the  Saviour  did  to 
John,  it  was  in  the  Saviour's  fidelity  to  the  be- 
loved disciple  that  he  so  sternly  dealt  with  Peter, 
lie  did  not  say  as  much  to  him  about  his  whole 
denial,  as  he  said  about  this  single  word  of  envy 
against  John." 

t  Compare  the  somewhat  overbold  sketch  in 
Nil  meycrs  Charakterisiik,  i.  365,  where,  however, 
so  much  is  explained  with  gentleness.  'Weitzel 
also  expresses  it  too  strongly :  Half-curiously, 
half-emulously,  Peter  throws  this  side-glauce  upon 
tlio  destiny  of  the  disciple  of  love. 


veil  of  an  apparent  rejection.  Bengel  need- 
lessly limits  his  note  ;  "  The  Lord  never  gave 
his  j'nV?i</s,  however  foolishly  they  might  ask, 
an  absolute  repulse" — for  there  are  examples 
of  the  kind  even  in  the  case  of  enemies.  In- 
deed, it  is  neither  necessary  nor  salutary  that 
every  man  should  have  his  destiny  foretold  to 
him— James,  the  brother  of  John,  received  no 
intimation  of  his  early  martyrdom — but  to  the 
beloved  Peter,  even  when  be  seems  in  danger 
of  looking  and  falling  back,  the  Lord  does  not 
altogether  refuse  an  answer.  Even  so  he  had 
not  denied  it  earlier  to  John — or  may  we  here 
say — For  the  sake  of  John  himself?  Suffice  it 
that  the  mysterious  word,  introduced  with  a 
seemingly  hypothetic  if,  contains  really  the 
information  asked,  as  we  shall  plainly  see. 
This  will  impart  a  new  meaning,  pointing  to  the 
future,  to  the  ti  npui  6s  as  coming  after  this 
edv :  that  is.  Then  this  distinction  in  yonr 
several  ways  shall  not  lead  thee  astray  in  thy 
following.* 

That  the  Lord  had  predicted  an  absolute 
"  not  dying,"  because  at  his  coming  at  the  last 
day  there  would  be  no  more  death, f  is  contra- 
dicted expressly  by  John,  ver.  23.  But  that  he 
admits  a  certain  unexplained  application  of  the 
mysterious  word  to  this  dtsciple,  is  the  inference 
which  every  unbiassed  mind  must  draw  from 
the  solemn  repetition  of  the  whole  sentence 
(the  final  6v  for  Peter  beiiig  alone  omitted). 
In  truth,  if  the  misunderstanding  which  the 
Lord  would  obviate  consisted  in  this,  that  his 
merely  hypothetical  lav  ^iXoo  would  betaken 
as  a  prophecy  (so  Ebrard  translates  "  In  case 
now  I  would,"  and  Erasmus  corrected  to/c  into 
velim) — his  words  must  have  taken  another 
form  altogether.  Thus  this  way  of  escape, 
which  Cyril  resorted  to,  and  which  Cocceius, 
Meyer,  and  others  have  adopted,  is  e.'fegetically 
inadmissible. J  We  shall  at  once  proceed  to 
attempt  our  humble  explanation,  after  having 
made   two   introductory   observations.     First, 


*  The  variations  in  the  Vu!g.,  which  has  tic  or»» 
sic  (Aug.  and  Arabr.  read  the  former,  Jerome  the 
latter;  and  in  the  Gr,  Mill  found  ovrcoi  in  some 
Codd.),  are  of  no  moment,  as  they  only  indicat;^ 
early  misconception.  Allioli,  however,  and  Ki.s- 
temaker  translate  after  it ;  and  Mullet  has — That 
he  should  thus  remain. 

t  Observe  here  the  mystery  of  1.  Cor.  xv.  51 
is  pre-supposedas  the  common  faith  of  the  Church. 

X  Lilcke  understands  the  unknown  writer,  con- 
trary to  all  sound  exegetical  feeling,  as  meaning 
tiiat  the  Lord  had  spoken  with  an  if.  That  is  on 
the  supposition  that  it  was  written  alter  the  death 
of  John.  If  John  was  yet  alive,  it  would  mean 
that  no  one  had  any  right  to  speak  of  his  not  dy- 
ing, notwithstanding.  Thus  he  makes  all  obscure, 
and  then  charges  the  h'pxouai  with  oliscurity  and 
spuriousness.  For  our  own  part,  we  read  in  ver, 
23  the  words  of  the  Evangelist  himself,  who  cer- 
tainly, if  the  chapter  was  written  by  him,  could 
not  have  broken  ofT  with  ver.  22,  but  with  ypd' 
rpai  ravra,  ver.  2i.  Hasse  finds  in  the  "  breth- 
ren "  a  later  word  for  "  disciples  " — but  how  will 
this  consist  with  a  glance  at  John's  Epistles  1 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


791 


the  Lord  in  his  dignity  corrects  the  zoCrov, 
*'  this  man,"  into  his  own  express  avrov, 
"him."  His  3£Aft3,  "I  will,"  also  (whatever 
may  he  said  to  the  contrary)  is  evidently  a 
majestic  declaration  that  he  himself  is  now  the 
supreme  disposer  of  men's  life  and  death  ;  he 
does  not  say — If  God  or  the  Father  wills  that 
he  should  tarry.* 

Thus  John  has  not  positively  told  us  what 
the  Lord  meant  or  hinted  at  in  the  words 
which  he  spoke  to  Peter.  Did  he  himself  alto- 
gether understand  them  ?  The  question  may  be 
asked,  and  every  one  is  free  to  entertain  his 
own  thoughts;  it  is  probable,  however,  that 
the  deep-contemplating  John,  trusted  as  he  was 
with  the  mysteries  of  his  Lord,  understood, 
more  than  we  can  now  discover — but  he  docs 
not  tell  us,  because  the  matter  concerns  him- 
self and  his  own  honor;  and  further,  as  we 
shall  see,  that  he  may  thereby  tell  us  more. 
The  Lord  spoke  designedly  in  an  enigmatical 
tone,  as  it  became  the  reply  to  such  a  question  ; 
nor  is  it  strictly  necessary  that  we  should  un- 
derstand it  perfectly,  though  it  is  written  thus 
asain  and  again  that  we  may  investigate  it. 
We  do  not  therefore  exalt  ourselves  above  exe- 
gesis when  we  humbly  attempt  to  understand 
the  words.  First  of  all,  we  may  take  tlie  lib- 
erty of  objecting  to  Bengel's  words,  who  finds 
an  ambiguity  in  what  he  calls  an  "araphibolia 
et  gravis  et  sauvis  :  conditio,  si,  non  affirmat  si 
accipiatur  seruio  d^  adventus  complemento  ; 
categories  etiam  valet  senno,  si  de  primordiis 
adventus."  For,  while  the  Lord  speaks  ob- 
scurely, he  cannot  in  such  v/ords  speak  am- 
liguoudy ;  the  spxoiJai,  "  I  come."  must  have 
its  own  definite  meaning ;  and  it  is  in  this,  not 
in  the  perfect  omission  of  the  iaV,  that  the 
rejected  misapprehension  had  its  root.  But  we 
must  begin  with  the  fi  e  v  e  iv  ,  "remain."  As 
it  is  here  opposed  to  the  death  intimated  in  ver. 
19,  it  must  mean  primarily — to  remain  in  life, 
not  to  die  or  not  to  die  before;  and  this  phrase- 
ology is  not  only  established  by  Phil.  i.  24.  25 ; 
1  Cor.  XV.  6,  but  occurs  also  in  John  himself, 
chap.  xii.  3i.  Thus  this  expression  itself  was 
an  explanation  to  Peter — The  words  refer  to 
thy  luture  dying  or  living.  Or,  we  prefer  to 
think,  it  implies  a  pre-supposition,  in  Jesus' 
saying,  that  Peter  had  already  understood 
wiiat  he  had  said  concerning  his  death.  Thus 
he  is  not  to  die  until  the  Lord  comes.  There 
is  a  very  widely  extended  interpretation  which 
understands — Until  he  should  come  to  call  him, 
to  take  him  to  himself  by  death. f     Augustine, 


*  Hasse  introduces  here  the  distinction  between 
ftovXouat  and  .S^Ao — which  has  nothing  to  do 
liere,  and  is  cenerally  far  from  being  valid — and 
makes  it  the  Lord's  wish  that  John  mioht  remain 
Ions  without  a  violent  death  (and  as  if  in  opposi- 
tion to  a  will  ot  God,  who  might  decree  otherwise). 
But  all  tliis  is  maniteslly  wrong — nothing  can  be 
mo-e  unliecominff  and  below  the  dignity  of  the 
11  &en  Lord,  speakins;  ot  his  coming  again.  See, 
too,  the  SfAcj  of  John  xvii.  24;  and  even  in  Matt, 
v.ii.  3,  it  has  alieady  its  full  authority. 

\  According  to  Theophylact  the  /xevEiv  refer- 


Ptupert,  Beda,  Maldonatus,  support  this  view. 
Grotius  :  "  As  if  the  commander  should  say — 
What  if  I  will  that  he  remain  on  watch  until 
I  call  him  away?'  and  he  then  refers  the 
whole  to  a  death  which  should  not  be  violent, 
like  that  of  Peter,  but  without  any  human  in- 
tervention," when  Christ  should  decree  the  right 
time  to  have  come."  Klee,  also:  "Until  I 
come  to  take  him  away  by  a  gentle  death." 
J.  von  Miiller :  "  By  a  natural  death,  like  that 
of  Moses,  through  the  Lord's  kiss  of  love." 
Olshansen  and  Lange  are  of  the  same  opinion  ; 
our  Wurtemberg  Christ;ane  Kapplinger  also 
decides:  "  This  is  to  be  understood — If  I  will 
that  this  man  should  reach  the  term  of  life 
through  my  own  will  alone,  and  not  according 
to  the  will  of  your  enemies,  what  is  there  in 
this  to  hinder  thine  obedience?  "  But  we  ad- 
here to  the  difficulty  already  referred  to,  and 
regard  this  exposition  (which  Hasse  has  also 
lately  vindicated)  to  be  altogether  incorrect. 
First,  does  it  bring  out  any  actual  contrast? 
Did  not  the  Lord  in  this  sense  come  also  to 
Peter,  to  take  him  away?  (For  all  that  is 
said  about  violent  and  gentle  death  has  notiiing 
to  do  with  the  £fJX£<i^J<x.t')  Indeed,  aiiotlit/r 
was  the  agent  in  his  death,  but  certainly  only 
according  to  the  pre-suppo-ed  will  of  the  Lord 
can  we  suppose  an  ov  SfAcj  of  Christ  in  this 
case.*  Here  we  are  at  one  with  Lticke  that 
it  is  "  a  meaningless  thought,  that  the  disciple 
should  live  until  he  died."  But,  secondly, 
what  right  have  we  to  give  such  a  meaning  to 
£'/jX£(jOai. .?  Pteference  has  been  made  to  John 
xiv.  3,  where  we  have  acknowledged  "  the  com- 
ing of  Christ  at  the  death  of  the  laithful  "  as 
included  in  the  meaning  ;  but  that  was  only  a 
part  of  the  full  meaning  of  the  word,  which 
goes  onward  to  the  great  final  return  ;  and 
here  in  the  lips  of  the  Risen  Lord,  who  ever 
thinks  and  speaks  as  one  abov.t  to  ascend  to 
heaven,  the  meaning  is  direct  and  obvious.  He 
can  mean  nothing  but  the  promised  return  of 
him  who  had  gone  to  heaven,  the  coming  back 
again  which  is  always  expressed  by  this  abso- 
lute word.  This  so  definite  expression  also 
prevents  us  from  explaining,  with  Meyer,  the 
"  more  direct  meaning  of  the  mystery  " — "  I 
can  call  him  to  follow  and  remain."  For,  as 
we  have  said,  the  /leveiv  is  not  so  much  op- 
posed to  the  symbolically  expressed  duoXov- 
heiv,  as  to  the  dying  which  was  intimated  to 
Peter. 

How  then  ?  John  has  long  been  dead  by  the 
sure  testimony  of  history,  and  the  last  day  is 
not  yet  come.  Or  are  we  to  believe  what  La- 
vater  is  said  not  only  to  have  believed,  but  to 
have  learned  like  G.  MiiUer  by  a  visitation,  and 


red  to  a  tarrying   in  Galilee— and   "until  I  call 
from  this  station,  from  this  land  !  " 

*  The  same  Lange,  p.  1719,  strongly  under- 
stands by  the  dXXoi  the  Lord  himself;  and  in  p. 
1721  again—'-  Until  1  myself  come  to  fetth  h:m 
home,  in  the  providential  arrangpuient  of  his  na- 
tural death."  Is  not  violent  ueath  a  similar  provi- 
dential arrangement  1 


792 


RESTORATION  OF  PETER. 


what  many  now  believe,  that  the  Apostle  is 
really  still  alive?*  Then  the  final  coming  of 
Jesus  is  not  meant.  Is  there  then  any  other 
coming?  Assuredly,  according  to  the  Synop- 
tics, the  Lord  speaks  of  a  first  coming  in  the 
prelimmary  victory  of  his  kingdom  and  judg- 
ment upon  his  enemies,  of  a  typical  manifesta- 
tion in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  and  in 
J\I:ttt.  xvi.  2S  we  find  a  remarkable  parallel,  in 
winch  it  is  promised  to  some,  as  it  is  promised 
here,  that  they  should  not  die  until  they  had 
seen  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  his  kingdom 
(comp.  Mark  ix.  1).  Let  it  not  be  said  that 
this  IS  not  the  Johannenn  'Epx^fi^oci — John's 
CPinlng  of  Christ.  This  would  be  as  if  this 
Evangelist  had  his  own  peculiar  Chr'st ;  as  if 
we  ought  not  to  look  in  him  for  a  perfect  agree- 
ment with  the  words  of  the  same  Christ,  which 
the  Synoptics  record.  Moreover,  and  as  far  as 
I  know  this  has  never  been  sufficiently  no- 
ticed, it  is  very  observable  that  that  promise 
was  given  at  the  very  time  when  Peter  was 
rebuked,  and  pointed  to  the  following  of  the 
cross.  This  expressed  and  repeated  reminder 
makes  in  fact  this  exposition  very  probable. 
Thus  it  was  understood  in  antiquity,  as  may 
be  seen  in  Theophylact;  Driiseke  rests  on  it 
(whose  keenly  exegetical  sermons  we  have  so 
often  cited),  and  so  also  does  Jacobi,  with  many 
others  among  the  practical  expositors.  We  may 
also  underlay,  if  so  disposed,  a  more  Johannean 
and  general  meaning  still ;  with  Von  Gerlach  : 
"  Even  to  the  consummation  of  the  Church." 
But  this  exposition  is  altogether  too  indefinite 
tor  such  a  meaning,  so  that  we  must  ask — 
How  comes  it  here?  ."We  must  understand 
and  establish  the  cl  -nological  element  in  this 
i'p;ff<30a:i,  to  whica  the  eooi  points  special 
attention,!  only  by  the  parallel  phraseology  of 
the  Synoptics.  We  find  here,  finally,  a  very 
plain  testimony  that  (to  adopt  the  old  canon 
of  Muratori)  John,  with  the  other  Evangelists, 
wrote  "  uno  ac  principal!  spiritu  de  gemino 
adventu" — even  referring  also  to  the  two-fold 
character  of  the  second  advent. t 


*  The  legend  about  his  breathing  in  the  grave, 
susceptible  of  a  beautiful  application,  is  this 
Xoyoi  which  John  retutes,  re-produced  in  an- 
other form.  See  J.  von  MuUer's  Lebcnsgcschichtc 
(Werke,  vi.  34,  74,  106)  fur  his  appearances  and 
the  expectation  that  he  would  come  a^ain  at  the 
end  ot  the  days.  So  Banga  ( Wiedcraxfrichtwjg 
Oc*  Reichs  Israel,  p.  83)  reckons  him  one  ol  the  two 
witnesses,  llev.  xi.  3. 

f  B.-Crusius  makes  all  too  indefinite — "  He  was 
to  see  I  he  victory  of  Christ's  cause;"  and  again — 
"  To  h.m,  iho  contemplative  Apostle,  an  insight 
into  the  develoi)meiit  of  that  cause  is  promised." 
Lmke,  admitting  the  manifest  refeienco  to  liis  fu- 
ture coming  to  judgment,  would  understand  the 
answer  of  Christ  in  the  light  of  the  notions  which 
were  then  prevalent  as  to  Is  vmr  approach.  It 
this  is  an  nc  ual  answer  of  Chiist  himself,  such  a 
thought  is  absoiuteiy  out  of  the  question. 

\  W.  Ilofmann  (Misiionsfragcn,  i.  215)  says : 
•"Ihero  is  but  one  word  in  the  Gospel  of  John 
(this  oue)  which  speak.--  ol  Chiiit's  leLuin,  uieauing 


Finally,  although  we  TrillinsTy  actnowTecfgw, 
on  account  of  the  parallel  in  Matt.  xvi.  23,  the 
reference  to  the  catastrophe  of  Jerusalem, 
which  John  survived,  and  therefore  saw  th* 
Lord's  kingdom  come  with  power,  yet  the  mat- 
ter does  not  seem  exhausted  or  definitely  settled 
by  that  reference.  For — taking  this  very  par- 
allel into  account — should  not  the  Anosna 
John,  as  here  contradistinguished  from  Poter, 
receive  a  promise  which  referred  peculiarly  to 
himself?  Can  we  suppose  the  Lord  to  have 
simply  numbered  him  with  those  certain  ones  to 
whom  the  promise  had  already  been  given? 
Thus  the  seeing  of  the  Lord  coming  in  his  judg- 
ment (for  to  this  end  he  was  so  long  to  remain) 
seems  still  to  indicate  something  exceptional 
for  himself — and  who  that  holds  the  Apr/calppsa 
to  be  John's  (as  it  truly  is)  would  not  think  of 
(hat  ?  In  this  Apocalypse  John  "  beh^'ld  in 
these  events  the  Lord's  coming" — and  can 
we  think  that  "  it  was  not  meant  directly  or 
subordinately?"  (Luthardt).  We  think  that 
that  in  which  a  prediction  is  proved  to  be  so 
perfectly  fulfilled,  must  have  been  itself  from 
the  beginning  intended.  Shortly  before  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  almost  contempora- 
neously, but  anticipating  it,  "  came"  the  Lord 
for  John  inasmuch  as  he  manifeded  to  him  his 
coming,  and  made  him  the  witness  of  the  sub- 
lime Behold,  J  come!  which  pervades  the  entire 
Revelation.  We  will  not  extract  the  profound 
and  exhaustive  note  of  Bengel  upon  the  ^&'J 
epxofiai ;  but  we  will  refer  to  it,  and  without 
hesitation  avow  that  we  perfectly  agree  with  it- 
Nothing  but  this  last  reference  seems  to  us  to 
correspond  perfectly  with  the  word  of  the  Lord 
concerning  John,  because  it  alone  altogether 
marks  out  his  personality  in  relation  to  that  of 
Peter. 

For  the  two  personalities  of  Peter  and  John 
in  this  history  and  discourse  are  a  ty^ie  of  uni- 
versal significance  :  this  sets  the  seal  upon  our 
understanding  of  the  whole.  Every  thing  spe- 
cial in  relation  to  these  two  disciples  "becomes 
to  us  universal,  when  we  come  to  Christ,  and 
thereby  enter  the  circle  of  the  disciples" — a3 
Rudelbach  excellently  says.  The  historical 
persons  of  these  two — in  this  narrative  and 
every  where  to  the  end — how  sharply  defined 
do  they  stand  before  us  !  The  common  saying 
— in  part  justifiable,  especially  in  relation  to 
John  xix.  26,  27 — which  makes  John  the  dis- 
ciple of  love,  does  not  hold  good  in  any  sense  of 
contrast  to  Peter.  Here  Peler  is  the  loving, 
John  the  beloved,  disciple;  although  the  former 
could  love  only  as  being  loved,  and  the  latter 
be  loved  only  as  loving.  Peter  is  the  acting, 
John  the  conieinjilalive  disciple — as  is  seen  in 
vcr.  7  of  this  narrative.     Peter  is  energetic  ex- 


tieither  the  final  judgment  nor  the  spiritual  coming 
through  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  this  wo  rgtee,  but. 
not  with  his  further  remark,  that  all  the  d:s- 
cour.sos  of  the  Lord  taken  together  <:ive  us  no 
clear  view  of  the  dis'Jnction  between  a  second  or 
iiitei  mediate  coming  and  the  final  one.  The  dia* 
tiuctiou  is  in  this  passage  clear  enough. 


JOHN  XXI.  15-22. 


793 


eernally,  John  internally  profound— therefore 
the  former  is  restlessly  moved,  the  latter  in- 
wardly still.  The  longer  Peter  lives,  the  more 
conflict  and  trouble  is  there  in  his  work  (so  to 
Paul  also,  who  stands  with  him  in  this)— and 
finally  the  cross  But  to  John  is  the  waiting 
promised  ;  that  is,  assuredly,  a  still  abiding  and 
holding  out  in  the  bloodless  martyrdom  of  re- 
nunciation of  the  world ;  less  affected  by  the 
conflicts  and  tribulations  of  the  age,  he  wan- 
ders calmly  through  all  toward  eternity.  Peter 
is  the  beginning,  John  the  end,  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  apostolical  office;  to  the  former 
IS  the  cross,  to  the  latter  the  revelation,  pro- 
raised  by  the  Lord.  What  Peter  founds  is 
maintained  and  consummated  in  its  deepest 
meaning  by  John.  And  according  to  this  are 
developed,  as  Lange  says,  "  the  two  most  essen- 
tial fundamental  characteristics  of  Christ's  gov- 
ernment of  his  Church  in  this  world,  in  the  con- 
trast of  ilie  Fetrine  and  the  Johannean  type  of  the 
Church"*  The  Johannean  type,  that  is,  "  ex- 
fcibits  the  Church  in  her  calm  depth,  in  her 
eagle-like  hovering  above  the  world,  in  her 
spiritual,  angelic  concealment;  as  she  suffers 
indeed  tiie  deepest  sufferings  of  Christ  in  her 
inmost  lile,  but  withdraws  from  the  e.\ternal 
persecutions  of  a.  rude  world,  not  through 
unfaithfulness  or  avoidance  of  suffering,  but 
through  the  heavenly  purity  and  elevation  of 
her  nature."  We  may  in  a  certain  sense  say 
that  John  is  the  "  invisible  Church  "  (as  the 
doubtful  word  now  runs)  concealed  still  in  the 
bosom  of  her  Lord,  abiding  in  her  Patmos 
while  the  storms  rage  around. f  But  we  must 
rot,  like  Fikenscher,  give  up  entirely  the  his- 
lorico-personal  reference  of  the  word  to  John 
himseli,  and  give  it  a  merely  mystical  interpre- 
tation ;  '•  This  John,  that  is,  the  invisible 
Church  must  remain  until  the  Lord  comes,  that 
is,  never  die  because  it  cannot  die."J  Against 
all  such  hasty  and  superficial  interpretation 
ver.  23  is  directed,  with  its  plain  and  direct  re- 
ference to  the  word  spoken  for  this  disciple. 
That,  on  the  other  hand,  is  true  in  itself  which 
Lange  (Sttul.u.  Krit.  1839,  i.  59,  60)  intimates 
conjerning  the  Johannean,  Church  which  will 
become  prominent  at  the  end  of  the  days,  be- 
fore the  Lord  properly  comes.  But  "this  is 
nothing  more  than  what  many  have  from  the 


*  Jn  this  there  is  something  much  more  deeply 
and  essentially  true  than  iu  our  modern  exagger- 
ated notion  of  the  Petriue  and  the  Pauline  in  the 
history  of  the  Church. 

■f  For  the  Seer  teslifips  and  will  be  seen  and 
known  ;  the  wait.ng  for  the  luture  is  present.  The 
Johannean  element  in  the  Church  i- — in  opposi- 
tion to  Lange's  v.ew  of  an  ideal,  free,  and  eter- 
nal community — manifest  and  selt-appioving  from 
the  beginning. 

:|:  In  p.  208  Fikenscher  makes  the  misunder- 
standing consist  expressly  in  the  assumption  that 
Jesus  spoke  of  a  bodily  death.  John  left  it  for 
the  spiritual  mind  to  perceive  the  spiritual  and 
mystical  interpretation.  But  the  type  would  then 
Le  baseless  without  historical  fouadatioa. 


beginning  perceived,  and  the  mystically  deep 
doctrine  and  words  of  John  belong  to  a  period 
of  consummation  ;  that  his  Gospel,  and  still 
more  his  Apocalypse,  was  written  for  full 
understanding  in  the  future.  This  finally  justi- 
fies the  typical  truth  of  the  significant  word  of 
Jesus  for  the  continued  life  of  John  in  the 
spirit,  and  for  his  breathing  in  his  seeming 
grave.  Yea,  verily,  our  John  is  never  to  be 
buried,  or  put  to  death,  or  bound;  he  continues 
to  live— though  it  might  appear  in  our  ii me, 
only  in  a  few  poor  books  and  minds — and  tes- 
tifies for  the  Church  of  the  future,  silently  pre- 
paring herself  for  her  revelation  and  work. 

Let  every  man  think  this  out.  We  only  say 
further — returning  to  the  practical  details — 
Let  every  man  take  to  himself  the  word  which 
suits  him  ;  either  that  which  was  given  to 
Peter  concerning  the  crucifixion  of  self-will 
which  must  be  perfect— or  the  other  promise  to 
John,  who  was  as  willing  to  follow  as  Peter 
was,  and  silently  prepared  to  do  so,  but  for 
whom  the  Lord  appointed  another  way.*  If 
any  Petev — as  is  often  repeated — is  tempted, 
in  sympathizing  love  to  the  soul  of  his  brother 
John,  blended  with  curiosity,  to  ask.  Lord  what 
for  this  man?  let  him  learn  from  the  Lord'a 
reply  to  meet  his  own  cross  in  labor  and  siiffer- 
ing  obedience,  while  others  by  his  side  go  calm- 
ly to  meet  their  revelation.  Whatever  the  Lord 
may  have  said  during  this  manifestation  after 
the  word  to  Peter,  is  passed  over  by  John,  who 
thus  ends  the  apocalyptical  supplement,  and 
the  Gospel  itself.  There  could  scarcely  have 
been  much  more  said,  for  the  "until  I  come," 
seems  to  be  spoken  just  belore  another  vanish- 
ing, which  typified  the  final  disappearance  at 
the  ascension.  Yet  we  admit  the  probability 
of  that  which  Ebrard  confidently  concludes, 
that  the  direction  to  meet  him  on  the  mountain, 
of  which  we  hear  nothing  elsewhere,  was  given 
here  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  j 

The  Gospel  of  John  ends,  as  we  are  con- 
vinced, with  the  subscription,  ver.  24,  down  to 
ypd^jai  zavra,  "  wrote  these  things."  The 
xai  oiSafiev,  "and  we  know,"  with  all  that 
follows  we  do  not  ascribe  to  the  Evangelist 
himself,  but  to  the,  as  it  were,  countersigning 
Church.  The  seal  of  her  testimony  to  the  his- 
torical truth  is  first  impressed  in  a  dignified 
and  weighty  manner  by  the  fiaprvpia  avrov, 


*  "  John  was  earlier  than  the  other  disciples 
prepared  for  the  death  of  martyrdom,  as  the  most 
perfect  sacrifice  of  obedience  to  God,  and  of  love 
to  God  and  man ;  but  that  was  the  very  reason 
why  he  was  not  to  taste  of  a  martyr's  de.ith. 
John  consummated  in  his  lile  and  natural  death 
what  the  martyrs  sealed  in  their  final  sacrifice, 
namely,  the  victorious  manifestation  of  the  lov«; 
of  God  and  man."  So  Christ.  Kiipplinger,  who 
makes  this  also  the  reason  why  all  endeavors  to 
put  him  to  a  violent  death  were  in  vain. 

f  There  are  oiher  suppositions  possible,  but 
not  what  Pl'enninger  imagines,  that  the  Lord  sev- 
eral times  appeared  to  various  disciples  expressly 
to  give  them  this  invitation. 


794 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


"his  witness,"  and  in  the  «/l7/0;;5  16tiv,  "is 
true,"  the  seal  of  her  hiu:her  internal  assurance 
of  truth  as  matter  of  faith.  But  then  (to  show 
the  distinction)  the  artlesa  oi^cci  of  supposi- 
tion (an  expression  impossible  to  John)  repro- 
duces the  tirst  conclusion  of  chap.  xx.  30,  in 
an  intensification  of  a  much  lower  character, 
though  not  without  its  depth  of  meaning* 
"  This  conclusion  does  not  speak  in  a  manner 
so  altogether  unintelligently  exaggerated  " — in 
this  Luthardt  is  riglit;  neverthelesi  the  au- 
thentic conclusion  of  the  Evangelist  himself  is 
in  much  purer  style,  and  in  a  higher  sense  preg- 
nant in  meaning.  Lange  brings  out  only  the 
lesser  and  negative  side  of  il  when  ho  says 
how  characteristic  it  is  "that  John  should 
close  his  Gospel  with  a  -word  which  removes 
the  taint  of  tiie  dishonoring  legend  from  his 
own  person  and  life,  in  order  to  exhibit  liis  own 
image  in  that  simple  glorification  which  the 
light  of  the  word  of  Ciirist  prepares  for  him." 
"  The  disciple  who  wrote  these  things  "  stands, 


rather,  in  the  shade  by  the  side  of  the  promi- 
nent Peter,  in  order  that  this  retirement  into 
the  background  may  become,  through  the  in- 
terpreting word  of  Christ,  a  sacred  obscurity 
out  of  which  the  voice  of  love  and  fellowship 
may  resound  into  the  ears  of  all  such  souls  as 
John's,  and  of  the  whole  Johannean  Churcli — 
i  So  let  us  bear  witness,  faithfully  hold  fast  the 
word  and  history  of  the  Lord,  tarrying  and 
waiting  for  his  coming.  Compare  the  same  con- 
clusion as  the  seal  of  the  whole  Scripture,  Pvev. 
xxii.  20,  21.  John  knew  full  well  that  and  in 
what  way  the  word  of  the  Lord  had  been  fal- 
filled  in  his  own  person.  He  leaves  it,  how- 
ever, in  sacred  obscurity,  that  he  may  not  .speak 
more  concerning  himself,  but  point  on.vaid  by 
this  word  of  further  applicatioa  tj  lis  own 
progressive  and  continual  fulfiUraeut.  The  final 
ri  Ttpoi  6s,  "  what  is  that  to  thoe?"  is  written 
also  for  all  Petrine  one-sided  misunderstanding 
of  the  Johannean  spirit  and  Lie. 


THE  COMIillSSION  AND  PROMISES :  MISSION,  BAPTISM,  PEEACHING. 
(Matt.xxyiii.  18-20;  Makk  xvi.  15-18.) 


Here  we  have  two  more  Gospel  conclusions, 

and  the  end  draws  near.  We  shall  alterwards 
see  that  Mark  sums  up  the  final  AaAfZ^,  or 
"speaking,"  of  the  Lord  in  a  manner  historic- 
ally indefinite;  but  Matthew,  giving  only  a 
hint  of  the  intervening  appearances  of  Jesus, 
hastens  according  to  his  design  to  the  great 
manifestation  upon  the  mountain  in  Galilee; 
which,  although  not  the  last  at  his  ascension, 
was  the  most  solemn  and  the  most  decisive  of 
all,  inasmuch  as  it  included  the  final  commis- 
sion and  promises  for  the  foundation  of  his 
Church.  Ttiough  Mark  xvi.  15-18  is  most 
probably  the  historical  parallel,  we  shall  for 
the  sake  of  clearness  and  certainty  expound 
the  text  of  Matthew,  and  then  supplement  it 
by  reference  to  that  of  Mark. 

In  vers.  7  and  10  "  the  mountain"  was  not 
specihed,  as  it  is  in  ver.  16 ;  consequently  the 
"appointed"  refers  to  an  intermediately  re- 
ceived and  more  definite  commandment,  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  a  mere  mediate  ap- 
pointment tiirough  others.     Thus  here  we  have 


"  Not  in  monstrous  hyperbole — as  Grimm  sppnks 
in  unholy  hyperbole  himself.  According  to  lla- 
maiin  John  here  sj>oke  the  trutli  of  his  heart — If 
lie  had  written  only  as  a  mm,  he  micht  never 
lijive  left  off  writing!  According  to  Weitzol — 
Enough  now  !  tor  absolute  completeness  i.s  a  thing 
hum.iily  impossible  to  be  achieved;  "with  some- 
thing hke  an  indisposedne.ss  to  viiieh  u-riting,  as 
l)pingnota  man  of  ielt"rs,  butof  Christian  deeds." 
Thisls  a  matter  of  feeling  :  such  a  turn  a.s  this  i.s 
most  ortensive  to  our  leeling  as  the  closing  word 
of  an  IJvangel  st. 


Matthew's  hint  that  he  does  not  record  all  the 
appearances.  What  mountain  this  was  we 
icnow  not.  Whether  the  probably  false  tradi- 
tion, which  appropriates  the  earlier  transfigura- 
tion to  Tabor,  was  derived,  as  Lange  thinks, 
from  this  present  event  and  tiiis  mountain 
being  confounded  with  that  former  one,  we  will 
not  pause  to  inquire;  nothing  can  be  estab- 
lished as  to  the  name  of  the  mountain,  nor  can 
any  specific  connection  with  the  history  of  thft 
transfiguration,  as  Hess  endeavors  to  trace  it,* 
be  determined.  !More  important  is  the  ques- 
tion whether,  as  Matthew  seems  to  say,  only 
the  eleven  were  present;  and  we  are  fully  pet- 
suaded  that  it  was  not  so,  but  that  the  ap- 
pearance here  recorded  was  that  which  took 
place  before  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  1 
Cor.  XV.  6.  Without  any  artifices!  of  expo- 
sition, it  is  plain  at  the  outset  that  according 
to  ver.  7  a  manifestation  of  Jesus  to  a  large 
number  at  once  (as  again  in  ver.  10  quite  gen- 
rally  to  the  Lord's  brethren,  see  on  John  xx. 
17),  and  even  for  the  women,  was  expressly 
promised.  As  by  the  mention  of  the  mountain 
in  Galilee  the  Evangelist  himself  refers  us  now 
to  these  directions    of  our   Lord,  the   promi- 


*  He  thinks  that  both  occurrences  Mere  cer- 
tainly on  the  same  mountain  ;  for  there  it  is  niTt- 
reiy  ini  npoCconov,  here  npvCHvvEiv  ;  there 
tear,  here  doubt;  iiiio6E\Qooy  jxirallel  in  both. 
Matt.  xvii.  9  is  interpreted  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  it  probable  that  the  disciples  would  say — 
We  saw  h.m  hero  thus  transfigured  before. 

t  As  the  conjecturi*  of  Mchaelis  :  Oi  Si  evSs* 
Ka  Kui  OL  fjiahtjrai. 


•MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


795 


nonce  given  to  the  eleven — o£  Si  svSsHa — loses 
in  its  connection  all  appearance  of  exclvisive- 
ness  ;  and  we  must  at  least  supplement  it  thus 
—They  went  to  the  place  which  Jesus  had  ap- 
nointed  to  them  in  common  with  all  the  rest. 
Thus  we  find  this  highest  and  central  manifes- 
tation prepared  for  in  Matthew  :  by  the  pro- 
mise of  Jesus  before  his  death,  chap.  xxvi.  32 
— by  the  direction  of  the  angel,  chap,  xxviii.  7 
— by  the  Lord's  confirmation,  chap,  xxviii.  10. 
Now  follows  at  length  the  fulfillment.  Paul 
most  expressly  attests  the  fact  of  such  a  gen- 
eral assembly  ;  and  can  we  suppose  that  the 
Evangelists  collectively  would  have  kept  si- 
lence about  such  an  appearance  ?  Not  without 
purpose  was  the  Lord's  specification  of  a  moun- 
tain, as  a  scene  befitting  so  large  a  number. 
Further,  the  evident  solemnity  of  the  dis- 
course, vers.  18-20  (yea,  ver.  17  itself,  as  we 
shall  see)  was  appropriate,  as  our  feeling  must 
admit,  only  to  such  a  larger  assembly  as  would 
represent  the  entire  discipleship.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  Matthew  gives  such  prominence  to 
this  manifestation,  which  actually  possessed 
that  character  of  finality  and  farewell  with 
•which  it  is  here  at  the  close  of  all  invested. 
That  he  gave  such  prominence  to  the  eleven  as 
the  "  leaders  of  the  discipleship,"  as  the  Apos- 
tles, whose  commission  and  promises  were  now 
chiefly  concerned,  was  perfectly  natural ;  for 
he  apprehended  no  misunderstanding  of  his  ac- 
count, as  standing  in  such  connection,  and 
being  the  matter  of  such  living  tradition.  We 
agree  with  Olshausen,  that  this  great  assembly 
of  those  who  were  gathered  together  by  the 
Risen  Shepherd  from  their  dispersion,  this  sol- 
emn assembly  announced  so  long  beforehand, 
promised  in  such  various  ways,  and  at  last  ap- 
pointed by  the  definition  of  the  precise  place, 
"included,  it  may  be  supposed,  all  who  were 
at  that  time  believers  in  the  Lord."  That  is  to 
say,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  gaUier  them 
together  in  one  place.  And  that  he  should 
show  himself  to  this  little  existing  Church  as 
risen,  was  a  grace  which  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  Lord.  We  do  rot  indeed  say  with 
Hess,  as  if  he  was  still  subject,  as  before,  to  the 
conditions  of  time  and  space,  "  He  could  not 
visit  them  all  individually."  But  we  regard 
this  meeting  with  all  in  one  assembly,  instead 
of  such  individual  visitations,  alone  worthy  of 
our  Lord's  dignity,  and  suitable  to  the  nature 
of  the  case. 

Kinkel,  the  denier  of  our  Lord's  ascension 
after  an  interval  of  forty  days,  regards  the 
meeting  mentioned  by  Paul  to  have  been  com- 
composed  of  too  large  a  number  for  times  pre- 
ceding the  Pentecost,  and  would  therefore  place 
it  as  far  forward  as  possible.  This  of  course  is 
consistent  with  his  pre-conceived  views,  but  is 
utterly  destitute  of  all  grounds. 

In  this  view  the  doubling  of  ver.  17  (comp. 
chap.  xiv.  31)  will  cause  us  no  difficulty.  We 
need  neither  a.ssume,  v/ith  Beza,  o\.8e  instead 
of  oL  Ss  ;  nor,  according  to  a  later  theory  {St. 
u.  Kr.  1843,  i.  12i)  read  SudraSay  or  die- 
6zTj6av,  as  if  the  saying  referred  to  an  amazed 


separation  of  some  from  the  rest,  instead  of 
joining  in  the  TtpodHwelv,  or  "  worshipping." 
It  does,  indeed,  appear  unimaginable  that  any 
of  the  eleven  Apostles  should  have  doubted, 
especially  alter  all  that  Luke  and  John  have  so 
expressly  recorded.  But  Matthew  is  not  thus 
to  be  understood  ;  he  gives  us,  as  Ebrard 
rightly  says,  an  intimation  in  this  circumstance 
that  many  others  were  present  with  the  eleven. 
The  Ird^aro  avroU,  "appointed  unto  them," 
itself,  after  all  the  antecedents,  was  much  more 
general,  and  meant  not  of  the  eleven  only  ; 
connecting  his  words  with  this  he  continues  by 
oi  ds,  "some,"  without  any  previous  ^wfV,  in- 
stead of  TtvE?  ds,  as  we  confidently  assume, 
with  Fritzsche  and  Winer — quite  similar  to 
Matt.  xxvi.  67.  The  argument  which  had  been 
brought  against  this  is  baseless;  particularly 
is  that  one  baseless  which  is  derived  from  the 
fact  that  "  TtpodhvvEly  is  to  be  understood 
ordi/  of  bodily  prostration,"  and  that  that  alono 
was  matter  of  scruple.  It  is  simply  thus: 
The  eleven  especially  (and  many  with  them), 
when  they  saw  him,  worshipped  (rtpo6EHt.vr]- 
6av,  the  avr(^  may  be  spurious),  that  is,  they 
fell  down  in  adoration  (since  it  certainly  in- 
cludes mora  than  ver.  9  previously)  ;  but  sojne, 
who  are  marked  as  relatively  few  by  the  oi  de, 
douhted.  Doubted  ichai  f  We  say  with  Eb- 
rard, "  not  whether  Christ  was  risen,  but  only 
whether  this  was  the  Christ,  manifesting  him- 
self." For  although  they  had  followed  the 
summons  to  the  mountain,  and  had  been  in  the 
company  of  the  Apostles  and  brethren  who 
had  already  seen  the  Lord,  they  might  when 
they  themselves  saw  him  first,  especially  if 
standing  at  a  distance,  "  distrust  their  eyes  " 
n  astonishment;  or  iail  to  believe  at  once, 
simply  through  wonder  and  joy.*  This  is  in 
the  highest  degree  natural,  and  a  trait  of  great 
significance  in  the  very  short  account  of  Mat- 
thew :  he  does  not  by  any  means  "  leave  a  sting 
in  the  minds  of  his  readers  at  the  close  of  his 
Gospel;"  but  testifies  the  glory  of  this  mani- 
festation of  our  Lord,  and  the  benignity  with 
which  he  condescended  to  glorify  himself  in 
blessing  before  the  weaker,  nay,  the  weakest  of 
his  disciples. t 


*  Hasse:  "For  the  moment  (Aor.)  they  vi- 
brated between  assurance  and  doubt  whether  it 
was  he."  But  he  makes  this  the  re.sult  of  the 
glorified  form  in  which  the  Risen  Lord  appeared. 

t  Grotius  violates  the  text  when  he  translates — 
They  had  (earlier,  hitherto)  doubted ;  and  even 
Jul.  von  Muller  says — They  doubted  until  he  cnme, 
not  afterwards.  But  if  they  had  come  as  doubt- 
ers, where  would  be  the  antithesis  to  "worship- 
ped ;"  why  did  not  these  convinced  doubters  at 
once  fall  down  before  hira  like  Thomas  1  To 
think  of  any  scruple  as  to  the  measure  of  honor 
due  to  Clirist,  and  understand  the  8i6rd'^Eiy  as 
meaning  a  doubt  whether  he  should  be  the  ol>ject  of 
nfio6HvyEiv  (as  Lange  does,  finding  here  "  iho 
first  elements  of  the  Ebionite  mind  "),  and  farther 
to  regard  the  Lord  as  an.swering  that  doubt  in  ver. 
18,  a'bsuring  them  that  the/  were  right  in  wor- 


796 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


Jesus  came  down,  tbat  is,  nearer  to  them, 
more  close  to  the  circle  or  halt-circle  which 
gathered  around  him:  this  and'his  great  words 
were  sufficient  to  remove  all  doubt.  Pfennin- 
ger  (whose  general  delicacy  of  feeling  is  not 
without  its  exceptions)  very  improperly  imag- 
ines that  "he  walked  graciously  around  among 
the  multitude,  addressed  many  special  words  to 
individuals,  approached  this  man  and  that  with 
hints  and  words  of  love  which  suppressed  the 
risings  of  involuntary  doubt."  Such  too  con- 
fidential demeanor  towards  them  is  not  in 
harmony  with  bis  appearances  generally,  and 
certainly  not  with  this  one  in  particular ;  we 
must  entirely  refrain  therefore  from  all  such 
details.  npo6E\^oc)v—t\<xXr]6Ey—XEy  oa  v  , 
"  came,"  "  spake,"  "  saying,"  are  inseparably 
connected  in  the  majesty  of  this  appearance; 
and  this  decisive  itfjodeXOaJv  forbids  us  to  find 
here  in  the  following  words  of  Matthew  (as  in 
Mark)  any  thing  like  a  compendious  summary 
of  the  Lord's  discourses,  previously  and  sub- 
sequently spoken.  This  confuses  the  whole 
scene,  takes  away  from  the  word  which  was 
delivered  its  immediate  historical  truth,  and 
is  contrary  to  the  express  testimony  of  the 
Evangelist.  Even  Mcu-k,  who  does  thus  com- 
pendiously unite  chap.  xvi.  15  with  ver.  14, 
only  gives  us  what  was  spoken  upon  the  moun- 
tain in  Galilee,  at  this  great  manifestation  ;  we 
must  not  so  misunderstand  ver.  19  in  his  ac- 
count as  to  make  it  a  confusion  of  this  moun- 
tain with  the  Mount  of  Olives.* 


All  power  is  given  -dnto  me  in  heaven 
AND  UPON  EAP.Tn.  What  a  word  is  this  ! 
What  a  greeting  I  What  a  foundation  for  all 
that  follows  I  This  is  far  more  than  a  govern- 
ment of  teaching,  which  heaven  needs  not. 
Upon  earth  he  is  King,  Lord,  Saviour;  hath 
power  over  all  flesh  to  give  life  (John  xvii.  2) 
— over  all  sinners  to  save  them — over  nature, 
that  all  its  powers  may  serve  him  and  his 
people  (see  Mark) — that  "this  earth,  upon  which 
he  stands,  may  thus  become  heaven.  In  heaven, 
whither  he  will  shortly  go,  all  things  are  simi- 
larly subject  to  him  for  the  service  of  his  king- 
dom upon  earth  ;  especially  has  he  power  to 
Bend  down  from  above  his  Spirit  in  holy  influ- 
ence and  government — hence  iy  ovijayGj,  "in 
heaven,"  as  the  origin,  ground,  and  scat  of  his 
domimon,  must  coTne  first.  As  to  his  govern- 
ment over  all  the  nations  upon  earth  (which 


shipping  him — all  this  is  altogether  alien  to  the 
spirit  of  the  passase.  Thus  mnch  is  true,  that 
the  iiubHmo  icords  which  followed  would  bo  Rufli- 
cient  without  further  evidence  to  lake  away  all 
doubt  as  to  tiie  identity  of  tliis  manifestation  with 
the  Risen  Lord ;  as  Bengol  in  his  Germ.  N.  T. 
remaiks,  "  Those  who  set  right  by  what  follows  " 
— better  than  in  his  Gnomon,  "  Tlie  Peatecost  took 
away  wiiatever  doubt  inig/tt  remain.' 

•  In  th3  Gr.  Evatuj.  Nicod.  the  ascension  takes 
place  on  this  Galileau  mouutaia. 


are  presently  mentioned)  the  word  refers  back 
to  Dan.  vii.  13,  14.  where   it  is  \chpy  Sept. 

^PXV — here,  more  comprehensively,  as  includ- 
ing heaven,  tlov6ia.  (Otherwise  the  com- 
mencement there  an'_  nfjl— waz  avrco  iSoQij 

perfectly  corresponds  with  kSoOrj  /not.)  All 
power  eveyi  in  heaven  :  that  goes  still  further 
and  higher,  contains  literally  in  the  briefest 
and  sublimest  words  what  apostolic:il  teaching 
afterwards  developed  from  them,  Eph.  i.  20-22  ; 
Col.  ii.  10 ;  1  Pet.  iii.  22,  etc.,  concerning  the  ex- 
altation of  the  Son  of  Man,  grounded  upon  the 
resurrection,  but  completed  in  the  ascension 
which  necessarily  belonged  to  it.  All  the  angels 
worship  him,  even  as  man  upon  earth  ;  the 
Father  alone  is  excepted,  who  hath  given  to  the 
Son  this  power,  in  the  unity  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
So  also  in  hell,  in  the  kingdom  of  death  under 
the  earth,  whence  the  Risen  Lord  hath  come, 
he  hath  all  power;  but  he  includes  this  latent- 
ly in  the  ini  yi}?,  "on  earth"  (speaking  ac- 
cording to  Gen.  i.  1),  because  he  is  going  on  to 
speak  of  the  founding  of  his  kingdom  upon 
earth  ;  because  he  leaves  out  hell  as,  although 
still  existent,  yet  to  be  destroyed  in  his  victory: 
and  because  he  is  about  to  proclaim  the  way 
of  salvation  and  grace  only  for  those  upon  the 
earth.  This  is  the  meek  and  lowly  Son  of  Man, 
who  attributes  to  this  his  own  human  per.<on, 
as  it  stands  humanly  before  the  eyes  of  the  dis- 
ciples, divine  power  over  all  the  world,  and 
therefore  divinity.*  "  The  mightiest  prince  of 
earth  knows  well  that  he  only  for  a  short 
space  has  a  piece  of  the  earth's  surface  under 
his  swaj"- — and  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head,  says — To  me  is  given 
all  power  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  "  (Scho- 
naich).  For  the  time,  after  having  bowed  his 
head  upon  the  cross  and  lifted  it  up  again, 
he  only  walks  with  his  feet  upon  earth,  his 
head  is  already  on  high. 

Yet  be  qualifiers,  as  was  fit,  the  greatness  ol 
this  word  in  a  human  mouth  by  the  'ESvOrj, 
is  given,  which  in  the  humility  of  his  ma- 
jesty is  necessarily  placed  first.  He  might  in- 
deed, according  to  Jonn  x.  IS  and  xvii.  5,  have 
said — I  now  take  back  my  divine  power  over 
heaven  and  earth  ;  but  he  speaks  otherwise  in 
order  to  express,  as  Draseke  says,  that  "  it  had 
not  been  assumed,  enforced,  or  v.'rongly  ob- 
tained " — The  Father  as  the  real  giver  hath 
given  it  to  me.  He  gave  it  already  from  eter- 
nity to  the  Eternal  Son,  as  we  have  read  also  in 
Matt.  xi.  27.  But  now  also  in  his  humanity, 
as  the  Ood-man,  which  scholastic  term,  though 
it  was  beyond  Scripture,  is  nevertheless  almost 
literally  contained  in  this  saying  (as  well  as  in 
Col.  ii.  9).  This  kScQri  regards  the  ascension 
as  already  come,  as  if  it  was  spoken  on  his  de- 
parture; but  wo  must  not,  with  Kinkel,  press 


*  In  connection  with  ver.  17,  as  Zinzendorf 
paraphrases  :  "  It  must  l>o  so;  with  .^ll  my  lowli- 
ness I  must  declare  it,  that  a  1  creatut^s  in.  heaven 
and  earth  may  fall  down  before  mo,  that  ye  may 
bow  your  knees:  It  must  be  so — I  -m  Le." 


MATTHEW  XXVIll.  18-20. 


79T 


the  word  too  far,  and  assume  that  it  must  al- 
ready have  taken  place.  Nor  must  we,  like  Von 
Gerlach,  contradict  the  •'^crlptu^e  and  say  that 
"the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  not  his  ascen- 
sion, was  his  entrance  into  the  new,  eternal, 
divine,  and  heavenly  life,  as  in  it  all  power  in 
heaven  and  upon  earth  was  already  given  to 
him." 

Luther's  translation  has  well  expressed  the 
sense  by  the  therefore  ;  the  oZv*  is  not  genuine, 
but  an  excellent  gloss,  as  expressing  the  real 
connection  between  ver.  IS  and  ver.  19.  Yes, 
verily,  therefore — because  I  am  the  Lord,  all 
power  is  mine ;  go  forth  and  bring  all  into 
subjection  to  me.  It  cannot  be  otherwise,  this 
must  in  the  end  take  place.  (Meyer's  note: 
"  I  am  the  ruler  of  the  world ;  therefore  faith 
in  me  must  conquer.")  Pfenninger's  words 
are  very  restrained:  "Thus  he  would  be  the 
teacher  and  master  of  all  peoples,"  and  he 
derives  this  from  the  Lord's  words  being  not 
VII  or  d.%a.T  E,  subject — but  jttaOr/r  avGare, 
teach;  but  we  understand  from  Mark's  plainer 
words  that  he  is  more  than  a  teacher  and 
master,  that  he  is  also  the  King  and  the  Judge. 
Now  indeed,  it  is  his  will  that  the  word  of 
faith  should  offer  all  men  salvation. f  There- 
fore this  supreme  Potentate,  who  will  not  as 
yet  otherwise  exert  his  power,  sends  su-h  mes- 
sengers among  the  nations — "  he  attacnes  the 
exercise  of  his  saving  authority  to  the  ministry 
of  their  word"  ("as  some  one  has  said,  but  we 
would  add :  He  does  not  altogether  attach  the 
exercise  of  his  power  to  that  alone.) 

UopevQavTEi,  Go  YE  !  This  has  here  in  its 
wide  glance  overall  nations  a  mighty  emphasis, 
and  says  to  the  Apostles  in  person  especially, 
but  also  to  those  who  should  continue  their 
uncompleted  mission  with  the  same  office  and 
commission,  and  to  the  whole  missionary  Church 
as  such,  that  there  must  be  no  pause  or  restric- 
tion, no  rest  or  satisfaction  with  any  thing  that 
is  won,  until  the  word  of  the  kingdom  is  car- 
ried over  all  the  earth.  See  what  has  already 
been  said  upon  the  preliminary  and  similar 
Go  ye  and  -preach,  Matt.  x.  7 ;  this  holds  good 
now  in  a  much  more  comprehensive  sense  of 
the  progressing,  penetrating,  unresting,  un- 
limited character  of  the  Christian  Church  and 
its  messengers,  ministers,  representatives,  who 
must  extend  it  every  where,  and  every  where 
establish  its  new  foundations.^  Israel  never  in 
the  Old  Testament  received  such  a  command- 
ment to  go  forth;  not  till  its  last  dispersion  be- 
fore Christ  was  a  kind  of  mission  among  the 
Gentiles  pre-typified  and  prepared.  (But  see, 
on  the  other  hand,  what  was  said  upon  Matt, 
xxiii.  15,  of  self-originating,  arbitrary,  and  pre- 
mature mission-work.) 


*  Instead  of  this  we  must  not  put  vvv. 

■{•  To  ofTer  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
(Luke  xxiv.  47) — which  Lange  calls  the  "  calm, 
gentle,  divine-human,  and  spiritual  character  of 
his  power." 

X  Travelling  preachers  means  more  than  preach- 
ing travellers,  as  Lange  excellently  remarks. 


Malce  disciples  (concerning  which  significant 
juaOrfrevELv  we  must  speak  presently  at  length) 
as  ye  now  are  my  disciples,  in  order  that 
many  may  become  what  ye  have  become  (Acts 
xxvi.  29).  By  this  it  is  proleptically  pre-sup- 
posed  that  these  disciples  themselves  are  to  be 
made  perfectly  such  through  the  Spirit  after 
the  ascension  ;  it  is  not,  as  is  sometimes  said, 
that  they  are  ideally  considered  to  be  so  al- 
ready. And  now  this  word  implies  that  every 
one  who  assumes  this  commission  to  himself,  is 
imperatively  required  to  become  such  a  perfect 
disciple.  And  whom  are  they  to  make  disciples 
— whom  are  they  called  and  commissioned  to 
endeavor  at  least,  with  all  their  might,  to  con- 
vert, if  so  be  they  may  succeed  ?  All  peoples. 
What  a  word  is  this  from  bis  mouth,  upon  this 
Galilean  mountain,  and  spoken  to  this  little 
company  surrounding  the  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth  !  What  a  task  !  We  cannot  say  at  once 
with  Neander,  that  the  Lord  here  "  reminded 
them  anew  of  their  calling  to  proclaim  the  Gos- 
pel among  all  nations,  and  incorporate  men  of 

I  all  races  into  his  fellowship  and  community  by 
baptism  ;  "  for  where  had  he  said  this  so  plain- 
ly anif  decisively  ?  By  hints  and  in  pre-supposi- 
tions  this  had  been  many  times  spoken  of :  it 
was  intended  in  the  mission  of  John  xx.  21 ; 
but  how  first  does  he  openly  declare  it  as  the 
commission  of  all  who  belong  to  him  and  are 
his  dependents?  Mark — not  merely  the  Apos- 
tles. But  we  say  once  more :  Even  if  ten  thou- 
sand surrounded  him,  reckoning  among  them 
the  best  of  the  world's  wise  and  great — what  a 
task !  The  wisdom  and  power  of  the  whole 
combined  world  is  far  too  weak  to  win  one 
man  to  the  discipleship  of  our  Lord  Christ; 
and  this  whole  world  is  itself  first  to  be  won. 
Without  ver.  18  preceding,  ver.  19  would  be 
an  inconceivable  thing;  therefore  he  placed  it 
first — 2'o  me  is  the  power  given,  and  in  this 
power  I  send  you  not  in  vain.  2h  me,  not  to 
those  who  are  called  the  ap^ojTf  s  tov  k66,uov 
in  any  sense,  who  pervert  their  physical  or 
spiritual  power  against  my  kingdom,  who, 
alas !  will  in  future  time  refuse  to  learn  of  me 
what  is  the  true  l\ov6iay  and  what  its  proper 
use.  Nevertheless  to  me  is  the  power  forever 
given  over  and  against  them,  but  on  behalf  of 
all  who  will  learn  and  submit.  Satan,  the  high- 
est Ko6f.io}{p<xta}p  with  his  spirits,  tongues, 
serpents,  poisons,  diseases,  shall  not  hurt  or 

j  hinder  you,  because  ye  go  forth  in  the  power 
which  I  promise  and  give  over  to  you. 

How  are  we  then  more  strictly  to  understand 
Ttdyza  td  eQvt/,  "all  [the]  nations?"  Cer- 
tainly all  the  Gentiles  are  first  meant,  so  that 
the  limitation  of  chap.  x.  5,  6  is  now  expressly 
withdrawn.  This  contains,  therefore,  a  strong 
and  absolute  protest  against  that  philosophy  of 
nature  and  history  which  represents  that  the 
races  of  mankitid  must  struggle  through  ages 
of  progression  into  the  "  development  of  a  per- 
fect religion,"  to  the  out-birth  of  the  "  God- 
man."  The  measure  of  truth  which  is  in  all 
these  speculations  (and  which  we  do  not  deny) 
found  its  realization  when  the  fulncis  of  iimi 


79S 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES 


tens  come,  after  heathenism  had  run  thron,2;h  its 
paedagogic  course  before  the  appearance  of 
Christ;  and  the  same  may  holds  good  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  Gospel  as  a  pnsdagogic  and 
long-forbearing  dispensation,  during  which  the 
mission  among  the  heathen  only  by  degrees 
reaches  its  consummation.  But  we  must  main- 
tain and  hold  fast  that  all  nations  were  essen- 
tially ripe  for  the  Gospel  when  the  Lord  uttered 
his  "  Disciple  all  nations ;"  and  the  missionary 
Church  has  never  since  had  authority  to  say 
concerning  any  people  of  the  earth  that  it  must 
wait,  or,  without  the  Lord's  own  prevention 
(as  in  Acts  xvi.  6),  to  deny  to  it  the  Gospel. 
This  great  and  decisive  word  impels  us  rather 
to  perpetual  new  endeavors  ;  it  commands  us 
to  announce  a  manifested  and  present  salvation 
in  places  and  aniong  people  where  the  abomi- 
nations of  fetish  superstition  have  assumed 
developments  removed  to  the  very  utmost  from 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  Our  lofty  confidence 
that  nations  may,  by  our  preaching,  make  the 
one  leap  Irom  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  may 
appear  in  the  eyes  of  that  speculation  sheer 
folly  ;*  but  our  faith  knows  that  the  Lcyd  of 
heaven  and  earth  has  the  right,  and  that  the 
true  God-man,  come  down  from  above,  knows 
the  races  of  men  which  are  prepared  for  him 
and  are  his  possession.  There  has  been  an  echo 
to  the  truth  ready  to  respond  in  every  human 
heart  since  the  fall  ;  a  power  against  Satan, 
who  holds  the  nations  in  fetters,  a  grace  and 
gift  of  redemption,  which  can  outrun  all  natural 
processes  of  development,  has  never  been  want- 
irio;  since  the  Redeemer  has  gone  up  and  ob- 
tained his  gifts  even  lor  the  rebellious.  He  is 
now  himself  the  way,  and  the  end  of  the  way,  in 
one. 

So  much  concerning  the  Gentiles,  of  ^yhom 
the  t^yri  leads  us  of  course  first  to  think.  But 
as  to  hraell  We  find  a  very  incorrect  inter- 
pretation of  the  word  current,  which  Helferich 
has  reproduced  -.  "  The  loss  of  the  .Jews  was  to 
be  the  good  of  the  Gentiles  ;  llie  unbelief  of  the 
Jews  was  to  result  in  the  faith  of  the  Gentiles. 
Israel  had  rejected  the  Saviour  altogether. 
Jesus  had  said  to  the  house  of  Jacob — My 
peace  be  with  you!  but  the  children  of  the 
house  had  proved  unworthy  of  that  peace  ;  his 
discipks  were  to  cast  the  dust  off  their  feet,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  Gentiles  instead." 
This  is  as  if  this  commandment  of  the  Lord 
was  already  and  at  once  similar  to  that  after- 
wards given  in  Acts  xxii.  18,  21,  which  itself  is 
to  be  interpreted  only  in  harmony  with  Rom. 
xi.  13,  14.  Although  many  from  the  bei^inning 
have  thus  strangely  understood  the  wonl  i-^vrj, 
it  is  nevertheless  absolutely  false.  That  would 
be  as  \i  here  already ,  before  the  Pentecost,  before 


*  Comp.  my  Kcnjktik.  2(1  ed.  p.  100.  Let  such 
book.'s  as  Wultke's  masterly  Geschichte  des  Jleuhn- 
thums  be  studied,  tliat  we  may  imdcrstand  how 
the  divine  pmcrr  which  appoints  that  the  Gospel 
shou'd  1)3  offered  at  once  to  all  nations  is  ojiposed 
to  ths  theory  of  a  self-deve'oping  orgaoUra  of 
Luman  seeking  and  striving  in  error. 


their  judgment,  the  Lord  had  unconditionally 
given  up  Israel.  In  fact,  Israel  is  now,  and 
tor  all  the  future  included  among  the  nations, 
as  Mark's  parallel  ".into  all  the  world"  shows, 
and  here  also  the  preceding  "  and  in  earth." 
According  to  Luke  xxiv.  47,  the  preaching 
among  all  nations  was  to  begin  at  Jerusalem  ; 
according  to  Acts  i.  8  they  were  to  be  hi3 
witnesses  to  Jerusalem,  and  throughout  Ju- 
d.iea  and  Samaria,  and  thence  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  With  similar  comprehensive- 
ness Simeon  had  spoken  in  the  beginning  of 
the  New  Testament,  Luke  ii.  31,  32.  But 
it  is  in  the  highest  degree  significant  that  in 
this  wide  glance  Israel,  unclothed  of  his  pre- 
rogative, is  no  longer  specificalljr  nameci,  is 
merged  in  the  new  and  universal  aOvoi  which 
is  the  election  of  God  (Acts  xv.  14),  and  in- 
cluded among  all  the  i^iyrj  of  the  earth.  There 
is  nothing  here  of  the  law  of  Moses,  in  the  place 
of  which  is  now  all  that  Jesus  had  commanded, 
ver.  20;  nothing  of  the  covenant  and  circum- 
ciiion  as  its  sign,  the  place  of  which  (let  us  mark 
it  well  beforehand,  we  shall  find  it  needful) 
hap'ism  takes.*  The  disciples  did  not  indeed 
enter  into  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  ;  but  tho 
argument  deduced  therefrom  by  the  recent 
enemies  of  the  faith  that  Jesus  never  could 
have  laid  such  a  command  upon  his  Apostles, 
is  a  wilful  perversion.  For  (as  Ebrard  briefly 
replies)  "  they  did  not  doubt  whether  Gentiles 
genprally  were  to  be  received  into  the  Church, 
but  only  whether  this  was  possible  without 
previous  circumcision.  AVhat  their  thoughts 
were  as  regards  the  Gentiles  generally,  see  Acts 
viii.  26,  etc.,  and  xi.  20,"  etc.  As  respecti  the 
Jacish  mission,  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
has  most  expressly  witnessed  by  word  and 
deed  that  it  must  go  on  parallel  with  that  to 
the  Gentiles  to  the  end  of  the  age,  inasmuch  as 
God  has  not  rejected  his  people  ;  and  not  only 
so,  but  that  the  great  goal  exhibited  in  pro- 
phecy, and  so  ardently  longed  for,  is  after  all 
the  work  among  the  Gentiles,  finally  to  be  ex- 
pftcted  (Rom.  xi.  13,  14). 

Atvl  baptize  (hem.  This  brings  us  to  the  in- 
stitution of  the  other  sacrament,  which  will 
detain  \is  long;  but  before  we  go  further,  a 
sound  exegesis  demands  that  we  rightly  trans- 
late naOrjTEv6aTE,  disciple  ("  teach  "),  and 
establish  its  true  connection  with  (Sanri'^ov' 
r£5.  The  old  rendering  of  the  Vulg.  by  docete, 
which  has  held  its  place  in  our  popular  trans- 
lation, has  created  for  the  most  part  only  mis- 
understanding and  obscurity  ;  although  noth- 
ing can  be  more  plain  than  (hat  in  the  original 
itself  the  naOrjrEvEiv  cannot  possibly  be  one 
and  the  same  with  the  subsequent  SiSixGheiv  ; 
and  that  (SiXzzi'^ovTEi  equally  with  8idd6Hoy- 
TEi  must  be  an  clement  in  the  previous  com- 
prehensive i.uxOrjTEi6aTE.    MaOrjrEva)  means 


*  The  first  Gosp?l,  written  expressly  for  .Jews, 
declares  in  wisdom  only  this  wo:d  ;  Luke,  on  tlie 
other  hand,  i)resents  to  1  he  Gentile-!  llio  abiijin? 
honor  of  Jerusalem,  the  kingdom  of  Israel  yet  tc 
bo  expected. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


799 


first,discipulnss?<7nalicui,asin  Matt.  xxvu.  57; 
and  then,  as  here,  I  make  another  a  dinciple,  see 
Acta  xiv.  21,  and  Matt.  xiii.  52.  If  in  the  latter 
passage  the  co-ordinate  idea  of  instruction,  ot  the  | 
receivinc'  and  possession  of  knowledge,  ispro- 
minent  ;*  and  if  in  Acts  xiv.  21  also  a  svay- 
yeXzad/iitvot  ryy  TCuXiv  eHEivijyjtvecedes  the 
/iaiijrsvdavzEi  iuavovi;  all  this  makes  the 
two  things  clear— that  one  who  has  become 'a 
Ha(^rjTi;<i"m  its  perfection  has  learned  from  the 
Master;  and  that  a  general  Jirjpv6  6siv, 
"  preaciiing,"  must  precede  as  a  condition  the 
making  alT  nations  into  disciples.  But  this 
MT/pn66£iy  is  b}'  no  means  on  that  account  the 
subsequent  Si5<x6Keiv  for  those  who  are  re- 
ceived as  beginning  and  actual  M^cOt^^ai ;  least 
of  all  are  we  to  seek  merely  in  instruction  for 
the  MaOrjreveiy  which  is  jireliminnry  and  intro- 
ductory, and  so  translate — Teach  the  people,  all 
the  individuals  of  all  nations,  each  one  for  him- 
self, ttiat  and  in  what  manner  they  must  become 
my  disciples.  The  English  Bible  has  retained 
"  teach,"  but  says  more  accurately  in  the  mar- 
gin— Make  discip!e8  or  Christians  of  all  nations; 
and  Wesley  in  his  New  Testament  boldly  forms 
the  new  word — Disciple  all  nations — as  it  has 
been  similarly  expressed  by  our  old  expositors, 
"quasi  discipulate."  Suffice  it  that  the  word 
must  retain  its  full  and  comprehensive  mean- 
ing, and  not  be  confounded  with  mere  preach- 
ing or  mere  teaching  ;  that  exegesis  is  alone 
right  which  construes  the  word  with  what 
follows,  and  makes  the  following  participles 
subordinate  to  the  one  imperative.  Nitzsch 
(Pralt.  Theobg.  i.  214)  says  far  too  little 
of  this  exposition — "  It  may  indeed  be  de- 
fended " — lor,  in  fact,  every  other  may  be  surely 
refuted.  Olshausen  says  with  good  reason 
that  the  construction  admits  nothing  else 
than  that  the  two  participles  are  the  constit- 
uents of  the  nafjinevEiv.  So  Lange  :  "  Make 
all  nations  into  disciples.  And  how  is  this  to 
be  accomplished?  First,  by  baptizing  all  who 
are  to  be  taught  in  infancy — and  then  by 
teaching  the  sarae.j  The  first  general  direction 
embraces  the  whole  ;  it  declares  their  whole 
vocation."  This  exposition,  although  (it  ;,.ay 
be,  by  accident)  we  do  not  find  it  in  antiquity, 
is  not  properly  speaking  new,  for  it  is  perfect- 
ly obvious.  It  has  long  been  urged,  as  we 
shall  see,  in  favor  of  infant  baptism.  Bengel : 
"  MaOt/T£v£iy  is  to  make  disciples,  and  embraces 
baptism  and  teaching  in  this  place." 

Olshausen,  consequently,  is   right  when  he 
says :  "  The  passage  has  been  evidently  mis- 


understood by  those  who  have  regarded  the 
jitaOr;r£v6aTE  a.s  something  preceding  baptism 
(and  necessary  in  every  individual  case),  and 
who  therefore  take  the  meaning  to  be — First 
instruct,  then  baptize  them."  This  perversion 
of  the  word*  is  indeed  of  high  antiquity,  and 
has  always  been  very  prevalent,  but  it  is  not 
thereby  justified.  In  the  Clement.  Const,  wo 
read :  ""  You  must  first  remove  from  them  all 
their  ungodliness,  then  instruct  them  in  all 
godliness,  and  so  make  them  worthy  of  bap- 
tism " — and  that  may  contain  an  element  of 
truth  as  respects  adults.  But  even  as  re- 
spects these  it  borders  upon  an  unapostolical 
delay  of  those  means  of  grace  which  give  the 
power  to  comply  with  such  conditions  ;  and  in 
any  case  it  is  not  the  true  exposition  of  that 
wliich  the  Lord  lays  down  here  as  his  ap- 
pointment. When  Abbot  Alcuin  {Epp.  xxviii. 
xxxvii.)  gave  Charlemagne  his  counsel  against 
the  baptism  of  the  Saxons,  and  spoke  of  "  the 
external  rite  being  rendered  useless  unless  the 
knowledge  of  the  faith  preceded  in  the  soul, 
which  is  gifted  with  reason,"  his  scruple  was 
very  proper;  but  he  missed  his  way  when  he 
grounded  it  upon  the  common  exegesis  of  this 
passage — "  The  Lord  himself  commanded  that 
the  laith  should  first  be  taught,  then  baptism 
administered."  However  true  this  may  be  of 
adults,  and  it  is  well  understood  by  all  in  our 
day  who  do  not  aim,  like  Charles,  at  wholesale 
indiscriminate  baptism,  yet  the  Lord  did  not  in 
this  place  denote  a  previous  Kr]ph66£iVy  iiume- 
diafely  and  alone,  by  the  uaOr/r£v£iy. 

Nor  is  Grotius  right  when  he,  to  retain  the 
manifest  distinction  from  the  subsequent  6i9d- 
6H£iy,  maintains  that  there  is  a  "  double  kind 
of  teaching,  one  by  means  of  the  Ei^aycoyij; 
rmy  eToixEiovjuevuoy ,  the  other  by  means  of 
diSaduaiiai.  The  former  seems  'to  be  indi- 
cated by  the  word  paOr/T£veiy,  that  is,  as  it 
were,  D  initia'e  into  discipline,  and  is  placed  be- 
fore baptism  ;  the  latter  by  the  word  8idd6H£iy, 
which  is  here  placed  after  baptism  "  (as  if  the 
locatio  jva  et  post  was  not  quite  difiTerent  in 
the  construction).  'Y\iQ  luaOijrEVEiv  is  by  no 
means  the  uariixiuy,  which  is  then  followed 
by  the  £itiyyco6iiy  according  to  Luke  i.  4,  or 
even  Acts  xviii.  25.  We  shall  not  mention  at 
length  other  rash  and  arbitrary  interpretations 
which  occur  from  the  earliest  times  ;  such  e.  g. 
as  that  of  Greg.  Nyss.,  who,  when  he  would 


*  MaiiTiT£V£iv  does  indeed  occur  with  this 
specilic  meaning,  e.  g  ,  Ignatius  ad  Rom.  a  nodirj- 
T£hoyr£i  IvreXXEOBs. 

■f  Heb.  vi.  2  speaks  possibly  of  the  /3anridu6i 
SiSaxvi)  of  the  baptism  which  receives  and  dedi- 
cates for  subsequent  teaching.  Yet  on  account 
of  ttie  plural  (because  there  was  not  more  than 
one  kind  of  such  baptism  of  instruction),  and  in 
the  connection  of  the  whole  passage,  we  prefer — 
Doctrine  of  the_(various)  baptisms.  To  discrimin- 
ate the  two  words  as  two  stages,  ia  certainly  fa'se. 


*  This  is  the  letter  of  Scripture  on  which  the 
Baptists  rest,  as  if  the  law  of  the  kingdom  was 
here  set  down — "  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. Some  will  believe,  some  will  not.  These 
who  heliere  baptize  and  teach,"  or,  "The  preaching 
for  all ;  baptism  for  those  who  believe  ;  doctrine 
for  those  who  are  baptiz?d."  We  shall  sufflciently 
refute  this,  and  give  all  reasonable  and  moderate 
opponents  of  infant  baptism  evidence  that  we  do 
not  violate  any  fundamental  law  of  Christ  in  bap- 
tizing children.  We  shall  show  that  the  words  in 
Mark,  which  seem  to  favor  their  order,  should  be 
expounded  according  to  Matthew,  aad  not  con- 
versely. 


'^ 


THE  COiMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


establish  the  distinction,  so  fruitful  in  danger 
to  theolog}-,  between  the  IOikov  {t)fJiH6v)  uepoi 
and  the  8oyf.i(y  rtnv  dnpifteia,  refers  {Ep.  vi.) 
to  Matt,  xxvi-;  19,  where  ^.aOtj^c-jCiarF.  bp- 
forehand  indicates  the  instruction  of  faith,  but 
TTjpElv  TTaV rathe  instruction  of  morals.  How 
is  this  to  be  derived  from  the  words?  We 
should  rather  say  that  in  its  order  and  mean- 
ing fjanri'^ity  stands  as  the  heginning  point  of 
ihe-  naOr/revetv,  or  more  strictly  as  its  first 
])reliminary  fulfillment,  inasmuch  as  a  baptized 
person  has  become  thereby  a  commencing  fia- 
Orfn/i,  who  may  and  will  learn  more.  The 
"teaching  to  observe  all  things"  brings  first 
the  consummation  of  the  discipleship,  and  it  is 
made  a  subordinate  member  of  the  sentence  as 
parallel,  with  the  baptizing:  thus  the  great  and 
comprehensive  ftaO?^r£veiv,  disciple,  embraces 
the  whole  up  to  that  consummation  of  disciple- 
ship. We  may  say  preparatorily  (before  we 
come  to  infant  baptism),  and  with  exegetical 
propriety,  that  it  must  depc-nd  upon  the  closer 
relations  and  necessity  of  the  case  whether  the 
baptizing  or  the  teaching  should  rather  take  the 
precedence ;  the  word  here  decides  nothing  on 
that  question.* 

All  this  will  come  in  order,  but  now  first  for 
the  word  Baptize.  None  of  our  readers  will 
be  disposed  to  hold  with  the  Quakers  and  So- 
cinians,  who  either  give  an  internal,  spiritual 
meaning  to  (his  baptize,\  or  refuse  to  perceive 
in  it  any  ordinance  lor  future  times. J  For 
what  the  well-known  word  meant  from  the 
tirrje  of  John  the  Baptist,  the  Apostles  must 
have  understood  also  ;  and  in  that  sense  alone 
could  ttiey  have  received  it.  If  the  general 
commandment  in  Matt,  was  not  sufiicient  to 


♦  Not  therefore  so  decisively  on  the  other  side 
as  many  old  defenders  of  infant  baptism  used  to 
assert,  e.  g.  J.  Winkler:  "  Tlio  Lord  prescribes 
two  means  for  the  juaOrfreveiv,  the  ftanziZEiv 
in  respect  to  the  li;tle  ones,  the  dtSadhsiy  in 
respect  to  tiie  adults."  Wiiere  then  would  be  the 
institution  of  the  first  mission-baptism  for  adults. 

f  Only  ihe  one  baptism  of  Christ,  Eph.  iv.  5,  re- 
mainins  as  bcinu  valid,  but  not  being  a  baptism 
with  water,  1  Pet.  iii.  21.  The  water  was  done 
away  with  tlie  symbolical  baptism  of  John;  and 
that  Matt,  xxviii.  19  must  be  understood  of  water 
har)liim  is  ihe  pctitio  priiicipti  which  has  caused  the 
universal  error  of  tiie  Ciiurch. 

t  The  Lord  ajjpointed,  to  wit,  such  ordinances 
for  tiie  Jake  <if  liiose  who  first  i)assed  from  hea- 
thenism to  Christianity,  because  "  at  that  period 
some  external  rite  was  necessary  for  their  initi- 
ation," as  now  in  our  missions.  Accordingly  it  is 
mide  a  question  whellier  Christ  did  not  mean  by 
baptism  a  dipping  into  instruction,  a  mere  teach- 
ins.  Sf)  Soonus,  dc  Bapt.  Hence,  in  Ihe  Macov. 
Catcc\.  Qu.  o33:  "  Wiiat  is  thy  faith  touchins;  the 
water  of  baptism  7  That  it  is  Ihe  external  rite  by 
wliicli  men  comins  from  Judaism  or  heathenism  to 
Cln-istianity  publicly  professed  that  they  acknow- 
Icdfied  ChrisL  as  Lord."  And  Qu.  546  :  "  Are  in- 
fants capable  of  this  rite  ?  By  no  means.  For 
there  is  uo  command  or  example  in  Scripture." 
etc. 


establish  (he  permanent  obligation  of  (his  bap- 
tism by  water,  indubitable  testimony  is  borna 
by  Mark  xvi.  16.  God  had  from  the"  times  of 
the  Gentile  and  Jewish  washings  prepared  the 
way  gradually  for  the  expressive  symbol;  the 
baptism  of  proselytes  (a  custom  existing  most 
ceitainly,  as  Schneckenburger  shows,  at  that 
time,  and  essential  to  the  consideration  of  the 
question)  was  the  point  of  connection  fur  tlie 
firit  express  commandment  of  God  to  John,  to 
do  with  the  Jews  as  they  were  accustomed  to 
do  with  the  Gentiles.*  This  commandment 
of  God,  as  we  may  thus  establish,  did  not  be- 
long to  the  transitory  ordinances  of  the  Old 
Testament;  but  it  was  a  type  and  commence- 
ment of  the  New-Testament  sacrament.  The 
Lord  himself  had  submitted  to  baptism,  and 
had  further  baptized  by  his  disciples.  When, 
therefore,  he,  to  whom  "was  given  all  power  in 
heaven  and  earth, appointed  in  divine  authority 
a  baptism  of  the  future  Church  to  be  gathered 
from  all  nations — who  can  otherwise  under- 
stand it  than  as  we  find  it  immediately  after- 
wards in  the  apostolical  history?  Ashe  had 
formerly  prophesied  in  John  vi.  concerning  the 
Supper,  so  also  he  had  prophesied  to  Nico- 
demus,  chap.  iii.  5,  and  with  evident  reference 
to  the  baptism  of  John,  concerning  the  water 
which  he  would  retain,  establish,  and  conse- 
crate as  the  medium  of  entrance  into  his  king- 
dom— see  what  was  said  upon  that  passage.! 
Thus  here  at  his  departure,  when  he  (as  even 
Lutz  is  obliged  to  admit)  "  certainly  introduced 
only  the  most  essential  ordinances,"  he  ap- 
points thereby  once  more  an  external  "  Do  this;" 
but  infuses  into  it  a  power  and  a  promise, 
spii-itual,  divine,  and  proceeding  from  his  glori- 
fied life.  Let  it  be  observed  in  all  simplicity 
that  the  Supper  and  Baptism  are  the  onli/  two 
commandments  and  ordinances  connected  at 
the  same  lime  with  an  external  thing,  which 
he  leaves  behind  to  his  Church.  As  those  who 
already  belong  to  him,  being  his  disciples,  and 
who  are  already  purified  by  a  first  washing 
away  of  sin,  remember  him  and  partake  of  him 
in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  at 
the  same  time  in  confession  are  thereby  to 
show  forth  him  and  his  death — so  was  it  neces- 
sary that  the  young  diiciplcship  should  have  an 
external  mark  of  their  acceptance  into  it.  Al- 
though this  baptism  must  of  course,  according 
to  the  power  and  reality  of  the  New  Testament, 


•  Only  thus  can  we  understand  the  baptism  of 
Jol  n  according  to  is  point  of  connection  and  sig- 
nificance. A  later  introduced  baptism  of  prose* 
ly;es,  wh'ch  would  have  been  partly  a  protest 
against  John,  partly  a  mockery  of  the  Christians, 
is  therefore  quite  inconceivable. 

f  Socinus  asserts :  "  No  man,  though  the  most 
bif.er  defender  of  water  baptism,  can  doubt  that, 
such  bapt'sra  must  be  excluded  here,  wheie  water 
is  required  as  essentially  necessary  to  salvation." 
lie  then  explained  l^  vSaroS  of  repentuee, 
though  inconsistently  admitting  the  validity  of  the 
external  rite  in  the  two  Evangelists,  notwithstand* 
iug  their  duOtjCerai. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


801 


bring  much  more  than  a  mere  nota  prqfemonis 
or  sign  of  profession. 

It  is  more  than  and  different  from  the  hap- 
tismof  John,  which  indeed,  like  the  Baptist  and 
preacher  of  repentance  himself,  stood  in  the 
middle  transition  between  the  two  Testaments, 
demanded  not  merely  a  s3'mbolical  but  a  real 
repentance,  preporatonly  communicated  a  for- 
giveness of  sins  through  the  Coming  One  to  the 
penitent,  though  by  no  means  the  Holy  Spirit 
unto  the  full  new  birth.*  Thus  that  was  no 
pacrament ;  but  the  baptism  which  Christ  now 
appoints,  is.  Calvin  zealously  defended,  though 
by  specious  arguments  easily  refuted,  the  per- 
fect similarity  between  the  Christian  baptism 
and  that  of  John  the  Baptist  ;t  the  old  Luth- 
eran divines,  also,  from  Gerhard  downwards, 
were  of  the  same  opinion.  But  this  will  not 
mislead  those  who  on  other  and  sufficient 
grounds  understand  the  question  differently, 
and  who  cannot  reconcile  themselves  to  such 
an  unjustifiablo  blending  of  the  preparatory, 
prophetic,  commencing  usage,  to  which  repent- 
ance and  the  first  forgiveness  of  sins  belonged, 
with  the  sacrament  of  the  new  birth  for  full 
incorporation  into  the  Church  of  Christ,  which 
brings  with  it  the  Holy  Spirit.  For,  as  Von 
Meyer  writes  on  this  subject  •.  "  The  kingdom 
of  heaven,  for  which  the  Baptist  dedicated  the 
people,  lay  yet  in  the  obscure  future.  This 
much  only  took  place,  that  the  sinner  longing 
for  grace  obtained  a  more  definite  and  spiritual 
conviction  of  that  for  which  his  heart  longed. 
The  consolation  was  as  yet  always  prophetic  ;t 
the  person  baptized  might  assure  himself  of  a 
participation  in  the  coming  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah;  but  the  true  purging  of  the  con- 
science and  pacification  of  the  soul  was  not  yet 
come.  We  are  not  baptized  with  the  baptism  of 
John ;  for  that  into  which  John  baptized  as  future. 


*  Tlius  the  distinction  is  certainly  not  as  repre- 
sented in  Melancth.  Loc.  Com. — not,  recttsseme  but 
contrary  to  Scripture :  "  Tiie  baptism  of  John 
was  termed  a  baptism  of  repentance ;  Christ's 
bapti.'^m — a  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins  !  " 

f  Listi't.  lib.  iv.  cap.  xv.  ()  7,  8.  lie  very  easily 
dispatches  Matt.  iii.  11,  for  the  servants  of  the 
Lord  evea  now  only  present  tho  water.  "  What 
beyond  that  could  the  Apostles  do  1  and  those 
who  baptize  now  1  They  are,  forsooth,  the  minis- 
ters of  the  external  sign,  Christ  the  author  of  the 
interior  "race."  For  he  knows  nothing  of  the  sac- 
ramental connection  between  the  now  first  given 
Spirit  of  regeneration  and  the  water.  Oetinger 
al^o  striking. y  errs,  when  he  {Tkcol.  ex  idea  vitcB,  p. 
828)  only  makes  a  distinction  according  to  "the 
degree  "  though  "  th.^  grace  is  alike,"  and  even 
says:  "John  baptized  into  the  Father  and  into 
the  Spirit,  as  well  as  into  Christ:  because  he  bap- 
tized into  the  remission  of  sins." 

X  Assuredly  so,  rightly  understood.  For  even 
that  forgiveness  of  sins  to  tliose  who  confessed 
in  sincere  repentance,  which  we  miy  not  deny  ac- 
cording to  iLuke  iii.  3,  was,  as  during  the  O.-T. 
times,  not  such  a  perfect  forgiveness  r.s  that 
which  the  Lfrmb  of  God  who  afterwards  took 
*way  sin  could  give. 


we  are  baptized  into  as  come."  The  passaga 
most  decisive  for  the  essential  difference  of  the 
two  baptisms,  notwithstanding  the  real  trans- 
ition from  one  to  the  other,  is  the  account  in 
Acts  xix.  1-7.  For  here  it  is  assuredly  re- 
corded, as  the  Vulg.,  Syr.,  and  all  the  old  ver- 
sions understood,  that  the  twelve  men  were 
again  baptized  by  Paul  with  water;  that  is, 
they  were  now  baptized  with  the  true,  sacra- 
mental water.  The  usual  method  of  defending 
this  text  against  the  doctrine  of  re-baptism" 
(the  advocates  of  which,  according  to  Olshaus- 
en,  have  always,  from  Cyprian  down  to  our 
Anabaptists  {ind  Mennonites,  made  this  passage 
very  prominent)  is  rightly  pronounced  artificial 
and  forced.  It  makes  ver.  5  the  continuous 
saying  of  the  Apostle  Paul,t  and  not  the  narra- 
tive of  the  Evangelist.  In  favor  of  this,  much 
emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  the  connection  of 
the  //fV  and  ds,  in  vers.  4  and  5;  but  (apart 
from  the  fact  that  later  criticism  of  the  text 
has  removed  the  nsv)  this  assigns  to  ver.  5  a 
meaning  which  is  as  utterly  inconceivable.  A 
^Ev  broken  off  without  8s  is  by  no  means 
without  precedent  (see  e.  g.,  Acts  iii.  21)  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Apostle  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  having  said  that  those  who  had 
obeyed  the  Baptist,  (XHov6avzei,  had  been 
already  baptized  into  the  uttered  and  announc- 
ed name  of  the  Lord  Jesus — just  as  the  Chris- 
tian baptism  is  spoken  of  after  Pentecost.  Ben- 
gel.  "For  John  at  the  end  of  his  baptism 
pointed  to  Jesus,  chap.  xiii.  25;  wherefore  it 
cannot  be  said  that  he  baptized  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  unless  it  is  asserted 
that  he  baptized  the  people  twice,  the  first  lime 
unto  repentance,  the  second  time  in  the  name 
of  Jesus."  Either  the  /<£>  is  spurious,  and 
introduced  on  account  of  the  8e  ;  or  this  latter 
makes  a  profound  connection  with  the  former 
in  the  Apostles'  teaching  and  act :  in  any  case 
dHovoLXVTSi  refers  back  to  eiTts  te  yrpui  av- 
rov?,  ver.  3,  and  IfiaTtTid^Jj/dav  stands  in 
parallel  with  r.ai  intOevroi  avzoii,  h.t.X. 
Those  wl.o  had  been  baptized  by  the  Baptist 
were  not  at  the  beginning  of  the  evangelical 
preaching  ordinarily  baptized  again  with  water 
(on  which  Acts  i.  5  will  occasion  further  re- 
mark) ;  but  here,  in  the  case  of  those  who 
were  already  removed  and  estranged  from  the 
proclamation  of  John,  it  was  needful  that  the 
law  of  the  kingdom  should  be  maintained  and 
attested  by  their  new  baptism. 

The  baptism  appointed  by  Christ  manifestly 
refers  back  to  the  symbolical  baptism  which 
Christ  himself  received  in  the  Jordan;  for,  as 
then  Fathee,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  were  first 
inWy  revealed  in  their  sacred  trinity,  so  now  dis- 
ciples were  to  be  baptized  unto  or  into  the 
name,  not  merely  of  the  Father  who  then  bore 


*  Unnecessary,  since  there  is  nothing  here  said 
about  such  re-baptism. 

f  Thus  did  Calvin,  Insiitt.  iv.  15,  18,  establish 
his  rebaptizatos  mgo.  Beza,  Calixtus,  Lightfoot, 
even  Budde,  Uambach,  and  others,  agreed  with 
i  him  in  this. 


802 


BAPTISxM. 


witness,  net  merely  of  the  Son  who  then  receiv- 
ed the  witness  that  he  was  the  Son,  but  also 
most  perfectly  into  the  name  of  that  Holy  Spirit 
whom  the  Son  had  in  himself,  tcUh  him  (as  John 
pre-announced  the  distinction)  tobaytue.  "  This 
is  (as  Olshausen  says)  the  only  passage  in  the 
Gospels  in  which  the  Lord  himself  named  the 
three  persons  together" — that  is,  in  so  simple, 
direct,  and  express  conjunction  ;  for,  otherwise, 
the  readers  ol  our  earlier  exposition  have  been 
Buhiciently  prepared  by  John  xiv.-xvi.  for  this 
conjunction,  and  find  nothing  unexpected  or 
new  in  this  summary,  after  so  many  plain  trin- 
itarian  testimonies.  Name,  ovoi-ia  is  never  in 
the  New  Testament  construed  with  a  genitive 
rei,noii  jtenoria ;  it  is  in  other  passages  (as 
Acts  i.  15 ;  Rev.  iii.  4,  xi.  13)  where  that 
might  seem  the  case,  equivalent  to  person. 
Thus  both  in  anthropomorphic,  and,  at  the 
Bime  time,  most  metaphysical  essential  truth, 
the  three  "persons"  of  tlie  one  divine  nature 
stand  here  together;  their  unity  is  held  fast  and 
witnessed  by  the  v6  uyo/.ta  not  to.  dvo/iiara, 
iiame,  not  names.  All  that  would  rob  this 
equal  juxtaposition  of  God  the  Father,  the 
jSm,  and  the  Spirit,  is  arbitary  and  forced  in 
opposition  to  the  plain  and  incontrovertible 
word.  Thus,  the  triunity  of  the  divine  nature 
must  be  a  most  important  and  fundamental 
mystery,  both  for  the  knowledge  and  the  prac- 
tice of  faith — why  otherwise  should  the  reve- 
lation of  it  be  placed  here  in  so  prominent  a 
position  at  the  outset,  just  where  the  Church  is 
to  begin  to  exist,  and  so  firmly  bound  up  with 
the  baptism  which  brings  grace  and  eternal 
life?  Braune:  "  Here  is  the  mi.fs/ort  commanded, 
baptism  appointed,  trinity  taught."  Here  have 
wc-  the  most  primitive,  the  most  simple  founda- 
tion of  the  Church's' confession  of  faith,  given 
by  the  highest  authority.  Here  the  central 
point,  from  which  all  the  doctrines  of  our  faith 
issue,  into  which  they  all  converge,  and  in 
which  they  all  must  end.  "  He  who  is  called  a 
Christian  and  denies  the  triune  God,  does  dis- 
honor to  the  word  in  which  he  was  baptiz- 
ed " — so  writes  Von  Meyer ;  and  in  another 
place :  "  Nothing  can  be  more  simple  than  this 
utterance  of  our  Lord;  but  a  humble  mind  will 

Eerceive  at  once  that  it  cannot  understand  this 
y  its  own  resources.  The  unhumble  reason 
has  recourse  to  dialectic  subtilties,  which  ra- 
tionalize his  word,  that  is,  undeify  it.  In  har- 
mony, therefore,  with  the  entire  theology  of  the 
Gospel,  we  regard  it  a-j  saying — Into  the  name 
of  the  three,  w/io  are  one,  into  the  three-one 
God." 

Thus  the  /laOt/rEvOs'yrEi  were  to  be  called 
and  consecrated — and  this  is  the  general  and 
Bure  meaning  without  any  reference  to  the  spe- 
cial meaning  of  cli  ro  ovoua — to  the  know- 
ledge and  confession  of  tlie  one  living  God, 
whose  nature  ever  remains  a  mystery  tor  the 
apprehension  of  laith  ;  the  profound  darkness  of 
its  incomprehensibility  being  brought  to  light 
in  the  place  where  it  is  first  clearly  revealed  to 
laith.  Nevertheless,  the  triune  God,  whose 
name  oi  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  is  applied  to  tlie 


Father,  the  Son,  the  Spirit,  is  as  such  fully  re- 
vealed. The  Father  is  now  made  manifest  in 
the  sending  of  the  Son  ;  the  Hon  in  his  resur- 
rection, on  his  way  to  the  supreme  power  in 
heaven  and  earth  (ver.  IS)  ;  the  Holy  Okost 
was  soon  to  be  poured  out,  and  thus  to  manifest 
himself  also — thus  in  the  mention  of  him  now 
there  is  once  again  a  prolepsis.  This  baptism 
into  the  Spirit,  come  also  like  the  Son,  and  of- 
fering himself,  could  not  of  course  take  place 
until  and  alter  the  Pentecost.  But  all  who  re- 
ceive baptism  in  conformity  with  this  anticipa- 
tory institution,  require  to  be  baptized  into  each 
of  the  three  names  ;  here  there  is  no  distinction 
and  no  division.  Even  the  great  Bengel  erred, 
misled  by  his  keen  inquisition  into  special  refer- 
ences, when  he  regarded  baptism  into  the  name 
of  Jesus  as  alone  necessary  to  the  Jetcn,  who 
were  already  in  God's  covenant,  in  order  to 
their  reception  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  gift;  while 
the  Gentiles  (whom  he  supposes  to  be  here  es- 
pecially and  only  meant  by  the  tOvrj)  required 
baptism  into  the  complete  name,  as  here.  For 
even  to  the  Jews  God  was  revealed  as  a  Father 
only  through  the  Son  ;  and  as  respects  the  ap- 
parent deficiency  of  the  baptism  formula  in  the 
later  New  Testament,  we  shall  explain  it  in 
due  course. 

What  means  then  into  ("  in  ")  the  name? 
It  is  obvious  at  the  outset,  that  «/>  ro  uvojiia 
cannot  be  simply  equivalent  to  ev  roJ  ovojiiocrt, 
as  the  Vulg.  translated  m  nomine,  and  Luther 
im  Namen*  This  would  then  only  have  refer- 
ence to  the  baptizer ;  and  nothing  (contrary  to 
Mark  xvi.  16)  would  be  promised  or  specified 
for  the  baptized  ;  the  sublime  fJaitriZoyre'i,  to 
which  such  new  and  great  promises  are  at- 
tached, would  stand  as  it  were  enigmatically 
alone ;  and  we  should  receive  here  at  least 
(where  it  might  be  expected)  no  proper  answer 
to  the  question — How  and  to  what  end  are 
they  baptized?  We  may  indeed  say  in  the 
words  of  Luther,  generally  :  "  To  be  baptized 
in  the  name  of  God,  is  not  to  be  baptized  by 
men  but  by  God  himself.  Wherefore,  although 
it  is  administered  by  the  hand  of  man,  yet  it  is  to 
be  regarded  as  the  proper  work  of  God  alone."t 
But  ibis  is  not  the  true  and  full  exposition  of 
this  f/S  ro  ovo/ua,  which  certainly  corresponds 
to  DL;6  and  not  UV2,  and  in  its  deep  meaning 

points  by  the  ci'i  only  foricards  to  the  now  es- 
tablished communion  of  the  baptized  with  the 


*  And  we,  alas  !  as  liaise  complains,  have  re- 
tained to  our  own  day  this  easily  perverted  ex- 
pression. 

t  Ed.  Reehenb.  p.  536.  Similarly  Lulher  else- 
where: 'This  is  what  tlie  words  show  where  the 
mijiisler  says — I  bajjtize  thee,  etc.  lie  does  not 
say — I  baptize  thee  in  my  name."  Previously : 
"  Therefore  we  must  receive  baptism  from  the 
hands  of  a  man  as  if  from  the  hands  of  no  other 
than  Christ,  yea,  God  himself:  baptized  with  his 
own  hands  ;  "  a  way  of  speaking  which  we  find 
freq\ipnlly  occurring  in  the  theologians  from  Ale- 
laucihou's  Loc.  Coin,  do  vuwards. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


803 


triune  God.*  The  current  and  superficial  in- 
terpretations of  a  different  kind  have  some- 
thing true  in  them  ;  but  they  are  not  its  direct 
expo'sition,  and  most  assuredly  do  not  exhaust 
the  word  here  spolcen  by  the  Lord.  We 
shall  not  say  much  about  Storr's  exegesis,  "  in 
honor  of  the  Father,"  etc.,  ovoua,  as  is  well 
known,  being  often  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, e.  g.,  Heb.  i.  4,  and  also  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, for  honor,  dignity.!  This  still  with- 
holds all  reference  to  the  meaning  and  sub- 
stance of  baptism  for  the  baptized  themselves; 
just  as  in  the  commentary  of  Paulus,  where  we 
read,  "  in  reference  to  the  naming  of  Father, 
Son,  and  Spirit,"  and  again,  "dedicated,  that 
they  might  remember,  what  these  denomina- 
tions contain."  The  common  renderings  mean 
much  more  than  this  when  they  say — Into  the 
(previously  avowed  but  abandoned?)  tonfcs- 
sion  ;  or — In  order  to  the  confession  of  faith  in 
the  triune  God.  But  the  more  thoroughly  we 
press  into  the  heart  of  this  great  word,  which 
thus  for  the  first  time  so  simply  designates  the 
nature  of  God,  and  accompanies  the  institution 
of  the  sign  of  the  new  covenant,  the  less  can 
we  be  satisfied  with  all  this  ;  Ave  desire  and  are 
constrained  to  take  for  granted  a  meaning 
which  shall  reach  efficaciously  to  this  nature  of 
God,  as  well  as  express  the  fellowship  of  the 
baptized  in  the  same.  Instead  of  this,  Bindseil 
would  bring  us  back  to  the  most  external  pos- 
sible interpretation  of  "this  phrase,  v/hich  still 
needs  (yes,  verily)  a  more  exact  solution." 
According  to  its  origin  and  natural  force,  he 
says  that  "  to  baptize  in  the  name  of  any  one, 
is,  through  baptism,  to  influence  a  person,  to 
najne  himself  after  another."  Clericus  supports 
this  view  ;  j  and  (instead  of  pressing  into  the 
new  depth  of  Christian  terms)  adduces  the  ex- 
ample of  Jewish  phrases  2y>^  7253 — e.  g.  Dcb 
nnny,  to  be  called  a  servant,  jnin  p  Uvb  to 
the  name  of  a  free-born,  nil'3  Dci'  of  proselyte- 
ship — and  endeavors  to  establish  it  also  by  1 
Cor.  i.  13.  But  in  this  passage,  to  which  1 
Cor.  X.  2  should  be  added,  Paul  would  catachres- 
tically  makes  it  plain  to  all  that  there  could  not 


*  Acts  X.  48  is  the  only  instance  in  which  we 
find  £»'  r&J  o»'o7<arr(for  chap.  ii.  38  ini'is  equiv. 
to  auf,  zu);  buteither  it  is  in  that  passage  instead 
of  £li,  or  it  designs  to  make  prominent  that  these 
Gentiies,  who  already  had  the  Spirit,  had  been 
baptized  in  the  lull  and  plenary  authority  and 
will  of  Christ, 

f  Even  the  expression  tii  Xpidrov,  he  main- 
tains, means  no  more  than — to  the  honor  of  Jesus. 
On  the  o'.her  hand  we  would  point  to  the  deeper 
meaning  of  the  significant  Cvvtjyuivoi  eii  to 
£/.tov  uvofiay  Matt  xviii.  20. 

^  We  may  say,  Grotius  also,  who  says  :  "  To  he 
baptized  into  any  one,  or  into  his  name,  is  to  de- 
vote oneself  to  him,  and  to  wish  to  be  called  by 
his  name."  Sepp,  also,  under  the  false  supposi- 
tion that  the  Gentiies  are  here  especially  meant, 
supposes  that_the  heathen  were  to  be  baptized 
into  the  name  of  God,  as  foundlings  gathered  in 
the  way. 


have  been  such  a  thing  as  a  baptism  into  his 
name  in  the  sense  of  the  Christian  formula, 
since  he  was  not  God  and  not  their  Redeemer, 
and  therefore  could  give  them  nothing.  "  By 
this  expression  lie  strongly  expresses  simply 
his  revulsion  of  feeling,"  as  Heim  well  says 
concerning  it.  But  in  chap.  x.  2  (here  it  is  not 
— In  the  name  of  Moses ;  for  who  was  ever 
named  in  the  name  of  Moses?)  the  baptism 
unto  Moses  is,  in  its  typical  sense,  an  incorpora- 
tion into  that  economy  of  God,  of  which  Moses 
was  the  medium,  as  essential  and  real  as  the 
incorporation  into  Christ  and  participation  of 
his  grace,  of  which  baptism  makes  us  the  sub- 
jects. "  The  cloud  and  the  sea  were  the  sym- 
bolical, typical  baptism  into  the  law,  whicti  Is- 
rael in  his  proselyte-baptism  copied  after  ;  but 
the  grace  and  truth  ot  the  baptism  of  Christ 
(who  through  his  baptism,  his  suffering  and 
death,  fulfilled  for  us  unto  righteousness  the 
baptism  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  law,  and  of  the 
Jews  by  John  the  Baptist)  came  not  through 
John,  but  through  Christ  himself  in  its  fulness 
unto  us."  So  teaches  Von  Meyer,  the  great 
theologian  whom  our  age  so  unwarrantably 
neglects.  Bindseil  finds  his  own  peculiar  sig- 
nificance in  the  being  named  alter  the  name  of 
God  :  the  siihjeciion  to  the  Lord,  whose  name  is 
assumed — the  new  dignity  which  it  confers; 
but  all  this  is  far  from  the  truth  and  reality  of 
the  power  and  energy  of  baptism.  His  illus- 
tration of  the  way  into  which  the  naming  into 
the  three  names  of  God  finds  its  application,  is 
altogether  too  specific :  the  baptized  become 
viui  Tov  Ssov,  SovXot  tov  Xpt6rov,  and 
TtvevfiariKoi — sons  of  God,  servants  of 
Christ,  and  spiritual. 

In  the  revised  German  Bible  we  have  at 
least  auf  den  Namen :  change  in  such  funda- 
mental passages  is  very  perilous,  and  more  ex- 
press literality  could  hardly  here  be  ventured 
on.  But  the  change  admits  that  faith  in  the 
salvation  which  comes  from  this  triune  God,  and 
is  indeed  appropriated  in  baptism,  is  less  the 
condition  and  pre-supposition  of  baptism,  than 
its  end.*  Properly,  however,  in  the  same  dej)th 
of  meaning,  as  we  so  often  find  eii  ^eov, 
Xpidrov,  and  kv  Scoj,  we  are  to  be  baptized 
into  the  name  of  the  Three-Oae.  Not,  indeed, 
after  the  manner  Barclay  so  boldly  expresses, 
while  rejecting  its  connection  with  water  ;  but 
the  sign  and  the  substance  are  here  also  sacra- 
mentally  bound  together,  and  this  most  inter- 
nal Eii,  connected  with  the  external  fjanri- 
^Eiv,  as  used  by  the  Lord  himself,  and  thus 
expressly  delivered  to  us  by  the  Spirit,  has  ac- 
tually the  same  place  and  significance  as  the 
rovTu  Idrt  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  Certainly 
not,  however,  any  more  than  it  was  there,  by 


*  So  Lutz  happily  expresses  it :  "  On  the  i>art 
of  the  subject  the  acknowledgment  of  the  exclu- 
sive significance  of  these  three  in  his  redemption ; 
and  objectively  the  assurance  of  that  salvation 
which  is  given  in  these  three."  The  acknowledg- 
ment in  the  subject,  however,  must  not  necessarily 
be  always  matter  of  personal  consciousness. 


804 


BAPTISM. 


any  absolute  necessity  of  the  letter  ;  for  a  sa- 
crament i3  matter  of  faith,  not  of  demonstra- 
tion. As  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper  we 
find  that  a  deeper  meaning  is  attached  to  a 
more  superficial  one,  the  mystico-real  commun- 
ion of  the  body  in  the  bread  being  intended, 
when  this  latter  is  given  with  the  words — This 
is  the  body  ;  so  also  here  in  connection  with 
dipping  into  the  water  there  is  the  wonderful 
— Baptize  ye  (say — I  baptize  thee)  into  the 
name  of  God,  the  triune  God.  Thus  this 
NAME,  and  in  and  with  it  the  uttered,  attested, 
revealed  nature  of  God  (is  not  this  always  the 
meaning  when  the  name  of  God  is  concerned  ?) 
is  actually  the  wonderful  virtue  of  the  water 
of  baptism,  as  bound  up  in  the  institution  for 
all  futurity,  the  true  water  of  the  tcord  (Eph. 
V.  26),  in  which  the  Church  is  further  to  be 
cleansed  and  sanctified  unto  perfection.  Be- 
ginning, sum,  and  kernel  of  this  word  is  the 
name  of  God,  in  which  life  and  power  are 
communicated  by  means  of  the  Spirit.  It  is 
not  the  accompanying  and  succeeding  preach- 
ing of  salvation  or  the  verbinn  quod  accedit  ad 
elementum  ;  but  this  very  formula  iiself — not, 
however,  as  a  mere  formula,  but  as  carrying  in 
it  the  essential  name  of  God,  preaching  itself, 
and  pledging,  and  includmg  salvation.  Be- 
cause the  Father  and  Son  work  upon  and  with- 
in men,  and  enter  them  by  the  itoly  Spirit,  this 
third  name  is  here  the  decisive  and  completing 
name.  Therefore  the  first  promise  of  the  be^ 
ginning  baptism  ran  quite  rightly — Ye  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  we 
also  know  in  what  way  apostolical  doctrine 
interchangeably  supplements  the  words — The 
baptized  are  incorporated  into  the  Son,  have 
put  him  on  (1  Cor.  xii.  13  ;  Gal.  iii.  27  ;  Rom. 
vi.),  that  is,  finally— as  the  children  of  God 
the  Father.  Most  excellent  is  the  language  of 
Luther's  smaller  catechism  on  this  point,  "  Not 
mere  water  alone,"  etc.— excellent  in  this,  that 
■with  profound  truth  the  name  of  God,  with 
which  the  water  is  bound  up,  is  at  once  named 
in  full  distinctness  God's  zcord ;  for  this  name 
in  such  an  institution  is  truly  no  mere  name, 
but  the  living,  life-giving  word.  Thus  there  is 
a  "  translation  into  communion  of  life  with  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Spirit"  in  this  dipping  into 
their  name  ;  the  baptized  become  "  translated 
into  the  power  and  nature  of  God  " — that  is, 
of  course,  as  is  self-evident,  in  a  beginning 
which  springs  from  the  grace  of  God,  and  which 
must  bo  continued  in  the  whole  life  of  the 
baptized,  according  to  no  other  rule  than  that 
laid  down  in  the  whole  revealed  way  of  sal- 
vation. As  ho  who  devotes  himself  to  learn 
and  follow  the  I\Iaster  becomes  thereby  his 
IxaOtjTiji,  or  "disciple,"  and  yet  the  disciple- 
ship  is  perfect  only  at  the  end  (Luke  vi.  40) — 
even  so  the  baptism  of  the  word  and  Spirit 
goes  on  through  the  entire  process  of  sanctifi- 
calion  ;  although  this  whole  is  given  already, 
by  prophecy  and  pledge,  in  the  comprehensive 
fulness  of  the  commencing  symbol.  This  CiS 
TO  ovoita  manifestly  indicates  a,  future,  points 
onward  to  a  day  of  coxisummation,  as  if  it 


should  say — Into  the  name  now  giving  itself 
to  them,  and  to  be  henceforth  by  them  mor« 
and  more  livingly  known  and  worshipped  iu 
faith  into  the  power  and  grace  of  that'  name 
which  now  begins  to  work  in  them.  And 
what  is  the  thing  pre-supposed  for  the  reception 
of  this  baptism?  Assuredly  a  faith,  which 
knoweth  and  calleth  upon  the  name  of  God  ; 
for  without  such  mediation  it  would  be  an 
empty  word  and  not  the  name.*  But  now  is 
it  a  faith  of  the  baptizing,  receiving  Church,  or 
must  there  necessarily  be  a  faith  of  the  bap- 
tized, in  this  baptism ;  must  there  be  a  con- 
scious and  supplicating  faith  in  every  individ- 
ual person  baptized?  The  words  of  institu- 
tion, according  to  the  unprejudiced  exposition 
which  we  have  given  in  harmony  with  the 
analogy  of  all  sound  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture, contain  upon  this  point  no  anticipatory 
and  literal  decision,  but  leave  that  in  its 
grand  profundity  to  the  expounding  directions 
of  the  Spirit,  ruling  and  testifying  in  the 
Church  when  the  true  baptism  should  have 
really  come.  Relying  on  this  temperate  and 
unprejudiced  apprehension  of  the  words,  which 
is  not  derived  from  any  opinion  or  docjraa 
previously  entertained,  we  may  conclude — Con- 
sequently in  regard  to  the  children  of  Chris- 
tians, their  faith  in  the  Church,  and  the  pros- 
pect and  pledge  of  subsequent  Christian  in- 
struction and  discipline  at  the  hands  of  their 
parents  or  sponsors,  and  of  the  Church  which 
takes  their  place  as  instructors,  i.«  certAinly 
ground  and  justification  enough  for  their  re- 
ceiving the  Sacrament  of  initiatory  grace  (sa- 
crameutum  initiationin),  and  ample  reason  for 
not  denying  to  them  at  the  outset  of  their  na- 
tural life  the  pledge  of  their  fellowship  with 
the  life  of  God. 

Thus  we  hold  fast  infant  baptism,  concerning 
which  Barclay  asserts  that  it  is  a  mere  ordi- 
nance of  man,  of  which  there  is  to  be  found  in 
Scripture  neither  commandment  nor  example  ; 
which  has  been  rejected  by  so  many,  with  more 
or  less  sincerity  of  faith  in  the  word  of  God; 
and  about  which  so  much  new  agitation  has 
lately  sprung  up.  It  may  be  said  that  only  a 
few  theologians  in  our  day  are  firmly  and 
clearly  decided  in  its  favor  ;  while  not  a  few 
think'with  Barclay.  We  shall  endeavor  to  go 
to  the  ground  of  the  matter,  as  far  as  that  is 
possible  within  our  prescribed  limits.')" 

Spangenberg's  Idea  fidei  Fratrum   contents 


*  Hence  we  may  in  this  sense  wish  that  in 
Luther's  third — Water  does  not  effect  tt — faitii  was 
more  thorouglily  aitpended ;  especially  when  the 
fail  regeneration  is  in  question. 

f  In  order  to  avoid  such  a  diffuse  disquisition  as 
that  into  wl\icli  we  were  led  upon  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, we  shall  abstain  almost  entirely  from  contro- 
versy with  tlie  rapidly-increa.sing  monographic 
Ba])tist  literature,  such  as  the  tracts  of  ^Lartensen, 
Culnian,  Branns,  Wichelhaus,  etc.  But  W.  Hof- 
mann's  Gesprikhe  iiber  Tattfe  und  Wiedertaufe  we 
must  slishtly  notice,  for  there  is  something  in  the 
kind  of  defence  which  wo  must  protest  against. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


805 


itself  with  a  view  which  is  in  part  exegetically 
,alse,  and  in  part  ecclesiastically  inadequate — 
f  When  our  Kedeemer  sent  his  disciples  forth 
into  all  the  world,  the  Christian  Church  was 
yet  to  be  formed.  The  Lord  then  told  them 
how  they  should  proceed  in  gathering  together 
his  Church.  Thus  preaching  was  first,  after- 
wards faith,  then  baptism.  But  when  churches 
were  formed  in  this  manner — what  was  to 
be  done  with  the  children?"  Then  follows 
all  kinds  of  reasons  and  illustrations  to  show 
— as  if  the  Lord  had  said  nothing  in  the 
institution  about  it — "How  it  came  to  pass 
that  infant  baptism  became  universal  in  the 
Church."  It  then  concludes, "  We  may  believe 
that  the  hand  of  God  itself  so  ordered  it,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  did  not  cease  to  give 
instructions  to  tne  disciples,  brought  in  it  as  a 
necessity  that  children  should  be  baptized." 
All  this  is  assuredly  saying  too  little.  The  ex- 
tensively circulated  commentary  of  Olshansen, 
which  expresses  the  views  of  a  large  number, 
maintains  concisely  a  position  which  we  must 
contest,  in  its  two  fundamental  points :  "  By 
the  introduction  of  infant  baptism,  which  was 
certainly  not  an  apostolical  usage,  but  became 
necessary  in  the  Church  when  the  active  efflu- 
ence of  the  Spirit's  energies  had  ceased,  the  re- 
lation of  baptism  was  changed ;  the  external 
rite  retrograded  back  to  the  position  of  John's 
baptism,  and  received  its  necessary  internal 
completeness  only  in  confirmation.''  Just  so 
Neander  exhibits  the  ecclesiastical  position  of 
the  question,  though  with  temperate  expres- 
sion: "  The  data  which  we  possess  would  argue 
anon-apostolical  origin  of  the  rite."  (This,  in- 
deed, Thiersch  inverts.)  What  must  we  say 
when  even  Von  Meyer  leaves  the  matter  in  the 
following  uncertain  state  :  "  The  baptism  of 
infants  is  very  old,  but  its  origin  cannot  be 
traced  any  where."  (Not  in  the  Lord's  words 
of  institution,  not  in  the  inmost  nature  of  bap- 
tism itself,  not  in  the  New-Testament  history 
of  the  Church,  and  the  history  that  followed 
it?)  "  Meanwhile  it  is  no  more  forbidden  in 
the  New  Testament  than  it  is  expressly  en- 
joined " — but  this  we  must  contend  against,  as 
it  cannot  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  sub- 
ject. This  we  shall  see  if  we  once  more  con- 
sider what  the  essence  of  baptism  really  is ; 
then  the  scriptural  teaching  concerning  infant 
baptism  ;  and,  finally,  as  far  as  may  be  neces- 
sary, what  the  earliest  Church  history  says  for 
or  against  it. 

Holy  baptism,*  as  instituted  by  God  through 
Christ,  involves  indeed  much  more  than  that 
which  Ebrard  (Vom  Ahendmald,  i.  55)  attri- 
butes to  it :  "  Ho  who  submits  to  the  rite  of 
baptism  as  the  confession  of  a  faith  which  is 
already  in  him,  receives  in  that  baptism,  on  the 
part  of  God,  au  assurance  that  he  is  saved  in 


*  Would  that  all  .sincere  and  earnest  men  would 
abstain  from  the  current  abiiae  of  the  word  "  bap- 
tize," and  not  give  their  sanction  to  \U  profane 
employment  iu  xelation  to  a  multitudo  of  other 
thinss  ! 


Christ."  Very  good  as  to  the  externals  for 
the  adult ;  but  that  is  not  the  essential  of  our 
avowal,  and  of  God's  assurance.  It  is  the 
deeper  view  of  the  sacrament  which  gives  us 
our  justification  for  administering  it  to  chil- 
dren. The  twenty-sixth  article  oi  the  English 
Church  goes  much  further  than  that  for  infant 
baptism  :  "  Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  pro- 
fession and  mark  of  difference,  whereby  Chris- 
tian men  are  discerned  from  others  that  be  not 
christened,  but  it  is  also  a  sign  of  regeneration, 
or  new  birth,  whereby,  as  by  an  instrument,  they 
that  receive  baptism  rightly  are  grafted  into 
the  Church."  But  this  is  not  enough ;  for  al- 
though this  definition  prepares  the  way  for  the 
tenableness  of  infant  baptism,  yet  it  must  it- 
self be  made  more  definite  and  deep.  That  is, 
this  grafting  and  planting  in  the  Church,  which 
is  the  Lord's  body,  if  it  is  not  again  a  mere 
phrase,  cannot  take  place  by  means  of  a  mere 
empty  sign  of  regeneration.  The  discrctio  Chris- 
tianorum  a  Gentdibus  is  only  the  finis  secunda- 
rius  ;  the  adunitio  ad  carpus  ecclesim  {not  identi- 
cal with  that)  is  merely  and  is  certainly  the 
result  of  an  internal  operation.  The  Geneva 
Catechism  is  better  (although  it  previously 
specifies  with  subtle  care,  that  the  honor  of 
washing  our  sins  away  must  not  be  taken  from 
the  blood  of  Christ,  while  it  is  attributed  to  the 
water) :  "  But  dost  thou  ascribe  to  the  water 
nothing  more  than  that  it  is  a  symbol  of  the 
washing  away  of  sin?  I  believe  that  it  is  a 
symbol  in  which,  at  the  same  time,  there  is 
reality  contained.  For  God  deceiveth  us  not, 
when  he  promises  us  his  gifts."  On  the  other 
hand,  Lutz  says  very  strangely,  with  design  to 
remove  from  the  symbol  and  external  seal  of 
assurance  all  magical  influence — "To  the  faith 
manifested  by  the  recipient  in  baptism  it  says, 
as  it  were,  in  Christ's  word — Kara  zfjv  nidziv 
vjiioov  yevTfO}}rGo  v/^ilv  ;  it  testifies — As  thou 
believest  it  loill  be  done."  But  is  it  only 
"will"— and  not  already  "is  now  done  to 
thee?"  This  gives  us  no  such  sacrament  as 
realizes  grace  in  the  sign  ;  and  certainly  no 
warrant  of  infant  baptism.  Ileim  rightly  pro- 
tests against  the  words  of  Brenz's  Catechism — 
"  A  divine  token,  by  means  of  which  God  the 
Father,  through  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  and  in 
the  unity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  testifies  to  the 
baptized  that  he  wills  to  be  to  him  a  merciful 
God  ;"  and  also  against  the  expression  of  the 
Wiirtemberg  Confirmation-book,  "  Baptism  as- 
sures us  of  the  grace  of  God,"  etc.  As  a  mere 
assurance  and  seal  of  a  grace  already  present, 
New-Testament  baptism  would  be  entirely 
equivalent  to  circumcision;  see  Puom.  iv.  11.* 
Far  be  it  from  us  to  think  so.     It  has  power 


*  On  this  absolutely  false  notion,  which  in  its 
inmost  principle,  and  in  the  highest  dejjree  opposes 
Scripture,  the  whole  Baptist  theory,  at  least  as  re- 
presented by  Ribbeck,  rests.  He  cails  baptism 
only  the  external  sign  of  those  who  have  received 
and  experienced  the  internal  work ;  the  uniform 
of  worthy  recruits ;  a  prerogative  of  grace  for 
tbose  who  have  already  entered  into  the  covenant. 


806 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


"to  work  that  which  it  exhibits  " — as  is  perfect- 
ly plain  from  the  mystical  sii  to  ovo/na  added 
to  the  (pre-supposed)£>'  iiSart;  from  the  anal- 
ogy of  the  only  other  institution  of  an  exter- 
nal rite  ;  and  from  the  spirit  of  all  sound  scrip- 
tural interpretation,  which  will  not  permit  in 
the  New  Testament  any  empty  usage  to  be  re- 
garded as  appointed  by  God.  It  is  itself,  as 
Nitzsch  says,  "  the  pledge  and  external  security 
of  regeneration  by  the  Spirit."  In  Rom.  vi. 
when,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Apostle  is  explain- 
ing the  symbolism  of  the  rite,*  and,  on  the 
other,  emphatically  urging  the  consequent  ob- 
ligation to  perfect  that  which  was  only  begun 
in  baptism,  he  recognizes  and  asserts,  at  the 
outset,  that  we  have  already  died  and  risen 
again,  that  we  are  already  implanted,  because 
we  are  baptized.  Comp.  Col.  ii.  12 ;  Gal.  iii. 
27;  Tit.  iii.  5  in  its  right  exposition,  which  we 
cannot  here  unfold.  Thus  the  Lord  did  really 
ordain  Uco  sacraments.  It  is  by  no  means,  as 
Lutz  asserts,  "  an  unhistorical  view,  that  Jesus 
conceived  and  collocated  Baptism  and  the  Sup- 
per as  the  two  sacraments  of  his  Church  in  any 
such  manner  as  they  were  afterwards  united  in 
one  design."  But,  as  certain  as  is  the  refer- 
ence in  the  Supper  to  the  Passover,  so  surely, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  may  we  gather  from 
the  connection  of  the  words  of  its  institution 
that  baptism  takes  the  place  of  circumcision — 
and  the  entire  connection  between  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  viewed  comprehensively,  per- 
fectly confirms  this.  He  who  understands  the 
meaning  and  position  of  the  two  similarly-re- 
lated Old-Testament  observances,  will  have  no 
doubt  on  this  subject ;  but  we  have  in  Col.  ii. 
11,  12  an  almost  superfluous  dictum  probans, 
which  brings  no  "  new  idea"  to  it,  but  springs 
from  the  natural  view  of  the  whole  relation, 
and  what  is  pre-supposed  in  it.  In  this  is  es- 
tablished that  distinction  between  Baptism  and 


*  "  The  sinner  is  uot  so  much  to  be  washed  as  to 
die,"  writes  Luther,  The  latter  does  not  indeed 
exclude  the  former;  but  it  brings  the  full  and 
deeper  meaning  to  it.  This  follows  from  the  refer- 
ence to  Clirist's  baptism  in  Jordan.  The  perfect 
imtnersion  is  not  accidental  in  the  form,  but  mani- 
festly intended  in  the  (iaitTiZ^iv  eii ;  neverthe- 
less, the  Siiialkald  articles  require  it  too  rigorously, 
and  therefore  have  never  been  obeyed.  Inasmuch 
as  the  external  part  of  the  symbol  is  not  in  itself 
the  essential,  the  immersion  might  again  be  hir- 
ther  si/mboiized  by  a.  Hpr'mkVmf^  :  hence  /iaitrit,Eiv 
occurs  frequoiitiy  in  tlie  sense  of  mere  washing, 
and  it  is  probable  that  there  was  from  the  begin- 
ning a  certain  freedom  of  action.  Where  water 
was  at  hand  for  the  purpose,  the  dipping  might 
take  place ;  where  otherwise,  baptism  would  be 
administered  by  sjjfinkling,  as  probably  with  the 
thousands  on  tlie  day  of  I'entecost.  Whether  in 
Acts  ix.  18  Paul  "  came  up  out  of  the  flood  "  (as 
Ribbeck  says)  is  uncertain.  We  do  not  hold  with 
those  who  Isftnent  with  too  much  earnestness  the 
disuse  of  immersion,  or  who  ascribe  to  our  using 
too  little  water  tlie  too  little  influence  of  our  bap- 
tisms. In  the  nature  of  the  case  the  clement  is  not 
so  closely  connected  with  the  gift  in  the  first  sa- 
crament as  in  the  second. 


the  Supper  of  the  Lord  which  regards  tho  for- 
mer as  the  hirth,  the  latter  as  the  nonrifihment 
(nasci  et  jia^ici  in  Gerhard)  ;  the  one  a  consecra- 
tion which  gives  entrance,  the  other  the  con- 
tinual enjoyment  of  that  access  (comp.  a?  to 
this  last  Ileb.  x.  22).  This  is  more  directly  to 
the  point  than  the  remark  of  Hasse,  which, 
however,  is  not  nntrne  in  itself:  "  Ye  in  me — 
this  end  was  gained  in  baptism  ;  I  in  you — this 
is  fulfilled  in  the  Supper." 

Irenaeus,  our  important  witness  to  the  primi- 
tive faith  of  the  Church  concerning  the  Euch- 
arist, speaks  also,  concerning  baptism,  of  a 
evojdii  Tipo^  <xq/^ap6iav ,  a  union  of  our  body 
with  the  body  of  Christ  for  immortality;  and 
he  is  perfectly  right  in  referring  to  the  germ  to 
be  planted,  the  nature  and  the  kind  of  the 
tree.  Tho  final  end  of  the  regeneration  of  the 
whole  man  in  spirit,  soul,  and  hody,  must  be 
represented  even  at  this  early  beginning  in  its 
essential  elements.  But  when  he  goes  on  to 
ascribe  to  the  water  the  supernatural  influence 
upon  the  body,  as  to  the  spirit  that  upon  the 
soul,  he  arbitrarily  divides  what  God  has  not 
divided,  and  intrudes  his  desire  to  know  into  a 
mystery  concerning  which  the  revealing  Scrip- 
ture keeps  more  silence  than  even  concerning 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper — after  the 
analogy  of  nature  in  the  mystery  of  birth.'* 
We  must,  indeed,  hold  fast  what  in  /iz/i(» 
of  apostolical  doctrine  (1  Cor.  xii.  13  ;  Eph. 
iv.  4.  5)  is  obscurely  intimated,  that  in  Bap- 
tism as  in  the  Supper  there  is  "  a  heavenly 
corporeity."!  For  how  can  we  understand 
any  fellowship  with  the  Son,  independently  of 
his  divine  human,  spiritual-bodily  personality, 
in  which  alone  we  have  also  the  rather  and 
the  Spirit?  How  else  would  baptism  as  a  sa- 
crament be  distinguished  from  the  word  ?  How 
can  we  suppose  the  ymsci  possible  without  the 
previous  nasci  f  There  can  be  no  original  and 
fundamental  "  universal  grace  of  Christ's  atone- 
ment "  without  provision  for  the  renewed  per- 
sonality of  the  new  man  ;  but  this  there  cannot 
be  without  a  heavenly  corporeity,  and  tho 
prima  stamina  thereof.  This  much  is  certainly 
true.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  gift  in  bap- 
tism (mysterious  like  every  thing  connected 
with  birth)  which  in  its  fundamental  generality 
is  consummated  only  by  the  second  sacrament,  is 
distinguished  from  the  impartation  of  the  boay 
and  blood  of  Christ.  For  it  contains  a  perfect 
and  express  reference  to  the  triune  God,  that 
is,  to  the  Father's  election,  and  the  Spirit's 
first  operation  :  the  utmost  care  and  sobriety 
arfi  requisite  therefore  in  speaking  of  its  essen- 
tial  character.^     As    regards   the    influential 


*  Comp.  also  what  we  have  said  upon  John 
ii.  6. 

t  Luther  says  in  one  place  :  "  We  are  not  only 
baptized  as  to  the  soul,  but  the  body  also  is  bap- 
tized " — and  utters  in  these  words  more  than  ho 
himself  understood. 

X  Comp.  what  Jul.  AlUller  (2)i«  «•.  Union,  p.  302) 
.says  about  the  materia  caeiestis  connected  with  bap- 
tism. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


mi 


presence  of  the  Ihod  of  Christ  with  and  in  the 
water  (said  to  have  been  broached  by  Beza, 
but  occurring  before  him,  and  in  Luther's 
hymn),*  we  are  not  forbidden  to  conceive  of 
that,  provided  we  do  not  make  it  a  point  of 
definition,  or  allow  it  to  interfere  with  that  full 
and  essential  truth  of  which  the  mention  of  the 
name  of  the  triune  God  is  the  pledge.  Since 
the  time  of  Gerhard  there  has  been  current  a 
far  more  appropriate  reference,  viz.,  to  the  pres- 
ence of  tlie  Trinity  in  baptism:  comp.  the  ^hsI 
eifit  kv  /f£'(5cj,  which  in  Matt,  xviii.  20  follows 
from  the  tii  to  kfiov  uvona.  So  even  Lange 
unfolds  and  paraphrases  in  its  fulnsss  of  mean- 
ing the  c^5  ry  vvofta:  "They  must  be  baptized 
in  lus  presence,  by  his  authority,  into  fellowship 
with  hira,  and  blessed  knowledge  of  his  nature. 
They  must  be  plunged  into  the  name  of  the 
Three-One."  And  in  the  sacrament  of  initia- 
tion, which  the  Living  God  makes  the  begin- 
ning alone  of  life,  the  man  who  is  to  be  baptiz- 
ed lias  strictly  speaking  nothing  to  bring ; 
he  has  simply  lo  receive  from  God.  Heim, 
the  Wiirtemberg  pastor,  writes  truly  though 
boldly  :t  "The  Reformers,  with  all  their  deep 
convictions  of  the  internal  character  of  Chris- 
tianity, were  yet,  in  respect  to  their  under- 
standing of  truth,  too  much  bound  up  in  ex- 
ternality of  thought,  and  in  discursive  reason- 
ing. Hence  they  always  required,  in  order  to 
the  participation  of  the  blessings  of  salvation, 
faith  as  something  the  existence  of  which  must 
necessarily  be  pre-supposed.  However  near 
they  approached  it,  they  never  reached  and 
firmly  held  the  truth  that  faith  itself,  the 
internal  appropriation,  which  is  essentially  in 
itself,  and  in  its  origin,  the  work  of  God,  might 
be  given  at  the  same  time  with  the  objective 
salvation,  and  wrought  by  God  in  the  hearts 
of  men.  J  Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  ques- 
tion was  agitated  with  so  much  asperity 
whether  children  could  have  faith  ;  for  while 
this  contradicts  the  natural  reason  of  man,  it 
yet  could  not  be  denied,  according  to  the  no- 
lions  of  the  old  theologians,  without  making 
baptism  a  mere  empty  formality,  or  a  merely 
conditional  assurance  as  to  the  future.  The 
simple  answer  would  have  been  that  by  bap- 
tism itself  the  germ,  from  which  the  tree  of  faith 
would  grow,  was  placed  in  the  soul  as  the  seed 
of  life  from  God."  The  preparatory  faith  in  the 
name  announced,  which  is  required  in  the  case 
of  the  adult — in  order  that  nothing  of  which  he 


*  In  the  last  verse  of  Christ  tmser  Kerr  zum  Jor- 
dan kam.  Gerhard  indeed  says :  "  The  best  the- 
ologians determine  that  the  blood  of  Christ  cannot 
appropriately  be  regarded  as  the  second  material 
part  of  baptism." 

f  In  his  small,  but  important  treatise,  Uebcr  Taufc 
unci  Konjlrmatioii  (Stuttg.  1841). 

\  Mark — In  its  origin.  For  the  decisive  free  ap- 
propriation of  man  is  not  excluded.  God  comes 
in  condescension  and  works  preveniently  (Col.  ii. 
12) — but  all  is  developed  and  realized  in  our 
Tti6vii,  to  whicli-the  kvEpyeia.  tov  ^eov  soli- 
cits, and  of  which  it  makes  us  capable. 


is  unconscious  may  be  effected  without  his 
will  and  consciousness — is  not  in  his  case,  if  we 
rightly  distinguish,  such  a  living  faith  as  is  re- 
generating (for  we  are  not  regenerated  by 
our  faith) — but  a  longing  desire  for  it,  in  the 
Spirit  and  power  of  God.  In  one  who  is  adult 
and  conscious  of  what  he  does,  unconsciousness 
as  to  the  mystery  of  this  water  would  be  in  it- 
self positive  unbelief,  and  therefore  the  putting 
a  bar  to  the  work  of  God;  but  whether  in 
every  case  a  positive  and  conscious  faith  is  the 
absolute  condition  of  baptism  is  the  question 
here  involved  ;  and  the  more  fully  we  appre- 
ciate the  free  gift  in  the  sacrament,  the  moro 
confidently  shall  we  deny  it. 

The  defence  of  infant  baptism  by  no  means 
involves  the  necessity  that  we  should  deny 
this  giving  And  positive  energy  and  influence  ia 
the  fundamental  sacrament  of  initiation.  Stein- 
meyer's  attempt  to  meet  the  case  by  a  wonder- 
ful new  theory  of  a  merely  negative  power  and 
significance  in  baptism  needs  not  our  refutation, 
here  ;  it  has  already  been  condemned  by  the 
Kirchentag  (the  seventh,  in  Frankfort,  which 
his  theory  very  much  embarrassed).  Sander 
and  Hofmann  have  well  exposed  the  incon-. 
ceivableness  of  a  mere  passive  suffering  of  the. 
death  of  the  old  man,  without  a  planting  of  the 
new  man  after,  or  rather  in  order  to  effect,  that 
death.  Dorner  has  vigorously  shown  the  bap- 
tism with  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  the  specific  char- 
acteristic of  the  sacramental  baptism  of  Christ: 
comp.  Acts  ii.  38.  In  truth,  the  'iva,  Rom, 
vi.  4,  belongs,  in  inseparable  connection,  ira-. 
mediately  to  the  exposition  of  baptism  itself. 

That  our  Lutheran  theology  has  failed  to 
exhibit  clearly  and  establish  fundamentally 
this  positive  effect  of  baptism  in  regard  to 
children,  is  a  thing  that  cannot  be  denied. 
Luther  himself,  firm  as  he  was  in  his  conviction 
as  to  infant  baptism,  wavered  in  setting  fortk 
its  grounds.  Sometimes  he  speaks  with  perfect; 
correctness  about  it.  So  in  the  sermon  con- 
cerning holy  baptism  (Walch,  x.  2518) :  "There 
are  who  say  that  there  munt  he  (in  addition  to 
water  and  word,  besides  the  divine  name,  and 
the  ordinance  of  God)  something  over  and, 
above,  that  is,  faith  ;  they  rest  this  upon  the 
saying  in  Mark  xvi.  16,  and  bring  forward  the 
sentence  of  Augustine,  which  stands  hard  by 
that  other* — Non  quia  dicilur,  sel  quia  creditur. 
They  think,  incorrectly  understanding  these 
sayings,  that  the  word  and  water  are  a  sacra- 
ment as  far  as  those  who  receive  them  have 
faith ;  thus  they  ground  baptism  not  upon  God's 
ordinance  but  upon  men's,  as  if  the  word  with 
the  water  was  not  effectual  to  baptism  before 
our  faith  is  added  (at  once,  in  the  administra- 
tion) ;  and  thus  God's  word  and  work  must 
receive  their  efficsicy  first  of  all  from  us."  But 
he  does  not  hold  this  fast  in  its  true  meaning: 
he  often  contradicts  himself;  so  that  all  his 
writings  together,  and  indeed  all  the  writings, 
of  the  first  v/itnesses  of  the  Reformation,  fail 


*  Accedat  verbum  ad  elementum,  et  fit  sacramen* 
turn. 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


to  give  U3  the  elements  of  a  sound  doctrine 
concerning  baptism  and  infant  baptism.  But 
what  we  have*  quoted  will  help  U3  to  under- 
Btand  rightly  the  true  meaning  of  the  paradoxi- 
cal questions  in  the  Cat.  Maj.  (p.  545)  :  "  We 
say  that  the  virtue  of  the  sacrament  does  not 
rest  upon  whether  the  baptized  has  faith  or 
not;  baptism  itself  ia  not  affected  by  that.  The 
baptism  is  to  be  held  valid,  though  there  should 
not  be  (immediately — we  would  add)  faith  in 
the  baptized.  My  faith  does  not  make  the 
baptism,  but  it  apprehends  and  understands 
the  sacrament."  but  when  this  is  referred  to 
adults,  and  pushed  so  far  as  to  say  that  if  "a 
Judas  fraudulently  and  maliciously  procured 
baptism,"  it  would  be  true  baptism— just  as 
unoelievers  may  receive  the  sacrament* — it  is 
an  assertion  which  we  have  already  refuted, 
and  must  still  denounce.  But  the  application 
to  infants,  who  have  no  tinbelief,  is  well- 
grounded  :  their  faith  quickened  by  God  from 
baptism  onwards  may  gradually  apprehend 
the  truth,  being  developed  from  the  germ  of 
God's  free  gift  implanted  first.  As  strong  as  is 
our  protest,  in  the  sacrament,  of  eating  and 
drinking  for  adults,  against  any  reception  on 
tJie  part  of  unbelievers,  must  be  our  assertion 
— the  relations  of  the  matter  being  changed — 
of  the  bestowment  of  the  baptismal  grace  upon 
children  who  are  not  capable  of  conscious 
faith,  as  the  beginning  and  foundation  of  their 
spiritual  birth.  As  respects  all  further  bless- 
ings received  from  God  we  hold,  with  John  i.  7, 
the  indispensable  necessity  of  iaith  as  a  condi- 
tion ;  but  the  first  beginning  of  grace  in  us, 
without  which  faith  could  never  be  by  us  ex- 
ercised, must  be  matter  of  pure  prevenient  gift 
and  influence.  It  is  this  which  baptism  testi- 
fies, symbolizes,  and  is  the  medium  of  imparting 
— thus,  in  this  standing  opposed,  as  to  the 
word,  80  also  to  the  other  sacrament.t  Ac- 
cording to  Heb.  xi.  6,  no  man  can  draw  nigh 
to  God  without  conscious  faith,  but  God  him- 
self draws  near  to  little  children  just  that  they 
may  be  able  to  believe  ;  and  we  may  well  ask, 
in  the  analogy  of  Isa.  Ixvi.  9,  Shall  we  parents 


*  This  improper  analogy  occurs  again  in  the  ex- 
position of  John  i.  32  (Walch,  vii.  1658),  and  also 
in  the  dogmatic  treatises.  Hafenretfer's  distinc- 
tion between  the  substantia  bnptismi,  which  is  pres- 
ent, and  the  snlutaris  fritcfus  et  effcctus,  which  is 
wanting,  is  on  a  par  witii  the  unintelligible  Luth- 
eran assertions  concerning  the  sacramental  parti- 
cipation of  unbelievers. 

t  Hence  W.  llofniann  is  perfectly  right  in  say- 
ing :  "  The  Baptists  deal  with  baptism  as  some  are 
said  to  deal  with  the  Lord's  Supper  :  they  make  as 
it  were  out  of  the  two  sacraments  only  one." 
Many  of  our  liypor-Lutheraiis  fall  into  tlio  same 
01  Tor  :  they  exaggerate  bai)tism  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  ceases  to  be  a  sncratnentitm  iiiitii,  and  carry- 
ing this  e.xaggeration  into  infant  bajjtism  they  pro- 
voke the  opj)osition  of  the  Baptists.  We  read  in 
lhf>  Evatig.  Kirchenz.  (18-lG.  p.  187)  the  perilous  as- 
sertion :  "  As  there  is  only  one  Church,  so  there 
is  only  one  sacrament,  in  its  two  stages  and  divis- 
ionii — tlje  Supper  \a  already  contained  in  bap- 
tisui." 


infuse  into  the  souls  of  our  children,  throngb 
education,  and  even  in  their  conception,  spirit- 
ual seed  which  springs  up,  and  shall  not  he 
through  whom  and  for  whom  they  were  born  7 
Can  It  be  that  (as  Ribbeck  says)  before  the 
"  consciousness  of  the  personal  I  "  the  child  is 
not  susceptible  of  any  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  ? 

Thus  we  have  reached  the  second  question, 
as  to  what  the  Scripture  more  or  less  expressly 
declares  concerning  infant  baptism.  Bat  we 
shall  limit  ourselves  now  to  two  points,  which 
we  may  thus  express  :  Is  infant  baptism  in- 
tended in  the  text,  in  the  words  of  in&titution  ? 
and  how  did  the  Apostles  understand  them  ? 

We  protest  at  the  outset  against  Aug.  Hahn's 
representation  :  "  Baptism  was  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  Christ  to  be  administered  to  all  those 
who  penitently  confessed  their  sin,  and  believ- 
ed in  the  Gospei  of  Jesus.  According  to  its 
original  character  and  design  it  could  be  ad- 
ministered only  to  adults,  who  alone  were  ca- 
pable of  the  knowledge  of  sin,  and  repentance, 
and  faith.  Neither  in  the  Scripture,  nor  in  the 
history  of  the  first  century  and  a  half,  is  there 
a  certain  example  of  infant  baptism  to  be 
found,"  etc.,  whereupon  the  baptizing  of  uu- 
conscious  children,  which  (strangely  enough) 
the  growth  of  the  external  Church  demanded, 
is  vindicated  and  a{x>logized  for  by  the  practice 
of  confirmation,  which  (mark  it  well)  really 
took  the  place  of  proper  Christian  baptism. 
Finally,  at  the  close  :  "  But  if  we  would  hold 
fast  to  evangelical  apostolical  principles,  chil- 
dren should,  according  to  the  institution  of 
Christ  and  his  Apostles,  be  consecrated  by 
blessing  (but  what  half-thing  is  this  ?  and  when 
did  the  Apostles  thus  bless  children?),  while 
the  adult  alone  should  be  baptized,  ichen  they 
(and  there  lies  the  difficulty !)  have  come  to  a 
knowledge  of  their  need  and  of  the  way  of  sal- 
vation, and  to  a  true  faith  in  the  Gospel."  To 
all  these  positions  we  are  perfectly  opposed,  on 
exegeticai  and  historical  grounds  whicli  cannot 
be  reasoned  away.  Lutz  again  sets  out  by  say- 
ing ;  "  Infant  baptism  is  est-entially  excluded  by 
the  words  of  institution,  Matt  xxviii.  19  and 
Mark  xvi.  16;  for  the  words  /uaQtjTsvtiv  and 
ni6zEi:£iv  preceding  the  /JajtrO^eiy  shut  them 
out  as  incapable  of  both  " — but  our  exposition 
has  given  reason,  at  least  in  Matthew,  for 
thinking  otherwise  ;  and  we  shall  see  the  same 
in  our  consideration  of  Mark.  His  bold  con- 
clusion is  groundless,  resting  upon  a  very 
superlicial  expDsition :  "  Therelore  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  baptism  of  children 
has  no  ground  in  Scripture."  It  is  admit- 
ted afterwards  that  "it  was  not  only  (most 
kind  admission!)  a  superstitious  noWon  of 
the  magical  elluct  of  baptism  which  intro- 
duced*- the  practice,  but  along  with  it  a  cmi- 


*  Which  is  so  certainly  known  without  any  his- 
torical proof.  Scheincrt  says  that  "  false  ideas 
about  oi  iginal  sin,  and  a  supuistitious  notion  of  tlie 
marvellous  ellect  of  the  opus  oprmtum  produced 
the  jiractico  of  infant  baptism  "  (2>j«  ChnsU.  lUii- 
gwn,  KOnJgsb.  1863,  ii.  U7). 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


809 


mendable  Christian  feeling."  So  again  :  "  On 
account  of  its  long  continuance  the  universal 
Christian  feeling  would  be  most  grievously 
wounded  if  the  baptism  of  infants  was  abolish- 
ed. The  zeal  of  re-baptists  is  without  maturity 
and  propriety,  a  zeal  about  the  word,  for  the 
letter  without  the  spirit."  Bat  here  we  must  an- 
swer: Is  there  then  on  this  point  a  contradiction 
between  the  normal  letter  and  its  afterwards  de- 
veloped spirit?  Thus  what  according  to  Hahn 
oiight  to  be  done  must  not  be  done,  because  of 
a  mere  feeling  which  finds  it  hard  to  shake  off 
a  practice  which,  though  contrary  to  the  word 
of  Scripture,  has  enlisted  for  many  ages  the 
sympathies  of  the  Church.  For  ourselves,  we 
cannot  understand  how  any  man  with  such 
views  and  convictions  can  be  a  member  and  a 
minister  of  a  p£edobaptist  community.  The 
re-baptists  indeed  contend  for  the  falsely  under- 
stood letter ;  but  the  letter  understood  in  the 
spirit  is  itself  the  rightly  expounded  word,  and 
with  that  alone  are  they  to  be  vanquished. 
Scriptural  ground  must  be  given  for  every  usage 
of  the  Church,  either  in  the  germ  or  in  express 
appointment — and  this  is  all  the  more  neces- 
sary lor  one  which  seems  to  oppose  the  word  of 
Scripture :  in  such  a  case  no  custom  and  no 
feeling  must  have  any  force.  But  there  is  no 
want  of  scriptural  ground.  The  word  which 
W.  Hofmann  once  spoke  to  a  Baptist  was  very 
true,  and  touches  the  heart  of  the  matter — 
Your  position  to  the  word  of  God  is  the  narrow 
and  bound  one  of  English  Christians  ;  mine,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  the  freer  and  deeper  one  of 
German  theology.  We  must  undei'stand  the 
letter  of  Scripture  in  connection  with  all  that 
it  pre-supposes  and  all  its  consequences  ;  so 
understanding  it,  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
about  the  baptism  of  infants.  We  must  not 
kold  to  the  "'  written  word  of  God  "  in  such  a 
mechanical  and  foolishly  literal  spirit  as  tiiat  of 
Ribbeek,  to  whom  historical  proof  that  the 
Apostles  baptized  children,  and  decrees  of 
general  councils,  would  avail  nothing,  if  there 
were  no  literal  command  in  the  New  Testament. 
We  have  already  given  our  preparatory  expla- 
nation upon  the  Lord's  symbolical  blessing  of 
the  children  ;  but  we  shall  endeavor  to  show 
that,  in  the  actual  institution  of  baptism,  the 
gathering -Gf  adults  to  the  Church  was  not  (as 
Spangen berg  says)  the  only  thing  referred  to. 

Calvin  nrges  first  against  the  Baptists,  that 
if  they  appeal  so  £tiffly  to  the  first  "  disci- 
pling  "  coming  lefore  the  "  baptizing,"  we  also, 
on  the  other  hand  (si  tergiversari  libeat,  non 
latebra,  sed  latissimus  campus  ad  eff"ugiendum 
se  aperit),  may  appeal,  with  equal  positiveness, 
to  the  second  arrangement  of  the  words  :  first 
"  baptize,"  then  "  teach."*     But  he  gives  up 


*  The  Lord  spoke  of  being  born  again  of  water 
and  Spirit,  not  of  Spirit  and  of  water:  a  remark 
that  must  be  carefully  noted.  We  would  not  how- 
ever press  it  with  W.  Ilofmann  in  favor  of  the  pri- 
ority of  baptism  ;  but,  against  such  exaggerations 
as  represent  a  perfect  regeneration  in  baptism  itself, 
the  segueme  aS.  !i!k<ii  words  .in  iiiis  £o-orfZ»«aiw«  is  era- 
fhcLtic 


the  sound  exposition  of  the  words:  and  sug- 
gests as  the  right  answer  the  false  question, 
"  Is  there  a  single  syllable  about  infants  in  all 
thi«  discourse?"  To  turn  these  discourses  of 
Christ  against  infant  baptism  is  as  foolish  as  it 
would  be  to  deny  bread  to  the  children  be- 
cause they  do  not  work,  according  to  2  Thess. 
iii.  10.  "  What  every  body  must  see  to  refer  to 
adults,  they  apply  to  children."  This  eomes 
at  last  to  Spangenberg's  dictum,  that  "  infant 
baptism  is  neither  expressly  commanded  nor 
•expressly  forbidden  in  Scripture"  But  after 
all,  at  the  solemn  consecration  of  a  sacrament 
the  not  mentioning  would  be  equivalent  to  a 

frohibition.  Let  us  think  carefully  of  this, 
s  it  a  thing  in  itself  probable,  nay,  is  it  a 
thing  conceivable,  that  at  the  time  when  he  is 
-contemplating  the  ground,  procedure,  and 
economy  of  his  whole  Church  dowji,  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  and  giving  for  that  purpose  his 
final  and  decisive  commissions  and  promises, 
Christ  should  not  think  of  the  difficult  ques- 
tion— What  must  be  done  with  the  children  of 
the  converted  nations?  Is  it  possible  that 
those  children  whom  he  some  time  blessed 
should  now  be  so  entirely  forgotten  as  to  be 
neither  excluded  from  nor  included  in  the 
arrangements  of  that  great  benediction  which 
he  is  now  establishing  ?  There  is  a  great  differ- 
ence, moreover,  between  the  baptism  of  chil- 
dren and  the  sacrament  of  the  women,  which 
has  been  brought  into  comparison.  Proceed- 
ing from  the  first  manifestation  of  baptism, 
ai^ument  has  been  found  for  the  exclusion  of 
inlants;  proceeding  from  the  typical  parallel 
of  the  Old  Testament,  argument  has  been 
found  for  their  inclusion.  Which,  then,  ie 
right,  and  how  are  they  reconciled?  We  say 
With  the  Apology  :  "  It  is  necessary  to  baptize 
infants,  that  the  promise  of  salvation  may  be 
applied  to  them,  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  Christ-:  Baptize  all  nations,  where, 
as  salvation  is  offered  to  all,  so  baptism  is  offered 
to  all,  men,  women,  children,  infants;  it  there- 
fore clearly  follows  that  infants  are  to  be  bap- 
tized because  salvation  is  offered  with  bap- 
tism." But  this  requires  the  aid  of  exposi- 
tion.* 

Olshausen  remarks  quite  correctly  that  in 
apostolical  practice  instruction  never  preceded 
baptism.  Lange  misunderstands  this  in  his 
reply:  "Was  not  the  announcement  of  the 
name  of  Christ,  which  was  the  means  of 
bringing  men  to  confess  that  name,  an  in- 
struction?" But  Olshausen  only  means  that 
this  first  announcement  was  not' essential  in- 
struction. See  Acts  ii.  42.  But,  it  will  be 
asked.  Was  not  this  HT^pvOdeiy,  which  is  com- 
manded previously  in  Mark,  before  baptism  ? 
Certainly,  for  how  should  salvation  be  brought 
to  the  nations  otherwise  than  by  the  word  of 
preaching  at  the  very  beginning?  But,  not- 
withstanding, it  was  to  be  carried  to  the  na- 
tions  ;  the  beginning  with  adults  was  to  go  on 


^  Nitxseh :  Tliere  are  here  genuine  elements  of 
apology,  but  the  jnaiu  question  .is  evaded. 


810 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


until  the  nations  as  natiomwere  to  be  received 
into  the  discipleship  of  Christ :  let  the  mean- 
ing of  this  be  remembered  and  deeply  pon- 
dered !*  II;re  lies  the  testing  point  for  the 
right  understanding  of  the  whole,  the  connec- 
tion of  its  development  with  the  letter  to  be 
expounded.  As  already  in  Matt.  x.  12,  13 
(see  our  exposition)  the  Lord  had  rrmltitmhs 
&T)d  families  in  his  eye,  and  not  merely  indi- 
vidual persons;  as  in  Luke  xi.x.  9  the  intima- 
tion about  the  house  of  ZacchaBUS  pointed  the 
same  way ;  so  now  he  contemplates  and  em- 
braces the  peojAes  upon  earth  in  the  widest 
sense  as  under  God's  appointment  extended 
families,  each  in  its  several  integrity. t  For 
this  totality  the  laptizing  is  tlien  distributed  ; 
the  children  are  not  expressly  mentioned,  but 
the  words  are  handed  down  to  future  under- 
standing. Wesley:  "  Baptizing  and  teaching 
are  the  two  great  branches  of  that  general 
design,  and  these  were  to  be  determined  by 
the  circumstances  of  things,  which  made  it 
necessary,  in  baptizing  adult  Jews  or  heathens, 
to  teach  them  before  they  were  baptized ; 
in  discipling  their  children,  to  baptize  them 
before  they  were  taught."  This  is  in  perfect 
harmony  wiih  the  truth,  but  it  is  not  correct 
exegesis,  inasmuch  as  the  teaching  does  not 
express  i\\\s  preliminary  instruction  ;  but  Wes- 
ley has  used  preaching  and  teacliing  inter- 
changeably. Indeed,  we  do  not,  in  strict 
exegesis,  obviate  the  difficulty  by  saying  with 
Rambach  :  "Christ  ordains  that  ncivTa  zd 
eQyri  should  be  baptized.  But  as  there  is  no 
people  under  the  sun  which  is  composed  of 
adults  alone,  it  cannot  be  contrary  to  the  com- 
mandment of  Christ  that  little  chddren  should 
be  baptized."  For  the  accus.  EQyr/  is  not 
strictly  connected  with  fta7tTiC,eLV,  and  this 
admits  of  a  good  reason  ;  the  inclusion  of  the 
children  rests,  partly,  upon  the  indefini/c 
avrovi,  which,  specifying  no  condition  or 
limitation  whatever,  is  put  immediately  in  the 
place  of  iOvTf ;  and,  partly,  in  the  parallel 
ideas  of  naOrfCEveiv  and  lSa7triC,Eiv.  Hence 
Buddeus  is  more  precise  and  correct :  "  The 
word  uaOtfrEvScxTE  is  to  be  translated — Malce 
disciples;  and  this,  if  infants  are  regarded, 
could  be  done  by  baptism  alone."  lie  after- 
wards says,  with  reference  to  the  M?jpv66Eiy  : 
"  In  the  word  m/pv^aTE  there  is  including  the 
preaching  concerning  baptism,  which  exerts 
its  influence  in  a  different  manner  upon  adults 
and  upon  infants."  This  is  seen  in  Acts  viii. 
35,  36. 

Alter  the  Lord  had  thus  strikingly  spoken, 
in  a  great  prirphelic  contemplation  of  the  his- 


*  "  The  commandment  of  the  Lord  to  the  Apos- 
tles, lo  bring  the  peoples  as  nations  to  God,  sounds 
precisely  like  the  promise  given  to  Abraham  in  the 
beginning  "  (Baumgarten,  Die  Nac'itgcschiclitc  Sacha- 
rjff*,  ii.  481).  Most  true.  It  is  a  question  how  far 
our  modoru  missions  forgot  this. 

t  Being  "  the  individuals  and  higher  personal- 
ities of  the  world's  history" — as  liuuseu  terms 
them. 


tory  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church,  concern- 
ing the  "discipling  of  all  nations  " — assuredly 
with  the  meaning  that  the  household  and 
family  bonds  should  not  continue  to  be  rent  as 
at  the  beginning,  but  that  Christian  penplen 
should  be  won,  and  translated  into  the  state 
of  discipleship  as  peoples  ;  after  he  had  thus 
connected  the  discipling,  which  might  seem  to 
refer  only  to  individual  persons,  with  the  term  • 
nations  {'tOvrf);  he  then  introduces,  but  not 
till  then,  in  connection  with  the  ImpLizing,  the 
element  of  the  personal  them  (avzoii).  For, 
indeed,  it  must  always  be  necessary  that  the 
baptism  to  be  personally  appropriated  should 
be  administered  to  individuals;  although  in 
process  of  time  what  may  be  termed  a  "  bap- 
tism "  of  the  whole  national  life  and  spirit  was 
to  follow,  and  the  baptized  were  to  grow  up 
into  a  united  national  Church.  This  we  do 
not  mean  altogether  in  the  sense  of  Driiseke, 
who,  placing  suspiciously  in  abeyance  the  per- 
sonal element  in  regeneration,  preaches  about 
"  the  great  joeo/^^e-baptism  by  .Jesus" — for  it  is 
only  the  discipling  which  belongs  to  the  word 
nations.  But  still  there  is  some  truth  in  it, 
and  he  goes  on  with  perfect  correctness : 
"  Christianity  was  not  designed  to  be  a  thing 
limited  to  individuals;  the  consecration  of 
peoples  proceeds  from  the  families,  the  conse- 
cration of  families  from  individuals,  and  thd 
consecration  of  individuals  (again)  springs 
from  the  Church."  So  also  he  speaks  very 
sound  words  in  favor  of  the  preservation  of 
the  characteristic  difTeiences  of  peoples  in  Chris- 
tendom, in  opposition  to  a  perverted  cosmopo- 
lite view  ol  Christianity — for  that  is  main- 
tained most  evidently  in  our  text.  Nilzsch 
points  in  a  very  impressive  manner  to  the 
original  natural  foundations  of  life  in  the 
family,  with  which  the  Church  must  ever  be 
in  harmony  ;  this  of  it-self,  without  a  single 
word  said  about  it  in  Scripture,  being  the 
profoundest  warranty  of  infant  baptism.*  As 
certainly  as  Christ  would  never  p'uck  up  and 
outrage  these  roots  of  human  development  and 
the  iormation  of  character  and  society ;  as 
certainly  as  it  was  his  will  that  there  should 
be  such  Churches  of  peoples  as  were  aimed  at 
in  the  earliest  times,!  and  have  existed  through 
the  greater  part  of  two  thousand  years ;  and 
that  there  should  bo  the  concomitant  (but 
carefully  defined)  connection  between  the 
Church  and  the  State;  and  that  entire  races 
should  bo  prevaded  with  the  elements  of  his 
renewing  Spirit  (for  otherwise  the  result  as 
seen  in  history  must  be  regarded  as  altogether 
a  failure  and  pervei-sion  of  his  will) — so  really 
and  assuredly  must  his  will  have  been  the 
baptism  of  children.  The  one  stands  or  falb 
in  reality  with  the  other;  both  must  therefore 


*  For  this  I  may  refer  to  my  Auslegung  dct 
EpIu'Heyhriffea,  ii.  311)  H'.,  es]>ecially  p.  327. 

t  Comp.  my  Reden  der  Aposlcl,  ii.  115.  It  is  re- 
markable that  just  at  the  transition  of  the  Go.s]>e) 
into  Europe,  the  saving  and  baptizing  of  hooio- 
hulds  comes  iulo  prominouce  ia  Urn  uarratjve. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


811 


have  concurred  in  the  design  and  ordinance  of 
our  Lord,  whose  will  must,  if  anywhere,  have 
been  uttered  here  in  Matt,  xxviii.  The  con- 
troversy is  not  merely  whether  infants  should 
be  baptized  or  not ;  but  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence or  antecedent  of  the  denial  of  baptism 
to  children  is  separatism,  and  the.  reduction  of 
the  Church  back  to  its  beginnings,  to  the  col- 
lection together  of  individual  converts  from 
*  several  unrelated  families.  Can  we  suppose 
the  Lord  to  have  purposed  that  the  community 
of  the  baptized  should  continue  forever  that 
which  it  must  necessarily  have  been  in  the 
beginning,  an  outwardly-separated  status  in 
statu,  a  confederation  altogether  distinct  from 
the  life  of  the  nation?  Assuredly  not:  For 
he  has  himself  declared  that  such  a  community 
would  never,  under  any  circumstances,  escape 
the  intrusion  of  members  merely  in  form  ; 
and  consequently  would  never  in  the  end  be 
essentially  better  in  principal  than  the  na- 
tional Church.*  Moreover,  it  was  altogether 
in  the  family,  the  foundation  of  the  nation, 
that  humanity  was  ever  to  be  apprehended 
and  laid  hold  of  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 

Children  are  certainly  not  baptized  merely 
for  the  reason  that  the  Geneva  Catechism  as- 
signs, "Thereby  to  declare  that  they  are  the 
heirs  of  the  promise  given  to  the  children  of 
the  faithful;  and  that  they,  when  grown  to 
mature  age,  and  capable  of 'understanding  the 
real  design  of  their  baptism,  may  attain  to  and 
increase  in  its  benefit."  Or,  as  the  words 
which  precede:  "  Since  it  is  sufficiently  shown 
that  the  substantial  virtue  of  baptism  is  the 
portion  of  the  children,  it  would  be  doing  them 
an  injustice  to  refuse  them  the  sign,  which  is 
less  than  the  reality  itself."!  For  the  sign 
and  its  reality  are  essentially  connected  to- 
gether even  in  the  baptism  of  infants.  There- 
fore we  may  adopt  the  better  expression  of  the 
first  Helvetic  Confession  :  "  We  dip  our  infants 
too  into  this  holy  bath  of  regeneration,  because 


*  Comp.  the  picture  drawn  by  Hofmann  (p.  185, 
186)  of  a  church  of  late  baptized  peo.)le.  The 
Steinthal  treatise  before-mentioned  (the  author  of 
which  we  are  not  allowed  publicly  to  announce), 
one  of  the  best  exponents  of  that  class,  lays  down 
the  following :  "  Througli  the  testimony  of  the 
Church  (but  what  church  1)  there  is  ever  going  on 
a  great  division  in  the  world ;  some  believe  and 
enter  voluntarily  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church  ; 
others  refuse  to  believe,  and  absolutely  reject  that 
fellowship."  But  we  protest  against  the  applica- 
tion of  this  to  the  baptizing  or  not  baptizing  of 
the  individuals  of  a  Christianized  people,  an  aOvoi 
fxaBijTEvfJav.  See  also  Ribbeck  (p.  121);  but, 
with  regard  to  his  remarks,  how  can  we  fundamen- 
tally test  whether  those  who  have  witnessed  their 
confession  are  all  sincere  and  the  children  of  God  1 
We  would  ask,  moreover,  how  the  Baptist  commu- 
nity, as  such,  can  be  organized,  and  retain  an  ab- 
solute purity. 

t  So  that  baptism  would  only  be  the  act  in  which 
an  actual  existing  connection  with  Christ  is  ex- 
pressly declared^  shown  forth,  and  confirmed  (Hof- 
uana,  p.  85). 


it  would  be  unrighteous  in  us,  who  are  the 
people  of  God,  to  exclude  those  who  are  born 
of  us,  as  such,  from  the  fellowship  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God."  He  who  significantly  said,  con- 
cerning the  children  who  were  brought  unto 
him  by  others,  that  they  had  come  themselves, 
imputing  it  to  them  as  their  own  coming,  will 
admit  them  also  to  the  blessing  of  baptism  ;  for 
he  did  not  then  in  the  days  of  his  flesh  let 
them  go  away  empty,  without  an  essential  and 
efficacious  blessing.  It  is  true,  as  my  Catechistn 
says  (Quest.  346),  that  the  gift  and  grace  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  symbolized  by  water,  is  pro- 
mised by  the  word,  and  is  received  by  faith  ; 
but  this  faith,  as  regards  children  in  the  ac- 
tual reception  of  the  first  fruits,  may  be  the 
representative,  imputed  faith  of  parents,  spon- 
sors, and  of  the  whole  Church — which  will  go 
on  to  be  imparted  more  and  more.*  Thus  it  is 
at  the  first  in  allend  fide  (according  to  Chem- 
nitz nequaquam  concedendum) — but  in  this,  as 
to  children,  there  is  nothing  to  be  disputed 
against ;  in  fact  the  alienum  ceases  to  be  such. 
They  are  supposed  to  grow  up  in  the  grace  of 
the  Church  given  to  the  whole  "people  of  God," 
and  which  is  now  given  anew  as  the  grace  of 
baptism  ;  in  that  faith  which  flows  to  them 
from  the  beginning  as  a  spiritual  mother's  milk 
— thus  they  are  already  nabTjrEvQevrsi,  al- 
ready dimples  in  the  most  real  sense  of  the 
word.  For  "  the  children  of  Christians  begin, 
as  soon  as  ever  they  are  capable,  to  learn 
and  receive  impressions  in  Christianity  "  (Hof- 
mann). That  there  should  be  a  Church  which 
receives  and  educates  them  ;  that  there  should 
be  a  baptizer  (with  more  or  less  of  personal 
sincerity  and  earnestness — that  is  not  the  es- 
sential point),  acknowledging  and  represent- 
ing the  laith  of  the  mother-church,  we  should 
invoke  for  them  the  triune  God — is  necessary, 
but  it  is  also  enough.  Thus  the  grace  of  him 
tiiat  calleth  (that  the  fulfillment  n;ay  not  come 
behind  the  type,  Rom.  ix.  11),  the  germ  out 
of  which  the  tree  of  their  Christian  life  is  de- 
veloped under  spiritual  culture,  is  the  neces- 
sary foundation  of  Christian  education,  of  the 
nai8ayooyia  kv  Xptdrc^,  and  not  merely  eii 
Xfjidrov — their  nurture  in  Christ,  and  not 
merely  into  Christ.f  As  a  Christian  lather  I 
could  never  regard  one  of  my  children  as  still 
standing  without  the  grace  of  regeneration, 
and  as  not  yet  taken  into  the  covenant  and 
promise  through  the  sacrament  appointed  to 
that  end.  The  higher  my  estimation  of  this, 
the  more  deeply  do  I  feel  its  need  for  my  chil- 
dren, as  for  myself;  moreover,  I  have  no  no- 
tion of  any  such  education  as  should,  apart 


*  It  is  not  absolutely  wrong,  as  Hofmann  thinks, 
to  regard  the  sponsors,  which  represent  the  Church, 
as  also  representing  the  child:  for  this  last  follows 
from  the  first,  and  in  that  lies  actually  the  justifi- 
cation of  baptism. 

t  In  Ephes.  vi.  4,  the  original  speaks  of  the 
nurture  and  discipline  o/  theZoid,  which  Luther 
has  incorrectly  translated  "  zum  Herrn  " — to  the 
Lord. 


812 


INFANT  BAPTISM, 


from  the  divine  foundation,  prepare  them  for 
and  lead  them  to  baptism.  The  more  stress 
we  are  in  fact  obliged  to  lay  upon  the  blessing, 
the  sanctification.  and  the  union  with  the 
Church,  of  a  child  growing  up  in  strict  Chris- 
tian culture,  the  more  must  his  subsequent 
baptism  lose  its  importance :  it  must  in 
fact  appear  to  be  a  mere  supplementary  cere- 
mony of  water.  But  the  "  pedagogic  influ- 
ence upon  the  nations"  which  Christ  ordains 
and  promises,  and  which  he  in  fact  afterwards 
approved,  is  not  merely  "represented  by  bap- 
tism," as  Lange,  too  externally  looking  at  it, 
says — but  the  internal-spiritual  discipUng  of 
the  nations  with  their  progeny*  is  essentially 
attached  to  the  baptism  of  children,  and  will  be 
mediated  ly  it.  This  has  not  merely  furthered 
the  growth  of  the  external  Church,  which 
would  be  in  itself  no  blessing,  but  has  in  real- 
ity in  this  way  continued  and  enlarged  the  in- 
ternal Church.  Against  all  perverting  dese- 
cration and  abuse  of  infant  baptism  stands  the 
commandment  that  follows — which,  indeed, 
like  all  the  ordinances  and  words  of  Christ, 
has  not  been  universally  obeyed.  Teach,  them 
to  observe,  etc.  This  first  of  all  applies  to  the 
parents,  but  then,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Church. 

It  is  true  that  the  Lord  did  not  here  "  ex- 
pressly "  (as  they  say)  appoint  infant  baptism; 
and  this  may  be  explained,  partly  by  the  large- 
ness and  extent  ot  the  Lord's  contemplation, 
and  partly  by  reasons  of  special  wisdom,  to 
which  we  shall  presently  refer.  But  he  so  spoke 
that  in  the  inmost  understanding  of  the  word 
through  the  Spirit  it  must  appear  to  have 
been  foreseen  and  included.  Have  we  not  al- 
ready found,  apart  altogether  from  the  present 
controversy,  that  baptism  in  its  present  con- 
nection took  the  precise  place  of  circumcision  ?f 
Is  not  this  analogy  an  important  argument  for 
the  baptism  of  children?  The  analogy  was  so 
direct  and  obvious,  that  our  Lord,  if  his  will 
had  not  been  the  baptism  of  infants,  must  have 
expressly  interdicted  it.  Or,  his  words  must 
have  been  thus  expressed :  "  Disciple  those 
who  repent  in  all  nations,  baptizing  all  who 
believe  your  preaching,"  or  the  like.  For 
the  proselytes  of  Judaism  were  baptized  in 
families,  with  their  wives  and  children. J  We 
cannot  .but   perceive  in  Acts  ii.  39,  "and  to 


*  "  It  is  clear  that  the  great  idea  (of  the  univer- 
sal priesthood  in  Christianity)  requires,  in  order  to 
its  full,  natural,  and  healthy  development,  a  Chris- 
tian people,  althouc;h  in  its  gorni  it  needs  only  the 
Christian  family."  Buuscn,  Ktrche  der  Zukwift, 
p.  71. 

f  HfuMb.  Katechuiin.  Quest.  74,  and  80  most  of 
the  Conlessions.  Theologians  bring  forward  this 
a&  evidence ;  sometimes,  however,  in  a  ono-sidcd 
manner,  and  without  seeing  that  deep  connection 
of  the  whole  which  gives  its  chief  force  to  the  ar- 
gument. 

%  Tlio  rigorous  question,  "  Where  is  it  written 
that  children  are  to  be  baptized  1  "  is  best  answered 
by  tlie  counter-question,  "  Where  is  it  written  that 
we  should  not  baptize  them  1 " 


your  children,"  an  offer  of  the  new  cove.Tant  of 
grace  which  refers  not  merely  to  their  descend- 
ants in  the  future,  but,  under  the  Spirit's  in- 
spiration, to  their  then  existing  children — tiiis 
interpretation  is  rendered  obvious  by  the 
analogy  of  the  old  covenant,  and  Peter's  words 
may  therefore  be  regarded  as  "  paving  the  way 
for  int'ant  baptism."  Comp.  Acts.  iii.  25.  If 
the  children  of  the  people  of  Israel  were  thus 
referred  to,  surely  the  same  would  hold  good  of 
the  children  of  those  afar  off. 

What  then  was  the  Apontles'  practice  with 
regard  to  the  children  of  believers?  Even  if 
Peter  did  not  himself  at  once  understand  the 
words  which  the  Spirit  on  the  first  day  put 
into  his  lips  concerning  the  children  near  (as 
also  concerning  all  who  were  far),  the  true 
understanding  of  them  could  not  possibly  have 
been  long  wanting  when  the  faith  was  spread 
abroad.  Although  Luther  himself  at  first  con- 
ceded to  the  Anabaptists  that  the  Church  had 
authority  not  to  baptize  children,  because  no 
passage  of  Scripture  imperatively  enjoins  it 
(and  in  a  certain  sense  he  was  right)— yet  it 
may  be  argued  back  with  the  greate.st  confi- 
dence from  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  chil- 
dren, as  soon  as  perfect  communities  were  con- 
solidated, had  been  for  the  most  part  baptized ; 
and  in  this  way  we  have  a  foundation  for  the 
exposition  of  many  otlierwise  doubtful  passages. 
Three  questions  must  be  answered  by  those 
who  would  maintain  the  invalidity  ot  infant 
baptism,  and  their  full  importance  must  aUvays 
have  been  felt  by  those  who  duly  reflected 
upon  their  consequences.  First :  With  what 
age  or  year  does  the  susceptibility  to  receive 
the  Holy  Ghost  begin  ?*  or — to  put  the  same 
question  in  another  way — Who  that  honors 
the  word  of  Scripture  can  unconditionally  deny 
to  childhood  this  susceptibility,  after  Luke  i. 
15  ?  Or — still  otherwise — Did  not  the  sacred 
youth  of  Jesus,  holy  from  the  beginning  in  the 
Spirit,  obtain  a  sanctification  for  human  nature 
in  its  earliest  age?  But,  if  all  this  be  repelled, 
we  would  ask,  secondly  :  Who  could  decide  the 
question,  not  only  at  what  age,  but  under  what 
circumstances  generally,  the  children  grown  up 
should  be  baptized,  as  penitent  and  believing?! 
For,  to  baptize  all  indiscriminately  afterwards, 
just  as  we  confirm  all — as  Baptist  Cliurclies 
are  very  much  tempted  to  do — is  that  prostitu- 


*  Or,  with  Hofmann  :  "  Who  can  say  how  early 
the  first  dawning  rays,  which  precede  the  morn- 
ing light  of  the  spiritual  day,  enter  the  infant 
soul  1  " 

t  "  It  is  evident  that  by  this  there  would  bo  in- 
troduced into  the  existing  communities  a  distinc- 
tion between  internal  and  external  members,  and 
a  judkuU  autlioriti/,  consequently,  to  be  exerci.sed 
by  the  rulers  of  llie  Church,  which  would  not  be- 
come Christ's  servants,  and  be  unprofitable  for 
both  classes  in  the  community  "  (Ileim,  p.  2o).  And 
it  also  entirely  forgets  the  secret  and  gradual  char- 
acter of  our  early  religious  growth,  concerning 
which  Ilofmann  rightly  asks — "  Wiiere  is  the  point 
of  express  decision  at  which  the  place  of  baptism 
may  be  determined  ] " 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


lU 


tion  of  the  sacrament  which  they  so  much  com- 
plain of.  But  to  baptize  children  in  depend- 
ence upon  prevenient  grace  must  appear  to  be 
most  expressly  in  harmony  with  the  idea  and 
design  of  this  prevenient  sacrament  of  the 
electing  grace  of  God ;  and  it  seldom  or  never 
happens  that  a  baptized  adult  can  perfectly 
"receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child."* 
Finally,  if  all  this  could  be  disposed  of,  and  we 
could  in  some  way  or  other  distinguish  those 
who  are  unworthy  of  baptism,  we  would  ask, 
thirdly :  How  and  in  what  way  are  we  to 
organize  and  deal  with  this  sundered  portion, 
the  un baptized  of  a  Christian  people  ?  "Will  not 
the  rejected  appear  to  be  rejected  of  God,  to 
their  embittering  ?  Who  gave  to  man  such  an 
authority  as  this?  The  fact  that  in  all  these 
things,  which  must  of  course  have  come  into 
question  in  the  beginnings  of  the  establishment 
of  the  Church,  there  is  no  ordinance,  no  direc- 
tion, no  record,  no  single  word,  is  a  most  mighty 
argumentum  a  sileniio  in  favor  of  a  designed 
and  always  existing  baptism  of  infants.f  Can 
we  suppose  the  Lord,  and  alter  him  the  Spirit 
in  the  Apostles,  to  have  left  his  people  for  all 
future  time  so  utterly  without  guidance  as  to 
the  question  how  they  should  deal  with  Chris- 
tian children,  which  are  evidently  no  longer 
heathens,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  brought 
up  like  heathens  ?  How  would  that  harmonize 
with  the  canonical  completeness  and  the  pro 


literally  demonstrative  ;  but  all  that  has  been 
already  said  will  shed  a  light  quite  sufficient 
for  that  purpose  upon  those  passages  especially 
which  record  the  baptizing  of  whole  houses  or 
families.  We  would  not  go  so  far  in  conces- 
sion as  W.  Hofmann,  and  speak  lightly  of  the 
appeal  to  these  passages  ;  they  are  essentially 
enough.  It  is  true  that  we  read  in  Acts  xvl. 
32  of  the  word  having  been  declared  to  all  in 
his  house  (that  is,  to  all  who  could,  and  as  far 
as  they  could  receive,  it)  ;  but  why  is  it  said  in 
vcr.  Si  that  /te  had  believed,  the  singular 
itETtidzEVHODi  being  alone  used?  moreover  in 
connection  Avith  the  strikingly  impersonal 
n  av  otHi.  Ver.  32  may  show  that  there 
were  no  "  sucklings  "  present ;  yet  ver.  34  again 
proves  that  they  were  not  all  adults  and  inde- 
pendent persons,  who  decided  in  their  own 
personal  faith  to  undergo  baptism.  (Comp. 
John  iv.  53  with  the  TtaiSiov,  ver.  49.)  Not, 
indeed,  babes,  yet  jcaiSia,  children,  might  re- 
joice with  their  parents  after  their  manner,  and 
in  their  degree  ;  and  a  baptism  of  such  children 
in  the  family  would  be  a  demonstrative  argu- 
ment for  the  analogy  of  infant  baptism,  resting 
upon  the  same  principle  with  it.  it  is  true  that 
the  house  of  Lydia,  ver.  15,  could  not  contain 
any  children* — but  why  do  we  find  the  reference 
,  once  more  to  her  having  believed  alone?  (in 
i  which  the  siyai  is  not  altogether  in  favor  of 
!  Hofmann's  "becoming  a  believer"  through  the 


totypic  sufficiency  of  Scripture?  It  is  not  our  1  baptism).  Paul,  according  to  1  Cor.  i.  16,  bap- 
"  magical  notion  of  inspiration,"  not  a  relapse  tized  the  home  of  Stephanas  ;  but  it  does  not 
on  our  part  into  mechanical  dependence  on  the  follow  from  chap.  xvi.  15  of  the  same  Epistle^ 
mere  letter  ot  Scripture,  when  we  insist  upon    as  Neander  prematurely  deduces — "  tliat  the 


finding  in  the  Scripture,  in  the  word  of  the 
Lord  himself,  not  indeed  the  entire  ecclesiasti- 
cal development  of  every  practice,  but  its  pro- 
totype and  authorization,  as  provided  before- 
hand for  every  question  of  importance  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord.  Thus  was  our  Lord  under- 
stood from  the  beginning,  and  children,  when 
it  was  sought, J  were  baptized :  this  to  us  is  the 
true  solution  of  the  enigma.  The  traces  of 
this,  indeed,  in  the   New   Testament   are  not 


*  In  the  excellent  account  of  the  ecclesiastical 
state  of  North  America  which  Prof.  Schaff  pub- 
lished in  the  Deutsch.  Zei'schr.  1854,  we  have,  p.  223, 
his  authentic  testimony  that  the  Baptists,  having 
no  sure  defence  against  the  profanation  of  the  sa- 
crament, baptize  may  hypocrites  and  unworthy 
persons  ;  and  that  they  no  more  succeed  in  erect- 
ing pure  churches  than  did  the  Donatists  and  other 
similar  sects. 

f  Ribbeck  asks  the  strange  question,  Why  do 
we  not  find  a  single  word  about  sponsorship — this 
sM;5i;?>'(»-it(w  of  family  obligation,  wliich  the  later 
circumstances  of  the  family  and  the  Church  ren- 
dered necessary  1  But  our  counter-question  has 
much  more  reason  and  force — Why  is  there  not  a 
single  word  about  the  position  and  treatment  of 
the  children  of  Christians,  which  do  not,  however, 
belong  yet  to  the  Church  1 

X  When  parents  brought  their  children  to  be 
baptized,  as  they  fondly  brought  them  for  Christ's 
blessing,  who  that  remembered  Ms  words  could 
reject  them  ] 


wliole  family,  which  received  baptism,  consisted 
of  none  but  adult  members."  The  former  pass- 
age appears  to  us,  rather,  when  placed  in  com- 
parison with  the  history  in  the  Acts,  to  bear 
testimony  generally  to  the  baptiziaj  of  Iwuses 
and  families,  which  the  Apostles  adopted  as 
expressly  in  harmony  with  the  Lord's  words 
concerning  the  "  nations  "  and  the  "  houses." 
Neander  regards  it  as  highly  improbable  that 
Paul,  the  opponent  of  all  opus  operntum  without 
personal  faith,  "  would  have  introduced,  or 
permitted  to  be  introduced,  a  practice  wliica 
might  so  easily  be  perverted  into  a  sanction 
for  the  delusion  of  a  justification  to  be  obtain- 
ed by  external  things,  and  which  would  trans- 
fer the  external  righteousness  of  circumcision 
to  Christian  baptism."  But  all  that  we  have 
already  said  will  be  more  than  a  counterpoise 
to  any  such  imagined  anxiety  on  the  Apostle's 
part.  We  much  more  cl-^arly  see  to  what  the 
living  children  of  Christian  parents  unbaptized 
woufd  be  perverted,  and  to  what  that  would 
give  occasion  ;  moreover  it  would  then  have 
been  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  the 


*  "  Workmen,"  in  her  commerce,  have  been 
mentioned.  Ribbeck,  again,  introduces  his  "jour- 
ney of  business"  which  brought  the  dealer  in 
purple,  and  of  course  without  her  family.  Pity 
that  the  brief  and  distinct  narrative  knows  nothing 
of  this ;  it  mentions  rather  a  house  in  the  place, 
to  which  she  could  invite  others. 


814 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


Apostles  would  have  given  some  direction  as  to 
the  position  and  relations  of  these  numberless 
catechumen-classes,  as  to  the  time  and  the  duty  of 
their  V>aptism,  and  every  thing  connected  with 
it.*  But  we  have  a  most  remarkable  and 
direct  utterance  of  the  Apostle  concerning 
children,  in  1  Cor.  vii.  14.  This  passage  has 
been  strangely  used  both  for  and  against  infant 
baptism  ;  its  defenders  certainly  make  it  too 
directly  valid  on  their  side,  but  its  opponents 
go  much  further  than  they  in  their  one-sided 
arbitrariness.  Lutz,  for  instance,  following 
Olshausen,  but  in  stronger  terms  says  :  "  If 
Paul  had  oiili/  thought  of  infant  baptism,  he 
could  not  possibly  have  spoken  thus  ! "  ( Where- 
as Olshausen  had  merely  argued,  "  that  Paul 
would  not  have  chosen  this  kind  of  demonstra- 
tion, if  infant  baptism  had  been  already  the 
practice.")  The  truth  of  this  passage  seems  to 
us  to  lie,  as  it  were,  between  the  two,  but  cer- 
tainly in  favor  of  infant  baptism.  What  is  it 
that  13  pre-supposed  as  not  to  be  doubted  in 
the  tTcei?  That  the  children  of  a  marriage  in 
which  only  one  of  the  parties  was  a  believer, 
were  no  longer  dndOapra,  unclean — but  dyia, 
holif.-\  To  make  this  a  direct  proof  that  these 
children  were  not  yet  baptized,  and  consequent- 
ly that  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles  children 
generally  were  not  yet  baptized,  is  a  strange 
view  of  the  strong  expressions  of  Paul.  A 
"certain  external  and  ecclesiaslical  sanctity," 
parallel  with  Piora.  xi.  16  (as  some  one  has 
said),  the  Apostle  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
recognizing  in  the  New-Testament  Church,  es- 
pecially when  this  aKoc^apra  (in  which  as  re- 


*  Ribbeck  finds  in  the  0601,  Gal  iii.  27,  a  proof 
that  there  were  among  the  readers  unbaptized 
persons,  hecnme  they  had  not  yet  reached  a  state 
of  faith !  This  would  be  the  class  of  catechumens. 
But  why  is  there  no  reference  to  them  elsewhere, 
and  no  direct  address  to  them  ?  Why,  in  ver.  26, 
is  tliore  a  itdyxEi  without  restriction,  as  in  all  the 
El)istles "? 

f  De  Wette  understands  the  passage  of  all  chil- 
dren of  Christians,  so  that  in  the  -vnmv  all  the 
Corinthian  Christians  are  addressed.  This  would 
bs  very  welcome  ;  but  it  is  baseless,  since  from  ver. 
12  onwards  the  Apostles  is  telling  the  mixed  pairs 
that  wliich  then  follows;  in  ver.  16  he  passes  on  to 
an  actual  address  to  them  ;  and  consetiuently  the 
t' ncov  ver.  14  belongs  already  to  this  address.  But 
Ilofmann's  translation — "  Even  if  your  children  are 
still  uncleansed,  that  is  unbaptized,  not  the  less  on 
that  account  are  they  holy  " — we  cannot  reconcile 
with  the  literal  words.  iiffCi' means  here  certain- 
ly alias,  alioquin  :  and  the  asserted  dyia  neces- 
sarily denies  the  axdOapra.  Hofmann  {Sclirf(b. 
i.  453)  interprets  it  also  of  the  children  of  Chris- 
tians generally,  but  only  of  a  sanctiflcation  of 
these  cliildren  for  i/ie  paiott.i,  that  is,  of  the  moral 
character  of  the  living  relation  between  parents 
and  children,  by  which  analogy  the  relation  be- 
tween the  married  parties  is  illustrated.  But 
■L/iiGjy  hero  means  only  the  mixed  married  pairs; 
and,  moreover,  it  would  be  highly  improjjer  to 
convert  it — Otherwise  would  your  children  be  for 
you  unholy ;  not  to  mention  the  strange  use  of 
dndfiapTQi  in  this  sense, 


spects  children,  who  cannot  sin,  wo  must  ne- 
cessarily think  of  natural  sinfulness,  the  original 
sin  of  birth)  seems  to  be  almost  taken  away  by 
this  dyia.  Expositors  have  generally  inverted 
the  comparison,  instead  of  apprehending  it 
rightly.  He  does  not  by  any  means  draw  the 
conclusion  from  the  vyiaGzai^  applied  to  the 
unbelieving  parent,  that  the  dyia  is  to  be  re- 
duced to  its  level,  and  made  strictly  parallel 
with  it ;  but  from  the  higher  dy  id  i6  riv  oi 
the  children,  thus  taken  for  granted,  he  deduces 
a  bolder  analogous  iiyia6zai.  li'  nurture  in 
the  Lord,  though  on  the  part  of  the  father  or 
the  mother  alone,  availed  to  sanctify  the  child, 
should  not  the  unbelie'ving  parent,  who  did 
nothing  to  oppose  (being  susceptible  of  being 
pleased,  vers.  12,  13,  which  then  had  much  sig- 
nificance) be  capable  also  of  similarly  being 
won?  That  is  the  thought  of  the  Apostle, 
The  dyid  e6riv,  from  which  he  proceeds,  is 
therefore  to  be  taken  in  a  much  more  real  and 
deep  sense  than  that  which  is  given  in  the 
paraphrase  of  Nitzsch — "  They  have  a  historical 
vocation  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  like  Israel."* 
De  Wette  makes  it  no  less  than — "They  are 
members  of  the  Christian  community."  But 
such  were  generally,  and  as  the  rule,  none  who 
were  unbaptized.  If  we  compare,  as  W3  are 
justified  in  doing,  the  terminology  of  the 
Apostle  in  Eph.  v.  26,  yea,  1  Cor.  vi.  11,  this 
dyia  must  appear  closely  to  border  on  their 
baptism,  and  means  at  least  as  much  as  this — 
that  they  were  either  baptized  or  counted 
worthy  of  heaven,  prepared  for  it,  to  be  bap- 
tized "if  baptism  be  desired,  and  consequently 
(this  desire  being  pre-supposed  as  a  rule)  as 
good  as  haptized.  if  Paul  had  "  even  only 
thought "  of  the  postponement  of  baptism,  then 
he  could  not  have  called  them  "  holy,"  then 
must  they  have  been  still  "  unclean."  For 
otherwise  it  would  support  that  Anabaptist 
and  unscriptural  position  which  the  Formula 
Concordim  (p.  623)  rightly  condemns:  "That 
the  children  of  Christians,  because  they  have 
sprung  from  Christian  and  believing  parents, 
and  independently  of  or  be.'"ore  the  reception  of 
baptism,  are  truly  holy  and  to  be  numbered 
among  the  children  of  God."t  However  much 
the  inherited  and  family  blessing  of  grace  in 
the  Church  may  signify — and  we  shall  hereafter 
lay  sufficient  stress  upon  it ;  however  certainly 
the  Spirit  may  bless  the  children  with  pre- 
venient  grace,  where  the  baptism  with  water  is 
unrighteously  denied,  in  order  thus  to  direct 
them  to  bo  baptized — yet  we  cannot  suppose 
the  Apostle  to  declare  in  \iQ\y  \vv\l,  without  any 
thought  of  baptism  whatever,  that  this  hereditaiy 


*  For  all  the  world  has  this,  according  to  the 
express  words  of  Mntt.  xxviii.  and  Mark  xvi.  In 
thai  sense  no  man  is  any  longer  unclean,  Ac:s  x. 
28. 

t  This  is  quite  a  diff>"rent  thing  from  the  gen- 
eral conclusion  drawn  from  Lutheran  doctrine  by 
J.  MUller — that  to  all  the  children  of  Christians 
there  jiertains  a  pecnlinr  relation  to  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  set  up  in  Christ. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  lS-20. 


815 


blessing  alone  would  ('in  Christian  phraseology) 
cleanse  and  sanctify  tlie  children,  j«.si  as  he  else- 
tchere  says  of  baptism.  For  this  is  something 
different  from,  and  very  much  more  than,  tliat 
"  being  yicarer  the  kingdom  of  God,"  which  even 
Ribbeck  allows  to  the  children  of  believing 
parents.  If  the  Apostle's  thought  was  that 
their  participation,  in  virtue  of  their  birth,  in 
the  fellowship  and  blessing  of  the  Church,  stood 
to  them  in  the  place  of  baptism — even  then  we 
cannot  understand  why  they  were,  and  were  to 
be  left,  unbaptized.  Thus  not  merely  does  the 
idea  which  justifies  and  requires  infant  baptism 
lie  in  this  passage  (as  Olshausen,  De  Wette, 
and  many  others  agree)— but  much  more  than 
that.  Ittakes  for  granted  that  the  children  of 
Christians  were  worthy  of  baptism,  and  were 
consequently  (wherefore  not,  on  that  supposi- 
tion ?)  actually  baptized,  as  the  recognized  and 
well-known  rule  and  fact  of  Christianity.  But 
then  it  speaks  indistinctly,  and  indeed  some- 
what undogmatically  (as  Scripture  with  pro- 
priety often  does)  concerning  the  indistinct 
question.  For  this  much  on  the  one  hand  is 
true :  if  infant  baptism  had  been  at  that  time 
already  a  universal  practice,  Paul  would  not 
have  spoken  thus  paraphrastically  concerning 
it.  He  does  not  indeed  say,  Else  would  your 
children  not  be  baptized  ;  nor  is  there  a  word 
•which  intimates,  Therefore  we  baptize  our  chil- 
dren, and  such  as  yours  are — and  for  this  there 
was  a  very  good  reason.  It  was  a  difficult 
point,  and  the  question  depended  upon  the 
faith  and  the  convictions  of  the  parents,  which 
of  course  would  regulate  the  propriety  of  such 
a  step,  in  families  which  in  such  numbers  ex- 
hibited mixed  parentage.  An  absolute  and 
universal  legal  prescription  would  have  been 
out  of  harmony  with  the  character  which  ruled 
the  apostolical  formation  of  Churches.  The 
Apostles  did  not  introduce  the  early  baptism 
of  infants  in  any  such  manner;  but  waited, 
as  was  tit,  for  the  desire  expressed  by  the  pa- 
rents. In  such  cases  baptism  might  be  some- 
times long  delayed  (as  adults  often  deferred  it) ; 
the  whole  matter  assumed  its  proper  relations, 
and  obtained  its  rights,  only  by  degrees — just 
as  to  this  day  it  is  not  expedient  that  state 
Churches  should  legislate  absolutely  on  the 
question.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  Apostle 
spoke  as  he  did  -.  his  word  recognizes  and  takes 
for  granted  the  existence  of  infant  baptism, 
and  indeed  involves  a  getitle  (zhortation  %o  it; 
but  he  had  good  reason  for  not  speaking  of  it 
directly.  On  the  same  principle  the  Lord  did 
not  institute  xard  to  pijrov  (expressly)  the 
iaptizing  of  children  coming  to  him"  in  the  arms 
of  others,  but  "left  it  to  the  free  development 
of  the  Christian  spirit,"  that  is,  to  the  feeling 
and  desire  of  converted  parents.  Understand- 
ing this,  we  must  however  propose  to  our- 
selves an  exposition  of  the  words  of  institution 
Hard  vj/y  6idvoiJcv  (in  effect)  as  we  have 
endeavored  to  give  it ;  and  assume  the  bap- 
tism of  many  children,  at  least  by  the  hands  of 
the  Apostles  themselves.  For  when  we  ob- 
serve that  Paul,  Eph.   vi.  1,  ia  the  proper 


Church  Epistle,  places  the  children  on  a  parity 
with  every  other  class  in  the  Church,  speaks  to 
them  as  belonging  to  the  community,  and  re- 
quires of  them  that  ihey  obey  in  the  Lord 
(corap.  Col.  iii.  18-22),  we  are  not  permitted 
to  regard  these  children^  as  collectively  unbap- 
tized,and  as  consequently  without  the  "  Caurch" 
to  which  the  Epistle  is  sent. 

But  what  as  to  the  Church  after  the  Apostles? 
Its  history  says  not  a  word  of  an  introduction  of 
the  practice  contrary  to  apostolical  usage — how 
would  that  have  been  possible  in  a  matter  so 
important  and  so  strange,  and  at  a  time  when 
such  strife  and  contradiction  must  necessarily 
have  been  excited?  In  the  passage  of  Ire- 
nreus,  adv.  Ilcer.  ii.  22,  4,  which  asserts  a  sancti- 
fication,  through  the  Redeemer,  of  infantes, 
even  of  those  who  were  not  yet  capable  as  ]>ar- 
vuli  of  receiving  an  example,  every  unbiassed 
mind  must  confess  that  there  is  a  testimony, 
not  only  to  the  idia  of  infant  baptism,  but  also 
to  its  practice;  for  we  cannot  understand  the 
existence  of  such  views  of  the  question  among 
the  ancients  without  the  corresponding  observ- 
ance o;  the  usage.!  TertuUian's  contradiction, 
on  which  so  much  stress  has  been  laid,  never, 
as  is  well  known,  says  expressly  in  any  one 
place  tliat  infant  baptism  was  certainly  and 
confessedly  of  new  and  recent  introduction, 
and  therelore  unapostolical — he  finds  it,  rather, 
already  existing  as  a  custom.  Consequently, 
no  man  had  "introduced"  it,  as  the  custom  is 
to  speak.  Origen,  not  only  in  Ihm.  14  in  Luc, 
and  8  in  Levit.,  speaks  of  the  baptizing  of  cliil- 
dren  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Church, 
but  in  Ptom.  vi.  says  in  plain  hard  terms — Tiie 
Church  received  tiie  custom  of  baptizing  ciiii- 
dren  from  the  Apostles.  One  step  lunher 
takes  us  to  Augustine  :  "  The  custom  of  mother 
Church  in  baptizing  little  ones  is  not  to  be  made 
light  of,  or  though':  a  superfluous  thing ;  but  it 
is  to  be  regarded  as  an  apostolical,  tradition, 
only  "  {De  Genes,  ad  lit.  x.  23;  comp.  Serin,  x. 
de  Verbis  apostol.).  All  this  is  enough,  with  oar 
pre-suppositions.  We  cannot  agree  with  Nean- 
der  that  these  explanations  ai'e  of  little  signif- 


*  Certainly  not  yet  grown  up  ;  indeed  so  far  in- 
fant that  in  the  Epistle  to  tho  Colossians  it  is  re- 
quired of  them  that  they  "  obey  xard  Ttdvra — • 
in  all  things." 

t  "  He  cannot  have  looked  much  into  the  an- 
cient Church  who  can  suppose  that  it  would  have 
held  a  reception  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
possible  without  baptism.  This  makes  it  very 
certain  that  the  sacred  observance  of  baptizing 
the  children  of  Christians  was  complied  wiih  even 
in  the  apostolic  age.  It  was  the  original  convic- 
tion of  the  Church  that  children  were  not  trans- 
lated into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  their  natural 
birth,  but  that  their  regeneration  was  necessary. 
From  this  the  custom  and  necessity  of  infant 
baptism  necessai'iiy  followed.  Boih  the  practice 
and  the  doctrine  of  Christian  antiquity  speak 
strongly,  and  with  equal  strength,  for  its  apostol- 
ical origin  "  (Thiersch,  i)te  Kvche  in  c^ostol.  Zei' 
tail,  p.  300). 


816 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


icance  ;*  but  conclude  with  th«  evidence  of  fact 
given  hy  iJie  Lord's  confirmation  of  infant  baptism 
down  to  the  present  day.  As  we  have  said 
elsewhere — God  does  not  reject  and  repel  the 
children  which  are  brought  unto  him  ;  he 
blesses  them  from  the  beginning  with  the  first 
fruits  of  h:s  Spirit  of  e;race.  Else  would  he 
withhold  that  Spirit.  But  the  entire  Church 
testifies,  by  its  accepted  members,  to  the  Bap- 
tists, that  its  infant  Daptism  is  not  without  the 
sanction  and  blessing  of  the  Spirit.f  Count- 
kss  children  and  men  of  God  rise  up  from  this 
baptism  as  witnesses.  Have  all  these  been,  in 
continuous  opposition  to  the  institution  of  the 
sacrament,  either  not  baptized  at  all,  or  er- 
roneously baptized?  Has  God  given  to  so 
many  of  them  his  Holy  Spirit  in  early  youth, 
and  should  man  have  refused  the  water?  The 
same  argument  is  pursued  in  the  Apology,  p. 
157.  the  Greater  Cat.,  p.  5i-i. 

We  entirely  agree  with  the  tolerably  com- 
plete view  of  the  matter — embracing  almost 
all  its  points — which  Guericke  gives  in  his 
Kirdu-ngcsch.  i.  99,  100  (1st  edition  :  we  do  not 
know  what  may  have  been  added  to  the  sec- 
ond). Not  that  "  infant  baptism  became  ne- 
cessary when  the  mighty  influx  of  the  Spirit's 
power  was  lost  " — we  see  no  logical  ground  for 
such  a  deduction  of  the  "  necessity  "  of  a  de- 
cline from  the  original  institution  of  the  sacra- 
ment. But  conversely,  as  we  think — when  the 
profound  view  of  Irenteus  (and  that  of  the 
Apostles)  began  to  be  lost,  the  practice  re- 
treated for  a  while ;  it  yielded  to  the  spirit  of 
Tertuliian's  doctrine,  before  his  time  ;  to  an 
opposition  which,  however  on  some  grounds 
relatively  justified,  recognized  the  principle 
neither  of  the  idea  nor  of  the  tradition.  This 
retrocession  of  the  principle  of  infant  baptism 
went  hand  in  hand  with  the  unapostolical  per- 
version and  lengthening  out  of  the  period  of 
catechuraenship  :  in  the  apostolical  time  we 
find  only  Churches  of  the  baptized;  even  in  1 
Cor.  xiv.  16,  23  the  i5to5rat,  "unlearned," 
must  not  be  interpreted,  in  contradistinction  to 
aTtidrot,  "  unbelieving,"  as  a  middle  class  of  a 
later  kind.  Thus  we  are  at  one  with  Hofmann 
in  our  fundamental  ideas,  and  in  the  results  of 


*  Ilii'fsbucftlcin  zum  Katechismus,  2d  ed.  p,  188, 
where  nothing  is  said  but  what  Lullier  had  said 
before;  "That  Uio  baptism  of  infants  is  well- 
pleasing  to  Christ  is  siifTicientiy  proved  by  his 
own  act;  lor  God  has  made  many  of  them  ho]y, 
and  civen  tliem  tlie  Spirit,  wlio  have  been  thus 
bap'ized  ;  and  there  are  many  to  be  found  in 
whom,  boih  as  to  their  doctrine  and  their  life,  the 
works  of  the  Spirit  are  to  be  discerned." 

■\  Nitzsch  speaks  of  the  "  fearful  nndertaking 
to  arsuo  all  Christendom  out  of  the  fact  of  its 
baptism."  Ribbeck,  on  the  other  eido,  s[)eaks  of 
"  tlie  many  thousands  of  God's  children,  unhap- 
tized  as  men  say,  who  are  saved"  (p.  71).  But 
when  h«  speaks  of  an  unbroken  succession  of 
blessed  B.ipti^t  communities  from  tlie  times  of 
the  Apostles,  we  must  ask  in  astonishment  lor  his 
new  revelation  of  Church  History. 


our  inquiry ;  though  we  differ  from  him  con- 
siderably in  isolated  aspects  and  points  of 
view.  We  agree  with  him  in  this — that  only 
in  infant  baptism  the  nature  of  baptism  is  ex- 
hibited in  its  purity  and  integrity,  as  it  13  the 
first  receiving  of  the  gift  of  grace  unto  a  new 
life  ;  while  an  adult  must  necessarily  bring  to 
it  something  of  the  old,  inrooted,  personal 
character,  which  affects,  though  it  may  be  in  a 
very  small  degree,  the  reception  of  the  grace. 
But  we  deny  that  the  Church  "  went  beyond 
the  point  attained  by  the  Apostles"  in  this 
consummating  development  (albeit  in  t/ie&i 
we  allow  the  right  to  this  as  respects  things 
other  than  the  sacrament):  first,  because  the 
demand  to  go  forward  in  this  development  ex- 
isted in  the  apostolical  age  ;  and,  then,  because 
the  time  which  immediately  followed  the  Apos- 
tles cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been  bold  and 
free  enough  to  go  beyond  the  apostolical  prac- 
tice in  relation  to  one  of  the  sacraments. 
Hofmann  seems,  moreover,  to  reduce  baptism  to 
I  too  low  a  point,  and  to  separate  it  too  entirely 
!  from  the  beginning  of  regeneration.  That  even 
in  the  case  of  adults  baptism  has  its  place  6e- 
fore  "faith,"  that  is,  before  living,  justifying, 
and  progressively  sanctifying  faith,  has  been 
by  us  maintained  already  in  its  right  meaning. 
But  it  is  carrying  this  too  far,  when  he  says 
that  only  a  mighty  excitement  through  the 
testimony  of  the  word  would  have  challenged 
the  Apostles  to  confer  baptism,  and  that  the 
becoming -heWev'mg  would  be  opposed  to  such 
an  excitement,  and  scarcely  possible  during  the 
continuance  of  it.  Though  Acts  viii.  37  may 
not  be  genuine,  it  expresses  only  the  genuine 
truth  ;  indeed,  after  the  deception  practised  by 
Simon,  "with  all  thine  heart"  seems  exceed- 
ingly appropriate,  and  thus  speaks  for  its  gen- 
uineness. Vers.  12,  13,  in  the  same  chapter, 
and  chap,  xviii.  8,  give  us  the  scriptural  phrase- 
ology so  plainly,  that  we  are  not  in  a  position 
to  deny  the  "believing"  and  the  "  becoming- 
believing  "  before  baptism,  and  assume  the  very 
reverse.  In  Acts  xi.  17  the  I'/jui*'  rrKSretdadtv 
must  certainly  not  be  expounded  as  in  co7i- 
trast:  this  we  are  decisively  taught  by  chap. 
XV.  7-11.  To  make  by  baptism  such  super- 
ficial, merely  excited,  so-called  "disciples"  aa 
the  Lord  himself  (John  vi.  GO-64)  in  the  pre- 
paratory beginnings  had  tolerated,  was  never 
his  command  and  intention.  The  too  hasty 
procedure  of  Philip  in  Samaria,  which  over- 
looked this,  was  rectified  again  by  apostolical 
authority  ;  but  the  rule  holds  good  in  general 
that  such  subsequent  rectification  should  not 
be  necessary.  The  question  is  asked,  respect- 
ing those  who  were  baptized  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost— "  Who  had  time  to  test  the  faith  of  so 
many  multitudes?"  But  this  seems  to  forget 
the  mighty  influence  of  the  Spirit,  who  on  that 
\  day  suifered  no  evil  admixture,  as  well  as  the 
Apostles'  subsequent  discernment  of  spirits, 
it  is  also  urged  that  even  these  baptized  people 
are  "commanded  first  to  repent;"  but  we  have 
given,  as  we  hope,  the  right  exposition  of  the 
answer  of  Acts  li.  3S,  in  our  Jieden  dcr  ApoUel 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


817 


—Thus  ye  do  well,  continue  and  persevere  in 
this  change  of  mind,  as  your  question  exhibits 
it — for  in  ver.  37  there  is  a  genuine  repentance 
expressed.  We  think  that  in  the  baptism  of 
adults,  the  children  have  come  to  the  birth,  and 
in  it  strength  is  given  for  the  bringing  forth 
(Isa.  XXX vii.  3). 

While  we  admit  all  this,  we  perceive  that  the 
administration  of  baptism  in  our  missions  by 
the  hands  of  men,  and  the  pure  realization  of 
the  baptismal  idea  in  adults,  has  its  difBcul- 
ties  and  its  imperfection;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  infant  baptism  the  "chasm  is  filled 
up  between  the  natural  and  the  spiritual,"  and 
only  in  this  application  of  it  is  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  baptism  seen  in  its  consumma- 
tion and  perfect  character.*  Having  the  whole 
course  of  the  history  of  Christianity  before  us, 
we  must  not  overlook  or  fail  to  appreciate  the 
counsel  of  God  for  the  conversion  of  the  peo- 
ples of  the  earth,  which  was  to  take  its  begin- 
ning in  the  family  life,  as  being  the  root  of  the 
life  of  the  people.  As  the  renewing  grace  of 
the  Gospel  recognizes  and  leaves  in  its  integrity 
the  ground  of  nature  in  the  first  ordinances  of 
creation,  pervading  them  like  leaven,  so  also 
the  profoundly  laid  connection  of  nations  (Acts 
xvii.  26:  Deut.  xxxii.  8)  must  not  be  broken 
by  a  perpetual  selecting  out  and  isolation  in 
the  baptizing ,  it  must  rather,  be  taken  up  into 
and  confirmed  in  the  discipling.  The  State 
Church  which  began  with  Constantine  is  some- 
thing altogether  different  from  the  Church  of 
the  people ;  however  difficult  it  may  be  to 
make  the  distinction  between  them,  it  is  not 
impossible  ;t  as  far  as  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, it  has  been  done,  at  least  approximately, 
by  the  systems  of  the  Reformed  Churches.  No 
good,  indeed,  can  come  from  arbitrary  enforce- 
ment, and  prescription  of  periods  for  the  bap- 
tism of  children ;  the  permission  of  delay  to 
those  within  the  paedo-Baptist  Church  would 
of  itself  lead  through  experience  to  a  right  de- 
cision of  the  question.!  The  Church  in  Gene- 
va has  done  well  to  recognize  by  its  recent  de- 
cisions the  baptism  of  adults  by  the  side  of  its 
infant  baptism. 

We  feel  and  bewail,  as  much  as  any  secret  or 
open  opponent  of  infant  baptism  can  do,  the 
lowering  and  perversion  of  the  sacrament  in 
the  present  state  of  things  (with  which  the 
desecration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  quite  paral- 
lel—the unnurtured  growing  up  of  baptized 
children— the  groundless  reliance  upon  baptism 


*  "  I  hold  tliat  the  surest  of  all  baptism  is  in- 
fant baptism  "  (Luther). 

t  Hence  Lnnge  ought  not  so  firmly  to  main- 
tain th.it  tlie  separation  of  ihe  Church  from  the 
state  must  at  the  same  time  involve  a  .separation 
from  the  family,  from  the  people.  There  are 
other  ways  of  escape  which  he  altogether  neg- 
lects. 

t  Hofmann  remarks  very  truly  that  guiltless 
lack  of  baplism  would  not  condemn  ;  but  that 
parents  constrainjed  by  the  Church  would  be  bad 
educators  for  the  Church. 


on  the  part  of  some,  the  undervaluation  of  the 
mere  ceremony  on  the  part  of  others — in  short, 
the  deplorable  condition  generally  into  which 
the  Church  in  these  matters  has  fallen.  But 
all  this  mi.schief  is  not,  as  its  opponents  assert, 
to  be  imputed  to  infant  baptism  since  its  intro- 
duction ;  it  has  rather  been  produced,  in  spite 
of  it,  by  other  circumstances  which  we  cannot 
now  stay  to  set  forth.  We  express  the  assur- 
ance of  our  firmest  conviction,  that  the  remedy 
for  these  evils  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  remo- 
val of  the  foundation  of  grace  upon  which  this 
fallen  Church  still  roets,  and  the  abolition  of 
that  baptism  which  is  the  real  channel  for  the 
communication  to  children  of  the  life  of  grace. 
This  would  be  still  more  to  confuse  and  divide 
and  break  up  communities  and  peoples  called 
of  God  to  be  Christians,  by  introducing  a  sys- 
tem of  elective  and  uncertain  later  baptism, 
encumbered  with  all  those  inevitable  ditficiil- 
ties  of  which  we  have  already  spoken.  In 
every  reformation  we  must  take  care  to  carry 
our  reform  into  the  entire  heart  of  the  people, 
already  called  and  elected,  making  it  pervade 
all — as  Luther  gives  us  a  universal  symbolical 
example.  What  kind  of  baptisms  were,  ac- 
cording to  all  appearance,  those  out  of  which 
nevertheless  he  called  out  his  priests  and  cham- 
pions of  God's  cause  ?  Ribbeck's  allegation, 
that  the  Reformers  did  not  break  away  from 
the  notion  of  the  Romish  Church  in  this  mat- 
ter (p.  49) — may  be  changed  into  a  commen- 
dation, that  they  held  fast  in  faith  the  principle 
of  an  ecclesiastical  grace  of  Christ  within  the 
Church.  We  must  accommodate  our  minds  to 
the  desecration  and  crucifixion  of  the  body 
of  Christ,  the  true  Church,  by  its  permanent 
connection  and  confusion  with  the  masses 
of  those  who  have  been  baptized  in  vain, 
and  all  but  finally  dead — the  glorious  res- 
urrection will  not  tarry  long.  Meanwhile, 
let  us  never  forget  or  dishonor  the  patience 
and  long-suff'ering  of  the  Lord,  the  sinners' 
and  the  children's  friend,  the  unweariable 
grace  which  begins  anew  with  every  new-born 
child,  while  his  baptism  is  accepted.  If  the 
evangelical  Church  would  begin  diligently  to 
point  the  baptized  to  the  privileges  and  obliga- 
tions of  their  baptism,  and  to  take  all  paina 
with  the  fundamental  religious  education  of 
those  who  are  growing  up ;  if  institutions  were 
to  be  established  which  should  seek  and  strive 
to  save  those  who  are  grovelling  in  sin  and 
ignorance — then  the  original  stamp  would 
shine  out  again  distinctively  in  many  who 
hardly  exhibit  it  at  all — then  would  it  appear, 
far  beyond  expectation,  how  much  of  the  germ 
of  regeneration  is  still  present  among  the  peo- 
ple, derived  irom  their  baptism,  and  only  wait- 
ing for  discipline  and  nurture.  This  would  be 
infinitely  better  and  more  correct,  than  to  blind 
ourselves,  on  account  of  flagrant  and  general 
perversion,  to  the  actual  grace  of  the  divine 
institute. 

In  the  Christian  family,  pure  and  entire  ac- 
cording to  the  full  meaning  of  that  word,  chil- 
dren do  grow  up  in  that  "blessing ;"  so  that, 


818 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


at  hast  in  the  case  of  those  who  do  not  oppose 
it,  the  whole  beginninff  of  the  life  of  grace, 
which  alone  baptism  bring?,  may  be  seen  in 
its  exhibition  from  the  beginning.  Would  that 
be  the  case  also  without  baptism?  Assuredly, 
in  the  most  favorable  cases,  where  yet  the  chil- 
dren would  be  counted  common,  the  Spirit 
would  impel,  as  in  the  house  of  Cornelius,  to 
the  reception  of  baptism.  If  some  of  those 
who  scruple  so  much  about  it  could  contem- 
plate such  a  Christendom  as  their  scruples 
would  make,  they  would  speedily  give  up  ail 
their  doubts  about  the  propriety  of  infant 
baptism.  The  fact  that  grievous  abuse  exists, 
such  as  permits  Ribbeck,  for  instance,  to  draw 
such  pictures  as  he  does  of  our  baptismal  feasts 
and  confirmations,  does  not  at  all  affect  the 
question  ;  for  it  is  not  God's  will  utterly  to 
withdraw  his  perverted  benefits.  Moreover,  it 
is  not  true  that  those  who  are  confirmed  among 
us  are  ever  "as  thoroughly  children  of  hea- 
tliens  as  the  children  of  Hottentots  and  Caffres." 
We  think  that  the  ruin  of  those  who  ruin 
themselves  would  he  still  more  fearful,  if  bap- 
tism was  only  held  out  to  them  and  that  in 
vain  as  a  h\i\iregoal*  But  to  surrender  up  the 
masses — who  dares  do  that  but  the  Lord  alone, 
plainly  declaring  his  own  will  by  judgment  and 
reprobation?  The  spirit  of  these  sects,  a  spirit 
that  rejects  so  much,  which  so  presumptuously 
abandons  all  Churches  of  the  people,  all  State 
Churches,  and  so  many  nations  in  which  Christ 
assuredly  has  a  deep  foundation,  shows  of  it- 
self that  it  has  not  the  mind  of  Christ,  and 
that  it  fundamentally  misunderstands  and  per- 
verts his  institutions,  laws,  and  government. 
Indeed, /it^^  "  regeneration  " — a  term  which 
has  been  very  erroneously  used  in  relation  to 
this  subject,  as  if  Tit.  iii.  5,  6,  referred  directly 
to  baptism,!  and  the  words  spoken  there  must 
hold  good  of  every  baptism  of  every  child — 
cannot  by  any  means  be  predicated  of  infant 
baptism  ;  not,  indeed,  to  any  such  extent  as  it 
may  coincide  in  the  case  of  adults  with  the  re- 
ception of  the  water.  But  a  living  principle, 
and  a  commencement  tending  to  that  full  regen- 
eration, it  does  involve  in  spite  of  all  contra- 
diction and  confusion  of  opinion  ;  for  the  name 
of  the  Three-One  in  the  laith  of  the  believing 
Church,  which  thus  believing  still  baptizes^ 
cannot  be  an  empty  word.  We  are  quite  will- 
ing to  admit,  with  Nitzsch,  a  certain  "  imper- 


*  Ilofmanii :  "  Because  faith  does  not  arise 
from  beiiijr  referred  to  a  grace  to  be  ho[)ed  for, 
but  from  bein"  pointed  back  to  that  which  has 
been  received;  becau.se  ihe  divine  compassion 
can  find  entrance  only  where  it  has  already 
proved  itself  present,  Tiie  Baptist  himself  can- 
not do  without  this  method  of  teaching  ;  he 
speaks  of  the  grace  of  vocation,  and  seeks  by 
this  means  to  excite  tlie  catechumen  to  faith,  or 
the  rcce[)tion  of  faith."  But  how  much  more  in- 
fluential is  tliis  method  of  appeal  in  the  preaching 
to  such  as  have  been  baptized  ! 

f  But  a  true  exegesis  flnds  this  not  to  be  the 
case  here,  any  more  than  in  £pb.  t.  26. 


fection  and  need  of  consummation  "  in  infan* 
baptism  ;  b«t  not  so  as  to  lose  the  "divine/ac? 
in  and  upon  the  life  of  the  child,  by  rohich  'and 
in  which  he  is  to  believe,"  which  Nitzsch  so 
beautifully  attributes  to  genuine  baptism  ;  and 
so  as  to  make  that  dependent  upon  the  subse- 
quent knowledge  introduced  by  the  word.  We 
certainly  will  not  degrade  infant  baptism  by 
estimating  it  as  analogous  to  tiie  baptism  of 
John,  and  therefore  as  no  sacrament  at  all. 
This  simple  juxtaposition  of  the  two  is  uncon- 
ditionally incorrect.*  They  who  adopt  it  for- 
get that  John  demanded  repentance  of  adults, 
and,  consequently,  that  the  application  of 
John's  baptism  to  infants  (which  Ribbeck  in 
his  folly  requires  as  according  to  analogy  neces- 
sary) is  a  thing  impossible.  On  the  other 
hand,  children  are  as  much  capable,  as  they  are 
in  need,  of  being  baptized  with  the  baptism  of 
Christ,  imparting  the  Spirit's  grace  of  a  regen- 
erating life.  Further,  we  would  not  bind  the 
consummation,  or  better  development,  or  evo- 
lution into  the  consciomness  of  the  benefit  of  in- 
fant baptism,  to  any  definite  ceremony  such  as 
confirmation  ;  and  declare  this  to  be  "  neces- 
sary "  as  the  internal  and  consummating  com- 
plement or  second  part  of  baptism,  or,  so  to 
speak,  as  the  essential  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
without  water.  He  briefly  but  surely  confutes 
the  superficial  and  very  prevalent  view  which 
lays  all  the  stress  in  baptism  upon  the  divine 
promise  and  assurance — this  could  be  given 
only  in  word,  and  therefore  pre-supposes  the 
understanding  of  the  word  and  conscious  faith. 
Baptism  would  then  cease  to  be  a  work  of  God 
in  the  child  ;  and  the  promise  for  the  future 
would  still  require  a  later,  additional,  and  re- 
newing vow  of  its  acceptance  on  the  part  of  the 
receiver.  It  may  seem  that  in  these  expressions 
he  presses  the  word  too  far :  "  The  current  no- 
tion that  the  man,  the  person  confirmed,  renews 
his  covenant  with  God,  is  a  notion  which  deeply 
degrades  the  essence  of  baptism."  But  his 
view  of  confirmation  as  a  whole,  as  it  "  is  much 
less  connected  with  the  baptism  past  than  with 
the  first  communion  to  come;  "his  testimony 
for  the  gift  of  God  in  baptism  ;  his  refutation 
of  the  false  idea  of  a  "  baptismal  covenant," 
which  sprang  from  a  misunderstanding  of  1 
Pet.  lii.  21 — are  all  essentially  sound. 

We  may  be  allowed  a  brief  excursus  on  the 
prc-mentioned  saying,  1  Peter  iii.  21.  In  this 
passage  (which  gives  so  much  other  matter  of 
consideration  concerning  the  water,  the  flood, 


*  Yet  tliere  is  some  truth  in  this,  that,  with  re- 
spect to  cliildren,  tiie  water  and  the  full  gift  of 
I  he  Spirit  are  to  be  viewed  as  more  distinct ;  their 
baptism  has  a  more  proplietic  character ;  and  in 
the  case  of  a  later,  relatively  absolute,  renuncia^ 
tion  of  the  baptismal  grace  we  may  in  some  sense 
say  that  only  the  baptism  of  water  remained. 
This,  and  nothing  more,  is  wliat  the  346tli  and 
347th  questions  of  my  Catechism  mean;  but  I 
confess  tiiat  that  treatise,  in  its  accommodation 
to  catechetical  instruction,  does  not  deal  with 
I  baptism  iu  a  btyle  of  dogmatic  precision. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  lS-20. 


ftl9 


flesh,  conscience,  resurrection,  etc.),  the  word 
i.it£poJTrji.ia,  eoximination  ("answer"),  con- 
fusedly translated  by  the  Vulg,  interrogatio  in 
Deum,  is  the  main  question.  By  no  means  is 
it,  as  Luther  renders,  and  the  jurist  Grotius 
supports  by  evidence  of  juristical  phrases,  a 
covenant  obligation,  stipulation,  or  legally  binding 
confirmation  of  a  promise  per  solennern  inierro- 
gationem  et  refipomionem,  like  stipulatio ;  as  in 
this  sense  Tertuliian  spoke  of  the  sponsio  salufis, 
and  Cyprian  of  the  interrogatio  haptismi.  The 
word  may  occur  elsewhere  (as,  it  is  affirmed,  in 
Herod,  and  Thucyd.)  "  non  de  simplici  interro- 
gatione,  sed  de  forensi,  h.e.  de  pacto,  foedere, 
sponsione ;  "  and  even  in  the  Sept.  Dan.  iv.  14, 
iTCepoorijua  is  used,  as  a  a7C.  \ey.  for  XnpS'^S 
as  synon.  with  NlpanSl  (according  to  Schultens 

"qucBitio  res  de  qud  agitur ; "  according  to 
Havernick  more  correctly,  the  requirement  in- 
volved, the  thing  desired),  with  the  supposed 
meaning  of  decretum — but  we  cannot  possibly 
understand  any  thing  of  this  kind  here  in  Peter. 
Meyer  prefers,  "The  pledge  (or  stipulation),  by 
means  of  the  question  and  response  of  renuncia- 
tion and  consecration  connected  with  baptism  " 
— but  v/e  must  ask.  How  did  the  Apostle  come 
to  use  here  this  juristical  terra  of  federal  com- 
pact? How  can  we  suppose  him  to  make  an 
essential  part  of  baptism  that  question  and 
response  of  renunciation  and  consecration  which 
was  not  till  afterwards  introduced  into  its  cele- 
bration ?  The  word  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
at  all  rightly  understood  by  the  ancients  ;  and 
the  Pesh.  unliterally  and  paraphrastically  gives 
to  it  something  of  the  notion  of  a  confessio 
(pnJK  P'l.lip) — by   this,   however,   pointing  at 

least  towards  the  more  correct  meaning.  Two 
things  are  plain  at  the  outset :  that  mention  is 
here  made  of  the  internal  essence  of  baptism  in 
contrast  with  its  external  element,  and  there- 
fore that  it  cannot  be  any  external  form  or  for- 
mula which  is  intended ;  and  that  the  Apostle 
means  the  result  and  infiaence  upon  the  inner 
man  of  the  water  which  does  not  kill  but 
saves,  and  does  more  than  merely  wash  away, 
like  "  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh." 
It  is  perfectly  in  opposition  to  his  meaning  to 
understand  it  oi  a,  promise ;  man  having  already 
a  good  conscience  towards  God,  that  is,  the  joy- 
ful persuasion  that  he  is  forgiven.  Winer 
on  purely  philological  grounds  protest  against 
this,  showing  that  only  kitEpoord60ai  could 
have  the  meaning  of  promittere.  But  what  he 
substitutes  is  also  essentially  wrong — "  The 
inquiry  after  God  of  a  good  conscience  (that  is, 
of  a  conscience  determined  to  good),  the  turn- 
ing to  God,  and  seeking  him."  De  Wette 
translates  it  in  the  same  way,  Nachfrage  an 
Gott ;  and  many  agree  with  him,  laying  the 
emphasis  upon  this  that  "  in  baptism  a  man 
cannot  come  forward  as  one  who  may  enter 
into  a  stipulation  with  God,  but  must  come  to 
God,  as  desiring  and  seeking  a  grace  which  is 
altogether  grajtuitous."  Von  Gerlacb,  admit- 
ting this,  saya  :  "  The  words  then  indicate  that 


which  saved  Noah  in  the  flood,  and  Christians  in 
baptism."   But  that  which  saves  is  certainly  the 
gift  and  grace  of  God  ;  not  our  asking  for  it, 
our  turning  to  him,  and  seeking.     Can  we  sup- 
pose the  Apostle   here  to  have  so  entirely  lost 
the  objective  in  the  subjective?     Neander  re- 
jects this  altogether;  but  he  unhappily  falls 
back  upon  the  "  question  proposed  in  baptism." 
"This  spiritual  character  might  be  pointed  out? 
by  the  question  proposed  at  baptism,  which  re- 
ferred  to  the  spiritual  religious  object  of  the 
rite  ;  and  the  question  is  referred  to  instead  of 
the  answer  (alluding  to  Winer's  objection),  be- 
cause it  precedes  and  is  that  which  gives  occa- 
sion to  the  answer."     But  v/hat  has  just  been 
said   will   hold   good   against   this.     Buddeus 
{Tlieol.  mor.  cap.  v.  I  18)  saw  quite  rightly  that 
it  must  be  an  effect  of  baptism  which  is  here 
referred  to,  instead  of  a  previously-desired  good 
conscience  ;   but  his  interpretation  is  altogether 
too   artificial— "That   we   may  sustain    God's 
question   concerning   a  good   conscience,    and 
may  be  able  readily  to  make  answer  to  him  : 
for  it  is  the  characteristic  of  a  regenerate  man 
that  he  can  bear   to  have  his  conscience  ex- 
amined by  God."     Without  referring  to  other 
confused  interpretations,  our  opinion  is  this : 
The  good  conscience,  which  certainly  comes   first 
from  baptism,  from  the  resurrection  of  him  who 
died  for  us  (see  ver.  16  previously),  does  not 
merely  suffer  to  be  questioned,  but  spea/cs  of  it- 
self to  God  ;  and  this  opened  access  of  confidence 
(Rom.  v.  1,  2),  is  that  which  the  Apostle  here 
means.     We  hold  with  Bengel,  who  translates 
Ansprache — an  appealing  to  God  in  good  con- 
science ;  and  says  in  the  Gnomon,  "  It  is  the 
privilege  of  the  pious  to  address,  and  appeal  to 
God,  with  confidence,"  comparing  also  Heb.  x. 
22.    Brandt,  following  this :  "  Because  baptism 
inwardly  purifies,  so  that  we   call  upon  God 
with  good  conscience."     Lutz,  on  the  contrary, 
will  have  it  that  there  is  in  the  baptism  a  sup- 
plication for  a  good  conscience,  in  order  to  an 
acceptance  into  the  position  of  a  pardoned  sin- 
ner— but  how  strange  is  itio  conceive  of  this 
antecedens  alone  I     Hofmann  (Schrifib.  ii.  2-34) 
similarly  finds  in  knepooviji-ta  the  thing  re- 
quired (as  aiTijua  is  the  thing  asked),  and 
makes  the  Apostle  say — The  water  of  baptism 
helps  to  salvation,  inasmuch  as  by  it  the  bless- 
edness of  a  good  conscience,  demanded  by  God, 
is  given.   But  this,  to  our  apprehension,  never- 
theless, is  too  little  ;  we  think,  rather,  that  the 
approach  to  God  now  opened  to  us,  the  address 
to  him  which  always  meets  with  an  answer, 
this  right  of  supplication,  in  which  we  ever  "  ask 
from  him  a  good  conscience,  and  have  a  ^ood 
conscience  in  his  sight"— is  actually  a  claim  or 
title  founded  upon  a  prerogative  of  grace  (as 
the  Scholia  explain  knipoorifna  by  dppaficav, 
£V£xvpoy,  dnoSei^ti),  and,  in  a  certain  sense, 
our  rightful  prerogative,  as  the  B.'rlenb.  Bihel 
translates  it.    (Only  translates  it,  however  ;  for 
the  passage  is  unexpectedly  explained  as  the 
question  about  conscience  in  baptism— He  who 
would  be  truly  and  effectually  baptized  must 
previously  have  a  good  conscience — in  perfect 


820 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 


opposition  to  Heb.  x.  22.)  Finally,  there  is  in 
this  free  approach  to  God  and  claim  of  the 
cleansed  conscience,  which  appropriates  every 
thing  to  itself  through  the  blessing  received  in 
baptism,  something  of  the  nature  of  a  covenant 
relation.  Heim  admits  that  Luther  might  have 
used  his  translation  "  Bund"  in  the  sense  of  a 
sound  exposition;  and,  for  ourselves,  we  would 
\\oi  only  leave  it  standing  (the  literal  word  can 
scarcely  be  popularly  reproduced),  but  also 
admit  that  the  idea,  connected  with  it,  of  a 
baptismal  covenant  is  permissible  and  useful  in 
popular  catechetical  instruction.  But,  withal, 
we  must  not  surrender  the  prerogative  of  the 
promise  and  institution  on  God's  part,  in  the 
sense  of  the  New-Testament  diaOi'jKr; :  we 
must  take  care  to  avoid  all  Pelagian  ideas 
o{our  own  "  promising  and  vowing."  This  will 
help  us  to  correct  what  Nagelbach  says  con- 
cerning this  passage,  referring  the  t7tEpcDTT]i.ia, 
according  to  the  predominant  tradition,  to  the 
"required  baptismal  vow."  But  in  this  he  is 
right,  that,  with  all  the  objectivity  of  baptism, 
"  its  conscious  acceptance  on  the  part  of  man 
introduces  a  mutual  relation  ;  it  is  his  assump- 
tion of  all  obligations,  and  the  relation  may 
therefore  be  named  a  covenant."  As  far  as  this 
goes,  Hasse  is  right  with  his  consistent  trans- 
lation—  The  consecration  of  a  good  conscience  to 
God.  Finally,  this  saying  of  the  Apostle  may 
serve  to  establish  the  "true  significance  and  rel- 
ative necessity  of  an  ecclesiastical  ordinance  fol- 
lowing after  infant  baptism,  and  connected 
with  it,  like  our  confirmation.  It  is  the  sup- 
plemental coming  to  God  with  conscious  decis- 
ion of  purpose,  the  self-consecrating  appeal, 
which  now  uses  its  privilege  of  access — Behold, 
I  present  myself  before  thee,  my  God,  who  hast 
entered  into  a  covenant  with  thy  servant :  let 
it  now  be  confirmed  in  me  and  by  me. 

So  much  for  infant  baptism,  together  with 
confirmation.  But  all  this  does  not  exhaust 
the  meaning  of  this  unique  ver.  19;  there 
remains  the  not  unimportant  question — Did 
Christ  intend  by  siz  t6  ovo/tta  to  give  a  form 
of  words  which  must  nececsarily  be  used,  as  a 
formula,  in  the  administration  of  baptism  ? 
No  one,  it  might  be  supposed,  would  deny  that 
certainly  the  reference  oj  baptism  to  the  three-one 
Ood,  in  some  manner  expres.sed,  testified,  and 
intended,  in  the  avowal  of  faith,  and  therefore 
in  the  words  which  accompany  the  rite,  must 
be  essential  to  its  celebration  ;  for  it  is  in  this 
three-fold  name  that  the  Lord  comprehends  the 
whole  of  revelation  now  made  perfect,  in  it  he 
wraps  up  all  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  all  talva- 
tim  as  v/ell  as  all  the  confcMion  of  faith  in  it. 
But  it  is  far  otherwise  :  there  are  many  among 
tlio  really  orthodox  believeis  in  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Spirit,  who  understand  this  ordi- 
nance of  the  Lord  very  differently,  and  assert 
that  it  was  never  intended  that  ^uVry  person  to 
bn  baptized  should  bo  expre.ssly  baptized  into 
this  three-foil  name.  Bengel  was  led  by  the 
misunderstanding  Mrhich  we  have  mentioned 
(namely,  that  cOytf  referred  only  to  the  Gen- 
Ulea)  Ui  the  opinion,  which    wo  have  also  al-  I 


ready  quoted  and  rejected,  that  the  Jews  es- 
pecially were  to  be,  and  were,  baptized  into  the 
name  of  Jesus  alone.  We  find  a  modern  writer 
attempting,  as  "a  new  explanation  of  the  bap- 
tismal formula,"  to  prove  tliat  the  one  baptism 
must  be  distinguished  into  three  kinds  of  bap- 
tism for  three  kinds  of  persons  to  be  baptizea  : 
viz.,  that  the  Apostles  baptized  the  Gentiles 
into  the  Father,  the  Jews  into  the  Son,  and 
John's  disciples  (which,  however,  badly  agrees 
with  Acts  xix.)  into  the  Holy  Spirit.  All 
these  delusions  most  earnestly  drive  us  back 
to  the  original  ordinance,  for  every  baptism — 
generally  expressed,  but  simply  and  solemnly. 
But  how  can  this  be,  when  we  find  in  the  New 
Testament,  from  Acts  ii.  38  onwards,  only  a 
baptizing  in  or  into  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
or  the  Lord  Jesus;  the  perfect  trinitarian  for- 
mula never  being  once  mentioned?  See  the 
further  passages.  Acts  viii.  16,  x.  48,  xix.  5, 
(In  Rom.  vi.  3,  and  indeed  in  Gal.  iii.  27,  an- 
other and  a  didactic  meaning  is  involved.)  We 
will  not,  at  the  outset,  conclude  that  the  Apos- 
tles never  and  no  where  baptized  into  the  name 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit;  and  infer,  there- 
fore, the  improbability  that  Christ  ever  uttered 
the  words  attributed  to  him — words  to  which 
his  own  disciples  never  paid  any  attention. 
But  just  as  little  are  we  satisfied  with  Zinzen- 
dorfs  marvellous  device  (thus  to  bring  the  ex- 
tremes together),  who  falling  back  into  the 
identity  of  the  formula  with  Iv  rcu  ovofiarif 
understands  it  to  mean  that  they  were  to  bap- 
tize in  the  authority  of  the  Triune  God ;  and 
further  asserts  that,  because  the  revelation  of 
the  Trinity  and  the  mystery  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
belonged  to  the  disciplina  arcani  among  tlie 
Oenliles,  it  never  entered  the  Apostles'  minds 
to  utter  the  three  names  at  once  in  their  bap- 
tizing. He  supposes  that  they  baptized  merely 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  and  into  Jesus  ;  and  that 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  upon  those  who 
were  baptized  was  the  test  which  decided 
whether  they  were  to  be  informed  about  the 
Holy  Spirit.  But  in  Acts  x.  48  the  form  is 
still  used,  even  immediately  after  their  recep- 
tion of  the  Spirit.  The  Samaritans  in  chap, 
viii.  16  were  not  heathens  ;  the  disciples  of 
John  in  chap.  xix.  5  were  certainly  Jews;  and 
in  chap.  ii.  38  the  baptism  announced  to  all 
Israel  was  only  into  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Thus  may  even  enlightened  men  go  astray,  and 
their  wanderings  it  is  profitable  sometimes 
to  remember.  As  regards  the  difliculty  of 
which  we  are  speaking,  we  may  say»  iii  the 
general  with  Lange,  against  Strauss,  that  the 
expression  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  not 
properly  speaking  the  description  of  the  apos- 
tolical act  in  baptism,  but  "  only  the  most  con- 
cise historical  definition  of  the  Christian  bap- 
tism, in  contradistinction  to  the  Jewish  bap- 
tizing." Or,  with  Thiersch,  that  "the  sacred 
administration  might  be  more  dogmaticall)'  or 
more  liturgically  referred  to  in  the  several 
ca.ses,  with  reference  rather  to  its  influence,  or 
rather  to  its  rite"  (which,  however,  would  hold 
good  only  tor  the  passage  Rom.  vi.  3).     Or,  as 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


8dl 


Neander  expresses  himself :  "  It  cannot  at  least 
be  proved  from  these  passages  that  the  perfect 
forimila  was  not  in  use;  for  there  is  no  literal 
baptismal  formula  described,  prominence  being 
given  only  to  the  characteristic  aim  of  bap- 
tism." Just  so  does  Olshausen  explain  his 
view,  and  refers  further  to  Acts  xix.  2,  5;  Tit. 
iii.  4  seq.,  as  "passages  in  which  the  Son  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  are  placed  in  such  connection 
with  baptism,  that  a  reference  to  the  formula 
which  was  i;sed  in  baptizing  remains  in  the 
highest  degree  probable."  Thus,  the  expres- 
sion used  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  might  be, 
as  Storr  says,  no  other  than  a  mere  ahbreciation, 
as  we  perceive  still  more  obviously  in  the 
mention  of  "  baptizing"  without  any  addition 
at  all.  But,  he  says,  for  such  an  abbreviation 
the  first  word  of  the  formula  would  not  have 
been  so  appropriate  as  the  second,  as  not  suf- 
ficiently aistinguishing  Christian  baptism  from 
that  of  the  Jews  (but  where  had  the  Jews  a 
Qod  the  Father  f ) ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
no  man  cmiLl  have  baptized  into  the  name  of 
Jesus  who  did  not  strictly  adhere  to  his  own 
commandment,  and  consequently  use  the  formula 
which  he  had  prescribed.  Ail  this,  however, 
dispatches  the  matter  rather  too  mechanically, 
ana  inserts  as  a  matter  taken  for  granted  what 
ought  to  be  proved.  More  closely  examined, 
this  will  be  found  to  be  unsatisfactory.  It  is 
remarkable  that  in  the  lour  collective  historical 
passages  there  is  a  close  connection  with,  and 
reference  to,  the  Holy  Spirit ;  while  in  the  de- 
scription of  the  baptism  he  is  not  himself  di- 
rectly named.  As  to  Acts  ii.  38,  the  deficiency 
is  at  once  repaired  by  the  promise  which  im- 
mediately follows;  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
entire  formula  on  Peter's  lips  at  this  time  would 
have  been  inappropriate  and  stiff,  putting  the 
letter  harshly  first.  But  the  confession  that 
the  crucified  Jesus  was  actually  the  Christ,  was 
rightly  made  prominent  as  being  the  decisive 
point;  this  being  established,  the  baptism  would 
afterwards  be  scripturally  completed.  So  in  Acts 
X.  48,  where  the  Holy  Ghost  had  already  fallen 
upon  the  persons  to  be  baptized,  the" £>'  too 
ovufxavt  Tov  Hvpiov  admits  at  the  same  time 
(as  we  remarked  before)  of  another  meaning, 
denoting  the  obligation  and  commission  of  the 
Apostle.  In  the  historical  style  of  narrating 
the  event  it  would  include — lie  commanded 
them  to  be  baptized  precisely  as  the  Lord  had 
commanded.  But  in  chap.  xix.  5  the  connection 
would  seem  to  demand  the  most  exact  specifica- 
tion of  the  true  baptism — of  that  baptism  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  was  named  and  offered 
as  present  and  immediately  operating;  it  is 
strange  that  this  should  be  wanting,  if  the  full 
formula  was  always  and  essentially  introduced. 
Finally,  it  is  not  appropriate  to  interpret  chap, 
viii.  16  as  meaning  that  they  were  expressly 
baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom,  nevertheless,  they  had  not  received. 
The  novoy  /Js/JaTtviduEyoi  does  not  appear 
actually  to  define  at  the  same  time  the  formula 
which  was  used,  as-  not  mentioning  the  Holy 
Ghost.     After  all,  Vosa  seems  to  ua  to  be  in  a 


freat  measure  right,  who  (Disput.  ii.  de  iapt. 
'hes.  5)  sought  to  demonstrate  by  the  authority 
of  many  of  the  fatliers,  and  most  of  the  school- 
men, that  the  meaning  of  Christ  was  very  far 
from  unconditionally  binding  the  power  and 
validity  of  baptism  to  the  express  utterance  of 
these  three  names.  The  Lord  does  not  say — 
and  upon  this  Voss  lays  emphasis — "  Dicenf.es, 
baptizo  te;"  but  merely  ^anzi^ovTEZ :  his 
word  is  noi—Siying,l  baptize  thee;  but— 
Baptizing  them.  We  found  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per that,  according  to  the  spiritual  interpreta- 
tion which  alone  is  right  in  expounding  New- 
Testament  ordinances,  the  blessing  of  the  ele- 
ments with  the  actual  words  of  the  institution 
— that  is,  the  witnessing  and  proffering  repe- 
tition of  his  own  This  is — was  the  most  becom- 
ing, and  therefore  had  been  rightly  continued 
in  the  practice  of  the  Church  ;  while,  never- 
theless, the  Lord  had  not  absolutely  confined 
the  blessing  of  his  sacrament  to  such  a  literal 
formula.  And  the  same  view  may  be  the  only 
correct  one  in  relation  to  baptism  also.  On 
the  one  hand,  nothing  is  more  natural  and,  in« 
deed,  in  certain  circumstances,  more  necessary 
for  the  defence  of  the  sacrament  from  all  un- 
believing corruption,  than  the  use  of  the  very 
words  which  the  Lord  uttered  when  he  insti- 
tuted it  with  his  promise.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  must  assume  the  freedom  of  the  Spirit,  in 
relation  to  which  the  miraculous  energy  and 
gift  in  the  water,  sanctified  to  (hat  end,  should 
not  be  bound  to  the  nameoi  the  Tiiree-One,  as 
an  external  and  orally  pronounced  form  (in  the 
manner  of  a  B>ni33ri  DK>  in  Jewish  or  Gentile 

incantation).  Thus  it  appears  to  us  best  to 
explain  the  significant  change  of  the  expression 
in  the  Scripture :  it  diverts  us  from  any  merely 
superstitious  or  in  any  sense  unevangelical, 
Old-Testament  clinging  to  the  mere  letter  of 
the  formula.  That  which  seems  strange  if  not 
harsh  becomes  a  testimony  for  a  new  and 
weighty  truth.  There  is,  assuredly — and  this 
remains  absolutely  fixed — no  other  real  and 
essential  baptism  of  Christ  than  that  which  is, 
according  to  its  meaning,  design,  and  power, 
into  the  name  of  the  Three-One  :  this  is  the 
sure  signification  of  the  word  of  institution, 
and  this  word  we  must  all  the  more  rigidly 
maintain,  when  heretics  would  cunningly  change 
it ;  and  generally  in  times  and  places  when  the 
full  meaning  of  the  faith  is  not  of  itself  under- 
stood. Otherwise,  here  as  every  where  the  es- 
sential point  is  not  the  letter,  but  the  spirit. 
Hence  we  prefer  to  say  with  Calvin  :  "  We  see 
that  the  complement  of  baptism  is  in  Christ, 
whom  therefore  we  may  rightly  call  the  proper 
object  of  baptism.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  Apostles  are  .said  to  have  baptized 
those  in  his  name,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
be  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  likewise.  Wiiatever  bene- 
fits and  gifts  may  be  the  result  of  baptism  are 
all  found  in  the  name  of  Christ  alone.  Nor 
could  one  who  baptized  into  the  name  of  Christ 
fail  to  invoke  also  the  name  of  the  Father  and 


622 


TEACHING. 


of  the  Holy  Spirit."  But  as  Calvin  still  leaves 
it  uncertain  whether  he  meant  this  of  an  inter- 
nal unity  only  of  the  names,  or  of  the  utter- 
ance of  those  names,  we  agree  with  the  still 
plainer  declaration  of  Neander:  "  It  is  never- 
theless probable  that  in  the  original  apostolical 
formula  only  this  one  reference  was  made  pro- 
minent." That  is  to  say,  sometimes,  or  at  tirst 
predominantly  ;  for  we  cannot  hold  it  probable 
that  the  Apostles  did  not  ako  use  the  solemn 
and  perfect  formula  of  the  institution,  at  least 
in  the  course  of  the  further  development 
of  the  ecclesiastical  ceremony.  Thus,  by  the 
process  of  a  free  spirit  the  subsequent  settle- 
ment of  the  form  was  introduced,  though  that 
freedom  continued  long  in  the  Church.  We 
find,  indeed,  in  Justin's  Apology  a  plain  de- 
scription of  baptism  :  "  We  bring  them  after- 
wards where  there  is  water,  and  they  are  re- 
generated with  the  regeneration  which  we  re- 
ceived. For  in  the  name  of  the  Father  of  all, 
the  Lord  God,  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  receive  the  washing 
in  the  water."*  It  was  very  early  acknow- 
ledged, as  Lange  expresses  it,  "  tliat  the  pre- 
cision of  the  form  in  baptism  was  to  be  traced 
back  to  the  word  of  Jesus  himself;  this  also 
being  obvious  from  the  essential  nature  of  bap- 
tism." But  there  was  a  certain  freedom,  never- 
theless, as  to  the  formula  in  the  act  of  baptiz- 
ing, which  continued  long  in  the  Church  con- 
currently with  a  firm  adherence  to  the  essence 
of  the  baptism  into  the  Three-One  ;  until  at 
length  we  find,  as  may  be  seen  in  TertuUian, 
that  it  became  a  rule  to  sprinkle  or  immerse 
not  once  only,  but  three  times,  in  connection 
with  the  name  of  each  of  the  persona.  That  it 
was  afterwards  matter  of  faith  "  that  the  ac- 
tual words  of  Christ  must  be  used  as  a  baptis- 
mal formula"  (as  Neander  says  in  his  Life  of 
Christ)  may  be  explained  on  other  grounds 
which  are  not  to  be  despised  ;t  and  this  we 
would  assert  against  our  modern  "  free  commu- 
nities," in  the  name  of  the  Church  which  ac- 
knowledges the  Three-One.  But  not  uncon- 
ditionally in  the  name  of  Christ,  who  certainly 
did  not  ordain — When  ye  baptize,  Say,  etc. 
So  Luther  rebukes  the  adherents  of  the  letter, 
"  who  with  furious  zeal  pour  out  their  cou- 
demnation  upon  those  who  should  say — I  bap- 
tize thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  (the  form  of 
the  Apostles,  however,  as  we  read  in  the  Acts) ; 
and  would  allow  no  validity  to  any  other  form 
than   this — /  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the 


*  So  according  to  the  Comt.  Clem.  (vii.  23)  bap- 
tism is  into  the  name  "  of  tlie  Fatlier  who  sent, 
of  the  Christ  who  liad  come,  of  the  Paraclete 
who  beareth  witness."  As  to  the  suspicion  of 
Hilgeiifeld  and  others,  that  the  trinitarian  form- 
ula^was  interpolated  by  Justin,  it  admils  of  easy 
relutation. 

t  Gerhard  speaks  of  the  obligation  of  Christ's 
disciples  "  with  pious  simplicity  to  adhere  to  the 
word.s  of  Christ,"  but  adds,  "  not  that  we  ascribe 
any  migical  and  occult  property  to  the  sound  of 
the  words." 


Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Hdy  Ohost. 
Amen."*  We  would  let  the  Greeks  say  as  they 
do — "  Let  this  servant  of  Christ  he  baptized;" 
we  would  not  dishonor  the  holy  sacrament, 
with  all  fidelity  of  faith  and  confession,  and 
with  all  commendable  adherence  to  ecclesiasti- 
cal appointment,  by  superstitious  adherence  to 
words  and  names.f 

Baptising  is  followed  by  teaching,  which  13 
parallel  with  it.  That  is,  as  we  have  seen,  both 
are  together  included  in  the  dhoipling ;  while, 
strictly  speaking  baptizing  is  the  beginning  of 
making  the  disciple,  and  not  teaching.  Even 
adults  stand  in  need  after  their  baptism  of  this 
teaching,  which  was  distinguished  by  its  spe- 
cific purpose  from  the  preaching  which  preced- 
ed it.  According  to  the  mind  of  the  Lord  it 
may  indeed  be  said — Preach  first,  then  baptize  ; 
but  never — Teach  first,  that  is,  those  whom  ye 
may  then  baptize.  The  introduction,  the  right, 
and  the  susceptibility  for  the  SiSaxf?,  or  "  doc- 
trine," Acts  li.,  was  the  baptism  which  had 
already  been  administered.  The  first  "  them  " 
in  our  text  singled  out  the  individuals  of  the 
nations,  whether  adults  or  children,  for  baptiz- 
ing ;  the  secorui  "them,"  therefore  reiyeated, 
means  plainly  the.  paOritEvOsyrai,  those  who 
had  become  disciples,  and  were  baptized.  Because 
they  are  now  disciples  like  yourselves,  therefore 
all  that  I  have  commanded  you  is  incumbent 
upon  them.  But  ye  must  teach  them  :  this  is, 
again,  according  to  the  New-Testament/reetZo/n 
in  the  Spirit,  a  government  and  direction  by 
the  exhorting  word,  which  does  indeed  com- 
mand, but  always  in  such  a  manner  that  it  ap- 
peals to  the  judgment  and  tends  to  kwywUdge, 
thereby  alone  laying  claim  to  the  free  faith  and 
the  will  of  the  taught.  "  By  means  of  a  free 
influence  of  the  Spirit  using  the  instrumentality 
of  doctrine"  (as  Lange  says),  ye  shall  guide 
them  onwards  into  perfect  discipleship.  No 
heathen  constitution  of  religion  ever  had  an 
institute  of  doctrine;  the  Old  Testament  knew 
only  of  its  symbolical  germ  and  beginning. 
The  TTj  peiv,  keep,  an  expression  used  here  at 
the  close  in  John's  sense,  though  it  occurs  else- 
where in  Matthew — is  neither  a  mere  perform- 
ance in  aci,  nor  a  mere  maintenance  in  faith, 
but  both  together  in  their  living  unity  :  for 
the  ffaVra,""all  things,"  gives  of  itself  its 
most  comprehensive  meaning  to  the  iyeretXd- 
HTjVy  "  I  have  commanded."  Certainly,  and 
this  it  is  most  impoitant  to  hold  fast,  it  is  not 
a  mere  maintenance  of  these  things  as  articles 


*  Olherwise,  therefore,  than  the  later  Lutheran 
dogmatics,  wiiich  reckon  "the  recitation  of  the 
words  of  institution  "  as  part  of  the  "  foi  ui  of 
baptism." 

t  Even  Tope  Zachary  confirmed  the  baptism 
of  an  ignorant  priest,  who  baptized  m  nomine 
patria  et  fiiia,  et  sptritua  lu'icia,  because  an  error 
in  the  syllables  dia  not  affect  the  baptism.  See 
in  J.  L.  llarimann,  Fa*torai,  p.  683,  very  different 
examples  of  the  conduct  of  the  Loipzic  divines" 
in  1614.  As  to  the  baptizing  with  anything  i*- 
tidet  water,  the  quetilioa  iK  ueedleas. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


m 


io  bs  Lolieved,  as  if  the  teaching  was  only  the 
communication  of  ideas,  the  stamping  upon  the 
mind  ot  dogmas,  etc.  The  iyreXXedOai  is  too 
strong  for  such  a  meaning;  it  defines  here, 
where  the  great  characteristics  of  the  new 
Church  are  traced  in  contradistinction  to  the 
old  constitution  (Israel  receding  into  the 
iBvri),  the  new  law  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 
This,  as  we  think,  comes  here  into  express  pro- 
minence— Instruct  them  in  and  unto  the  keep- 
ing of  my  commandments,  as  my  perfect  and 
true  disciples  (Matt.  vii.  21  [Luke  vi.  46]: 
Matt,  xxiii.  3 ;  John  xiv.  15).  Not,  as  Greg, 
l^yss.  distinguished  the  words,  that  the  HTfpu6- 
€fty  or  Hart^X^i*^,  included  in  the/iUiOrireueiy, 
referred  to  that  which  was  now  to  be  specifically 
the  "doctrine"  concerning  the  truths  of  the 
faith.  Nor,  as  Hofmann  incorrectly  defines 
them,  that  the  former  liad  reference  to  facts, 
the  latter  to  preeqtts.  For,  the  continuous 
teaching,  like  the  leejdrig  which  it  demands, 
embraces  announcements  and  promises  ad- 
dressed to  faith  in  the  preached _/«</s  or  revela- 
tions delivered — in  short,  all  that  the  first  dis- 
ciples had  received  through  the  life  and  words 
of  Jesus  as  the  great  IvtoA?'/,  or  command- 
ment, to  be  handed  down.  (Corap.  in  the  Old 
Testament  Lev.  x.  11.)  But  yet  the  goal  and 
final  aim  of  all  is — as  proposed  here  in  the  con- 
clusion—the  obedience  and  patience  of  faith  in 
doivg  as  well  as  in  aufftring,  the  consummation 
of  disci^ikship  in  tJie  lije  sanctified  to  Christ. 

As  the  Apostles  themselves  were  not  in  their 
short  life  to  convert  and  baptize  all  nations,  so 
was  the  following  teaching  not  committed  to 
them  alone.  They  receive  the  commission  as 
the  first,  in  the  name  of  their  successors.  But 
who  are  these  successors  ?  Tke  Lord  obviously 
does  not  institute  a  specific  order  in  the  Church 
(although  the  later  ecclesiastical  orders  natur- 
ally enough  introduce  this) — but  an  office  he 
does  institute,  to  be  executed  in  his  Spirit,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  choice  and  calling?  Those 
who  are  to  be  taught  are  taken  for  granted, 
and  therefore  unmentioned,  while  tlwse  who 
teach  are  made  specially  prominent  in  the  mass 
of  the  people.  To  this  perpetually  self-renew- 
ing and  self-extending  Church  as  a  whole  the 
Lord  leaves  all  the  rest  ;*  He  allows  room  for 
free  development  and  modifications  of  institute, 
and  asserts  the  Church's  ri^ht  in  the  Spirit  to 
regulate  all  ordinances.  He  sums  up  the 
Church's  position  under  its  two  aspects  :  he 
will  have  it  ever  learning,  as  well  as  ever  teach- 
ing to  that  end.  Thus  we  may  adopt  the  cor- 
rect words  of  Nitzsch  :  "  The  Church  has  not 
only  been  established  by  means  of  a  relation  of 
teaching  and  hearing,  but  has  been  established 
in  order  to  that  relation — that  it  by  its  own  in- 
structions might  ever  continue  to  build  itself 
up.     Every  congregation  must  be  a  disciple 


*  Not,  indeed,  according  to  the  bold  pseudo- 
Cathohcism  which  says  upon  this  pa.SKage(Allioli) : 
"  Remark  how  Jesus  here  commits  the  leaching 
of  his  Cliurch  to-the  shepherds  gathered  together 
under  Peter  "" 


of  that  oflBce  of  teaching  which  was  sent  forth 
to  instruct  the  nations;  and  those  who  are 
born  into  it  by  baptism  are  baptized  to  this 
end,  that  they  may  be  scholars  under  this 
preaching  office  "  {Prakt.  Theol.  i.  213).  Thus 
we  have,  in  this  "  teaching  them,"  the  institution 
of  tJte  offi^  of  teaching  or  f  reaching  for  the  bap- 
tized, as  essentially  belonging  to  the  institution 
of  baptism,  which  cannot  consummate  of  itself 
the  grace  of  God  in  the  adult,  and  can  only 
begin  it  in  little  children  ;*  it  is  the  perfectly 
sufficient,  while  it  is  the  necessary,  "comple- 
ment" of  all  that  needs  complementing  in 
every  fiocTCTi^eiv  or  first  na^JrfrevEiv — that  all 
may  be  led  upwards  and  onwards,  to  grow  np 
into  perfect  disciples.t  "  When,  through  mis- 
sionary preaching,  part  of  a  nation,  or  by  de- 
grees a  whole  nation,  become  disciples,  and  are 
dedicated  to  the  Lord  by  holy  baptism,  the 
members  of  this  Church  or  community  are,  ac- 
cording to  the  command  of  Jesus,  pointed  to 
the  observance  of  all  that  which  he  had  com- 
manded to  his  first  disciples.  7'his  word  of 
our  Lord  establishes  (he  ecclesiastical  office  of 
preaching,  as  the  former  had  ordained  the  mis- 
sionary preaching."  Thus  it  is  written  in  my 
Keryhiyk  (g  61),  and  I  do  not  feel  myself  au- 
thorized to  retract  the  words,  although  the 
strangely  paradoxical  thesis  of  the  excellent 
Harms  reluses  to  acknowledge  any  divine  in- 
stitution of  preaching  ;  although  my  critics  are 
very  severe  upon  my  principles,  the  most 
friendly  of  them  declaring  that  they  cannot 
stand  before  the  bar  of  criticism  ;  and  although 
Palmer  deems  my  exposition  more  ingenious 
than  demonstrable.J  I  cannot  see  what  can 
be  soundly  urged  against  our  regarding  this 
6idoc6Hety — which  manifestly  still  refers  to 
those  loho  are  baptized,  on  account  of  the  great 
end  set  before  them — as  establishing  by  our 
Lord's  authority,  for  the  Church,  such  a  neces- 
sary medium  of  self-edification  for  the  indi- 
vidual, and  of  enlargement  for  the  Church.  It 
might  not,  indeed,  have  needed  such  an  express 
command,  but  it  was  given  as  a  "  provident 
and  wise  precept "  for  the  future  ;  and  we  see 
its  operation  in  apostolical  practice  afterwards, 
as  in  Acts  ii.  42. 

Indeed,  this  teaching  is  something  more  than 


*  As  to  the  children,  we  must  certainly  regard 
their  parents  or  sponsors  as  the  first  who  are  ap- 
pointed to  teach  them.  He  who  performs  the 
baptism,  or  he  who  brings  the  child  to  it,  is  ex- 
pected by  the  Lord's  ordinance  to  instruct  it. 

f  Compare  Rudelbach  in  the  Luth.  Zeitsrh.  18-18. 
i.  p.  26;  who  says  indefinitely :  "  MaOz/reveiv  in- 
cludes the  making  disciples,  and  preserving  as 
.such."  But  this  "  Trjprjriuov  "  is  not,  properly 
spe.iking,  included  in  the  word. 

t  Similarly  Harnack  deems  my  argument 
against  Harms,  drawn  from  Matt,  xxviii.  20, 
equally  pa'.adoxical  with  Harms'  own  assertion. 
But  let  the  matter  be  viewed  with  an  unbiassed 
mind.  Is  not  the  /.laBrjzevEiv  continuously 
carried  on  and  consummated  in  the  dida6Heiv  t 
Is  not  this,  therefore,  preaching  1 


TEACHING. 


and  different  from  the  preaching  which  founds 
the  Church,  and  is  the  previous  condition  of  the 
baptizing.  The  requirement  to  keep  all  the 
commandments  of  Jesus  pre-supposes,  and  this 
must  be  carefully  observe,  the  grace  of  baptism 

rhich  has  imparted  the  power  to  keep  them* 
may  be  premitted  to  speak  further  in  the  lan- 
guage of  my  Keryktyk :  "  Missions  lay  the 
foundation,  and  their  end  is  introduction  into 
the  fellowship  of  grace;  but,  as  respects  the 
ecclesiastical  office  of  preaching,  this  end  be- 
comes again  a  beginning,  which  issues  in  a  con- 
tinuous edification  unto  the  consummate  obe- 
dience of  living  faith.  As  long  as — to  introduce 
Mark  xvi.  15  in  addition — there  is  an  old  a-ea- 
tion  present,  the  command  is  jrreach.  So  far 
therefore,  the  second  is  shown  to  be  already 
included  in  the  first ;  for  the  constant  instruc- 
tion which  never  ceases  to  preach  until  the 
disciples  actually  keep  and  fulfill  aU  the  full 
commandment  delivered  to  their  obedience,  is 
the  continuous  fulfillment  of  the  disciplinq,  as 
the  baptism  was  the  beginning  of  it.  This  is 
the  reason  why  the  Lord  expressly  commands 
the  further  teaching  as  a  second  work  ;  just  as 
he  instituted  the  Supper  in  addition  to  Baptism. 
The  two  sacraments  correspond  to  mission 
preaching  and  Church  preaching;  the  mission 
prepares  for  baptism,  and  the  word  within  the 
Church  prepares  the  baptized  for  the  Supper  of 
the  Lord,  and  prepares  the  communicants  at 
the  table  more  and  more  fully  for  the  perfect 
fiotvooviix."  Thus  we  distinguish  and  sep- 
arate the  two,  as  far  as  it  is  right  to  do  so; 
and  yet  they  are  so  mutually  blended  that  as 
soon  as  we  speak  of  a  Church  which  is  founded, 
the  mission  preaching  says — Now  teach  those 
who  are  baptized.  Does  not  this  interpretation 
of  the  two  continue  in  the  Church  until  its 
final  consummation  ?  The  ecclesiastical  preach- 
ing within  the  community  we  have  included  in 
the  Ht]f>-L66Eiy,  on  good  grounds  and  for  a 
good  purpose  ■  thus  we  defend  the  "  kultus- 
predigt,"  as  it  is  called,  from  the  prevalent  and 
fatal  notion  of  a  "  self -exhibition  ami  self -develop- 
ment of  the  community,"  and  the  Schleier- 
raacherian  error  which  has  in  that  its  root.  Thus 
we  assert  the  right  and  authority  of  that  ele- 
ment in  the  diSddxeiy  which  brings  out  its 
continual  exhortation,  and  its  progressive  mis- 
tion  preaching  to  the  Church,  which  according 
to  Acts  ix.  31  is  progressively  self-edifed.  The 
accordance  of  ajiosfoUcal  phraseology  with  this 
has  been  shown  in  the  Kenjklyk,  p.  5. 

That  which  tlie  Lord  /a'?n*e//  commanded  and 
committed  to  his  disciples,  is  further  to  be 
taught  and  handed  down,  and  men  may  hold  it. 
fa.'<t  and  act  according  to  it — Nothing  more,  and 
nothing   different.     He   therefore    refuses   his 


♦  "  Yet  this  keepinn;  is  not  a  matter  of  our  own 
atrenglh  :  baptism  establishes  the  covenant,  faith 
gives  the  strength.  lie  who  will  not  keep  his 
commar.dments,  as  he  h;;s  ordained,  is  regarded 
by  Christ  as  unbaplized  and  without  faith."  So 
lliller,  after  Bengel  s  note:  "  Ut  baptizatus  con- 
reiiit,  fiJei  virtute,  noa  legaliter." 


sanction  and  promise  to  all  ordioancBS  of  men 
which  depart  from  his  precepts  ;  although  all 
those  adminicula  docendi  et  cedificandi  eccksiam 
which  might  be  pointed  out  by  his  Spirit  and 
developed  from  his  word,  are  included  in  this 
irToX?f,  or  command.  But,  again,  all  that 
was  committed  to  the  first  disciples,  and  in  a 
certain  sense  all  that  was  given  even  to  the 
Apostles,  applies  at  the  same  time  to  ali  dis- 
ciples— Nothing  less.  "  Whatever  we  may  think 
of  certain  prerogatives  and  specific  teaching 
for  his  then  present  disciples — can  we  suppose 
him  to  regard  only  these,  when  he  said  at  his 
solemn  departure.  Go  ye  forth  into  all  the 
world,  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations? 
(Disciples  are  disciples  :  he  never  spoke  in  his 
Gospel  of  two  kinds  of  disciples.)  Whoever 
in  all  nations  will  be,  let  him  be,  my  disciple, 
like  yourselves.  Every  commission  from  my  Fa- 
ther to  you  is  also  for  them  ;  ye  shall  not  keep 
back  from  them  any  one  of  my  sayings  and 
blessings.  Give  them  to  keep,  to  understand, 
fo  believe,  to  do  all  that  I  have  given  to  yoa" 
(Pfenninger).  Here,  therefore,  is,  as  we  have 
every  where  found — an  apostolate,  and  yet  no 
privilege,  only  the  Church  ;  an  office  of  teach- 
ing, and  yet  the  equal  call  of  all  to  like  know- 
ledge and  like  performance.* 

Further,  it  remains  to  be  observed  and  made 
prominent  that  to  this  all  belongs  especially 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Baptism,  as  imparting  the 
principle  of  grace  in  order  to  the  keeping  of  the 
commandments,  is  already  pre-supposed  ;  and 
so  also  is  the  perpetual  invigoration  of  the 
Supper,  strengthening  in  that  obedience — even 
as  it  is  afterwards  included  and  referred  to  in 
the  great  T^rorahe,  I  am  with  you.  Finally,  it 
was  obviously  intended  that  they  should  im- 
pose the  commission  which  they  had  just  now 
received,  as  also  binding  :  they  were  to  say  to 
all  who  followed,  and  these  to  continue  the 
word,  in  his  name — Oo  ye  forth,  convert  the 
peoples,  baptize  and  teach  !  Every  man  must 
in  his  degree  enter  into  the  great  work,  when 
and  as  far  as  he  feels  his  own  interest  in  it. 
(Hence  in  Mark  xvi.  17,  we  read — Those  who 
believe ;  not,  by  any  means — Those  who  preach 
or  teach.)  This  alone  enables  us  to  under- 
stand how  the  Lord  could  say  to  these  first,  that 
is,  through  them  to  all  in  the  tuture — I  am 
with  you,  as  long  as  the  world's  generationa 
continue.  Grotius:  "For  since  this  promise 
extends  to  the  end  of  the  world,  but  the  Apos- 
tles were  not  to  live  so  long,  Christ  must  be 
regarded  as  having  addressed  the  successors  of 
their  ofilce  in  their  persons."  Or  will  any  man 
feel  inclined  to  attribute  to  our  Lord  himself 
the  "expectation  of  a  speedy  return?" 

His  paicer  preceded  as  the  ground  and  au- 
thority of  all;  the  promised  aid  of  his  mighty 
presence  closes  the  wiiole.  Would  he  send 
them  forth  into  all  the  world,  and  not  himself 


*  A  theocracy,  indeed  the  first  true  theocracy. 
But,  on  that  very  account,  as  NiLz-ch  says,  "  Tlia 
theoerccy  of  the  Spirit  is  mediated  by  a  theoHdat- 
kalta." 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  18-20. 


fee -with  and  in  all  his  messengers,  in aU  places? 
(Mark  xvi.  20).  Thus  they  were  no  more  in 
the  future  to  expect  his  bodily  visible  presence 
upon  any  mountain,  or  any  single  place  upon 
earth  ;  but,  wherever  those  who  go  forth,  tho?e 
who  baptize,  and  those  who  are  laptized,  are 
found  in  all  the  earth,  there  is  he  at  the  same 
time  and  in  every  place.  This  word,  conse- 
■quently,  announces  and  includes  the  ascension  ; 
hence  Matthew,  instead  of  giving  the  external 
narrative  of  the  ascension,  which  from  this 
declaration  must  have  been  self-understood  to 
all,  closes  with  this  word.*  He  says  more  to 
our  faith  in  this  manner,  than  if  he  had  re- 
corded the  circumstances  of  a  departure,  which 
as  a  departure  might  have  been  misunderstood. 
He  says  fundamentally  the  same  which  John 
had  said  in  the  word  to  Thomas,  and  which 
Luke,  Acts  i.  9,  had  said  by  his  significant 
words — And  a  cloud  received  him  from  their  eyes. 
Only  from  the  sight  of  their  eye«.  For  this  the 
forty  days,  with  their  intervals  of  the  invisi- 
bility of 'him  who  was  nevertheless  near,  had 
paved  the  way, 

As  before  divine  power,  so  now  divine  omni- 
presence is  imputed  by  the  Lord  to  himself. 
But  Meyer's  note,  well  meaning  though  not 
prudently  expressed,  does  not  satisfy  us  here  : 
■"  Christ  according  to  his  humanity  is  gone  up 
to  heaven,  but  according  to  his  divinity  is 
every  where  present."!  For  the  glorified  hu- 
manity, as  entirely  assumed  into  the  divinity, 
penetrated  by  it,  and  inseparable  from  it,  par- 
ticipates in  the  same  omnipresence.  When 
the  Lord  says.  Behold,  /—he  means  his  person 
indivisibly,  as  they  see  it  now  standing  before 
them.  When  he  continues /a»i  wjVA  yow — he 
speaks  now  as  man  the  language  of  God  from 
all  antiq;uity.  Grotius :  "  For  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  to  he  with  -any  one — cum  aliquo  esse — is  spo- 
ken peculiarly  of  God."  J  How  highly  exalted 
is  this  above  that  first  Nicodemus  view  of  his 
person,  as  of  a  man  with  whom  God  was ! 
But  h'e  is  with  his  disciples — for  their  strength, 
their  defence,  their  assistance,  their  light,  and 
their  life,  in  various  ways,  and  by  the  medium 
of  manifold  instrumentalities  ;  yet  in  all  these, 
and  every  where,  as  the  personal  /.     He   is 

{jreseut  in  his  voord  ;  not  only  in  that  wliich  he 
lad  himself  spoken,  but  also  in  that  which  is 
epoken  and  recorded  concerning  him ;  in  tlie 
whole  totality  of  his  life  and  testimony  in  the 
flesh,. as  it  became  the  matter  of  preaching,  and 
Scripture,  and  preaching  again,  down  to  the 
iime  of  his  ascension.     In  addition   to   that 


word,  and  in  thsft  word,  he  is  present  by  his 
Spirit,  whom  he  had  promised  and  given  ;  who 
is  one  with  himself,  and  who,  in  all  that  he 
continued  to  show  and  to  impart  to  believers., 
took  only  of  that  which  was  already  present 
in  the  Son  (John  xvi.  14 — which  must  hold 
good,  as  we  have  said  before,  of  infant  bap- 
tism also).  By  his  word  and  Spirit  he  makes 
the  collective  discipleship  of  his  true  disciples, 
standing  in  the  true  faith,  and  even  every  in- 
dividual among  them  so  far  as  he  is  such,  in- 
fallible. This  infallibility  of  the  Church,  teach- 
ing and  handing  down  his  will,  is  here  most 
incontrovertibly  assumed  ;  though  we  do  well 
to  be  on  our  guard  against  boasting  or  of  re- 
lying upon  this  truth  in  any  fleshly  limitation 
of  the  Spirit's  power.*  As  to  the  empirical 
Church  of  this  or  that  age  or  place,  we  may 
say  with  Nitzsch — its  greatest  error  is  the 
opinion  that  it  is  infallible  ;  but  this  does  not 
abolish  the  promise  of  the  Lord — he  is  pres- 
ent with  his  truth.  He  is  present  with  his 
mighty  defence  and  aid  against  the  gates  of  hell 
which  would  oppose  and  hinder  his  Church  in 
the  execution  of  his  commands.  But,  finally, 
he  is  present  in  his  invisible  corporeity,  accord- 
ing to  his  promise  and  institution  ;  present  in 
hi^  body  and  bbod  in  the  Supper  for  all  his  dis- 
ciples. 

I  am  with  you  Thus  does  he  speak  dis- 
tinctively ;  although  he  will  also  be  in  the 
midst  of  his  enemies  by  his  effectual  presence. 
For  his  presence,  the  source  of  blessing  and 
the  bond  of  union  with  himself,  is  of  a  special 
and  distinctive  kind  to  his  disciples.  This 
holds  good  of  every  believer,  in  his  own  indi- 
vidual person.  It  is  more  strongly  guaranteed, 
as  respects  the  perception  of  failh,  and  more 
mightily  testified,  in  respect  to  the  operation 
and  influence,  to  every  united  little  company 
(as  he  had  said  already,  chap,  xviii.  20).  But 
it  is  most  strongly,  certainly,  and  mightily  as- 
sured to  his  whole  Church,  to  his  entire  people 
among  the  nations,  as  essentially  fulfilling  the 
Old-Testament  promise  of  Lev.  xxvi.  11,  12; 
2  Cor.  VI.  16.  The  sublime  I  at  the  close  cor- 
responds with  the  to  me  of  the  beginning : 
the  Almighty  and  All-present  needs  no  repre- 
sentative or  deputy.  Only  those  among  whom 
and  with  whom  he  is  in  truth,  convert  and 
teach  others  again,  that  they  may  become  such 
like  themselves.  Thus  should  it  continue — 
with  an  elui,  "am,"  which  to  him  was  equal 
to  eternity,  the  simple  eternal  presence  of  time 


*  "This  seems  bo  evident,  that  Maf.hew  always 
appears  to  me  more  vividly  and  inipresiiively  to 
have  recorded  the  ascent  into  heaven  than  Luke 
liimself.  This  was  evideDti?  in  the  mind  of  the 
Evangelist  himself  who  recorded  it,  and  therefore 
iie  added  not  another  word  "  (Foglmann). 

t  Corap.  Blatter  fur  libh.  Wahrheit,  iv.  169. 

:f  A!  ford  says  here:  "So  that  the  mystery  of 
tis  name  infiavovr/X  is  fulfilled — God  is  with 
u»."  I  would  add^— the  name  with  which  Matthew 
«et«u.t  in  hi£  jQu^td. 


*  Allioli  perverts  the  sublime  truth :  "  The 
hish'ps  assembled  under  their  head  (instead  of — 
the  Church  gathered  in  the  name  of  Christ")  are 
thus  infallible,  whether  assembled  in  one  place, 
or  dispersed  over  all  the  earth.  Matthew  closes 
his  Gospel  wi  h  the  teachirg  and  iufaUible  Church 
(he  toeans— c/er^y) ;  for  in  her  the  teaching  and 
sanctifying  Christ  continues  to  live  upon  earth ; 
her  doctrine  is  his  doctrine,  her  spirit  is  his  spirit, 
her  defence   is   his   defence.     Blessed   are   all   wlio 

1  dwell  under  her  protection."    What  a  $JiU>  uior' 

iicUeJ 


826 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


— through  all  the  days  which  are  yet  to  be,  as 
long  as  the  days  of  heaven  continue  upon 
earth  (Deut.  xi.  21);  as  long  as  heaven  and 
earth,  over  which  he  has  all  authority,  continue 
separate,  adid  the  earth  has  still  its  days  and 
nights  ;*  until  his  own  great  day.  He  was 
not  visibly  present  with  them  during  all  the 
forty  days;  and  yet  it  was  plain  in  his  visits 
that  he  had  meanwhile  been  always  with  them: 
this  was  now  to  be  consummated  and  finally 
illustrated.  Thus  various  days  and  timm  of 
great  and  awful  things,  and  good  and  evil  day.=, 
were  yet  to  come  ;  for  all  alike  he  promises — i 
am  with  you.  To  the  end  of  the  world's  corirse 
(chap.  xxiv.  3,  the  same  expression).  This 
means,  first :  He  will  be  with  them  keeping, 
defending,  perfecting,  so  long  as  they  shall  need 
this,  and  the  assurance  of  it,  in  the  present 
evil  world  ;  for  he  is  speaking  especially  of  this 
bcinrj  with  them.  "  But  after  the  consummation 
of  this  age  also,"  says  Glassius,  "there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  Christ  will  be  with  his  Church." 
We  prefer,  however,  to  say,  with  Bengel  and 
others,  according  to  the  word  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles — that  after  the  end  of  the  world  we 
shall  be  with  hi7n  forever,  where  he  is.  By  this 
"  until  the  end  of  the  age  "  it  is  further  assured 
to  etey-y  individual  believer  that  Christ  will  be 
and  will  abide  with  him,  not  only  in  death, 
bill  beyond  death,  through  all  intermediate  times, 
whicii  still  may  be  called  days,  and  through 
all  intermediate  circumstances  down  to  the  last 
day. 

There  is  an  end,  when  this  course  of  the  world 
and  of  the  time  will  pass  over  into  eternity. 
As  certainly  as  the  Lord  is  speaking  of  histori- 
cal days,  so  certainly  does  he  testify  that  a  his- 
torically impending  end,  a  last  day,  will  come. 
Till  then  avails  his — /  am  with  you.  Thus  does 
Matthew  close.  Mark  gives  us  some  more  pre- 
cise words  concerning  it,  which  may  be  regard- 
ed as  running  parallel  in  their  meaning  with 
those  which  Matthew  records,  or  to  have  been 
spoken  possibly  between  the  two  clauses  in 
Matt.  ver.  20.  'For  the  "  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
preach,"  beginning  anew  in  Mark  witb  a 
stronger  emphasis,  might  well  have  followed 
the  "  I  liave  commanded  you"  in  Matthew. 
The  promise  of  the  accompanying  signs  into 
■which  Mark's  discourse  flows,  can  scarcely  be 
separated  Irom  the  "  I  am  with  you  "  which 
followed  it;  so  that  the  word  concerning  the 
end  may  well  have  been'  still  the  end  of  the 
whole  discourse.  But  this  v/ill  require  more 
specific  consideration. 


The  words  of  Matthew,  which  we  have  ex- 
pounded, are  only  a  comj>endious  statement,  in  a 
summary  which  did  not  record  all  the  words 
which  our  Lord  may  have  spoken.  But  we 
must  not  suppose  thai;  another  place,  and  an- 
other locality,  than  that  upon  the  mountain,  is 


*  But  the  niffhts  were  to  become,  in  the  light  of 
\lie  promibe,  <Z«y«. 


here  to  be  understood.  Mark  n-ow  con»bme» 
the  whole  still  more  compendiously,  from  ver. 
9  downwards — the  genuineness  of  which,  and 
its  character,  we  have  already  examined  and 
settled.  It  might  appear  from  his  account  that 
vers.  15-18  was  spoken  on  the  evening  of  the 
first  day,  recorded  in  ver.  14.  (Compare  in 
Acts  xxvi.  16  a;  similar  combination  of  a  later 
manifestation  and  commission  with  the  first 
oTtradi'a.)  But  the  donble  narrative  of  this 
evening's  proceedings  in  Lirke  and  John  will 
not  allow  any  room  for  such  an  antieipntory 
discourse;  .ind  then  Mark,  vers.  15-18,  is  too 
plainly  parallel  with  the  conclusion  of  Matthew 
to  allow  any  doubt  as  to  its  having  been  spo- 
ken in  the  same  mountain  appearance.  Wft 
must  therefore  intelligently  notice  the  scarcely 
hinting  note  which  Mark 'himself  gives  us  in 
ver.  19  by  his  jusrd  to  XaXr/dat  avroi?, 
"  after  he  had  spoken  unto  them  " — by  which 
thewrti  siTTei'  avroii,  "and  he  said  r.ntothem," 
ver.  15,  loses  (as  most  expositors  see)  all  specif- 
ic chronological  connection  with  ver.  14.  After 
he  has,  in  vers.  9-14,  given  prominence  to> 
three  special  and  first  appearances,  Mark  gives 
ns  continuously,  from  ver.  14  to  the  end  of  th» 
dvt\}}(pSr;,  "  was  received  up,"  the  main  sub- 
stance of  the  discourses  of  Jesus  to  the  dis- 
ciples between  the  resurrection  and  the  ascen- 
sion ;  and  that  according  to  a  view  of  theai 
peculiar  to  himself,  and  with  a  specific  mean- 
ing in  such  a  peculiar  combination.  Th© 
preachers  upon  this  section,  the  Gospel  of  as- 
cension day,  are  continually  required  to  trace 
and  appreciate  this  unity  in  his  design.  Th& 
simplest  view  is  to  divide  this  ?,.(xX7^6o:i  ai^roli 
in  a  three-fold  way.  At  first,  he  still  rebakes  his 
disciples'  unbelief ;  secondly,  he  institutes  thg 
office  of  jnraching  and  baptism,  which  is  to  b» 
exercised  by  them  notwithstanding  their  weak- 
ness of  faith,  in  order  to  the  creation  of  the 
faith  which  bringeth  salvation.  Or,  thrs  may- 
be otherwise-  stated;  he  points  us  to  the  word 
and  sacrament  which  lead  to  faith,  because  faith 
or  unbelief  will  finally  decide  the  matter  of  sal- 
vation. Thirdly,  he  promises  to  all  believers 
his  aid,  exhibited  in  mighty  signs.  And  does 
he  not  thus  continue  to  speak  from  age  to  age? 
He  must  ever  begin  again  with  that  rebuke; 
he  continues  the  same  direction  ;  but  he  ceases 
to  bestow  the  same  Ttind  of  consolation.  The 
upbraiding  belongs  still  to  the  Lord's  depar- 
ture ;  but  not  to  the  "  testament"  left  unto  us^ 
as  Helferich  very  inappropriately  says. 

What  specific  kind  of  connection  there  is 
between  the  two  accounts  of  what  our  Lord 
spoke  on  the  Galilean  mountain — how  liitle  or 
how  much  that  connection  extends  to  the 
words — what  was  the  precise  order  of  the  ut- 
terances— are  questions  which  it  would  not  be 
prudent  to  answer  positively.  Though  for  our- 
selves we  understand  Mark's  words  to  have 
followed  the  others,  we  cannot  prove  that  it 
was  80.  Through  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  haa 
thus  re-produced  and  delivered  to  us  his  word, 
the  Lord  speaks  to  us  now  both  the  one  anrf 
the  other — and  both  are  imm«diately  authentic: ' 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


827 


But  the  divine  Spirit  rather  points  our  atten- 
tion away  from  the  mere  historical  and  exter- 
nal connection  of  the  individual  words.  The 
great  object  with  us  should  be  to  appreciate 
the  one  design  of  the  whole  discourse,  and  to 
grasp  it  in^all  its  completeness  of  dogmatic 
import.  The  discourses  of  the  Risen  Lord  per- 
mit, and  indeed  demand  of  us,  beyond  all  that 
preceded,  such  an  elevation  above  the  petty 
consideration  of  the  historical  and  exact  words 
—such  a  manifold,  and  yet  not  altering  ghrifi- 
cation* 

We  have,  when  we  collate  Matt,  and  Mark, 
and  supplement  the  one  by  the  other,  three 
critical  points:  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ; 
the  commission  following  from  it;  the  sealing  of 
the  commission,  or  the  'promise  attached  to  it, 
through  the  same  authority.  The  first  stands 
in  Matt.  ver.  18.  The  second,  as  the  middle 
part  of  the  whole,  may  be  thus  sub-divided 
and  completed:  1.  The  general  declaration: 
their  office  (Go  out — jitaQ?^rEij6are,  make  dis- 
ciples through  the  preaching,  and  in  order  to 
the  preaching,  of  the  Gospel);  the  range  of 
their  office  (all  peoples — all  the  world — every 
creature).  2.  The  specific  statement  of  the  two 
means  by  which  this  is  to  be  accomplished — 
Baptism  and  teaching,  as  in  Matt.  Finally, 
the  sealing  promise  for  the  commission  is  again 
two-fold.  1.  In  relation  to  those  to  whom  it  is 
sent,  there  is  the  connection,  in  Mark,  ver.  16, 
of  their  eternal  salvation  with  faith  and  bap- 
tism. 2.  In  relation  to  those  who  are  sent  (but 
including  all  who  should  believe,  and  there- 
fore would  themselves  also  be  sent),  there  is  the 
general  promise  of  being  with  them,  as  found  in 
Matthew,  and  also  the  specific  declaration  con- 
cerning the  signs  of  that  presence. 

Go  ye  therefore  is  the  same  in  both.  All  the 
world  in  Mark  is  plainly  synonymous  with  all 
nations  in  Matthew.  But  now  the  Lord  ex- 
pressly commands  the  HrjpviavEy  Preach, 
which  must  also  be  included  of  course,  though 
unexpressed,  in  Matthew :  preach,  that  is,  the 
Gospel ;  see  the  same  expression  without  any 
further  addition  in  Mark  as  early  as  chap.  i.  15, 
and  then  chap.  xiii.  10,  xiv.  9.  The  Gospel,  the 
original  Gospel,  with  all  it?  exclusiveness  and 
all  its  universal  comprehensiveness  combined  ; 
announcing  to  the  hearts  of  all  sinners,  without 
long  delay  of  teaching — which  must  follow  in 
due  course — the  comforting  tidings  of  salvation 
in  the  comfortable  message  of  the  grace  of  God. 
Not  teaching  instead  ot  preaching  ;  like  many 
who  lay  too  much  and  too  premature  stress 
upon  tlie  "  knowledge  of  the  truth."  The  Gos- 
pel contains  and  brings  with  it  a  fulness  of 


*  Yet  not  altering :  there  was  no  addition  of  tra- 
dition on  the  part  of  the  Evangelists.  It  may  be 
safely  afiinned  that  the  texts  of  Matthew  and 
Mark  may  be  so  collated  as  to  show  that  the  Lord 
verbally  spoke  the  words  of  both.  We  cannot  ap- 
prove of  Lange's  opinion,  that  Mark  gives  us  the 
same  in  a  move  developed  form ;  for  much  of 
what  he  records  must  be  presupposed  in  Matthew, 
in  order  to  understand  him  well. 


truth  which  has  never  yet  been  exhausted  by 
the  entire  Church,  much  less  by  any  individual 
Churches  ;  the  living  and  vivifying  essence  of 
the  whole,  the  condensed  sum  of  all  this  fulness, 
must  ever  be  declared  first  in  the  form  of  a  joy- 
ful message.  Preach  therefore,  whenever  the 
call  and  conversion  of  sinners  is  concerned  (and 
when  is  this  to  cease  even  in  the  Church?) 
— not  dogmatics,  and  least  of  all  your  own. 
Further,  as  Braune  very  reasonably  urges,  act 
not  as  if  the  Lord  had  said — Preach  the  confes- 
sion of  faith.  "  Confessions  are  distinctions  of 
importance  in  the  Church  of  Christ  and  its 
truth,  which  have  and  must  have  their  funda- 
mental point  of  unity  in  the  Gospel."  Even, 
the  E,oman  Catholics,  as  such,  with  all  tiieir 
manifold  errors,  may  preach  the  Gospel  of  him 
who  has  all  power  and  love  to  save  souls  ;  but; 
in  so  doing  they  must  cease  to  be  rigid  and 
zealous  Papists,  mass-priests,  and  servants  of 
Mary.  Even  the  "  Lutheran  "  Church  which 
so  loudly  boasts — though  not  in  her  purest 
and  most  genuine  representatives — and  among 
whose  errors  even  her  name  may  be  sometimes 
included,  should  preach  the  Gospel  within  her 
borders,  and  not  Lutheranism  ;  and  should 
labor  to  found,  without  her  borders,  free  and 
new  Churches  through  the  free  word,  formed 
according  to  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  not  mere  affiliated  children  of  a  mother 
Church. 

Such  preaching  of  the  Gospel — in  the  spirit 
of  our  Lord's  command — must  emphatically 
begin  the  great  work  in  every  place  to  which' 
his  sent  and  commissioned  servants  come; 
wherever,  and  among  whatever  people,  the 
salvation  of  the  Triune  God  has  not  boen  preach- 
ed, to  whom  this  message  of  grace  has  not 
been  openly  announced — neither  adults  nor 
children  are  to  be  baptized.  Mark,  further, 
that  the  Lord's  command  is  not — Write  down 
and  record  my  words  and  my  history  ;  but — 
Preach.  All  that  comes  in  supplementarily,  as 
we  shall  presently  see  in  Luke  xxiv.  46,  47; 
and  by  his  new  Scriptures  the  Lord  has — as 
was  indispensably  necessary — given  the  cer- 
tain and  all-sufficient  text  for  all  Gospel  preach- 
ing. Yet  it  is  a  profound  truth,  which  we 
should  ponder  well,  that  he  did  not  at  first  and 
pi-eparatorily  speak  of  or  ordain  the  writing  of 
the  Scripture — but  connect  all  with  the  oral 
word.  Only  in  the  preaching  Church,  which 
possesses  the  Spirit,  does  the  letter  of  the  Scrip- 
ture live  as  a  living  word,  and  the  sacraments 
have  their  influence  and  efficiency. 

In  the  Church  which  possesses  the  preaching 
and  teaching  in  addition — and  that  for  little 
children  too  in  connection  with  essential  family 
life — infant  baptism  has  its  validity  and  power. 
Thus  much  is  true ;  but  it  is  harsh  and  incor- 
rect, to  reckon  baptism  itself  as  part  of  the 
preaching,  and  as  being  a  testimony  in  act :  this 
gives  the  Baptists  an  advantage  in  their  oppo- 
sition to  the  rite.  The  preaching  concerning 
baptism  belongs  to  it,  but  not  baptism  itself. 
We  can  preach  and  bear  witness  only  to  those 
who  can  hear  and  accept  the  preached  word. 


128 


TO  EVERY  CREATURE. 


Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 
What  does  this  mean  ?  The  expression  seems 
at  the  first  glance,  however  striking  the  sound 
of  universality  in  it  may  be,  only  parallel  with 
"  into  all  the  world  "  (where  the  world  of  man- 
kind is  of  course  meant),  and  thus  similar  to 
the  "all  nations  "of  Matthew.  Most  expositors 
have  been  content  to  dispatch  the  matter  thus, 
in  the  style  of  Grotius'  observation  :  "  The 
Hebrew  calls  men  ns^"l3,  the  creation,  pre-emi- 
nently, because  they  are  the  most  excellent 
work  of  God."  In  the  Rabbinical  writers 
n^"ia"73  may  be  found  as  a  designation  of  the 

whole  world  of  mankind;  but  this  we  believe 
on  the  authority  of  others.  De  Wette  translates 
accordingly,  here  as  often  following  his  prede- 
cessors Stoiz  and  Seiler,  All  men ;  Van  Ess, 
still  more  decisively.  All  nations.  Whatever 
truth  there  may  be  in  this,  we  must  utterly  re- 
ject (as  most  unsuitable  to  Matthew's  text, 
and  to  the  matter  generally)  Lightfoot's  restric- 
tion to  the  Oentiles,  whom  the  Rabbinical  writ- 
ings sometimes  denominate  specifically  nn3— 

as  being  men  in  the  state  of  nature  simply.  Bat, 
we  would  ask,  why  and  to  what  end  is  this  un- 
usual word  used,  which  in  itself  suggests  some- 
thing beyond,  when  ko(J//oJ,  cOvrj,  ayOpusTtoi 
offered  themselves  abundantly,  as  the  custom- 
ary and  legitimate  expressions  ?  If  the  con- 
trast of  the  natural  and  actual  condition  of  all 
mankind,  as  thus  standing  in  need  of  the  Gos- 
pel and  salvation,  was  to  be  strongly  brought 
out,  why  was  not  the  well-known  expression 
used,  which  would  best  express  this — alljlesh? 
(as  the  London  Ueb.  N.  T.  scruples  not  to  "trans- 
late, nb'3"i53^).    If  we  compare  the  similar  pas- 

eage,  Col.  i.  23  (which  seems  almost  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  Lord's  word),  we  may,  if  so  bent, 
interpret  it  merely  according  to  Rom.  x. 
18;  but  it  is  even  more  striking  than  here 
that  in  that  passage  icdda  xri<Si?,  "  every 
creature,"  had  preceded  in  ver.  15,  in  its  com- 
mon and  comprehensive  meaning.  Finally,  we 
have  in  Rom.  viii.  19-23  a  passage  which  so  in- 
dubitably declares  the  connection  of  human 
salvation,  of  the  redemption  of  mankind,  with 
a  renewal  also  of  the  extra-human  earthly 
"  creature,"  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  shed- 
ding a  very  remarkable  light  upon  the  Lord's 
word  lying  now  before  us,  as  well  as  upon  Col. 
i.  2^.  We  shall  not  enter  afresh  upon  the  ex- 
position of  Rom.  viii.,  and  prove  that  a  re- 
demption and  restoration  is  promised  to  the 
extra-human,  earthly  creature  corresponding 
to  the  freedom  and  glory  of  the  children  of 
God.  This  helps  us  to  understand  why  the 
Lord  will  have  the  Gospel  of  salvation  lor  men 
preached  at  the  same  time  rraG^  rjf  Hri6ti. 
I^ot,  indeed,  as  in  the  fish  preaching  of  An- 
tony, that  the  word  itself  is  to  be  carried  to 
the  unheeding  creature — the  KTfpv66eiv  pre- 
supposes thai  men  are  the  only  hearers.  !Nor 
is  It  merely,  as  Luther's  presentiment  expressed 
the  matter  in  his  peculiar  way.  "  And  in  this 
commaadment  he  looks  very  widely  around. 


His  preaching  is  to  be  as  public  as  heaven, 
that  the  blessed  sun,  every  tree  and  stone 
might  hear  it,  if  they  had  ears."*  But,  thougli 
the  rest  of  the  creation  have  no  ears  to  hear 
with  for  themselve-s,  man  is  their  ear;  and  by 
means  of  its  connection  with  man,  creation 
becomes  actually  partaker  of  a  redemption 
springing  out  of  man's  redemption,  after  having 
been  through  man's  fall  subjected  to  vanity 
and  sin — just  as  Rom.  viii.  teaches.  Bengel's 
profound  glance  had  slightly  perceived  the 
meaning  of  Rom.  viii.,  and  he  remarks  here 
upon  the  Lord's  word:  "To  men,  primarily, 
ver.  16;  to  the  rest  of  the  creatures,  second- 
arily :  As  the  curse,  so  the  Messing."  In  Christ 
the  earth  and  all  that  is  in  it  is  again  blessed ; 
as  all  was  laid  under  the  curse  in  the  fall 
through  the  sin  of  Adam.  By  reason  of  the 
internal  and  everlasting  connection  of  man,  and 
his  old  or  new  creation,  with  nature  which 
surrounds  him,  serves  him,  and  with  him  has 
become  wretched  and  been  again  restored,  this 
same  Gospel  applies  through  him  and  his  me- 
diation to  this  irrational  and  lifeless  nature — 
just  as  the  Lord  in  his  promise  to  Noah  and 
his  sons  included  also  the  lower  animals  (Gen. 
ix.  9,  10).  If  the  old  saying — The  righteous 
man  is  merciful  to  his  beast — attains  in  the 
economy  of  Christ,  and  under  t!ie  influence  of 
his  Spirit,  its  full  and  pregnant  meaning ;  does 
not  the  beast  also  share  in  some  way  the 
blessing,  and  partake  of  a  deliverance  through 
the  grace  that  renews  all  things?!  The  civil- 
ization which  follows  in  the  track  of  our  mis- 
sions makes  the  wilderness  blossom,  and  does 
not  the  whole  earth  thus  share  in  the  blessings 
of  the  Gospel  ?  Still  more,  tht^re  is  a  certain 
confirmation  of  this  meaning  in  the  following 
word  of  our  Lord,  ver.  18  ;  in  the  same  dis- 
course which  speaks  of  the  supremacy  of  his 
healing  power  over  those  noisome  and  deadly 
elements  of  nature,  as  it  now  is,  which  certainly 
did  not  have  their  origin  in  Paradise. 

Or,  are  we  imposing  the  meaning  here?  Is 
it  a  beautiful  and  true  thought,  imported  from 
elsewhere,  that  we  unhappil)^  afii.x  to  the  «r/(JzS 
in  this  passage?  We  admit  what  Bengel  es- 
tablishes from  ver.  16,  that  the  Lord  also  ia 
ver.  15  thought  especially  of  the  human  world 
and  the  human  creation. J  We  will  without 
controversy  allow  every  one  to  interpret  nada 
Hzidii  according  to  the  analogy  of  nn3"^3  :^ 


*  This  co-ordinate  idea  of  the  greatest  pub- 
licity lies  already  in  the  xt]pv6(5eiy  of  itselt. 

t  Compare  tlie  remarks  of  Steftl-ns  ( Von  d. 
fahch.  Thcol.  u.  d.  xvahr.  Gl.  p.  101,  and  often  else- 
where) about  the  deep-sealed  feeling  of  a  union 
with  llie  whjle  animal  world. 

X  Here,  asain,  enters  Hofmann's  correct  remark, 
that  nd6a  Hri6i^  includes  of  course  the  children, 
like  navTCc  roi  'iOyij.  Only  not  so  immediately 
for  the  Hrjpv66eiv,  as  in  the  former  case  for  iha 
naOrjTEveiv. 

^  For,  in  the  Old  Testament  HN^ia  '8  found 

ones  cnly,  Numb,  xvi.  30,  construed  quite  differ- 
enlly  with  K^2, 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


829 


because  this  is  in  fact  the  point  of  connection  I 
for  tliat  deeper  intimation  whicli  net  every  one 
has  ears  to  hear.  Nevertheless,  to  us  this  lat- 
ter significance  secins  tolerably  certain;  and 
for  this  plain  reason,  that  the  use  of^the  phrase 
Htidii,  "  creation,"  in  the  sense  of  a  vO/joj^o?, 
"  man,"  cannot  by  any  means  be  established.* 
It  does  not  occur  in  the  Hebrew;  in  the  later 
phraseology  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was 
used  in  such  a  general  sense,  or  in  any  such 
manner  limited  to  humanity  ;  and  consequent- 
ly, it  cannot  be  assumed  that  such  a  use  of  it 
was  usual  or  intelligible  in  the  Lord's  time. 
The  learned  and  exact  Buxtorf  has  not  a  syl- 
lable about  it  in  the  article  of  his  Lexicon 
■which  embraces  this  subject.  But  it  is  in  vain 
to  seek  in  the  New  Testament  a  single  passage 
in  which  Ktidii  is  used  for  ^nen  ;  for  Rom.  viii. 
must  be  rescued  from  a  similar  arbitrary  ex- 
position. Heb.  iv.  13  cannot  be  made  an  argu- 
ment to  the  contrary  ;  for  that  passage  speaks 
of  a  man  as  a  ruined  creation,  which  its  Creator 
and  Restorer  must  know  in  its  inmost  charac- 
teristics and  impulses.  Col.  i.  23  must  be 
strictly  connected  with  our  Lord's  words  here 
in  Mark.  Finally,  in  Rev.  v.  13  (let  it  be  care- 
fully noted) — which  brings  all  previous  hints 
as  It  were,  to  a  definite  conclusion — it  is  pro- 
mised that  every  thing  created,  ndv  kz  i6 n  a 
(not  merely  nridti) — upon  and  in  the  sea  also 
— will  give  honor  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne  and  to  the  Lamb.  Much  might  be 
further  said  with  reference  to  the  four  ^cJa,  or 
living  creatures. 

Thus  of  the  earthly  creation  or  nature  gener- 
ally the  Lord  speaks— of  every  creature  under 
heaven,  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  adds.t 
"  If  nature  is  mentioned  simply,"  says  Meyer, 
"it  must  be,  of  course,  the  present,  the  old,  un- 
restored,  naXaid  xTi6ii."  Again:  "To  the 
new  creature,  to  man  as  partaker  of  the  re- 
generation, the  Gospel  or  the  message  of  salva- 
tion needs  not  to  be  preached  ;  for  they  have 
already  received  it,  and  are  partakers  of  its 
blessings,  at  least  spiritually  and  in  hope. 
Thus  that  creature  is,  first  of  all,  the  summary 
of  all  unregenerated  men  ;  but  by  means  of  the 
context,"  etc.  As  the  word  of  Matthew  is  in- 
icnsijied  in  its  repetition  by  Mark,  it  may  teach 
us  something  supplementarily  about  the  mean- 
ing of  TCavra  rd  idyrj.  It  certainly  includes 
the  Jewish  world ;  but,  spiritually  adopting 
and  enlarging  the  phraseology  which  usually 
thus  denominated  the  Gentiles  alone,  it  means 


*  In  1  Pet.  ii.  13  drBpoanivj]  xridii  certain'y 
means  arrangement  or  economy,  or  office  :  if  not 
it  plainly  proves  that  xzidii  alone  does  not  signi- 
fy man. 

f  For,  the  application  to  ange"».  which,  e.  g.. 
Molitor  {Fhilos.  der  Geschichte,  i,  109)  introduces 
with  allusion  to  Col.  i.  20,  is  not  appropriate  on 
ihia  passage,  though  in  itself  a  sound  thought. 
Tiie  angels  sympathize  and  long  for  the  salvation 
of  man ;  but  tjiey  have  not  lalleo  with  hia»  in 
npy  sense. 


pre-eminently  all  that  which  was  yet  the  nridii 
TraXaid,  all  that  was  still  natural  and  heathen- 
ish in  the  whole  world  of  men  and  nations.  Of 
men,  therefore,  as  the  "  excellent mimwn  opus 
Dei"  (most  excellent  work  of  God)  it  does  not 
speak ;  but  for  all  that  which  needed  restora- 
ration  as  being  a  fallen,  ruined  creation,  and 
man  especially,  there  is  promised  a,6GjOijijEraif 
"it  shall  be  seen"  The  word  >cri6ii  is  ex- 
pressly used,  in  order  to  point  to  the  Creator, 
who  renews  his  creation  in  its  original  and 
deepest  nature,  and  proclaims  a  uaivrf  Hzidti, 
a  new  creation.  Beiienb.  Blbel :  "  The  entire 
Gospel  refers  to  the  relation  of  the  creature  to 
God ;  helping  it  to  find  its  Creator  again,  and 
its  eternal  good." 

A  Oospel  of  redemption  and  restoration  is 
thus  revealed  and  preached  now— and  yet  in 
ver.  16  there  follows  a  xaraKpiOijdErca  by  the 
side  of  the  da}Oij(j£tai,  condemnation  with  the 
salvation.  This  is  the  final  and  unchc.ns;eable 
declaration  which  the  Lord  gives  in  connection 
with  his  commission  to  pre.ich  ;  thus  must  it 
begin,  thus  must  it  end,  this  is  its  sura  and  its 
seal.  The  promise  "shall  be  saved"  remains 
open  and  free  as  long  as  there  is  one  creature 
who  can  hear,  but  who  has  not  heard,  and 
therefore  cannot  have  decided  to  reject  it.  But 
the  great  distinction  between  salvation  and 
perdition  remains  an  immovable  fact,  and  its 
eternal  reality  will  be  made  manifest  at  the 
end.  Luther:  "The  whole  world  is  thus  di- 
vided into  two  portions,  and  they  are  separated 
from  each  other  by  a  great  and  vast  ditference  : 
one  goes  to  heaven,  the  other  to  hell ;  and  no 
other  judgment  shall  pass  at  the  last  day  than 
that  upon  him  who  hath  believed,  or  who  hath 
not  believed."  What  will  be  preached  during  the 
long  interval?  Most  assuredly  nothing  new  ; 
nothing  even  in  hades  but  this  Ooapel.  At  the 
outset,  in  order  that  no  man  afterwards  may 
complain,  the  reason  of  the  decision  is  given. 
It  is  as  if  the  Lord  had  commanded  them — 
rather,  they  were  commanded — "  Whitherso- 
ever ye  go,  make  this  judgment  known.  Say 
every  where  and  to  all.  He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  he  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  condemned"  (Fresinius).  At  the 
same  time,  as  he  goes  on  to  expound,  "  The 
Lord  will  give  his  disciples  to  know  what  will 
be  the  fruit  and  influence  of  their  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world.  Some, 
he  would  say,  will  believe;  and  others  will 
not  believe""  Thus,  "  Be  sure  that  unbelief 
will  exhibit  itself ;  and  commit  the  judgment 
which  I  have  decreed  to  the  last  day."  This 
teaches  us,  therefore,  that  no  man,  not  even 
the  Apostle  who  might  retain  sin  (as  Peter, 
Acts  viii,  20,  appearing  eH  aTtajXeiav)  can 
penetrate,  before  the  great  day,  the  Hpvnrd 
T^v  dv^pooZGov,  or  "secrets  of  men  "  (Rom. 
ii.  16),  and  with  irreversible  decision  give 
judgment  upon  the  Tttdrstdai  or  drcidrndai, 
their  belief  or  their  unbelief.  The  meaning  is, 
as  it  is  connected  with  the  futures— Ke  who 
shaU  then  have  believed,  or  the  reverse. 

SoLiOijderai,  shallbeaaBid,  is  promised  through 


8SCP 


THE  COMMISSION.  AND  PROMISES. 


the  high-priestly  authority  to  blesa  and  save 
(Heb.  vii.  24:,  25).  Heaven  is  opened  by  him 
who  goes  up  to  heaven.  KaraHftiQ}j6Erai, 
shall  he  damne»l,  is  predicted  and  announced  in 
the  ij/ifz/y,  judicial  authority  of  the  same  Sa- 
viour, who  will  now  continue  his  prophelic  of- 
fice for  the  declaration  of  salvation  or  con- 
demnation through  his  ambassadors.  "  lie 
that  believelh  not,  saith  the  Lord,  shall  be  con- 
condemned.  Let  the  world  think  otherwise  on 
this  point;  that  changes  nothing.  Their  unbe- 
lief makes  them  not  happy,  their  opinion  is  not 
the  judge  over  heaven  and  earth,  the  dead  and 
the  living.  If  it  is  to  thine  own  mind  incom- 
prehensible that  all  should  be  made  to  depend 
upon  faith,  take  heed  to  thyself;  and,  lest  an- 
oLher  should  have  to  declare  it  to  thee  in  vain, 
become  thyself  a  faithful  scholar  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  the  light  will  arise  in  thy  own 
soul"  (Beck).  It  might  be  said  with  scrip- 
tural propriety,  that  he  who  believeth  not  will 
be  judged — because  he  will  not  have  it  other- 
wise, because  he  protests  against  the  standard 
of  faith  which  grace  introduces  and  applies — 
according  to  his  works,  and  therefore  righteous- 
ly condemned.*  See,  e.  j7.,  John  v.  45.  But,  it  is 
equally  true,  and  more  entirely  pertinent  to 
the  question  (.John  viii.  24,  xii.  47,  48,  lii.  15, 
18,  3d),  that  only  unbelief  condemns,  and  that 
he  who  is  doomed  receives  his  sentence  only 
upon  this  guilt,  that  he  believed  not.  In  this 
clear  meaning,  the  second  clause,  with  all  its 
frightful  threatening,  is  also  nevertheless  a 
Gospel — yea,  it  is  the  strongest  and  most  at- 
tractive assurance  to  faith.  It  is  indeed  "the 
most  solemn  judgment  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 
which  he  awfully  threatens  and  yet  mercifully 
warns"  (G.  K.  Ilieger).  For,  dmvn  to  the  last 
the  way  is  left  open — Yet  helicve,  believe  yd, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved.  On  the  other  hand, 
unbelief  is  in  truth  the  worst,  the  most  essen- 
tial and  the  most  damnable  sin,  as  the  same 
preacher  declares  :  "  To  him  who  believeth  not 
— all  that  he  does  is  sin  ;  and  sin,  not  only 
against  the  law,  but  against  the  Gospel  and 
against  grace,  which  is  worse  than  the  sins  of 
the  devils."     For  this  he  adduces  the  too  bold 


and  doubtful  words  of  Anselra  (  Tract. 
Dlaholi)  :  "  For  the  devil  sins  against 


ce  casu 
a  God 


*  Luther :  "  For,  as  the  former  word  opened 
heaven,  and  shut  up  hell,  abolished  Moses  and  the 
terrors  of  the  law,  to  those  who  believed  ;  so  here 
another  word  shuts  he.iven,  opens  the  wrath  of 
liell,  makes  death  omiiipoteiit,  and  Moses  an  intol- 
erable tyrant,  to  all  who  Lelievo  not.  It  will  help 
theo  noth'.ns  against  all  this,  if,  like  the  Jews, 
thou  diest  in  thy  zeal  for  the  law,  or  shouUbt 
perform  all  coo. I  wo!  ks  possible  :  for  hero  is  thy 
doom — He  t  lat  believeth  not  i.s  condemned."  AVe 
would  say,  moreover,  that  all  "  good  works  "  of 
men  fill  to  the  ground  colIecUveiy  and  individu- 
ally, if  without  failh  in  the  Gospel  no  man,  with 
nil  his  works,  h  .s  any  thing  left  bu',  condemnation. 
That  which  was  afterwards  taught  in  Horn.  iii.  20  ; 
Gal.  ii.  16,  iii.  10,  e.c,  was  said  before  by  Christ 
in  all  its  emphasis. 


who  hath  cast  him  ont ;  man  sins  against  a 
God  who  calls  him  back.  The  former  is  hard- 
ened against  a  God  who  punishes  him;  the 
latter  hardens  himself  against  a  God  who 
meets  him  in  love.  The  devil  acts  in  oppo- 
sition  to  a  God  who  seeketh  him  not ;  the  sin- 
ner blasphemes  against  a  God  who  dieth  for 
him." 

He  that  ielieveth  not — that  is,  of  course,  the 
Gospel  preached  by  you  under  my  commission — ■ 
so  preached  that  I  may  prove  it  to  him  as 
my  word.  That  means,  further,  when  com- 
pared with  Matthew — he  that  believeth  not 
that  to  me  is  given  all  power;  that  I,  Jesus 
Christ,  am  the  alone  Saviour  and  Judge  appoint- 
ed by  the  Father  for  men.  This  power  and  dig- 
nity of  Jesus  Christ  is  therefore,  as  long  as 
preaching  continues,  down  to  the  last  day,  a 
matter  of  faith:  but,  indeed.  Acts  xvii.  31, 
7ti6rtv  Ttapa'lxojv  nadzv,  "given  assurance 
unto  all,"  13  inseparably  joined  with  this.  Fi- 
nally, it  is  testified  and  sealed  in  this  utterance, 
as  plainly  as  if  spoken  in  as  many  express 
words,  that  without  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel going  before  no  man  can  be  or  may  be  con- 
clusively condemned  ;  that  it  may  and  that  it 
must  be  preached  to  all ;  and  that  this,  if  it  do 
not  take  place  in  the  present  life,  must  neces- 
sarily take  place  after  death.  Thus,  the  whole 
doctrine  concerning  an  intermediate  place,  and 
its  economy  of  forbearance  and  salvation,  down 
to  the  full  ripeness  of  unbelief  in  the  whole 
word,  has  here  its  plain  demonstration.  It  is 
incomprehensible  that  so  many  fail  to  perceive 
this,  and  therefore  inveigh  against  it  as  doubt- 
ful or  unscriptural.  That  this  unbelief,  which 
is  to  be  finally  condemned,  is  something  very 
diflerent  from  the  Apostles'  upbraided  unbe- 
lief, which  grace  might  nevertheless  overcome, 
and  v/hich  did  not  hinder  their  becoming  Apos- 
tles— is  perfectly  plain  from  a  comparison  with 
ver.  14.  Pfenninger:  "It  is  the  result  either 
of  deep  malice  or  miserable  stupidity  when 
such  a  liarsh  construction  is  put  upon  the  doc- 
trine of  the  great  Teacher — He  that  believeth 
not  is  condemned — in  a  section  wliich  has  set 
m  so  wonderful  a  light  the  tolerance  of  his 
Spirit  towards  the  weak  faith  of  his  nearest 
disciples.  Whenever  I  meet  with  this  misap- 
prehension and  mistake  in  adeistical  book,  I  am 
amazed  ;  the  book  falls  from  my  hands  ;  and  I 
cannot  but  think  that  it  deserves  the  same 
condemnation — in  company  with  all  those  of 
the  so-called  orthodox,  who  neglect  to  compare 
with  our  Lord's  anathema  the  supreme  toler- 
ance which  tlie  same  chapter  displays." 

Let  us  now  further  note,  descending  from 
the  general  to  the  more  particular,  the  relation 
between  the  believing  and  the  hei?ig  laptizcd,  so 
clearly  and  definitely  laid  down  in  the  two 
clauses.  To  begin  with  the  latter  :  We  miss  the 
corresponding  /xj)  (ianzioOfii  in  connection 
with  the  xaTanpiOy'idFrai.  It  is  not  said  "  Ho 
that  is  not  baptized  shall  bo  condemned.'-' 
Baptized  or  not,  even  if  baptized,  the  unbe- 
lieving shall  be  condemned.  This  must  le.ad 
us  to  decide  that  in  the  former  clause  the  same 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


831 


holds  good :  The  believer  shall  be  saved,  even 
though  he  bo  not  baptized.  For  certainly  after 
the  "preach" — "faith  embraces  both  the  be- 
ginnings before  baptism,  and  the  continuance 
after  it."  All  anxious  misunderstanding  of  the 
inseparable  conjunction  of  baptism  with  faith, 
as  the  condition  of  salvation,  is  removed  by 
the  plain  sequel  of  the  clause — But  he  that 
beliveth  not,  and  on'y  he,  shall  be  condemned. 
Indeed,  in  respect  to  those  who  already  believe, 
and  who  may  receive  baptism,  this  obligation 
of  obedience  and  confession  remains,  and  it  is 
consequently  a  test  of  their  faith.  But  we  must 
not  think  of  it  as  an  absolute  condition  of  salva- 
tion, for  this  simplereason,  that  it  is  not  positive- 
ly the  baptized  who  is  said  to  be  saved,  but  only 
the  believingand  baptized.  Moreover,  this  order 
of  the  words — as  we  might  perceive  by  the  con- 
nection in  Mark  alone — does  not  indicate  the 
order  of  time  for  every  individual  to  be  first  the 
believing,  then  the  being  baptized ;  and  all 
that  is  said  in  Matthew  makes  this  certain  and 
incontestable.*  The  frecedence  given  to  be- 
lieving has  another  and  more  essential  reason 
than  Ihat  of  marking  the  time.  It  may  be 
understood  thus,  in  any  case  :  He  that  believ- 
eth  also,  even  as  he  has  been  baptized — not 
the  mere  /3a7tri60Ei?,  but  the  7tt6rEi6ai  xai 
ftanrieOEii  (this  is  made  perfectly  plain  when 
we  connect  Matthew's  words,  which  had  been 
spoken  before).  Faith  is  the  essential  matter, 
and  "  water  availeth  not."  Yea,  even  that 
true  baptism,  which  is  received  in  connection 
with  the  earliest  faith,  availeth  not ;  but  only 
the  faith  which  holds  fast  the  grace  of  baptism, 
and  perseveres  to  the  end.  Such  a  faith  alone 
is,  according  to  the  whole  economy  of  salva- 
tion and  grace,  genuine  and  true.f     When  the 


*  Lutz,  however,  reproduces  the  old  and  super- 
ficial way  of  stating  it :  "  Baptism,  according  to 
Mark  xvi.  16,  follotvs  upon  believing.''  On  the  other 
hand  Hofmann  says :  "  Faith  is  the  end,  baptism 
the  means :  therefore  the  former  comes  first,  and 
the  latter  after  it." 

+  Here  ws  may  add  the  emphatic  postscript — 
"  Which  alone  decides,  whether  with  or  without 
b.iptism."  Hofmann,  indeed,  speaks  too  stroiu  y  '■ 
"  If  we  omit  this  additional  remark,  the  declara- 
tion that  without  faith  there  is  no  salvation  would 
be  a  strange  repetition,  at  the  solemn  moment  be- 
fore the  ascension,  of  what  had  been  lonsf  so  well 
known  to  the  Apostles !  "  Apart  jrom  the  error 
as  to  the  time  when  it  was  spoken — would  not 
such  a  filial  declaration  have  been  perfectly  ap- 
propriate rnd  significant  1  But  thus  much  is  true, 
that  the  words  here  in  Mark  plainly  pre-suppose 
and  provide  for  the  circumstance  that  thrre  miy 
be  baptized  nnhelievers.  These  mijht,  indeed,  be 
such  on'y  as  had  lost  again  after  bnptisra  the 
faith  which  thc>y  had  had ;  for  such  faith  might 
really  have  b3en  living  faith,  which  does  i!ot  ef- 
fectua'ly  secure  against  falling  :  it  is  not  neces- 
sary, therefori^,  to  think  of  the  baptism  of  "  half- 
believers."  It  mriy  thns  be  proved  in  argument 
with  the  Baptists,  and  from  their  own  premises, 
thit  the  Lord  means  such  also  (they  wou'd  say — 
alone)  as  were  baptized  before  they  ari'ivcd  at  a 
co.".sc;ou3  fatth,  that  is,  as  children. 


preaching  of  Christ  runs  thus,  E'^ent  and  ba- 

lievc  the  0:spel,  t!ie  first  test  of  faith  asks 
whether  reliance  is  placed  upon  repentance. 
Further,  it  is  only  a  living  faith  which  avails, 
that  which  produces  and  exhibits  xcorh.  Never- 
theless, it  is  in  the  highest  degree  right  that 
faith  alone  should  have  been  mentioned  ;  and 
they  are  only  falsely-taught  teachers  (as  Luther 
says)  who  would  take  Christ  himself  to  school, 
and  teach  what  he  ought  to  have  said,  namely — 
He  that  believeth  and  performelh  good  works. 
For  in  this  and  there  is  involved  the  whole 
system  of  folly  which  is  ignorant  of  the  true 
power  of  faitii  as  the  spring  of  good  works, 
and  would  introduce  a  personal  merit  into  the 
question ;  and,  moreover,  it  is  a  perversion 
which  could  only  terrify  timid  consciences — 
such  as  have  no  consciousness  of  good  works, 
but  might  believe  and  receive  gratuitous  grace. 
Therefore  should  we  carefully  keep  the  two 
apart,  as  each  occupies  its  right  place  in  the 
two  Evangelists :  those  v.-ho  believe  and  are 
baptized  are  to  be  taught  to  hold  fast  and  to 
perform  all  that  the  Lord  has  commanded;  but 
when  salvation  and  acceptance  are  in  ques- 
tion, faith  and  baptism  alone  are  required, 
without  the  intermixtureof  good  works.  What 
is  demanded  in  order  to  salvation?  Faith. 
What  more?  Faith.  Nothing  further?  No, 
noLhing  but  faith.  For  he  that  believeth  will 
not  omit  to  seek  baptism,  if  he  has  not  already 
received  it;  and  will  also,  if  he  does  not  cease 
from  faith,  perform  a  thousand  times  more  and 
better  good  works  (thus  to  speak  foolishly) 
than  if  the  being  saved  had  been  made  depen- 
dent on  works  as  a  condition. 

But,  inasmuch  as  only  unbelief  condemns,  the 
contempt  of  baptism  as  the  appointed  way 
(Luke  vii.  30)  condemns  only  the  disobedient 
and  the  unbelieving ;  the  want  of  baptism  on 
the  part  of  believers,  whose  fault  it  is  not,*  and 
on  the  part  of  little  children,  does  not  condemn 
them.  The  opinions  as  to  the  perdition  of  un- 
baptized  children  which  once  were  current,  but 
are  scarcely  to  be  found  now  in  evangelical 
Churches,  spring  from  the   utmost   confusion 


*  Certainly  we  may  conceive  of  circumstances, 
in  which  baptism  is  impossible — such  as  when  a 
baptizer  is  not  at  hand — especially  in  the  mission- 
ary work.  For  to  deny  this,  as  Axelsen  does,  as- 
serting that  "  he  who  can  preach  can  bapLize 
also  " — is  not  to  the  point.  There  are  coi. ver- 
sions effected  through  the  Scripture  alone;  the 
only  preacher  may  be  called  away,  or  die,  before 
the  a  Iministration  of  baptism.  There  may  ba 
such  a  thing  as  an  unjustifiable  postponement  of 
the  rite,  so  that  a  believer  may  die  wi  hout  it. 
Or,  is  there  supposable,  in  the  most  extreme  case, 
a  right  to  baptize  cneseif,  and  is  there  any  mean- 
ing in  this  1  I'istorius  is  hardy  enough  to  an- 
swer in  the  affirmative,  and  defend  such  a  self- 
baptism  (Lulh.  Zeds.  1848.  lii.  559).  But  the  no- 
tions concerning  baptism  which  underlie  this,  are 
not  merely  overstrrtched,  thej  are  p?rverted— 
and  somewhat  similar  to  those  wliich  give  risa 
to  the  "self-absolving"  of  whicli  we  read  pro- 
viously, 


ii2 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


and  misapprehension  of  all  that  belongs  to  the 
question.  It  is  scarcely  necessary,  therefore, 
that  we  should  say  a  word  about  the  so-called 
nothtaufe  (bapi'iam  in  emergency) — a  combina- 
tion ot  words  which  to  one  rightly  instructed  in 
the  nature  of  baptism,  is  altogether  meaning- 
less.* Tertullian,  indeed,  refers  (de  Bapt.  c.  17) 
to  a  ca.ws  necessitatis  in  which  even  the  laity 
might  perform  the  sacred  office  ;  but  his  mean- 
ing does  not  so  rigidly  refer  to  the  ecclesiastical 
ceremony,  as  to  the  relative  necfssitas  that  any 
one  should  exercise  the  rights  of  the  universal 
priesthood.  "Baptism  (even  that  of  children) 
IS  not  lightly  to  be  omitted  " — who  would  not 
agree  with  this?  But  if  "nothtaufe" — private 
baptism  in  ca.se  of  danger — is  made  the  subject 
of  this  sentence,  what  meaning  does  that  give 
us?  "Nevertheless,  a  child  is  not  lost,  if  it 
departs  without  baptism,  in  opposition  to  the 
will  of  the  parents."  How  then,  if  it  departs 
ly  the  will  of  the  parents  unbaptized  ?  By  the 
will  of  parents  whose  faith  and  conscience 
would  not  allow  them  needlessly  and  unseason- 
ably to  baptize  a  dying  c\\\\Al  A  long  expe- 
rience in  practical  pastoral  life,  and  in  a  district 
celebrated  for  Christian  knowledge  and  piety, 
has  revealed  to  me  the  existence  of  so  much 
confusion,  and  let  me  say  superstition,  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  on  this  question  (connect- 
ed, albeit,  with  much  deep  anxiety  to  comply 
with  the  precepts  of  Christ,  that  I  could  not 
consent  to  further  the  views  of  those  who  would 
revive  the  discipline  of  private  baptism  for 
times  of  danger.  It  rather  appears  to  me  more 
and  more  clearly  the  duty  of  the  minister  to 
defend  his  people  from  superstition,  and  even 
under  certain  circumstances  to  deny  the  rite 
which  is  demanded  with  an  unworthy  motive  ; 
at  least  to  perform  no  so-called  haptism  of  need 
without  a  plain  protest  against  the  notion  of 
its  necessity.  I  think  we  may  better,  and  with 
a  more  blessed  result,  uphold  the  true  apprecia- 
tion of  the  sacrament,  than  by  furthering  an 
improper  and  erroneous  value  for  it.  When 
the  cermony  is  performed  upon  a  child  to  all 
appearance  dying,  according  to  the  formulary 
which  is  the  only  one  in  most  of  our  service 
books,  that  is,  with  all  the  obligations  of  the 
sponsors,  etc.,  just  as  if  the  child  were  destin- 
ed to  live — what  is  this  but  trifling  with  holy 
things  ?  In  infant  baptism  the  germ  is  im- 
planted for  life  tipon  earth,  from  which  the  tree 
should  spring  up  in  the  present  economy  of 
things;  this  is  alone  its  peculiar  siguiflcance 
and  justification.  But  the  little  children  whom 
the  Lord  calls  to  die,  he  calls  by  their  death  (as 
we  are  in  the  habit  of  saying)  most  surely  and 
and  effectually  to  come  unto  himself. 

John  t/ie  Baptist  said  merely — He  that  be- 
li/velh  (John  iii.  36) ;  Christ,  on  the  other  hand, 
fays — He  tliat  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 


*  Our  modern  Lutherans  seem  to  hive  a  feeling 
of  this.  They  would  require  the  midwife  to  bap- 
tize in  cases  of  emergency,  and  instruct  them  to 
that  end  ;  but  still  prefer  the  old-fasioued  "  Jach- 


saved.  That  we  may  set  this  former  half  of 
the  verse  in  a  clear  light,  we  may  apply  to  it 
two  questions  :  Where'ore  is  faith  required  in 
order  to  baptism?  Wherefore  is  baptism  re- 
quired as  following  the  faith?  The  former 
question — Wherefore  is  faith  in  order  to  bap- 
tism? is  of  course  easily  understood  and  an- 
swered. For.  first — Water  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  matter,  but  regeneration.  That  little 
children,  baptized  or  unbaptized,  will  have  in 
the  other  world — as,  so  to  term  it,  in  a  lim^nis 
infantum — a  way  oi faith  opened  to  their  dawn- 
ing consciousness,  is  most  certain  ;  whether  a 
harder  or  an  easier  way  than  here,  may  be  met 
with  the  appropriate  reply.  Who  can  penetrate 
into  these  hidden  mysteries?  But  the  sacra- 
ments were  instituted  for  the  way  of  salvation 
upon  earth,  and  not  for  hades.*  Secondly — 
Even  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  internal  and  real 
laver  of  regeneration,  doth  not  effect  it  ab- 
solutely and  alone,  that  is,  with  unresisted 
power ;  consequently,  an  accepting,  retaining 
and  confirming  will  mu.st  concur  and  abide  to 
the  end — and  this  is  faith.  The  other  question 
— Why  baptism  with  water  after  the  faith  ?  is 
a  harder  one,  but  the  answer  may  be  easily 
and  scripturally  given.  First,  generally,  it  is 
for  great  and  small  alike,  it  has  been  ordained 
by  God  in  his  Church,  as  the  way  in  which  the 
Spirit  puts  his  effect  in  the  word,  as  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Supper  (quite  sub- 
ordinately  to  this,  and  apart  from  it — an  ex- 
ternal sign  of  those  who  belong  to  the  Church). 
Those  who  are  born  in  Christendom  and  for 
Christianity  are  appointed  to  this  ordinance  at 
once.  Thus,  secondly,  baptism  is  in  the  case  of 
children:  1,  the  prevenient,  essential,  com- 
mencement of  their  regeneration,  the  implanted 
germ  of  the  new  life  ;  2,  a  firm  ground  and  an- 
chor for  their  subsequent  faith — I  have  been 
baptized,  the  grace  of  redemption  pertains  to 
me  ;t  3,  to  their  parents  or  other  educators  a 

*  Munchmeyer's  protest  does  not  atTect  this 
plain  position  ;  we  would  ask  him  how  he  knows 
the  contrarj'.  We  do  not  deny  that  the  inserted 
germ  may  be  developed  in  hades  ;  but  we  declare 
it  to  be  a  duty  to  implant  it  as  soon  as  possible, 
thcush  so  many  children  die  afterwards.  As  to 
the  absolute  necessity  of  baptism  for  deatii,  we 
deny  it. 

f  Ilofraann  his  laid  great  stress  upon  the  fact 
that  infant  baptism  alone  conesponds  perfectly 
to  this  desi<;n — that  of  giving  absolute  and  im- 
movable assurance,  to  be  retained  thiough  all 
the  future,  that  God  has  regarded  and  accepted 
me  in  mercy.  He,  further,  insists  that  in  the  tase 
of  adults  who  are  baptized,  their  genuine  baptism 
may  be  matter  of  doubt,  even  with  their  fai  h 
and  conversion.  But  wo  should  shrink  from  a 
view  which  would  tend  to  lower  the  character  of 
adult  baptism.  Moreover,  in  the  first  i>!ace,  the 
tempted  soUl  may  certainly  be  led  to  doubt  about 
tlie  prerogative  of  his  own  baptism  in  childhood. 
Secondly,  it  is  twl  the  fnis  primarius,  the  ereat 
point,  in  baptism,  to  afford  the  sure  ground  of 
lutuie  faith  ;  its  first  and  raostessen.ial  character 
is  to  be  the  means  of  regeneration.     A  vain  reli< 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


833 


Bimilar  ground  of  assurance  of  grace,  so  that 
tliey  may  with  confidence  endeavor  to  train  up 
the  tender  plant,  the  seed  of  which  is  sown. 
Thirdly  and  finally,  in  the  case  of  adults,  who 
believe  through  the  word  and  are  baptized,  it  is ; 
1.  The  means  of  grace,  in  which  God  will  give 
himself  to  their  desiring  faith,  to  make  it  living 
and  fruitful  through  the  spirit  of  regeneration 
and  renewal,  to  establish  their  fellowship  with 
himself  as  the  Triune  God  ;*  2.  The  confirmation 
at  the  same  time  of  this  initiatory  faith,  com- 
ing thus  to  baptism,  as  the  confession  of  the 
Crucified,  the  Risen,  and  the  Ascended  Lord, 
who  will  thus  be  openly  avowed  by  his  dis- 
ciples before  the  world,  even  as  he  was  and  still 
is  openly  rejected  in  the  world  by  others.  It 
was  perfectly  in  harmony  with  this,  that  the 
early  Church  allowed  validity  to  the  death  of 
unbaptized  martyrs,  as  a  baptismvs  sanguinis,  a 
baptism  of  blood. f 

But  after  these  many  words  of  our  weakness, 
let  us  turn  to  a  new  utterance  of  our  Lord,  in 
which  he  promises  iu  a  few  but  most  mighty 
words — vers.  17,  18 — the  iigns  that  should  follow 
believers.  The  nai  repara  (wonders)  which 
is  usually  connected  with  6r/u£iOc  (signs),  and 
which  IS  found  afterwards  at  the  first  fulfill- 
ment of  the  promise  (Acts  iv.  30,  v.  12 ;  Rom. 
XV.  19 ;  2  Cor.  xii.  12) — is  wanting  here  in  the 
promise  itself  This  we  simply  mention  now; 
it  will  be  referred  to  again  as  an  element  in  our 
final  interpretation.  The  signs  which  should 
point  to  something  else,  are  the  matter  of  real 
importance;  to  give  such  signs  is  the  first  ob- 
ject of  these  miraculous  endowments.  The 
several  Svvd/ueii  (powers,  Acts  viii.  13,  7) 
were  intended  to  show  that  the  dvvajini 
rov  ^sov,  or  power  of  God,  which  is  all 
the   one    true   power,  supreme  over   all,  and 


ance  upon  baptism,  as  independent  of  this  regen- 
eration, its  living  effect,  is  that  superstition  of 
unbelief  in  the  living  God  which  le.uls  to  con- 
demnation. But  thus  much  is  true  :  it  is  only  by 
a  delusion  tliat  the  Baptists  aroue  how  much 
more  influential  is  a  hortatory  reference  to  a  bap- 
tism which  has  been  consciously  received  by  the 
adult.  By  no  means,  for  a  grace  that  came 
freely  at  the  first  in  baptism  rau-t  be  a  much 
more  stimulatino;  and  encouraging  argument.  It 
is  a  lamentable  thing  that  ministers  and  teachers 
omit,  so  much  as  they  do,  all  afjpeal  to  that  early 
baptism. 

*  Accordingly,  we  are  not  sat'sfled  with  the 
view  of  Gerh;ird,  which  stops  .short  of  the  truth  : 
"To  adult  believers  baptism  serves  p^vwipalli/ 
as  an  olsignation  and  attestation  of  the  grace  of 
Ood ;  the  purpose  of  lurthering  their  renewal  it 
serves  more  subordinateiy."  Oh,  no;  this  is  to 
invert  tlie  order. 

f  The  two  points  which  we  lay  down  upon  the 
baptism  of  adults,  mean  much  more  than  what 
Calvin  expresses  as  the  object  ot  their  baptism : 
"  First,  that  it  m^.y  subserve  our  own  faith  ;  then, 
as  a  confession  before  men."  For,  the  former  is 
left  too  vague  and  unsubstantial ;  and  the  latter 
would  seem  tQ_include  only  the  mere  nota  co>ifea- 
sionis  exteitKB, 


which  would  show  itself  to  be  great  (see 
there,  vers.  9,  10)— was  with  these  messengers 
and  witnesses  of  Jesm,  these  servants  of  the 
Most  High  God  who  showed  unto  man  the  way 
of  salvation  in  the  name  of  JeMis  (Acts  xvi. 
17).  Thus  this  word  of  our  Lord  connect?  itself 
very  closely  and  plainly  with  the  promise  lam 
with  you  in  Matthew,  as  being  a  specific  vouch- 
er, so  to  speak,  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  alto- 
gether general,  and  all-comprehending  promise. 
It  is  as  if  it  ran — Signs  of  my  being  with  you, 
of  my  working  with  you  through  them  ;  tliat  is, 
while  you  preach  according  to  my  commission 
the  word  concerning  faith  and  unto  faith,  the 
condition  of  eternal  salvation.  This  promise, 
as  given  here  in  its  specializing  character,  refers 
especially  to  the  Preach ;  as  the  Evangelist 
himself,  ver.  20,  expounds  it  of  the  confirmation 
of  the  word :  compare  Heb.  ii.  4.  The  itapa- 
KoXovOsiv,  accompanying,  consequently  refers 
to  the  TC  o  pEvQ  E  y  T  Ei,  their  going  forth,  as 
ver.  20  again  establishes  :  the  signs  were  every 
where  to  follow-  those  who  went  forth  ;  they 
were  to  accompany  them  in  their  way  of  em- 
bassy and  testimony  throughout  the  whole 
world.  The  emphatic  itapaHoXov'^tlv,  equiva- 
lent to  accompanying,  abiding  with  them,  alicui 
prcBsto  esse  at  all  times,  is  exchanged  afterwards 
by  the  Evangelist  for  the  equally,  though  in  a 
different  sense,  emphatic  eTtanoXovOEiv — which 
means  suhsequi,  to  follow  in  their  footsteps,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  serve  and  obey  them.  We 
can  say  only  in  a  very  limited  sense  that  the 
signs — which  excite  attention,  astonishment, 
and  a  bias  to  believe,  which  stimulate  to  ques- 
tioning, and  earnest  diligence  in  hearing— .9<9 
before  the  messengers  of  the  word,  as  it  were 
paving  their  way.  For,  such  an  influence, 
though  it  may  be  a  concomitant,  was  not  the 
Lord's  design  ;  and  therefore  he  speaks  of  such 
signs  as  following.  Who,  then,  and  what  goes 
before  ?  The  believing  preacher,  with  the  word 
of  the  Gospel.  This  is  Bengal's  meaning,  when 
he  passes  by  the  more  obvious  sense,  and  right- 
ly deduces  from  ver.  20,  by  a  penetrating  ex- 
position— "  Verbum  et  fides  proecedit  signa  " 
(The  word  and  faith  go  before  the  signs).  And 
obviously  so  :  for  that  which  was  to  be  con- 
firmed and  sealed  as  coming  from  God,  by 
these  signacula,  must  have  been  spoken  before- 
hand ;  the  mere  signa  could  have  a  preparatory 
signification  only  through  the  symbolical  char- 
acter of  their  operations.  Signs  and  wonders 
without  the  word  have  no  value  attached  to 
them  throughout  Scriptura;  every  where  among 
men  the  testimony  must  be  uttered  in  word, 
and  that  must  go  first.  So  also  must /ai?A; 
for  although  we  have  already  said  that  the 
sealing  promise  was  given  "in  reference  to 
those  who  were  sent,"  yet  that  refers  only  to 
the  promm  itself,  which  would  invigorate  them 
tor  their  mission  by  making  more  specific  the 
assurance — /  am  with  you.  The  s  gns  which 
afterwards  follow,  are,  properly  speaking  (as  it 
is  said  of  the  tongues  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  22),  not  for 
those  who  believe,  but  for  those  who  believe 
not.     It  would  be  a  great  perversion  to  suppose 


mi 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PROMISES. 


a  missionary  first  to  strengthen  his  own  faith, 
and  encourage  himself  for  the  work  of  preach- 
ing, by  the  assurance  that  he  could  work  mira- 
cles ;  indeed,  it  would  be  a  thing  impossible, 
for  he  must  have  faith  in  order  to  work  those 
miracles. 

Til  us — to  those  irko  believe.  This  is  directly 
taken  from  ver.  16 ;  and  it  appears  at  first  to 
include  all  who  should  in  future  believe,  and 
be  baptized  unto  salvation,  after  having  heard 
the  preached  word.  In  this  there  is  a  certain 
truth  ;  but  it  is  pre-supposed  (just  as  in  Matt.) 
that  those  who  believe  in  the  future  will  also, 
like  the  first,  go  forth  and  preach,  in  order  to 
lead  continually  and  forever  souls  unto  salva- 
tion, throughout  all  the  world.  Let  us  now 
carefully  look  at  tliis  ni6TEv6a6i,  which  is 
stated  with  the  same  generality  as  Tn6rev6a<;, 
ver.  16 — to  those  who  have  thus  become  be- 
lievers. Both  the  one  and  the  other  apply  to 
ourselves  down  to  the  present  day,  and  indeed 
for  all  future  time.  "  Every  one  applies  the 
first  part  of  this  saying  to  ourselves;  teaching 
every  where  that  faith  and  baptism  are  neces- 
sary in  all  ages  to  salvation,  and  that  unbelief 
in  all  ages  excludes  from  it.  But  what  right 
has  any  one  to  separate  the  words  which  Jesus 
immediately  added,  from  his  former  words? 
Where  is  it  said  that  these  former  words  have 
reference  to  all  men  and  all  Christians ;  but 
that  the  promised  signs,  which  should  follow 
those  who  believe,  referred  only  to  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  first  age  ?  What  God  hath  joined 
together  let  no  man  put  asunder"  (Salzmann). 
If  later  history  shows,  as  it  does,  that  the  ful- 
fillment, or  rather  the  first  kind  of  fulfillment 
of  these  promises,  that  is  in  their  external  let- 
ter, appertained  pre-eminently  to  the  first  es- 
tablishment and  foundation  of  the  Church — 
this  gives  us  no  authority  to  limit  the  word  of 
Clirist  (certainly  not  spoken  to  the  Apostles 
alone,  and,  by  the  testimony  of  history,  not 
limited  in  its  I'ulfiUment  to  them)  to  any  long 
past  and  ended  period  of  Christianity.  The 
words,  as  they  run,  most  decidedly  oppose  this. 
Thus  it  is  not,  as  the  otherwise  superstitious 
Sepp  remarks,  that  "  the?e  things  referred  to 
the  destinies  of  the  years  immediatelv  to  fol- 
low, for  which  he  prepared  his  Apostles." 
F>iith  has  from  the  beginning  (Heb.  xi.  33,  24) 
demonstrated  its  power  by  miraculous  victories 
over  nature  ;  and  can  we  suppose  that  it  would 
lose  its  energy  in  the  New-Testament  economy, 
or  alter  a  brief  interval  of  exertion,  lose  this 
evidence  of  its  power?  Bengel  writes  here 
with  great  truth  :  "  Non  fuit  habitus  alius,  quo 
salvaliis  est  Paulas,  alius,  quo  miracvla  edidit " 
(Paul  was  saved  and  wrought  miracles  by  one 
and  the  same  attribute  of  faith.  So  al.so  in 
our  day  the  faith  of  every  believer  has  a  latent 
miraculous  power :  in  iact,  every  result  of 
prayers  is  miraculous,  although  that  may  not 
appear).*     This  remark   we    would   carefully 


*  But.  let  it  be  carefully  noted  :  The  true  be- 
liever jterloiTUb  the  wonders  iu  the  bame  laitb; 


ponder,  while  we  supplement,  and,  in  some 
degree,  correct  it  by  another.  The  only  limit- 
ation, or  rather  condition,  which  the  Lord  at- 
taches to  the  universal  promise  of  performing 
miracles,  is  faUh.  That  is  not,  however,  in 
this  connection,  simply  and  distinctively  the 
faith  which  procures  salvation,  but  (as  we  else- 
where abundantly  learn,  e.  g.,  MaVk  xi.  23 ; 
Matt.  xvii.  20)  at  the  same  time  the  specific 
faith  on  each  occasion,  that  such  miracle  will 
be  done  in  the  power  of  God,  a  sure  confidence 
that  one  may  do  it  according  to  God's  will,  and 
shoiiLl  (',!)  it  lor  his  kingdom.  (Concerning  this 
we  have  .«aid  enough  on  those  passages.) 

Thus,  the  appropriation  and  use  of  this  pro- 
mised miraculous  power  is  itself  made  suoor- 
dinate  to  the  confidence,  knowledge,  and  wis- 
dom of  a  faith  which,  whether  for  self  or  for 
others,  seeks  only  salvation.  For  the  rest, 
there  is  no  limitation  of  the  promise  to  per- 
sons or  to  times.  Observe  the  uniform  and 
simultaneous  mention  of  those  evil  things  in 
which  the  blessed  power  that  accompanies  the 
word  of  salvation  should  symbolically  display 
its  power  in  expelling,  thwarting,  and  healing. 
Powers  of  evil  are  mentioned  which  run  through 
all  ages,  and  belong  necessarily  to  that  nature 
which  is  to  be  delivered  from  its  tpOoftd,  its 
ruin;  and,  preceding  the  mention  of  them,  a 
phenomenon  which  to  refer  to  past  ages  alone, 
simply  because  it  was  mentioned  first,  would 
be  obviously  incorrect.  As  long  as  serpents' 
poison,  and  things  deadly  may  be  drunk,  and 
sicknesses  may  exist,  devils  also  are  to  be  cast 
out;  and  all  the  more  (as  we  shall  see  present- 
ly) because  all  that  is  named  in  ver.  18  pre- 
serves its  connection  with  the  power  of  Satan. 
Believers  in  the  word  and  in  the  authority  of 
Jesus  may  certainly  hold  fast  the  faith  which 
even  Grotius  held' :  "  Wherefore,  if  any  one 
should  declare  Christ,  as  he  would  be  announc- 
ed, to  nations  ignorant  of  his  nanis  (for  to 
them*  miracles  were  strictly  speaking  to  be 
subservient,  1  Cor.  xii.  22),  I  doubt  not  that 
the  promise  would  hold  good.  For  the  gifts  of 
Qod  are  dnErafiaXriTa,  '  without  repentance.' 
But  we  are  too  much  in  the  habit  of  casting 
upon  God  the  fault  of  our  own  sloth  and  un- 
belief." We  have  been  taught  already  by 
nd6^  rj7  Htidst,  to  every  creature,  that  the 
Gospel  has  a  reference  to  all  nature;  conse- 
quently, that  the  power  of  God  accompanying 
its  preaching  will  and  must  demonstrate  its 
miglit  upon  the  demoniac  energies  which  pene- 
trate nature,  or  rule  over  it,  demonstrating 
that  might  either  naturally  or  miraculously; 
or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  through  the  slow 
mediation  of  its  healing,  renewing  influence,  or 
by  instantaneous  and  extraordinary  interven- 
tions altering  its  course.  In  this  first  and 
most  obvious  meaning  compare  1  Cor.  xii.  28, 
the   dwdjiU'^,  ^apz'cj/iara  iai^aroovy  yivrf 


but  the  converse  is   not   true,    for   the   wonder- 
working fdilh  is  not  of  ttsef  tl.e  faith  that  saves. 

*  But  this  liraitaiiuD  iu  the  exposition  is  cer* 
lainly  too  restricted. 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


835 


yXco66<ivy  "miracles,  gifts  of  healing,  kinds 
of  tongues."  Tiiis  will  further  show  the  force 
of  the  remark  of  Grotius— iVb/i  omnibus  omnia, 
according  to  1  Cor.  xii.  4.  The  Tavra  follow- 
ing after  does  not  mean  simply  "  these  "  and 
no  other  signs  ;  but,  these  ana  the  like,  in  the 
sense  of  Tola,  zotavra,  the  individual  signs 
being  mentioned  by  way  of  example,  and  for 
concrete  assurance.  Although,  indeed,  the  idea 
of  the  charismata  or  gifts  is  something  different 
from  this,  and  includes  the  gift  of  miracles  as 
the  las,  yet  there  is  even  in  respect  to  the  for- 
mer an  analogous  diversity  of  operations. 

In,  my  name.  With  this  the  individual  de- 
tail begins  ;  and  it  does  not  mean  in  an  exter- 
nal sense — Through  the  utterance  of  my  name 
(as  the  sons  of  Sceva,  Acts  xix.  13,  misunder- 
stood it).  May  we  suppose  the  utterance  of 
the  name,  as  a  formula  of  help,  to  have  occurred 
in  the  case  of  the  unhurtful,  and  probably  un- 
conscious, drinking  of  the  deadly  thing?  Yet 
the  expression  in  the  forefront  certainly  refers 
to  all,  and  not  merely  to  the  first  promise, 
where  indeed  the  naming  of  the  name  before 
which  devils  fly  is  obviously  to  be  held  fast. 
If  this  iy  T(S  oyo/iiari /uov  is  placed  in  con- 
junction with  the  eii  to  ovo/ua  in  Matthew, 
the  reader  will  observe  all  that  we  cannot 
now  pause  to  develope.  Among  the  mir- 
acles which  our  Lord  himself  performed,  the 
casting  out  of  devils  was  the  first,  the  most 
mighty,  and  the  most  convincing  sign  (Matt, 
xii.  25  seq.):  the  Lord  therefore  places  it 
now  first,  and  says  by  his  "  in  my  name " 
no  less  than  this— Ye  shall  perform  the  same 
works  which  I  myself  have  performed.  Sa- 
tan's power  confronts  and  opposes  the  com- 
ing kingdom  of  God  :  how  then  could  any 
thing  but  this  promise  stand  in  the  forefront 
— this  prominent  sign  of  the  stronger  than 
he?  It  is  well  known  to  the  learned  that 
from  the  time  of  Justin  and  Irenasus  onward, 
and  down  to  the  fourth  century  (not  to  go 
further),  the  fathers,  and  especially  the  apolo- 
gists, referred  with  the  utmost  confidence  of 
challenge  to  the  actual  fact  that  the  demons 
were  constrained  to  retire  before  the  name  of 
Christ.  But  something  of  the  same  kind  con- 
tinues throughout  the  whole  course  of  history 
down  to  the  present  day.  The  speaking  in 
new  yXoo6<SaiS,  or  tongues,  languages,  expres- 
sions, in  such  a  manner  as  to  evidence  a  higher 
power  and  inspiration,  began  with  the  day  of 
rentecost,  continued  for  a  while  in  Christian 
baptism,  and  now  takes  various  and  other 
forms.  We  take  it  for  granted  as  proved  that 
the  Corinthian  glossoMy  was  not  of  the  same 
kind  as  the  Pentecostal  miracle  ;  and  that  gen- 
erally the  speaking  with  tongues,  or  in  a  tongue 
{y\o666aii  and  y\oa66i;j  XaXelv)  occurs  in 
very  different  manifestations,  though  with  a 
unity  of  meaning  embracing  them  all  in  one. 
We  must  be  excused,  however,  from  the  full 
investigation  of  this  matter  in  this  place ;  it  is 
one  of  the  most  difficult  of  all  subjects,  and 
nothing  very  "satisfactory  could  be  said  upon  it 
in  few  words.     But  we  must  reject  the  almost 


obsolete  view — occurring  here  and  there  in  the 
pages  of  orthodox  writers — which  Pfenninger, 
for  instance,  so  confidently  maintained :  "  Speak- 
ing with  new  tongues — how  otherwise  could 
they  go  forth  into  all  the  nations?"  For,  al- 
though on  the  day  of  Pentecost  languages  quite 
strange  were  spoken,  or  heard  and  understood, 
yet  we  have  no  indication  in  Scripture  that 
even  one  Apostle  retained  the  permanent  power 
of  speaking  among  barbarous  nations  their 
own  tongue.  The  subsequent  glossolaly,  or 
speaking  in  tongues,  had  a  quite  different  sig- 
nificance :  this  at  least  has  been  surely  estab- 
lished by  recent  investigation. 

We  further  remark  preparatorily  that,  not 
without  reason,  the  matter  of  speaJcing  with 
tongues  follows  immediately  after  the  casting 
out  of  devils:  how  both  are  inseparably  united 
will  be  seen  when  we  look  into  the  subject 
more  closely.  In  the  same  way  the  serpents 
and  the  deadly  thing  drunk  are  united;  the 
two  are  even  bound  together  in  one  by  and 
(though  otherwise  the  clauses  follow  a6vv- 
dercoS),  the  "shall  not  hurt  them"  {fiXdipij 
or  fiXdipEi)  being  thus  the  complement  of  the 
taking  up  of  serpents  also.  The  words,  that 
is,  refer  now  to  the  noxious  things,  the  poisons, 
the  deadly  elements  in  nature,  which,  like  the 
serpents,  point  in  the  entire  symbolism  of 
Scripture  to  the  Satixovia,  and  have  a  certain 
connection  with  the  power  of  the  devil  which 
has  penetrated  nature.  From  that  originates, 
and  in  that  finds  its  root,  every  thing  which  is 
called,  or  which  leads  to,  death  and  destruc- 
tion ;  the  creature  at  the  beginning  was  very 
differently  constituted  (Wisd.  i.  13,  14).  The 
concentration  of  these  deadly  elements  is  life- 
destroying  poison.  But  this  comes  upon  us 
either  fro^n  without,  through  the  serpents,  as  it 
were  the  living  personification  of  the  murder- 
er ;  or  (through  the  cunning  and  violence  of 
men,  through  the  agency  of  secret  enemies,  or 
in  any  other  way)  is  conveyed  inwardly  as  an 
ingredient  of  even  the  inanimate  creature.  We 
thus  see  that  the  examples  are  not  fortuitously 
given  ;  they  have  their  connection  and  pro- 
gressive meaning,  including  every  thing  of  the 
same  kind  which  may  befall  us;  and  this  must 
dispose  our  minds  to  expect  some  deeper 
meaning  than  that  which  is  merely  external. 
But  we  must  hold  fast  this  external  one  also. 
"Ocpeii  dpo€6i:  that  is,  they  should  take  up 
serpents  (the  connection  explains  this  of  poison- 
ous, life-destroying  serpents) ;  they  should  lay 
hold  of  them,  and,  as  the  combination  with  the 
following  clause  shows,  witJwut  hurt.  This  is 
expressed  more  strongly  than  if  the  meaning 
referred  to  their  not  biting,  or  to  the  unhurt- 
fulness  of  their  bite  :  the  promise  is  that  they 
should  not  merely  suffer  such  Bt^pia  to  come 
near  them,  but  that  they  should  in  cases  of  ne- 
cessity be  able  to  lay  hold  on  them,  cast  them 
away,  destroy  them.  Thus  much  is  true  from 
the  connection,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  the  re- 
markable narrative  of  Acts  xxviii.  3-5.  But 
the  simplicity  of  the  customary  expression  (in 
which  the  laying  hold  demonstrates  of  itself 


THE  COMMISSION  AND  PEOMISES. 


that  the  creature  is  overcome,  and  can  do  no 
injury),  leads  us  to  doubt  whether  the  dpovdt 
is  intended  to  mean  a  "  casting  out,"  or  throw- 
ing away,  which  should  correspond  with  the 
hx^aXovdi  before.  The  passive  ov  /uj)  fiXoctp^, 
"  it  shall  not  hurt,"  appears  here  to  be  enough  ; 
the  casting  away  would  enter  too  expressly 
into  the  externality  of  the  sign,  and  (in  oppo- 
sition to  the  parallel,  Luke  x.  19,  20)  involve  a 
too  bold  antagonism  to  the  demoniac  and  hurtful 
elements  of  nature  itself — in  the  manner  of  the 
contest  which  the  religion  of  Parsism  exhibits 
with  the  powers  of  evil  in  nature.  The  ^cxvd- 
dt/uov,  deadly  thing,  reminds  the  reader  of 
Scripture  of  2  Kings  iv.  40, 41 ;  but  that  drink- 
ing and  not  eating  is  spoken  of  (though  the 
latter  is  not  excluded),  is  accounted  for  by 
the  circumstance  that  poison  is  more  easily, 
and  therefore  is  more  generally,  intermixed 
•with  the  drink  which  conceals  it  so  well.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  cannot  but  think  of  poisons  de- 
signedly used  by  enemies  in  stealth  ;  (or,  as 
some  have  supposed)  of  the  so-called  "philtres" 
and  deadly  portions  of  antiquity.  This  last  is 
applicable  enough  to  the  JirsC  ages ;  but  such 
special  interpretations  must  not  be  allowed  to 
interfere  with  the  general  meaning  and  validity 
of  the  sign.  Eusebius  (iii.  39)  gives  us  a  per- 
tinent example  of  the  innoxious  drinking  of  a 
deadly  liquid  ;  and  such  doubtless  often  occur- 
red (and  still  occurs),  or  the  Lord  would  not 
have  made  it  so  prominent.  (John's  cauldron 
of  oil  in  the  so-called  "  legend"  is  something 
very  ditferent  from  this.)  But  it  is  self-under- 
stood in  all  this,  that  believers  should  expe- 
rience the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  only  where 
their  testimony  for  God  might  render  it  impera- 
tive that  they  should  claim  that  promise;  they 
must  never,  without  the  express  call  of  God, 
venture  thus  to  take  up  the  serpent,  or  drink 
the  potion.  (Wesley  :  But  not  by  their  own 
choice.  God  never  calls  us  to  try  any  such  ex- 
periments.) Finally,  the  series  closes  with 
healing  of  diseases,  not  by  medicine,  but  by  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  accompanied  by  the  usual 
imposition  of  hands — which  our  Lord  Jesus 
himself  employed — as  the  conductor  of  the 
miraculous  power.*  This  last  sign  was  to  all 
appearance  the  least.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  that  one  which,  according  to  James  v.  14- 
16,  was  to  be  most  ordinarily  realized  in  the 
Church  itself;  and  thus  it  was  the  most  perma- 
nent sign  even  for  literal  fulfillment.  Thus  it 
is  in  contrast  with  the  casting  out  of  devils, 
which  began  the  series  ;  nevertheless,  the  circle 
returns  into  itself;  for  possession  and  sickness 
are  strictly  connected,  and  the  healing  unites 
them  in  one.  To  the  rightly  understanding 
mind  it  will  need  no  proof  that  all  sickness  is 
in  its  inmost  principle  connected  with  sin  and 


*  See  Numb.  viii.  10,  xxvii.  23  ;  Dnit.  xxxiv. 
9;  and  in  connection  wilh  the  sacrifices  of  Lev. 
viii.  14,  etc.;  wilh  which  we  may  compare,  in 
Heb.  vi.  2,  the  laying  on  of  bands  by  the  side  of 
baptizing. 


the  power  of  evil ;  and  how  many  forms  of 
bodily  unsoundness  point  us  involuntarily,  by 
their  tormenting  appearance  and  character,  to 
their  aflnnity  with  the  demoniac  power  over 
man.  James  associates  with  the  miglity  power 
of  prayer  the  symbol  of  oil,  which  the  weaker 
faith  of  the  disciples  had  once  employed  un- 
bidden, Mark  vi.  13  ;  but  the  same  Mark,  who 
recorded  that  circumstance,  has  not  added  the 
word  here — he  simply  records  now  what  the 
Lord  actually  said.  His  disciples  were  to  lay 
on  their  hands,  as  he  had  done.  Their  hand» 
also  should  have  a  miraculous  power  of  bless- 
ing ;  even  as  their  mouths  should  speak  a  new 
language. 

Such  would  be  the  signs,  which  the  Lord 
mentions  and  promises  as  examples  of  much 
else  similar;  yea,  the  fulfillment  overpassed 
the  promise,  as  Bengel  remarks,  in  their  rais- 
ing  the  dead*  Yet,  the  selection  and  the  order 
is  here,  as  every  where,  significant.  If  we 
take,  as  before  observed,  the  unhurtfulness  of 
the  two  hurtful  elements  in  one,  we  have  at 
the  beginning  and  the  end  two  signs  of  helping 
power,  as  exerted  upon  others.  Between  them 
come  the  two  signs  which  should  have  their 
demonstration  in  themselves — the  active  sign  of 
their  miraculous  speaking,  the  more  passive 
sign  of  their  not  coming  to  any  harm.  As 
respects  others,  all  should  be  pure  benevolence 
and  doing  good — as  in  Acts  x.  38  it  is  said  con- 
cerning the  Lord's  works — no  miracles  of  con- 
demnation and  judgment  are  referred  to.  In 
certain  exceptional  cases  we  find  the  Apostles 
acting  as  it  pleased  not  the  Lord  himself  to 
act.  Peter,  in  spite  of  his  own  will,  doomed 
by  his  word  of  power  to  a  fearful  death  the 
liars  against  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  Paul  design- 
edly blinded  Elymas,  and  imposed  sicknesses 
as  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ;  but  those 
actions  have  nothing  to  do  with  these  words 
of  universal  application.  The  Church,  Acts 
iv.  30,  in  their  supplications  to  God  against 
the  threatening  of  all  their  enemies,  asked  only 
for  the  divine  signs  oi  healing. 

To  many  of  our  modern  critics  this  whole 
discourse  of  our  Lord  appears  very  suspicious; 
and  some  with  absolute  confidence  declare  it  to 
be  a  later  interpolation  of  a  miracle-loving 
age.f  But  we  adliere  to  the  testimony  that  he 
did  thus  speak,  though  we  would  endeavor  to 
understand  him  better  than  if  he  had  said 
merely  repara.  His  d  r^  ft  si  a  refers  us  ne- 
cessarily to  their  interpretation  and  meaning. 
It  is  the  power  of  th£  Spirit  of  God  which 
should,  and  which  did,  prove  itself  as  the 
imwer  of  signs  and  wonders  (Rom.  xv.  19)  ;  and 


*  For  this  addition  in  Matt.  x.  8  is  spurious. 

f  See  for  instance,  the  remarks  of  the  nuthor  of 
"  Jui  /.loi  nov  6r(S,"  etc.  (Berlin,  1811),  to  the 
effect  tliat  Mark  here  Rives  a  "  harsh,  apocryphal, 
and  most  unhappy  supplement  to  his*  Go.spel." 
But  the  present  writer  looks  at  it  with  very  differ- 
ent eyes  ;  and  sees  that  in  it  whicli  test-s  whether 
a  man  Las  any  spiritual  sight  or  understanding  at 


MARK  XVI.  15-18. 


837 


in  these  signg  the  Holy  Spirit  syrriholically  \ 
shojved  forth  his  spiritual  energy  and  opera- 
tions (as  was  the  case  with  our  Lord's  mira- 
cles)— those  spiritual  influences  and  operations 
■which  should  forever  be  the  best  demonstra- 
tion of  his  presence.  AVhen  Paul  appealed  to 
the  signs  of  an  Apostle,  he  placed  patience  first, 
and  not  till  after  tliat  the  sigyis  and  loonders 
and  mighty  deeds  (2  Cor.  xii.  12).  That  which 
Christ  had  spoken  in  John  iv.  48  concerning 
the  only  relative  value  of  external  miracles,  he 
could  not  have  forgotten,  or  retracted,  in  these 
his  final  words.  It  is  not  possible — however 
it  may  seem — that  he  meant  only,  and  nothing 
more  than,  those  wonders  which,  while  under 
some  circumstances  they  might  lead  to  true 
faith,  in  many  cases  might  be  used  only  to  he- 
witch  the  people,  or  cause  the  performer  himself 
only  to  be  tcondered  at  (Acts  viii.  9,  13),  and 
which  certainly  were  not  intended  to  be  of 

fermanent  necessity  to  the  Church.  Even  an 
scariot  might  cast  out  devils,  and  heal  the 
sick  ;  that  is,  through  a  certain  faith  in  Jesus 
which  he  had  not  altogether  lost.  But  this 
(not  isolated)  example  modifies  still  differently 
our  observation  concerning  the  unity  of  the 
saving  and  the  wonder-working  faith.  The 
faith  which,  with  all  power  and  patience  of 
waiting,  preaches  in  order  to  the  salvation  of 
others,  needs  not  necessarily  any  external  per- 
formance of  miracles.  Thus,  we  admit  that  the 
Lord  named  the  external  miracles,  of  which  he 
literally  spoke,  as  miracles  in  external  nature 
which  should  actually  take  place,  and  continue 
to  recur  according  to  the  need  of  the  kingdom 
of  God — for  how  can  we  suppose  him  to  have 
made  an  unreal  thing  the  type  of  a  reality? 
But  a  deeper  understanding  of  his  words,  and 
that  which  alone  is  correct,  must  regard  him 
as  having  meant  and  promised,  under  this 
figure,  those  mighty  influences  of  the  Spirit  espe- 
cially which  correspond  to  these  signs,  and 
should  ever  abide  in  the  Church,  as  being  much 
more  important  and  essential  than  they.  Or, 
can  we  suppose  that  the  lack  of  miracles  would 
be  an  essential  deficiency  ?  Were  his  believers 
to  look  for  such  miracles  as  were  performed 
in  the  beginning,  as  being  essential  to  their 
preaching  and  extending  everywhere  the  Gos- 
pel of  grace  ?  Would  such  miracles  have  ab- 
solutely helped  on  that  Gospel,  in  such  times 
and  circumstances  as  ours  ?*  Is  it  not,  rather, 
true — as  has  been  discerned  by  many  from  the 
beginning— that  the  withdrawal  of  the  ex- 
ternal workng  of  miracles  has  been  connected 
with  a  progression  of  the  Church  and  her  mis- 
sions into  the  domain  of  the  Spirit  alone?  We 
may  refer  to  what  was  said  upon  John  xiv.  12 
(and  with  specific  reference  to  this  parallel 
passage),  and  deduce  once  more  from  the  fact 
that  the  Lord  derives  his  expression  from  these 


*  "  blven  while  the  assistance  of  rah-acles  re- 
mained, most  (lather  all)  still  rested  upon  faith  in 
the  word.  Believe  thou  the  word  confirmed  by 
the  miracles,  andJJiou  wilt  have  the  blessing  of 
previous  and  latter  times  in  one  "  (Rieger). 


outward  demonstrations  of  power,  the  great 
truth — "  Whatsoever  believers  shall  in  all  ages 
do  in  ray  name  will  be  as  wonderful  as  these 
things  are,  and  will  be  the  essential  realization 
of  these  signs." 

Thus  it  was  understood  in  very  early  times. 
St.  Bernard  on  this  passage  encounters  the 
doubt  whether  true  faith  can  be  present  where 
these  signs  are  wanting  ;  and  he  introduces  the 
spiritual  interpretation  with  good  effect.  We 
have  already  made  some  quotations  from  an- 
tiquity, in  our  remarks  upon  John  xiv.  Hel- 
ferich  has  taken  pains  to  show  how  "  these 
notes  of  the  working  and  influence  of  Jesus, 
divested  of  their  miraculous  (that  is,  their  ex- 
ternal) character,  are  valid  for  the  Church  of 
all  ages  ;"  but  he  does  not  develope  the  detail.^ 
with  sufiicient  precision,  Lange's  view  of  the 
"  more  general  symbolical  meaning  of  those 
promised  miraculous  signs"  is  much  more  ex- 
cellent ;  though  with  that  we  cannot  altogether 
agree.  Let  us  now  look  at  the  whole  in  this 
light. 

The  casting  out  of  devils — which,  as  itvEv- 
nanxd  TiiTtovrjpiai,  "spiritual  wickedness  " 
(Eph.  vi.  12),  are  every  where  present  in  the 
world,  where  sin  and  death  reigns — is  and  must 
be  the  first  thing.  Satan's  power,  exerted 
through  the  agency  of  many  spirits  belonging 
to  him  (all  the  more  mighty,  because  bodily 
possession  has  receded),  must  be  broken,  and 
his  powers  must  retire  before  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Even  the  exorcism,  which  was  in  early  timea 
connected  with  baptism,  contained  a  deep  truth 
in  its  fundamental  idea.  But  the  devil,  as 
James  teaches  us  (chap.  iii.  6-8),  has  especial- 
ly the  tongue,  man's  words,  in  his  service — by 
this  those  possessed  by  him  show  themselves. 
Then  the  great  point  is,  that  those  who  believe 
should  drive  first  out  of  themselves  all  evil, 
and  all  the  devilish  nature.  Satan  must  be 
overcome  by  the  word,  by  a  new  and  mighty 
Spirit-iDord  ;  this  explains  the  conjunction  of 
the  second  with  the  first  sign.  Here  comes  in 
the  expression  "  new  tongues,"*  the  true  under- 
standing of  which  required  to  be  deferred  till 
ihis  point  was  reached.  It  is  not  merely  other 
tongues,  which  would  correspond  rather  to  the 
first  and  external  demonstration  given  by  the 
sign.  The  profound  expression  is  used  only 
here  ;  and  we  may  compare  with  it  Ecclus.  li. 
29,  where  the  addition  neio  belongs  to  our 
translation,  though  added  in  strict  conformity 
with  the  Greek  text.  Olshausen  is  certainly  m 
great  error  :  "  The  y\oo66^  XaXslv  had  been 
sometimes  understood  as  a  language  of  angels  ; 
therefore  it  is  here  called  a  new  tongue :"  for, 
apart  from  the  strangeness  of  this  latter  ex- 
pression, are  we  to  interpret  the  word  of  Christ 
according  to  the  notions  which  were  after- 
wards in  vogue  among  the  people?  The  Lord 
sets  his  txew  tongues  in  opposition,  first,  to  the 
tongues  with  which  sinners  had  spoken ;  and, 


*  For  it  is  of  no  weiaht  that  it  is  wantins:  in  a 
few  MSS.,  which  introduce  instead  the  iaappro- 
priate  iv  Tai<i  x^P^i^  u<p£ii  dpoCdt. 


838 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISE. 


then,  to  human  tongues  generally;  but  as  the 
new  Spirit-wjrd,  full  of  self-demonstrating  di- 
vine power,  such  as  was  miraculously  impressed 
upon  it,  though  only  at  the  first,  in  the  glosso- 
laly  or  "  speaking  with  tongues."  The  taking 
hold  of  serpents  he  means  also  in  the  same 
profound  and  comprehensive  sense  which  we 
have  already,  on  Luke  x.  19,  found  in  this 
symbolical  word,  which  Old-Testament  use  had 
already  sanctified.*  We  do  not  agree  with 
Lange  in  thinking  that  in  the  drinking  of  cUad- 
ly  things  the  more  general  symbolical  character 
of  this  promise  comes  into  most  emphatic  pro- 
minence. That  character  shows  itself  in  them 
all ;  each  individual  sign  connects  the  internal 
meaning  with  the  external,  as  is  plain  enough 
even  with  regard  to  the  devih  and  the  serpents. 
If  any  one  of  them  points  more  evidently  than 
the  rest  to  a  spiritual  interpretation,  it  is  the 
sneaking  with  jiew  tongues.  All  the  hurtful 
elements  of  nature,  as  all  the  hurtful  elements 
in  the  spiritual  kingdom,  are  derived  from  the 
fall ;  and  the  power  of  Christ  arms  us  against 
them  all  alike.  He  preserves  our  real  life  still 
from  the  philtres  and  poisonous  potions  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age  and  its  literature,  as  certainly 
and  as  miraculously  as  preservation  from  bodily 
harm  is  here  attributed  to  his  power.  Finally, 
how  much  sickness,  and  how  many  hurts,  of  the 
souls  of  men  are  still  healed  by  the  blessed 
and  blessing  agency  of  the  hand  and  power  of 


Christian  men.  True  it  is  (as  Lange  says), 
that  the  saving  and  restoring  might  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  exerts  his  power  insirumental- 
ly — generally  and  in  specific  cases — "  in  the 
sphere  of  human  bodily  life;"  but  how  much 
greater  and  more  gloriously  miraculous  are  bis 
influences  in  the  abolition  of  sin  and  its  sick- 
nesses ! 

Kai  }{a\(2i  e^ovdiv,  they  shall  he  healed,  all 
to  whom  the  hands  of  believers  may  bring  the 
benediction  of  cure.  Thus  Ilar/c  closes  his 
Gospel — in  a  manner  seemingly  strange,  and 
yet  quite  in  harmony  with  the  original  charac- 
ter of  his  composition,  which  concisely  notes 
individualities  every  where;  and,  moreover, 
quite  consistently  with  the  brief  style  of  his 
final  compendious  conclusion.  With  this  ter- 
mination of  his  Gospel  he  connects  the  ascen- 
sion. It  is  indeed  in  sharp  contrast  with  the 
sublimely  comprehensive  final  word  of  Mat- 
thew; but  if  we  receive  the  one  and  the  other 
with  all  becoming  simplicity,  we  shall  under- 
stand both  according  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Spirit— the  Spirit  through  v.'hom  Jesus  spoke, 
and  Mark  thus  closed  his  Gospel.  Then  shall 
we  cry  to  the  Lord — Ah  !  strengthen  and  bless 
thou  the  hands  of  thy  believing  messengers, 
that  they  may  rigiitly  lay  them  upon  men  : 
and  that,  before  thy  coming  again,  thy  promise 
may  be  abundantly  fulfilled :  They  s/uiU  be 
healed  :  il  shall  be  well  with  them.* 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISK 
(Luke  xxiv.  44-49.) 


Luke  also  gives  us  a  compendious  selection  of 
our  Lord's  words  before  the  ascension  ;  a  sum- 
mary suitable  to  the  fundamental  design  of  his 
Gospel,  before  he  speaks  further  of  it  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  (see  Acts  i.  3).  Writing  in 
the  Spirit  it  impressed  itself  obviously  upon 
his  mind,  or  was  a  direct  suggestion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  in  the  brief  and  epitomiz- 
ing reference  to  these  discourses  of  our  Lord — 
which,  as  his  resurrection  and  ascension  say- 
ings, already  anticipated  his  pentecostal  pro- 
mises— the  when  and  the  where  should  be  lost 
eight  of,  as  comparatively  unimportant.  Thus 
the  Risen  Lord  appears  throughout  as  already 
ascending  before  our  eyes ;  and  the  ascended 
Lord  appears  to  be  already  speaking  to  us 
from  heaven.  We  find  this  characteristic  of 
the  first  construction  of  the  Gospels  common 
to  all  the  three  Synopi'cs,  differing  as  they  do 
in  other  respects.  Matthew  has  given  us  only 
the  beginning  and  end,  as  it  were,  of  Christ's 
manifestation  after  the  resurrection ;  the  proper 


*  Ilelferich  understands  here  also  a  casting  out 
of  all  barbarity  and  wildness  of  nature,  etc. — the 
true  cultivation  which  the  Gospel  introduces.  But 
thia  is  far  below  the  meaning  of  the  saying. 


conclusion  of  the  history,  the  visible  and  ^c- 
i\x&\  ascension — which  the  Evangelists  who  were 
not  Apostles  specifically  record  in  their  lower 
standing  point — he  presents,  in  the  genuine 
apostolical  style,  only  in  such  words  of  our 
Lord  as  make  it  self-understood;  and  the 
"  mountain  "  itself  on  which  those  words  were 
spoken  he  leaves  altogether  indefinite.  In  this 
(that  the  ascension  is  not  recorded)  John  is  one 
with  him.  He  also  closes  with  the  following 
or  remaining  until  the  ascended  Lord  sJiouUl  re- 


*  The  significance  of  this  concluding  word, 
which  with  all  its  specific  character  includes  a 
universal  and  profound  meaning,  is  quite  .«ufli- 
cient  reason  for  rejecting  tiie  customary  parallel- 
izing of  those  clauses.  There  is  no  need  fo.-  re- 
sorting to  Lange's  strange  expedient,  who  refers 
the  HaXaDi  e^ovdiy  to  the  disciples  ihcmscives,  as  a 
promise  that  they  should  always  enjoy  perfect 
soundness  !  The  promise,  regarded  as  spoken  to 
the  healers  themselves,  was  never  fully  lulfilied. 
Timothy  was  often  sick;  Paul,  whose  hands  were 
so  mighty  in  healing,  liimself  sufft-red  from  in- 
firmity and  the  thorn  in  the  flesh.  In  the  lower 
analogy  the  physician  is  not  always  himself  sound 
io  health. 


LUKE  XXIV.  44^49. 


839 


tnrn  ;  tiltlrotigh  he  was  •directed  to  report  with 
strict  historical  accuracy  the  place  and  time  of 
many  other  signs,  appearances  and  revelations. 
The  relation  of  the  whole  matter  which  we 
have  thus  exhibited  is  not  understood  by  our 
diplomatic  critics  ;  it  is  but  too  little  appre- 
hended by  our  orthodox  expositors,  and  hence 
their  misarrangement  of  many  of  these  par- 
ticulars. 

Although  ver.  44  in  Luke's  narrative  ap- 
pears to  be  a  strict  continuation  of  ver.  43,  ver. 
50  presently  afterwards  shows  us  the  impossi- 
bility of  so  reading  it.  For,  apart  from  the  too 
anticipatory  character  of  this  whole  discourse 
as  located  "in  the  first  evening  (including,  to 
wit,  not  only  the  glance  backwards,  and  the 
enlicrhtenment  of  their  anderstandings,  vers. 
44-46,  which  might  be  suitable;  but  also  such 
instructions  and  promises  as  befitted  only  the 
close  of  this  intermediate  period,  vers.  47-49) 
— it  involves  too  great  a  hiatus,  and  a  too 
violent  leap  in  the  record,  amounting  even  to 
historical  untruthfulness,  if  we  make  the  *'  led 
them  out"  follow  immediately  on  the  first 
evening.  Moreover,  the  same  Luke  elsewhere 
manifests  his  acquaintance  with  the  Lord's 
manifold  discourses  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God  during  these  forty  days. 

We  must,  therefore,  decline  to  read  the 
EiTte  Si  avroi<;,  "  and  he  said  unto  them,"  of 
ver.  44  in  strict  historical  connection  ;  Luke's 
customary  use  of  the  6e,  "and,"  imposes  no 
necessity  of  doing  so.  We  cannot — as  we  have 
already  shown — make  the  other  account  of 
the  appearance  of  this  evening,  in  John  xx., 
agree  with  that  which  Luke  here  adds.  Oth- 
ers, e.  g.,  Lange,  would  only  connect  ver.  44 
with  what  precedes,  and  introduce  the  division 
at  ver.  45  ;  thus  making  the  rare  duivoi^Ey 
refer  to  the  "  tlieK,  of  a  continuous  presence  of 
Christ,  who  began  to  speak  to  them  on  that 
evening,  but  continued  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  forty  days."  But  the  introductory 
words  of  ver.  44  equally  well  suit  this  idea, 
and  it  is  therefore  needless  to  separate  it  from 
ver.  45  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  ver.  46  seems 
to  be  connected  in  the  strictest  manner  with 
ver.  44.  Finally,  the  supposition,  found  most 
frequently  in  practical  and  uncritical  expo- 
sition, which  makes  the  division  at  ver.  49 — 
placing  all  that  precedes  in  the  first  evenins, 
and  making  ver.  49,  on  account  of  ver.  50,"a 
final  appearance  before  the  ascension — is  alto- 
gether forced;  for,  the  jtai  iSov,  and,  behold, 
of  ver  49  evidently  continues  the  discourse, 
and  intimates,  as  we  shall  see,  a  strict  connec- 
tion. 

Schleiermacher  :  "  Ver.  44  begins  a  later  and 
more  summary  postscript,  which  is  independ- 
ent of  time  and  place,  and  reports  only  that 
which  was  essential  in  the  conversations  of 
the  Redeemer  with  his  disciples.  Thus  it  ap- 
pends a  very  summary  notice  of  the  departure 
•and  ascension  of  Christ."  In  the  fundamental 
idea  he  is  right,  but  only  in  that.  We  cannot 
Bee  any  reason  for  a  supplement  here.  Whether 
Luke — who,  according  to  Acts.  i.  3,  knew  much 


more  than  he  reported— was  not  accurately 
acquainted  with  time  and  place  in  these  things, 
or  whether  it  was  merely  his  design  as  a  writer 
to  leave  all  undetermined,  is  a  question  which 
may  very  reasonably  be  entertamed.  Finally, 
the  summary  notice  is  again  resumed  and  com- 
pleted in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  historically 
exact.  Grotius  perceived  the  truth  clearly 
enough  to  say  upon  ver.  44 :  "  The  sum  of  the 
discourses  follows,  which  during  the  forty  days," 
etc.  Ebrard  decides  also  for  such  a  resume,  un- 
derstands the  Tore  as  "  then,"  adding  to  it  ver. 
44,  and  asks  with  much  force  whether  on  this 
etening,  which  began  before  the  two  returned 
from  Emmaua  to  Jerusalem,  there  had  been 
time  to  expound  the  Scriptures,  and — to  go  to 
Bethany.  This  last,  that  is,  is  directed  against 
the  criticism  which  first  arbitrarily  understands 
th«  Evangelist  in  this  way,  and  then  quarrels 
with  him  for  it.  Von  Gerlach  comes  to  the 
right  conclusion,  that  there  is  here  a  combina- 
tion of  our  Lord's  discourses ;  he  thinks  it 
quite  nrt^/r«/(  though  not  for  Wi&deejyer  reason 
which  we  have  given)  that  all  the  manifesta- 
tions and  words  of  the  Risen  Lord  should  be 
combined  together  "in  their  tradition:"  but 
our  views  of  this  tradition  are  different  from 
his.  We  would  rather  adhere  to  the  expres- 
sion— in  (he  first  construction  of  the  Oospels  ;  for 
we  assume  that  in  the  three  collective  Gospels, 
which  do  not  follow  any  fixed  plan  of  tradition, 
each  of  the  writers  had  a  specific  knowledge  of 
all  particulars,  and  made  his  selection  according 
to  a  conscious  and  designed  plan.  This  last 
is  established,  as  respects  Luke,  the  most  re- 
moved reporter,  by  his  own  statement  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Consequently,  he  did 
not  so  much  mark  prominently  the  "  essential 
matter  "  generally,  as  that  which  he  proposed 
to  give  according  to  the  plan  and  sphere  of  his 
own  particular  Gospel.  But  the  Lord  did  ac- 
tually sjjmk  v/ith  more  or  less  literality,  that 
which  is  recorded  with  the  express  eiTce  ;  Luke 
does  not  hand  down  a  merely  fabricated  or 
"developed"  discourse  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

When,  then,  and  where  did  he  thus  speak? 
Bengel,  followed  by  many,  supposes  that  the 
whole,  including  ver.  44,"  was  spoken  on  the 
day  of  the  ascension,  and  therefore  at  Jerusa- 
lem (vers.  47,  49),  (rom  which  he  led  them  out, 
ver.  50.  But  this  would  assign  too  late  a  pe- 
riod lor  the  opening  of  the  Scriptures  to  the 
disciples.  Moreover,  it  is  questionable  wheth- 
er the  £c.r}yayE,  "  led  out,"  ver.  50,  is  in  direct 
historical  connection  ;  indeed,  we  may  under- 
stand this  hardly  conceivable  leading  out  as 
merely  intimating  his  fixed  appointment  that 
they  should  go   thither.*     Lange  refers  vers. 


*  Even  Rie2;er,  who  is  senerally  so  tenacious  of 
the  letter,  says :  "  The  leading  out  to  Bethany 
meant  some  such  appointment  as  that  which  had 
lately  taken  place  in  respect  to  the  mountain  in 
Galile3."  That  he  led  them  out,  as  Lange  says, 
"  in  the  manner  of  former  times,  to  the  Mount  of 
Olives,"  has  its  difficulty,  on  account  of  surround- 
ing beholders.    It  did  not  take  place  in  the  niffht. 


840 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISK 


45  seq.  to  the  appearance  on  the  mountain  in 
Galilee  ;  and  regards  the  words  as  spoken  ex- 
planatorily between  vers.  18  and  19  of  Matt. 
xxviii.     Certainly,  Luke,  ver.  49,  does  very  ap- 

f)ropriately  prepare  the  way  for  the  "  Go  ye 
orth ;"  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  not 
consent  to  separate  vers.  18  and  19  in  Matt. ; 
and,  finally,  the  f?c»  (which  there  is  no  sound 
reason  for  omitting)  appears,  even  if  the  leading 
forth  was  not  meant  literally,  to  indicate  that 
the  place  of  our  Lord's  last  discourse  was  not 
Galilee,  not  a  mountain,  but  the  city  of  Jera- 
salem  and  a  house  within  it.*  Suffice  it,  that 
we  cannot  and  must  not  arrange  with  confi- 
dence the  external  when  and  where  of  this 
matter ;  wo  must  receive  the  word  in  faith 
which  the  Spirit  has  preserved  for  us  in  its  in- 
disputable truth.  Only  on  account  of  the  em- 
phatic farewell  character  of  the  whole  have  we 
placed  it  by  the  side  of  the  record  of  Matthew 
and  Mark,  as  a  repeated  explanation  and  pro- 
mise before  the  ascension,  given  in  another 
Gospel. 

The  entire  section  combines  in  its  first  and 
second  portions  the  two  fundamental  character- 
istics 01  the  earlier  and  later  appearances,  as 
they  are  seen  in  their  distinction  in  the  case  of 
Thomas'  faith  (compare  the  remarks  made  on 
John  xxi.).  It  points  backwards  first,  and  then 
forwards,  both  references  being  strictly  con- 
nected in  the  middle,  vers.  46,  47.  This  is  the 
difficulty  which  leads  to  the  supposition  of 
Luke's  account  being  a  summary;  though  it 
might,  on  the  other  hand,  be  assumed  that 
there  was  an  especial  appearance  (over  and 
above  the  ten),  in  which  the  Lord  himself  thus 
summed  up  the  whole.  However  that  may 
be,  we  have  only  to  receive  and  expound  with 
all  simplicity  what  is  recorded;  and  in  doing 
so  it  is  our  duty  to  discover  both  unity  and 
order  in  the  words.  By  way  of  preparing  the 
way  for  the  detailed  exposition,  it  may  be  as- 
serted that  the  Evangelist  Luke,  purposing  to 
give  his  compendious  close,  gives  us,  from  ver. 
36  onwards,  like  Mirk,  from  ver.  44  onwards, 
his  resurrection  conclusion  of  our  Lord's  words, 
M  they  lead  to  the  ascension  ;  and  that  he 
gives  it  as  one  whole,  in  the  unity  of  the  fun- 
damental thoughts  which  guide  him  in  his  se- 
lection. As  a  perfect  appropriate  introduction 
to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  in  this 
irpcjro;  Xoyoi  he  already  has  in  view,  he 
sums  up  the  words  and  acts  of  the  Risen  Lord 
afl  a  preparatory  encouragement,  instruction, 
and  appointmanl  of  the  disciples,  and  especial- 
ly the  Aj>odks,  for  their  npice  of  wilnois.  This 
general  design  of  the  whole  is  made  prominent 
in  ver.  48.  We  may  be  permitted  once  more 
to  give  our  analysis;  which,  while  serviceable 
to  the  preacher,  will  be  found,  it  is  hoped, 
strictly  in  harmony  with  the  text. 

I.  The  consolation  embraces,  1.  The  greet- 
ing, ver.  36.  But,  because  this  did  not  lay 
hold  on  them,  2.  The  demonstration  follows,  that 


he  had  risen  and  now  stood  before  therm  in 
bodily  presence.  And  this  in  three  ways: 
a.  by  the  gracious,  well-known  word  of  vei, 
33  (in  which  an  avro?  kyoo  tlni  is  under- 
stood);  b.  by  the  evidence  of  his  visible  and 
palpable  corporeity,  vers.  39,  40  ;  c.  by  that  of 
uis  eating  before  them,  ver.  41-43.  '  II.  The 
instruction  follows  (not  historically  in  imme- 
diate sequence,  but  thus  connected  with  the 
preceding)  ;  to  wit,  that  he  bad  been  thns  pro- 
mised in  the  Scripture,  and  the  opening  of  their 
understanding  gave  them  to  know  this.*  He 
is  obliged  to  convince  his  weak  Apostles  by  his 
encouraging  words,  before  he  can  give  thera 
instruction — an  inversion  of  the  order  in  which 
he  dealt  with  the  disciples  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus.-f  He  shows  them :  1.  The  accordance 
of  his  previous  now-fulfilled  sayings  with  the 
Scriptures,  ver.  44 ;  2.  He  thus  opens  their  un- 
derstanding to  comprehend  these  Scriptures, 
ver.  45;  and  3.,  draws  the  comprehensive  con- 
cludon  ol  ver.  46.  It  is  the  actual  accomplish- 
ment in  fact  of  the  whole  economy  of  salvation 
through  Christ,  as  a  fulfillment  of  the  word  of 
prophecy  ;  the  summary  of  all  that  had  hither- 
to taken  place,  corresponding  to  Luke's  own 
nEnXTjpoq>oprjtiEva  npdynocTa,  "  things  most 
surely  believed,"  in  the  preface.  It  is  not  now 
added — And  thus  it  behooved  hira  to  ascend 
into  heaven ;  but  this  is  understood  in  the 
transition  to  what  follows,  as  it  had  been  spo- 
ken of  already  in  ver.  26.  III.  We  have  the 
appointment  of  the  Apostles  to  preach  these 
facts,  and  this  plan  of  salvation,  according  to 
the  Scripture.  Here  conies,  1.  The  preachi7ig 
of  this,  as  a  new  word  to  be  carried  to  all  the 
nations,  ver.  47 ;  2.  The  office  of  the  Apostles, 
as  called  to  be  the  first  and  most  special  wit- 
nesses, ver.  48  ;  3.  The  reference  of  their  expec- 
tation to  that  power  from  on  high,  the  Holy 
Spirit  whom  they  were  commanded  to  wait 
for,  ver.  49.  (This  is  the  point  of  connection 
for  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.) 

Verse  44.  The  reader  will  remember  what 
was  said  upon  ver.  37  concerning  supersti- 
tion, unbelief,  and  a  true  faith.  Tiie  faith  in 
his  resurrection  which  was  here  demanded  of 
the  Apostles,  on  the  evidence  of  their  see- 
ing and  touching,  would  have  itself  retain- 
ed some  element  of  the  first  of  'these  three, 
if   the  Lord's   instruction   had    not   followed. 


*  Driiseke    thinks   it  was   the   house  of  John, 
itompare  edoo,  John  xx.  26. 


*  Olshausen's  remark,  that  the  manifestations 
of  tlie  forty  days  had  not  for  tlieir  end  the  com- 
munication of  new  instructions,  is  only  very  ;>ar- 
tially  true.  If  the  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the 
"  vew,"  there  is  some  truth  in  it ;  for  the  Lord 
certainly  referred  back  to  his  former  discourses. 
But  llie  opening  of  their  wtderstaiidin^  as  to  ilio 
facts  which  had  occurred,  and  the  Scriptures,  and 
his  former  discourses  in  their  unity,  was  certainly 
new  walruction  ;  and  only  thus  can  we  understand 
Acts  i.  3. 

t  So  that  we  might  be  disposed  to  say — How 
we:l  prepared  must  those  two  have  been,  to  de- 
serve and  to  be  capable  of  this  !  Bat  tii^y  were 
not  so  profoMidiy  cait  dowu — as  ibo  AjiottU*  were. 


LUKE  XXIV.  41 


m 


;Batfbis  openiTig  of  fheir  understanding  makes 
it  the  faith  of  knowledge,  grounded  upon  the 
well-understood  accordance  between  the  living 
■words  and  acts  of  Christ  and  the  prophetic 
Scripture.  This  last  was  the  decisive  element 
of  their  instruction,  as  it  presented,  in  the 
•wonderful  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  a  higher 
reach  and  contemplation  to  their  faith.  As 
the  angels  in  the  sepulchre  had  referred  back 
to  the  words  of  Jesus,  vers.  6-8,  so  does  the 
Lord  himself  here  refer  back  to  them :  it  was  a 
•continued  conviction  of  the  identity  of  their 
former  and  their  present  Lord — only  in  a  high- 
er degree,  and  with  reference  to  his  spiritual 
personality.  The  reading  koyci  jiov  may 
very  well  be  genuine,  as  bringing  this  into 
prominence;  and  also  as  in  contrast  with  the 
words  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  agreeing 
with  them.  The  cSk  6vv  vulv^  "  while  with 
you "  {other  than  the  promised  and  future 
^cS'  v/xooy  in  Matt.),  Grotius  well  explains  as 
referring  to  daily  intercourse — "  Quotidiano 
scil.  convictu,  nam  tunc  tantum  ^ar'  oIkovo- 
4iiav  illis  aderat."  Bengel  lays  the  pointed 
•emphasis  wpoa  the  in  (yet),  as  transposing 
Ihem  into  the  time  when  his  departure  was  to 
Ihem  an  impending  calamity,  when  he  was 
^till  as  yet  with  them.  His  m'eaning  would  be 
tenderly  and  affectionately  to  say — "  Ye  do 
aot  now  wish  my  former  being  with  you  back 
«gain;  the  matter  is  different  now;  my  vic- 
tory over  <ieath  is  your  greatest  joy."*  The 
Lord  now  speaks,  also,  as  no  longer  being  with 
ihem  (ovHeri),  ^.s  if  already  in  heaven,  and 
united  to  them  in  spiritual  leilowBhip.  These 
anticipations  of  that  slate,  which  pervade  the 
whole  of  the  forty  days,  were  not  introduced 
at  a  later  period,-  they  are  characteristic  evi- 
dences of  genuineness  in  the  narrative:  thus 
and  not  otherwise  must  the  Risen  Lord  have 
spoken  before  the  ascension,  if  the  history  is 
true.  *Dri  dti  is  translated  by  Luther  very 
vaguely,  a,fter  the  example  of  the  Vulg.  quo7ii- 
<ini  neceise  est  (see,  nevertheless,  also  in  ver.  46, 
quoniam;  Erasmus  has  rightly  corrected  it  into 
^uod  neceise  foret — that  it  would  be  necessary). 
The  Lord  has  constantly  told  his  disciples  that 
■all  mustle  fulfilled — beginning  to  tell  them  more 
epecifically  in  Matt.  xvL  21,  Luke  xviii.  31, 
and  -Continuing  it  down  to  Gethsemane.  Why 
was  it  .then  that  they  did  not  believe  and  hold 
iast  this  truth,  but  forgot  it?  Because  they 
mnderstood  it  not;  nor  .could  they  understand 
it,  as  being  utterly  inconsistent  with  all  their 
•expectations  of  the  Messiah  and  his  kingdom. 
That  which  man  understands  not,  he  believes 
and  retains  not.  But  the  notions  which  pre- 
vented thsm  sprang  from  a  false  understand- 
ing, or  an  entire  ignorance  of  Scripture ;  the 
4)ar  to  their  understanding  was,  as  John  xx.  9 
«ays — They  knew  not  yet  the  Scripture.  Thus 
they  also  must  hear  that  exposition  and  open- 


*  So  do  we  understand  Bengal's  brief  hint : 
IRas  tristis  erat~auditu,  anta^uam  fieretj  nunc 
Iseiisjsima.  ll^  facta  £st. 


ing  of  Scripture,  for  which  the  report  of  the 
Emmaus  disciples  had  prepared  them.  Not  only 
had  the  Lord  Jesus  said  all  this  before  it  came 
to  pass  ;  but  all  was  the  counsel  of  God,  long 
ages  before  written  concerning  him. 

The  Lord  mentions  after  the  the  law  of 
Moses,  not  only  the  prophets  (as  Luke,  ver.  27, 
had  said),  but  expressly  in  addition,  the 
Psalms:  this,  however,  was  not  intended  to 
signify  that  the  historical  books,  not  named, 
were  in  any  degree  excluded.*  But  it  is  true, 
and  meant  here  also,  as  Lange  says,  "  that  the 
promise  and  typifying  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  (but  not  ihat  alone,  for  see  vers.  46,  47) 
pervades  uniformly  all  parts  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture." If  in  ver.  25  "  the  prophets  "  signified 
the  holy,  collective  body  of  prophetical  writers, 
and  Moses  in  ver.  27  took  the  lead  as  the  first 
prophet,  the  Lord  now  means  (as  raS  ypaqxxi 
ver.  45  at  once  shows)  the  entire  body  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  mentions  it  solemnly  and  formally 
by   its    then    customary    title — D'S^3J    min 

D^2*np5  (the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Writ- 
ings). In  connection  with  the  law  of  Moses, 
therefore,  the  term  "  prophets  "  includes  the 
D'J!!>NT    D'N^2J  (Former  Prophets);  and  the 

Psalms  are  set,  by  an  obvious  abbreviation,  as 
being  the  commencement  of  the  Ilagiographa, 
for  the  whole  of  the  third  section  of  Scripture.t 
Compare  in  2  Mace  ii.  13  the  specific  nai  ra 
rov  J  avid.  Nevertheless,  we  must  hold — 
with  Bengel,  who  introduces  it  as  included  in 
the  Lord's  meaning — that  the  Lord  significant- 
ly referred  to  those  psalms  which  he  had  so 
often  quoted  as  specially  prophetic  and  typical 
of  himself;  those  psalms  which  he  understood 
and  expounded,  and  will  have  us  also  under- 
stand and  expound,  in  a  manner  so  different 
from  that  of  our  modern  critics;  those  psalms 
in  which  so  many,  like  De  Wette,  find,  not- 
withstanding all  their  practical  and  devotional 
exposition,  no  direct  prophecies  of  Christ.  These 
exegetes  have  obviously  yet  to  wait  for  the 
"  opening  of  the  understanding  to  perceive." 
De  Wette  pushes  the  Jewish  distinction  be- 
tween the  inspiration  of  the  prophets  and  that 
of  the  psalms — a  distinction  which  they  in- 
tended m  a  quite  different  sense — to  such  an 
extreme  as  to  say  that  "  the  psalmists  bear  no 
public  character,  but  utter  the  feelings  of  their 
own  hearts,  and  o;ten  touching  circumstancca 
in  their  own  personal  history."  Yet — as  if  lo 
obviate  this  misunderstanding — our  Lord  ranks 
these  psalms,  as  bearing  witness  for  him,  by 
the  side  of  the  min,  or  law,  and  the  prophets. 

David  (whom  we  must  not  place  merely  among 
the  "psalmists")  was,  acccording  to  his  own 


*  Wesley  here  for  once  errs  :  "  Little  being  said 
directly  concerning  him  in  the  historical  books." 

f  Compare  Hiivernick,  Einleitung,  i.  Whether, 
however,  lii(iXo<i  tliaX/xcav  has  ihe  same  signifi- 
cation in  chap.zs.  4wj  Actsi.  20^  is  another. gues* 
tLoo. 


813 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISE. 


declaration,  2  Sam.  xxHi.,  and  the  assurances 
of  the  Apostles  who  had  learned  it  from  the 
Lord,  also  a  true  prophet;  his  psalms  were 
for  the  most  part  used  m  the  service  of  God  in 
their  "  public  character  "  as  the  "  psalms  of 
Israel;"  and  what  Christ  asserted  concerning 
him  in  Matt.  xxii.  43-45  we  have  considered 
upon  that  passage.  If  Psa.  li.,  xvi.,  xl.,  Ixxii., 
ex.  are  not,  with  all  their  adherence  lo  the 
typical  characteristics  which  pervade  the  en- 
tire Old  Testament,  to  be  called  direct  prophe- 
cies, as  direct  as  any  other  part  of  the  prophet- 
ic Scriptures,  we  understand  not  how  the 
word  is  to  be  understood.  In  fact  the  broad 
foundation  of  all  later  Messianic  prophecy  was 
laid  in  the  psalms— to  wit,  on  the  ground  of 
the  promise  given  by  Nathan  in  2  Sam.  vii. ; 
and  it  is  from  the  psalms  that  we  can  best 
understand  the  character  and  mission  and 
glory  of  David's  Son.  We  contradict  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  vea,  the  dying  David  him- 
self (2  Sam.  xxiii.  3),  if  we  say  that  this  David 
had  not  yet  received  the  later  developed  "idea 
of  the  Messiah."  That  idea  was  never  de- 
veloped, in  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  thus 
currently  used ;  but  it  was  given  by  the  will 
of  God  from  the  beginning,  and  comes  out  into 
more  and  more  prominence  as  a  revelation  till 
the  full  time  was  come.  As  regards  the  more 
or  less  direct,  the  more  or  less  typical,  utter- 
ances of  the  entirely  and  universally  typical 
personality  of  Divid,*  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion is  not  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  "  the 
poet  transposed  himself  into  any  specific  con- 
dition— that  the  type  produced  in  himself 
the  conception  of  the  prototype  or  antitype," 
and  so  forth.  But  the  Spirit  of  God  chose 
and  overruled  the  psalmist,  and  spoke  through 
him. 

Verse  45.  How  vast  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
this  Scripture,  which  first  prepared  Israel  be- 
fore the  manifestation  of  the  Lord  in  the  flesh, 
and  then  accompanied  and  confirmed  the 
Spirit's  preaching  concerning  him  ;  how  vast 
the  wisdom  of  God  in  these  Scriptures.,  mani- 
fold and  yet  one  !  Without  these  Scriptures, 
even  the  way  of  faith  of  the  God-man  himself, 
which  he  pursued  only  in  their  liglit,  would 
not  be  conceivable.  Without  them  there 
would  have  been  no  point  of  connection  for 
his  coming  and  testimony — /  am  he.  Yea, 
without  them  there  would  be  to  this  day  (as 
our  theology  and  preaching  show,  in  their  re- 
jection of  the  Old  Testament  as  the  ground  of 
the  New)  no  perfectly  intelligent,  and  firm'.y 
grounded,  faith,  either  for  preaching  or  hear- 
ing. Israel  preserved  this  Scripture;!  but  its 
kernel,  that  which  Jesus  was  the  first  fully  to 
penetrate,  remained  hidden  from  them.     They 


*  This  the  succeeding  prophets  themselves 
understood  and  so  exhibited :  beo  O.shausen, 
Udcr  liejern  Hchnftsinn,  p.  63,  54. 

t  Thus  the  Masoretes  have  preserved  with  the 
most  riaid  care,  and  with  Uie  most  spiritless  letter- 
spirit,  the  exact  text  of  the  Scriptures  fur  us. 


knew  they  recited  the  histories;  but  who 
understood  their  meaning  and  their  end  t 
They  were  exceedingly  zealous  for  the  law : 
but  its  testimony  concerning  grace  and  redemp- 
tion, and  its  secret  influence  tending  that  way, 
was  concealed  from  most.  The  masters  in  Is- 
rael knew  not  that  Moses  designed  to  awaken 
that  deepest  and  iniaost  sense  of  need  lor  which 
the  Lord  raised  up  would  bring  the-  grace  of 
salvation.  Cleaving  to  the  idea,  of  the  King, 
but  not  discerning  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer, 
they  understood  the  prophets  only  so  far  as  to 
hold  fast  this  truth,,  that  there  was  One  who 
should  come.  And  yet  this  was  enough  at  the- 
beginning  of  his  coming,  Itself:  when  he  had 
now  died  and  risen  again,  he  could  interpret  in 
the  light  of  fulfillment  what  had  been  predict- 
ed concerning  him.  This  he  most  certainly 
did  to  the  Apostles,  even  as  he  had  before  dona 
to  the  two  ;  the  Apostles  would  afterwards  bo- 
able  to  do  the  same  for  others.  It  is  recorded 
in  Actsxvii.  3,  according  to  the  common  trans- 
lation, that  l*aul,  who  (as  he  assures  us  in  1 
Cor.  XV.  3,  comp.  xi.  23)  received  the  same  in- 
struction from  the  Lord,  "  opened  "  the  Scrip- 
tuies  themselves  to  the  Jews;  and  we  may 
understand  that  literally — for  what  is  a  book, 
and  a  word  without  understanding?  Comp. 
Isa.  xxix.  11.  But  properly  speaking,  th» 
8  lav  oiy  oav  xai  napaTiQenayuiy  in  that 
passage  unitedly  refer  to  the  opened  su(»- 
stance  of  the  Scripture,  the  matter  which  fol- 
lows with  iJri.*  The  proper  opening  must, 
be  jn  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men,,  that  they 
may  be  able  to  read  the  book,  no  longer  sealed 
(Isa.  xxix.  12).  Compare  and  ponder  Psa.. 
cxix.  18,  130  (T;nnn.-nri3  and  n^vna),  Eph.  1. 

18 ;  Acts  xvi.  14.  Therefore  we  have  her* 
diyvoiqEy  avro5y  Toy  vovy,.  "  he  opened 
their  understanding,"  which  certainly  refers  to 
them  personally,  and  not  to  the  Scriptures  or 
things  written  ;  for,  it  follows,  roC  Cvyuyai 
ras  ypcxqxxiy  "that  they  might  understand 
the  Scriptures."  The  opening  did  not  take 
place  externally  in  the  Scripture,  but  inwardly 
in  their  hearts,  as  on  the  v/ay  to  Emmaus. 
It  was  partly  the  result  of  the  light  shed  upon 
the  word,  and  its  now  intelligible  accordance 
with  what  had  taken  place ;  partly  of  a  pre- 
paratory, pre-Pentecostal  injlueace  oftlie  Spirit,. 
which  proceeded  from  the  Risen  Lord. 

But  this  was  very  different  from  that  which, 
a  pious  man  describes  in  the  colloquy  with  tha- 
Eiumaus  disciples  :  "  He  related  the  story  of 
his  Passion,,  of  his  bloody  death  upon  the  cross, 
(whicli  they  themselves  well  knew  already),, 
and  illustrated  it  out  of  the  Scripture"  ( Alber- 
tini,  with  his  customary  Moravian  coloring). 
It  was  not  in  that  way  that  he  opened  their 
understanding.  Ho  gave  the  reason  and  tho 
explanation  of  the  dark  history ;  he  gava 
proof  for  its  "  must  be"  from  the  iScripture  ;  ha 
united  the  death  a.id  the  resurrection  together 


*  Not   aCzdiy  as  Luther  supplies   it  twico>. 
Ope:.ed  them  and  expounded  it. 


LUKE  XXIV.  46,  47. 


843 


in  liis  exposition.*  He  had  never,  even  to  the 
Apostles,  pointed  out  the  great  connection  of 
Scripture,  and  the  pei-fect  concert  of  the  de- 
tails of  his  life,  death,  and  resurrection  with 
the  prophecies ;  he  had  only  given  isolated 
hints,  and  quoted  individual  passages.  It 
must  of  course  be  understood  that  this  "  sharp- 
ening of  their  intelligence  to  apprehend  the 
great  whole  "  fas  Hess  says)  was  not  a  spe- 
cific exegesis  of  all  the  individual  passages,  but 
rather  the  placing  of  a  strong  light  in  the 
centre,  revealing  the  one  object,  and  the  per- 
fect harmony  of  the  entire  mass  of  Scriptures. 
The  one  central  point  was  the  understanding 
of  the  humiliation  and  exaltation,  the  suffer- 
ings and  the  glory,  of  Christ,  in  their  unity, 
their  foundation,  and  their  design. t  But,  not- 
withstanding the  fundamental  clearness  of  the 
view  which  they  now  received,  it  was  still  pos- 
sible— until  the  day  of  Pentecost  perfected 
their  knowledge,  or  at  least  made  it  infallible 
in  their  office — that  they  should  have  questions 
to  put,  such  as  that  in  Acts  i.  6  concerning 
the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  for  Israel — 
and  even  that  they  should  mistake  in  specific 
circumstances,  as  Peter  did,  Acts  i.  20,  concern- 
ing the  successor  of  Judas. 

Verses  46,  47.  We  doubt,  as  has  already 
been  said,  Avhether  these  specific  words  were 
spoken  at  the  ascension,  and  therefore  belong 
to  Acts  i.J  The  discourse  goes  on  so  uninter- 
ruptedl}'-,  the  "  thus  it  is  written  "  points  so 
directly  to  what  preceded,  that  we  are  con- 
strained to  receive  all  as  spoken  at  one  and 
the  same  time.  Thus  it  is  written — thus  has  it 
come  to  pass.  This  declares  at  the  outset  the 
clear  concordance  of  all  with  what  had  been 
written.  But  then  this  emphatically  redou- 
bled "  ovTooi " — thus  in  the  Scripture  corres- 
ponding with  thus  in  the  event,  thus  in  the 
event  corresponding  with  thus  in  the  Scripture 
— brings  out  the  distinctive  meaning.  Thus  and 
not  othenoise :  though  man's  understanding  may 
not  be  able  to  apprehend  much  that  is  involv- 
ed in  it ;  and  man's  wisdom  might  be  tempted 
to  condemn,  or  his  prejudiced  mind  at  least 
be  disposed  to  wish  some  things  in  it  other^ 


*  "  To  say  that  Jesus  was  guided  by  Iho  Jewish 
manner  of  exposition  darkens,  instead  of  illus- 
trating, the  subject.  He  manifestly  understood 
the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  scriptural 
passages  which  referred  to  it,  in  an  altogether 
different  way  Irom  that  in  which  the  Jews  of  his 
own  time  interpreted  or  rather  misinterpreted  " 
(Hess). 

•j-  Thiersch  (Die  Kirche  im  apostol.  Zeitalter,  p.  48, 
49)  seems  to  border  on  the  notion  of  an,  as  it 
were,  esoteric  instruction  concerning  the  abun- 
dant fulness  of  which  the  Evangelist  maintained 
an  intentional  and  prudent  reserve.  According 
to  Matt.  X.  27,  however,  we  tind  that  this  con- 
cealed instruction  was  to  be  disclosed  in  all  the 
preaching  and  instruction  of  the  Apostles, 

X  We  cannot  on  this  occasion  agree  with  Ben- 
gel,  who  remarEs — Quam  sapienter  Scripmras  pro- 
duserit. 


wise.  Out  of  the  "  It  is  written,"  as  the  sute 
expression  of  the  divine  counsel,  follows  here, 
for  the  last  time  in  the  lips  of  Jesus,  an  irre- 
vocably decisive  and  final  eSsty  "it  behooved," 
as  to  all  that  was  past,  and  consequently  also 
a  8  Sly  must  for  all  that  was  yet  to  come.* 
This  sacred  8e7,  this  must  of  the  divine  will, 
and  of  the  divine  wisdom — and,  as  the  expres- 
sion of  it,  this  sacred  yEypanrai  (it  is  writ- 
ten)— is  and  must  ever  be  the  limit  of  under- 
standing. Wherefore  was  all  thus?  Because 
so  written.  Wherefore  was  it  thus,  and  thus 
only,  written  ?  Was  it  thus  decreed?  This 
Christ  does  not  say;  the  Spirit  gives  us  hints 
and  fragmentary  declarations  concerning  it, 
but  after  all  there  abides  forever  the  limit  of 
the  impenetrable  Ssly  where  creature  know- 
ledge ceases,  and  creature  desire  to  know 
should  cease — in  that  mystery  concerning  sin 
and  redemption,  where  faith  alone  is  to  avail. 
"  This  holy  must  is  set  by  our  Lord  against  all 
their  (and  our)  ambitious  and  staggering 
thoughts"  (Rambach).  By  this  it  is  not 
meant,  however,  that  every  single  yeypartrai 
must  impose  a  limit  upon  our  reason;  for,  an 
error  of  the  received  text,  condemned  by  all 
the  rest  of  Scripture,  might  assume  that  form 
and  authority  ;  nor  are  we  prevented  from  ad- 
justing individual  points  in  it  by  means  of  a 
thorough  understanding  of  the  whole.  But 
this  much  is  forever  true,  that  the  sure  and 
plain  Scripture  cannot  be  broken  ;  and  that  wo 
may  humbly  hope  and  pray  for  and  expect  a 
further  opening  of  our  minds  to  iindcrsiand, 
wherever  there  yet  remains  obscurity  around 
that  which  is  expressly  written.  The  believing 
desire  of  humble  study  will  never  be  disap- 
pointed. 

Not  only  the  sufTerings  of  Christ,  but  also 
the  ovrco?  and  raCra  itaOelVy  the  suffering 
this  and  these  things,  are  found  in  Scripture. 
Not  only  the  resurrection  generally,  but  also 
the  resurrection  on  the  third  day  was  predicted 
(and  this  may  be  an  example  which  should 
confirm  to  us  other  such  instances) — whether 
we  can  find  it  there  or  not.  But  the  ye- 
ypaitrai  and  the  f'Scr  hold  good  also  of  the 
•preaching  and  its  oCrcoi — to  which  the  Lord 
now  passes  in  the  same  clause — it  includes  the 
extension  and  the  snhstance  of  this  preaching 
(Acts  xxvi.  23)  ;  for,  although  the  preaching 
itself  was  then,  as  yet,  a  del  in  the  future,  the 
Lord  nevertheless  embraced  evei-y  thing  under 
the  same  iSai,  his  all-comprehending  glance 
regarding  all  as  certainly  fulfilled.  He  passes 
at  once,  in  ver.  47,  from  the  past  to  the  luture 
which  should  immediately  follow  upon  it,  and 
spring  out  of  it;  for  it  could  not  be  but  that 
these  great  divine  events  should  be  announced, 
the  accomplished  work  of  redemption  must 
be  proclaimed  to  all  mankind  without  delay. 
Rambach  shows  us  here  four  luture  character- 


*  For  the  words  xai  oZrooi  eSet  are  certainly 
genuine;  the  express  emphHsia  wiiicli  cliaructer- 
fzes  the  whole  paas-.ge  would  not  allow  t^em  to  be 
wanting. 


844 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISE. 


istics  of  the  preaching  of  his  kingdom  which 
the  Lord  indicates.  It  should  now  be  preached  ; 
the  substance  of  that  preaching  should  be  re- 
pentance and  forgiveness  of  sins;  that  this 
preaching  should  go  forth  to  all  nations  ;  and 
that  it  should  begin  in  Jerusalem.  Salvation 
must  be  preached,  announced,  and  offered  every 
where,  though  it  may  not  every  where  find  ac- 
ceptance. Further,  it  must  be  preached,  not 
only  as  a  ovrcoi  eSai,  but  also  as  a  ovtcl> 
yiypanrai — that  is,  it  must  be  preached  ac- 
e&rding  to  the  Scriptures  (1  Cor.  xv.  3,  4)  ;  the 
Scripture  must  be  carried  with  the  preaching 
to  all  nations  and  to  the  Gentiles.  All  we  can 
do  here  is  to  repeat— What  profound  wisdom 
in  this  ordinance  of  God  !  and  how  great  the 
power  of  the  Spirit,  through  whose  influence 
the  faith  of  the  nations  would  be  won,  in  the 
way  of  free  acceptance,  for  this  preaching  and 
these  Scriptures  going  forth  to  them  from  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Jews  !*  Jn  his  name,  by  ambas- 
sadors in  his  place,  after  he  had  ascended  :  this, 
therefore  says  once  more — Soon  shall  I  be  no 
longer  with  you,  as  now.  Jn  his  name — this  is 
also  connected  with  repentance  and  forgiveness; 
as  if  it  would  say — Through  faith  in  him,  his 
person,  his  salvation  ;  only  through  him  and 
in  him.  The  one  only  name  stands  irremov- 
ably  firm,  from  which  salvation  can  never  be 
sundered,  besides  which  there  is  no  other  given. 
"  The  name  of  Jesus  opens  the  door  for  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins  " — says  Rieger.  In 
Mark  xvi.  "  the  Gospel "  is  added  to  the 
"  preach  ;"  it  is  here  silently  included  in  the 
K>/ftvxO?/yat,  and  it  is  further  explained  and 
paraphrased  by  the  two  great  words  which 
point  back  to  chap.  i.  77,  and  iii.  3,  in  Luke's 
own  Gospel.  All  the  prophets  until  John,  and 
John  with  them,  preached  and  ofTered  to  man 
both  ;  yet  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
rather  repentance,  the  New  Testament  first 
brought  in  the  reality  and  full  assurance  of  the 
remission  of  sins.  We  may  say,  indeed,  that 
repentance  itself  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  New- 
Testament  repentance,  has  now  become  some- 
thin"  new,  something  different  from  what  it 
was  before.  By  the  passion  of  Christ  repent- 
ance is  now  preached  in  its  evangelical  strength  ; 
by  his  resiirrection  forgiveness  is  offered  and 
pledged.  The  New-Testament  preaching  of  re- 
pentance is  itself  a  Gospel.  For,  the  message 
of  grace  does  not  merely  bring  "  the  incentive 
to  repentance,  and  the  promise  of  forgiveness :" 
God  gives  to  those  who  hear  and  believe  re- 
pentance unto  life  (Acts  xi.  18).  The  union 
of  these  two  words,  repentance  and  remission, 
is  full  of  encouragement  to  the  weak  in  faith. 


*  "  After  the  foundation  of  our  salvation  in  the 
redenii)Uon  which  was  effecled  thus  by  Christ, 
nothing  is  greater  and  more  gracious  tiian  tlic 
way  and  the  terms  of  the  preach. ng  of  tiiat  re- 
demption. In  bringing  the  world  to  faitli  through 
sucli  preaching  he  has  shown  as  mucii  power  and 
love,  as  in  his  sending  his  Son  into  the  world.' 
So  says  Rieger,  in  lundametital  haimony  with 
Eph.  i.  19,  20. 


I  who  may  say :  As  certain  as  I  am  of  my  sin- 
cere and  earnest  repentance,  so  certainly  mayl 
appropriate  the  grace  which  the  Lord  has  thus 
connected  with  it;  for  he  has  taught  hi^  ser- 
vants to  preach  that  true  repentance  should 
ever  avail  and  be  accepted.  It  is  full  also  of  en- 
couragement and  attraction  even  to  the  uncon- 
verted, as  long  as  they  hear  these  words ;  for 
the  only  end  and  aim  of  repentance  is  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  If 
we  examine  Acts  ii.  38,  v.  31,  xx.  21,  we  shall 
perceive  ihut  faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  though 
it  is  not  here,  as  in  ^lark  xvi.,  mentioned  and 
made  prominent  as  all  decisive,  is  incUidedand 
pre-supposed  as  the  condition  of  this  forgive- 
ness (Acts  xiii.  38,  39).  Where  there  is  re- 
mission of  siiis,  there  is  resurrection  peace  and 
resurrection  power,  there  is  life  and  salvation. 
To  seek  and  find  this  one  thing,  in  which  all 
terminates,  through  the  one  means  of  penitent 
faith,  is  the  living  fruit  of  all  right  understand- 
ing of  Scripture,  even  in  the  case  of  the  preach- 
ers of  salvation  taught  by  Jesus  himself,  who 
themselves  need  and  enjoy  it.  And  this  one 
thing  is  ever,  to  all  who  hear  their  preaching, 
the  way  and  the  key  to  their  own  understand- 
ing of  Scripture  also.* 

Beginning  at  Jerusalem.  The  dplac/navov 
(instead  of  which,  false  readings  correct  dp^a- 
/usvot,  dp^aiueyccv — Vulg.  inajdentibus—'ZTAS- 
mus,  mending  it,  iyiitio  facto)  belongs  as  ace. 
abs.  to  xTjpvxO'/yi-xt,  as  it  were,  dplansvov 
Tov  HTjpvyi.iaTo'i.  Or,  according  to  Winer, 
as  an  absolute  and  impersonal  participle,  in- 
stead of  the  whole  clause — When  and  so  as  it 
was  begun.  Suffice  it  that  the  meaning  is  per- 
fectly clear.  These  Apostles  (and  many  after 
them)  can  only  begin  the  preaching  io'all  na- 
tions generally;  but  not  only  must  they  in  tlu 
first  age,  all  their  successors  also  must  in  everj 
age,  as  far  as  it  may  be,  begin  from  Jerusalem 
The  word  of  this  commandment  has  an  imme- 
diate meaning,  and  a  meaning  also  which  ex- 
tends very  wide.  The  first  and  obvious  mean- 
ing was,  that  they  were  not  to  commence  theii 
preaching  in  a  corner ;  but  that  "  tiie  victo- 
rious power  of  truth  should  be  demonstrated 
precisely  where  men  would  most  gladly  have 
extinguished  it "  ( Braune).  Thus,  it  is  strictly 
connected  with  the  direction  of  ver.  49  to  re- 
main in  the  city,  until  the  Spirit  should  come; 
a  direction  which,  as  Lange  rightly  observes, 
plainly  proves  that  thi.s  discourse  of  the  Lord 
must  be  placed  at  a  later  period  after  the  re- 
turn of  the  disciples  from  Galilee,  and  conse- 
quently not  upon  the  mountain.  But  then,  on 
tlic  other  hand,  ver.  49  receives  from  ver.  47 
an  intenser  meaning  than  the  literal  sense  that 
they  were  to  remain  where  they  were :  Ye 
must,  afterwards,  when  the  time  of  your  preach- 
ing comes,  retain  your  place  in  the  holy  city, 


♦  "  The  ground  of  all  faith  in  Scrip'ure  is  sin- 
cere repentance  of  the  lieart."  Tliis  was  tlie 
axiom  wiiich  contained  our  earliest  testimon)-,  ia 
the  preface  to  Hamuilung  1  of  the  AndcutungM, 


LUKE  XXIV.  48. 


845 


not  yet  given  up*  until  the  power  from  on 
high  shall  lead  you  further  forth  into  all  the 
world.  The  history  leaves  it  shrouded  in  ob- 
scurity, how  and  wherefore  the  disciples,  whom 
Matthew  and  John  represent  as  being  in  Gali- 
lee, whither  they  had  been  appointed  to  go, 
should  have  returned  to  Jerusalem,  where  they 
heard  these  words,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
which  the  ascension  certainly  took  place.  But 
■we  know  that  the  narrative  is  far  from  record- 
ing all  things  that  transpired,  and  we  must 
apply  what  is  wanting  by  our  own  suppo- 
sitions. (Acts  i.  4,  6vvaXi^6nEyoi  gives  us  a 
hint.)  Suffice  it  that  as  yet,  so  we  understand 
it,  Jerusalem  was  not  rejected ;  the  missions 
promised  in  Matt,  xxiii.  34  should  first  be  re- 
ceived and  refused.  The  grace  and  mercy  of 
Jesus  must  there  first,  and  now  in  the  pleni- 
tude of  its  obtained  fulness,  be  offered  where 
he  had  been  crucified.  Finally,  it  was  quite 
in  harmony  with  the  theocratic  dispensation 
and  the  typical  relation  of  the  city  to  the  fu- 
ture, that  the  King  who  was  set  upon  Zioa 
(Psa.  ii.  6)  siiould  also  stretch  out  the  sceptre 
of  his  kingdom  for  the  first  time  from  this 
Mount  Zion  over  all  the  nations  (Psa.  ex.  3) — 
even  as  his  word  will  a  second  time,  and  in  the 
last  days  (Isa.  ii.  2,  3)  go  forth  in  its  utmost 
power  'from  restoi-ed  Jerusalem.  This  is  the 
city  of  election,  the  everlasting  metropolis, 
which  must  yet  give  its  name  to  the  heavenly 
city.  The  theocratical  economy  of  the  old 
covenant  remains  firm,  and  retains  its  high 
dignity.  There  was,  indeed,  at  first,  an  ap- 
pointment of  the  disciples  to  go  away  to  Gali- 
lee, and  this  was  the  destruction  of  every  hope 
of  a  kingdom  in  Jerusalem  such  as  their 
thoughts  had  shaped  it.  But  then,  again,  and 
with  another  meaning,  they  were  appointed  to 
return  and  abide  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  this  inti- 
mates to  ourselves  that  we  must  never  give  up 
a  fallen  Christian  people,  which  is  not  yet 
utterly  rejected.  They  must  continue  their 
preaching  to  those  first  called,  paying  honor  to 
the  desolate  sanctuary,  until  God  had  made  it 
fully  desolate.  (See  ver.  53,  in  the  temple.) 
This  is  the  most  far-reaching  sense  of  the  word, 
including  an  internal  and  spiritual  truth  in  the 
historical  and  actual  figure;  and  it  is  thus  ex- 
pressed by  Schmieder  :  "  We  must  ever  begin 
our  preaching  and  testimony  in  the  place  where 
we  are,  to  which  God  has  appointed  us;"  even 
if  the  name  which  we  preach  is  reviled,  and 
the  salvation  which  we  offer  is  rejected. 

Verse  48.  TueU,  "  ye,"  means  here,  ac- 
cording to  the  teaching  of  Luke's  account,  and 
consequently  according  to  our  Lord's  intention, 
the  Apostlat  especially — though  a  wider  appli- 
cation is  not  excluded.  The  avroli a.nd  avr(^y, 
etc.,  "  them,"  goes  on  to  the  end  from  ver.  33, 
where  not  alone  the  eleven  were,  but  yet  all  the 
others  were  only  with  them.  (Comp.  the  pro- 
minence given  them  by  oli,  Acts  i.  3 ;  while 


*  Ebrard  understands  it  of  a  further  require- 
ment that  they  should  continue  dwelling  m  Jerusa- 
lem. 


afterwards  it  is  in  ver.  6  ol  dweXOoyre?.) 

Accordingly,  the  words  will  not  suit  the  great 
Galilean  gathering.  "  Te  are  witnesses,"  is 
generally  explained  as  being  instead  of  "ye 
shall  be,"  in  Acts  i.  8.  But  while  the  future  is 
peifectly  appropriate  in  the  Acts,  the  present 
tense  is  properly  used  here ;  for  they  are  al- 
ready the  witnesses,  who  had  been  long  called, 
and  now  were  instructed,  and  during  the  forty 
days  had  been  again  and  again  pointed  to  their 
future  mission.  They  are  witnesses,  a  word 
which  recurs  in  Acts.  i.  8  as  especially  applied 
to  the  Apostles.  It  is  not  the  Lord's  will  to 
appoint  and  send  forth  orators  or  enthusiasts, 
or  even  simple  teachers — and  this  he  shows  at 
the  very  outset  in  the  typical  character  of  his 
first  Apostles — but,  before  all,  and  in  all,  wit- 
nesses. The  word  is  further  explained  by  the 
roiirooy — witnesses  of  these  facts,  primarily  ; 
so  that  the  idea  contained  in  the  words  of  Luke 
i.  2,  "  which,  from  the  beginning,  were  ei/e- 
witnesses,  and  ministers  of  the  word,"  is  here 
found  once  more.  Eye-witnesses  and  ear-wit- 
nesses of  my  life,  of  my  discourses,  and  of  my 
works,  while  I  was  with  you  (John  xv.  27),  of 
my  sufferings  also,  and  now  especially  of  my 
resurrection,  as  ye  shall  soon  be  of  my  ascen- 
sion. The  resurrection  is  naturally  made  pro- 
minent in  Acts  i.  22,  ii.  32  ;  and  afterwards,  in 
chap.  X.  39,  their  calling  to  bear  their  testi- 
mony, as  eye-witnesses,  to  his  former  life  is 
added — compare  chap.  xiii.  31.  But  that  is 
not  ail .  with  the  fact  of  the  resurrection,  and 
all  that  was  surely  obtained  thereby,  is  con- 
nected also  the  opening  of  their  understand- 
ing. Consequently,  "  tfuse  things"  include  the 
"  it  is  written,"  and  "  thus  it  should  be,"  that 
is,  their  beholding  these  facts  .in  the  light  of 
Scripture;  and  also  every  commandment  and 
commission  which  they  had  received  (rovrayy, 
of  these  things,  of  these  fulfilling  events,  of 
these  prophesying  Scriptures,  and  of  these 
commandments  which  point  to  a  yet  outstand- 
ing fulfillment).  So  it  is  in  Acts.  v.  32 ;  and 
in  chap.  iv.  20,  every  commandment  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  all  his  enlightenment,  appears  to 
be  included  in  the  seeing  and  hearing.  In  this 
last  sense,  every  man  is  analogously  a  witness, 
in  whose  heart  the  Spirit  has  glorified  and 
sealed  the  life  and  the  words  of  Jesus,  makmg 
their  spiritual  perception  of  these  equivalent 
to  an  eternal  seeing  and  hearing. 

Teschendorf  represents  the  Apostles  as  here 
crying  in  holy  fervor — "  We  are  witnesses  !  " 
It  they  did  so,  which  is  not  probable,  the  com- 
mandment that  they  should  wait  with  their 
testimony  was  all  the  more  significant.  It  is 
as  if  he  had  said — Ye  are  indeed  witnesses  ac- 
cording to  the  Father's  counsel  and  mine  ;  but, 
with  ail  your  present  experience  and  insight  into 
So-ipture,  ye  are  not  3-et  fully  endued  and  pre- 
pared for  your  actual  beginning  in  Jerusalem. 
In  this  there  was  a  great  truth,  which  cannot 
be  enough  pondered.  The  preaching  of  the 
Christ  crucified  and  risen,  which  was  to  begin 
with  the  word  and  testimony  of  the  Apostles, 
was  based  :     1.  Upon  the  sensibly  certain  ex- 


84d 


FURTHER  EXPLANATION  AND  PROMISE. 


perience  of  these  first,  and  in  this  sense  most 
proper,  witnesses  (who  could  say — We  have 
seen  it,  and  handled)  ;  2.  Upon  the  sure  under- 
standing of  the  Scriptures,  communicated  to 
them  first,  and  by  them  to  be  communicated 
to  others  (iov  they  might  say — I'hua  il  is  writ- 
ten) ;  3.  finally,  upon  their  internal  reception 
of  the  power  from  on  liigh,  through  which 
alone  ttie  Spirit  most  essentially  testifies  that 
the  life  and  the  words  are  truth.*  This  last 
foundation  of  their  preaching  could  not  be  left 
wanting.  The  Scrijjture  stands  in  the  middle  ; 
for,  to  understand  its  word  is  more  than  the 
seeing  and  hearing  of  sense  (hence  Christ  led 
the  Apostles  omcard  to  this) ;  but  the  power  from 
071  high  iriv^s  more  than  the  understanding  of 
Scripture,  which  in  and  of  itself  is  not  suf- 
ticient.f 

Verse  49.  Now  first  is  added  the  power, 
promised  with  an  express  and  emphatic — And, 
leholU.  The  remaining  at  Jerusalem  has  al- 
ready been  spoken  of;  HaOH^siv,  like2'j;Mn  its 
familiar  meaning,  is  used  hevQ primarily  of  their 
not  departing,  Acts  i.  4.  The  addition,  Jerusa- 
lem, must  be  removed  from  the  text ;  in  the 
city — the  whole  emphasis  lies  upon  that  word 
itself.  This  was  communicated  by  the  Apos- 
tles (and  whosoever  were  then  likewise  pres- 
ent) to  all  the  disciples  ;  and  it  was  regarded  as 
the  Lord's  direclion  that  all  who  believed  in 
him  should  gather  together  in  the  city,  and 
wait  there  till  the  Feast  of  Pentecost.  For 
this  "tarry"  at  the  same  time  commanded 
them  all  to  wait  and  expect  in  stillness ;  and 
not  to  go  forth  with  the  great  mystery  of  sal- 
vation wu^i  tiie  Spirit  should  come.J  It  was 
remarked  by  Lange,  in  opposition  to  Strauss, 
that  the  impatient  question  of  Acts  i.  6  may 
be  referred  to  an  impulse  in  the  disciples'  minds 
to  proclaim  at  once  the  great  and  mighty 
things  which  were  committed  to  their  keeping  ; 
and  he  went  on  to  say  :  "  It  is,  and  has  always 
been,  a  notorious  evil  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
that  many  disciples  of  Jesus  are  disposed  to 
hurry  out  into  the  world  before  they  have  re- 
ceived in  waiting  prayerful  humility  the  equip- 
ment of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Oh,  that  we  all 
might  learn  to  wad  like  little  children  ;  and  lay 
to  lieart  the  important  lesson  that,  after  all  the 
teaching  and  diicipline  which  the  Apostles  had 
gone  through,  the  last  school  of  preparation 
before  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  a  lurther  wait- 
ing of  ten  days  1     "  God  is  a  God  of  peace  and 


*  See  the  remarks  upon  Jolin  xv.  26,  27. 

■j- 11  chter's  Jlausbibel  lemarks  ui)oa  it,  as  very 
obbervable,  llial  "  the  Apostles,  who  saw  and 
kne.v  tiio  Redeemer,  who  heard  him  speak  and 
were  remiiuled  by  him  of  his  former  d.scourscs, 
yot  were  thus  expressly  referred  to  their  Ji  b'.c' 
liut  liie  Scriptures  alone  were  not  sufficient  evon 
lor  them. 

%  The  Berlcnbfrg.  Bihcl  says,  in  its  characteristic 
way,  and  witti  internal  truth :  "  Sit  still,  and  re- 
main sitting — ye  must  learn  to  s'.t  still,  before  ye 
go  out  inio  all  the  world;"  even,  before  ye  com- 
mence in  Jerusalem. 


'  a  God  of  order ;    he  requires  patient  waiUng 
as  much  as  swift  obedience  "  (Branne). 

Behold  /  send:  this  d7to6T£\\a)  (var. 
Ec,ano6rEXXoo) — used  only  o{  persons,  and  thus 
here  of  the  personal  Paraclete  (although  h« 
was  first  indicated  as  a  promise,  and  then 
as  a  poicer),  and  therefore  well  translated  by 
Hasse,  I  appoint — is,  in  connection  with  the 
iSov,  hehoUl,  precisely  the  same  realization  of 
the  future  in  the  present  which  we  found  in 
the  "  I  ascend  "  spoken  to  Mary  Magdalene. 
The  time  is  left  altogether  indefinite;  it  was 
not  till  afterwards,  Acts  i.  5,  that  a  term  was 
placed — nearer  or  more  distant,  as  it  may  be 
understood — to  their  impatient  and  anxious 
waiting.  The  "  until"  which  accompanies  the 
promise  of  the  Spirit's  coming  and  baptism,* 
forbids  us  to  suppose  any  thing  like  a  gradual 
and  natural  increase  of  light  and  strength 
in  their  minds,  which  reached  its  consum- 
mation at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost.  The  Lord 
speaks  here,  even  according  to  Luke,  as  if  ho 
would  once  more  comprehensively  refer  to  his 
discourses  concerning  the  Comforter  which 
John  records.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  in  gen- 
eral, that  hnayyeXia  (promise)  stands  fre- 
quently for  the  promised  good  itself:  see 
throughout  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  but 
especially  a  direct  parallel  in  Gal.  iii.  14,  where 
the  promise  of  the  Spirit  is,  as  it  were,  the  last, 
the  greatest,  and  most  comprehen.sive  promise 
of  all  that  had  been  promised  of  God  in  Christ 
and  through  Christ  to  the  nations.  Compare, 
further,  Eph.  i.  13  ;  1  John  ii.  25.  The  Lord 
says  here — The  promise  of  my  Father;  because 
he  had  said  at  first — I  send  :  thus,  as  in  John, 
the  Trinity  is  included.  Hence  in  Acts  i.  4  it 
is  once  more  changed — Which  ye  have  heard  of 
me.f  This  resumption  must  not  be  understood 
according  to  the  strange  interpretation  of  Gro- 
tius:  "  'i'he  promise  of  the  Father  is  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  promised  of  the  Father  to 
himself,  that  he  might  bestow  it  upon  his  dis- 
ciples. "  Where  did  the  Lord  ever  say,  and 
how  can  we  impute  the  saying  to  him,  that 
the  Father  promised  the  Spirit  to  the  Sonf 
Even  John  the  Baptist,  John  iii.  34,  35,  speaks 
differently.  So  also  in  Acts  ii.  33,  where  Peter 
at  the  great  fiiUillment  speaks  still  in  the  same 
sanctified  expression,  we  must  understand  him 
to  mean,  not  that  the  Risen  Lord,  exalted  by 
the  right  hand  of   God,   received   the   Holy 


•  Alas  !  even  Braune  exhibits  some  measure  of 
participation  in  this  view  :  "  Their  internal  im- 
pulse to  bear  witness  should  vicrease  (]) — until  all 
uiicerlainty  in  the  inmost  of  their  minds  was  de- 
stroyed ;  and  the  external  oppori unity  which  they 
desired  would  not  be  wanting  when  the  necessary 
degree  of  strength  from  on  high  had  been  obtain- 
ed." This  is  not  ill  meant,  but  the  matter  is  not 
rightly  viewed. 

f  Even  Neander  says  hero  :  "  The  comparison 
with  Acts  i.  4  leads  us  to  think  of  a  promise  given 
by  Christ  in  the  name  of  his  Fattier;  and  this 
would  refer  to  the  last  discourses  of  Jesus,  as  re- 
corded by  Jolin." 


LUKE  XXIV. 


847 


Ghost  himself,  with  whom  his  humanity  had 
already  been  anointed  at  his  baptism — but  that 
he  received  authority  and  the  power  to  pour 
out  the  Holy  Ghost'.  The  Spirit  was  given 
into  his  hand  and  power  as  a  promise,  to  be 
fulfilled,  which  had  been  given  to  mankind. 
Fcr  if  he  himself  pours  out  the  Spirit — as  God 
had  promised,  in  the  prophet  Joel,  I  will  pour 
out  of  my  Spirit — certamly  the  same  Spirit 
was  not  given  to  him  by  the  Father  as  he  was 
afterwards  given  to  other  men.  The  Spirit  is 
the  promise  of  the  Father ;  that  is,  most  as- 
suredly, had  been  promised  by  the  Father 
through  the  earlier  words  of  Christ  and  his 
present  word— I  will  send  him  down  upon  you. 
For  as,  according  to  John  xiv.  16,  26,  the  Fa- 
ther sendeth  him  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  at  his 
prayer  and  through  his  mediation,  so  in  John 
XV.  26  we  hear  again — Whom  I  will  send  unto 
you,  as  from  the  Father.  The  Lord  now  refers 
to  that  earlier  word,  which  he  had  spoken  while 
he  was  yet  with  them  (so  that  ver.  49  coin- 
cides with  ver.  44)  ;  and  this  is  further  made 
plain  by  the  kqt  v^idi,  which  belongs  to  the 
■v/nEli  of  ver.  48.  Consequently — upon  you  as 
my  witnesses :  so  that  the  whole  discourse  of 
John  XV.  26,  27,  is  brought  to  their  full  re- 
membrance. But  all  this  does  not  exclude  (as 
Neander  thinks)  the  reference  to  all  the  ancient 
promises  of  God  in  the  Scriptures  (Gal.  iii.  14). 
The  expression  eTtayysAia  is,  as  it  were,  the 
summary  of  all  extant  and  not-yet-fulfilled 
promises  ;  and  is  the  continuation  of  the  key- 
note struck  in  vers.  46,  47.  That  which  God, 
the  Father  of  Jesus  Christ,  had  promised  from 
the  beginning  as  the  last  and  highest  gift  for 
the  great  time  of  fulfillment,  is  the  same  prom- 
ise which  the  Lord  gave  to  his  disciples  in 
words  harmonizing  with  the  ancient  Scriptures. 
This  great  promise  was  now  in  the  nai  iSov 
(Behold)  to  become  living  and  real ;  it  was  to 
be  sent  as  the  living  and  personal  Spirit  him- 
self. 

The  aTtodreWd),  "  I  send,"  was  plain 
enough  ;  the  Lord  therefore  may  connect  with 
it,  without  any  danger  of  misapprehension, 
other  and  seemingly  impersonal  expres.'^ions 
concerning  the  Spirit.  He  gives  to  him  tico 
such  designations  :  the  one  looks  back  upon 
the  former  promises,  as  was  most  appropriate 
here ;  the  other,  with  equal  appropriateness, 
indicates  his  influence,  or  the  need  which  was 
to  be  supplied  in  the  disLjiplea.  They  were  to 
be  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  If  the 
Father,  the  Almighty,  Matt.  xxvi.  64,  is  him- 
self called  7/  dvTafit?,  jxmer,  why  may  not 
the  Spirit  be  so  termed,  who  is  specifically  his 
active  energy.  See,  for  example,  Micah  iii.  8, 
and  similarly  Ecclus.  xi.  21,  vnd  nvsv/.taro'; 
Svyoc/uEGoi  6ov.  See  also  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Acts  i.  8,  X.  38  ;  Rom.  xv.  19,  etc.  Fi- 
nally, Eph.  iii.  20,  according  to  the  power  {Hard 
Tj/v  Svvamv)  that  worheth  in  us  (chap,  i-  19), 
where  we  have  a  like  designation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  for  in__vers.  20,  21,  there  is  the  same 
combination  of  the  Saored  Three  which  there 
was  in  vers.  14-17.    So  in  Luke,  diap.  i.  17,  in 


the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias;  and  in  ver.  35, 
the  pimer  of  the  Highest,  dvvauii  vipidzov,  as 
the  parallel  name  of  nvav/ua  dyiov,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  came  upon  Mary.  So  here  it  ia, 
still  further,  fmter  from  on  high  ;  partly,  it  may 
be,  to  remind  them  of  the  ancient  "  promise," 
Isa.  xxxii.  15  (compare  Ecclus.  ix.  17),  thus 
speaking  in  a  prophetical  expression ;  and, 
partly,  because  the  Lord  once  more  speaks  as  he 
who  is  already  above  and  sendeth  downfrmn  on 
high  what  should  be  necessary  for  earthly  in- 
firmity, and  what  could  come  only  from  above 
through  the  Spirit  of  God — that  is,  power. 
Thus  here  we  have  once  more  the  prolepsis  of 
the   ascension.      On   high,   vtpoi,    DiliO    and 

D'piip — the  well-known  expression  for  heaven, 

from  Job  xvi.  19  down  to  Luke  i.  78,  and  be- 
yond. Presently,  he  will  ascend  above,  and 
receive  gifts  as  man  for  men,  Psa.  Ixviii.  19. 
It  is  further  and  finally  confirmed  that  he 
speaks  in  echoes  of  the  Scripture,  by  the  re- 
markable £ySv6T/60s,  "ye  shall  be  endued," 
which  in  the  Old  Testament  was  the  constant 
expression  for  a  sudden  and  temporary  afflatus 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  which  is  now  assumed 
into  the  New  Testament  as  consummated  into 
a  permanent  impartation.  As  t^a^,  to  clothe, 
frequently  occurred  with  a  similar  meaning, 
for  instance  in  Isa.  li.  9,  i]}"^t^2^;  as  in  Psa. 

cxxxii.  9,  16  (2  Chron.  vi.  41)  the  priests  are 
spoken  of  as  clothed  with  the  salvation  of 
righteousness  (the  enemies,  in  ver.  18,  with 
disgrace ;  and  Judas,  Psa.  cix.  18,  with  a 
curse) ;  so  the  Spirit  (of  the  Lord)  came  upon 
or  clothed  Gideon,  Amasai,  Zechariah  ;  Jude. 
vi.  34,  1  Chron.  xiii.  18,  2  Chron.  xxiv.  20.  It 
is  quite  needless  that  Gesenius  should  demon- 
strate the  meaning  implere  (clothe  inwardiy) 
for  these  passages  (and  for  Luke  xxiv.  49, 
which  he  adds  Irom  the  New  Testament),  by 
going  so  far  as  the  formula  St/ra  concerning 
Satan,  "ST^'a^  N30D»  in  Ephraem.  It  is  much 
more  obvious  to  refer  to  the  putting  on  of 
Christ,  Rom.  xiii.  14,  Gal.  iii.  27,  with  which 
the  being  clothed  with  the  Spirit  in  our  pres- 
ent passage  is  strictly  parallel.  For  with 
power  we  can  only  inwardly  be  clothed.  Ols- 
hausen  says,  quite  correctly  :  "  It  is  to  be  un- 
derstood of  the  entire,  internal  penetration  and 
actual  possession" — ^just  as  the  baptising  of 
Acts  i.  5  is  an  internal  reception  of  the  power 
spoken  of  in  ver.  8.  Thus  it  is  not  merely  in- 
adequate, to  resolve  the  figure,  so  called,  into 
no  more  than  an  "equipment,  or  furnishing," 
etc. ;  such  an  explanation  is  most  superficial, 
and  robs  the  words  of  their  profound  meaning. 
Bengel  gives  his  suggestive  interpretation  in 
two  words — suhito,  prorsus  (suddenly  and  en- 
tirely). In  the  sfuhito  lies  the  analogy  with  the 
Old-Testament  formula — "  The  Sjdrit  came 
upon  him  "  suddenly  and  for  the  time.  But 
the  prorsus  intimates  the  distinction  which  is 
also  found  in  the  turn  of  the  expression — Ye 
shall  be  endued,  or  clothed.  Bengal  goes  on 
to  say — "  We  are  naked  without  virtue  imm 


848 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


heaven  ;"  and  this  is  the  profound  tru'h.  The 
nakedness  of  the  fall  is  here  first  fully  re- 
clothed;  the  last  need  of  our  weakness  is  here 
provided  for  by  this  amiclus. 

With  this  we  might  have  appropriately  con- 
nected the  appointment  in  the  first  two  Evan- 
gelists, Go  forth  (but  then  ye  shall  go  out  into 
all  the  world),  were  it  not  that  the  observa- 
tions we  made  at  the  outset  oppose  such  a 


conjunction.  We  cannot  decide  upon  the  time 
and  place  of  these  words,  because  nothing  is 
specifically  recorded  (how  easily  might  a  sin- 
gle sentence  have  explained  the  whole  !) — but 
we  can  understand  why  LuTce  should  thus  close 
his  Gospel,  as  a  preparation  for  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  We  may  also  close  with  the  prayer 
— Endue  us  too  with  thy  power;  but  help  U8 
to  wait,  until  thou  sendest  it  1 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 
(Acts  r.  4-8.) 


At  the  Ascension!  Would  that  we  could  as- 
sume that  all  our  readers  received  this  word 
in  the  simplicity  of  the  understanding  of 
faith  !  Must  we  still  pave  the  way,  and  once 
more  remove  the  impediments  of  unbelief,  in 
approaching  the  last  words  of  our  Lord?  We 
will  not  concern  ourselves  with  the  superficial 
and  barren  stupidity  which  has  not  yet  learned 
the  alphabet  of  the  word  that  speaks  of  the 
power  of  God,  and  which  therefore  cannot  free 
itself  from  notions  of  gravitation  and  corpo- 
real weight,  even  in  the  case  of  him  whom  the 
winds  and  the  waves  had  obeyed,  and  who,  as 
the  Conqueror  of  death,  had  effectually  burst 
asunder  the  bonds  of  "  matter."  Nor  will  we 
enter  into  discussion  with  that  wilful  criticism 
of  Kinkel  which  would  escape  from  difficulty 
by  imagining  an  essential  contrariety  between 
the  ascensions  at  Bethany  and  at  the  Mount 
of  Olives  recorded  by  the  same  Luke.*  Nor 
shall  we  exhibit  its  shame  by  giving  promi- 
nence to  the  wisdom  which  has  represented  the 
Lord  of  glory  as  "  disappearing  Lycurguswise." 
Nor  shall  we  drag  from  its  obscurity  the  "  Es- 
sene  lodge."  All  these  are  faded  speculations, 
which  only  haunt  the  regions  that  are  external 
to  true  science.  Lutz  and  many  others  are 
able  to  tell  us  of  the  origination  of  "a  notion 
and  legend  of  a  removal  to  heaven  amid  the 
circumstances  which  Luke  reports."  Such 
readers  we  leave  to  their  speculations,  if  they 
have  not  been  brought  by  our  whole  expo- 
sition back  to  another  style  of  thinking,  until 
the  Scripture  and  the  power  of  God  bring  them 
to  a  higher  and  more  correct  intelligence.  Nor 
will  we  enter  ii  to  controversy  with  those  who, 
while  they  admit  an  assumption  of  the  Sa- 
viour into  the  upper  world,  will  not  admit  it 
to  have  been  tixible,  will  not  receive  it  as  re- 
corded in  that  Scripture  from  which  alone  we 
learn  all  that  we  surely  know  concerning  Jesus 
and  the  heavens.  A  few  positive  words,  how- 
ever, we  must  speak,  for  the  sake  of  many 
whose  views  of  the  ascension  are  still  becloud- 


*  Not  to  mention  his  ridiculous  perversion  of 
the  text ;  according  to  the  Gospel  they  assembled 
in  the  temple  alter  tiie  ascension,  in  the  Acts  they 
tarried  (all  the  lea  days)  iu  a  vttepi^oy. 


ed,  and  that  we  may,  as  heretofore,  exhibit 
clearly  the  scene  of  the  words  which  we  ex- 
pound. 

The  ascension  of  our  Lord,  as  we  now  con- 
template it  in  order  to  hear  the  words  spoken 
in  connection  with  it,  is  inseparable  from  his 
dignity,  his  work,  and  his  whole  manifestation  : 
it  is  the  only  conceivable  and  befitting  con- 
summation of  his  earthly  history  and  visible 
appearance.  The  ascension  in  itself,  in  its 
suDstance,  so  to  speak,  is,  on  the  one  liand,  the 
goal  and  reward  of  his  personal  human  life,  as 
being  a  glorification  and  exaltation;  and,  on 
the  other,  it  is  the  condition  of  his  still  con- 
tinuing divine-human  influence  and  govern- 
ment (Eph.  iv.  10:  that  he  might  fill  all 
things).  But  the  visible  ascension,  as  the  last 
historical  circumstance  that  the  eyes  of  men 
witnessed  in  connection  with  him,  is,  to  speak 
briefly  :  1.  The  most  befitting,  and  naturally 
to  be  expected  attestation  of  his  heavenly 
origin  (John  iii.  13,  vi.  62,  xvi.  28) — for  what 
could  more  clearly,  sensibly,  and  decisively 
testify,  that  this  man  who  thus  miraculously 
ascended  to  God,  was  also  miraculously  born 
into  the  world?*  2.  It  was  the  final  and  most 
evident — for  the  first  witnesses  indispensable 
— exhibition  of  the  truth,  that  the  kingdom 
of  Jesus  should  be  established  by  the  Spirit 


*  Here  belongs  the  beautiful  conclusion,  by 
which  Nean'ler  redeems  so  much  that  is  deplor- 
able in  his  Lfe  of  Jesus :  "  We  make  the  same 
remark  upon  the  ascension  of  Christ  as  was  be- 
fore made  upon  his  miracu'ous  conception.  In 
regard  to  neither  is  prominence  given  to  the  spe- 
cial and  actual  fact  in  the  apostolic  writings;  in 
regard  to  both  such  a  fact  is  pre-supposed  in  the 
general  conviction  of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the 
connection  of  Christian  consciousness.  Thus  the 
end  of  Christ's  appearance  on  earth  corresponds 
with  its  beginning — Christianity  rests  upon  super- 
n..tural  facts ;  stands  or  falls  with  them.  By 
faith  in  them  has  tlie  divine  life  been  gener.iteJ 
from  the  beginning.  Were  this  faith  gone,  there 
miaht,  indeed,  remain  many  of  the  fffects  of  what 
Christianity  had  been  ;  but  as  for  Christianity  in 
the  true  sense,  as  for  a  Christian  Church,  there 
cuuld  be  Done." 


ACTS  I.  4-8. 


from  heaven,  and  yet  through  this  same  Jesus* 
3.  Finally,  it  ia  even  to  us  the  most  assuring 
guarantee  and  pledge  of  his  heavenly  power, 
of  his  heavenly  being,  and  of  the  certainty  of 
his  return  to  consummate  ourselves,  and  estab- 
lish his  kingdom  upon  earth.  For  he  who  as- 
cended above  all  heavens  in  the  highest  power, 
can,  when  it  pleaseth  him,  come  down  to  this 
earth  again. 

Peter  announces  the  ascension  by  a  nopev- 
Bsii,  "  is  gnne  "  (as  the  historical  foundation  for 
idrty  Iv  dF.^ia)  1  Pet.  iii.  22.  Paul  similarly, 
if  we  read  him  aright,  diHertis  verbis,  Kom.  x. 
6;  Eph.  iv.  8-10;  1  Tim  iii.  16;  Heb.  i.  3. 
And  what  of  the  two  Evangelists  who  were 
eye-witnesses  ?  Herder  said  formerly,  "  They 
think  not  of  a  visible  ascension."  But  who  can 
thoughtfully  read  their  Gospels  without  find- 
ing the  exact  reverse?  Let  any  one  carefully 
read  John,  chap.  iii.  13,  vi.  62,  viii.  21,  23,  xx. 
17,  and  he  will  find  in  these  passages  the  fu- 
ture visibility  and  historical  actuality  of  the 
dvafiaivEiv  and  the  vTtdyeiv,  or  ascension 
and  departure.  Luke,  however  (who  more 
closely  explains  Mark's  dvEX})<pOtf),  relates  to 
us  a  Ttpdyna  nenXrjpocpoptjuEvov,  "  thing 
most  surely  believed,"  in  this,  as  in  all  things 
which  took  place  before — a  fact  and  not  a 
myth.  He  defines  in  Acts  i.  2  the  day,  the 
fortieth  after  the  resurrection,  that  last  day 
down  to  which  he  had  brought  his  Gospel,  as 
the  day  of  the  dvEX-rjq)Qrf,  "  was  taken  up  " — 
records,  that,  and  in  what  manner,  the  eidsX- 
BeZv  f/5  rrjv  do'^av  avrov,  or  "  entering  into 
his  glory  "  (Luke  xxiv.  26),  became  an  dyd- 
\r/Tf>ii  (chap.  ix.  51).  He  defines  the  place 
twice,  with  apparent  deviation,  but  with  real 
agreement ;  for  it  is  otherwise  certain  that 
Bethany  lay,  and  still  lies,  on  the  Mount  of 
Oiives.f  We  have  already  given  our  opinion 
as  to  where  the  words  in  the  Gospel,  chap. 
xxiv.  44-49,  were  spoken  ;  and  have  prelimi- 
narily shown  that  the  statement  of  ver.  50  is 
altogether  independent  of  this  uncertainty. 
But  are  we  to  interpret  si?  Bi/Oaviav,  "  to 
Bethany,"  of  an  entrance  into  the  village,  as 
Hess  did,  e.  g.,  who  thought  of  a  brief  visit 
with  which  our  Lord  honored  Mary,  Martha, 
and  Lazarus  ?  Certainly  not,  for  the  'iooi,  "  as 
far  as,"  itself  gives  the  eH  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent tone:  it  was  not  altogether  into  the 
place,  but  so  far  as  the  point  where  Bethany 


*  Wesley  closes  Luke's  Gospel  with  the  words  : 
"  It  was  much  more  proper  that  our  Lord  should 
ascend  into  heaven,  than  that  he  should  rise  from 
the  dead,  in  the  sight  of  the  Apostles.  For  his 
resurrection  was  proved,  when  they  saw  him  alive 
after  his  Passion  ;  but  they  could  not  see  him 
heaven,  while  they  continued  on  earth." 

I  Tischendorf  I  Eeise  in  dem  Orient)  has  lately 
decided  lor  the  Mount  of  Olives  against  Robin 
son  ;  since  Luke  xxiv.  only  gives  ihe  measured 
distance  from  Je-usalera,  not  the  exact  locality  of 
the  ascension.  Braune  expresses  it  well :  "At  the 
point  wher  >  ihe-cuunlry  of  Bethany  was  divided 
from  the  city." 


came  into  sight ;  and  with  this  is  connected 
the  interpretation  which  we  give  to  the  k  ?  d- 
y  et  V,  or  "  leading  out,"  for  this  in  its  strict- 
ly literal  sense  is  scarcely  supposable.  The 
disciples,  going  to  Emmaus,  were' accompanied 
by  the  Lord  in  another  form — but  are  we  now 
to  suppose  that  he  journeyed  out  of  the  city  to 
Bethany,  discernible  to  the  Apostles  and  those 
who  were  with  them,  but  unknown  to  or  al- 
together withdrawn  from,  every  other  eye  ? 
This  would  certainly  not  harmonize  with  all 
his  other  appearances  ;  and  we  shall  presently 
find  in  Luke  a  hint  for  another  interpretation. 
Should  we  even  grant  that  he  in  person  led 
them  out — must  we  (with  Ebrard)  assume 
that  "  a  few  minutes  before  entering  the  place 
he  stood  still  and  began  to  ascend,"  or  "  if  not 
in  a  public  road  yet  in  the  garden?"  All 
this  has  so  strange  a  sound  that  we  must  take 
refuge  in  Luke's  own  supplementary  inter- 
pretation in  the  Acts,  especially  as  it  is  in 
full  accordance  with  his  ^  *po5ro5  Ao;'o?,  or 
"former  treatise."  For  eod?  i/J— if  genuine, 
is  not  meant  otherwise  than  Lachmann's 
substituted  ego?  jrpo'5 — toward  Bethany,  on 
the  way  thither.*  The  mention  of  Bethany 
has  its  own  affectionate  and  easily-under- 
stood meaning  when  we  remember  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  final  journey  to  our  Lord. 
But  as  he  ever  selected  motintains  for  every 
pre-eminently  sacred  transaction  ;  as  it  was 
upon  a  mountain  that  he  contemplated  the 
glory  of  earth,  and  yet  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  heaven  ;  as  his  transfiguration  took  place 
upon  a  mountain  ;  should  not  the  Mount  of 
Olives  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  in  the 
very  region  of  Bethany,  be  the  selected  place 
of  his  ascension  ?  Luke  expressly  declares 
that  it  was.  How  significantly  symbolical 
was  this,  according  to  the  analogy  which  has 
been  seen  directing  all  these  events !  Von 
Gerlach  says,  inappropriately,  "There,  in  the 
precincts  of  the  holy  city,  within  sight  of  the 
temple,  would  he  go  up  to  heaven  ;  "  for,  the 
city  and  the  temple  had  sanctity  or  significance 
now  only  for  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  was  hereafter  to  commence  upon  earth. 
The  ascension,  to  speak  more  precisely,  should 
rather  take  place  where  the  humiliation  of  the 
Passion  had  already  taken  place,  and  yet  not 
upon  Golgotha — the  place  of  external  scorn 
and  redeeming  death  must  retain  its  own  pecu- 
liar sanctity.  But  Ge^hsemane  and  the  ascen- 
sion are  most  harmoniously  related,  in  re- 
gard to  the  j)srson  of  the  Redeemer  as  reaching 
its  consummation  :  "  At  its  feet  he  had  wres- 
tled in  the  bitterness  of  death,  at  its  head  he 
now  stands  as  the  victorious  Prince  of  Peace  " 
(Braune).      Yet  more  pertinently  Hofacker: 


*  Baumgarten  has  correctly  rennrked  that 
Bethany  in  the  Gospel  refers  back  to  the  earlier 
life  of  Jesus,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Mount 
of  O.ives  points  propheically  towards  the  distant 
future.  Bu'.  we  shall  find  a  reference  to  the  past 
in  the  Mount  of  Olives  also. 


850 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


"  In  the  self-same  place  where  his 
abasement  had  taken  place  before  his  disciples, 
should  his  glorious  exaltation  be  attained  in 
their  presence.  With  this  another  aim  was 
blended.  Tlie  disciples  must  see  exhibited  be- 
fore their  eyes  the  nature  and  the  process  of 
Jesus  Christ's  kingdom  of  the  cross — that 
sufTerings  lead  to  glory."  Yes,  verily,  this 
Mount  of  Olives  preaches  now  for  the  whole 
earth,  and  ail  who  dwell  upon  it,  what  in  Acts 
xiv.  22  is  declared  to  be  the  ordinance  for  all 
the  followers  of  the  great  forerunner. 

However  much  we  might  wish  to  know  the 
thne  of  the  day,  this  is  not  indicated  to  us. 
But,  since  every  thing  has  up  to  this  point 
been  significant  and  subservient  to  a  pre-ar- 
ranged whole,  we  may  conclude  that  the  prin- 
ciple holds  good  here  too ;  and,  so  thinking, 
we  have  already  referred  the  ascension  to  the 
bright  noon,  the  culmination  of  the  day,  the 
"  might  of  the  sun."  With  this  agrees  an  an- 
cient tradition  ;  and  we  may  at  least  regard  it 
as  unsuitable  to  refer  this  event  to  the  going 
doiDii  of  the  liglit  of  the  world — more  appro- 
priate to  the  Passion  ;  or  to  recur  to  the  early 
morning  of  tlie  rising  day — already  appropri- 
ated to  the  resurrection.  The  former  notion 
belongs  to  the  fantasies  of  the  Koran  ;*  but 
why  Teschendorf  should  so  unsyrabolically 
assert  that  "  the  sun  was  near  to  his  going 
down,"  we  cannot  tell.  Others  have  cliosen 
the  obscurity  of  early  morning,  scarce  bright- 
ened out  of  night,  in  order  that  the  Lord's 
course  (he  led  them  out)  might  be  concealed 
from  other  wilnesses.f  But  we  think  quite 
differently  of  this  ;  and  have  far  other  notions 
ol  the  propriety  of  the  whole. 

Finally  :  Were  the  eleven  alone  witnesses 
of  the  ascension,  or  are  we  to  suppose  others 
present  with  them?  It  is  as  good  as  certain 
that  Paul's  "  of  all  the  Apostles,"  1  Cor.  xv. 
7,  refers  to  the  ascension  appearance,  but  that 
decides  nothing.  Draseke  says  in  his  sermon  : 
"  The  connection  leaves  it  to  be  inferred  that 
the  eleven  only  were  there,"  citing  further 
Mark  xvi.  14,  Luke  xxiv.  33,  44,  Acts  i.  2,  4, 
6,  and  especially  ver.  13.  But  Mark  xvi.  14 
signifies  nothing  for  the  closing  appearance, 
and  even  as  to  the  appearance  on  the  first  even- 
ing Luke  xxiv.  33  teaches  the  contrary.  It 
was  very  natural  that  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles i\\&  Apostles  should  be  made  promment; 
but  even  here  chap.  i.  22  (just  as  ver.  2)  seems 
to  pre-suppose  other  witnesses  of  his  assump- 


*  See  in  Sepp,  v.  154,  where  there  is  mentioned 
also  a  groat  feast  in  Bethany  preceding, 

*  So  Pfenniiiger,  who  incorrectly  takes  the 
word  Acts  i.  8  as  spoken  in  the  city.  So  Hess  : 
"  Probably  in  the  niglit  or  early  niorninji ;  at  such 
a  time  of  night  or  day  as  he  might  most  unob- 
servediy  lead  them  fortii."  Draseke :  "  In  tlie 
first  and  holiest  morning,  he  will  himself  lead 
tiiem  out  to  his  oivn  triumph  which  is  also  theirs  ; 
this  he  would  by  no  means  have  done  in  the  day- 
time, and  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  who  were 
to  see  him  no  more." 


tion.  Let  us  now  look  more  narrowly  at  the 
statements  of  the  Acts.  The  Lord  had  assem- 
bled together  the  Apostles  on  the  last  day  ;  he 
had  told  them  previously  the  time  and  place 
of  a  general  gathering — for  this  is  the  only 
valid  meaning'of  (JU>'aAzCo>w£»'o?,  ver.  4.*  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed,  as  Sepp  thinks,  that  they 
would  of  themselves  have  assembled  so  early 
for  the  Pentecost.  But  was  that  a  penulti- 
mate assembly  in  Jerusalem,  or  actually  the 
last  ?  The  answer  depends  upon  the  question 
whether  the  word  of  Jesus  in  ver.  4  is  identi- 
cal with  chap.  xxiv.  49  in  the  Gospel,  the 
thread  being  taken  up  from  there,  and  ver.  5 
being  recovered  and  appended  in  this  more  cir- 
cumstantial report.  This  might  assuredly  be 
the  case,  and  tliea  we  should  have  first  in 
dvyeMuyre?,  ver.  6,  the  final  assembly  of  the 
ascension.  But — and  this  might  import  much 
— the  following  6vveX(JF.lv  is  manifestly  con- 
nected by  the  ovy  with  the  preceding  GwaXi- 
Z£60ai:  when  those  who  had  thus  been  sum- 
moned together  had  obeyed  his  direction  and 
were  met.  Certainly  we  cannot  admit  Ben- 
gel's  idea  that  this  was  a  sudden  concourse  of 
the  Apostles,  for  the  purpose  of  a  united  request 
("  Facilius  putabant  conjunctim  se  impetra- 
turos  esse  responsum").  But  whether  it  be 
taken  as  the  sequel  of  ver.  4,  or  as  a  separate 
final  gathering,  in  any  case  it  seems  to  us  that 
the  expression  dvyeXBeiv,  or  "  coming  to- 
gether," throws  much  clear  light  upon  the 
i^rjyayf,  "led  out,"  as  not  literally  to  be  in- 
terpreted in  the  Gospel,  for  we  cannot  inter- 
pose between  ver.  6  and  ver.  9  any  further 
journey  ;  and  yet  oi  ^iv  ovv  dvyeXOoyrei, 
"  when  they  therefore  were  come  together," 
cannot  be  interpreted  of  any  going  with  him, 
as  if  he  had  led  them  forth.  Suffice  it,  that  if 
we  hold  firmly  to  the  ovy,  vers.  4  and  6  do  not 
refer  to  the  two  different  assemblies  (which 
Olshausen  thinks  he  plainly  detects).  Conse- 
quently the  words  of  vers.  4,  5,  are  not  one 


*  We  need  neither  the  correct  readings  dvyavXt- 
Zo/ueyoi  or  6vyaXi6M6^tEyo5,  nor  Herasterhuis' 
conjecture  (JfraAiCo-^foi  5.  But  the  Vulg.  con- 
vcscem  (corrected  into  convivens)  is  ceitainlj'  false 
(although  it  is  thus  in  the  Syr.  ^'Qvh  pHOy  iJ^X— 

Arab.,  2E.t\\.,  Chrys.,  Tlieoph.,  fficumen. ;  comp. 
Symm.  ai  Psa.  cxli.  4).  For  while  this  derivation 
as  from  aAS  is  incorrect,  such  a  convesci  is  alto- 
gether inappropriate,  llesych.  exp'ains — 6vy- 
aXiCOeii,  dvyaxOsii,  dvycxOftoidOsii :  Ben- 
gel  follows  him,  and  interprets — When  be  was  in 
I  heir  assembly:  so  D<3  Wette — Assembled  with 
them.  But  this  is  not  probable  or  befitting;  for 
he  C(juld  not  here  be  thus  incorporated  with  the 
Apostles,  and  we  naturally  expect  an  ira'^aro 
ai'ro/?.  But  we  have  dXH^sdOai  Midd.  tor 
dXii^fiy,  with  a  trans,  signification  coUigere,  eon- 
f/rcffare  {ste  the  Lexx.) — hence  rightly  Era-^m,  con- 
ffregam  in  '^ein  loci,  so  Grolius  and  others  down  U> 
lleinrichs  and  KuiiiOl.  The  avtovi  is  wanting 
only  because  avroli  occurs  immediately.  Wo 
doubt  whether,  as  Hasse  thinks,  the  word  as  con- 
nected with  ttArS,  aA;/?,  has  a  special  significa- 
tion of  "  collecting  together  with  toil," 


ACTS  I.  4,  5. 


851 


vcith  th«  eiyings  in  the  Gospel,  but  constitute 
a  reiterated  injunction  of  the  Lord  that  they 
should  wait  in  Jerusalem  for  the  Holy  Ghost; 
and  then  the  VHov6are  fxov,  "ye  have  heard 
of  me,"  includes  that  penultimate  saying,  with 
all  which  had  preceded  it.  Such  a  repetition 
might  almost  be  necessary  to  the  disciples 
under  their  impulse  to  depart  elsewhere,  and 
in  no  case  v/as  it  unsuitatale.  This  fully  ex- 
plains to  us,  further,  the  indirect  construction 
which  now  occurs,  on  the  repetition  of  the 
former  word — And  commanded  them  {once 
more)  not  to  depart,  etc. ;  as  well  as  the  trans- 
ition with  piov,  because  there  was  now  added 
a  new  and  distinctive  word.  Luke  in  the  Gos- 
pel, vers.  50,  51,  recorded  no  sayings  of  Jesus, 
but  recalls  them  here,  as  if  he  had  reserved 
them  for  this  place ;  and  he  thus  gives  us  a 
new  intimation  that  he  does  not  relate  every 
thing  in  detail,  but  in  every  case  that  which 
was  appropriate  to  his  plan. 

In  ver.  2  eKrci/la'/zero?,  "given  command- 
ments," may  indeed  embrace  the  collective  ap- 
pointments and  intimations  of  the  forty  days  ; 
yet  the  axptiji  ijnepai  preceding  makes  it 
belong  particularly  to  this  last  day  ;  and  thus 
it  becomes  a  preparatory  indication  of  vers.  4, 
5.  And  now  one  word  upon  this,  that  is,  on 
the  Sia  TtvEvfiaroZ  dyiov.  Though  many 
unite  these  words  with  ovi  i^eXe'$aro, 
"  whom  he  had  chosen"  (Olshausen  goes  too 
far  when  he  says  that  this  is  the  general  ac- 
ceptation), such  a  transposition  is  intolerable 
to  us.  We  say  nothing  of  the  impossible  con- 
nection with  dy£\ij(p9fj,  "  he  was  taken  up.  " 
But  apart  from  the  harshness  of  the  construc- 
tion, it  may  be  said — Is  a  recurrence  to  the 
first  election  of  the  Apostles,  by  t/ie  Holy  Spirit, 
natural  at  the  beginning  of  this  book  ?  This 
is  rather  pre-supposed  in  the  itp^zoi  Xoyoi, 
and  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  aSeXe^aro  : 
the  addition  that  it  took  place  then  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  would  be  a  marvellous  one,  for  the 
itvEviia  ayiov  belongs  to  the  immediate 
2}rospect.  'EvrtiXdnevoi  might,  indeed,  stand 
quite  absolutely,  as  Luther  has  it  in  the  margi- 
nal gloss  (though  he  takes  it  with  did,  "  Had 
commanded  what  he  would,  namely,  that  they 
Bhould  be  his  Apostles  and  preach  to  all  the 
world."  But  it  retains  this  sense  if  we  take 
did  Ttv.  dy.,  "  through  the  Holy  Ghost,"  in 
connection  with  it;  the  only  course  left  to  us. 
What  does  this  mean  ?  Seller  and  Van  Ess 
translate:  Instructions  for  their  conduct,  or 
orders  in  connection  with  his  coming.  Gossner 
(with  whom  Sepp  ignorantly  concurs) :  With 
a  view  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  can  Sid, 
"  through,"  with  a  genitive  have  this  mean- 
ing? Grotius  explains  it  as  "compendiosa  locu- 
tio :  mandavit,  qucB  agere  deherentper  Sp.  S.,  post- 
quam  scil.  quuuiaccepissent."  But  is  not  this 
ellipsis  too  artificial?  In  such  case  we  should 
find  rd  did  nyevjuaroS.  Others  understand 
the  previous  preparatory  impartation  of  the 
Spirit  (John  xx.  22),  in  the  sense  of  Erasmus' 
bold  paraphrase :  "  Postquara  irapartitus  in 
hoc  ipsum  Sp.  S.  mandata  dedisset,"     Verbally 


this  is  imaginable  ;  as  it  were,  in  imparting 
the  Spirit,  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  this 
meaning  will  not  suit  here,  where  in  vers.  4,  5, 
the  Spirit  is  yet  to  be  waited  for.  Thus  it 
must  be  referred,  as  by  the  per  of  the  Vulg.,  to 
Jesus,  who  already  stood  replenished  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  spoke  and  gave  his  instruc- 
tions through  or  out  of  the  Spirit.  Bengel  is 
at  first  most  correct,  "He  himself,  who  gave 
the  commandments,  had  the  Holy  Spirit ;  "  but 
he  then  adds  that  "  He  gave  this  as  the  earnest 
of  Pentecost ; "  we  would  prefer  to  say,  He  had 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  they  had  him  not. 

Verse  4.  There  is  but  little  additional  to 
be  observed  here;  the  words  are  merely  a  con- 
nected repetition.  It  is  now  "  Ye  have  heard 
of  me, "  in  order  to  refer  back  distinctly  to 
Luke  xxiv.  49.  Instead  of  "  Tarry  ye  "  it  is 
stronger — "  That  they  should  not  depart  " — in 
order  to  render  precise  and  most  pointed  an 
injunction  which  might  appear  startling  or 
harsh.  "  Nothing  would  have  been  more  ob- 
vious than  to  retreat  from  Jerusalem,  if  the 
disciples  had  looked  only  at  themselves,  their 
position  and  relations  to  the  enemies  of  Jesus." 
In  this  we  agree  with  Richter  ;  for  their  expec- 
tation of  the  coming  of  the  power  of  the  king- 
dom, ver.  6,  attached  itself,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the 
great  promise  once  more  given  with  "  not  many 
days  after;"  but  their  precipitate  impulse  a^ 
witnesses  might  have  soon  driven  them  away 
from  the  hating  Jerusalem,  for  instance,  into 
Galilee.  There  is  additional  strength  also  in 
the  itepiuEVEiv,  which  gives  prominence  to 
the  great  reason  of  the  injunction  :  they  were 
to  remain  and  wait,  wait  out  the  promise. 
CETtayyEXia  cannot  be  translated,  with  Eb- 
rard,  that  they  were  to  "  receive  a  message  from 
the  Father:"  this  is  an  unusual  signification 
of  the  word,  and  foreign  to  scriptural  phrase- 
ology, which  has  it  only  in  some  uncertain 
readings  of  1  John  i.  5,  iii.  11.  On  this  we 
have  already  said  enough.)  But  he  once  more, 
and  for  the  last  time,  by  a  similar  expression 
gives  to  the  Father  his  honor,  who  had  prom- 
ised the  Spirit  from  the  beginning  and  through 
himself  Thus  he  distinctly  brings  before 
them  again  his  late  saying,  but  adds  a  very 
distinctive  and  specially  significant  word, 
which  goes  back  to  the  Baptist's  promise,  on 
the  border  between  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. 

Verse  5.  The  promise  which  ye  have  heard 
of  me:  and  now  John  the  Baptist  is  immediate- 
ly referred  to — after  this  appeal  in  his  o\«n  last 
word  to  the  words  which  he  had  spoken  just 
before,  after  this  condensation  of  all  his  dis- 
course (Luke  xxiv.  44)  into  that  one  word 
which  was  the  end  of  them  all  It  might  be 
said  that  this  was  not  unexpected  to  the  Apos- 
tles ;  that  this  repeated  reference  to  the  not 
yet  fulfilled  promise  of  the  Spirit  would  natur- 
ally bring  to  their  minds  that  earliest  word  of 
the  Baptist.  But  this  recollection  of  well  re- 
tained words,  this  right  summing  up  of  past 
promises,  is  not  so  obvious  and  usual  a  thing 
even  among  us  ;  and  the  Apostles  themselves 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


were  most  probably  surprised  by  this  sudden  re- 
membrancer. We  may  find  in  all  the  four 
Evangelists,  Matt.  iii.  11,  Mark  i.  8,  Luke  iii. 
16,  John  i.  26,  31-33,  this  first  and  fundamen- 
tal word  which  pointed  to  Jesus,  by  which  the 
fulfillment  of  the  conclusive  promise  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  referred  to  the  agency  of 
him  who  had  now  come.  Thus  the  Lord  leads 
back  his  Apostles'  minds  to  the  beginnings  of 
the  new  economy,  in  order  to  establish  firmly 
in  their  understanding  the  waiting  which  he 
had  commanded.  "  He  refers  them  back  to 
the  original  ieelings  and  dispositions  with 
which  they  had  entered  the  school  of  John  the 
Baptist ;  and  the  anticipations  and  earnests  of 
a  new  life  which  they  had  then  received." 
Lange  says  the  same,  and  spiritualizes  the 
word  of  the  Lord  thus  :  "  He  promised  them 
a  new  experience,  which  should  be  as  sublime- 
ly elevated  above  the  inspiration  of  their  first 
spiritual  awakening,  as  heaven  is  above  earth  ; 
they  should  now  be  immersed  into  the  full 
flood  of  the  Spirit  of  God,"  etc.,  etc.  This  is 
quite  correct ;  but  the  water,  the  mere  water 
speaks  more  of  their  former  lack,  than  of  their 
former  inspiration  ;*  the  baptizing,  which  was 
still  in  arrear,  must  be  taken  ia  its  strict  and 
proper  sense,  because  they  had  just  before 
heard  from  the  Lord,  according  to  Matthew 
and  Mark,  that  such  a  baptizm  there  should  be. 
John  had  said  that  Jesus  would  baptize  with 
(he  Holy  Ghost;  and  he  had  also  said — lyoa 
(XTtodreXAoa  icp  vjua?,  "  I  send  upon  you:" 
but  he  does  not  go  on  to  add — Ye  shall  be 
baptized  of  me.  Nor  does  he  say — And  icith 
fire:  he  leaves  this  to  be  demonstrated  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  himself,  when  his  divine  life  of 
love  should  bring  in  the  discipline  which  would 
save  from  the  wrathful  fire  of  the  last  judg- 
ment, in  the  power  of  sanctifying  and  glorify- 
ing fire  (Isa.  iv.  4,  Ixvi.  24). 

Concerning  the  baptizing  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Theophylact  rightly  said — "  It  signifies 
the  outpourmg  and  abundance  of  the  bestow- 
ment;"  for  it  is  so  far  equivalent  to  the  shed- 
ding forth.  But  we  must  be  on  our  guard 
agamst  removing  entirely  from  the  fJaTtri^Etv 
the  co-ordinate  idea  of  the  external  sign,  from 
which  the  word  takes  its  rise ;  and  so,  regard- 
ing it,  like  the  Quakers,  as  an  expression  which 
abolished  the  baptism  of  water  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.!  For  the  Lord  had,  not  long  before, 
appointed  a  baptism  (certainly  with  water,  as 
we  have  seen).  The  Apostles  thus  understood 
him,  and  acted  accordingly  ;  they  offered  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Gbost  under  the  condition  of 


*  Banmsarlen  urges  the  sense  to  be  that  the 
entire  Old-Testaraent  hisioiy  ha  1  not  attained  its 
end,  the  sanctific-ution  and  purifying  of  the  people ; 
and  that  tiotv  first  what  had  been  then  a  sign 
should  be  realized,  the  Holy  Ghost  would  come  in 
the  pl.ice  of  water. 

*  In  Birclay  this  passage  figures  as  the  proof 
that  waier-bapti.sm  was  not  to  be  perpetuated,  and 
that  Matt,  xxviii.  19  must  have  another  iuterpre- 
tauoa. 


the  baptism  with  water ;  and,  in  the  house  of 
Cornelius,  they  even  required  the  water  in  ad- 
dition, after  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  had  taken 
place.  Would  they  have  so  entirely  misunder- 
stood and  perverted  the  Lord's  meaning,  at  the 
very  time  when  the  Holy  Spirit  came?  Oh, 
no ;  the  one  consists  well  with  the  other ;  and 
the  Lord  here  defines  the  essence,  the  spiritual 
power  of  his  men  appointed  baptism  of  water 
for  all  futurity  (as  the  contrast  with  John's 
implies):  that  it  should  be,  at  the  same  time, 
essentially  and  internally  a  baptism  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.*  From  this  nvEvna  dyiov  we 
must  certainly  distinguish  the  special  gifts, 
the  visible  and  miraculous  effects  or  signs  of 
his  reception,  such  as  the  tongues  and  the  pro- 
phesying which  accompanied  it  in  the  begin- 
ning: the  universal  promise  embraces  all  bap- 
tism in  the  name  of  the  Three-One  to  the  end 
of  time.f  The  extraordinary giftsand  the  mirac- 
ulous signs  retire  ;  the  power  from  on  high, 
the  certain  internal  grace,  abides,  though  it 
may  be  in  weaker  and  slower  operation.  The 
Lord,  speaking  with  i3/if?s  Se  especially  to  his 
Apostles,  to  those  who  were  then  assembled  in 
his  presence,  promised  that  gift  not  many  day» 
hence.  (No  more  after  many  of  these  last  days 
of  preparation  and  waiting.  It  is  not  a  "  re- 
markable change  of  expression  instead  of  ov 
TtoXi)  ^lEzd  ravrai  7)i.i£pcx<i  or  ov  itoX\al<i 
TJUEpaii  iJEzd  ravra.  Winer  very  properly 
compares  the  Latin  "ante  hos  quinque  dies," 
and  something  similar  in  the  Greek  classics; 
but  he  does  not  bring  out  the  distinctive  mean- 
ing in  which  these  passed  or  still  passing  days 
are  thus  designedly  mentioned.)  That  the 
promise,  however,  was  not  intended  merely  for 
the  beginning  at  the  day  of  Pentecost,  but 
stretches  onward  to  all  times,  is  plain  from  the 
universal  promise  of  the  Baptist's  word,  which 
the  Lord  re-echoes  ;  from  the  reference  to  this 
present  "ye  shall  be  baptized"  to  the  appoint- 
ment to  baptize  among  all  the  nations ;  and, 
finally,  from  the  express  apostolical  assurance 
of  Acts  xi.  16,  17.  We  may  be  sure,  there- 
fore, that  all  we  who  have  been  baptized  with 
the  true  baptisni  of  Christ  have  thereby  re- 
ceived the  first  fruits  and  earliest  influences  of 
the  Holy  Ghost :  we  have  only  to  stir  up,  to 
use,  and  to  increase  the  gift  of  God  which  is 
in  us.  The  simple  and  absolute  waiting  for 
the  Holy  Ghost  cannot  be  predicated  of  those 
who  are  thus  baptized  ;  the  children  of  the  new 


*  This  exegesis  may  not  be  strictly  according 
to  Lutheran  do<:m:.tics.  Miiiy  theologians  un- 
derstand Matt.  iii.  11  and  Acts  i.  6  only  of  the 
Pentecostal  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 
we  think  that  the  Baptist  unconsciously  prophe- 
sied ;  and  tiiat  Christ,  explaiiii  ig  his  words,  spoke 
expressly  of  a  parallel  and  actual  hnptizing. 

\  Lutz  very  improperly  regards  the  baptism  of 
Philip,  Acts  viii.,  as  a  fahe  baptism,  in  which  all 
reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost  was  wanting.  We 
understand  that  passage  quite  diffo'rently,  but  to 
ex  )lain  our  meaning  would  require  a  long  note, 
Philip  did  oot  baptize  S.iuoa  rashly. 


ACTS  1.  5. 


853 


covenant  and  of  the  great  fulfillment  have 
nothing  to  wait  for  absolutely  but  the  con- 
summation of  the  kingdom  of  God  (in  them- 
selves and  upon  earth),  and  the  second  coming 
of  the  Lord.  When,  in  John  x.  24,  the  Jews 
in  their  hypocrisy  were  ofi"ended  at  Christ,  be- 
cause he  kept  their  souls  so  long  in  uncertainty, 
the  answer  might  have  been — Ye  keep  your 
own  souls  in  suspense,  ye  repel  the  Spirit  who 
has  been  with  you  and  in  you,  since  your  bap- 
tism. We  may  with  confidence  preach  to 
every  baptized  person — The  fire  from  heaven 
has  long  been  present ;  only  prepare  the  sacri- 
fice, and  it  will  be  kindled ;  the  fire  will  con- 
sume it,  if  not  now  directly  from  heaven,  yet 
it  will  begin  to  burn  from  within  after  thy  own 
long  restraint. 

But  the  question  arises — What  of  the  bap- 
tism of  these  first  disciples,  if  water  was  a  ne- 
cessary part  of  the  true  and  spiritual  baptism 
of  Christ?  It  must  be  observed  that  the 
Lord  does  not  say — To  you,  who  have  not  been 
baptized  with  water,  the  Spirit  shall  be  a  bap- 
tism. Could  he  have  so  spoken  to  them?  Is 
it  not,  rather,  inversely  true  that  they  had  al- 
ready received  the  water,  but  not  yet  the 
Spirit?  Thus  we  have  here  a  very  simple 
answer  to  the  idly  developed  questions  which 
have  been  raised  about  the  character  of  the 
sacramental  baptism  of  the  Apostles,  and  of 
the  little  Pentecostal  company  generally.     A 

f)erfectly  idle  question,  however,  it  is  not ;  at 
east  for  those  who  hold  the  sign  in  some  honor, 
when  they  deal  with  sacramental  institutions 
The  Lord  commanded  them — Baptize.  And 
were  not  they  themselves  baptized  ?  The  Lord 
has  established  it  firmly — He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  and  could  the  second 
of  these  two  be  wanting  in  their  own  case? 
But  they  had  already  been  once  baptized  of 
John,  with  the  water  which  God  himself  ap- 
pointed at  the  first.  Assuredly,  no  believing 
and  obedient  Israelite  would  have  neglected 
that  ordinance,  or  despised  this  counsel  of 
God  ;  and  certainly  the  Apostles,  who  bore 
such  a  character  before  their'call  by  Christ,  did 
not  contemn  it.*  Very  many,  the  greatest 
part  of  Jerusalem,  had  already  been  thus  bap- 
tized with  water ;  all  from  every  part  of  the 
land  most  assuredly  who  had  entered  the  dis- 
cipleship  of  Jesus,  not  out  of  a  state  of  abso- 
lute indifference  or  rejection,  but  in  the  spirit 
of  a  prepared  devoutnesx  Hence  it  has  been 
thought  (and  the  opinion  is  now  and  then 
found  among  the  ancients)  that  the  three  and 
the  five  thousand  who  were  converted  at  the 


*  Allioli's  Bibel  suggests,  even,  that  the  Apos- 
tles had  received  the  Holy  Ghost  already  in  the 
baptism  of  Christ,  John  iv.  1,  2,  only  not  yet  the 
viH;')Ie  gifts  ;  but  that  baptizing  was  a  transitory 
and  transitional  continuation  of  the  b.aptism  of 
John.  He  who  had  received  this  was  not  again 
baptized ;  certainly  the  Apostles  did  not  baptize 
each  other  anew.  Such  are  the  strange  things 
which  find  tlieir-Vvay  into  the  expositions  of  the 
infallible  Church! 


beginning  were  no  other  than  strangers,  foreign 
Jews  who  had  come  up  to  the  feast ;  and  that 
their  baptism  added  them,  not  so  much  to  the 
one  hundred  and    twenty  of  Christ's  flock,  as 
to  the  whole  community  of  those  believers  in 
Jesus  who,  in  and  out  of  Jerusalem,  had  been 
already  prepared  by  John's  baptism  of  water. 
But   this  asserts   too  much;    for  there   were 
many  unbaptized,  who  had  become  disciples 
after  John  had  ceased  his  baptism,  and  when 
Jesus    no   longer   baptized  ;    and   there   were 
many  who  had  hitherto  been  despisers  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  who.se  hearts  were  pierced  by  the 
words  of  Peter.     They  must  have  been,  accord- 
ing to  the  plain  commandment  of  Jesus,  bap- 
tized for  the  first  time — not  only  the  newly 
converted,  but  the  disciples  also  who  had  not 
previously  received  the  rite,  the  divine  sanc- 
tion of  which  it  was  necessary  to  maintain. 
Those  who  had   already    been    baptized   with 
icaler  received  at  once  the  Spirit   in  addition, 
without  any  repetition  of  the  water  ordinance, 
that  the  progressive  unity  of  the  command- 
ments of  God  might  appear  in  living  connec- 
tion.*    Thus  it  was  necessary,  here  at  the  be- 
ginning, that  the  two  elements  of  the  sacra- 
ment, which    were   henceforth   to    be  strictly 
united,  should  be  separated ;  the  water  of  John 
and  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  succession  and  in 
connection,  was  and  should  ever  be  the  true 
baptism.     "  For,  in  fact,"  says  Bengel  quite 
truly,  in  this  sense,  though  otherwise  the  bap- 
tisms of  John  and  of  Christ  are  not  to  be  con- 
founded, "  it  was   one   baptism,  which    Matt, 
iii.  and  Matt,  x.xviii.  refer  to.     Otherwise  v/e 
should  not  have  in  John  the  beginning  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  the  holy  Supper  in  Matt,  xxvi. 
would  be  of  earlier  appointment  than  the  bap- 
tism of  Matt,  xxviii."     Would  it   then  be  at 
all  supposable,  that  at  the  first  descent  of  the 
Spirit,  which  must  needs  take  place  in  a  man- 
ner so  absolute  and  convincing,  the  Apostles 
would  have  once  more  baptized  each  other  with 
water?     We  may  therefore  say,  in  respect  to 
none   of   these  first-fruits,   that  the  baptismus 
flaminis  took  the  place  of  or  represented  the 
baptismus  fiuminis.     But  the  last  word  of  Je.su3 
concerning  baptizing,  which  also  contains  his 
explanation  of  the  transitional  character  of  the 
first  baptism,  must  be  understood  in  this  sense, 
as  regards  them— John  had  already  baptized 
you  with  water,  therefore  ye  need  to  wait  only 
for  the  Holy  Ghost.     Strictly  considered,  there 
is  here  no  abolition  of  the  water  (with  which, 
by  God's  commandment,  John  had  baptized), 
but  rather  a  confirmation  of  it :  its  absolute 
connection  with  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  rite  is 
implied — the  water  will  no  more  be  wanting.f 
That  the  scriptural  regulation  was  afterwards 


*  Whether  the  re-baptizing,  or  rather  the  first 
true  baptism  of  those  whom  John  had  baptized, 
was  absolutely  necessary,  Chemnitz  leaves  unde- 
cided. 

f  In  comparing  infant  baptism,  it  is  wrong  to 
say  that  the  Spirit  came  afterwards,  while  the 
mere  water  went  before. 


854 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


introduced  in  all  its  completeness — which  only 
the  £rst  transition  did  not  tolerate — we  find 
not  merely  in  Acts  xix.,  where  the  ignorant 
men  are  re-baptized  who  had  forgotten  the 
word  of  John  as  if  they  had  never  "heard" 
it,  but  also  in  the  baptism  of  the  later-called 
Apostle,  Acts  ix.  19,  xxii.  16.  Thus  all  seems 
so  far  clear. 

A  new  topic  now  claims  our  attention.  The 
Apostles,  after  this  promise,  come  forward  with 
a  striking  and  urgent  qiiestion* — the  last  which 
they  could  now  put  to  the  Lord.  (The  read- 
ing litripaiToov  seems  to  us  better  to  suit 
their  penetrating  inquiry  than  the  mere  tjfioi- 
Toov.)  It  was,  indeed,  free  to  them  to  put  the 
modest  questions  which  sprang  from  a  desire 
to  be  taught,  as  long  as  the  Lord  was  still 
with  them,  although  we  cannot  suppose  them 
to  have  put  many  questions  to  the  Risen  Lord 
(this  one  and  that  of  John  xxi.  21  are  the  only 
examples  we  find).  But  still  their  present 
questioning  was  not  the  waiting  which  had 
again  and  again  been  impressed  upon  them,  it 
failed  somewhat  of  that  becoming  and  quiet 
submission  to  the  great  word  which  they  had 
received.  Here  once  more,  we  might  almost 
say,  they  are  entangled  in  that  which  was 
human.  But  we  can  understand  what  that 
was,  and  what  it  was  not,  only  when  we  un- 
derstand what  it  was  which  they  a^ked.  First 
comes  the  reverential  uvpiE,  "  Lord,"  and  then 
the  particle  of  interrogation  (el  like  DN  is  so 

used  even  in  an  indirect  question)  :  Dost  thou 
at  this  time  establish  (again)  the  kingdom  to 
Israel  ?  But  here  we  must  reject  this  "  again ;" 
and,  in  order  to  obviate  misconception,  must 
rightly  understand  the  dTCOKaOi6frji.it-  The 
word  is  indeed  used  elsewhere,  and  in  classical 
Greek  commonly,  for  restiiuo  in  pristinura  lo- 
cum et  statum  ;  hence  it  occurs  for  restoring  to 
health— Matt.  xii.  13 ;  Mark  iii.  5,  viii.  25 ; 
Luke  vi.  10.  Yet  this  is  not  its  only  or  orig- 
inal signification;  certainly  not  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. We  said  upon  Matt  xvii.  11,  and  repeat 
it  now  more  plainly :  xaQidrdvat  or  xaOi- 
drdveiv  means  to  establish — It^rsieUen  or  hin- 
stellen — to  order,  arrange,  set  right,  as  the 
proper  expression  of  organizing,  setting  up,  or 
consummating  any  system  or  constitution,  and 
therefore  specifically  a  kingdom  ;  the  and 
which  is  added  does  not  by  any  means  intro- 
duce the  again,  but  simply  signifies  'perfectly, 
entirely  (as  ab — ,  am — ,  or  ver — ,  in  German 
combination).  It  therefore  only  strengthens 
the  idea  of  establishing  or  setting  up.  It  is 
true  that  the  Sept.  employs  the  term  for  a't^n 

(Jer.  xvi.  15,  xxiv.  6,  1.  19  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  55,  and 
especially  Mai.  iv.  5,  where  Luke  translates 
iTCidrp/rpat),  but  we  must  seek  our  parallels  in 
the  New  Testament.  As  occurring  in  Matt, 
xvii.  11,  with  TtftdoTov — before  the  Lord  him- 
self   comes   and   consummates   all   things — it 


♦  On  the  way,  Ebrard  thinks ;  but  this  does  not 
suit  the  GwekQayTeit  as  we  understand  iU 


cannot  mean  the  proper  restitutio  in  integrum^ 
but  the  preparing,  the  regulation,  and  th« 
arrangement  of  all  that  pertained  to  the  office 
of  Elias  the  forerunner.  In  Heb.  xiii.  19  it  is 
very  questionable  whether  a  return,  or  restora- 
tion back,  is  meant ;  and  not  rather  the  mere 
— "  that  I  may  be  given  to  you."  As  to  Acta 
iii.  21  (the  most  decisive  parallel  of  our  passage), 
that  which  God  had  spoken  and  promised  may 
indeed  be  established,  and  exhibited  in  its  ful- 
fillment, but  certainly  not  be  restored  ;  and  to 
force  upon  the  passage  a  "  restitution  of  all 
things"  is  altogether  out  of  harmony  with  the 
connection,  as  well  as  opposed  to  the  meaning 
of  the  word.  Thus,  in  our  present  passage, 
el  azoHaOi6rdyEii  is  not  a  question  concern- 
ing the  restoring  again  .•*  in  that  case,  it  is 
probable  that  rov  and  not  roj  'lopatjX  would 
nave  been  used ;  comp.  Heb.  xiii.  19.  The 
question  cannot  have  referred  to  such  a  king- 
dom as  had  been  from  the  beginning ;  for,  the 
explanations  of  the  Lord  had  certaiuly  taught 
the  disciples  so  much  as  this,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  would  be  in  that  kingdom,  and  that  all 
nations  would  be  added  unto  it.  They  must 
have  contemplated  and  expected  r  i/  v  Iia6t- 
Xeiav,  "  the  kingdom,"  in  a  very  different 
sense  from  any  which  the  word  had  hitherto 
borne.  'AixoHadidrdvEiy,  "restore,"  means  to 
set  up  at  once,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was 
promised,  and  is  yet  in  the  future  :  compare 
Acts  iii.  22,  vuiy  d  y  a6  r  y  6  e  i — ver.  26, 
dya6Trj(}ai.  If  the  promise  is  fulfilled,  then 
that  which  was  promised  is  seen  to  be  really 
established  and  confirmed.  But  dTronaOidra- 
yety  includes  also  the  idea  oi  fulfillment  ;  for, 
when  the  kingdom  is  established,  the  goal  of 
all  is  reached,  nothing  more  is  to  be  expect- 
ed.t 

After  this  preliminary  disquisition,  we  shall 
be  able  to  do  justice  to  the  meaning  of  their 
question.  The  Apostles  iioio,  after  all  that  they 
had  heard  from  the  Lord,  could  not  possibly 
have  retained  those  thoughts  about  his  king- 
dom which  they  betrayed  in  Luke  xix.  11,  and 
xxiv.  21 — indeed,  even  in  this  latter  passage, 
their  hope  is  not  to  be  interpreted,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  an  entirely  carnal  and  Jewish  sense. 
But,  alas  I  almost  all  expositors  so  interpret  it, 
as  with  one  consent.  Lightfoot  thought  it  ne- 
cessary to  evade  such  an  improbable  assump- 
tion of  error  on  the  part  of  the  Apostles,  by 
the  ridiculous  perversion — Surely  thou  wilt 
not  restore  to  wicked  hrael  their  kingdom  ! 
But  in  other  writers  we  read  to  satiety  about 
"  earthly  views  of  the  Messiah  " — "carnal  sense  " 
— "  Jewish,  carnal,  and  false  expectations." 
The  excellent  Hofacker  enters  so  fully  into  the 
predominant  exposition  as  to  magnify  the 
Lord's  patience  with  these  slow-hearted  Apos- 


*  Vulg.  restitues  in  the  sense  of  appointing  again 
to  Israel.  So  Stolz  :  Bring  back  the  kinsdom  to 
Israel.  So,  unhappily,  in  the  Heb.  Nno  Testament 
a't'n  instead  of  tlie  preferable  D'[?n, 

t  See  our  Redcn  dcr  Apostd,  i.  93-96 


ACTS  L  5.  6. 


ties,  who,  after  th«  teaching  of  three  years, 
could  thu3  ia  the  last  hour  put  questions  sa- 
voring so  entirely  of  their  old  Jewish  pre-pos- 
sessions.  But  all  this  we  absolutely  deny.  It 
is  true  that,  as  Ebrard  says,  this  questioning 
of  the  Apostles  is  "of  moment  in  characteriz- 
ing their  ttage  of  kimwleiige  at  that  period  " — 
but  that  stage  was  at  that  time  an  elevated 
one,  their  perception  about  the  matter  itself 
was  correct.  Even  Herder  says  that  "  the 
crucifixion  must  have  removed  the  scales  from 
the  eyes  of  tlie  disciples ;  and  when  the  Lord 
rose  again  they  must  have  felt  that  there  was 
to  be  no  earthly  kingdom  there  and  then." 
Very  true,  if  this  "earthly"  is  understood  to 
mean  their  old  and  carnal  suppositions  ;  but  if 
it  was  intended  to  deny  the  final  external  and 
glorious  kingdom  of  the  Israel  of  God  in  this 
world,  it  is  but  the  opposite  error  of  spiritual- 
ism which  disbelieves  the  prophecies.  Such  a 
misconception  of  the  disciples  would  certainly 
have  been  repelled;  but  can  we  suppose  them 
to  have  actually  erred  in  this  ?  They  had  re- 
ceived the  instructions  of  the  forty  days,  by 
means  of  which,  as  ver.  3  intimates,  the  true 
and  real  kingdom  of  God  had  become  the  centre 
and  focus  of  all  their  views,  of  all  their  insight 
into  Scripture  and  the  great  economy  of  the 
divine  counsel.  And  can  we  suppose  them, 
after  this,  to  have  remained  in  ignorance  as  to 
what  kind  of  kingdom  that  would  be?  In 
that  case,  on  the  one  hand,  this  preparatory  in- 
struction must  have  been  in  vain  and  super- 
fluous, afid  the  Lord  would  have  done  better 
to  begin  at  once  with  the  Pentecost ;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  even  the  IIolp  Spirit  could  scarcely 
have  removed  such  thick  scales  from  their 
eyes.  We  can  conceive  that  they  might  have 
misapprehended  and  misinterpreted  isolated 
passages  of  Scripture ;  but  such  a  total  mis- 
understanding we  cannot  conceive.  Olshausen 
lays  the  emphasis  very  correctly  upon  this, 
tliat  the  Lord  had  told  them  rd  itspi  ri/i 
/jadtXeia^y  that  is,  that  "  he  had  confided  to 
his  disciples  all  that  remained  to  be  told  them 
concerning  his  kingdom ;  "  but  this  does  not 
admit  of  their  retaining  any  such  fundamental 
error  as  to  the  relation  of  that  kingdom  to  Is- 
rael as  would  be  inconsistent  with  its  spiritual 
character.  Ebrard  supposes  that  "they  still 
and  continually  thought  only  of  a  visible  king- 
dom. " — but  did  the  Lord  ever,  in  his  interpre- 
tation of  the  prophets,  speak  of  a  kingdom 
which  should  not  be  "  visible,"  neither  now  nor 
in  the  future?  Oh,  that  the  Lord's  rebuke  on 
the  way  to  Emmaus  might  still  extricate  men 
from  their  confusion  upon  this  subject  1  Did 
he  not  lay  open  the  prophets,  and  confirm  their 
predictions  ?  And  do  they  not  undeniably 
every  where  speak  of  a  kingdom  of  Israel 
which  should  finally  be  visible — do  not  all  their 
visions  and  promises  end  with  the  plainest  as- 
surances to  the  covenant  people  of  God,  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  upon  this  earth — such  as 
have  been  vainljc wrested  into  a  mere  "spirit- 
ual "  application  by  an  incorrect  orthodoxy  ? 
The  annunciation  to  Mary,  Luke  i.  33,  speaks 


of  nothing  else  ;  Gabriel  had  not  carnal-Jewish 
ideas,  nor  did  he  for  a  time  accommodate  his 
expressions  to  any  such.  Limborch.  indeed  (in 
the  Coinm.  upon  Acts),  makes  the  Risen  Lord 
still  accommodate  his  words  to  prevalent  opin- 
ions. He  clings  to  the  incorrect  notion  of  the 
a7toKaOi6rdy£iy,  "  restore,"  and  thence  proves 
(groundlessly,  as  we  have  seen)  that  "the 
Apostles  did  not  understand  the  erection  of  a 
heavenly  and  spiritual  kingdom.  When  they 
ask  about  the  resiituiion  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  they  seem  to  mean  the  same  kingdom 
which  had  been  broken  up.  But  it  was  the 
external  kingdom  of  Israel  which  was  thus 
broken  up."*  He  then  goes  on,  "  The  Lord 
indulged  their  infirmity,  and  spoke  to  them  in 
such  a  manner  that  he  might  not  altogether  cut 
off  their  hopes" — "  the  disciples  received  in  a 
carnal  sense  the  words  which  the  Lord  had 
spoken  concerning  his  kingdom  in  accommoda- 
tion to  their  expectation  of  a  Messiah  " — and 
"  Jesus  thus  tempered  his  words,"  so  as  to  leave 
them  still  in  possession  of  these  notions.  Oh, 
no  ;  most  assuredly  no  !  For  a  long  time  past 
he  had  spoken  to  them  openly  and  plainly  ;  he 
now  answers  without  any  reservation ;  and 
this  very  answer,  as  we  shall  see,  will  not 
allow  us  to  find  in  the  question  of  the  disciples 
any  fundamental  error  as  to  the  matter  of  tha 
kingdom  in  itself. 

The  Apostles  did  not  ask  as  "  patriots  long- 
ing for  freedom  " — according  to  the  brief  re- 
mark of  J.  Von  Miiller.  They  did  ask,  indeed, 
as  patriots  filled  with  that  sacred  patriotism 
for  Israel  which  the  prophets  justified,  which 
the  Lord  himself  showed  to  the  end,  and  which 
was  again  exhibited  in  Paul  the  Apostle  of  tha 
Gentiles,  which  the  entire  Scripture  requires 
from  all  the  faithful  of  all  nations  grafted  into 
Israel.  They  were  not,  however,  longing  for 
freedom,  but  for  the  dominion  of  God  and  his 
Spirit  through  Christ ;  that  is,  for  the  kingdom 
of  God  in  and  for  Israel.  It  is  better  said,  and 
almost  with  perfect  correctness,  by  Rothmaler: 
"  They  were  not  satisfied  with  the  renewal  of 
their  own  hearts.  Their  wishes  and  longings 
went  forth  after  the  promises  of  the  Lord  in 
the  old  covenant."  We  would  add :  They 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  conversion  of  the 
nations  without ;  their  looks  and  desires  were 
turned  toward  Israel,  and  rightly  so.  Bengel 
says :  "  The  disciples  thought  no  longer  of  a 
worldly  kingdom  in  such  a  Jewish  and  carnal 
sense  as  many  expositors  unjustly  attribute  to 
them  ;  for  Christ  had  given  them  by  this  time 
ample  instruction  as  to  the  true  character  of 
his  kingdom.  They  only  regarded  the  full 
glory  of  that  kingdom,  as  depicted  by  the  pro- 
phets, to  be  probably  very  near  at  hand."  Ia 
truth,  they  understood  far  better,  when  they 
put  this  question,  what  the  kingdom  promised 
to  Israel  was,  than  these  condemning  expositors 


*  Nor  is  this  absolutely  true ;  for  was  it  not 
rather  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God,  as  the  great 
design  of  the  theocracy,  which  was  fallen  aud 
I  must  be  restored  t 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


themselves,  who  do  rwrf  believe  all  that  the 
prophets  have  spoken.  They  probably  think 
of  the  thrones  promised  in  Luke  xxii.  30  ;  they 
desire  not,  however,  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  for  their  own  sakes,  or  for  the  sake  of 
those  thrones,  but  for  the  sake  of  wretched, 
fallen,  and  ruined  Israel.  Whatever  that  may 
mean,  the  thing  itself  they  presuppose  (let  it 
be  carefully  noted)  as  something  concerning 
which  they  now,  quite  otherwise  than  before, 
are  agreed  with  the  Lord,  and  the  Scripture 
which  he  has  taught  them  to  understand — and 
the  Lord's  answer  completely  confirms  their 
view.  "  Their  question  is  not  a  sign  of  their 
misunderstanding  ignorance,  but  a  proof  of 
their  right  knowledge.  The  artificial  expe- 
dients of  modern  exposition,  which  resolve 
those  promises  concerning  the  kingdom  and  the 
people  of  Israel  into  a  kingdom  of  the  Spirit 
and  a  Church  of  the  saints,  were  quite  un- 
known to  these  Apostles"  (Bauragarten). 
"  That  they  desired  no  external  or  unspiritual 
kingdom  of  Israel  is  made  evident  by  this,  that 
they  dediiced  the  promise  of  the  kingdom  from 
the  promise  of  the  Spirit."  In  this  Lange  is 
incontestably  right  ;*  for  who  can  venture  to 
detach  their  question  from  those  preceding 
words,  and  make  it  an  abrupt  interjection  from 
an  altogether  opposite  point  of  view?  They 
do  not  ask  about  the  restoration,  but  only 
about  the  time  (as  the  Lord's  answer  also 
shows) ;  so  that  we  must  bring  Matt.  xxiv.  3 
into  comparison.  Moreover,  they  connect  their 
hasty  "  at  this  time  "  with  the  word  which  he 
had  just  given  them — I^ot  many  days  hence. 
"  Is  it  for  this  end  that  we  are  to  remain  in 
Jerusalem?  Wilt  thou,  not  many  days  hence, 
ah,  that  it  may  be  so  1 — establish  here  the 
kiv^domf  Will  not  the  jyoicer  from  on  high 
bring  also  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  God?" 
Nor  is  it  to  be  overlooked,  that  they  do  not 
arrogate  to  themselves  this  authority  of  the 
Spirit  •.  they  do  not  s;iy — Shall  we  then  estab- 
lish ?  but — Wilt  thou  set  up,  in  thy  power  over 
heaven  and  earth,  the  kingdom  by  means  of 
our  instrumentality,  thy  unworthy  instru- 
ments? 

If  there  was  curiosity  in  this,  it  was  not  a 
very  blamablo  curiosity.  Was  it  inqyatience? 
Scarcely  in  any  degree;  but  rather  a  holy 
desire,  as  justifiable  as  it  was  natural.  The 
only  misunderstanding,  the  only  failure  in 
knowledge,  which  it  betrayed,  was  thLi,  that 
while  they  regarded  this  "establishment"  as 
possibly  to  take  place  in  a  very  sudden  man- 
nfir,  they  could  not  have  been  as  yet  ac- 
quainted with  the  spiritual,  internal  process  of 
the  course  of  this  kingdom,  and  its  slow  and 
gradual  preparation  in  the  spiritual  nature  of 
men  through  the  ages  of  time.f     But  is  not 


*  Thousih  not  in  his  other  roinnrk,  tliat,  the 
I.onl's  public  and  confidential  walking  with  tlioin, 
Mich  as  had  never  taken  place  before  since  the  re- 
Burrection  (the  supposed  leading  them  out),  led 
ibeir  thought  to  such  high  expectations. 

f  "  Thus  their  disposition  of  mind  still  clung  to 


this  more  or  less  the  case  with  all  who  prema- 
turely long  for  the  bringing  in  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  God's  work  ?  Will  not  the  final 
consummation  be  a  sudden  interposition,  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  all,  of  the  divine  power  unto 
victory  ? 

Concerning  the  time,  it  appears  the  Lord  had 
very  little,  if  at  all,  spoken,  in  his  final  dis- 
courses upon  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  nor  does 
he  (any  more  than  the  other  Scriptures)  give 
any  further  explanation  in  his  final  answer. 
Thus,  the  question  of  the  Apostles  is — as  they 
were  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  put  it  to  the 
Lord,  in  orcler  that  the  true  answer  for  all  ages 
might  issue  from  his  lips — actually  the  last 
qnestion  which  remains,  at  the  ascension  of 
Jesus  :  it  is  the  last  great  question  of  longing 
and  of  faith,  which  continually  urges  his  disci- 
ples with  desire  to  know  the  tiTne  of  the  con- 
summation of  his  kingdom.  The  ansioer  of 
the  Lord  is  the  most  befitting  final  explanation 
with  which  he  could  depart,  opening  to  them, 
or  rather  closing,  the  mystery.  "  For  his  de- 
parture declared  to  them,  as  an  actual  fact, 
that  a  great  gulf  must  intervene  between  the 
outpouring  of  his  Spirit  and  the  manifestation 
of  his  kingdom"  ^Lange). 

Verso  7.  "  With  thoughts  of  tenderness  and 
mystery  "  he  replies.  His  answer  is  as  deci- 
sive, in  its  plain  revelation  of  what  was  hid- 
den, as  was  possible  in  this  most  gracious 
farewell  word.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  interpret 
this  word  as  Limborch  does  :  "The  Lord  made 
use  of  a  declining  reply,  neither  afliirming  nor 
denying  any  thing  with  certainty,  lest  he 
should  trouble  their  minds  by  altogether  cut- 
ting off  their  hopes."  They  who  entertain 
such  an  opinion  of  the  Lord's  reply  altogether 
forget  the  crisis  of  the  ascension,  and  do  not 
rightly  appreciate  the  relation  between  the  in- 
struction which  thoy  had  hitherto  received  and 
the  power  of  the  Pentecostal  effusion.  This  is 
the  case  with  Braune,  when  he  represents  the 
matter  as  if  light  was  promised  from  on  high, 
and  as  if  the  mistake  of  the  inquiring  disci- 
ples involved  at  once  impatience  and  error. 
But  why,  if  that  was  so,  was  there  not  a  word 
of  light  given  to  oppose  the  error  which  re- 
sulted in  such  impatience?  Instead  of  this, 
we  are  required  to  assume  that  "  he  seizes 
the  impatience  of  the  disciples  alone,  and  re- 
pels it.  He  says  not  a  word  about  their  carnal 
expectations."  For  ourselves,  we  prefer  to 
draw  the  conclusion  that  nothing  was  said  con- 
cerning it,  because  it  did  not  exist  in  their 
minds.  "  But  the  promise,  that  they  should 
receive  the  jtouier  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  repeated 
by  him  :  that  would  extricate  them  from  their 
false  expectations.  Therefore  he  further  re- 
presents to  them  that  they  should  be  his  wit- 
nesses. While  they  were  making  him  known 
the  scales  would  more  and  more  drop  from 


the  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God  would  \  • 
set  up  at  first  with  crtertiai  victorious  power."  Thts 
view  of  Von  Oerl.icli  is  correct,  and  the  reply  is 
quite  consistent  with  iU 


ACTS  I.  7. 


tbeir  eyes.    Their  love,  their  simplicity,  their 
joyful  testimony  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
would  lead  them  onwards."     On  the  contrary, 
we  think  that  such  a  docendo  discere,  such  a 
learning  while  they  were  teaching,  is  a  very 
doubtful   supposition    as    respects  the    Apos- 
tles and  witnesses  of  the  kingdom  which  was 
to  be  waited  for.   We  ask.  Did  not  the  Lord  in 
Luke  xxiv.  48— after  vers.  44-47— attribute  to 
them  by  the  ndorvpei  Tovrcsv,  "  \vitnesses 
of  these  things,"   a  perfect  insight  into  the 
manner,  the  process,  and  the  goal  of  the  king- 
dom, at  least  in  all  essential  respects  ?     Was  it 
not  power  merely  to  which  he  further  referred 
their  expectations,  and  by  no  means  additional 
illumination,   in  order  *to    their   testimony  ? 
Must  not  the  beginning  at  Jerusalem  have  its 
reason  in  the  permanent  vocation  of  this  Is- 
rael, which  is  to  be  confirmed  ut   the   end? 
Are  we  to  suppose  that  only  in  the  commence- 
ment of  the  apostolical  testimony,  when  they 
had  not  j-et  been  "  led  further, "  the  Jewish 
element  still  crept  in  ;  and  interpret  according- 
ly such  words  as  Acts  iii.  20,  21,  25  ;  xv.  15, 
16;  xxviii.  20?     Was  Paul  imperfect  in  his 
views,  and  only  revealing  his  own  delusion, 
when  he  wrote  Rom.  xi.  25-29?     Such  ques- 
tions we  may  ask,  as  based  upon  the  New  Tes- 
tament alone,  and  without  appealing  at  all  to 
the  prophets.     Assuredly,  if  there  was  no  "  es- 
tablishing of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,"  as  the 
Apostles  here  meant  it,  reserved  for  the  future, 
then  there  would  have  been  necessary  here  a 
final  protest — Ye  err,  and  have  not  yet  rightly 
understood   the  Scriptures.     But,   instead   of 
this,  what  does  the  Lord  answer  and  testify? 
He  does  not  say  Wo;  he  confirms  that  which 
the  question  took  for  granted.     He  does  not, 
properly  speaking,  rebuke  or  blame  their  ques- 
tioning at  all.     He  does  not  say — "  It  is  not 
your  privilege  and  your  duty  to  ask" — and  so 
lar  Bengel  is  right.     His  answer  refers  only  to 
the  time;  but  he  confirms  what  they  took  for 
granted,  that  there  was  in  the  future  such  a 
final  aTtoHctOidrdvEiy.     He  replies  that  the 
preparations  for  that  kingdom  would  continue 
long,  and  that  it  was  not  needful  or  befitting 
for  them  to  know  tke  times  of  this.     How  can 
any  one  say,  after  this,  that  he  answered  de- 
dinatorie,  nee  affirmaiido  nee  ti-  gando  ? 

As  all  that  is  hidden  and  reserved  is  referred 
every  where  to  the  Father  (comp..  Matt.  xx. 
23),  so  it  is  here.  "EQeto,  "  hath  put,"  may 
be  translated,  with  Erasmus,  by  cmstituit  (as 
I'drtfdsv,  -chap.  xvii.  31);  and  this  makes 
Bengel's  argument  all  the  more  forcible — 
"  Therefore  the  thing  itself  must  be  firm,  else 
there  would  be  no  tiTue  for  it."  The  same, 
however,  is  established  by  the  ;i'po»'ot)?  t) 
jiaipovi,  "  times  or  seasons,"  especially  if, 
with  the  Vulg.,  we  understand  it  posuit  in  sua 
fotestate  (Iv  for  eii)—he  has  placed  it  in  hia 
own  power,  and  resei-ved  it  by  his  own  author- 
ity. To  this  the  intensive  iSia,  "  his  own," 
might  lead  us.  But,  further,  what  is  meant 
by  these  times  nnd  seasons?  Must  it  be  pop- 
Hl&rly  .espounded  as  ^xpres&ing  merely  the 


superficial  sense  of  our  "  time  and  opportuni- 
ty?" Certainly  not;  because,  at  the  very 
outset,  the  intentional  plural  was  designed  to 
correct  the  too  hasty  slngidar  of  the  question — 
That  for  which  ye  ask  will  take  place  only 
after  many  days  and  times.  Luke  xxi.  24  had 
already  spoken  of  the  «az/)o?5  lOv^t^,  or  times 
of  the  Gentiles,  which  must  first  be  accom- 
plished; see  the  exposition  of  that  passage. 
But  the  two-fold  word  (as  it  recurs  in  1  Thess. 
V.  1,  certainly  with  allusion  to  this  intimation 
of  our  Lord,  at  least  with  like  meaning  and 
emphasis)  cannot  be  interpreted  as  a  double 
expression  for  the  same  thing,  since  ?/  (or) 
comes  between.  Such  a  phrase  is  not  used  of 
mere  "  longer  or  shorter"  periods.  Xpovo?, 
rather,  marks  the  proper  space  of  time  extend- 
ing forwards ;  while  naipoi,  on  the  other 
hand,  means  a  period  of  time  appointed  for 
any  thing,  which,  indeed,  may  include  a  longer 
time  with  all  its  circumstances.  The  Vulg. 
translates  the  latter  by  momenta  ;  Erasmus  by 
artieuli  tfmporum  ;  Van  Ess  by  Zeitumstande  ; 
Bengel,  in  harsh  and  inappropriate  German 
(which  was  not  his  forte),  by  Gelegenlieiten,. 
It  is  fundamentally  the  same  which  we  call  in 
history  periods  or  epochs;  the  first  D'ny  and 

the  second  D^nyiD,  though  the  Ueb.  N.  T.  has 

improperly  inverted  these  two  words.  Acta 
vii.  17,  20,  does  not  apparently  distinguish  so 
accurately ;  but  we  may,  even  there,  under- 
stand the  first  time  the  issue  or  running  out  of 
the  xpo'^'^''-  ^^^^  "'•  20,  21  most  plainly  co- 
incides, where  the  xaipoi  a.va-4)u^EooZ,  "times 
of  refreshing,"  are  shorter,  definite  2^oints  of 
time  in  which  the  refreshing  breathings  of  the 
Spirit  are  consciously  felt;  while  the  xfxJ^oi 
aTCOHaTa6rn6E(J0i  are  longer  spaces  of  time, 
which  the  full  realization  of  all  that  had  been 
promised  alone  makes  manifest.*  Finally,  we 
find  the  same  combination  of  the  phraseology 
in  Wisd.  viii.  8,  with  which  we  may  compare 
Dan.  ii.  21,  Sept.  (In  chap.  vii.  12  the  same 
Chaldee  expressions  are  not  so  precisely  trans- 
lated.) Thus,  the  Lord  means,  first,  the  spaces 
of  distance  intervening  between  the  prorninent 
epochs  which  would  exhibit  a  stage  in  the 
consummation  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  then,  se- 
condly, the  times  of  fulfillment  thus  in  each 
instance  come.  Lange's  expression  very  aptly 
the  sense — "Times  of  concealing   or   of 


gives 

fulfillment."  Concerning  these  ;f/3o)'oi;?  t/ 
uaipovi  he  finally  and  absolutely  refuses  to 
us  any  knowledge,  just  as  he  had  spoken  in 
Matt.  xxiv.  36,  Alark  xiii.  32,  of  the  day  and 
the  hour  of  his  return.  Moreover,  by  thus  re- 
ferring back  to  his  former  declaration,  he  gives 
us  to  understand  that  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  for  Israel  would  be  connected  with 
his  (first)  return. 

Did  he  not  himself  yet  know  that  of  which 
he  here  speaks?     Did  he  not  really  know  the 


*  See  my  Reden  der  Apostel  \.  95 ;  and  in  p.  96 
that  axpi  is  BOt  equivalent  to  £035,  Jjut — while,  aa 
long  as. 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


times  and  the  periods  "in  his  present,  «/i^ 
hu7nanli/hiimf4edconlem])\&i\on?"  Must  we, 
because  he  speaks  of  the  Father,  think  that 
even  now  he  knows  not  as  the  Son,  as  he  knew 
not  in  Murk  xiii.  32?  Hase  scrupled  not  to 
regard  it  as  jmsibly  intimated  here  that  "he 
retracted,  on  a  clearer  view,  earlier  expressions 
in  which  he  had  closely  connected  his  return 
with  the  then  present  generation,  and  the  ap- 
proaching destruction  of  Jerusalem"  This, 
however,  he  also  is  good  enough  to  retract 
afterwards  ;  and  we,  who  have  better  under- 
stood the  Lord's  earlier  sayings,  need  not 
spend  any  time  upon  it.  We  think  that  if  he 
did  not  even  yet  know,  he  would  have  said  so, 
as  on  that  former  occasion.  His  neymdii — his 
state  of  humiliation,  as  having  emptied  himsdf 
— is  now  at  an  end,  and  therefore  he  emphat- 
ically begins  by  saying,  "  It  is  not  for  you 
(ovx  t-iucDv)  to  know:  so,  though  he  knew  full 
well  the  day  of  Pentecost,  he  consulted  their 
good  by  leaving  it  unrevealed  for  thrtr  wait- 
ing. But  new  questions  immediately  arise — 
Does  this  declaration  hold  good  merely  as  re- 
gards the  Apostles  and  first  disciples?*  May 
we  therefore  expect  to  know  the  times?  Did 
an  Apostle  know  at  a  later  period  ?  Is  not  the 
Apocalypse  argument  for  this  ?  Was  not  the 
Apocalytic  reckonmg  here  excluded?  Bengel 
v/as  very  naturally  constrained  to  seek  this  re- 
fuge ;  and  we  find  in  the  Giutmon :  " Not  for 
you,  he  says ;  whence  we  must  not  infer  that  it 
would  not  be  for  others  afterwards  to  know. 
The  things  which  it  was  not  for  the  Apostles 
to  know,  were  afterwards  disclosed  in  the 
Apocalypse.  This  more  general  announcement 
does  not  militate  against  a  subsequent  more 
specific  revelation."  Similarly  in  the  O/yZo 
temporum :  "  He  did  not  say  that  no  man 
should  kruno,  but  that  no  man  knows.  He  him- 
self was  about  to  know  (?) — and  when  he  had 
obtained  the  knowledge  of  the  day  and  the 
hour,  he  could  give  the  knowledge  of  it  to 
whom  he  would  and  when  he  would."  This 
Hengstenberg  in  his  Christology  quot-^s  with 
approbation,  and  many  continually  follow  in 
the  same  track.  Father  Lambert  even  para- 
phrases (Meyer  says  "not  amiss,"  but  we  al- 
together demur),  "  The  knowledge  of  which 
the  Father  hath  reserved  till  he  shall  think  it 
right  to  give  that  knowledge."!  Oetinger 
maintained  boldly  :  "  If  we  hold  firmly  fast  the 
directions  given  by  the  enlightened  Bengel, 
and  interpret  the  Revelation  thereby,  we  are 
in  the  great  point  (really  the  great  point?) 


*  III  our  SehuVehrerhihel  we  find  it  written,  ns  if 
the  leaciiers  likewise  must  not  he  preven'.ed  from 
knowing  :  "  Because  the  disciples  wei-e  not  to 
survive  to  the  time  when  tlie  kingdom  promised 
by  the  piophels  should  take  its  beginning,  i/ifi/ 
needed  not  to  knov/  the  time."  Was  it,  then,  that 
tliey  mighi  hope  to  live  to  see  it  1 

•f  2/ie  Wissayungen  und  Verbeitun/j^n  der  Kirche 
Jesu  Vltr  six  auf  die  Mslen  Zeilen  der  Jleiden  gegehen, 
nack  LaniWrt,  bearbeit  von  laiichem  (J.  T.  von 
Meyer),  NUrnb.  1818, 


more  enlightened  than  the  AposMes,  who  pos- 
sessed not  the  Revelation  of  John."     Again: 
"That  which  was  denied  to  the  Apostles  is  a 
gift,  charisma  of  our  times."     Richter's  IJim- 
hihel  says,    "  This   reserved   knowledge   Jesus 
Christ  obtained  for  us,  Rev.  v."     We  shall  not 
enter  into  this  great  subject  more  folly  now, 
but  simply   avow  that    we  think    otherwise. 
We  cannot  understand  the  promise  of  Dan.  xii. 
4,  10,  as  having  reference  to  this  reckoning  of 
the    seasons;  we  are   convinced  that    all   the 
numbers  in  prophecy  are  either  symbolical,  or 
so  uncertainly  set   forth  as  to  the  tenninos  a 
quo,  etc. — and  this  even  in  the  Apocalypse — 
that  no  proper  knowing  of  the  times  is  ever  to 
be  supposed  possible.     We  admit  that  there 
may  be  observations  of  them  in  general,  ami 
approximating  marks  maybe  discerned ;  but 
it  IS  very  remarkable  that  when  chronological 
dates    for  the  future    have  been    determined 
with  precision  by  even  learned  and  far-reach- 
ing and  devout  men,  they   have  notoriously- 
gone  astray.     We,  for  our  own  part   remain 
fixed  in  the  humble  assurance  that  "It  is  not 
for  yo'i  to  know,"  spoken  by  the  Lord  even  to  the- 
Apostles,  was  still  more  expressly  spoken  to  al! 
the  believers  of  a  later  age,  whom  he  here  as- 
ever  regarded  as  represented  by  them  ;  that  it 
was  spoken  to  all  whom  he  leaves  »till  upon 
earth  until  his  coming  again,  and  with  whom  h& 
places   himself  in    contrast   as   the  ascendin<^ 
Lord    by   this   great   v/jwr,  "you''  (himself 
therefore  most  certainly  knowing).     This  -not 
knowing  oi  the  times,  thus  positively  declared, 
is  the  end  and  the  limit  of  his  prophetic  ofiice, 
beyond  which   the  Spirit   revealelh    nothing; 
Paul  in  1  Thess.  v.  firmly  holds  fast  this.    The 
Lord  might  have  said — This  1  reserve  to  my- 
self ;  but  because  with  this  there  would  have 
been  necessary — Eocn  the  Spirit  shall  not  reveal 
it  to  you,  he  mentions  it  only  as  a  thing  reserv- 
ed of  the  Father.     Here  we  must  quote  an  ex- 
cellent remark  of  Allioli,  whom   we  so  o:ten 
condemn:  "Only  the  Eternal  perfectly  knowetb 
time,  for  it  is   the  development  of  eternity." 
But  we  cannot  fail  to  discern  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  thus  concealing  the  times  from  us  poor 
children  of  men;  as  Hafeli  says  :  "Behold,  the 
Lord  cuts  the  threads  of  our  curiosity,  what- 
ever pure  and  affectionate  longing  may  enter 
into     it;     he    knows    full    well     into    what 
abysses  and  into  what  snares  of  error  it  may 
lead.     Curiosity  is  a  flattering  serpent,  whicb 
pi-omises    to    us    the    wisdom    of    God,    and 
cheats  us  out  of  a  blessed  paradise  of  happier,, 
childlike  •wniiing."     They  should  wait  for  the 
promise  of  the  Father — lonit  for  the  promise* 
made  by  tlie   prophets.     The   former  waiting 
would  soon  come  to  an  end ;  the  other  would 
have   no  end   until   the    specific   «a»/oJ?,   or 
"  season,"  should  arrive   in  each    case  alter  ai 
Xftovo'iy  or  "  time."     Thus  s[>oaks  he,  and  so 
speaking  goes  hence.     The  kingdom  of  Israel 
13  not  established  to  this  day  ;  yea,  the  kingdom 
of  Ood  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  seems  to 
tarry  yet  with  it  for  the  final  demonstration 
of.  divme   vicLorioua  iiiight.     We   stand,  auii 


ACTS  I.  8. 


859 


ask,  with  more  or  less  of  impatience  mingled 
■with  our  pure  and  justified  longings  of  faith 
and  love— When  will  it  be,  O  Lord?  Will  it 
be  riow?  The  promise  remains  firm  ;  the  pro- 
phets cannot  deceive ;  their  testimony  has  been 
confirmed  by  the  Lord  himself.  But  he  still 
answers  the  question  concerning  the  times  as 
he  answered  at  first,  in  the  words  which  we 
have  just  heard,  and  in  those  which  we  shall 
now  hear.  "  lie  puts  down  the  fingers  which 
calculate  about  these  things ;  he  commands 
them  to  be  still  who  says— It  is  not  for  you  to 
know  the  times,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his 
own  power"  (Augusline,  Civ.  Dei.  xviii.  53). 

Verse  8.  These  words  introduce  a  consola- 
tion which  should  compensate  for  the  repulsion 
of  their  question.  They  are  even,  in  a  certain 
sense,  an  answer,  so  far  as  we  are  ever  to  have 
an  answer  to  it ;  at  any  rate  they  belong 
necessarily  to  the  reply  \yhich  had  already  been 
given,  and  help  to  interpret  it.  "  They  should 
prepare  the  way  for  the  new  kingdom  by  their 
testimony ;  and  as  far  as  lay  in  them,  hring  ever 
nearer  the  time  and  the  hour"  (Rothmaler). 
This  also  was  said  to  us  as  well  as  to  them. 
At  first  the  kingdom  must  be  internally  ground- 
ed and  fully  prepared  for,  through  the  patient 
never-failing  testimony  preached  for  the  accep- 
tance of  faith  throughout  all  the  world.  Be 
that  enough  for  you.  By  this  the  Lord  plainly 
intimates  that  the  kingdom  of  Lrael  will  come 
■when  the  testimony  has  run  its  course  through- 
out the  nationn.  To  direct  the  Apostles  to  this, 
he  uses  now  (repeating  the  promise  of  Luke 
xxiv.  49,  as  he  liad  previously  repeated  the 
commandment,  then  given)  the  more  simple,  and 
yet  in  a  certain  sense  stronger,  expression 
X}}ipe60s,"  ye  shall  receive;"  as  if  he  would 
say.  This  receiving  should  sufDce  to  you.  We 
might  take  "  Ye  shall  receive  power  "  alone, 
and  regard  the  67tEX06yroi  as  a  genitive  abso- 
lute. So  Bengel  translates — Ye  shall  receive 
power,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  come  upon 
you.  Baumgarten,  in  like  manner — When 'the 
Holy  Ghost  will  have  descended  upon  you. 
But  this  "  receiving  power,"  standing  alone, 
appears  to  us  too  feeble ;  nor  does  it  correspond 
to  the  parallel  "  power  from  on  high."  'EtcsX- 
Ooyroi  is  placed  emphatically  before  the  article, 
as  the  ground  of  the  dvya/uti  ;  but  here,  as 
in  Luke  xxiv.,  the  article  is  wanting  to  the 
dvyajtitS  itself,  because  the  word  is  as  it  were 
the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit — The  powe7-o{  the 
Holy  Ghost  who  will  come  upon  you.  It  is  not 
without  emphasis  that  it  runs,  e'asoOe  ^oi  (or 
fiov)  (loifiTvpE?,  Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  ; 
for  it  says,  with  majestic  condescension — Is  not 
that  enough  for  you,  without  knowing  the 
time?  Witnesses  of  the  present  (by  no  means 
merely  of  the  departed,  as  Olshausen  says) — 
but  not,  properly  speaking,  prophets  of  the 
future ;  this  is  the  higher  honor  of  the  New- 
Testament  vocation  of  the  Apostles,  which  does 
not,  however,  exclude  a  certain  prophesying  of 
the  yet  outstanding  future.  Thus,  as  wit- 
nesses, the  servants  of  my  Icingdom — not  at  I 
once  princes  upon  thrones :  instead  of  this,  yet  | 


in  order  to  this,  they  must  be  the  strong,  joy- 
ful, and  diligent  laborers  upon  the  building  ; 
thus  helping  to  bring  in  the*longed-for,  and  in 
in  its  time  certain,  goal  of  accomplishment. 
Which  would  ye  prefer — to  behold  at  once  and 
enjoy  the  ready  and  finished  consummation,  or 
to  be  counted  worthy  of  the  honor  of  being 
the  instruments  by  which  I  lay  the  foundation 
of  the  great  edifice?  So  Lange  represents  his 
meaning  :  "  This  word  appears  to  bring  down 
their  expectations,  but  in  reality  it  carries  their 
minds  tar  beyond  those  expectations.  They 
must  not  regard  the  kingdom  as  an  object 
standing  beyond  and  over  against  them  ;  but 
they  themselves  have  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
fundamental  power  of  that  kingdom — thus  be- 
ing themselves  in  the  midst  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  kingdom  in  them.  They  should  not 
look  forward  to  it  simply,  with  enslaved  and 
calculating  desires,  as  if  it  were  not  yet  in  real 
existence ;  they  must  rather  help  to  lay  its 
foundation,  by  becoming  witnesses  of  the  life, 
death,  and  victory  of  their  Lord." 

In  the  designation  of  their  wide  circle  of 
mission  Jerusalem  once  more  comes  first — 
Jerusalem,  not  given  up,  to  which  the  promises 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  belong.  This  means 
here  at  last :  If  your  desire  for  Israel  is  so 
strong  and  sincere,  then  begin  ye,  as  I  have 
more  than  once  said,  with  Jerusalem.  Though 
that  may  be  too  strong  which  Braune  says — 
"They  would  most  willingly  have  confined' 
themselves  to  Galilee  ;"  yet  there  is  some  truth 
in  it,  as  we  have  already  noticed  upon  ver.  4, 
notwithstanding  their  longing  for  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  Israel's  kingdom.  For  it  was  with 
them  in  some  slight  degree  as  it  is  with  us  so 
often  ;  we  ask  the  Lord  when  he  will  do  his 
work,  but  are  not  willing  to  begin  where  we 
wish  to  see  his  power  and  glory  manifested. 
After  Jerusalem  and  Judea,  which  have  their 
pre-eminence  in  his  faithful  love,  Samaria  is 
mentioned:  Samaria,  which  at  first  was  inter- 
dicted to  the  Apostles,  which  was  so  hateful  to 
Jewish  pride,  but  which  had  lain  near  the 
Lord's  heart  from  the  time  when  he  received 
there  the  first  fruits  of  the  joy  of  his  great  har- 
vest. Samaria,  in  accordance  with  its  position 
and  character,  and  with  the  subsequent  history 
of  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  was  to  be  the  in- 
termediate link  between  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
thus  transitionally  abolishing  the  enmity  be- 
tween them.'*  The  Lord  had  denied  to  them 
all  explanation  as  to  the  distant  futurity  of  his 
kingdom ;  but  he  graciously  gives  them  all 
that  they  need  to  know  as  to  its  nearer  pro- 
cess, and  their  own  official  duties  as  his  ambas- 
sadors, marking  out  to  them  prophetically  the 
course  of  their  testimony.  Kat  eu?  e6xocTov 
ri/i  yfji,  "  and  unto  the' uttermost  part  of  the 
earth" — is  this  final,  and  sudden,  and  all-com- 
prehending station  of  their  way,  meant  con- 


*  Hess :  "  We  hear  this  mention  of  Samaria 
with  joy."  But  love  to  those  who  hated  him  was 
not  the  only  reason  of  this  mention;  the  succes- 
sion has  its  historical  significance. 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


cerning  the  Gentile  world?  Does  it  thus  (ac- 
cording to  Ebrard)  correspond  to  Rome,  as  the 
final  station  in  the  history  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  ?*  Most  assuredly,  for  it  is  obvious 
that  after  Samaria  the  nations  of  the  heathen 
must  be  intended  ;  and  that  all  those  nations 
must  be  included,  as  respects  the  successors  of 
the  Apostles.  But,  nevertheless,  it  seems  to 
us  quite  consistent  with  this  that  the  imme- 
diate reference  of  the  expression  sdxccrov  rr/S 
yiji,  like  the  equally  ambiguous  pS  ^D35?j 

"  ends  of  the  earth,"  in  the  prophets,  is  to 
the  horizon  of  the  limits  of  the  Holy  Land, 
which  typico-prophetically  represents  the  whole 
earth. t  For  Olshausen's  objection — "  Any  re- 
ference  of  the  words  to  Palestine  is  altogether 
inadmissible,  since  (he  divisions  of  the  land 
had  already  been  mentioned  " — is  robbed  of  its 
force  by  the  circumstance  that  Galilee,  which 
would  60  obviously  occur  to  the  "  men  of 
Galilee,"  which  had  been  so  pre-eminently  pre- 
pared b^  the  personal  work  of  the  lledeemer, 
and  which  had  been  indicated  by  the  prophet 
(Matt.  iv.  14-16),  is  7iot  mentioned,  and  appears 
to  be  forgotten  or  passed  by.  Moreover,  as 
we  have  remarked  on  Matt  x.,  "  down  to  the 
.destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Israel  was  more 
especially  the  appointed  sphere  of  the  labors 
■of  the  Apostles  of  the  circumcision."  Accord- 
ingly, we  may  interpret  the  last  prophetic 
word  of  the  Lord  according  to  the  usual  phrase- 
ology of  the  prophets.  The  more  immediate 
meaning  points  to  the  three  divisions  of  the 
land,  Judea,  Samaria,  Galilee — Samaria  not 
being  to  be  swiftly  journeyed  through  for  the 
Bake  of  reaching  Galilee.  But  the  wider  mean- 
ing embraces  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the  circle 
of  all  nations,  as  referred  to  in  the  former 
commission— the  name  of  Galilee,  D\"''i3n  'p^bi,, 

"  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles." 

Thus  does  the  Lord  depart  and  the  Ads  of 
the  Apostles  begin:  that  which  he  began,  and 
finished  in  the  foundation,  proceeds  now  on- 
wards in  its  development  toward  the  goal  of 
the  kingdom — Israel,  however,  and  not  Rome.t 
In  the  first  verse  of  our  chapter  we  must  not 
briefly  say  that  T/p^aro  is  redundant;  but, 
rather,  with  Olshausen— "  The  earthly  work  of 
the  Lord  is  opposed  to  his  later  invisible  opera- 
tion." Not,  as  Von  Gerlach  explains,  that  he 
legan  is  to  be  supplemented  by  and  continued 


•  So  Rome  was  the  final  point  in  the  plan  of 
apostolical  history  ;  as  we  establislied  it  in  our 
Reden  der  Apostcl.  So  Baumjjarten  gives  it  prom- 
inence in  his  work. 

•f  We  find  the  snme  in  Sepp:  ""Edxarov  rf/i 
yiji,  as  here  standing  by  the  side  of  Judaia  and 
Samaria,  is  the  literal  translation  of  Galilee;  that 
is,  the  border  of  the  land,  with  the  further  univer- 
sal reference."  But  this  etymology  may  bo  con- 
tended aj^ainst. 

I  Simeon,  Luke  ii.  32,  predicts  that  the  light  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  salvation  of  the  ends  of  the 
farlh,  Wi.i  be  (ujam  the  glory  of  Gods  peojiie  Is- 
rael. 


(as  Matt.  XX.  8).  But  the  apostolical  history 
brings  in  a  devrspo?  XoyoZ  or  continuation  of 
this  rfplaro,  "  began,"  of  our  Lord  upon  earth 
until  he  ascended  to  heaven ;  compare  in 
Luke's  Gospel,  cha,p.  iii.  23,  the  n'/3;fo>£j't>5. 
As  it  is  in  the  apostolical  tcord  and  testimony 
of  the  Spirit  that  we  have  the  developed,  and 
so  far  consummated,  Ooipel  of  Christ,  which  he 
himself  could  not  as  yet  preach — so  also  the 
Church  after  Pentecost  is  the  first  continuation 
of  his  work.  He  fulfilled  all,  and  yet  there  is 
another  beginning.  The  ascension  stands  in  the 
middle;  it  closes  the  first  and  begins  the  sec- 
ond book  ;  but  the  second  again  is  continuous- 
ly written  in  history  down  to  the  last  day.  As 
to  himself  and  his  own  person,  the  end  was 
now  attained ;  but  for  us,  in  order  that  the 
consummation  might  be  consummated  in  us, 
this  end  is  a  new  beginning.  Therefore  the 
I  Lo7-d  at  Ills  ascension  points  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  does  not  speak  like  a  departing  teacher: 
Keep  my  words,  remember  my  instruction,  and 
so  forth.*  To  teach  words  without  power, 
spirit,  and  life  accompanying — is  to  baptize 
only  with  water.  He  does  not  speak  like  a 
departing  man  :  Consecrate  my  image,  follow  my 
example,  or  the  like ;  for  his  work  is  to  be  con- 
tinued yet  further.  This  ho  means  not  as  a 
man,  who  makes  a  beginning  to  which  others 
afterwards  are  to  contribute  their  part — like 
Luther,  for  example,  who  has  left  much  re- 
formation for  others  to  accomplish  ;  but  his 
yp^aro,  his  beginning,  has  been  a  creative  be- 
ginning, and  all  that  followed  was  to  be  only 
the  fruit  of  his  own  power,  already  obtained 
and  to  be  from  him  abundantly  poured  forth. 
(Gen.  ii.  3,  Sept.  xareTtavdev  dito  ndvTwv 
zccv  tpyoav  avzox  cjy  i'/ploiro  u  3^65  noii}- 
6ai.)  He  is  now  no  longer  among,  but  with 
and  in,  us.  No  longer  in  one  place,  but  every 
j  where.  His  ascent  into  heaven  becomes  a  de- 
j  scent  into  our  hearts.  As  a  tree  grows  up  from 
the  earth  towards  heaven,  so  his  kingdom,  his 
temple,  his  spirit-pervaded  body  grows  down- 
wards from  heaven  to  earth  (Eph.  i.  23,  iv.  IG). 
Pentecost  is  come  and  ceases  no  more  :  it  goes 
on  to  the  ends  of  the  world— as  Matthew  says  ; 
till  he  comes  again — as  John  closes  all.  His 
messengers  go  forth  and  preach ;  the  Lord 
makes  the  word  mighty,  confirms  it,  as  Mark 
says,  anticipating  the  Acts.  It  goes  on,  with 
wonderful  slowness  to  the  waiting  and  inquiry 
of  his  people,  but  with  unceasing  speed,  never- 
theless, through  the  "  times  and  the  seasons  " 
hidden  from  u.s,  from  seedtime  through  all  the 
stages  to  the  final  harvest,  the  summer  of  tho 
kingdom.  AV^hen  the  peoples  of  the  earth — 
like  the  cities  of  Israel — have  been  gono 
through — then  will  he  make  manifest  his  king- 
dom, and  beginning  in  Jerusalem  again,  prepare 
the  end. 

"And  saying  th^se  tilings,"  we  read  in  ver.  9; 
consequently  we  have  heard   his   last   words. 


♦  On  itotEiv  TF.  xai  SidddHEiv,  ver.  1.  Chrys 
fistom  .says  :  Otdsy  didaGxdXov  i/uxporepo* 
Iv  Xiyoii  <piX(j6ug}oCyroi  uova    . 


ACTS  I.  S. 


According  to  the  Evangelist  he  lifted  up  his 
hands  to  hless;  on  which  Bengel  exquisitely 
says — "Jam  non  imposuii  manus  "(there  is  now 
no  laying  on  of  hands).  Herberger  follows 
the  fathers  in  their  ingenious  allusions  to  the 
Redeemer's  opening  the  fortress  of  heaven  with 
the  key  of  the  cross,  and  so  forth.  But  ab- 
staining from  all  such  fancies,  let  us  rightly 
consider  the  llessing  of  his  hands.  In  the 
words  which  he  had  just  spoken  lie  had  spoken 
as  a  firophet ;  as  a  Icing,  with  authority  over 
heaven  and  earth,  whose  province  it  was  to 
establish  the  heavenly  kingdom  upon  earth, 
he  had  appointed  their  course  and  their  duty 
to  the  servants  of  his  sway  ;  and  now  as  High 
Priest — for  intercession  and  blessing  would  be 
for  a  long  time  preponderant  over  his  kingly 
sway — he  lifts  up  hin  hands,  as  the  typical  prac- 
tice had  even  been,  and,  with  this  final  gesture, 
after  the  word  thus  witnesses  the  fulfillment  of 
the  Old  Testaynent  (Lev.  ix.  22  ;  Ecclus.  1.  20). 
The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  the  commentary 
upon  this.  The  marks  of  atoning  suffering  al- 
ready begin  to  be  glorified  in  his  hands.  This 
EilXoyElv  is  not  as  it  were  an  interim  or  de- 
parting blessing,  with  a  specific  limitation  ;  but 
it  is  the  interpreting  sign  and  pledge  of  that 
power  from  on  high,  which  his  hands  would 
soon  pour  out,  and  never  again  cease  to  pour 
out.  He  continues  to  bless — a  departing  and 
yet  remaining  Lord  :  "  And  it  came  to  pass 
while  he  was  blessing  them,  ty  rc3  ELXovely — 
not  jiiErd  TO  nvXoyelv,  after  he  had  blessed 
them — he  was  taken  up  from  them."  We  can 
think  of  no  tconh  in  connection  with  this,  as 
Bome  have  imagined — How  could  the  disciples 
retain  and  record  these  words  wliich  they  had 
heard  ?  He  did  indeed  afterwards  speak  many 
times — in  personal  manifestation  by  his  Spirit 
— directly  from  heaven  ;*  but  here  we  have  the 
end  of  his  words,  which  he  spoke  while  "yet  with 
us."  And  with  them  ends  our  exposition — 
though  there  is  still  one  afterword. 

The  doud] — corresponds  still  prophetically  to 
that  cloud  in  which  he  will  visibly  return 
(Luke  xxi.  27,  ^y  yEcpiXtj).  Not  suddenly 
vanishing,  as  at  the  close  of  his  previous  ap- 
pearances, but  ftXETtovrcov  avr(ay  inripOtj, 
he  was  taken  up  while  they  beheld  him :  thus  and 
thus  alone  must  his  dyacpepEdOat,  or  "being 
taken  up,"  and  his  going  into  heaven  take  place, 
for  a  testimony.  It  brings  to  our  minds  the 
words  which  he  had  spoken  before,  the  first 


*  To  expound  these  "  Words  cf  the  Lord  Jesus 
from  heaven  "  is  a  design  which,  if  it  please  God, 
I  shall  yet  accomplish. 

f  Accoi-dins:  to  many  (as  Sepp,  alas  !  can  quote 
from  Siiskinds  Magazin)  the  final  residuum  of  cor- 
poreity. Even  Driiseke  shrinks  not  from  sayins  : 
"  Probably  it  was  this  cloud  into  which  the  earth- 
ly matter  of  the  body,  demanded  again  by  the 
earlh,  was  resolved  by  the  will  of  the  Almighty." 
0  that  we  could  only  learn  to  leave  off  at  the  rijiht 
place !  Von  Geriach  is  not  much  better :  "  It 
concealed  the  invisible  consummation  of  the  glo- 
rifying of  his  body." 


word  which  we  have  from  his  lips — Wist  ye 
not  that  I  must  be  in  that  which  is  my  Father's? 
But  we  must  not  say  with  Dra3eke,'concerning 
the  disciples,  "  This  they  had  not  expected  " — 
lor  since  that  first  announcement  "  I  ascend," 
every  successive  manifestation  must  have  taught 
them  to  expect  and  anticipate  such  an  ascen- 
sion before  their  eyes.  But  when  it  now  took 
place — what  was  their  feeling,  their  thought, 
and  their  act?  A  npo6KvyElv  avrov  and 
d.rEviZ,Eiv  Eli  Toy  ovpayov  together,  wor- 
shipping and  gazing  in  one ;  although  Luke 
divides  them  in  his  two  accounts,  assigning  the 
former  to  the  close  of  his  Gospel,  and  the  latter 
to  the  more  exact  narrative'  which  gives  the 
full  particulars.  De  Wette  can  here,  after  the 
diEdrr;  and  the  dvEcpspsTo,  foolishly  trans- 
late, like  Stolz — They  fell  down  before  him. 
But  in  the  whole  Gospel  of  Luke  we  have  this 
7Cpo6HvyEiv  only  on  one  other  occasion,  chap, 
iv.  7,  8  (compare  in  Matt.  7CE6oJy  as  distin- 
guished from  it),  and  then  used  concerning  the 
honor  which  is  due  to  God  alone.  Similarly, 
in  the  Acts  it  occurs  only,  and  in  the  same 
sense,  chap.  viii.  27,  xxiv.  11,  vii.  43,  and  x.  25, 
26,  where,  though  Cornelius  did  not  so  intend 
it,  it  was  rejected  by  Peter  as  only  a  man. 
What  was  his  worship  by  his  escort  on  the 
way,  and  at  his  reception  above?  (Psa.  Ixviii. 
18,"  19).  But  the  men  of  Galilee  below,  still 
gazing  earnestly  as  the  form  was  taken  from 
their  sight  by  the  clouds,  forgot  every  thing  at 
that  moment  beside  him  and'heaven  :  and  they 
might  long  like  statues  thus  have  stood.  Then 
is  there  a  new  jiai  iSov,  "  and  behold,"  which 
lighters  their  return  to  their  earthly  life:  two 
men  in  white  raiment  become  visible  from 
among  the  thousands  on  thousands  of  angels, 
and,  it  may  be,  first  fruits  of  the  resurrection 
which  were  there  invisible.*  They  speak  one 
word  more  after  the  words  of  the  Lord,  to 
which  we  may  Avell  give  ear  in  conclusion. 
Not  now  again,  as  in  the  sepulchre — See  the 
place,  where  the  Lord  hafh  ascended  who  once 
lay  in  the  grave.  Nor  is  it — Look  up  to  the 
place  which  he  has  gone  to  prepare  for  you. 
But  they  dismiss  them  from  the  standing  still 
and  the  upward  looking  of  all  idle  expectation 
and  forbidden  questioning,  and  utter  their 
word,  as  alone  became  them,  altogether  in  the 
spirit  of  the  last  word  of  the  Lord — that  they 
may  repeat,  and  stamp  that  upon  the  disciples' 
minds,  and  seal  it  by  the  final  announcement 
of  that  future  return  which  the  Lord  had  left 
to  their  hopes.  As  the  men  of  heaven  they 
speak  to  the  men  of  earth  :  they  remind  them 
of  their  Galilee.f  and  point  them  back  from 


*  Were  these  the  angels  of  the  resurrection 
once  more  1  Or  Moses  and  Eiias,  the  witnesses 
of  the  first  glorification  1  Or  the  future  two  wit- 
nesses, who  speak  to  the  present  ones  1  Or  were 
they  chosen  in  heaven  for  this  crisis  ]  It  is  not 
revealed. 

t  "  Of  Galilee  !  Faithful  angel  word,  remind- 
ing them  of  the  low  place  of  their  testing  proba- 
tion, from  which  to  the  city  of  God  the  pilgrim- 


862 


LAST  WORDS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


heaven  to  their  own  earth— There  lies  your 
office  of  witness,  your  way  of  obedierice,  your 
place  of  liope.  For  thither  will  this  Jesus  cojrie 
back.  (But  they  do  not  say  once  more — Come 
lack.)  "  0  earth,  thou  gram  of  sand  on  the 
shore  of  the  great  ocean  of  the  universe  of 
God,  thou  Bethlehem  among  the  princes  of  the 
regions  of  heaven,  thou  art  and  thou  wilt  ever 
be  among  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  suns 
and  worlds  the  loved  one,  the  elect  of  the  Lord  ; 
thee  will  he  visit  again,  thou  shalt  provide 
him  a  throne,  even  as  thou  pavest  him  a  man- 
ger; thou  shalt  rejoice  in  the  splendor  of  his 
glory,  even  as  thou  drankcst  his  blood  and  his 
tears,  and  mournedst  at  his  death.  On  thee 
he  hath  a  great  work  yet  to  accomplish  "  (Ha- 
feli). 

They  say  not— Ye  shall  see  him  ;  but  yet— 
This  Jesus  will  come  ;  and  ol  roj?,  Sv  rponov, 
"  so  in  like  manner,"  altogether  as  ye  have  now 


way  of  humanity  alone  conducts."     So  Lange,  in 
Lis  beautiful  aod  suggestive  poem  on  the  ascen- 


seen  him — as  ye  have  seen  niir  go  into 
HEAVEN.  This  is  the  sealing  conclusion  of  all. 
And  they  worship  him,  this  Jesus  :  the  word 
"  Rabbi  "  or  "Teacher"  no  longer  is  heard 
from  their  lips.  Even  that  which  he  had  said 
retreats  for  a  while  before  the  new  word  which 
the  Spirit  gives  to  these  witnesses.  But  wo 
have  his  word  in  the  utterance  of  his  minister- 
ing servants,  explained  and  unfolded  by  his 
own  servants  in  whom  the  Spirit  witnesses ; 
may  our  weak  exposition  of  that  word  be  also 
a  testimony  to  the  Christianity  of  this  unhappy 
day  I 

Then  returned  they  to  Jerusalem — and  with 
great  ;V)y.  They  were  always  in  the  temple, 
joyfully  magnifying  and  blessing  God — God  in 
Christ.  May  God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  give  the  joyful  and  confident  Spirit 
also  to  us,  as  witnesses  who  believingly  wait  for 
the  kingdom  and  coming  of  Jesus;  that,  in  the 
temple  of  Christendom  and  in  the  face  of  all 
enemies,  we  may  praise  him,  to  whom  be  glory 
in  the  Church  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  all 
ages,  world  without  end  I    Amen. 


THE  WORDS  OF  THE  ASCENDED  LOED. 


TO  SAUL  THE  PERSECUTOPw. 
(Acts  ix.  4-6 ;  xxii.  7-10 ,  xxvi.  14-lG.) 


Thrice  in  the  course  of  the  brief  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  is  this  most  important  revelation  of 
our  Lord  described ;  as  if  to  warn  our  igno- 
rance not  too  swiftly  to  dispatch  it,  and  not 
too  hastily  to  assume  its  right  interpretation 
attained.  But,  instead  of  taking  this  hint,  the 
fond  ignorance  of  too  many  has  occupied  itself 
with  detecting  contradictions  in  the  three-fold 
narrative,  and  with  drawing  its  own  foolish 
conclusions  from  those  contradictions.  It  is  as 
if  Luke  did  not  himself  best  know,  with  his 
"perfect  understanding  of  all  things  from  the 
very  first,"  what  he  recorded  in  different  parts 
of  his  book,  with  a  designed  variation.  In 
chap.  ix.  he  himself  relates  the  occurrence  as  a 
historian,  but  obviously  with  the  same  regard 
to  brevity  of  delineation,  seizing  only  and  giv- 
ing prominence  to  the  critical  points,  which 
the  necessity  of  his  work  imposed  upon  him 
throughout;  and,  moreover,  with  the  intention 
in  reserve  to  add  further  particulars  in  due 
course.  For,  he  has  further  to  give  two  lead- 
ing examples,  in  chaps,  xxii.  and  xxvi.,  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  Apostle  himself,  never 
weary  of  the  repetition,  was  wont  to  relate 
this  experience,  as  the  ground,  again  and  again 
to  be  made  valid,  of  his  whole  announcement 
from  his  Master.  That  there  exists  some  va- 
riety in  the  relation  and  expression  is  perfectly 
natural — is  it  reasonable  to  require  that  the 
Apostle  should  have  every  where  given  the 
same  stereotyped  account?  Of  the  external 
transaction  we  shall  speak  hereafter;  we  con- 
fine ourselves  now  to  a  preliminary  view  of 
the  words  of  our  Lord,  which,  in  their  measured 
exactness,  were  thus  word  for  word  spoken, 
but  the  literal  repetition  of  which  Luke  ap- 
propriately leaves  to  the  relating  Apostle. 
Before  the  exasperated  Jewish  people,  he  gives 
prominence,  for  instance,  to  the  expression  by 
which  the  Lord  described  himself,  and  which 
was  peculiarly  appropriate  to  these  scorners 
and  persecutors — I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth! 
Further,  he  makes  the  command  express — 
"  Go  into  DamascuH,"  instead  of  "  into  the 
city."  But  who  needs  to  know  which  of  these 
two  was  actually  spoken  ?  He  proceeds,  "  It 
shall  be  told  thee  of  all  things  which  are  ap- 
pointed for  thee  to  do,"  instead  of  "  what  thou 
shall  no."  Again  afterwards  before  the  lioman 
Governor,  and- the  last  so-called  king  of  the 
Jews,  the  Apostle   makes  it  significantly  em- 


phatic that  the  Lord  spaTco  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue.  On  the  former  occasion,  on  the  stairs 
of  the  castle,  the  Apostle  himself  had  spoken 
in  the  Hebrew;  but  now,  speaking  Greek,  ho 
naturally  mentions  this  circumstance.  The 
word  concerning  "  kicking  against  the  pricks" 
(which  in  the  first  narrative  is  a  false  reading, 
interpolated  from  chap,  xxvi.),  had  primary 
reference  only  to  the  Apostle's  own  person  and 
conscience  ;  )t  might,  therefore,  be  omitted  as 
unnecessary,  when  speaking  to  the  mass  of  the 
people.  But,  addressed  to  Agrippa,  pierced  in 
conscience,  perplexed,  and  wavering,  as  he  was 
(comp.  chap.  xxvi.  28),  it  had  a  peculiarly  ap- 
propriate force.  Finally,  we  shall  see  that 
Paul,  in  his  rapid  narrative,  chap.  xxvi.  16, 
connects  with  the  Lord's  last  word  outside 
Damascus  a  compendious  statement  of  a  sub- 
sequent appearance  and  commission. 

After  having  thus,  for  the  sake  of  those  to 
whom  it  is  necessary,  paused  so  long  at  the 
threshold,  let  us  now  enter  the  sanctuary  of 
the_^/s^  word  of  Je.sus  from  heaven.  The  first 
word  it  assuredly  is.  Stephen,  before  he  fell 
under  the  stones  of  the  murderers  of  the  Just 
One,  had  seen  heaven  opened  and  Jesus  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  {standing,  too,  as  if  rising 
to  greet  and  receive  him)  ;  but  his  words  the 
Lord  had  reserved  for  Saul.  Ttiis,  well-con- 
sidered, leads  to  some  important  reflections. 
The  appeal  of  Jesus  to  his  persecutor  is,  as  the 
first  word  from  heaven,  so  characteristically 
significant,  and  so  full  of  symbolical  meaning, 
that  we  cannot  bring  ourselves  to  think  of  it 
as  other  than  the  first.  It  may,  indeed  be 
suggested  that  our  Lord's  voice  had  probably 
been  heard  in  the  answers  to  his  people's 
prayers.  It  has  been  even  inferred  from  the 
"  familiar  manner  in  which  Ananias,  as  one 
not  unaccustomed  to  receive  communications 
from  his  Lord,"  makes  objection  to  the  evil 
reputation  of  Saul,  that  that  disciple  must 
have  spoken  with  Jesus  before  this  occasion. 
But  this  is  only  a  specious  argument ;  the 
familiarity  of  prayer  would  have  begotten  this 
confidence,  and  we  must  remember  the  "  vis- 
ion," in  which  man  approaches  nearer  and  less 
reservedly  to  God.  Suffice  it  that  we  may  just- 
ly regard"  this  as  the  Lord's  first  opening  bis 
mouth  in  audible  words  since  his  ascension. 

The  narrative  thrice  begins  with  "light 
shining  round  about  from  heaven  ;  "  in  chapi. 

aea 


864 


TO  PAUL  THE  PERSECUTOR. 


xxii.  it  is  a  "  great  light ;  "*  and  in  chap,  xxvi., 
still  more  empiiatical!}',  "  above  the  brightness 
of  the  sun."  If  the  lace  of  Jesus  shone  as  the 
sun  upon  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  must 
not  the  first  beaming;  forth  of  his  heavenly 
glory  be  still  more  dazzling?  This  in  broad 
noon-day  was  something  more  than  the  glory 
which  shone  round  the  shepherds  on  the  holy 
night  of  the  incarnation  ;  it  was  a  shining 
forth,  though  still  bedimmed  for  mortal  eye,  of 
that  light  in  which  God  dwelleth,  and  in  which 
the  God-man  now  dwelleth  also. 

But  this  light  shines  only  that  it  may  call 
light  out  of  the  darkness  of  a  rebellious  sin- 
ner's heart ;  in  order  to  the  revelation  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face,  that 
is,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  Who  is  it 
that  first  encounters  this  light,  with  its  sudden 
and  marvellous  conviction?  The  man  who  had 
been  marked  out  to  that  end  by  God's  good 
pleasure  from  his  mother's  womb,  tho  chosen 
Paul.  This  single  name  sets  before  us  the 
whole  man,  the  elect  instrument,  the  great 
Apostles  of  the  Gentiles  (although  Samaria 
and  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  had  already  heard 
the  word,  and  Peter  in  the  house  of  Cornelius 
will  make  the  first  evident  beginning) — the 
mighty  champion  and  laborer,  who  labored 
more  than  they  all.  We  cannot  agree  with  the 
view — pushed  to  its  extreme  by  Baumgarten 
— which  sets  the  Gentile  Aposlolate,  thus  in- 
troduced, over  against  the  Israelite  Twelve. 
For  this  we  find  no  sure  foundation  in  Scrip- 
ture ;  but  it  was  undoubtedly  a  great  and  new 
thing,  that  such  a  blasphemer  and  prosecutor 
should  be  made  a  witness  for  the  Lord.  lie 
was  not,  however,  a  thirteenth  Apostle  of  a 
new  and  distinct  order  for  the  Church  of  the 
Gentiles;  the  twelve  were  themselves  sent 
forth  into  all  the  world,  and  unto  all  the  na- 
tions; and  even  the  New  Jerusalem,  Rev.  xxi. 
14,  knows  only  the  twelve  Apostles  of  the  Limb 
(not  of  Israel).  But  he  was  that  other,  already 
prophesied  of  in  Psa.  cix.  8.  whom  the  Lord 
himself — in  opposition  to  the  premature, 
uncommanded,  and  therefore  invalid  human 
choice  (Gal.  i.  1)  of  Matthias — reserved  to  be 
appointed  in  place  of  the  traitor  Judas.  The 
latter  was  a  representative  and  forerunner  of 
the  Jewish  people,  which  rejected  Jesus;  the 
former  was  a  type  and  first-fruit  of  the  Jews 
•who  were  to  be  converted,  and  many  of  whom 
were  converted  even  in  his  missionary  labors 
among  tho  Gentiles.  What  a  man,  and  what  a 
position  in  the  kingdom  of  God  assigned  to  him 
— condescended  to,  and  won,  and  prepared  in 
60  wonderful  a  manner  I  First,  he  receives 
this  revelation  as  the  representative  of  all  the 
Jews  of  that  time  who,  under  all  their  disguise 
of  enmity,  were  y&i  susceptUiU  of  grace.  Tiien, 
as  the  witness  to  all  men  (Acts  xxii.  15  ;  Col. 
i.  18),  who  should,  with  that  same  useful  human 
learning  which  in  itself  ho  knew  how  to  despise 
•and  reject,  abase  the  lofty  ones  of  this  world 


*  In  the  Greek,  inavov,  au  expression  lamiliar 
with  Luke. 


before  the  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ  (2  Cor, 
X.  5)  ;  who  should  be  a  founder  of  systematic 
doctrine  in  the  Church,  so  far  as  the  Church 
would  need  such  system — thus  standing  be- 
tween the  practical  Peter,  and  the  mystical, 
consummating  John.  Finally,  as  one  whose 
immediate  call  from  above  should  vindicate, 
for  all  futurity,  the  Lord's  supreme  right  to  es- 
tablish new  beginnings  of  regimen  ;  to  raise  up 
a  reforming  Apostolate  without  succession,  to 
be  renewed  at  his  own  good  pleasure  when 
circumstances  may  require. 

But  the  first  point  which  here  offers  itself  to 
our  attention  is  this,  that  it  is  an  enemy  and  a 
persecutor  who  receives  {\ie  fint  condescending 
iDonl  from  the  merciful  High  Priest  in  heaven. 
Not  only  will  he  not  cast  out  any  that  come  to 
him — but  he  himself  seeks  and  finds,  in  all 
ages,  his  lost  and  wandering  sheep.  Thus  he 
transforms  the  enemy  into  a  w^itness  and  fol- 
lower, whose  personality,  beyond  that  of  any 
other,  sets  before  us  the  idea  and  the  reality  of 
the  discipleship  of  Christ  (1  Cor.  xi.  1).  Mil- 
lions have  felt  and  are  feeling  that,  especially 
through  the  life  of  this  Paul,  so  copiously  un- 
folded in  Scripture,  life  in  Christ  and  Christ 
himself  are  most  blessedly  and  mightily 
brought  home  to  them.  The  Lord  prepared 
him  for  himself  and  his  purposes,  out  of  a  Saul 
"  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughters 
against  his  saints."  Thus  his  first  personal 
speaking  manifestation  gives  us  a  pledge  of 
that  ruling  in  which  the  King's  sharp  arrows 
pierce  the  hearts  of  his  enemies  (as  the  original 
of  Psa.  xiv.  runs),  and  in  which  he  takes  the 
strong  for  his  own  prey.  And  it  is  a  warning 
against  that  premature  judgment  of  unbelievers 
and  the  condemned,  into  which  our  harshness 
or  our  despondency  may  mislead  us.  There 
were  many  Judases  in  Israel;  but  only  upon 
one  did  Jesus  pronounce  the  dciinitive  sentence. 
So  there  were  many  Sauls  converted,  although 
their  conversion  has  not  been  revealed  to  us. 
The  Lord  reminds  us  here  of  Thomas,  but  a 
greater  than  Thomas  is  here.  It  is  thus  that 
the  great  Apostle  understands  the  significance 
of  his  own  person  and  life,  when  he  says  at  the 
end,  "  Therefore  1  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me 
first  of  all,  Jesus  Christ  might  shew  forth  all 
patience,  for  an  example  to  those  who  should 
believe  on  hiin  unto  eternal  life,  "  1  Tim.  i.  16. 

But  when  we  refer  the  words  to  our  Lord 
himself,  something  much  higher  and  deeper 
than  any  thing  we  have  yet  said  rises  out  of 
them,  lie  has  testified  from  heaven  the  iden- 
tity of  his  glorified  person  with  the  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth,"  just  as  the  Risen  Lord  had  testified 
on  earth,  "  It  is  I  myself!"  But  that  is  tho 
lesser  testimony  ;  and  before  he  utters  the  ex- 
alted "  I  am  Jesus,"  he  has  said  "  Why  perse- 
cutest  thoiime?  "  that  is,  "Me  in  my  followers, 
in  my  Church."  Thus  does  he,  even  in  his 
glory,  identify  himself  with  his  persecuted 
Church,  and  his  scorned  and  outraged  brethren  ; 
sitting  already  upon  the  throne  as  King,  he  as 
it  were  repeats,  confirms,  enlarges,  and  consum- 
mates tho  word  spoken  in  his  final  prophecy  of 


ACTS  IX.  4-6;  XXII.  7-10;  XXVI.  14-16. 


865 


ihe  jadgment,  concerning  what  is  done  to  his 
brethren,  Matt.  xxv.  40-45 ;  sealing,  even  for 
his  sa.\nts  in,  persecution,  the  close  of  his  great 


prayer. 


which  he  uttered  while  vet  in  the  flesh 


— "  I  in  them,"  John  xvii.  26.  That  is  the./irs' 
word  from  heaven  ;  and  it  is  itself  like  a  flash 
of  lightning  into  the  midst  of  the  world's  sin 
and  confusion,  dividing  asunder,  in  the  most 
effectual  manner,  the  persecutor  and  the  per- 
secuted. 

Suddenhj— 30  we  read  in  two  accounts.  Here 
falls  the  corner-stone  from  heaven  into  the  per- 
secutor's path,  but  crushes  him  not.  Saul  is 
struck  and  held  back  in  the  mad  course  of  his 
zeal.  Armed  with  the  authority  of  the  high 
council,  he  would  push  the  persecution  of  the 
Christians,  already  begun,  into  strange  cities. 
Not  certain  that  he  might  find  any  of  "the 
way"  (of  righteousness  and  of  salvation,  the 
way  of  the  Lord;  see  chaps,  xvi.  17,  xviii.  25, 
xix".  9 — but  which  he  thought  the  perishable 
way  of  error),  he,  nevertheless,  sets  out  to  seek 
them,  wherever  they  might  be,  and  bind  them. 
Assuredly,  he  was  chosen  in  the  eternal  coun- 
sel ;  to  this  end  he  was,  on  the  ground  of  his 
personality,  as  created  of  God,  framed  and  pre- 
pared ;  and  in  the  process  of  his  life  led  on- 
ward to  meet  the  vocation  which  was  now  to 
be  received.  Assuredly,  as  the  Lord  himself 
says  here  to  him  and  to  us,  he  was  already 
secretly  in  his  conscience  laid  hold  on  ;  he  was 
generally  no  hypocrite,  like  the  whited  walls  in 
opposition  to  whom  he  can  speak  of  himself,  in 
chap,  xxiii.,  as  having  a  good  conscience  in  his 
great  delusion.  But,  therefore,  now  he  is  sud- 
denlj'  seized  from  above  with  more  urgent 
might  by  grace;  for  7iow  there  is  certainly  in 
him  no  conscious  preparation  or  suceplihility, 
but  the  perfect  opposite.  There  is  no  doubt 
of  conscience  moving  him  ;  it  is  simply  his 
purpose  and  burning  desire  to  punish  the 
heretics;  and  what  could,  in  this  career,  lay 
him  low,  and  turn  him  round,  but  the  seeing 
and  hearing  of  the  Just  One,  whom  he  was 
persecuting?  His  powerful  nature  needed  a 
powerful  assault ;  and,  behold,  for  such  a  na- 
ture, the  Lord  has  such  dealings  in  store.  The 
Risen  Lord  was  ready  to  suffer  himself  to  be 
touched  by  Thomas;  and  the  exalted  Lord  is 
not  too  high  to  condescend  to  Saul— and  make 
of  him  a  Paul. 

What  the  Apostle,  in  chap.  xxii.  6,  introduces 
with  a  simple  and  sublime,  "  And  it  came  to 
pass,"  was  not  an  internal  process,  perceptible 
only  to  his  own  spirit  :  this  is  proved  by  what 
his  companions  experienced.  According  to 
chap.  ix.  7,  they  heard  a  voice,  but  saw  no  man  ; 
according  to  chap.  xxii.  9,  they  saw  the  light, 
but  heard  not  the  voice  oi  him  that  spalce.  This 
variation  of  expression  implies  no  contradic- 
tion ;  any  more  than  that,  according  to  chap.  ix. 
7,  they  stood,  and  according  to  chap.  xxvi.  14, 
fell  tothe  earth  also.  For,  to  clear  up  the  last 
first,  chap.  xxvi.  relates  that  which  befell  all 
before  the  voice  ;  but  chap.  ix.  records  that, 
after  the  voice,  the  attendants  had  naturally 
lifted  themselves  up  and  were  standing  before 


Saul  did  so.  Similarly,  they  saw  and  heard 
something,  but  with  only  half  perception  ;  they 
received  the  indefinite  impression  of  a  light 
and  a  sound  :  comp.  John  xii.  28,  29,  and  some- 
thing similar,  though  in  a  different  order,  Dan. 
X.  7.  The  whole,  if  we  combine  it  in  one, 
means  this :  They  saw,  indeed,  the  dazzling 
light,  but  no  man,  that  is,  no  form  and  mani- 
fested person  ;  they  heard,  indeed,  the  sound  as 
of  a  loud  voice,  but  they  heard  not  and  under- 
stood not  what  was  said. 

We  read  in  chap.  xxvi.  of  the  flash,  that  it 
"shone  round  about,"  as  in  Luke  ii.  9,  con- 
cerning the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem ;  but  in 
chaps,  ix.  and  xxii.  there  is  a  stronger  word — 
literally,  lightened  around — and  to  this  belongs 
the  "  suddenly "  which  in  Luke  ii.  13  (it  is 
the  same  Greek  word)  is  afterwards  added. 
Saul  fell  down  immediately,  struck  by  the  awe 
of  the  brilliance  above  the  light  of  the  sun  at 
noonday,  with  the  others  to  the  earth.*  So  he 
heard  the, words;  they  were  for  him  alone. 
That  was  tha  fitting  place  for  the  proud  man  ; 
there,  cast  down  in  his  prostrate  impotence 
and  wretchedness,  unable  to  bear  the  glance 
of  heaven,  the  voice  which  he  heard  seized  him 
— that  is,  not  as  speaking  by  his  side  upon  the 
earth,  but  as  f7-om  heaven,  like  the  light,  coming 
in  its  direction  from  above.  And  even  so  he 
had  seen  the  form  of  the  speaker  in  his  first 
terror  as  above  him  ;  not  as  one  afterwards 
standing  upon  the  earth. 

Or  did  he  only  hear,  and  not  see  the  form  and 
countenance  of  the  Lord?  So  many  think; 
and  they  seemingly  have  the  superficially 
understood  and  isolated  expression  in  their 
favor.  Bat  the  contrast  with  the  attendants, 
who  saw  no  man,  chap.  ix.  7,  itself  gives  us  to 
understand  that  Saul  ha.d  seen  some  one.  An- 
anias, however,  speaks  decisively — Jesus,  who 
appeared  unto  thee  (Gr.  was  seen  of  thee)  ;  so 
Barnabas,  ver.  27,  relates  to  the  Apostles  that 
Saul  had  seen  the  Lord  in  the  way,  and  spoken 
with  him;  finally,  chap.  xxii.  14  speaks  not  of 
a  future  seeing  and  hearing,  but  of  what  had  al- 
ready taken  place.  Consequently,  Luke  relates 
partially,  at  the  first,  reserving  the  rest  for  his 
future  account ;  he  conceals  the  mystery  of  the 
seeing  and  hearing,  as  it  were,  in  this  place; 
laying  the  emphasis  upon  the  words  of  the 
Lord,  without  which  the  seeing  would  have 
been  only  a  stunning  amazement.  But  it  is 
obvious  that  suddenly — with  the  first  flash  of 
light — Saul  had  also  seen  the  form  and  the 
countenance  of  the  Lord.  Indeed,  the  over- 
powered and  down-stricken  persecutor  did  not 
look  up  again  at  the  speaker ;  but  he,  never- 
theless (and  this  is  another  proof),  recognized, 
in  his  subsequent  manifestations,  the  Lord 
whom  he  had  first  seen. 

Jesus  speaks  to  him  in  the  Hebrew  tongue :  but 
this  does  more  than  merely  define  the  sensibly 


*  Scarcely  from  his  horse,  as  the  painters  depict 
it:  it  would'  rather  be  f.om  his  ass,  but  even  that 
is  only  probable.  Such  ci.  cumstances  are  noi  re- 
corded, as  having  uoihing  to  do  with  the  matter. 


TO  SAUL  THE  PERSECUTOR. 


heard  speech,  in  opposition  to  the  inward  speak- 1 
ingof  the  Spirit,  which  suggests  thoughts  with- 
out -words.  The  Hebrew  tongue  belongs  to 
the  identity  of  the  person,  who  used  this  lan- 
guage upon  earth — but  neither  is  this  enough. 
What  the  Hellenized  and  Ronfianized  Jewish 
King  Agiippa — to  whom  Paul  expressly  men- 
tioned it — may  have  thought  about  that  cir- 
cumstance, puts  us  on  the  right  track  :  it  in- 
volves the  abiding  recognition  of  the  first- 
chosen  people  of  Israel,  and  the  prophetic  word 
given  to  them  first  in  the  sacred  tongue;  the 
prophecy  of  a  return  of  this  people,  and  of  a 
final  full  solution  and  comprehension  of  the 
ancient  Scriptures  ;  all  this  is  testified  to  us  in 
the  Lord's  speaking  here  in  the  Hebrew  tongue. 
For,  if  it  is  objected  that  this  "  Hebrew"  was 
only  the  common  Jewish  tongue  then  spoken, 
and  not  the  language  of  the  Old-Testament 
Scripture — it  may  be  replied  that  the  two  are 
inseparable  in  -their  significance  ;  as  vve  know 
that  the  Saviour  upon  the  cross  uttered  I  he 
language  of  the  psalm  in  the  Syro-Chaldaic 
version  of  it.  And  now,  at  length,  after  all 
this  introduction  and  preparation,  let  us  hear 
the  words  themselves,  which  the  voice  of  him 
who  was  seen  in  the  first  moment  of  his  amaze- 
ment spake  to  the  persecutor  prostrate  upon 
the  ground. 

Saul !  Saul !  tchj  persecutest  thou  me  ? 
The  mention  of  his  name  indicates  and  seizes 
the  whole  inner  man,  as  he  was.  We  often 
fail  to  understand,  through  all  our  life,  our  own 
name,  especially  when  the  world  has  prefixed 
all  kinds  of  titles  to  it;  but  when  God  calls  a 
man  by  his  name,  the  true  form,  character,  and 
spirit  of  the  man  is  laid  bare  before  the  light  of 
his  countenance.  Here  the  Lord,  whom,  as 
the  glorified  Son  of  God,  the  little  company  of 
his  worshippers  addressed  already  before  the 
Pentecost  as  "  knowing  all  hearts,"  utters  into 
the  heart  and  conscience  of  Saul  a  word  of 
thunder,  following  the  glance  of  lightning, 
which  rent  all  the  vestments  of  his  disguise. 
If  in  this  thunder,  which  began  his  awakening 
by  fear,  there  was  a  prelude  of  the  final  judg- 
ment, when  every  man  will  be  called  by  his 
name,  there  was  also  something  more  than 
that — a  transition  to  mourning  in  tlie  awful 
accusation,  to  that  appeal  and  invitation  of 
troubled  love  which  is  plainly  heard  in  the  fol- 
lowing question.  This  calling  by  name  from 
heaven  is  more  mighty  and  impressive  than 
when  upon  earth  the  Lord,  who  knew  what  was 
in  man,  uttered  his  "  Zaccheus  !  "  or  "  Simon, 
Simon!"  or  "Martha,  Martha!"  Wo  do  not 
read  of  any  other  enemy  or  unbeliever  ad- 
dressed by  name,  excepting  the  Pharisee  Simon, 
Luke  vii.  40,  whom  his  grace  was  by  that  very 
address  really  approaching,  and  Judas,  still  re- 
cognized as  a  former  "  friend  "  and  companion, 
even  in  the  hour  of  his  betrayal.  There  may 
be  a  very  little  of  this  same  judicial  tone  of 
holy  love — which  endures  the  wrong,  but  as- 
signs the  fearful  guilt  to  him  who  offers  it — in 
this  appeal  to  Saul.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
the  double  call — which  not  merely  deepens  its 


emphasis,  but  as  we  prefer  to  think,  already 
begins  to  descend  from  majesty  to  mildness, 
from  accusation  to  lament — has  something  in 
it,  though  of  a  higher,  order,  like  the  call  which 
aroused  the  hostess  in  Bethany  from  her  house- 
hold distraction  :  "  I  have  somewhat  to  say 
unto  thee.  Awake  up  from  the  distracting 
tumult  of  thy  persecution."  The  majesty  and 
might  of  condescending  love  gains  its  end. 
The  ,/?/•«<  open  word  of  the  liisea  Lord  (which 
was  preceded  by  the  gentle  consolatory  prepa- 
ration of  a  disguised  voice),  was  also  a  call  by 
name — Mary!  Yet  how  different,  with  all  its 
resemblance,  is  the  first  call  of  the  ascended 
Lord  ! 

Let  it  not  be  wondered  at  that  we  speak 
here — upon  the  first  words  of  his  mouth — of 
the  soul-affecting  tone  of  the  speech  of  the  ex- 
alted Redeemer,  speaking  down  to  man  upon 
earth.  That  he  still  has  a  mouth  to  speak, 
and  may  make  his  words  heard,  though  no 
longer  after  the  earthly  manner  of  the  organs 
which  form  the  utterance  here ;  that  he  may 
thus  communicate  his  will — at  least  as  certainly 
as  Almighty  God  could  speak  from  heaven,  "  I 
am  the  Lord  !  "  "  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son  1 " 
— is  self-understood.  Or,  rather,  it  ought  to 
be  rightly  understood  by  all  believers  who 
.think  soundly  about  what  they  believe.  Gess 
justly  complains  that  theology  speaks  almost 
always  only  of  corporeity,  when  treating  of 
the  permanent  humanity  of  the  glorified  Clirist; 
and  says  that*  "  the  humanity  must  exist  as 
certainly  in  the  inner  nature  of  the  exalted  Sa- 
viour ;  even  as  upon  earth  his  was  not  merely 
a  human  bndili/  life,  but  also  a  human  life  of 
the  soul "  (Heb.  iv.  15  ;  John  v.  27).  Tliis  be- 
longs, indeed,  to  the  least  understood  and 
doubtless  most  difljcult  problems  of  knowledge  ; 
but  it  is  indubitably  true,  nevertheless.  Con- 
sequently, how  mysterious  soever  the  connec- 
tion mediated  by  Almightiness,  between  the 
audible  speaking  and  the  corporeity  of  Jesus, 
may  be — there  is  a  profounder  connection  with 
his  abiding  personality  in  this,  that  the  voice 
proceeds  from  his  soul,  we  would  rather  say, 
from  his  lieart ;  and  carries  with  it  "  in  the 
manner  of  a  man  who  in  degree  is  the  Lord 
God  "  (1  Chron.  xvii.  17),  the  most  living  and 
impressive  expression. 

But  now  for  the  more  plain  and  direct  ques- 
tion, which  unfolds  the  charge  already  involved 
in  the  invocation  by  name.  The  whole  inter- 
nal contradiction  of  this  most  sincere  Pharisee 
against  the  neglected  voice  of  God's  truth,  is 
novv  condensed  and  condemned  in  one  short 
word —  Why  jKrsccutest  tlu>u  me  f  As  it  was  the 
Lord's  wont  upon  earth  to  pierce  the  hearts  of 
the  people  by  qiientionji,  humbling  and  judging 
them  by  asking  them  questions  which  would 
lay  bare  their  conduct  to  themselves,  so  it  is 
here — though  now  in  its  heavenly  eflfect  the 
question  is  still  more  powerful.  He  utters  only 
a  few  plain  words  (in  the  Hebrew  only  two) — 

♦  In  the  memnrablo  book,  Die  Lchre  von  der 
Ferson  Chriati,  p.  266. 


ACTS  IX.  4-6;  XXII.  7-10;  XXVI.  14-16. 


867 


Buch  is  the  sublime  heavenly  majesty  of  his 
style  from  the  throne.  To  every  lower  or 
higher  questioner  who  might  have  asked — 
Wherefore  persecutest  thou  the  Nazarenes? 
Saul  would  have  been  ready  with  many  rea- 
sons of  conscience  and  duty  to  justify  himself; 
but  here  he  can  only  reply  by  an  humbled  and 
amazed  question,  which  seems  alre.ady  almost 
to  know  the  Lord — Who  art  thou?  Into  the 
secret  depth  of  his  conscience,  where  man  is 
found  guilty  even  in  his  sins  of  ignorance,  the 
fearful  interrogatory  penetrates  and  sticks  fast 


fore  all  the  people  in  Jerusalem.  But,  on  the 
second  defence  before  Agrippa,  where  he  more 
confidentially  and  fully  opens  the  mystery  of 
his  conversion,  he  communicates  what  the  Lord 
proceeded  to  add— Zi  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  pricJcs.  This  expression  is  an  agri- 
cultural proverb,  used  of  the  yoked  oxen 
which,  in  their  stupidity,  kick  out  against  the 
goad  furnished  with  a  sharp  point,  and  injure 
themselves  the  more.  Thus  it  simply  means — 
vainly  and  foolishly  to  oppose  a  superior  power 
to  one's  own  injury.     The  proverb  occurs  in 


—  What,  for  what,  or  wherefore  persecutest  thou  !  Latin  and  Greek  authors  ;  the  tragic  poets 


me? 

How  wonderful,  for  inexhaustible  contem- 
plation of  the  detail  in  the  whole,  and  of  tlie 
whole  in  the  detail,  is  every  thing  which  is  re- 
corded in  Scripture  concerning  the  great  acts 
and  words  of  God  I     The  individualities  are  so 
concrete  and  historical,  the  words  are  so  sim- 
ple in  their  immediate  place  and  connection, 
that  a  hundred  expositors  may  fail  to  discern 
in  them  any  thing  specific  to  expound ;  but,  in 
the  comprehensive  view  of  the  wliole  in  Scrip- 
ture, the  genuine  Sciijjture  expositor  finds  ever 
something  new,  every  where  something  great 
and  significant  even  in  the  lesser  matters.     So 
is   it  with  this  first   word  of  the  Lord  from 
heaven — the  first  word  since  the  farewell  words 
before  the  ascension.     He,  the  same  who  testi- 
fied that  to  him  was  given  all  power  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  testifies  here  in  the  first  testi- 
mony that  he  bears  from  the  throne  of  his  om- 
nipotence, that  he  will  not  use  this  power  in 
judgment;  yea,  that  he  will  not  use  it  for  the 
mere  external  defence  of  his  Church.     He  con- 
fesses to  his  persecuted  members  and  brethren  ; 
but  he  himself  endures  persecution  in  them,  and 
will  win  the  persecutor,  whom  he  has  borne 
with  in  long  suffering,  only  by  the  violence  of 
love.     His  power  will  make  him  a  disciple  in 
no  other  way   than   that  appointed  in  Matt. 
xxviii.  19  for  all  people.     This  is  also  the  con- 
solation for  all  the  persecuted,  in  all  the  future 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  cross;  until  that  day 
when  he  will  come  in  another  form  from  heaven, 
and  speak  and  judge  in  another  style.     Where 
the  Lord  cannot  turn  his  enemies,  and  when 
he  does  not  restrain,  but  suffers  them  to   do 
their  violence  to  himself  in  his  people — his  peo- 
ple may  confidently  say,  "  He  beareth  it ;  let 
us  bear  it  too."     As  the  Lord  in  his  humilia- 
tion, at  the  beginning  of  his  bodily  indignities, 
uttered  but  one  word,  as  suitable  for  the  whole 
Passion — Why  smitest  thou  me  ?  (John  xviii. 
23),  while   he   suffered   himself  to  be  beaten, 
and  scourged,  and  put  to  death  ;  so  here  the 
exalted  Lord  patiently,  and  with  the  chastise- 
ment of  gracious  truth  alone,  cries,  with  refer- 
ence to  all  his  future  enemies  to  the  end  of  the 
world — Why  persecutest  thou  me?     Pre-emi- 
nently and   first  of  all,  this  word  was  meant 
for  blinded  Israel,  who  afterwards  received  the 
same  words  from  the  Apostle  in  all  their  force, 
Acts  xxii. 

With  this  all-embracing  brevity  did  Luk 


it  of  impotent  opposition  to  the  gods;  the 
Syrians  appear  also  to  have  had  such  a  phrase, 
and  probably  thus  it  became  known  to  the 
Hebrews;  at  any  rate  it  was  known  to  Saul, 
who  was  versed  in  foreign  literature  ;  but  we 
would  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  Lord 
had  this  in  mind,  speaking  to  Saul  as  a  learned 
man.  For  the  Heorew  words  proceed  simply 
onwards ;  they  only  lay  open  more  plainly, 
and  more  condescendingly,  and  in  their  pro- 
gression more  piercingly,  that  which  was  al- 
ready contained  in  the  depths  of  the  previous 
word,  and  its  sublime  antithesis — Why  perse- 
cutest thou — ine?  That  which  the  question 
had  pressed  upon  the  conscience  is  now  brought 
out  into  full  prominence  for  the  understanding 
— Far  too  powerful  for  thee.  Moreover,  the 
folly  and  the  guilt  are  laid  bare,  which  would 
proudly  defend  themselves  against  this  already 
lelt  inferiority  of  power. 

Wiiile  we  are  dwelling  upon  the  circum- 
stance that  our  Lord  not  only  spoke  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  but  also  condescended  to  speak 
to  men  in  their  own  proverbial  expressions, 
infusing  into  them  a  new  meaning,  it  is  impor- 
tant that  we  should  penetrate  into  the  specific 
and  new  meaning  which  the  present  proverb 
derives  from  his  use  of  it.  The  scruple  might 
be  raised — Did  Saul  already  kick  against  the 
pricks  when  he  was  persecuting  Jesus,  whom 
he  did  not  as  yet  know  as  the  Mighty  One  in 
heaven?  But' it  may  be  answered  that  the 
sinner  who  had  fought  in  his  blindness  against 
the  power,  righteousness,  and  truth  of  God, 
must  have  assuredly  marked  and  discerned  the 
high  authority  against  which  he  in  his  vain 
folly  was  struggling,  although  he  did  not  as 
yet  plainly  see  who  wielded  the  sceptre  ;  that, 
consequently,  warning  thrusts  must  have  al- 
ready reached  the  conscience  of  Saul,  as  gen- 
erally from  the  justice  of  God,  so  specifically 
from  the  bright  self-attestation  of  the  angel- 
countenance  of  Stephen,  and  the  undeniable 
sanctity  of  the  persecuted  "  saints  "—warnings 
which,  however  half-unconsciously,  must  yet 
have  been  certainly /ei«.  Few  Nazarenes  had 
blasphemed;  most  of  them  confessed,  even 
amid  torments,  the  name  which  he  fought 
against ;  yea,  this  hated  and  persecuted  name 
proved  itself,  in  its  living  wonderful  power, 
as  the  staff  of  a  superior  against  the  prick  of 
which  he  vainly  kicked,  only  the  more  wound- 
ing his  own  mind  and  conscience  thereby.  Tho 


record  it  at  first,  and  similarly  the  Apostle  be- !  Lord  does  not  merely  "  testify  to  him  the  ob 


968 


TO  SAUL  THE  PERSECUTOR. 


jective  fruitlessness  of  his  opposition  to  the 
Church"  (as  Schaff  thinks)— that  was  already 
contained  in  the  revelation  of  his  heavenly 
power  and  glory  ;  but  that  which  in  Saul's 
person  (subjectively)  had  made  itself  felt  as 
ftis  own  hurt,  felt  actually  as  the  rebuking 
point  of  a  goad  nevertheless  urged  against 
him — that  the  Lord  now  suddenly  reveals  to 
him,  and  throws  light  at  once  upon  the  past : 
"  Why  persecutest  thou  me,  and  thereby  es- 
sentially only  thyiself?  "  But,  from  that  great 
moment  when  this  rises  distinctly  before  his 
consciousness,  it  receives  the  stronger  and 
fuller  meaning  for  the  future  also:  "  Wouldst 
thou  further  oppose — think  how  hard,  vain, 
and  ruinous  it  will  be  to  thee."     Luther  has 

fiven  rightly  the  sense  of  the  indefinite  word — 
t  wiU  be  hard  to  thee.  "  Behold,  this  is  my 
goad — dost  thou  feel  it?  Wilt  thou  further 
deny  thyself  to  me?  or,  wilt  thou  obediently 
draw  in  my  yoke,  yield  thyself  up  submis- 
sively to  be  sent  in  my  service?  My  sacred 
grace  hath  decreed  to  make  thee  obedient — 
woe,  woe,  unto  thee,  if  thou  shouldst  not  fol- 
low I  JIard  should  it  be  to  thee,  incomparably 
harder  than  hitherto  " — this  and  this  only  the 
Lord  says;  for  imp-ssible  Saul's  disobedience 
was  not  even  now  ;  of  an  irresistible  grace  we 
can  by  no  means  think.  (Comp.  chap.  xxvi. 
19,  and  Gal.  i.  16  ) 

Satisfied  with  this  exposition  of  the  words, 
as  it  has  always  with  more  or  less  clearness 
been  perceived,  we  do  not  think  it  necessary 
to  turn  aside  to  any  profound  concomitant 
meaning  ;  such  as  that,  for  instance,  of  Baum- 
garten,  who  refers  the  whole  saying  only  to 
the  Pharisee's,  afterwards  the  Apostle's,  war- 
fare with  the  law*  Otherwise,  he  needlessly 
objects,  the  figure,  when  applied  to  Saul's  past 
and  future  relation  to  Jesus,  would  be  inappro- 
priate, as  making  Jesus  the  driver  with  a 
threatening  goad,  and  Paul  the  ox  performing 
his  work  Irom  fear  alone !  For,  does  not  the 
Lord  here  manifestly  ihow  himself — previously 
to  all  else  that  would  afterwards  follow — as  the 
Mighty  One,  wilh  the  staff  of  authority,  point- 
ed with  the  prick  which  should  pierce  the  con- 
science? And  does  not  the  figure  prove  ils 
truth  in  this,  that  the  question  is  one  of  the 
yoke  o{  obedience?  Thus  it  is,  quite  simply, 
that  the  Lord  testifies  his  oicn  power,  the  oppo- 
sition to  which  can  resulc  only  in  the  hurt  of 
iiim  who  opposes  ;  but,  because  this  power, 
before  as  hereafter,  is  the  power  of  patient 
love,  he  testilies  further  that  the  goad  of  the 
driver  is  the  staff  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  having 
no  other  design  than  to  take  away  the  siii^ 
through  prace  which  rigorously  and  zealously 
seeks  to  effect  ils  purpose.  The  holy  Theresa 
finely  said  (as  Gcssner  quotes)  :  ""  Lord,  I 
sooner   became  weary  of  injuring  thee,  than 


*  In  harmony  with  his  general  view  that  "all 
the  llioushis  wli.ch  ar;it?iied  the  mind  of  Saul 
in  consequence  of  the  Lord's  address  to  him, 
must,  liave  centered  in  tl:e  law  " — against  which 
Lecliler  rightly  protests. 


thou  of  forgiving  my  injury" — but  it  might 
have  been  substituted — "  than  thou  of  with- 
standing, in  order  that  thou  mightest  be  able 
to  forgive." 

All  this  Paul  shortly  afterwards  well  under- 
stood. But  in  the  first  shock  of  sudden  amaze- 
ment, the  whole  saying,  despite  the  final  pene- 
trating clause,  was  almost  unintelligible.  He 
feels  and  suspects,  but  does  not  at  once  clearly 
understand;  hence,  in  his  deep  presentiment, 
he  utters  the  hasty  question.  Who  art  thou, 
Lord?  For  he  had,  hitherto,  persecuted  Jesus 
ignorantly  in  unbelief  (1  Tim.  i.  13)— it  had  not 
been  his  purpose  to  fight  wilfully  against  God. 
If,  on  the  instant  after  the  manifestation  (which 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  continue  gazing 
at),  he  could  hardly  think  otherwise  than  that 
it  was  Jehovah  himself  in  the  glory  of  his  reve- 
lation (the  Shchinah,  according  to  the  Jewish 
expression),  or  at  least  an  angel  in  human 
form,  who,  in  the  name  and  authority  of  Jeho- 
vah, called  him — yet  the  "me"  was,  for  the 
moment,  incomprehensible ;  and  in  that  his 
relative  innocence,  in  connection  with  his  guilt, 
revealed  itself.  Had  the  Lord  appeared  to 
any  of  those  who  said,  "  This  is  the  heir,  come 
let  us  kill  him  I  "  it  would  have  fallen  upon 
him  as  the  thunder  of  judgment ;  at  most,  he 
would  have  been  able  to  cry  with  the  devils, 
"  What  hast  thou  to  do  with  me,  Jesus,  thoa 
Son  of  the  Most  High  God?  Art  thou  come 
to  torment  me  before  the  time?"  But  Saul, 
who  had  not  wilfully  or  consciously  persecuted 
the  Messiah,  or  the  person  who  might  be  tlie 
Messiah,  can,  lying  upon  the  ground  with 
covered  face,  find  strength  to  utter  his  trem- 
bling question,  "  Lord,  v/ho  sayest  that  I  perse- 
cute thee,  wlio  art  thou?  Not  the  God  of  Is- 
rael,/(;?-  whose  honor  I  thought  myself  zealous. 
Who  art  thou,  0  heavenly  One,  who  thus  art 
one  wilh  the  Naznrenes,  as  if  thou  sufferedst  in 
their  sufferings?"  But  this  very  thought 
leads  us  to  the  other  side  of  the  question — that 
the  presentiment  oi  h']?.  qnesl'ionneeded  only  to  be 
brought  out  and  fully  uttered,  in  order  to  find, 
if  the  Lord  had  kept  silence,  its  own  answer — 
"Thou  art  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  He  knew  so 
much,  at  least,  of  "  this  sect,"  that  according  to 
their  belief  Jesus  was  now  enthroned  in  heaven. 
Therefore,  while  he  might  have  thought  and 
said.  Who  art  thou,  Lord,  from  heaven,  whom 
I  can  have  pe) scented  f  he  restrains  this  last,  be- 
cause that  itself  would  instantly  give  him  the 
answer,  before  the  Lord,  confirming  his  own 
thoughts,  expressly  uttered  it.* 


*  The  question  is  here  raised,  wliether  Saul  had 
not  previously  known  Jesus,  whether  he  had  not 
seen  him  in  Jerusalem  or  elsewhere.  This  is 
quite  possible  in  itself;  but  his  ]vresent  form 
would  not  at  once  recall  any  such  acquaintance 
with  his  person.  That  in  li  Cor.  v.  16,  this  ac- 
quaintance is  meant,  appears  to  U3  a  very  doubl- 
lul,  indeed,  an  absolutely  wrons  exposition.  For, 
first,  the  Aposlle  speaks  there  hypothet:ca"ly— . 
only  putting  a  case  ;  and  then,  to  know  Chr  st,  i.  9.^ 
the  Messiah  {/■ivaidHeiy),  is  someihing  verydif 


ACTS  IX.  4-6;  XXII.  7-10;  XXVI.  14-16. 


^9 


I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  perse- 
cutest.  Who  other  than  he  whom  thou  hast 
persecuted?  The  Lord  does  not  harshly  break 
off—"  Tarry  thou  on  the  ground,  and  reflect ; 
this  first  word  is  enough  for  thee  !  "  With 
more  and  more  gracious  condescension,  he 
enters  into  the  ordinary  colloquy  of  word  and 
answer.  First  comes  the  specific  repetition  and 
emphasis  of  his  own  word,  Whom  t/u?u  persecut- 
est  I  although  this  comes  out  only  after,  in  the 
first  part  of  the  sentence  it  had  been  hinted  at. 
The  Lord  now  calls  himself  from  heaven  by  the 
name  which  the  Spirit  since  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost had  glorified,  and  by  which  the  angels  at 
the  empty  sepulchre  had  called  him  (Mark 
xvi.  6)  :  the  name  of  humiliation,  under  which 
Saul  had  persecuted  him,  is  by  him  in  his 
glory  retained  and  confirmed.  Jesus  of  N'aza- 
reth  !  That  further  testifies,  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  the  identity  of  his  present  person  with 
the  person  of  the  humbled  One,  even  to  the 
years  of  childhood  at  Nazareth,  to  which  he 
looks  back  from  the  throne  of  God  in  eternal 
glory.  Not  "Jesus  the  Christ" — which  was 
self-understood  from  the  glorious  appearance  ; 
as  also  that  Saul  had  'persecuted  Jejus  only  as 
the  Christ.  But  the  Lord  will  not  still  further 
oppress  the  man  lying  in  the  dust,  by  the  name 
of  his  might  and  dignity  ;  he  mildly  descends 
to  him,  giving  him  courage  and  awakening  his 
confidence  in  the  midst  of  his  punishment. 
For  the  expression  must  have  recalled  to  him 
that  this  "Jesus  of  Nazareth"  was  once  upon 
earth  the  meek  and  lowly  One,  the  Benefactor 
and  Healer  in  his  divine  power.  Moreover, 
Jesus  means,  as  all  who  afterwards  heard  the 
words  would  think  with  Saul,  Helper  and  Sa- 
viour. Thus — "  WHiy  persecutest  thou,  poor 
sinner,  the  only  Helper,  who  halh  helped  so 
many  and  would  help  thee,  who  pierces  with 
the  goad  only  so  long  as  he  is  opposed?  Why 
wilt  thou  not  let  me  save  thee  and  others  ?  " 
The  charge  changes  into  a  tender  and  sorrow- 
ful lamentation  and  complaint,  once  more  just 
as  in  John  x.  32.  Thus  the  sin  of  Saul  is  for- 
given, in  the  utterance  of  this  holy  name  of 
Jesus,  even  while  that  sin  is  a  second  time 
mentioned.  That  name  comes  first — "/  am 
Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest — only  behold 
and  hear  me  now."  Thus  will  the  Lord  reveal 
to  every  Saul,  who  has  denied  him  in  error  that 
may  be  repaired,  his  Jesus  name,  which  is  still 


ferent  from  having  seen,  and  personally  known, 
the  human  person.  Paul  had  formerly  a  blind 
Jewish  knoAvledge  and  expectation  of  the  (prom- 
ised) Messiah,  after  the fiesh,  that  is,  "  as  the  letter 
reveals  h.m  to  the  natural  understanding;'  this 
he  renouncei  as  old  and  past,  because  hs  has 
found  the  true  Ciirist  in  Jesus.  Not,  therefore, 
as  G.  Miiiler  says,  "  ihe  form  of  his  hum  mity  has 
vanished  from  my  mind  " — he  would  say  some- 
thing very  different.  Assuredly,  in  conclusion,  he 
•who  appeared  to  him  at  Damascus  connnects  his 
quite  otherwise  meant  /  am  Jesus  not  with  any 
former  knowledge  CT  his  per.sou  wJi:ch  Saul  might 
have  had.  , 


above  the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  which  every 
knee  shall  bow. 

Such  gracious  condescension  has  made  it 
possible  that  Saul,  seized  and  rendered  obedient 
by  this  second  appeal,  should  put  the  question, 
Lord,  what  wilt  thou  that  I  a/ioidd  do  f  (chap. 
XX.,  shorter,  What  must  I  do,  Lord?)  He  does 
not  remain  terrified  and  amazed  by  the  thought 
of  the  twice-proclaimed  persecution  of  this 
Lord  now  appearing  to  him,  and  cry  in  anguish 
— Alas !  what  have  1  doyie  !  For,  only  this 
manifestation  was  wanting  to  make  him  turn 
to  his  denied  Lord,  with  as  much  decision  as 
had  been  shown  in  his  persecution,  and  ask 
what  might  be  the  will  of  the  Lord  whom  he 
now  knew.  Although  the  bitter  struggle  was 
yet  to  come,  there  already  flowed  into  his 
heart  a  first  breath  of  consolation  and  forgive- 
ness ;  so  that  he  looks  forward,  forgetting  the 
things  behind,  and  can  offer  himself  and  his 
whole  life  to  him  whom  he  had  persecuted, 
with  the  question,  almost  child-like  in  its  con- 
fidence— What  is  thy  will  from  this  time,  0 
Lord,  now  even  my  Lmxl  ?  From  this  time — • 
this  has  to  him,  now,  the  first  and  most  press- 
ing significance  ;  because  he  is  at  the  gate  of 
Damascus,  as  a  persecutor  sent  by  the  council: 
"  What  shall  I  do  now?  Shall  I  turn  back? 
And  whither?  Shall  I  go  on?  And  what  to 
do  then  ?  " 

Entering  graciously  into  this,  and  bringing 
the  affecting  conversation  nearer  to  its  end, 
the  Lord  answers  him — Paul,  in  the  narrative 
before  the  Jews,  chap,  xxii.,  first  acknowledges 
him  by  this  name.  Arise  and  go  into  the  city, 
and  it  shall  he  told  thee  what  thou  must  do 
(chap,  xxii,,  into  Damascus — of  all  things 
ivhich  are  appointed  for  thee  to  do.  Chap, 
xxvi.,  rise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet).  The  first 
word  Arise  (hence  quoted  more  emphatically 
in  chap,  xxvi.;  comp.  Ezek.  ii.  1)  has  her© 
great  significance,  much  more  than  when  it 
lormerly  came  from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  Tho 
voice  of  the  Lord  first  threw  him  to  the  earth, 
it  now  lifts  him  up  again — both  in  this  extra- 
ordinary revelation  of  his  power,  in  quick  suc- 
cession. "  Go— the  same  way  which  thou 
wast  going,  into  the  same  Damascus,  but  as 
another  man  now,  who  hast  fallen  down  before 
me,  and  art  risen  up  again.  Thou  shalt  at  once 
do  something ;  I  take  thee  at  thy  word,  it  \3 
my  will.  Much  is  appointed  to  thee,  yea,  ac- 
cording to  eternal  counsel,  to  thee,  the  persecutor 
and  blasphemer,  which  thou  shalt  do  in  thy 
new  life,  in  thy  new  energy,  in  my  service — all 
this  will  be  told  thee.  The  supreme  order  is 
given  and  sealed ;  but  all  the  rest  my  ministers 
will  care  for."  What  an  explanation  this, 
leaving  so  much  to  be  supposed,  but  concealing 
all  in  a  simple  word,  which  Saul  could  not  at 
once  understand. 

Damascus,  the  oldest  city  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge — mentioned  as  early  as  the  his- 
tory of  Abraham,  afterwards  the  metropolis  of 
the  enemies  of  Israel,  and  later,  of  the  fanatical 
Mohammedan  power — was  pre-appointed  to 
be  the  scene  of  a  mighty  testimony  of  Jesus 


870 


ANANIAS'  COMMISSION. 


Christ  (see  Acts  ix.  20,  21).  But  the  Lord  does 
not  say,  as  atterwards  to  Ananias,  and  as  the 
angel  to  Cornelius — Into  this  or  that  street, 
into  this  or  that  house.  He  mentions  to  him 
no  name.  He  begins  at  once  to  exercise  him 
by  the  test  of  obedience  in  faith.  He  who  had 
asked,  in  harmony  with  his  impetuous  char- 
acter, what  new  thing  he  should  do,  is  requir- 
ed, in  this  new  beginning,  to  tcait,  to  learn,  to 
le  told.  He  does  not  know  that  the  fulfillment 
will  take  place  as  soon  as  it  actually  did ;  he 
must  first  in  silent  waiting  turn  to  account 
that  which  had  already  occurred.  The  original 
does  not  say,  One  will  tell  thee;  but  still  more 
indefinitely.  It  shall  be  told  thee.  Bv  whom? 
Might  it  be  by  the  Lord  himself?  'The  dis- 
missing reference  to  some  one  in  the  city  gives 
him  plainly  to  understand  that  that  cannot  be 
meant.  Thus  it  was  by  men,  and  by  whom 
but  by  some  of  those  disciples  of  the  Lord 
whom  he  had  come  to  persecute?  Even  Christ 
himself  points  to  his  witnesses,  as  the  angel  re- 
ferred Cornelius  to  Peter.  Not  merely,  "  he 
that  persecuteth  mine  persecuteth  me,"  but 
also,  "  he  that  heareth  mine  heareth  me." 

As  the  Lord  had  in  the  first  word  confessed 
his  people,  so  he  confesses  them  now  in  the 
closing  word.  This  expression  is  better  here, 
and  less  easily  perverted,  than  the  too  favorite 
word  Church;  tor  where  was  at  that  time  the 
Church — as  the  term  is  now  used  distinctively 
from  the  congregation — with  its  confirmed,  ap- 
pointed, ruling  constitution?  The  convert  is 
afterwards  directed  to  the  Scripture,  but  that 
does  not  come  till  after :  first  he  must  have 
living  intercourse  with  those  who  live  in  faith, 
in  order  to  the  opening  of  his  eyes. 

He  is  sent  to  one  or  to  some  of  the  disciples 
in  Damascus — thus  much  he  understands — 
whom  he  must  patiently  wait  for.  Let  it  be 
observed,  not  to  the  Apostles  ;  for  he  is  imme- 
diately called  to  be  an  Apostle  himself.  Never- 
theless, he  must  subject  nimself  to  the  heretics 
whom  he  had  before  ecorned;    he  must  bow 


down  before  the  persecuted  congregation,  and 
receive  from  them  the  further  communications 
of  his  Lord's  will.  Thus  the  extraordinary 
and  miraculously  begun  work  of  his  conversioa 
must  have  a  regular  and  unmiraculous  issue  ; 
the  miracle  is  reduced  back  to  ordinary  level 
with  the  miraculous,  rather  it  is  confirmed 
and  sanctified  in  its  place  above  it.  Thus, 
finally,  the  special  honor  done,  as  it  were,  to 
the  proud  Pliarisee,  is  compensated  or  parallel- 
ed by  his  taking  his  place  below  the  despised 
Nazarenes,  in  order  to  strengthen  and  maintain 
his  humility.  For,  alas  I  not  every  one  who 
has  bowed  down  before  the  Lord  himself,  sub- 
mits to  bow  down  before  men  for  the  Lord's 
sake,  and  before  the  Lord  in  the  person  of 
men. 

The  Lord  often  thus  makes  his  own  begin- 
ning, while  he  leaves  the  prosecution  to  his 
disciples.  Thus  he  still  greets  his  children 
upon  earth  with  greeting  which  strengthens 
their  failh,  while  he  commits  to  them  still 
sometimes  a  captive  enemy— the  strong  and 
learned  made  blind  and  praying,  for  their  fur- 
ther care  and  nourishment. 

Finally,  there  is  the  expression,  "  What  is 
appointed  to  thee  " — as  we  find  it  in  the  exacter 
record,  chap.  xxii. — a  reference  to  the  Father, 
precisely  as  in  Matt.  xx.  23.  We  must  not 
understand  merely  "appomted  by  me;"  but 
the  glorified  Lord  gives  the  glory  to  the  Fa- 
ther; and  the  word'of  Ananias,  chap.  xxii.  14, 
coincides  with  this.  In  the  later  appearance, 
chap.  xxvi.  16,  the  Lord  himself  gives  his 
or/lers  to  his  servant  and  witness  ;  but  in  the 
first  announcement  of  himself  as  "  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,"  so  condescendingly  lowly  with  all 
its  majesty,  he  refers  all  at  the  conclusion  to 
his  God  and  Father — All  shall  be  said  to  iheo 
by  men,  that  is  appointed  for  thee  by  God.  For 
this  is  the  confirmed  and  everlasting  rule; 
whosoever  asks  his  Lord  in  earnest  what  he 
should  do,  shall  have  in  his  ways  a  sure  answer 
given  him  even  through  men. 


ANANIAS'  COMMISSION 


(Acts  ix.  10-16.) 


.  Among  the  multitudes  of  Jews  in  Damascus 
(Luke,  in  vers.  2  and  20,  speaks  of  synagogues 
in  the  plural)  there  were  disciples  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  (vers.  19-25) — though  probably  an 
insignificant  little  company.  'The  persecution 
which  Saul  had  with  a  strong  hand  undertaken 
in  Jerusalem  had  far  dispersed  and  persecuted, 
and  sent  them  widely  forth  as  preachers  of  the 
word.  But  we  must  not  think  of  any  orderly 
ecclesiastical  relation  among  these  few  di.sciples 
at  Damascus,  nor  of  any  separation  from  the 
Jewish  people,  further  than  their  confession  of 
Jesus  absolutely  required.  Thev  remained,  as 
we  find,  for  a  long  time  within  Israel,  Jews  in 


all  observance  of  the  law.  This  is  expressly 
stated,  chap.  xxii.  12,  of  Ananias  ;  as  also  his 
good  report,  the  consideration  paid  to  his  irre- 
proachable, respectable  character  among  all  the 
Jews  of  the  city,  and  which  his  faith  in  Jesus 
had  not  yet  interrupted.  Consequently,  al- 
though this  "  disciple  "  is  not  called  an  elder 
of  the  community,  he  is  one  in  reality  ;  and  is 
chosen,  as  the  worthiest  representative  of  tho 
discipleship  in  the  place,  to  receive  and  admit 
Saul  into  the  fellowship  of  Christians.  Bub 
this  transition  from  the  miraculous  to  regular 
order  requires  also  on  the  part  of  Ananias — in 
order  that  his  mistrust  of  tho  persecutor  may 


ACTS  IX.  10-16. 


«71 


be  taketi  awav,  and  still  more  that  he  might 
«nter  fully  into  the  Lord's  plan  and  comrais- 
sion,  and  venture  to  approach  Saul — a  further 
extraordinary  and  miraculous  intervention.  It 
takes  placp,  "therefore,  though  in  a  lower  de- 
gree ;  that  is,  by  an  appearance  and  communi- 
Tsation  of  the  Lord  in  viw)n. 

This  expression  has  hero,  as  is  obvious,  not 
the  general  meaning  which  it  has  in  Acts  vii. 
■51,  Matt,  xvii,  9,*  where  it  refers  to  an  ftppmr- 
ance  from  th«  other  world  in  opposition  to 
"ordinary  perception — in  which  sense  Saul's 
«eemg  and  hearing  before  Damascus  was  a  vis- 
ion. But  it  connects  itself,  according  to  a  more 
restricted  use  of  the  phrase,  with  the  Old-Tes- 
tament manner  of  speech,  as  found  already  in 
Acts  ii.  17,  in  which  the  word  of  the  Lord  to 
Abraham  (Gen.  xv.  1)  was  heard  "in  a  vision" 
in  the  night,  as  ver.  7  shows.  The  promise  in 
the  prophet  Joel  (chap.  iii.  1)  mentions  pro- 
phecy, dream,  and  vision  as  the  three  orders  of 
oivine  revelation;  as  in  Num.  xii.  6  the  Lord 
declares  that  he  will  make  himself  known  to 
•other  prophets  in  vision,  or  dream,  but  express- 
ly distinguishes  this  from  the  immediate  reve- 
lation reserved  for  Moses — the  speaking  face 
to  face,  the  being  seen  in  face  or  form.  What 
the  stricter  relations  of  these  may  be  is  matter 
of  higher  experience,  and  cannot  here  be 
thoroughly  opened  up ;  we  merely  remark, 
that  the  very  distinct  dream  might  pass  over 
into  the  vision,  with  a  certain  removal  of  the 
distinction,  but  that  this  distinction  must  be 
maintained  in  the  case  of  a  vision  seen,  as 
here,  during  the  day.  As  Cornelius  and  Peter 
beheld  their  visions  in  the  day  and  waking — 
although,  in  order  to  their  susceptibility  for 
the  event,  raised  out  of  ordinary  wakefulness — 
80  most  probably  did  Ananias  here.  It  is  not 
said — In  a  vision  of  the  nighl  ;  and,  according 
to  ver.  17,  when  he  received  the  commission 
he  went  on  the  same  day,  without  interval  or 
hesitation,  to  execute  it.  But,  finally,  it  must 
not  be  overlooked  that  we  do  not  read  of  his 
being  in  the  spirit;  this  is  a  further  distinction 
between  these  "  visions  "  of  the  history  of  the 
Acts,  and  the  later  more  profoundly  internal 
intercourse  of  the  Lord  with  his  Apostles. 

The  Lord  said  in  the  vision,  Ananias  !  Here 
once  calling  by  name  is  enough ;  his  name,  ut- 
tered in  so  wonderful  a  manner,  introduces  the 
vision,  excites  and  places  him  in  a  state  in 
which  there  was  certainly  some  kind  of  seeing 
the  appearing  Lord.  For,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  vision  of  Ananias  would  not  be  less  plain 
than  that  of  Saul,  who  saw  this  man  coming 
in  to  him  ;  and,  on  the  other,  Luke  relates  the 
proceeding  with  the  supposition,  not  expressed, 
that  Ananias  at  the  first  call  knew  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  afterwards  speaks  to  him  as  such — 
"  Tliy  saints  who  call  on  thy  name."  We  can- 
not perfectly  understand  all ;  but  this  much  is 
plain,  that,  without  having  any  previous  expe- 


,  *  It  difF  rs  in  the  Greek  {oTtradia  for  upa/ua  , 
3S  ill  Acts  XX.V1.  IS^,  yet  with  the  same  raeaumg  in 
xxiv.  23. 


rience  of  any  such  vision,  the  faithful  disciplo, 
accustomed  to  the  communion  of  the  heart 
with  his  Lord,  is  raised  from  the  sudden  shock 
of  the  appearance  to  the  confident  beholding 
of  him  who  appears,  and  can  reply.  Here  am  I, 
Lord.  It  may  be  that  Ananias  was  one  of 
those  who  had  seen  the  Lord  in  his  visits  to 
Jerusalem  at  the  feasts — possible  that  he  was 
one  of  his  original  disciples* — and  consequent- 
ly that  the  voice  and  form  of  the  Lord  would 
recall  him  to  his  remembrance.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  this  vision  ?,nd  colloquy  rests  upon  the 
same  foundation  as  the  revelation  to  Saul,  con- 
firmed and  sealed  as  that  is  by  an  entire  apos- 
tolical life. 

In  the  "  Here  am  I  "—which  occurs  so  often 
from  Abraham  in  Gen.  xx.  downwards,  as  the 
reply  to  the  Lord's  summons  by  name,  and  the 
immediate  use  of  which  sprang  from'  Ananias' 
familiarity  with  Scripture — was  contained  the 
questions,  "  What  is  thy  will  ?  What  am  I  to 
do?  "  And  the  Lord  said  to  him,  "■Arise,  and 
go  into  the  street  which  is  called  Straight,  and 
inquire  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  Saul  of 
Tarsus.'^  It  is  not  that  Ananias  also  had 
fallen  down  ;  the  arise  simply  belongs,  in  the 
familiar  speech,  to  the  going  and  executing  his 
errand  at  once.f  The  Lord  assumes  the  tone 
of  familiar  speech,  as  if  all  was  passing  in 
common  life,  and  condescends  to  exact  specifi- 
cation of  the  street  and  house  ;  for  this  was 
now  necessary,  in  order  to  give  Ananias  a  dis- 
tinct impression,  and  still  more  to  obviate  the 
premature  comments  which  would  have  result- 
ed from  any  particular  inquiries  in  the  city — 
"  The  Christian  Ananias  has  sought  out  the 
persecutor  Saul !  "  What  the  two  liave  to  do 
together  requires  at  first  perfect  secrecy  ;  until, 
after  certain  days  (ver.  19),  Saul  begins,  to  the 
astonishment  of  all,  to  preach  concerning  Jesus 
in  the  synagogues.  Alter  Luther's  inexact 
translation — Die  richtige  Gasse — many  have 
found  a  fanciful  allusion  to  him  who  was  now 
brought  into  the  right  way  ;  but  this  disturbs 
here  the  plain  simplicity  of  the  whole,  in  which 
nothing  more  is  meant  than  the  great  street  of 
the  city,  so  called  in  distinction  from  others 
which  did  not  run  so  directly  through  it.  The 
host  Jadas  was  not  also  a  Christian,  though 
through  his  guest  he  may  have  become  one  ; 
the  name  here  indicates  only  what  we  should 
now  express  by  the  number  of  the  street.  Be- 
cause, finally,  Saul,  like  Judas,\\as  an  ordinary 
name,  the  usual  designation  of  Saul  of  Tarsus 
marks  out  one  who  in  every  land,  and  by  Ana- 
nias, was  known  as  the  notorious  enemy  of  the 
Christians. 

Hitherto  the  words  had  been  simple  and 
plain,  as  when  a  man  is  introducing  with 
accuracy  an  ordinary  commission  ;  but  now 
comes  the  great  declaration — "For,  heliold,  he 


*  Compare  tlie  expression,  probably  to  be  un- 
derstood in  the  same  way,  concerning  Muason,  an 
old  disciple,  apjt^'V  l^oc(ir]zxi,  Acts  xxi.  16. 

t  In  the  Greek  they  are  closely  united,  dva6' 
rdi  TCopevQijCL, 


ws 


ANAKIAS'  COMMISSION. 


prayeth  !  "  Here  tlie  for  ( which  has  been  soft- 
ened away  by  most  expos;tors)  retains  its  full 
meaning;  the  astonishment  and  affrip;ht  of 
Ananias  at  the  mention  of  the  name  Saul  of 
Tarsus  is  anticipated — "  Thou  shaU.  seek  him 
without  fear  ;  thou  shalt  find  him  willing  to  be 
told  my  will."  In  this  Bengel  is  at  fault,  who 
refers  the  for  (which  obviously  ffives  a  reason) 
to  the  whole  clause,  and  particularly  to  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  about  his  having  seen  the  vis- 
ion. Surely  the  first  words — he  prayeth,  ^ere 
of  themselves  quite  enough  ground  to  estab- 
lish the  confidence  of  Ananias.  The  behold 
places  the  praying  man,  visible  to  the  Lord, 
also,  as  it  were,  before  the  eyes  of  Ananias.  In 
that  one  thing  every  thing  is  embraced  and 
said.  A  praying  man  is  never  to  be  feared, 
has  ceased  to  be  an  enemy  and  a  persecutor — 
that  is  the  first  and  most  obvious  meaning  for 
Ananias;  but  it  is  very  far  from  being  all  that 
the  words  contained.  Instead  of  the  external 
matter  which  Luke,  ver.  9,  faithfully  recorded 
at  first — "  He  was  three  days  without  sight, 
and  neither  ate  nor  drank" — the  Lord  men- 
tions that  which  he  saw  in  the  inner  man,  and 
which  was  only  imaged  and  expressed  in  the 
blindness  and  fasting.  What  prayer  must  this 
of  Saul  have  been,  through  these  three  days 
and  nights !  We  cannot  agree  with  Baum- 
garten,  who  maintains  (against  Bengel)  that 
the  state  of  Saul  during  the  whole  of  the  three 
days  is  not  described  as  being  that  of  prayer; 
but  that  "  the  praying  put  an  end  to  the  agony 
which  had  filled  the  three  days  !"  This  inter- 
pretation presses  the  for  beyond  its  limits; 
since,  in  that  case,  if  the  reason  for  the  Lord's 
commission  to  Ananias  had  occurred  before, 
Ananias  would  have  been  sent  eailier.  We 
confess  that  we  cannot  understand  a  three 
days'  "  wrestling  "  on  Saul's  part,  which  was 
resolved  at  last  into  prayer — not  being  itself 

Grayer  all  through.  "  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou 
ave  me  to  do?"  That,  in  truth,  was  the 
beginning  of  a  prayer  to  the  Lord,  which  never 
could  cease  again  until  it  had  been  fully  an- 
swered. The  other  remark  of  Baumgarten  is 
both  obvious  and  true:  "This  was  of  course 
not  the  first  time  that  Saul  had  prayed  ;  as 
%n  irreproachable  Pharisee  he  had  never  ne- 
glected the  hours  of  devotion  ;  but  all  his  pre- 
vious praying  did  not  deserve  the  name."  Ah  1 
how  olten  is  it  that,  after  much  fruitful  "  pray- 
er" which  the  Lord  has  not  regarded,  he  him- 
Belf  at  length  bears  his  testimony — Behold,  he 
praye'h  now  ! 

"  We  cannot  describe  the  whole  way  of  con- 
version more  concisely,  and  at  the  same  time 
more  comprehensively,  than  by  these  words — 
'  Heboid,  he  prayeth.'  For  it  brin-is  the  two 
things  together  :  that  conversion  is  God's  work  ; 
but  that  it  must  have  our  co-operation.  In 
jprayfr  we  lay  hold  on  God's  good  will,  which 
had  before  laid  hold  upon  us  ;  and  yield  our- 
selves up  to  his  mighty  drawings"  (Rieger). 
Saul,  90  mightily  apprphended  of  Christ  Jesus, 
bad  already  a  secret  sense  or  hope  of  forgive- 
nesa ;    iicverlheless,  the   appropriation  of  this 


pardon  in  faith  required  of  him,  now  whem  eafnl 
reflection  followed  the  great  manifestation,  tho 
most  vehement  wrestling — the  utmost  labor 
of  prayer,  that  in  repentance  he  might  sorely 
taste  the  full  knowledge  of  his  sin.  For,  not- 
withstanding all  that  was  sudden  and  extraoT"- 
dinary  in  bis  case,  there  was  no  remission  or 
relaxation  to  him  of  the  universal  method  of 
grace ;  and  tliia  is  emphatically  stated  in  the 
mention  of  his  prayer.  The  means  of  grace 
for  him,  as  for  all  others,  are  the  word  and  sa- 
crament— but  deriving  their  energy  and  effect 
from  praying  faith,  which  receives  in  order  to 
further  seeking  and  finding. 

"  Behold,  he  prayeth  " — that  is  the  fifrst  and 
main  point,  as  the  verse  divides  itself;  then 
follows,  "  And  hath  seen  in  a  vision  a  man 
named  Ananias,  coming  in,  and  putting  his 
hand  upon  him,  that  he  might  receive  his  sight." 
This  corresponsive  "vision"  of  a  different  or- 
der, similar  to  that  of  the  man  of  Macedonia 
in  Troas  (chap.  xvi.  9),  the  personification  of 
the  people  crying  for  their  only  help,  is,  strictly 
speaking,  no  more  in  itself  than  that  seeing 
from  afar,  or  anticipator)'  seeing,  what  will 
afterwards  take  place,  of  which  there  are  plen- 
tiful examples  in  all  times  ;  except  that  the 
mention  of  the  name  (doubtless  by  a  voice)  is 
an  unusual  addition,  for  the  purpose  of  direct- 
ing both  men  certainly  to  each  other,  as  in  the 
case  of  Peter  and  Cornelius.  One  might  say 
that  the  name  would  bear  with  it  a  consoling 
significance — Ananias  (like  Hananiah,  Johan- 
an,  Johannes)  that  is,  "  The  Lord  is  gracious."* 
Yet,  in  any  case,  the  vision  of  itself  was  with- 
out any  concomitant  omen,  a  comforting  and 
gracious  preparation  of  Saul  for  the  peaceful 
consciousness  of  received  grace;  it  promised 
him  very  much,  as  being  a  continuation  of  the 
Lord's  intercourse  with  him — for  only  from 
him  could  such  revelation  come  ;  it  was  to  him 
j  the  beginning  of  the  answer  of  his  p.  aver, 
I  pointing  to  the  future  appointed  for  him.  t'or, 
if  he  should  sec  again,  it  could  only  be  that  he 
might  be  restored  to  a  new  life  and  a  new  ac- 
tivity:  that  the  same  man  Ananias  would  fur- 
thermore tell  him  what  he  should  do,  was  taken 
for  granted,  and  indeed  symbolically  declared 
in  the  opening  of  his  eyes.f  It  is  the  manner 
of  a  vision  to  exhibit  the  external,  from  which 
the  rest  then  follows;  as  we  find  also  that  the 
Lord  only  hints  to  Ananias  his  specific  com- 
mission for  Saul — at  first  merely  by  this  laving 
en  of  hands,  in  order  to  his  recovering  sfght. 
That  which  follows  in  vers.  15,  16,  as  answer  to 


*  On  tlie  oiher  hand  Job  v.  19,  is  to  be  inter- 
preted otherwise — "  Cloud  of  God,"  as  Azarias — 
Hc!2y  of  God. 

f  "  We  may  well  suppose  that,  before  he  started 
for  Taniascus,  Saul  had  informed  h.raself  of  the 
foelings  of  the  Jews  in  that  city  towards  tho 
Christiana,  and  had  already  heard  of  tliis  well- 
known  and  universally  re>p°cted  j)er--on.''  So 
Daumsarten ;  but  we  cannot  agree  with  him  in 
this ;  it  is  almost  contradicted  by  ver.  2. 


ACTS  IX.  10-16. 


fm 


liiB  objection,  "was  not  spoken  to  be  directly 
communicated  to  Saul.  What  Ananias  under- 
stood of  his  commission,  and  afterwards  ac- 
complished, was,  as  far  as  it  was  contained  in 
the  first  communication  of  the  Lord,  simply 
this;  "  Raise  him  out  of  the  deep  depression 
of  his  penitence,  give  him  gracious  and  new 
light  concerning  his  election,  take  him  as  a  be- 
liever into  th«  fellowship  of  those  who  belong 
to  me."  Up  to  this  time  the  Lord  had  said 
nothing  to  Ananias  about  the  first  great  event 
— "  He  beheld  me  in  the  way  to  Damascus, 
where  I  appeared  to  him.  Thai'wa.s  the  cause 
of  his  Uitnlnese."  We  shall  see  how  Ananias 
came  to  know  that  fact ;  at  present  we  observe 
only  this:  Dazzled  and  blinded  by  the  divine 
glory,  he  must  by  human  hands,  and  human 
words,  be  restored  to  sight,  which  is  itself 
fivmboli^ail  of  the  c^-der  of  gra«e,  as  it  proceeds 
in  every  such  case,  and  to  which  every  thing 
in  the  history  now  leads. 

But  Ananias,  with  increasing  confidence,  the 
eecret  of  which  we  have  already  pointed  out, 
naakes,  in  vers.  13,  14,  a  long  objection,  as  if 
the   Lord  who  speaks  to   him,  and  whom  he 
oiMse  again  replies  to,  did  not  know  and  had 
not  heard  what  he  knew  concerning  this  evil 
and  dangerous  man.     The  Lord  said — "  Behold 
be  praj-eth  1 "  but   this  appears  to   Ananias 
incredible;  and,  instead  of  himself  hearing,  he 
adduces  what  he  had  heard  of  many  touching 
this  man  to  wboni  he  was  to  go.     Past  all  in- 
vention true,  to   every  right   feeling,  is  this 
whole  account,  however  strange  it  may  appear ; 
it  is  the  genuine  and  sincere  conversation  of  a 
disciple  with   his   Lord.      Ananias    uses  two 
pecBliar  designations  of  the  Christians:   not 
"  disciples,"  nor  "  brethren,"  neither  of  which 
would   have  been   in   place   here  :    but — Thy 
«aitt<6  (eomp.  ver.  32-41) ;  and  who  call  on  thy 
name.     The  former  is  derived  over  from  God 
to  the  Lord   Jesus:    "  Thy,"  as  formerly   in 
Scripture,  "God's"  saints  (Psa.  i.  5;  1  Sam.' 
ii.  3).    The  latter  is  more  strictly  referred  to 
Jesus:  "  Who  not  merely  call  on  the  name  of 
Ood,  as  the  Jews  in  hypocrisy,  and  many  pious 
Jews  ignorantly  to  this  day,  but  call  with  a 
true  faith  on  thy  name  f  so,  since  Acts  i.  24, 
Jesus  had  been  prayed  to,  and  thus  the  com- 
mon designa,tion  arose  (ver.  21 ;  1  Cor.  i.  2). 
"  And  can  such  a  one — this  man  well  known 
to  me  as  a  blasphemer  of  thy  name — now  him- 
fielf  call  upon  thy  name?     How  can   that  be 
possible?  "  Standing  before  the  Lord  in  heaven 
and  his  supreme  power,  he  says — This  man 
hath   audwrily.     In  the  presence  of  the   one 
true  High   Priest  he   makes  mention  of  the 
high   priests   in  Jerusalem.     The  attendants 
had  hardly  mentioned  the  letters  of  authority 
during  the  three  days ;  rather,  we  may  sup- 
pose  that   warning    had   come   from    distant 
»retbren.     In  any  case  Ananias  received  this 
evil  report  from  iiKviy,  as   generally   known. 
But  surely  he  was  ashamed  of  his  open  and 
inconsiderate  counter-plea,  as  soon  as   he  had 
finished  it;  and -said  to  himself,  what  therefore 
ihe  Lord  did  not  need  to  saj — "  But  the  Au- 


thority of  Jesus  has  struck  down  this  fierce 
enemy,  and  made  him  blind  and  prayerful." 

Instead   of  any   reproof,    Dost   thou   know 
better  than  I  ? — for  the  sincere  appeals  of  his 
people  to  him,  however  weak,  inconsiderate,  or 
perverted  they  may  be,  the  Lord  never  con- 
demns ;  but  rather  takes  pleasure  in  them,  if 
they  only  come  from  pure  hearts — instead  of 
any  rebuking  word,  which   would  have    been 
out  of  harmony  with  the  revelation  of  super- 
abounding  grace,  the  Lord  said,  "  Go !  let  it 
be  as  I  have  told  thee  before" — in  this  one 
word  expressing  no  more  tiiau  a  gentle  re- 
proving reference  back  to  his  men  first  word, 
which  ought  to  have  had  more  weight  than  all 
tliat  Ananias  might  have  heard  from  others. 
And  then  follows  a  second /t>r,  opening  out  hia 
own  secret  purpose  concerning  this  man,  this 
Saul  of  Tarsus.     "  For  he  is  a  chosen  instru- 
ment (or  vessel)  to  me,  to  carry  my  name  to 
the  Gentiles,  and  before  kings,  and  the  children 
of  Israel."     How  does  Ananias  hearken  now  to 
the  lolty  words,  which  have  taken  so  different 
a  turn,  no  longer  speaking  of  a  man  seeking 
grace  who  simply  needed  to  be  comforted  and 
healed  !     How  does  he  take  shame  to  himself, 
and  think — Thou,  Lord,  in  very  deed  know- 
est  best;    and  canst  choose  and   prepare  for 
thyself    thine   instruments  ?      But   the    Lord 
does  not  add — Tell  him  this.     The  Spirit  after- 
wards taught  Ananias  how  much  of  this  pre- 
paratorily to  announce  to  the  elect  Apostle, 
and  how  much  it  was  necessary  as  yet  to  con- 
ceal.    The  Lord  himself,  in  a  subsequent  ap- 
pearance (chap.  xxvi.  16-18)  first  declared  tho 
appointment  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  gave  hiin  the  fuller  words  of  instruction 
in  his  ofBce  ;  on  the  other  hand,  Ananias,  chap, 
xxii.  5,  speaks  only  in  more  indefinite  expres- 
sions— "  A  witness  to  all  men,"  which  might 
be  understood  as  meaning,  "  with  whom  thou 
shall  have  to  do,  every  where  wherever  thou 
raayest  go."     A  chosen  instrument,  literally, 
a  vessel  of  ekciion — these  are  two  fundamental 
words,  which  the  Apostle  learned  afterwards 
in  the  school  of  the  Spirit  to  understand  and 
teach  for  himself  and  others — almost  as  if  that 
Spirit  had  literally  brought  to  his  mind  this 
word  of  Jesus  concerning  his  own  vocation. 
We  know  how  much  he  has  to  say  concerning 
the  free  choice  or  election  of  God,  and  similarly 
cf  the  vessels  or  instruments  of  mercy  or  of 
wrath,  of  honor  or  of  dishonor  (with  the  samo 
Greek  expression,  Ploiu.  ix.  21-23 ;  2  Cor.   iv. 
7;    2  Tim.  i.  20,  21).     Even    the  man   most 
richly  endowed  can  receive  in  himself  the  pow- 
er of  divine  grace  only  as  a  vessel;  and  only 
as  an  instrument  serve  him  who  here  says,  in 
his   royal   authority    over   the    kingdom   and 
house  of  God — a  vessel  unta  tne.     My  name — 
that  is  the  great  matter ;  in  that  all  is  com- 
prehended, as  in  chap.  xxvi.  18,  every  thing 
has   its   similar  sublime   close— Through  the 
faith  that  is  in  me.     This  man  shall  not  merely 
call  upon  my  Jesus-name,  as  all  my  saints  do, 
and  he  himself  also  now  does  ;  he  shall  hear  it, 
that  is.  confess,  announce  and  diffuse  it  far  aad 


874 


ANANIAS'  COMMISSION. 


^j(Je — wliereby  tRe  e-^pression  still  adheres  fo 
the  figurative'"  vessel."  Truly  Paul  was  full 
of  the  ointment  poured  forth  of  the  most  holy 
name  (Cant.  i.  3)— a  good  savor  of  Christ 
wherever  he  came.  The  Gentiles  now  come 
first — to  Ananias  a  new  and  great  di.«closnre — 
the  Icings  are  in  transition  meant  both  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  as  Paul  testified  in  Jerusalem 
before  the  last  Jewish  king,  and  in  Rome  be- 
fore the  Cfc-sar ;  finally,  before  the  children  of 
Israel  is,  notwithstanding  the  nnbelief  of  the 
Jews  predicted  in  chap.  xxii.  IS,  the  term  and 
goal  of  all  missions,  the  end  to  which  the  tes- 
timony of  the  Apostle,  continued  by  the 
Spirit,  will  yet  attain  with  glorious  results. 
Compare  these  prophetic  words  of  the  Lord 
from  heaven  with  the  first  rays  of  the  pro- 
phetic light  which  shone  around  the  infant  in 
the  words  of  Simeon,  Luke  ii.  82. 

But  the  Lord  has  not  said  all ;  a  third  "  for" 
gives  most  conclusively  the  ground  of  the 
pre-announced  fitness  of  this  chosen  vessel : 
"  For  I  tcill  shoio  Mm  how  much  he  must  suffer 
for  mi/  name's  saJce.^'  The  Beiienb.  Bihel* 
explains  this  incorrectly,  losing  the  connection 
of  the  "for."  After  the  correct  thought  that 
even  this  last  clause  would  perfectly  take  away 
all  carnal  boasting,  it  goes  on  to  explain  :  "  Ask- 
not— Shall  this  be  to  him?  (for  this  struck 
Ananias  to  the  heart).  God  forgives  the  sin, 
but  punishes  it  even  in  his  elect.  It  shall  not 
be  forgotten  that  he  hath  injured  my  Church. 
He  shall  have  something  to  endure  for  it.  As 
he  hath  injured  my  saints,  he  shall  himself  be 
persecuted."  Truly,  Psa.  xcix.  8  is  not  thus  to 
be  interpreted.  Such  vindictive  thoughts  were 
certainly  not  in  the  mind  of  Ananias;  much 
less  did  the  Lord  confirm  them.  The  future 
Paul,  when  he  is  not  ashamed  of  his  tribu- 
lations, but  glories  in  them  (2  Cor.  i.  3-6  ;  2 
Tim.  i.  11,  12;  2  Cor.  xi.  23,  xii.  10),  never 
brings  them  into  any  such  connection  with  his 
former  guilt :  he  has  a  very  different  meaning 
in  his  deep  word — "  I  fill  up  that  Avhich  is  be- 
hind of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh,  for 
his  bo<ly'3  sake,  which  is  the  Church"  (Col.  i. 
24).  The  prophecy  which  goes  before  from  the 
Lord's  own  mouth  on  him,  at  his  ordination, 
means  rather  the  good  warfare  which  he  would 
thenceforth  war,  in  faith  and  a  eood  conscience 
(1  Tim.  i.  18,  19).  Thus  it  is  not—"  I  will 
bear  in  mind,  although  he  is  forgiven,  that  he 
has  been  a  persecutor  ! "  but — "  J\Iy  grace  will 
60  convert  and  change  him  into  an  elect  bearer 
of  my  name,  that  he  shall  himself  be  steadfastly 
and  zealously  faithful  as  a  persecuted  sufferer 
for  my  name's  sake."  The  apparent  threaten- 
ing is  itself  the  highest  promise  of  grace:  "  He 
shall,  as  an  elect  instrument,  be  counted  worthy 
of  enduring  great  shame  for  my  sake"  (Matt. 


•  Asaitist  the  unaltered  repnblicalion  of  this,  for 
our  limes,  I  thirty  years  asjo  protested — becau.se 
iioL  every  man  knows  how  to  sift  out  the  evil  from 
the  {rood.  It  is  now.  however,  proposed  to  give 
it  to  the  public,  and  1  wara  the  laity  against  read- 
iog  it  cave-eiibljv 


V.  10-12.  XX.  22;  Acts  r.  41 ;  1  V^i.  iV  ITf. 

In  this  is  included — indeed  the  "  for  "  gives  it 
prominence — the  deep  principle,  applicable  not 
to  Paul  alone,  but  to  all,  that  to  every  vessel 
of  grace,  and  especially  every  witness  of  the 
Gospel,  sufl"ering  is  inevitable,  and  that  the 
measure  of  afHiction  is  in  proportion  to  the  ' 
height  and  dignity  of  the  vocation.  That 
which  was  said  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  the 
germ,  so  to  speak,  of  the  rule  for  all  God's  ways 
with  the  children  of  men,  "He  who  will  learn* 
much  must  sjiffer  much  "  (Eccles.  i.  18  ;  comp. 
Prov.  XV.  33) — atfrains,  now  that  the  great 
forerunner  hath  entered  through  sufTerings  into 
his  glory,  its  highest  confirmation  for  all  who 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  Acts  xiv.  22. 
Thus,  the  great  forerunner  speaks  here  of  this, 
of  the  grace  of  sanctifying,  confirming,  and  pre- 
serving affliction  for  his  saints  ;  and  applies  a 
general  truth  especially  to  this  specially  elect 
servant.  "  /  will  show  him,  that  is,  give  him 
to  experience  " — so  speaks  he  who  has  not  only 
suffered  himself,  but  is  ever  suffering  in  his 
members.  The  first  experience  of  its  truth 
Saul  had,  according  to  vers.  23-25,  in  Damascus ; 
hence  in  2  Cor.  xi.  he  mentions  i\\\i  first  suffer- 
ing for  the  sake  of  Christ. 

But  the  Lord's  last  word  had  io  Ananias  a 
tone  of  dismissal — "  Do  thou  thy  part,  execute 
thy  commission  ;  7  will  provide  for  all  the  rest 
of  his  career!"  and  Ananias  went  his  way — 
so  we  read  in  chap.  ix. ;  in  chap.  xxii.  more  is 
added  which  was  said  to  him.  He  not  only 
laid  his  hands  upon  "brother  Saul,"  that  h& 
might  see  again ;  but  that  he  might  be  filled 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  exhorted  hira  to  be  bap- 
tized, and  baptized  him.  Concerning  suffer- 
ings appointed  to  him  he  says  nothing;  con- 
cerning his  call  to  be  a  witness  of  the  Lord  he? 
utters  a  very  general  expression  ;  but  nothing 
concerning  his  pre-eminent  dignity  and  honor 
as  an  elected  vessel.  But  when  he  goes  on — 
Jesus,  who  ajijyeared  to  thee  in  the  way,  hath 
sent  me — and  speaks  of  the  ordained  seeing 
of  the  Just  One,  and  hearing  the  words  of  hi» 
mouth — we  ask  whence  he  came  to  know  this. 
The  Lord  had  not,  according  to  Luke's  detail- 
ed account,  declared  it  to  him  ;  or,  did  tha 
Lord  actually  say  more  than  we  have  in  that 
narrative?  In  such  matters  every  man  is  fre» 
to  hold  his  own  opinion.  For  our  own  part, 
we  cannot  consent  to  adtl  any  thing  unwritten 
to  the  measured  and  rounded  words  of  our 
Lord  from  heaven,  as  we  find  them  here  re- 
corded ;  certainly  not,  which  would  be  most 
strange,  that  Jesus  himself  spoke  at  length 
concerning  his  appearance  to  Saivl.  Thus,  if 
Luke  records  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  yet  re- 
lates what  we  further  read  concerning  Ananias, 
the  thoughtful  reader  must  find  another  answer 
to  the  question,  which  is  not  a  vaia  and  over- 
curious  one.  Whence  did  Ananias  know  of 
the  Lord's  appearance  to  Saul  in  the  way? 
The  attendants,  certainly,  could  only  give  their 
indefinite  impression  of  the  whole  event,  anti 


*  Nel  teach,  as  wo  fijad  in  Luther,.  L'hrem. 


ACTS  XXII.  17-21. 


875 


Baul  bad  not,  during  the  three  days  given  them 
any  further  information ;  moreover,  Ananias, 
who  straightway  obeyed,  and  went  to  the 
house  of  Saul,  previously  unknown  to  him, 
had  nothing  to  do  with  them.  We  simply 
explain  the  matter  thus.  After  the  words  of 
the  Lord,  Ananias  knew  sufficiently  well  this, 
that  he  should  go  to  Saul,  whom  the  Lord  had 
in  some  wonderful  way  humbled  and  changed, 
that  he  should  heal  him  and  establish  him. 
What  he  should  say  in  connection  with  the  im- 
position of  hands,  which  could  not  be  meant 
as  a  mere  ceremonial  gesture,  is  left  to  himself, 
that  he  may  with  wisdom  gather  it  from  what 
was  disclosed  to  him — as  he  accordingly  did. 
But  not  only  so ;  when  the  Holy  Ghost  taught 
him  to  understand  and  to  say  that  Saul,  re- 
stored to  sight,  should  be  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  himself,  whose  hand  and  word  and 
baptism  imparted  that  great  gift,  was  at  the 
same  time  filed  loith  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  Luke 
often  records  of  the  Apostles  and  all  believers 
(Acts  iv.  8-31.  vi.  3-5,  vii.  55,  xi.  24,  xiii.  9, 
62).  Thus,  the  solution  of  the  difficulty  is 
this,  that  to  Ananias — possibly  on  the  way  to 


Saul,  more  probably  at  the  moment  when  he 
begins  to  speak — the  Spirit  imparts  all  that  he 
now  proceeds  to  say.  (Just  so  Elizabeth  greet- 
ed the  mother  of  our  Lord  with  a  sudden  reve- 
lation— except  that  Ananias  was  more  fully 
prepared.)  Here  we  have  at  the  same  time, 
in  the  complement  of  the  Lord's  first  words 
from  heaven,  the  significant  and  instructive 
lesson — that  it  is  his  will  to  leave  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  his  disciples  the  completing  of  his 
immediate  word  :  both  go  together  in  harmony 
from  the  very  beginning. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
Ananias  gave  Saul  no  further  instniction,  or  (as 
Olshausen  expressed  himself)  "  teaching  as  to 
the  way  of  eternal  life."  Of  this  we  read  noth- 
ing in  these  two  chapters;  on  the  contrary, 
we  are  more  than  once  given  to  understand 
that  Paul,  as  he  was  not  called  of  men,  so  also 
was  not  instructed  of  men,  but  through  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  reserved  for  his 
own  teaching  more  than  the  mere  showing  of 
his  sufferings.  This  carries  us  on  to  those 
further  manifestations  and  directions  which  are 
recorded  subscquentlv  in  this  book. 


TO  SAUL  IN  THE  TEMPLE:  THE  MISSION  TO  THE  GENTILES  ANNOUNCED. 


(Acts  xxii.  17-21.) 


To  avoid  prolixity  we  shall  refrain  from  any 
introductory  discussion  of  the  scene  and  the 
hearers  of  this  speech  of  Paul ;  but  we  entreat 
our  readers  to  strive  to  reproduce  the  whole 
vividly  in  their  imagination.  He  stands  upon 
the  steps  of  the  Castle  Antonia,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Jewish  people,  inflamed  against 
him  on  account  of  his  supposed  desecration 
of  the  temple;  and  testifies  now,  for  the  first 
time,  in  great  publicity,  and  at  Jerusalem,  con- 
cerning Christ.  They  were  reduced  to  silence 
by  a  movement  of  his  hand.  From  ver.  1  to 
16  he  has  narrated  the  manifestation  at  Da- 
mascus, and  Ananias'  declaration  at  his  bap- 
tism ;  he  now  goes  on  to  give,  in  all  simplicity, 
as  it  occurred,  the  narrative  of  a  further  ap- 
pearance of  the  Lord,  which  belongs  properly 
to  this  place. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  I  made  my  per- 
secuting journey  to  Damascus — that  was  his 
sublime  and  simple  word  in  ver.  6.  With  the 
same  word  he  here  makes  a  new  beginning, 
having  something  most  important  to  announce : 
And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  I  came  again  to 
Jerusalem.  Consequently,  this  was  the  Jirst 
return  alter  his  conversion,  as  it  is  recorded  in 
chap.  ix.  26-30.  Further,  this  return  took 
place,  as  we  find  in  Gal.  i.  17,  18,  not  till  after 
a  three  years'  abode  in  Arabia,  the  solitude  of 
which,  probably  having  for  its  object  the  calm 
preparation  of  the  Apostle  for  his  work,*  is  con- 


*  We  cannot  (with  Wieseler)  consent  to   say, 


cealed  as  a  mystery.  Thus  much  is  certain 
from  Scripture  ;  Luke,  chap,  ix.,  passes  over 
these  three  years,  as  he  often  passes  over  long 
intervals,  without  a  word.  Whether  this  is  to 
be  interpolated  after  ver.  25  in  his  history,  or 
before  that,  between  vers.  22  and  23,  as  toe 
think,*  is  of  comparatively  little  moment. 
Wieseler  declares  it  to  be  indubitable  that  the 
"  trance  "  mentioned  by  Paul,  2  Cor.  xii.  2-4, 
is  the  same  which  is  recorded  in  Acts  xxii. 
17 ;  but  this  we  cannot  by  any  means  allow. 
The  chronological  reckoning  is  not  decisive  in 
his  favor;  for  the  vision  and  revelation  of  the 
Lord,  2  Cor.  xii.  1,  were  certainly  not  so  un- 
frequent  as  to  oblige  us  to  investigate  the  time 
of  each.  If  the  Apostle  here  singles  out  one 
of  them  only,  which  occurred  to  him  fourteen 
years  before,  the  reason  lay  in  the  high  and 
heavenly  matter  of  that  revelation,  as  in  ver. 
7  he  speaks  of  its  abundance,  its  super-abun- 
dance. The  unspeakable  words  heard  in  the 
third  heaven  and  paradise  scarcely  harmonize 
with  the  simple  matter  and  calm  procedure  of 


without  qualification — "  Ke  preached  three  years  in 
Arabia." 

*  For  this  may  the  ijinspat  ixavai  be  under- 
stood— the  complete  time  (that  is,  a  considerable 
period  past).  The  narrative  is  thus  distributed, 
from  ver.  23 — at  the  beginning  the  Jews  would 
kill  him  in  Damascus  ;  at  the  end,  even  the  Greeks 
(Hellenists),  in  Jeiusalem  :  in  tlie  interim,  ver.  26, 
the  disciples  would  not  acknowledge  him. 


876 


THE  MISSION  TO  THE  GENTILES  ANNOUNCED. 


the  conversation  wif.li  the  Lord  in  the  temple, 
which  he  relates  to  ihe  Jews.  We  cannot  un- 
derstand how  both  could  have  concurred  in  one 
revelation  ;  and  Avould  regard  the  trance  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  as  rather  suit- 
able to  the  sojourn  in  Arabia  (with  which  the 
chronology  may  be  easily  conformed).  Nor, 
after  all,  should  we  assume  that  the  manifes- 
tation recorded  in  Acts  xxii.  was  actually  the 
second  communication  of  the  Lord  to  the 
Apostle  after  his  appearance  at  Damascus : 
the  contrary  is  far  more  probable.  Suffice  it 
that  to  know  the  time  and  order  is  no  more 
necessary  here  than  it  is  in  relation  to  the 
Lord's  words  generally,  and  to  the  appear- 
ances of  the  Risen  Lord  in  particular. 

Trance  is  certainly  more  indirect  than  bod- 
ily appearance.  Near  Damascus  Saul  was 
not  entranced ;  although  for  such  seeing  and 
bearing  as  that,  it  was  necessary  that  a  sus- 
ceptibility of  hearing  and  seeing;,  different  from 
his  ordinary  condition,  should  be  excited.  The 
stages  and  distinctions,  however  real  they  rnay 
be,  nevertheless  shade  off  into  each  other. 
Thus,  the  trance  may,  under  some  circum- 
stances, as  we  have  just  seen  in  the  Corinthians, 
go  far  beyond  other  visions  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  only  the  medium  (as 
with  Peter,  Acts  xi.  5)  for  the  witnessing  of  a 
vision.  So  was  it  with  Paul,  who  while  pray- 
ing was  entranced,  literally,  fell  into  a  trance  ; 
comp.  Acts  X.  9,  the  praying  of  Peter.  But 
that  he  was  in  the  body,  and  not  out  of  the 
body,  he  here  knows  full  well ;  for  he  was 
bodily  present  in  ihe  ^<;?n;^fc— probably  at  the 
customary  hour  of  prayer,  like  Peter  and  John, 
chap.  iii.  L  For,  as  long  as  the  desolate  tem- 
ple, left  over  to  destruction,  stood  yet  under 
the  patience  of  the  Lord,  so  long  was  it  honor- 
ed even  by  the  Jewish  Christians.  Paul/>rays 
in  the  temple,  not  indeed  with  the  prejudiced 
mind  of  those  thousands  of  believers  spoken  of 
in  chap.  xxi.  20  as  so  zealous  for  the  law,  but 
yet  with  the  true  love  of  devotion  to  his  peo- 
ple and  their  sanctuary  :  he  prays,  who  had 
only  in  Damascus  learned  to  pray  aright.  He 
had  certainly  long  ago  come  to  understand 
Stephen's  doctrine,  how  much  or  how  little  the 
holy  place  was  to  be  regarded — yet  he  can  here, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people,  relate  with  sin- 
«;erity  that  he  had  prayed  in  the  temple. 

"  That  I  was  in  a  trance,  and  saw  Jiim." 
Thus,  still  more,  the  Lord  himself  counis  the 
temple  worthy  to  be  the  scene  of  a  revelation 
to  his  servant — though,  indeed,  only  to  com- 
mand him,  Get  thee  out!  "  I  saw  him" — thus 
does  the  Apostle  express  himself,  only  in  ver. 
8  throughout  the  narrative  mentioning  "  Jesus 
of  Nazareth "  as  the  name  spoken  by  the 
Lord  himself:  in  all  the  rest  it  is  the  Lord,  the 
Just  One,  the  great  he,  whose  unacknowledged 
dignity  and  unrendered  honor  are  here  con- 
cerned. "And  saw  him  saying  \tnto  me" — in 
which  arrangement  of  the  words  is  expressed 
the  near  and  continuous  seeing;  not  as  at 
Damascus,  where  there  was  a  sudden  momen- 
tary beholding,  before  the  hearing  of  the  voice. 


Make  haute,  and  get  thee  quicJcly  out  of  JerU' 
salem  ;  for  they  tviU  not  receive  thy  testimony 
concerning  me.  This  word,  now  re])or(ed, 
would  ve.K  and  offend  the  unbelieving  multi- 
tude ;  but  scarcely  less  strange,  though  for  a 
different  reason,  did  it  sound  to  the  Apostle 
and  witness  himself,  when  he  heard  it  first. 
He  had  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  the  firm 
persuasion  that  of  course  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem 
would  be  among  the  men  to  whom  he  should 
be  a  witness  for  the  Lord  :  he  burns  with  de- 
sire to  bear  his  mighty  tcitr.ess  in  this  place. 
The  Lord  takes  it  for  granted  that  he  felt  it  to 
be  the  strong  impulse  of  his  soul — provided 
there  was  no  counter-command — at  once  to 
preach  in  Jerusalem,  as  he  had  done  in  Damas- 
cus, Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God ;  he  assumes  no 
other  remaining  in  Jerusalem  than  that  which 
had  a  testimony  concerning  himself  for  its  ob- 
ject. Wherever  this  may  be,  and  before  whom- 
soever he  may  stand,  there  he  does  bear  hia 
Master's  name,  as  Jesus  had  said  at  the  first. 
But  he  now  utters  a  counter-command.  He 
enjoins  upon  him  to  cease,  and  restrain  the 
preaching  which  had  already  boldly  com- 
menced. Acts  ix.  21,  27-29.  He  even  com- 
mands him — and  most  expressly  with  two- 
fold injunction — to  go  quickly,  not  onlv  from 
the  temple,  but  from  the  city  itself.  Where- 
fore, then,  so  quickly?  Is  there  danger  in 
delay  ?  There  was  danger,  and  this  is  the  un- 
expressed undertone  of  this  remarkable  utter- 
ance, the  Lord  will  save  him  from  the  people, 
as  it  runs  afterwards,  chap.  xxvi.  17.  The 
foreign,  Greek-speaking  Jews,  had  already  laid 
plots  for  the  life  of  the  bold  preacher  of  the  name 
of  Jesus  (chap.  ix.  29) — what,  then,  might  be 
expected  from  the  rigorously  orthodox,  fanatical 
Hebrews?  The  open  insurrection  which  had 
been  excited  (now  as  afterwards  in  the  council, 
chap,  xxiii.  10)  had,  on  this  his  almost  disobe- 
dient return,  showed  that.  But  all  this  the 
Lord  does  not  say  to  Paul :  because  he  held 
not  his  life  dear  if  he  could  only  finish  his 
course  with  joy,  and  testify  the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God  (chap.  xx.  24).  The  reason  of 
this  interdict  upon  his  earnest  zeal,  which  the 
Lord's  majesty  condescends  to  assign,  is  most 
decidedly  this  only:  Because  they  would  not 
receive  the  testimony,  that  is,  would  not  be- 
lieve it,  therefore  the  life  of  his  valued  servant, 
destined  to  the  benefit  of  many,  should  not  bo 
uselessly  sacrificed.  Thus  the  Lord  speaks, 
v,'ho  knows  all  things  beforehand,  the  faith  or 
the  unbelief  of  all  men  ;  by  this  he  further  as- 
sures us  that  he  reserves  or  takes  away  the 
testimony  from  no  man  who  will  yet  receive 
it,  but  rather  sends  back  again  for  their  con- 
viction, if  it  may  be,  the  testimony  to  those 
who  have  not  believed  it — as  now  bv  Paul 
coming  once  more  to  Jerusalem,  "Not  re- 
ceive"— spoken  gently  and  mildly,  instead  of 
"cast  it  from  them  and  blaspheme"  (chap, 
xiii.  45,  46).  For,  if  it  may  be  permitted  thui 
to  speak  of  him  who  sitteth  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  he  here  utters  with  sorrowful  tender- 
ness, and  not  ia  threatening  .wrath,  the  aad 


ACTS  XXII.  17-21. 


877 


confirmation  of  what  he  had  prophesied  upon 
earth  in  the  anger  of  his  love,  Malt,  xxiii.  32, 
etc.,  concerning  the  unbelief  of  this  people  and 
generation.  He  anticipates  the  foreseen  objec- 
tion in  the  heart  of  Paul :  Even  thy  testimony 
(emphatically  first  in  the  original)  will  not 
suffice,  though  it  be  irresistible  for  conviction  ; 
because  that  testimony  is  concernirig  me — yea, 
concerning  me,  upon  whom  the  decree  once 
was,  Away  with  him  1  We  will  not  have  this 
man  to  rule  over  us. 

In  spite  of  this  plain  and  express  word,  the 
Apostle  cannot  refrain  from  uttering  his  objec- 
tion— "  But  my  testimony,  O  Lord,  will  not 
that  be  received  by  them  ?  "  He  speaks  confi- 
dently, like  Ananias,  with  his  Master  ;  and  in- 
deed with  still  more  confidence  than  Ananias, 
in  harmony  with  the  position  which  he  had 
now  by  grace  assumed.  He  has  also,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  more  reason  and  propriety  in  his 
counter-appeal ;  for  certainly  he  might  think 
and  hope  that,  humanly  speaking,  his  most 
strong  and  self-evidencing  testimony — less  in 
persuasive  words,  than  in  the  express  fact  of 
his  so  wonderfully  changed  personal  character 
— must  exert  some  influence,  and  win  some 
good  results.  This  is  reinforced  by  the  impulse 
of  his  burning  love  to  blinded  Israel,  his 
brethren  according  to  the  flesh  who  were  rush- 
ing to  destruction,  the  people  of  God's  election 
— this  is  most  afTectinojly  attested  by  the 
narrative  throughout,  which  seems  to  avow, 
against  all  accusation — "  Not  through  enmity 
against  my  people,  or  apostacy  from  them,  have 
I  become  what  I  now  am  in  opposition  to  my 
former  self."  Paul  would  have  desired  nothing 
better  than  to  remain,  or  to  become,  a  mission- 
ary to  the  Jews.  He  cannot  altogether  recon- 
cile himself  to  the  Lord's  word — Get  thee  out ! 
As  many  new  converts  who  have  been  quickly 
and  marvellously  brought  in — however  other- 
"wisenot  to  be  compared  with  Paul — think  they 
will  carry  on  a  more  vigorous  and  successful 
war  upon  the  world  than  others,  so  Paul,  whose 
soul  might  well  be  filled  with  the  conviction — 
"  If  I  go  forth  preaching  Jesus,  it  will  be  with 
more  demonstrative  power  than  all  the  words 
and  acts  of  Peter  or  John,  and  all  the  other 
Apostles.  All  know  what  I  was,  what  I  did — 
should  they  not  believe  when  I,  the  same  man, 
preach  concerning  thee,  and  declare  thy  power 
in  my  conversion  ?  "  He  refers  to  his  own  ap- 
probation v/hen  the  blood  of  Stephen  was  shed, 
and  even  to  his  actual  participation  in  that 
act,*  in  order  to  declare  that  he  was  ready  for 
the  same  destiny — even  as  in  the  second  jour- 
ney, the  present  one,  he  had  remained  firm, 
notwithstanding  all  prophecy  of  bonds  and  im- 
prisonment (chap.  xix.  21 ;  xx.  23,  24  ;  xxi.  4, 
11-13).  Thy  witness — as  if  to  say,  "  May  I  not 
then  also  lay  down  my  testimony,  even  though 


*  The  keeping  of  the  garments — not  to  preserve 
them  from  theft ! — was  something  official  on  the 
part  of  the  youna  man  ;  who,  however,  according 
to  chap.  xxvi.-lO,  had  given  his  voice  against 
Stephen  ia  the  council. 


it  were  in  death ;  may  I  not  also  be  counted 
worthy  of  the  martyr's  crown  ?*  Would  not 
my  blood  similarily,  and  still  more,  be  followed 
by  a  new  blessing  and  increase  of  faith  in  the 
word  of  thy  testimony  ?  "  All  this  was  good 
and  pleasing  to  the  Lord,  who  therefore  let  his 
servant  give  vent  to  his  feeling  ;  but  it  showed 
that  Paul  did  not  know,  as  his  Master  did,  the 
depth  of  the  apostacy  of  the  world,  the  utter 
blindness  of  unbelieving  Israel.  And  it  is, 
further,  proof  of  the  lesser  guilt  of  his  own 
earlier  unbelief,  since  he  has  no  experience  of 
the  hardened  perserveness  of  the  rebellious 
will ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  as  was  said  be- 
fore, there  is  something  of  evil  self  which  op- 
poses the  Lord  in  these  words.  For,  he  has  in 
some  degree  departed  from  that  first  question 
of  unconditional  obedience — "Lord,  what  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  and  seems  to  question 
his  Lord  touching  his  appointments;  he  has 
his  own  thoughts  as  to  the  special  importance 
of  his  own  converted  ferson  in  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

In  this,  again,  he  is  right,  only  not  as  he 
thinks  with  respect  to  Israel;  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  greater,  and  shall  extend  much  wider 
and  further.  Depart :  for  I  will  send  thee  far 
hence  unto  the  Gentiles.  As  in  the  case  of  An- 
anias, the  Lord  refers  him,  too,  bade  to  his 
first  commandment,  Depart!  and,  as  then, 
gives  another  for,  with  a  new  reason  and  more 
conclusive  explanation  of  what  he  does.  Not 
merely.  The  Jews  will  not  believe,  but,  as  it  is 
hinted.  Others  toiU  believe,  and  thou  art  re- 
served and  appointed  to  testify  to  them.  The 
Lord's  /answers  (he  (similarly  prominent  in 
the  original)  /which  his  servant  had  laid  stress 
upon.  Whither  the  Lord  would  send  (literally 
more  strong — would  send  out,  send  away), 
thither  must  his  servant  go,  without  demur; 
even  though  it  he  far  hence,  to  those  among  the 
Gentiles,  who  with  their  whole  heart  hung 
upon  Israel.  This  is  probably  the  first  plain 
announcement,  though  preliminarily  and  point- 
ing to  the  future,  of  his  vocation  as  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  :  "  I  will  to,  or  will,  send  thee." 
In  this  calm  manifestation  Paul  was  already, 
before  he  was  separated  by  the  prophets  in 
Antioch,  called  to  his  labors  among  the  Gen- 
tiles :  hence  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  chap.  xiii.  2 
— "  To  which  I  have  already  called  them " 
(Barnabas  also).  Yet  not  before  Peter  had 
preached  to  Cornelius  (of  which  more  after- 
wards)—so  that  the  transition  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  Gentiles  was  not  here  indicated  to  Paul  as 
something  in  itself  new  and  strange  ;  only  his 
own  specific  vocation.  The  more  full  call  by 
the  appearing  Lord,  which  is  related  in  chap. 
xxvi.  16,  has  no  special  note  of  time  connected 
with  it ;  but  we  place  it,  on  account  of  the 
connection,  without  determining  the  order  ot 
time,  after  the  present  announcement. 


*  ToC  iidprvfjoi  dov — the  expression  begins 
already  to  pass  over  into  the  latter  meaning  of 
martyr,  ivitnesa  unto  blood,  as  la  Rev.  iii.  13, 


8tr= 


FURTHER  APPEARANCE  TO  SAUL. 


The  Lord  may  indeed  have  spoken  more 
than  this ;  for  at  the  word  concerning  the 
Oenlilea,  Paul  was  interrupted.  But  it  does 
not  to  us  seem  probable  that  the  Lord's  words 
communicated  in  chap.  xxvi.  followed  here  im- 
mediately :  tliere  are  reasons  against  it  which 
will  be  considered  in  the  proper  place.  Thus 
we  may  suppose  that  he  by  degrees  prepared 
Paul  for  the  full  announcement  of  his  vocation. 
Rightly  understood,  we  adopt  Von  Gerlach's 
note,  that  this  was  "  his  proper  vocation  as  an 
Apostle"  by  the  Lord  himself,  after  the  prelim- 
inary declaration  given  by  Ananias  ;  but  not 
yet  his  actual  and  formal  institution  to  the 
Apostleship  of  the  Gentiles.  Paul,  in  that  first 
sojourn  in  Jerusalem,  had  consorted  only  with 
the  Hellenists,  or  foreign  Jews  (chap.  ix.  29). 
When  they  went  about  to  slay  him,  he  obe- 
diently declined  the  death  of  martyrdom,  and 


(after  tarrying  there  fourteen  days,  Gal.  i.  18) 
was  brought  by  the  brethren  down  to  Csesarea 
to  Tarsus,  his  paternal  home  (as  we  read  in 
chap.  ix).  But,  after  he  had  accomplished 
much  in  the  Gentile  mission,  he  purposes  in 
spirit  to  go  once  more  up  to  Jerusalem,  from 
which  indeed  the  Lord  had  sent  him  away  ; 
and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  accept  this  act  of 
seeming  disobedience  (Paul  does  not  forget  his 
special  call ;  he  does  not  purpose  to  remain  in 
Jerusalem) — for  he  acknowledges  in  chap,  xxiii. 
11,  as  it  were  with  approbation,  even  thifi  testi- 
mony. But  he  orders  the  matter  so,  that  he 
who  stood  as  a  witness  before  the  council,  and 
before  the  king,  and  the  governor,  should  be 
carried  to  Rome  as  a  prisoner — to  proclaim, 
before  the  supreme  power  of  this  world,  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  is  not  of  this  world. 


FURTHER  APPEARANCE  TO  SAUL :  TO  WHOM  I  SEND  THEE. 
Acts  xxvi.  16-18. 


"  Rise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet!"  Thus,  in 
these  more  emphatic  and  literally  recorded 
words,  did  the  Lord  speak  near  Damascus. 
But  it  is  certain  and  self-evident  that  he  could 
not  have  spoken  then  what  Paul  here  adds  be- 
fore Agrippa  ;  for,  that  twice-related,  definitive 
mandate,  "  It  shall  be  told  thee  in  the  city," 
does  not  harmonize  with  so  early  an  explana- 
tion and  mission.  Consequently,  we  must  as- 
sume that  the  Apostle  here  sums  up  com- 
pendiously what  was  said  at  a  later  time  ;  and 
connects  it  all  very  appropriately  with  the  ac- 
count of  his  destination — expressed  in  the 
simple  stand  vpoii  thy  feet! — to  a  n^w  service 
of  activity  in  the  work  of  Jesus.  Thus  it  ap- 
pears as  if  one  word — "  For  therefore  have  I 
appeared  unto  thee,  that  thou  mayest  stand 
before  me,  as  my  servant  and  witness,  through 
my  help  and  salvation  "  (comp.  ver.  22).  If, 
after  three  years,  the  Lord  himself  in  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  announced  as  something 
new — "  I  will  send  thee  among  the  Gentiles" 
— yet  what  we  read  here  in  chap.  xxvi.  was  not 
spoken  till  afterwards. 

Or,  was  it  not  spoken  by  the  Lord  at  all  ? 
Most  expositors,  oven  among  the  orthodox,* 
have  come  to  regard  it  as  quite  probable  that 
Paul  set  down  as  the  Lord's  word  what  had 
been  said  to  him  by  Ananias,  and  afterwards 
had  been  revealed  to  his  own  spirit.  Against 
this  we  protested  in  our  Jicden  lUr  Ajmtel 
Alford  replies  that  he  does  not  see  the  neces- 
sity of  regarding  all  these  words  as  hav- 
ing  been   once  spoken   by  the  Lord ;  but  to 


♦  Baumsarten  included,  whose  general  fi  lei  it  y 
to  the  miraculous  revelations  scarcely  prepared  us 
to  expect  this  from  him. 


us  it  is  not  merely  matter  of  seeing  or  insiglit, 
but  of  still  more  decisive  feeling.  It  is  lament- 
able that  orthodox  expositors  do  not  more  cor- 
rectly feel,  in  cases  where  the  feeling  should 
decide.  We  cannot  agree  with  Baumgarten 
that  "  on  every  view,  it  is  of  no  moment  which 
way  we  decide;"  we  think  that  it  may  here 
be  decided  with  confidence  that,  though  the 
words  "  were  not  spoken  by  the  Lord  in  im- 
mediate sequence,"  yet  that  they  were  not 
"  communicated  by  him  to  Paul  at  a  later 
period  through  Ananias."  It  is  true  that  the 
weight  of  the  matter  does  not  rest  upon  the 
exact  order  of  time  or  literality  of  the  words; 
but,  in  the  case  of  this  narrative,  and  the  very 
important  words  of  the  Lord  to  his  servant, 
the  difference  between  immediate  and  indirect 
speaking  is  of  much  moment :  even  as  Paul 
elsewhere,  and  on  other  occasions,  makes  this 
distinction  prominent.  Would  he  forget  that 
distinction  liere?  JIe?e,  when  the  Apostle 
makes  the  Lord  speak  of  his  havmg  appeared, 
and  having  appeared  again,  has  he  only  placed 
the  words  in  the  Lord's  lips?  in  order  after- 
wards, in  ver.  19,  to  include  it  in  the  "  heavenly 
vision."  One  appearance  converted  the  Apostle 
to  the  faith,  another  appointed  him  to  be  a 
witness,  and  these  are  embraced  in  one — such 
a  combination  alone  is  permissible — only  one 
heavenly  appearance  of  the  Living  One,  to  which 
he  was  now  not  disobedient.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Apostle  would  never  have  permitted 
himself  to  unite  together  in  one,  as  spoken  by 
the  Lord  at  his  appearance,  words  which  were 
indirectly  communicated  to  him  :  he  could  not 
have  done  this,  either  in  the  first  testimony 
which  he  bore  before  the  Jewish  pf^ople,  ol 
here  where  be  stands  before  the  Genlilea,  and 


ACTS  XXVI.  16-18. 


879 


(as  Bauragarten  remarks)  has  "  the  exhibition 
of  the  wide  significance  of  the  Gentile  Aposto- 
late  for  his  object." 

Let  us,  however,  come  nearer  to  the  matter 
in  hand.  If  these  words  were  not  spoken  on 
his  first  appearance  by  the  Lord,  but  at  some 
later  one,  are  they  to  be  inserted  after  what 
is  related  in  chap.  xxii.  17-21,  where  the  con- 
tinuation was  interrupted?  This,  for  evident 
reasons,  cannot  be  assumed.  First,  the  pro- 
mised sending  to  the  Gentiles  is  uttered  there 
in  an  entirely  different,  but  internally  neces- 
sary and  significant,  connection  :  there  is  no 
harmony  between  "  I  will  send  thee"  first,  and 
then  immediately,  "I  now  send  thee."  Then 
it  was  indeed  said,  chap,  xxii.,  to  the  Apostle 
— "  In  Jerusalem  they  will  not  receive  thy  tes- 
timony ;"  but  it  was  only  hinted,  not  directly 
spoken,  that  that  testimony  would  be  effectual 
among  the  Gentiles.  Here,  on  the  contrary, 
he  receives  a  great  promise  for  the  power  of  the 
word  with  which  he  is  sent  forth,  as  he  in  chap. 
XX.  32,  e.  g.,  holds  it  fast  and  repeats  it.  Con- 
sequently, the  distinction  is  evident  between — 
"I  will  it,  I  will  send  thee,"  in  the  former 
case,  and — "  I  send  thee  now,"  in  the  latter.* 
As  to  this  assertion,  that  chap.  xxvi.  records 
an  appearance  subsequent  to  that  of  chap, 
xxii.,  we  said,  in  a  former  work,  *'  Not  much 
depends  upon  it,  and  it  may  be  left  to  others 
to  decide."  But  now  we  think  differently ; 
and  to  our  more  comprehensive  view,  after 
twenty-eight  years,  what  we  have  now  insisted 
upon  places  the  gradual  disclosure  of  the  Apos- 
tle's great  calling  in  its  clearest  and  most  im- 
pressive light. 

The  immediateness  of  these  word.s — as  spo- 
ken by  our  Lord  himself — is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance as  respects  the  instruction  for  Paul's 
office,  and  the  plan  of  salvation,  which  are 
contained  in  ver.  IS.  Even  if  the  Apostle  had 
learned  this  through  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
school  of  Christ,  it  would  still  have  been  truth 
derived  from  the  Lord.  But  it  would  not  have 
been  lawful  for  him  to  say — Thus  spake  the 
Lord  to  me.  No  Apostle  ever  permitted  him- 
self to  do  that;  least  of  all  the  Apostle  \v!io 
several  times,  with  conscientious  rigor,  disiKi- 
guishes  between  what  he  said  himself  (having 
the  Spirit  of  God),  and  what  the  Lord  had  said 
to  him — the  Apostle  who,  at  Miletus,  appends 
to  his  long  discourse,  which  bad  contained  pro- 
phecy, the  single  saying  of  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  which  he  had  spoken  in  his  humilia- 
tion upon  earth,  giving  it  reverent  distinction 
from  his  own  words  as  their  solemn  close  (chap. 
XX.  35).  Let  it  be  as  it  may  with  respect  to 
that  appearance,  which  he  here  before  Aprippa 
combines  with  the  first — we  have  from  the  lips 
of  the  Lord  himself,  given  from  heaven,  one 
of  the  most  fundamental,  profound,  and  impor- 
tant summaries  of  instruction  for  the  Aposto- 
late  and  ministerial  office  generally. 


For  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  pur- 
pose, to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness 
both  of  those  things  tvhich  thou  hast  seen,  and 
of  those  things  in  the  which  I  tvill  {yet)  appear 
unto  thee.  Here  the  Lord  himself  combines  in 
one  his  previous  and  future  manifestations; 
with  reference  to  their  sole  object,  the  appoint- 
ment and  destination  of  Paul  to  be  a  witness. 
As  to  this,  all  the  various  visions  and  revela- 
tions of  the  Lord,  of  which  Paul  was  counted 
worthy,  are  condensed  into  the  one  revelation 
of  the  Son,  whom  he  should  preach  (Gal.  i.  12, 
16).  As  the  Apostle  writing  to  the  Galatiana 
thus  appeals  to  it  as  one,  so  here  he  only  fol- 
lows the  Lord  himself  when  he  speaks,  in  tha 
spirit  of  his  words,  of  one  heavenly  appear- 
ance. "To  appoint  thee" — here  we  have,  so 
to  speak,  the  proper  ordination,  mission,  insti- 
tution, and  appointment  of  him  who  was  called 
and  prepared.*  Here  it  is  definitely  settled 
who  was  the  twelfth  Apostle — as  chosen  by 
him  wh«  alone  had  the  right  and  authority — 
Matthias  or  Paul.  But  the  apostolical  office,  as 
the  highest  rank — here  exactly  defined,  as  be- 
fore by  Ananias  it  was  preparatorily  prophesied 
of — embraces  in  itself  all  the  degrees  of  the  other 
offices  ;  hence  this  super-episcopal  ordination 
formulary,  with  profound  typical  meaning, 
names  the  three  essential  degrees  of  the  ruling 
office  in  the  Church.  Minister  is  the  first  and 
most  general;  the  Apostles  so  term  them- 
selves ;  and  yet  the  lowest  office  is  a  servant, 
a  deaconship.f  Minister  and  witness — a  more 
definite  and  higher  term,  referring  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  word,  but  passing  here  over  into 
the  more  restricted  idea  of  eye-witnesship.J 
Finally,  the  "witness  of  that  which  he  had 
seen  "  points  in  this  place  definitely  to  the  office 
of  the  Apostle,  as  such.  This  first  having  seen 
refers,  in  the  case  of  Paul,  chiefly,  though  not 
exclusively,  to  the  first  great  appearance  ;  but 
it  IS  then  declared  that  he  will  continue  to  see 
the  Lord  thus  appearing,  and  by  his  appear- 
ance communicating  further  revelations.  The 
Lord  will  make  himself  visible;  for  it  is  said, 
in  the  same  word  which  was  used  before — ap- 
pear to  thee,  be  seen  of  thee.§  On  the  other 
hand,  an  unusual  construction  follows:  "  T/te 
things  which  thou  hast  seen — the  things  which, 
or  lor  which,  in  relation  to  which,  I  will  ap- 


*  The  reading  vvv  thus  receives  a  new  arwu- 
ment  in  its  fever :  the  criticism  of  MS3.  often 
thus  finds  iti  support  in  sound  exposition. 


♦  npoxsipi<}o:6Qat,  as  chap.  xxii.  14;  on  the 
other  haLd,  chap.  iii.  20  (where  it  is  the  right 
reading),  it  has  still  its  original  etymological 
meaning. 

\  Here,  however,  in  the  original,  vi(rifiirri<i,  not 
biaKovui:  this  latter  was  originally  Hie  less  of 
the  two,  equivalent  to  a  "  waller."  Comp.  Acts 
xlii.  5,  but  also  1  Cor.  iv.  1. 

X  So  in  Lnke  1.  2  we  have  together  avvoitTai 
Hal  vnrjpstai  tov  Xuyov. 

^  On  account  of  this  very  repetition,  we  must 
reject  the  causative  meaning  of  oq)0//&ojuai, 
which  though  Winer  half  approves  it,  is  slrango 
and  most  que.^tionable  in  itself.  So  S:olz  trans- 
lates— "  Make  known." 


FURTHER  APPEARANCE  TO  SAUL. 


pear  to  thee,  revealing  them  to  thee  myself."* 
Thus,  there  is  a  further  advancement  alter  the 
three  stages  already  remarked  upon  :  Paul  is 
appointed"  not  only  to  be  an  Apostle,  but  to  be 
an  Apostle  distinguished  by  successive  contin- 
uous appearances  of  the  Lord ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  remaining  Apostles  testified 
only  the  things  which  they  had  seen  up  to  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  ascension  (chap.  i.  22).  He 
is  specifically  the  eye-witness  (in  which  the 
hearing  is  included)  of  the  glory  of  Jesus  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  Peter,  the  first  of  the  Apostles, 
was  only  a  witness  of  the  suflerings  of  Christ, 
a.nd  partaker  oi  the  glory  which  should  after- 
wards be  revealed  (1  Pet.  v.  1). 

If  we  may  apply  this  extraordinary  sym- 
bolical procedure  to  the  usual  ordination  of 
every  one  who  ministers  with  the  testimony  of 
what  the  Lord  has  shown  him — every  ordina- 
tion not  only  binds  a  man  to  faithful  ministry 
according  to  his  pre.sent  knowledge,  but  in- 
cludes the  promise  of  future  knowledge.  There 
is  the  encouraging  promise  of  an  internal  help 
against  dangers  and  darkness,  of  the  Spirit  of 
revelation  who  shall  always  provide  a  new  tes- 
timony. This  leads  us  to  the  further  promise 
of  external  help. 

Delivering  thee  from  the  people  and  from  the 
Gentiles,  unto  ivhom  I  now  send  thee.  Instead 
of  delivering  (according  to  strict  etymology, 
plucking  out)  some  expositors  would  under- 
stand, "Since  I  have  elected,  chosen,  sparated 
thee,  taken  thee  out ;"  but  this  has  decisive 
reasons  against  it.j  It  is  not  that  the  Apostle 
here  paraphrases  and  re-produces  the  word 
concerning  the  "  chosen  vessel"  which  Ananias 
had  told  him  ;  but  the  Lord  speaks  in  evident 
allusion  to  the  many  sufferings  which  av.-aited 
him.  For,  where  saving  is  spoken  of,  there 
must  be  danger  and  need;  which  Paul  well 
understood,  and  therefore  rested  securely,  vcr. 
22,  on  this  heavenly  promise  of  God's  help,  in 
spite  of  all  plots  against  his  life.  Although  in 
bonds  and  tribulation,  he  stands  and  bears  wit- 
ness. The  twelfth  Apostle  also  has,  in  his 
mission  into  the  world,  the  same  assurance  as 
the  others — Behold  I  am  with  you! 

Peojjle  and  Gentiles  (as  Paul  also  repeats,  ver. 
23),  is  a  significant  phrase,  derived  from  the 
Old  Testament,!  which  has  more  in  it  than  if 
the  former  word  was  merely  a  strange  abbre- 
viation for  Cod's  people.  Israel  was  through 
the  election  of  God  a.  people,  with  the  essential 


*  After  the  Vulgate  :  (cle)  quibus  apparebo  tibi 
(porro). 

f  So  Iless,  Ileinrichs,  and  KuinOl.  But  the 
phiaseolojiy  of  the  Acts  is  consistent  throughout 
— chap.  vii.  10,  Si;  xii.  11  ;  xxiii.  27  ;  comp.  Gal. 
i.  4.  The  chooniiig  could  not  follow  ui)on  the  ap- 
pointing ;  and  what  is  the  meaning  of  an  election 
liom  anions  Jews  and  Gentiles  7  Is  it  that  he 
WtS  tlie  elect  ot  Jiumatiity  %  But  Paul  was  chosen 
from  Israel. 

%  In  the  Hebrew  it  is  well  known  that  cy  and 
Q>*i|  correspond. 


I  characteristics  of  a  people  stamped  npon  them 
I  in  a  manner  which  could  not  be  predicated  of 
I  any  heathen  race  in  its  natural  condition. 
Thus  they  were  called  the  people  simply  (al- 
though the  passages  cited  in  proof  by  Baum- 
garten,  Isa.  xl.  7;  xxvi.  11,  are  not  strictly 
appropriate)  ;  the  heathens,  on  the  contrary, 
were  called,  before  their  vocation,  not-peoples, 
Deut  xxxii.  21,  while  Israel  was  the  ancient, 
or  eternal  people,  Isa.  xliv.  7.  As  to  the  irre- 
vocable pre-eminence  and  peculiar  dignity  of 
Israel,  much  has  been  said  which  the  Scripture 
does  not  support:  but  the  fundamental  idea  is 
strictly  a  biblical  element,  the  full  establish- 
ment of  which,  however,  does  not  belong  to 
this  place. 

An  important  question  now  arises,  whether 
the  "amon^' whom  I  send  thee  "must  be  re- 
ferred both  to  the  people  and  to  the  Gentiles, 
or  only  to  the  Gentiles.  I  maintained  the  lat- 
ter with  some  zeal  at  an  earlier  period ;  but 
now  retract.  It  cannot  be  asserted  that  Paul 
was  sent  exclusively  to  the  Gentiles,  and  not  to 
the  Jews  as  a  people.  The  present  more  com- 
prehensive mission  is  quite  consistent  with 
chap.  xxii.  21,  notwithstanding  the  apparent 
contradiction  ;  it  even  brings  the  necessary 
defence  against  a  possible  misconception  of  that 
former  word.  Paul  does  not  stand  before  king 
I  Agrippa  as  exclusively  an  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
j  tiles ;  for  in  ver.  20  he  plainly  says  that,  being 
I  obedient,  he  preached  repentance  both  to  the 
j  Jews  and  to  the  Gentiles:  compare  chap.  xx. 
I  21.  The  Lord's  direction  in  the  temple  did  not 
j  command  him  to  preach  no  more  his  name  to 
any  Jew  (which  would  have  contradicted  chap. 
;  ix.  15),  but  only  sent  him  at  once  away  from 
j  Jerusalem,  from  the  hardened  capital,  in  which 
the  election  of  those  capable  ol  faith  was  al- 
ready complete.  But  in  the  dispersion  among 
the  Gentiles  this  had  yet  to  be  gathered  in. 
Wherever  the  Apostle  went  to  the  Gentiles, 
he  found  the  jxople  among  the  peoples,  the 
first-called,  first-elected  people;  and  turned,  as 
we  always  read,  first  to  the  Je^vs.  The  way  to 
the  Gentiles  led  through  the  synagogue  itself; 
and  again  the  work  of  salvation  among  the 
Gentiles  will  find  its  issue  in  the  conversion  of 
Israel — as  the  order  is  in  chap.  ix.  15.  It  for- 
merly appeared  to  me  that  another  reason 
against  referring  this  sending  to  the  people 
was  to  be  found  in  the  success  promised  in  ver. 
18,  which  might  seem  to  contradict  chap.  xxii. 
18,  and  further,  chap,  xxviii.  25-28.  But, 
when  closely  examined,  all  contradiction  dis- 
appears. There  is  no  direct  promise  in  ver. 
18  of  universal  success  :  even  of  the  Gentiles 
P-om.  X.  16  holds  good  ;  while  some  of  the 
Jews  were  saved,  in  contradistinction  to  whom 
the  unbelievers  are  termed  in  Rom.  iii.  3  only 
some.  The  abiding  election  and  unrevoked 
destination  of  Israel  will  not  allow  us  to  ad- 
mit the  idea  of  an  exclusive  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term  ;  that 
Paul  was  not  intended  to  be  such,  wo  leara 
here  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself,  and  it  i« 
cuufirmed  by  the  whole  life  of  the  Apostle. 


ACTS  XXVI.  16-18. 


881 


The  direct  contrast  which  I  formerly  insisted 
upon — "The  eyes  of  Israel  were  rather  more 
fully  closed,  so  that  they  turned  from  light  to 
darkness,  from  God  to  the  power  of  Satan,  so 
that  they  lost  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  for- 
feited the  inheritance  of  the  saints  from  whom 
they  were  cast  out,  and  all  through  their  un- 
Mief  on  Jesus  " — is  true  only  of  the  great 
mass,  and  even  of  them  true  only  in  part,  true 
of  the  peo]>le  as  such  only  for  a  season,  as 
Rom.  xi.  testifies.  The  immediate  and  obvi- 
ous mission  to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  is  fur- 
ther established  by  the  words  which  precede; 
to  wit,  that  the  delivery  of  the  Apostle  was  to 
be  first  from  the  people,  and  the  Jews  were,  as 
ver.  21  and  all  the  history  shows,  the  most  ve- 
hement persecutors  of  the  Gospel.  If  Paul 
had  not  been  sent  to  the  people,  he  would  not 
have  needed  to  be  delivered  from  them. 

After  observing  once  more  that,  as  the  noiD 
sending  shows,  the  present  appearance  cannot 
be  placed  after  chap,  xiii.,  and  at  furthest  only 
simultaneous  with  it,  confirming  the  call  of 
the  prophetic  Spirit — "  I  myself  give  thee  now 
thy  commission,  with  its  full  authority  and  all 
the  instruction  that  it  needs  " — we  now  turn 
to  the  second  and  more  important  part  of  our 
Lord's  words,  which  contains  their  full  and 
higliest  significance. 

For  what  is  the  Apostle  sent?  What  is  the 
purport,  and  what  the  commission  of  this 
sending — the  task,  duty,  and  power  of  his  office? 
To  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  he  converted 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  poiccr  of 
Satan  unto  God ;  that  they  may  receive  for- 
giveness of  sins,  and  the  inheritance  among 
them  that  are  sanctified  through  faith  that  is 
in  me.  It  is  remarkable,  and  to  be  lamented, 
that  this  verse,  one  of  the  most  important  and 
comprehensive  in  the  Bible,  is  so  seldom  set 
forth  in  its  grand  importance,  so  seldom  de- 
veloped into  all  its  fulness  of  meaning.  We 
have  here,  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  in 
heaven,  the  rule  of  the  pastoral  office,  and 
the  plan  of  salvation.  Instruction  for  the  of- 
fice of  preaching  the  word  generally,  not 
merely  for  Paul's :  the  way  of  salvation  there- 
in for  all  who  are,  through  all  ages,  sanctified 
and  saved  through  faith  in  Jesus.  The  prize 
and  goal  of  the  heavenly  calling  for  all  sin- 
ners upon  earth ;  the  way  to  this  end,  its  be- 
ginning and  continuance — the  stages  of  the 
way  from  first  to  last ;  the  great  work  as  the 
result  of  God's  power,  and  yet  thuough  human 
faith,  being  carried  on  through  the  obedience 
and  in  the  wills  of  the  called — all  this  is  set 
forth  as  in  large  and  most  important  general 
lines.  What  does  God  require  from  us  in  the 
beginning,  when  he  sends  his  preached  word 
by  his  ministers  and  witnesses?  That,  when 
he  opens  our  eyes,  we  be  converted  and  turn. 
What  will  the  grace  of  God  then  confer  upon 
us?  At  the  outset,  and  so  continually,  for- 
giveness of  sins — at  the  glorious  consumma- 
tion, the  heavenly  inheritance,  eternal  life. 
What  is  ever- the  certain  way  from  beginning 
.to  end?     Sanctification  through  the  same  faith 


in  Tiim,  appointed  to  be  our  Saviour,  through 
whom  alone  all  is  accomplished  and  takes  ef- 
fect. We  cannot  abstam  from  giving  the  an- 
alysis, as  it  is  found  in  our  Reden  der  Apostel. 
This  heavenly  designation  to  the  office  of  the 
word  may  thus  be  resolved  : 

I.  The  simple  preliminary  official  commis- 
sion— to  open  their  eyes. 

II.  The  more   detailed  process   which    ex- 
plains that  commission. 

I.  The  end  or  result  which  must  be  faith- 

fully aimed  at. 

1.  The  condition  on  the  side  of  men, 

placed  in  their  own  freedom, 
disclosing  the  ground  of  all,  and 
hinting  at  the  end:  that  they  be 
converted,  that  is,  may  turn, 

A.  With  reference  to  their 

condition  —  from  dark- 
ness to  light. 

B.  With    reference    to    the 

ground  of  that  condi- 
tion— from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God. 

2.  Consequence  and  promise  on  the 

side  of  God,  flowing  from  his 
grace  :  that  they  may  receive — 

A.  What? 

a.  The  first  gift-,  ground 

of  all  that  follows — 
forgiveness  of  sins. 

b.  Final  gift,  goal  of  all 

that  preceded — the 
inheritance. 

B.  lino  ?  The  way  and  con- 

dition of  sanctification, 
carrying  with  it  still 
human  freedom.     For 

II.  The  sole  means  for  the  accomplishment 

of  all  is — Faith  in  me. 
This  general  arrangement  will  exhibit  and 
establish  the  true  meaning  of  the  several 
clauses,  which,  taken  singly  and  isolated,  may 
easily  be  misunderstood.  "The  one  thing  which 
is,  properly  speaking,  committed  to  the  Apos- 
tle, which  he  should  and  would  accomplish,  is 
the  opening  of  the  eyes  by  the  word  of  testi- 
mony. It  was  for  him  certainly  to  labor  with 
all  diligence  for  all  that  should  follow  ;  but 
that  conversion  is  far  from  always  following  to 
which  the  gift  of  God's  grace  is  promised  and 
can  be  given.  Who,  further,  opens  in  reality 
the  eyes  of  the  blind?  Assuredl}',  as  an  in- 
strument, he  who  is  sent  for  that  purpose ; 
else  it  would  not  be  stated  iDhat  that  messen- 
ger should  perform  and  accomplish.  When  it 
was  first  said.  To  this  end  X  send  thee;  it 
means,  I  give  thee  authority  and  power  to  this 
end.  Consequently,  it  is  fundamentally  only 
he,  the  Lord  himself,  given  of  God  to  be  a 
covenant  of  the  people  and  a  light  to  the  Oen- 
tlles,  who  openeth  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and 
delivereth  those  who  are  bound  of  Salan  out 
of  the  prison-house  of  darkness  :  see  Isa.  xlii. 
6,  7,  which  prophetic  passage  Jesus  here  out 
of  heaven  calls  to  mind,  just  as  he  did  the 
connected  passage,  Isa.  Ixi.  1,  2,  in  his  own  first 


^2 


FURTHER  APPEARANCE  TO  SAUL. 


preaching  in  Nazareth,  L\ike  iv.  What  a 
glorious  concurrence  and  coincidence  of  the 
abiding  fundamental  thoughts  of  the  exalted 
and  the  humbled  Lord  I  He  alone,  the  Lord 
himself,  makes  the  beginning,  in  toe  prevenient 
power  of  the  Spirit  of  his  grace ;  but  it  is 
through  the  word  of  his  witnesses.  Human- 
ity lies  before  him,  when  he  looks  down  upon  it 
from  heaven,  so  far  revolted  and  fallen  as  to 
be  too  blinded  even  to  see  the  true  way  of  con- 
version. Thus  has  Satan  smitten  it  with  dark- 
ness, even  while  he  promised  to  open  its  eyes. 
Then  cometh  into  the  world  the  light  of  God, 
in  the  glory  of  which  Jesus  appeared  to  Saul, 
and  shineth  so  bright  that,  while  the  darkness 
where  it  remaineth  wM  not  apprehend  and 
receive  it,  it  at  the  same  time  viay  receive 
it  and  ought.  The  light  shineth  sovereignly 
through  the  veil  of  the  eyes,  enforces  its  lirst 
recognition — This  is  light !  from  every  man — 
but,  alas  !  most  men  even  then  love  darkness 
rather  than  light.  Who  then  are  they  of  whom 
it  is  said,  their  eyes  ?  Manifestly,  no  other  than 
those  "  among  whom  I  send  thee  ;"  that  is,  all 
to  whom  it  is'jjreached.  He  to  whom  the  sav- 
ing grace  of  God  hath  appeared  in  the  Gospel, 
has  been  constrained  to  see  the  light  at  its  first 
shining;  the  way  has  been  shown  to  him,  the 
truth  has  been  spoken  to  him,  the  awakening 
word  Arise!  hath  seized  him  in  order  to  the 
opening  of  his  eyes. 

But  that  which  now  follows  is  left  with  the 
freedom  of  man.  As  the  Lord  sends  the 
Apostle  to  this  end,  that  he  may  open  the  eyes 
of  men,  so  their  eyes  are  opened  to  this  end,  that 
they  may  be  converted  and  turn.  But  they 
are  not  all  obedient  to  the  Gospel.  Many,  yea, 
the  greater  part,  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  all  the 
more  closely,  unto  the  worse  blindness  and 
hardening  of  unbelief.  The  latter  part  of  the 
clause  has  been  made  parallel  with  the  former, 
and  thus  construed,  "  to  open  their  eyes  and 
to  convert  (Jum  ;"  but  this  arrangement  cannot 
in  any  way  be  justified.*  The  turning,  as  the 
receiving,  lies  with  man  ;  the  former  being  the 
condition  of  the  latter.  Where  otherwise  would 
be  the  first  expression  of  that/ai7A,  which  is  at 
the  last  laid  down  as  the  great  condition  re- 
maining with  the  freedom  of  man  ?  The  first 
thing  which  any  man  does,  or  can,  or  should 
do,  whose  eyes  have  been  opened  to  see  his 
error  and  wretchedness,  is  obviously  to  turn 
Iiiniielf  kom  his  misery  for  help:  compare  the 
same  connection  in  Luke  i.  79.  The  Apostle, 
indeed,  whose  own  eyes  had  been  opened  by 
the  light  of  the  Lord,  should  and  could  open 
their  eyes  ;  he  was  to  carry  to  them  the  same 
message  which  Ananias  brought  to  himself — 


*  It  is  true  that  tyridrfjeipai  orcur.s  thus  transi- 
tively. Luke  1.  16,  17,  J.imes  v.  19,  20  ;  and  in  Acts 
xiv.  15,  and  iii.  20,  accordins;  to  the  right  exi)o- 
sition.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  usually 
said,  and  especially  of  the  heathen,  that  men  con- 
vert themselves  :  1  Thess.  i.  9,  Acts  xv.  3,  19  ;  and 
in  ver.  20  of  our  chapter,  tJna  inierpreialion  of 
what  went  before  is  g.vea. 


"  Brethren,  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  sent  me  that 
ye  may  receive  vour  sight."  But  more  than 
that  he  cannot  effect,  in  opposition  to  the  will 
of  those  who  hear  him.  T/i^y  may  and  should 
turn  themselves  from  darkness  to  light,  be- 
cause their  eyes  have  been  opened-,  if  they  do 
so,  they  can  receive  the  gift  of  grace,  and  can 
become  sanctified,  because  they  have  received 
in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  the  ground  of  that 
holiness,  and,  in  the  hope  of  the  promised  in- 
heritance, invigoration  for  the  faithful  main- 
tenance of  faith  unto  the  end.  This,  and  no 
other,  is  the  true  order  of  salvation.  This  is 
what  Paul  exhibits  to  Agrippa  and  the  whole 
assembly  ;  for  he  preaches  also  to  them  that 
they  should  be  converted  and  become  such  as 
he  was  (ver.  29). 

Hence  it  appears  that  this  first  opening  of 
the  eyes  is  something  altogether  diflFerent  from 
the  later  following,  rather  already  pre-supposed, 
enlightenment.  Christ  can  give  light  only  to 
him  who  has  not  only  been  awakened,  but  has 
arisen  up  (in  conversion,  Eph.  v.  1-1).  That 
produces  then  the  enlightened  eyes  oi  tlie  heart 
(Eph.  i.  18,  in  the  right  reading)  in  those  who 
have  already  tasted  the  heavenly  gift  (Heb. 
vi.  14).  On  the  other  hand,  the  first  opening 
does  not  give  a  man  clearly  to  knoio  the  hope 
of  the  calling,  the  riches  of  the  glorious  in- 
heritance, the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  power 
of  God  in  those  who  believe :  he  only  dis- 
tinguishes, at  first,  like  children  learning  to 
see,  the  darkness  from  the  light;  he  can  only 
say  this  one  thing — I  was  in  darkness  and 
blindness,  but  now  I  see  the  light  (John  ix.  25). 
The  old  state  Irom  which,  and  the  new  slate 
to  which,  we  turn,  are  described  simply  as 
states,  as  darkness  and  light,  according  to  the 
general  language  of  Scripture,  and  1  Pet.  ii.  9, 
10  particularly,  where  the  call  is  similarly  de- 
fined. They  who  receive  the  call  in  faith,  con- 
vert or  turn  themselves  (round,  back)  from  their 
darkness  to  the  light  which  has  appeared ; 
not  that  they  perfectly  come  out  of  the  dark- 
ness, and  enter  the  perfect  condition  of  light 
— which  would  be  regeneration  itself,  or,  in- 
deed, the  finished  goal  of  sanctification — but 
that  they  penitently  turn  themselves  from  their 
old  character  inith  desire  towards  the  light  of 
God,  towards  the  right  way  of  a  better  life  as 
exhibited  by  the  lig'ht  of  truth.  This  turning 
from  and  turning  towards  are  called  elsewhere 
repentance  and  conversion  (ver.  20,  chap.  iii.  19) ; 
but  because  both  are  inseparable  in  their 
union,  each  expression  may  stand  alone,  in- 
clusive of  the  other,  for  the  whole.  (So  hero 
conversion,  as  in  chap.  xx.  21  repentance.) 

As  soon,  then,  as  this  conversion  becomes 
real  and  effectual,  there  follows  as  its  necessary 
consequence,  not  indeed  that  full  and  complete 
insight  into  Satan's  kingdom  and  power,  and 
the  light  and  nature  of  God,  which  is  reserved 
for  our  perfection,  but  at  least  a  commencing 
insight  into  the  deeper  ground  of  that  two-fold 
condition  ;  as  the  preaching  word  exhibits  it,  in 
order  to  excite  the  profound  attention  of  the 
soul.     It  ia  iiatan,  m   whose  power  are  not 


ACTS  XXVI.  16-18. 


883 


merely  the  healhens  (as  the  Jewish  maxim 
■was),  but  all  blind  sinners  in  common  ;  ior  the 
darkness  is  from  Satan,  and  he  is  the  prince  of 
the  power  of  darkness  upon  earth  (Col.  i.  13). 
It  is  Satan  who  keeps  closed  the  eyes  which 
would  otherwise  open  themselves  even  to  the 
natural  light  which  visits  all.  It  is  God,  the 
fountam  ol  light,  to  lead  back  sinners  to  whom, 
from  their  deep  apostacy,  is  the  great  aim  of 
the  whole  work  of  grace.  He  who  is  exalted 
in  heaven  still  speaks  with  all  plainness— as  he 
formerly  did  according  to  the  orthodox  faith  of 
the  Jevvs— of  Satan  (comp.  five  times  in  the 
Epistles  from  heaven,  Rev.  ii.  and  iii.);  this 
doctrine  must  be  preached  to  the  Gentiles  also, 
and  must  by  them  also  be  acknowledged  as  a 
fundamental  truth.  It  may  be  said  that  "  from 
darkness  to  light"  refers  rather  to  the  blinded 
Jews,  and  "  from  Satan's  power  to  God  "  rather 
to  the  Gentiles,  altogether  sundered  from  God 
and  in  the  power  of  evil.*  But  this  has  only 
a  relative  truth ;  for  both  in  their  deepest 
principle  refer  to  all  sinners  who  are  to  be  con- 
verted (sinners  of  the  Jews,  sinners  of  the 
Gentiles,  Gal.  ii.  15). 

All  darkness  is  a  prison  (Isa.  xlii.  7),  and  its 
bonds  and  chains  are  the  bondage  of  hell  (2 
Pet.  ii.  4  ;  Jude  6).  There  is  a  power  of  dark- 
ness which  holds  and  enslaves  men.  However 
easy  and  sudden  might  seem  the  first  conver- 
sion at  the  beginning,  as  the  mere  turning  from 
darkness  towards  light,  the  process  reveals  an 
enchaining  power  which  will  not  let  man  go. 
In  this  God  alone  can  help ;  to  him  therefore 
alone  man  must  more  fully  turn.  It  is  not 
said  "  to  the  power  of  God ;  "  the  name  of  God 
is  enough,  and  its  might  is  placed  alone  in  op- 
position to  all  other  power.  Nor  is  the  light, 
again,  an  imprisonment ;  we  do  not  become 
servants  of  God,  as  we  had  been  servants  of 
Satan  and  of  sin.  The  kingdom  of  the  Son  of 
his  love  is  opened,  in  blessed  freeness  and 
liberty  (Col.  i.  13) — the  open  access  even  to  the 
heart  of  God,  properly  to  God. 

But  with  the  first  step  of  conversion  to  God 
begins  the  receiving  ;  for  he  that  draws  nigh  to 
God  receives  from  him.  The  first  full  gift  for 
the  rebellious,  which  itself  was  secretly  in- 
cluded when  he  gave  repentance  and  awakened 
to  life  and  conversion,  and  which  must  then  be 
consciously  received  with  joy,  is — forgiveness  of 
sins.  "  The  recollection  of  one's  own  sins  is  the 
real  centre  of  all  self-consciousness"  (Baum- 
garten) — by  this  consciousness,  fully  awakened 
in  conversion,  the  m^erciful  Lord  now  seizes  the 
sinner,  who  in  his  first  penitent  coming  to  the 
rebuking  light  of  grace  has  already  performed 
a  work  in  God  ;  and  thus,  in  the  consciousness 
of  received  forgiveness,  the  new  man  is  fully 
born.  Thiit  is  now  light  instead  of  darkness, 
fellowship  with  God  instead  of  servitude  to 
Satan,  the  deceiver  and  accuser.  I'his  is  ever 
the  first  pure  grace  ;  received  out  of  the  fulness 
of  God  the  Saviour,  not  yet  as  grace  for  grace, 

*  Similarly- in  ver.  20:  the  Jews  must  repent, 
and  the  Gentiles  be  converted  to  God. 


but  as  grace  solely  for  our  sin.  Observe,  that 
we  were  under  the  power  of  Satan,  not  without 
our  own  will  and  our  own  guilt;  notwithstand- 
ing there  is  full  forgiveness  for  that  and  for  all 
our  sins. 

That  in  the  economy  of  salvation  the  Fame 
forgiveness  of  sins,  the  great  grace  of  the  New 
Testament,  must  ever  be  laid  throughout  the 
whole  process  of  sanctification  as  the  foundation 
of  a  continual  new  beginning,  even  as  thence 
alone  power  cometh  to  the  faint  (Isa.  xxxiii. 
24) — that  access  into  the  strengthening  fellow- 
ship of  the  Lord,  whose  flesh  and  blood  we  eat 
and  drink  that  he  may  live  in  us,  is  opened  to 
us  only  through  the  continual  new  appropria- 
tion of  forgiveness — of  all  this  we  speak  not 
now  more  at  large ;  since  the  exposition  of  the 
individual  sayings  would  thus  lead  us  into  the 
whole  doctrinal  system,  and  ethical  relations, 
of  the  plan  of  salvation.  We  go  on  to  observe 
with  what  wonderful  suddenness  the  and  con- 
nects the  inheritance  with  the  forgiveness,  the 
end  with  the  beginning.*  For  God,  who  be- 
gins, finishes  also  his  work  in  all  those  who 
cease  not  to  receive  from  him.  It  might  be 
said  here  also  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  re- 
ferred rather  to  Israel,  and  the  portion  in  God's 
inheritance  rather  to  thft  Gentiles:  comp.  Eph. 
i.  and  Col.  i.  But,  in  the  Apostle's  doctrine  ia 
these  chapters,  and  still  more  fully  here,  both 
are  connected  together  in  one.  The  peculiar 
expression  used}  might  also  be  translated — a 
lot,  a  portion  of  the  inheritance — and  that 
would  be  perfectly  true  as  respects  the  in- 
dividual appropriation  ;  but  the  comprehensive 
saying  here  pre-eminently  refers  to  the  Lords 
new  people  as  such,  gathered  from  the  people 
and  the  Gentiles  alike.  It  is  "  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light " — first  as  reserved  for  us 
in  heaven  (1  Pet.  i.  4)  ;  and  then,  if  we  attam 
unto  the  end  of  faith,  received  as  the  salvation 
of  the  soul;  but  finally  as  consummate  glory 
on  the  new  and  heavenly  earth,  of  which 
Canaan  was  the  type. 

But  what  is,  finally,  the  condition — which 
again  assumes  our  freedom,  our  receiving,  re- 
taining, and  using  the  gift  of  God — the  only 
way  from  the  forgiveness  of  sins  to  the  inherit- 
ance? The  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light  is 
only  for  them  that  are  sanctified.  This  sancti- 
fication is  possible  only  on  the  ground  of  grace 
received,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  goal  set 
before  us  ;  but  we  reach  the  goal  only  as  per- 
fect, when  sanctification  is  fully  accomplished 
— and  this  is  plainly  spoken  in  the  carefully 
chosen  word  "  sanctified."  J  The  entering  among 


*  So  Col.  i.  12-14,  and  the  third  section  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed. 

+  KXiipoi,  derived  from  the  Old  Testament, 
and  gloritied  in  the  New — on  which  a  whole  trea- 
tise might  be  written. 

X  "  For,  whereas  the  deficiency  of  Israel's  sanc- 
tification was  proved  by  the  fact,  that  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  irileiitance  ihey  became  proud, 
and  in  the  gifts  of  the  earth  forgot  their  Maker 
and  Redeemer  (Deut,  xxxii.  15),  the  New-Testa- 


m 


TO  PETER  IN  THE  TRANCE  UPON  THE  HOUSE  TOP. 


the  sanctified  is  reckoned  with  that  tchich  is  rc- 
eeived,  as  the  last,  highest,  and  perfect  gift  of 
God's  grace  (Rom.  vi.  23);  but  it  is  also,  on 
the  other  hand,  regarded  as  the  condition  and 
limitation  of  the  receiving — Only  among  those 
that  are  sanctified.  Such  will  there  be  at  the 
last,  and  they  shall  receive  the  inheritance. 
Yet  not  with  all  that  'were  called  ;  for  many 
of  them,  alas  !  will  forget  to  make  their  calling 
and  election  sure  (2  Pet.  i.  9-11) — with  all  that 
are  sanctified  we  shall  enter  the  everlasting 
kingdom.  But  this  fellowship  with  all  saints 
(chap.  XX,  32)  is  an  essential  elevation  of  final 
blessedness,  although  God  himself  will  forever 
be  the  ground  and  spring  of  that  blessedness. 
There  only  remains  the  inexpressibly  impor- 
tant and  sublime  cor)c\us'ion—27iroi/<^h  faith 
tchich  is  in  me;  in  which  the  Son  of  God,  the 
only  Saviour  of  all  the  world,  unites  poor  be- 
lieving sinners  upon  earth  with  his  own  glory 
in  heaven,  and  with  his  own  exalted  person. 
It  has  been  needlessly  disputed  whether  this 
"  by  faith  "  refers  more  narrowly  to  the  "  sanc- 
tified by  faith,"  or  points  further  back  to  the 
receiving*  We  have  already  given  our  decis- 
ion that  faith  here  comes  last  as  the  only  means 
of  the  whole;  it  is  not  merely  receiving,  but 
also  persevering  faith,  faith  which  is  proved 
and  confirmed  through  obedient  fidelity  even 
to  the  end.  We  are  indeed  finally  sanctified 
only  through  faith ;  but  only  through  faith 
were  we  converted,  and  received  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins.  And  this  faith  which  we  hold 
fast  from  stage  to  stage  through  obedience  and 
fidelity,  in  the  warring  of  the  good  warfare  for 
the  fulfillment  of  our  course  (2  Tim.  iv.  7),  is 
not  only  a  faith  in  God,  but  in  him  also  through 
whom  alone  we  can  have  faith  and  hope  to- 
wards God  (1  Pet.  i.  21)— in  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  here  saith  out  of  heaven.  Through  faith 
that  is  in  me.  Faith  in  his  name,  his  word 
generally,  draws  and  turns  us  round  from  Satan 
to  God ;  faith  in  him  who  was  dead  gives  us 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  faith  in  the  risen  Lord 
gives  us  power  unto  renewal  in  holiness;  faith 
in  the  glorified  Lord  strengthens  in  us  the  hope 


of  the  inheritance;  through  faith  in  the  whole 
Christ  we  attain  to  our  whole  salvation.  Thus 
majestically  does  this  Saviour  in  heaven,  with- 
out whom  there  is  no  salvation  for  all  men 
under  heaven  (Acts  iv.  12),  place  himself  in 
the  stead  of  God,  on  whose  throne  he  sitteth 
for  us. 

Faith,  faith,  nothing  but  faith — this,  is  and 
must  ever  be  the  simple,  and  nevertheless  not 
easy,  way  to  the  end  of  glory.  It  is  the  voca- 
tion of  all  the  Lord's  ambassadors  to  proclaim 
the  obedience  of  faith  in  his  name,  iiere  be- 
fore Agrippa  Paul  answers  for  himself — "Thus 
did  he  speak  to  me,  and  how  should  I  not  be- 
lieve in  him  ?  Thus  did  he  command  me — 
Preach  the  faith  that  is  in  me.  How  should  I 
not  testify  of  him?  "  Paul  had  see?i  him  ;  but 
only  to  the  end  that  he  might  preach  faith  and 
the  not  seeing.  Paul  is  in  a  certain  sense  pre- 
eminently the  Apostle  of  faith,  yet  only  as  re- 
gards his  doctrinal  system — for  what  Apostle 
either^reaches  or  teaches  any  thing  but  faith? 
Here  we  must  resist  the  strange  theory  of 
Baumgarten,  and  not  allow  that  "  he  lays  on 
the  shoulders  of  Paul  alone,  after  Peter  and 
the  rest  of  the  original  Apostles  had  accom- 
plished their  work,  by  which  the  first  founda- 
tion of  the  Church  was  laid,  the  work  of  his 
salvation  for  the  nations  of  the  earth — and 
that,  for  the  immediate  subsequent  period, 
Paul  is  introduced  as  being  exclusively  entrust- 
ed with  the  guidance  and  extension  of  the 
Church."  Where  in  all  the  Scripture  is  this 
written  ?  Where  in  this  mission  and  instruc- 
tion is  there  any  token  of  this  exclusiveness  ? 
With  all  the  others  (1  Cor.  ix.  5,  xv.  9),  he 
executed  his  office — as  the  least  of  them,  who 
in  his  work  became  the  greatest;  but  it  is  the 
same  office  which,  as  having  authority  to  call 
sinners  through  faith  in  Jesus  to  salvation,  is 
continued  even  in  every  vocation  to  preach  and 
bear  witness.  That  which  we  have  expounded 
upon  ver.  18  in  pju'ticular,  holds  good  of  every 
preacher,  and  of  all  hearers,  without  any  de- 
duction for  the  specific  authority  or  power 
conferred  on  Paul. 


TO  PETER  IN  THE  TRANCE  UPON  THE  HOUSE  TOP. 


(Acts  x.  13-16;  xi.  7-10.) 


It  is  not  consistent  with  the  opinion  which 


mcut  3:.int.s  are  not  introduced  into  llie  jjossession 
of  their  inheritance  uiilil  llu-y  Lave  i)roved  by 
deeds  lliat  tlicy  jjrefer  iho  pure  and  lioly  com- 
nmnion  of  tl;e  soul  with  God,  without  any  exter- 
nal corporeal  addition,  to  all  and  every  pos.session 
upon  earili,  and  tlieieby  accomj)lijh  tho  total  de- 
liverance of  tlieir  souls  from  the  entire  kingdom 
of  darkness  and  of  Satan  "  (Baumgarten,  Acts  of 
the  AposUct,  iii.  167,  Clark's  edition). 

♦  For    certainly,    as    Bnumsartcn    lienutifully 
though  rather  scholasticaliy  says,  "  Failh  is  the 


elevates  Paul  high  above  the  first  Apostolate 
of  the  twelve,  th'at  the  first  transition  of  tlie 
Gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  properly  so-called,  was 
not  reserved  for  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
but  that  Peter  was  in  this  respect  aI?o  chosen 
to  be  firat  (chap.  xv.  7).  Thus,  as  Paul  was 
not  exclusively  an  Apostle  to  the  heathen 
world,  so  those  who  were  Apostles  before  him 
did  not,  as  their  very  vocation  for  all  the  na- 


ethical    consummation   of  the   receptive  capacity, 
over  which  Satan  has  obtained  no  power." 


ACTS  X.  13-16;  XL  7-10. 


885 


tions  intimates,  confine  themselves  to  Israel. 
After  Saul  liad  preached  to  the  Jews  in  the 
synagogues  of  Damascus — probably  during  his 
protracted  sojourn  in  Arabia,  and  still   more 

Erobably  he/ore  the  Lord  had  announced  to 
im  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles* — Peter  receives 
the  revelation  which  constrained  him  to  preach 
to  Cornelius.  We  have  not  arranged  these  ex- 
positions strictly  in  chronological  order  (there 
might  have  been  some  difficulty  in  determining 
it,  if  we  had  so  purposed)  ;  for  it  was  our  ob- 
ject to  give  the  stages  of  Paul's  calling  in  their 
connection. 

But  we  shall  at  the  same  time  observe  that, 
although  Peter  was  acknowledged  as  the  first 
in  preaching  to  the  Gentiles  (which,  however, 
did  not  involve  any  other  pre-eminence,  and 
make  him  a  "prince  of  the  Apostles"),  he 
comes  hehind  Paul  in  his  personal  endowments, 
and  in  his  capacity  for  special  revelations  and 
gifts  of  the  Lord.  On  this  subject — how  this 
is  to  be  understood,  and  how  not ;  how  Paul, 
dignified  by  higher  revelations,  was  not  there- 
fore before  the  Lord  of  higher  account — we 
cannot  now  more  particularly  dwell:  it  may 
be  enough  for  our  purpose  to  establish  the  fact 
that. Peter  did  not  see  the  Lord  of  glory,  and 
receive  immediate  revelations  from  him,  in  the 
same  manner  as  Paul  did.j  An  angel  had  led 
him,  with  all  the  Apostles,  out  of  the  prison 
some  time  before,  and  afterwards  we  find  the 
Spirit  speaking  to  him  (chap.  x.  19  ;  just  as  to 
Philip,  chap.  viii.  29).  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles specially  guides  the  missionary  Church, 
here  personally  savs — I  have  sent  the  men 
(coinp.  chap.  xiii.  2] — yet  this  is  not  the  I  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  himself,  which  had  spoken  to  Paul. 
The  voice,  again,  which  Peter  receives  in  the 
vision  of  a  trance,  could  be  no  other  than  that 
of  the  Lord — this  seems  due  at  once  to  him 
and  the  object  concerned.  Angels  speak  in  the 
New  Testament  (not  now  to  speak  particularly 
of  the  Old  Testament),  even  when  they  do  not 
become  visible,  as  in  the  case  of  Cornelius,  in 
dreams  and  visions  ;  but  we  never  read  of 
trance  in  connection  with  them.  Nor  can  we 
conceive  that  it  was  merely  an  indefinite  zoice, 
merely  an  appendage  of  the  vision  which  ad- 
mitted no  question  as  to  tiho  it  was  that  spoke ; 
for  Peter  addresses  the  speaker  merely  as  Lord. 
But,  finally,  the  voice  "of  God"  speaks  in  the 
Ne.v  Testament  most  expressly  (as  in  the  Old 
Testament  latently)  through  the  Son  alone,  and 


*  For  Peter  was  then  again  in  Jerusalem ;  hav- 
ing: returned  from  tlie  itinerary  wliieh  Luke  snp- 
plementarily  records.  The  particulars  of  all  this 
are  not  easily  arranged. 

•f  Had  it  been  so,  wo  should  have  found  some 
record  of  it  in  Scripture,  as  of  a  matter  hi<ilily 
momentous.  On  the  other  hand,  Peter  ia  his 
(genuine!)  Second  Ejiistla  appeals  rnly  to  this, 
that  he  had  been  an  "  eye-wiiness  of  the  Lord's 
glory"  upon  the  mount;  and  ih  chap.  iii.  18  he 
with  boautitul  humility  admits  the  superior  v.ia- 
dom  g  ven  to  his"  brother  Paul. 


now  through  the  exalted  Jesus  Christ.  Al- 
though Peter  afterwards,  ver.  28,  says  that 
God  had  showed  him  the  truth,  he  speaks  thus 
at  the  first  in  the  hearing  of  Cornelius,  only  in 
order  that  he  might  not  inappropriately  antici- 
pate his  preaching  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Lord  ot  all  (ver.  o6). 

Three  times  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  the 
great  manifestation  to  Saul  is  described  ;  and 
at  least  twice  the  manifestation  to  Peter,  which 
of  itself  was  of  great  importance  in  relation  to 
this  great  crisis  and  turning  point  in  the  course 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  By  the  repeated  nar- 
rative it  is  made  abundantly  plain  that  the 
Apostle  did  not  see  and  hear  wliat  he  saw  and 
heard,  for  himself  alone  ;  but  for  all  to  whom, 
through  him,  it  was  spoken  and  delivered. 

While  Peter  was  engaged  in  a  successful 
mission  at  Joppa  among  the  Jews  (chap.  ix. 
42,  43),  and  on  the  same  day  that  the  messen- 
gers from  Cornelius  were  on  their  way  to  him, 
he  went  up  at  noontide  to  the  house  top  to 
pray.  For  his  practised  piety  had  added  to 
the"  two  customary  hours  of  prayer  (at  the 
morning  and  evening  sacrifice)  the  third  at 
mid-day,  which  had  also  become  a  custom  (Psa. 
Iv.  18  ;  Dan.  vi.  10).  The  flat  roofs  of  the 
houses  had  ordinarily  an  upper  chamber,* 
whither  men  were  accustomed  to  retreat  for 
thought  or  devotion;  but  the  tanner's  house 
may  be  supposed  to  have  had  an  open  roof, 
since  the  vision  supposes  the  unobstructed 
heavens  to  be  before  him.  It  is  in  prayer  that 
the  revelation  comes  to  Peter,  as  also  to  Cor- 
nelius. But  he,  who  had  a  work  to  do  in  Joppa 
and  no  special  occasion  then  to  fast,  is  not,  like 
Cornelius,  adding  fasting  to  prayer.  As  was 
quite  possible  to  the  bodily  infirmity  even  of 
an  Apostle,  he  became  hungry  in  his  prayer, 
even  very  hungry  :  this  probably  was  the  result 
of  an  extraordinary  influence  preparing  him 
for  the  virion,  the  symbolical  language  of  which 
connected  itself  with  his  hunger,  according  to 
the  analogy  of  such  revelations  generally. 
Peter  would  not  be  altogether  interrupted  m 
his  intenser  and  deepening  devotion  by  taking; 
the  mid-day  meal — he  desired  only  a  slight  re- 
past.! While  this  was  being  prepared  lor  hira 
he  fell  into  a  trance;  literally,  a  trance  fell 
upon  him,  so  that  he  beheld  a  vision  and  heard 
a  voice.  After  a  full  meal  this  would  not 
have  taken  place. 

From  the  heaven,  which  shines  upon  him  as 
if  opened,  there  descends  to  hira  a  table  won- 
drously  spread  for  his  hunger  :  a  structure  or 
vessefof  a  peculiar  kind  and  amazing  great- 
ness ;  as  it  were  a  great  sheet  bound  by  cords 
at  the  four  corners,  and  so  let  down  to  the 
earth,  that  is,  above  the  rcof,  and  immediately 
before  him.     In  it  he  beheld  not  merely  "  all 


*  In  Luke  vTtspc^ov,  called  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment n'^y ;  see  especially  2  Kings  iv.  10. 

t  This  is  a  more  befitting  expression  than 
Luther's  anbassen,  for  yev^acSf^az,  comp.  chap 
XX.  11. 


886 


TO  PETER  IN  THE  TRANCE  UPON  THE  HOUSE  TOP. 


kinds  of,"  but  all  beasts,*  that  is,  one  of  every 
species,  clean  and  unclean  united.  The  entire 
animal  world,  not  excluding  the  birds  of 
heaven,  great  and  small ;  even  creeping  things 
— the  smaller  animals,  and  not  "  edible  in- 
sects."f  The  names  of  the  three  main  genera, 
besides  the  birds,  correspond  (though  not 
literally)  to  the  account  in  the  creation,  Gen. 
i.  24,  where  if  we  rightly  understand  it,  there 
can  nothing  be  as  vet  said  about  insects  or 
reptiles.  Well  may  "Peter  have  contemplated 
all  this  with  profound  astonishment.!  But 
scarcely  has  tne  question  arisen — What  is 
this?  what  does  it  mean  to  me?  when  a  voice 
(from  heaven,  as  chap  xii.  9  adds,  after  chap.  x. 
had  made  it  obvious)  gives  him  an  answer  yet 
more  strange  :  Rise  Ptter,  slay  and  eat  !  After 
the  manner  of  a  dream,  the  killing  and  eating 
are  combined  in  one  ;  and  there  is  no  distinc- 
tion expressed  as  to  what  was  upon  the  im- 
mense livingly-spread  table,  on  the  border  of 
which,  as  we  may  suppose  from  the  Apostle's 
words,  only  unclean  animals  were  to  be  seen. 

We  pause  here  in  our  contemplation,  and 
ask,  as  Peter  when  come  to  himself  asked  in 
doubt,  ver.  17,  with  hope  of  a  certain  answer, 
what  the  meaning  of  the  vision  was.  Indeed, 
we  cannot  miss  its  meaning  if  we  thoughtfully 
consider  it.  We  have  the  actual  solution  of  it 
in  the  history  which  follows,  as  well  as  in  the 
decisive  word  of  Peter — God  hath  showed  me 
that  no  man  is  to  be  counted  common  or  un- 
clean. But  through  what  process  do  we  reach 
that  conclusion,  since  Ave  cannot  at  once  say 
that  animals  signify  men?  First  of  all,  we 
must  do  justice  to  the  obvious  reference  to  the 
Mosiac  laws  of  distinction  in  food.  The  con- 
nection is  plain  ;  since  it  was  the  prohibition 
to  eat  unclean  animals  which  practically  con- 
stituted the  most  rigorous  wall  of  partition 
between  the  Israelites  and  the  Gentiles — espe- 
cially at  this  time,  when  human  ordinances 
had  rendered  those  laws  still  more  stringent. 
Because  the  ceremonially  strict  Jew  might  not 
eat  with  the  Gentile,  all  confidential  intercourse 
and  all  perfect  communion  generally  was  cut 
oflf  by  this  prohibition  of  the  table-fellowship; 
as  in  chap.  xi.  we  read  that  in  Jerusalem  the 
whole  Jewish  Christian  community  made  it  an 
objection  to  the  first  Apostle  "  that  he  had 
eaten  with  them  " — in  comparison  of  which  the 
preaching  and  baptizing  comes  not  into  further 
consideration.  Peter  could  not  have  paused  in 
doubt  as  to  whether  the  divine  declaration  ex- 
pressed the  abolition  of  this  Levitical  distinc- 
tion between  clean  and  unclean  animals  as  to 
killing  and  eating  ;  this  was  directly  declared, 
and  he  would  immediately  think  of  the  words 


*  The  article,  st^nndins  alone  in  chap,  xi.,  still 
more  expressly  shows  iliis. 

t  So  Neander  expresses  himself,  accordinc  to 
the  too  prevalent  misunderstanding,  for  cprnTd, 
Heb.  t«p-i — which  signifies  only  the  smaller  ani- 
mals in  contradistinction  from  nons  and  n»n. 

^  Chap  xl.  6,  drevidat  xareyoovy. 


of  Jesus  in  Mark  vii.  15-23.  But  that  from 
this  very  much  would  follow,  and  that  the 
vision  would  signify  much  more  than  this,  is  a 
matter  wliich  he  thoughtfully  ponders.  We 
hold  to  his  own  expression  when  all  was  mada 
plain  to  him — No  man  is  any  longer  unclean. 
As  in  visions,  and  the  symbolical  language  of 
prophecy  generally,  more  than  one  interpreta- 
tion is  commonly  involved,  the  animals  are 
here  at  the  same  time  used  figuratively  for 
men,  and  the  unclean  are  the  Gentiles,  whom 
the  Jews  had  hitherto  so  regarded.  We  know 
that  the  Jewish  phraseology  already  applied 
the  names  of  unclean  beasts  to  those  who  ate 
them  (Matt.  xv.  26;  vii.  6).  Thus  the  entire 
animal  world,  which  was  here  shown  to  the 
Apostle  in  itsma^iifold  variety  according  to  the 
original  creation,  and  in  which  there  was  to  be 
no  longer  a  distinction  of  clean  or  unclean,  is 
the  race  of  mankind  upon  earth  in  all  its  peo- 
ples and  kinds.  The  sheet  descends  from  heaven 
to  earth ;  and  this  means,  according  to  the 
place  and  occasion  of  the  vision,  in  general — 
Here  heaven  and  earth  are  concerned  in  com- 
mon ;  it  is  a  matter  upon  earth,  which  has 
been  decided  in  heaven.  But  this  is  scarcely 
the  whole  meaning,  for  it  is  not  merely  the 
voice  which  comes  from  heaven.  Are  not  all 
men  regarded  as  originally  coming  from  heaven 
and  having  sprung  from  God,  according  to 
their  first  creation?*  Thus,  this  comes  first — 
All  men  upon  earth  (the  four  corners  are  the 
four  quarters  of  heaven)  are  still  of  divine 
origin  (chap.  xvii.  28).  But  this  of  itself  must 
not  be  pressed  further,  since  they  have  become 
universally  unclean  through  the'ir  sin.  Conse- 
quently, we  must  advance  to  the  full  and  per- 
fect interpretation — The  vessel  or  sheet  is  the 
Church  of  the  Lord,  into  which  through  the 
decree  and  grace  of  heaven,  are  to  be  received 
for  heaven  men  of  all  nations ;  because  grace 
renews  and  re-establishes  the  original  creation. 
Both  the  heavenly  origin  and  the  heavenly  re- 
newal of  mankind  are  embraced  in  one. 

And  now  for  the  hilling  and  eating  which  is 
required  of  the  Apostle.  It  is  scarcely  the 
mere  intercourse  with  Gentiles  (eating  with 
them,  the  unclean)  that  is  meant;  for  that  the 
symbolic  figure  would  have  been  too  strangely 
emphatic,  apart  from  the  consideration  that  an 
Apostle  would  not  have  to  do  with  people 
hitherto  avoided,  except  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  vocation,  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Piieger  says,  more  correctly  :  "  In  this 
figure  the  future  success  of  his  mission  was  set 
before  Peter;  it  presented  to  his  hopes  thq 
wished-for  satisfaction  of  all  his  spiritual  long- 
ings, but  on  the  condition  of  his  resignation 
and  denial  of  what  had  been  customary  and 
pleasing  to  his  own  nature.  He  must  submit 
to  God's  judgment  and  the  election  of  grace; 
for  he  declares  what  is  acceptable  and  pure  in 
his  sight,  and  to  his  j  udgment  all  the  repul- 
sions of  our  own  nature  and  fleshly  mind  must 
bow  down."     This  sets  us  at  least  upon  the 


*  Are  acceptable,  as  Sexroi,  ver.  35,  raoan.s. 


ACTS  X.  13-16 ;  XI.  7-10. 


887 


right  track.  We  need  not  think  here  of  any 
eacrificial  slaying  and  priestly  service  (as  Rom. 
XV.  16)  ;*  for  it  is  very  obvious  that  Peter 
feels,  besides  his  bodily  hunger,  another  hunger 
of  th«  Spirit  to  which  the  symbolical  vision 
responds.  What  can  we  suppose  him  to  have 
60  earnestly  prayed  for  but  the  success  of  his 
office,  and  his  soul's  satisfaction  in  its  success 
— the  spread  of  the  Gospel  of  grace?  The 
many  who  had  believed  in  Joppa  had  not  satis- 
fied'that  desire;  while  he  tarries  with  them, 
his  thoughts  are  away  in  his  missionary  jour- 
neyings,  and  probably  far  beyond  the  Jewish 
land.  But  because  he  supposes  that  the  Gen- 
tiles could  be  accepted  only  on  the  hard  and 
seldom -accepted  condition  of  circumcision  and 
subjection  to  the  whole  law,  he  is  oppressed 
and  disquieted.  Thus  his  secret  conflict  in 
prayer  had  prepared  him,  more  than  lie  knew, 
for  the  heavenly  revelation  which  now  grants 
his  desires — Rise  Peter,  and  satisfy  thine  hun- 
ger for  the  salvation  of  all  men.  under  heaven 
(chap.  iv.  12). 

But  he  does  not  on  the  instant  know  and 
understand  this.  Conscientious  even  in  the 
trance,  in  the  walking  dream,  he  draws  back 
with  distaste  and  dread  from  the  unclean  food, 
even  as  Saul  would  earlier  have  done.  No  (lit- 
erally, by  no  means,  assuredly  not),  0  Lord  !  This 
is  his  first  word  to  the  unknown  speaker — the 
"Lord"  himself,  it  may  be,  tempting  him.  The 
intenser  assurance,  I  have  never  eaten  any  thing 
either  common  or  unclean,  he  quotes  probably 
by  memory  from  the  words  of  Ezekiel  the  pro- 
phet:  see  chap.  iv.  11  But  hereupon  the 
voice  grows  more  strong  in  its  rebuke  of  that 
which  was  not  right  in  his  supposed  vindica- 
tion of  perfect  right.  It  proceeds  to  utter 
words  which  already  pass  over  into  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  mystery — What  God  hath 
cleansed,  that  make  (call,  esteem)  thou  not  com- 
mon. It  is  not  now  slaying  and  eating  that  is 
spoken  of;  for  that  only  had  an  ulterior  mean- 
ing. What  God  hath  cleansed — and  it  was  this 
"  what"  that  Peter  afterwards  so  deeply  pon- 
dered. First,  as  still  keeping  to  the  symbol : 
"  That  which  God,  by  sending  down  for  thee 
from  heaven  and  commanding  thee  to  eat,  has 
declared  clean,  that  shouldst  IiAom  not  (contra- 
dictory child  of  man)  any  longer  term  un- 
clean, and  desecrate  again  by  treating  it  as 
such."  But  this  has  literally  another  meaning, 
at  the  same  time,  for  the  interpretation.  All 
is  unclean  until  God  cleanses  it ;  this  is  indeed 
true,  but  God  can  still  maintain  his  right. 
The  natural,  animal  men  are  not  only  likened 
to  brute  beasts,  made  to  be  taken  and  destroy- 
ed (2  Pet.  ii.  12),  but  they  are  originally  un- 
clean, like  all  animal  food  before  the  flood.  In 
his  permission  to  Noah,  God  cleansed  all  ani- 
mals for  the  food  of  man  (by  the  side  of  the 
abiding  distinction  for  the  sacrifice  to  God, 
Gen.  vii.) — in  the  prohibition  by  Moses  certain 
Rniraals  were  again  made   common  by  God — 


♦The  Sv6oy  with   qxxye  stands  simply  for 
slaying. 


but  now  in  the  commandment  to  Pet«r  all  is 
again  called  clean.  In  the  covenant  of  Noah 
the  whole  human  race  was  accepted,  before  the 
Gentiles  were  by  the  Jewish  law  (transitorily) 
cast  out;  and  now  in  baptism  the  covenant  of 
grace  is  established  again  with  all  flesh  (1 
Pet.  iii.  21).  Through  Christ,  through  its 
union  with  his  heaven  descending  in  Christ, 
God  has  actually  cleansed  entire  humanity; 
here  there  is  not  merely  a  return  to  a  former 
covenant  of  grace ;  but,  going  still  further 
back,  there  is  the  restoration  of  all  creatures  to 
their  first  and  pure  creation.  Thus,  "  whom 
God  hath  accepted,  and  will  go  on  to  accept  ia 
grace,  let  no  man  despise,  and  cast  him  out  as 
nevertheless  unclean."  This  most  emphatic 
learning  is  here  uttered  for  the  whole  Church 
of  the  Jews  believing  in  Christ,  to  whom  Peter 
must  deliver  it ;  just  as  Paul  received  the  word 
for  the  Jews  who  persecuted  Christ — Why  per- 
secutest  thou  me?  In  the  most  immediate 
application,  Cornelius  himself  is  seen  to  be 
cleansed  by  preparatory  grace  unto  the  fear  of 
God  and  the  working  of  righteousness  ;  and  to 
this  first  application  Peter  afterwards  refers  in 
vers.  35,  though  he  had  already,  ver.  28,  utter- 
ed i(s  most  full  interpretation — No  man  is 
henceforth  unclean  either  to  God  or  to  us,  not 
even  the  most  outcast  heathen.  He  subse- 
quently entered  more  deeply  into  the  profound- 
est  meaning  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  word  in 
chap.  XV.  9 — God  hath  put  no  difference  be- 
tween us  and  them,  p«n/^irt^  their  hearts  by 
faith. 

While  Peter  at  first  keeps  silence,  in  aston- 
ishment and  thought,  he  hears  once  more, 
Rise,  Peter,  slay  and  eat!  Whether  he  actually 
renews  his  objection,  and  thus  the  whole  hap- 
pened thrice;  or  whether  only  the  repeated 
command  to  eat  is  to  be  reckoned  as  a  third 
voice — is  open  to  discussion.  According  to  the 
simple  letter,  we  should  suppose  that,  after  the 
fashion  of  a  dream,  the  whole  three  times  oc- 
curred, in  order  that  it  might  be  confirmed  and 
rendered  decisive  to'him:  comp.  Gen.  xli.  32. 
Whether  the  triple  number  is  to  be  referred 
to  the  three  men,  ver.  19  (as  to  many  the 
connection,  chap.  xi.  10,  11,  seems  to  inti- 
mate), we  doubt ;  noihing  would  be  gained  by 
it,  for  there  was  no  particular  message  to 
be  given  to  each  of  the  three.  That,  finally, 
the  vessel  is  received  up  again  into  heaven, 
does  not  (as  has  been  supposed)  introduce  the 
other  side  of  the  interpretation — "  That  which 
came  from  heaven  is  taken  up  and  acknowledg- 
ed by  heaven"  (this  acknowledgment  was  con- 
tained in  the  vision  itself) ;  but  it  is  only  the 
appropriate  end  by  which  the  whole  is  stamp- 
ed as  a  teaching  and  revealing  vision—"  Now 
return  to  thyself,  and  jwnder  what  this  may 
mean."  God's  further  guidance  in  facts,  and 
our  own  subsequent  reflection  in  consequence, 
opens  up  to  us  afterwards  the  meaning  of  his 
revelations.  Peter,  who  was  too  deeply  en- 
tangled with  the  Jewish  law,  required  the  new 
and  direct  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  de- 
liver him;  but  we  see  that  the  method  taken. 


TO  PAUL  IN  CORmTH. 


with  him  xras  to  make  him  first  ponder  and  ]  see  the  same  tnndamental  law  in  operation; 
douU  about  his  former  prejudices,  before  the  the  miracle  leaves  something  still  in  the  rcve- 
perfect  will  of  GoJ  was  declosed  to  him.  And  lation  for  man's  own  appropriation  in  the  nat- 
thus,  notwithstanding  the  striking  difference  ural  way  ;  be  it  more  or  less,  there  is  ever  the 
iu  the  Lord's  dealings  with  Paul  and  Peter,  we    personal  and  voluntary  appropriation. 


TO  PAUL  IN  CORINTH. 
(Acts  xviii.  9,  10.) 


If  we  would  not,  with,  aTas  '  most  expositors, 
hurry  over  these  simple  and  yet  sublime  words 
to  Paul,  so  specially  significant  as  they  are, 
we  must  assist  our  living  apprehension  of  the 
whole  by  observing  the  entire  position  and 
state  of  mind  in  which  these  words  of  the  Lord 
found  him.  He  had  been  summoned,  by  the 
visit  of  the  man  from  Macedonia,  chap.  xvi.  9, 
to  Europe.  He  had  baptized  the  first-fruits  of 
European  Christendom,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  what  we  must  regard  as  the  most  flourish- 
ing and  interesting  of  the  apostolical  churches. 
Driven  from  Thessalonica  and  Bertea,  after 
brief  labors,  through  the  fury  of  the  Jews,  be 
uttered  a  mighty  and  most  public  testimony  in 
Athens — being  lor  a  considerable  space  without 
his  companions — but  with  little  success  among 
its  proud  disputants  and  babblers.  From 
Athens  he  proceeded  to  Corinth.  Athens 
aimed  rather  to  represent  the  past  of  Greece, 
now  degraded  from  its  glory,  and  prostrate 
under  the  Roman  power;  but  Corinth  was 
content  to  be  the  capital  of  Roman  Greece,  the 
residence  of  the  ruling  Proconsul  of  Achaia. 
While  in  Athens  what  was  left  of  Greek  science 
and  wisdom  still  sought  to  maintain  its  pre- 
eminence, Corinth  had  abandoned  itself  to  all 
the  vanity  and  debauchery  of  sensual  life. 
After  its  sack  by  Mumraius,  it  had  been  re- 
established in  all  its  former  glory,  as  the  so- 
called  "  ornament  of  Greece."  Nor  was  she 
wanting  in  art  and  science,  especially  in  that 
of  rhetoric,  as  referred  to  in  the  Epistles  to  the 
church  which  afterwards  arose  in  her ;  but  the 
predominant  characteristics  of  the  city,  as  she 
was  situated  on  the  isthmus  with  two  harbors, 
were  commerce,  riches,  magnificence,  wanton- 
ness, debauchery.  Not  the  goddess  of  wisdom, 
as  in  Athens,  but  Aprodite,  the  goddess  ot 
carnal  lust  (at  least,  as  she  had  now  become), 
had  the  most  celebrated  temple  ;  statues  were 
erected  to  eminent  prostitutes,  as  to  Lais  :  and 
the  Greek  piirase,  "  tolivs  in  Corinthian  fashion," 
was  expressive  of  all  extravagance  of  de- 
bauchery and  riot. 

This  was  the  place  to  v/hich  Paul  came  from 
Athens,  and  where  at  first  he  consorted,  as  a 
tentmaker,  with  a  Christian  Jew.  He  did  not 
delay,  indeed,  to  open  his  mouth  on  the  Sub- 
baths  to  the  Jews  in  the  Jewish  synagogues  ; 
but  thi.s  seems,  as  in  the  case  of  the  discourse 
adapted  to  tlic  Greeks  in  Athens,  to  have  borne 
the  character  rather  oi  a  preparatory,  calm  ex- 


position of  Scripture,  which  might  lead  the 
way  to  the  true  Messiah.  It  was  not  until  his 
companions,  Silas  and  Timothy,  who  had  been 
left  behind,  had  returned  to  him  bv  his  own 
desire  (chap.  xvii.  14,  15)  from  Macedonia, 
that  he  was  pressed  in  spirit — urged  hy  the 
tcord,  as  the  right  reading  has  it — to  testify  to 
the  Jews  concerning  the  person  of  Jesus,  that 
he  was  the  promised  Christ.  It  is  obvious,  ac- 
cording to  the  account  of  Luke,  that  this  return 
of  his  companions,  and  the  intelligence  which 
they  brought  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel, 
stood  in  the  connection  of  a  cause  with  the 
stronger  zeal  of  Paul;  and  this  is  directly 
stated  also  in  the  Epistle  which  was  written 
from  here  (1  Thess.  lii.  C-8).*  But  we  are 
not  on  that  account  to  understand  the  "  word," 
as  many  do,  of  the  narralivc  of  these  friends; 
for  such  a  meaning  the  expression  "  ike  word  " 
would  be  quite  unusual .  it  would  have  re- 
quired, at  hast,  "by  their  word."!  But  we 
must  understand  the  jvefaing,  just  as  in  2  Cor. 
V.  14;  the  living,  indwelling  word  of  God  in- 
wardly urges  the  Apostle  to  utter  all  its  ful- 
ness of  exhortation  and  promise.  It  is  a  very 
pregnant  form  of  speech,  which  may  be  inter- 
preted by  Jer.  sx.  8,  9. 

This  pressure  and  urgency  of  zeal  is  quite 
consistent  (as  in  the  prophets,  it  is  the  over- 
come opposite),  with  a  certain  weakness,  with  a 
degree  of  fearfulness  and  anxiety,  such  as  the 
Apostle,  di.spirited  by  want  of  success  in 
Athens,  had  brought  to  Corinth,  1  Cor.  ii.  3. 
After  he  had  in  Athens,  and  at  first  also  in 
Corinth,  adopted  a  style  of  discourse  which 
simply  paved  the  way  for  conviction,  by  enter- 
ing into  the  thoughts  and  subjects  which  he 
found  around  him,  he  now  begins,  simply  and 
emphaticallv,  to  know  and  to  preach  only  Jesus 
Christ  the  Crucified,  with  no  other  demonstra- 
tion than  that  of  the  Spirit,  and  of  the  power 
which  was  in  his  own  w -akness.  This  soon 
brings  men  to  decision.  The  Jmvs  contradict 
and  blaspheme;  so  that  he  shakes  the  dust 
from  his  feet  and  his  garments,  and  turns,  pure 
from  the  guilt  of  their  blood,  to  the  Gentiles. 


*  Thus  tlip  exposition  is  incorrect,  which  is  ac- 
cepted by  Alfonl :  When  Ihose  came,  f/ietj  found 
him  (more  than  before)  earnest  and  vehement  in 
preaching. 

+  Ewn  M?nken  :  "  How  inviscoraling  was  the 
influence)  of  his  friends'  wordj  !  " 


Acrrs  xviii.  9, 10. 


Hard  by  tlie  synagogue,  for  a  strong  standing 
testimony,  and,  as  it  were,  still  to  attract  the 
Jews,*  he  set  up  his  school  of  instruction ;  the 
chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue  (whom,  as  an  ex- 
ception, the  Apostle  himself  baptized,  1  Cor.  i. 
14),  with  many  other  Corinthians,  believed  and 
were  baptized. 

This  is  the  Apostle's  position  and  tone  of 
mind,  when  another  direct  word  of  his  Lord 
comes  to  him.  It  is  indeed  through  a  vision 
of  the  night  (as  in  chap.  xvi.  9),  yet  immedi- 
ately in  his  own  person,  that  Jesus  addresses 
the  man  who  was  elected  to  this  pre-eminent 
distinction  of  nearer  intercourse.  Afterwards 
in  Jerusalem,  chap.  -xtAW.  11,  it  was  once  more 
so ;  and,  finally,  an  angel  was  sent  to  Paul,  as 
to  others.  That  which  in  the  beginning,  when 
the  Apostles  were  in  prison,  was  the  office  of 
an  angel — the  comforting  encouragement  to 
speak  boldly  the  words  of  life  (chap.  v.  20)— 
the  Lord  here  assumes  for  himself:  Fear  not, 
lilt  (.peak  and  hep  not  ulence.  Still  coming  first 
the  same  word  of  encouraging  grace — so  need- 
ful to  us  poor  children  of  men — which  runs 
through  the  whole  of  Scripture  from  beginning 
to  end,  Wear  not  !  fiimon  Peter  heard  it  from 
the  lips  of  the  Lord  Jesus  when  his  call  to  be 
a  fisher  of  men  was  repeated,  Luke  v.  10. 
Abraham  received  it  first  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Gen.  XV.  1 — after  a  victory,  too,  like 
Paul  here ;  for  father  Adam  first  of  all  con- 
fessed in  l>ehalf  of  us  all — I  was  afraid.  The 
Lord  and  his  angels  often  say  it  in  the 
Old  Testament;  the  New  begins  wi.h  it  to 
Zacharias,  Mary,  Joseph,  the  shepherds.  The 
Lord  often  utters  it  during  his  earthly  life, 
down  to  John  xiv.  1  :  the  angels  at  the  sepul- 
chre of  the  Risen  Jesus  give  it  new  strength. 
The  ascended  and  glorified  Ptedeemer  inspires 
vigor  into  the  soul  of  John  at  Patnms  by  the 
■earn e  word.  Fear  not!  Ptev.  i.  17.  How  need- 
ful is  this  word  to  his  disciples  every  where 
and  in  all  ages;  and  how  ready  he  ever  is  to 
utter  it  to  them !  It  is  the  abiding  word  of 
the  Divine  Majesty  and  mercy  for  human  pov- 
erty, weakness,  and  guilt.  Paul  in  Corinth 
needed  it  pre-eminently,  as  the  Lord  well  knew. 
Without  were  fightings,  within  were  fears — 
this  was  the  ordinary  condition  of  the  Lord's 
ambassadors  in  the  world  :  2  Cor.  vii.  5  ;  John 
xvi.  33.  But  they  must  continually  take  fresh 
courage  for  their  duty,  that  they  may  ypeak  the 
v/ord  without  fear  (2  Tim.  iv.  2).  "  But«;»ml-, 
teach  and  preach,  testify  and  exhort  with  con- 
fidence, with  more  and  more  confidence,  and 
Iceep  not  dlence!"  is  the  Lord's  word  to  Paul. 
This  latter  is  not  added  merely  as  the  emphatic 
close  of  th-e  solemn  saying,  or  as  an  expressive 
repetition  ;  but  it  has  the  meaning  of  the  Old- 
Testament  phrase,  as  in  Isa.  Iviii.  1-  Ixii.  1,  6. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  further,  that  the  Lord 
here  (as  in  chap,  xxiii.  11)  graciously  acknow- 
ledges and  confirms  Paul's  former  witness  in 
Corinth ;  it  is  as  if  he  said  with  commendation 


*  Not  so  entirely  separated  as  afterwards  in 
Sphesiis,  chap.  sis.  a, 


— "  What  thou  hast  already  spoken  has  been 
well  spoken;  go  on  confidently,  and  change 
uot." 

What,  then,  could  cause  the  Apostle  to  err, 
and  make  him  fear?  The  glance  at  opposition 
and  the  host  of  persecutors.  Therefore,  fol- 
lows, as  the  first  for  of  reason  for  not  fearing, 
an  assurance  of  help  ;  and  then  a  secoml/b/'of 
reason  for  speaking  boldlj' — a  positive  promise 
of  great  success.  For  I  am  zvith  thee,  and  no 
man  shall  set  upon  thee  to  hurt  thee,  or  to  in- 
flict evil  upon  thee.  Sublime  repetition  of  the 
farewell  left  in  Matt,  xxviii.  20,  which  yet  was 
no  farewell.  Maje.«tic  words,  in  the  manner  of 
the  Most  High  God,  who  has  said  from  the  be- 
ginning so  many  times,  "/am  with  thee — / 
am  with  you  !  "  Such  promises  did  not  insure 
the  Apostles  generally  against  the  suffering  of 
many  evils,  and  death  itself  (John  xvi.  2) — in 
the  case  of  Paul  the  keenest  persecution,  even 
unto  stoning,  was  not  excluded  ;  but  the  word 
has  liere  a  more  specific  meaning  for  his  testi- 
mony in  Corinth,  and  gives  a  pledge :  "  No 
harm  shall  befall  thee,  in  life  and  person,  here  ; 
no  hand  shall  be  laid  upon  thee  " — as  the  orig- 
inal runs.  And  we  read  the  fulfillment.  The 
mild  Proconsul  Gallio  (brother  of  the  philos- 
opher Seneca)  calmed  the  people,  just  as  the 
town-clerk  did  afterwards  in  Ephesus  ;  but  not 
as  the  magistracy  in  Philippi,  who  yielded  to 
the  clamors  of  the  mob  of  his  enemies.  Sos- 
thenes  is  beaten  (ver.  17) — but  Paul  goes  free, 
and  remains  as  long  as  he  will ;  preaching  un- 
hindered and  unhurt  for  eighteen  months  in 
this  city.  All  this  is  under  the  control  of  the 
Lord  ;  he  suffers  to  set  upon,  or  restrains  from 
setting  upon,  his  followers  as  he  will.  This  is 
the  great  consolation  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
evil  which  is  permitted. 

Still  more.  Not  only  should  no  man  hurt 
him,  which  to  the  Apostle  was  the  lesser  thing, 
but  the  true  and  essential  encouragement  is 
given  to  save  him  from  all  despondency — Thou 
shalt  have  much  fruit  with  thy  protected  tes- 
timony. For  I  have  much  (countless)  people 
in  this  city.  Concerning  Jerusalem  the  Lord 
said — Go  hence,  for  they  will  not  receive  thy 
testi.mony  concerning  me.  But  concerning  this 
city  he  saith,  I  have  much  people  in  it — and 
that  city  is  Corinth.  We  must  consider  a  while 
what  kind  of  a  city  Corinth  was,  to  discern  all 
the  significance  of  these  words.  This  city — the 
Lord  does  not  so  speak  as  if  he  merely  would 
not  mention  the  name,  but  for  the  sake  of  em- 
phasis— this  city,  not  only  heathenish,  but  sunk 
deeper  than  others  into  the  deepest  abomina- 
tions of  heathenism,  this  basest  and  most  no- 
torious city  of  all  that  proudly  bear  the  name 
in  this  dark  world.  He  who  in  his  humble 
life  on  earth  limited  himself,  for  Israel's  sake, 
to  one  small  corner  of  the  earth,  and  who  had 
never  seen  any  fragment  of  the  wretched  glory 
of  Greece  and  Rome — he,  the  same  Jesus, 
knows  all  things,  and  is  every  where  present  in 
his  energy.  Of  hira  it  is  true,  that  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord  run  to  and  fro  throughout  tiie 
whole  .earth,  and  through  all  .cities — ndt  only 


890 


TO  PAUL  IN  BONDS  AT  JERUSALEM. 


to  show  himself  strong  in  the  behalf  of  them 
whose  heart  ia  perfect  towards  bira  (2  Chron. 
xvi.  9),  but  also  that  he  may  seek  out  and 
visit  in  his  grace,  for  their  salvation,  all  who 
in  any  degree  turn  their  hearts  towards  him, 
and,  whether  consciously  or  unconsciously,  are 
prepared  to  receive  hini.  He  who  once  on  his 
way  to  the  death  of  the  Good  Shepherd  pro- 
phetically spoke,  in  his  authority  original  and 
to  be  resumed,  of  the  other  sheep  not  of  this 
fold — now  terms  from  heaven  "  the  children  of 
God  scattered  abroad"  (John  xi.  52),  in  the 
blasphemous  city  of  Corinth,  a  paypie  which 
already  belonged  to  himself;  because  they  were 
to  be  collected  together  and  united  with  his 
one  great  people,  which  has  now  taken  the 
place  of  the  ancient  revolted  people  of  God, 

This  meant  for  Paul,  sent  to  the  people  and 
to  the  Gentiles,  "Behold,  if  thou  must  go 
from  the  Jews — shaking  the  dust  from  thy  feet, 
and  leaving  their  blood  upon  their  own  head — 
the  Gentiles,  to  whom  thou  hast  turned,  will 

five  both  to  me  and  thee  the  rich  compensation, 
lany  Corinthians  have  believed,  many  more 
will  believe;  so  that  it  shall  become  a  great 
Church :  I  shall  have  much  people  in  this  city." 
This  says  to  all  his  messengers  and  disciples 
every  where,  and  in  all  circumstances,  "  Be 
comforted :  I  have  already  those  who  shall  be 
mine  own ;  I  know  and  guard,  I  collect  and 
feed,  as  the  Great  Shepherd,  all  who  will  be- 
lieve on  me."  But  it  also  contains  its  conso- 
latory warning  against  precipitate  judgment 
upon  the  ruin  of  the  world.  Many  a  believing 
Christian  might  have  beheld  reprobate  Corinth 
with  eyes  very  different  from  the  Lord's,  and 
might  have  thought  that  all  the  Apostle's  zeal. 


labor,  and  patience  were  expended  in  vain — ^bnt 
it  was  not  as  man's  estimate  might  think  :  the 
Lord  looketh  at  the  hearts  of  men.  The  man 
of  Macedonia  had  not  called  the  Apostle  over 
to  Macedonia  alone.  In  all  Achaia,  and  in  re- 
gions be3'ond,  souls  were  waiting  for  help. 
Athens  had  for  the  present  proudly  rejected 
the  Gospel — but  the  equally  proud  and  still 
more  trifling  Corinth  concealed  within  her- 
self a  great  multitude  of  people  of  the  Cru- 
cified, soon  to  be  revealed  ;  lor  open  and  aban- 
doned sinners  are  nearer  to  grace  than  the 
darkly  wise  and  prudent.  A  foolish  sermon  of 
the  tentmaker — a  man  of  the  despised  Jewish 
people,  and  by  them  cast  out  and  persecuted — 
finds  in  this  wicked  city  many  believers.  And 
so  the  great  Church  still,  having  to  wage  in- 
cessant war  with  surrounding  impurities  and 
corruptions,  which  invade  her  and  more  or  less 
cling  to  herself,  is  yet  a  Church  of  the  Lord, 
concerning  which  and  to  which  the  Apostle 
may  utter  the  words  with  which  he  begins  hia 
first  Epistle,  1  Cor.  i.  2-9.  Because  among 
them  the  power  of  the  Spirit  had  superabun- 
dantly demonstrated  itself,  he  can  call  thii 
Church  pre-eminently  the  seal  of  his  Apostle- 
ship  (1  Cor.  ix.  2)  if  not,  like  that  of  the 
Philippians,  his  joy  and  his  crown.  How 
many  times  did  this  word  of  his  Lord  concern- 
ing the  much  people  in  this  city  encourage  and 
animate  him  in  his  real  for  the  betrothed  of 
Christ,  that  it  might  be  presented  to  him  as 
a  chaste  virgin  !  (2  Cor.  ii.  2).  For  the  great 
prophecy  and  assurance  points  onwards,  be- 
yond all  conflict  and  perversion,  to  the  glorious 
consummation  1  iuioe  already  much  people. 


TO  PAUL  IN  BONDS  AT  JERUSALEM. 


Acts  xxiii.  11. 


Again  a  fruitful  period  of  the  Apostle's  ac- 
tivity— according  to  the  most  probable  reckon- 
ing, a  space  of  about  six  years  since  the  arrival 
in  Corinth  lies  behind  us.  After  a  short  abode 
in  Ephesus,  he  went  up  at  Pentecost  to  greet 
the  Mother  Church  in  Jerusalem  ;*  he  then 
tarried  a  while  in  Antioch  (we  observe  that  he 
retains  his  connection  with  the  chief  cities) ; 
he  then  went  through  Galatia  and  Phrygia; 
and  has  now  preached  for  two  years  in  Ephesus, 
with  great  success,  against  all  kinds  of  idolatry 


♦  So  chap,  xviii.  22  must  be  understood  in  its 
"  coingup  "  and  "  saluting  the  Church  " — ihis  last 
always  referring  pre-eminently  to  Jerusalem.  This 
is  a  louith  jou-iiey  to  Jerusalpm  ;  though  only  a 
short  greeting  in  the  calm  circle  of  the  brethren. 
Now  it  is  TenUcoat  instead  of  Easier  :  comp. 
again  chap.  xx.  1&. 


and  necromancy.  In  the  ancient  metropolis  of 
all  the  black  arts  he  demonstrates  the  might 
of  the  name  of  Jesus,  with  accompaniment  of 
mighty  miracles.  Further,  travelling  through 
Macedonia  and  Achaia,  the  Apostle,  urged  in 
spirit,  contemplated  Jentmletn,  and  even  al- 
ready liome,  as  the  goal  of  his  journey.  In  thfl 
way,  hastening  to  Pentecost,  he  takes  his 
farewell  in  Miletus  of  the  eldei-s  of  Ephesus, 
for  he  knows  that  he  will  not  come  again  to 
them.  Now  he  is  in  Jerusalem  ;  holds  friendly 
colloquy  with  James  and  the  elders;  and, 
yielding  to  counsel,  allays  the  mistrust  of  the 
bigoted  Jewish  Christians  by  a  legal  compli- 
ance in  the  temple.  But  this  very  circum- 
stance excites,  through  a  probably  wilful  mis- 
understanding, the  wrath  of  the  Jews:  he  i» 
seized  in  the  insurrection  ;  and  thus — according 
to  hi3  desire,  though  not  in  the  way  that  h* 


ACTS  XXIII.  11. 


891 


thought — an  opportunity  ia  given  him  for  a 
final  testimony  to  Israel  in  the  metropolis.  It 
is  the  last  most  important  condescension  of 
the  abounding  grace  of  the  Lord,  which  ap- 
peals yet  once  more  to  this  hardened  and  re- 
jected" Jerusalem.  How  the  Apostle  narrated 
his  history  and  bore  his  testimony  before  the 
people,  we  have  already  seen.  When  he  came 
to  the  word  concerning  his  being  sent  to  the 
Oentiles,  all  hearing  was  over ;  their  rage  burst 
forth  ;  and  only  the  Roman  power  could  rescue 
him  from  the  wrath  of  the  Jews — bound  still, 
however,  because  some  kind  of  guilt  seemed  to 
fasten  upon  him.  The  next  day  he  is  brought 
before  the  supreme  council  in  Jerusalem  ;  and 
for  the  first  time,  though  he  has  been  in  Jeru- 
salem four  times  before.  And  it  proceeds  as  if 
the  council  must  give  an  account  of  the  insur- 
rection against  this  man,  rather  than  as  if  he 
had  to  make  his  defence.  They  had  this 
notorious  and  most  hateful  leader  of  the  sect 
of  the  Nazarenes,  this  man  who  was  once  their 
Saul,  before  them,  and  under  the  protection  of 
the  Romans.  After  the  Apostle,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  embarrassment,  had  begun 
the  discourse ;  after  he  had  reproved  in  the 
high  priest  the  unrighteous  blow,  and  had 
seemingly  retracted  in  keen  and  severe  irony 
his  reproof;  after  he  had,  with  great  prudence 
and  in  perfect  consistency  with  truth,  avowed 
himself  to  belong  to  the  Pharisaic  orthodox 
Judaism,  which  held  to  the  hope  of  a  resurrec- 
tion— there  was  a  disgraceful  division  and  wild 
uproar  in  the  council  itself,  so  that  the  Roman 
captain  had  to  rescue  him  from  the  hands  of 
these  most  honorable  men  to-day,  as  yesterday, 
from  the  rabble. 

This  was  the  day,  on  the  night  follomng  which 
(as  it  runs  literaUy)  the  Lord  came  to  him 
once  more  with  a  personal  address.  This  was 
certainly  an  important  crisis  in  the  progress  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  last  fruitless  testi- 
mony in  Jerusalem  before  the  people  and  the 
council,  had  resulted  only  in  public  exaspera- 
tion, in  the  secret  increase  of  their  hardening, 
and  in  the  more  grievous  exhibition  of  the  un- 
righteousness which  restrained  the  truth;  but 
connected  with  this  was  the  delivering  up  of 
the  greatest  witness  of  the  Gospel  to  the  au- 
thority of  Rome,  which  for  a  while  shows  it- 
self more  just  than  Pilate  formerly  was,  who 
surrendered  to  all  the  clamors  of  the  people 
(chap.  XXV.  16;  xxvi.  31,  32).  After  the 
tumult,  w&rse  now  on  the  part  of  the  Jews, 
there  is  miserable  disorder  and  dissolution  in 
the  council  itself;  on  the  other  hand,  a  Roman 
warrant  interferes  for  the  Apostle's  "full  protec- 
tion. We  should  not  push  the  significance  of 
these  occurrences  so  far  as  Baumgarten  does, 
who  regards  them  as  marking  a  great  histori- 
cal change  in  the  relations  oi  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles :  to  wit ;  that  Israel  was  from  this  time 
dismissed  (saving  his  future),  and  that  a  Gen- 
tile mission,  a  Gentile  Apostolate,  and  a  Gen- 
tile Christendom,*  was  for  a  long  period  as  it 

*  For,  even  at  the  end  of  the  Acta  of  the  Apos- 


were  exclusively  to  enter  in.  Yet  they  do 
indicate  a  turning  point,  at  which  it  was  most 
appropriate  that  the  Lord's  specific  encourage- 
ment should  be  given  to  Paul,  so  strangely 
placed  as  he  now  was  between  the  two  powers 
of  the  world. 

Thus,  in  the  night  after  this  great  day,  in 
which  the  Apostle  had  done  what  his  Lord  had 
commanded  him  to  do  before  the  supreme  court 
of  his  people,  still  dear  to  him  in  their  blind- 
ness, had  rebuked  the  "  whited  wall"  with 
prophecy  of  judgment,  and  then  in  this  last 
term  of  the  Lord's  forbearance  conceded  to  the 
people  their  "  high  pHest,"  and  made  a  final 
attempt  to  lay  hold  on  what  was  still  good 
among  them  by  appealing  to  the  "  Pharisees" 
in  this  half-heretic  council  to  defend  his  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection — in  this  night,  when 
all  the  mighty  feelings  and  thoughts  of  the 
Apostle's  human  sonl  were  in  strong  agitation, 
concurrently  with  and  amid  the  inspirations  of 
the  Spirit,  and  he  was  doubtless  severely  tried 
by  a  certain  anxiety  as  to  the  issue  of  his  com- 
plicated position — the  Lord  st  od  once  more 
by  him,  to  strengthen  him  by  his  recognition 
and  promise.  The  brief  word  is  not  expressly 
connected  with  any  mention  either  of  trance 
or  vision ;  only  the  night  gives  us  a  hint  of  a 
dream  or  vision.  But  the  Lord's  "  standing  by 
him  "*  assures  us  of  an  actual  manifestation,  in 
some  manner  visible  and  audible,  as  in  chap, 
xxii.  17,  18.  Therefore  we  ought  not  and  will 
not,  like  the  bulk  of  expositors,  rapidly  pass 
over  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus  spoken  out 
of  heaven,  but  give  them  their  especial  pro- 
minence in  our  exposition. 

Be  of  good  courage,  Paul!  For  as  thou 
hast  testified  of  me  in  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou 
also  bear  witness  in  Borne.  The  manner  and 
substance  of  these  sayings  from  heaven,  after 
the  first  at  Damascus  which  had  its  own  pecu- 
liarity, are  much  the  same  throughout.  The 
ground  of  the  command  or  encouragement  is 
given  hy  for,  the  great  subject  is  ever  the  testi- 
mony, the  course  appointed  for  it  is  the  same, 
and  always  the  majestic  /,  of  me.  There  is 
something  peculiar  here  in  the  mentioning  by 
name,  the  first  time  since  Damascus,  and  that 
the  now  prominent  name  of  Paul.  The  un- 
favorable manuscript  criticism  will  not  per- 
suade us  to  strike  out  the  appellation  ;  the 
naked  "  Be  of  good  courage,"  so  curt  in  the 
original  Greek,  does  not  seem  to  us  enough. f 
This  appeal  was  always  connected  with  some- 


ties,  in  Rome,  Paul  begins  again  with  the  J.  ws, 
with  his  acknowledsment  of  ihe  hope  ot  Israel ; 
nnd  it  was  to  the  Romans  he  wrote  that  Israel 
should  never  be  given  up. 

*  'Eirtdrai,  comp.  Luke  ii.  9 ;  Txiv.  4 ;  Acts 
xii.  7,  of  angels;  as  in  Luke  xx.  1,  Acts  iv.  4,  and 
xxiii.  27  (this  chaptei )  of  approaching  men. 

f  All  the  critics,  from  Griesbach  downwards, 
strike  out  the  addition  ;  Knapp  alone  leaves  it  un- 
decided. The  testimonies  in  its  favor  are  not  in- 
significant, and  to  our  leeiing  Bomelbing  i»  wanb- 
ing  to  the  Qdpdet. 


892 


TO  PAUL  IN  BONDS  AT  JERUSALEM. 


thing  else  in  the  Lord's  lips,  either  with  direct 
address  to  the  person  or  with  II  is  I.  It  is  not, 
in  the  New  Testament,  altogether  the  same  as 
Ftav  fiot!*  which  once  at  least  in  the  apocry- 
phal book  of  Judith,  chap.  xi.  1,  is  connected 
with  it  (Tobit  xii.  17,  only  in  Luther).  Thus 
the  Apostle's  courage  is  rather  strengthened, 
than  his  fear  expressly  taken  away.  His  soul 
was  not,  indeed,  at  this  time  filled  with  pure 
confidence  unalloyed  by  anxiety  ;  his  nature 
might  well  feel  infirmity,  while  as  the  "  man  in 
Christ"  he  was  uttering  his  testimony  in  the 
light  and  strength  of  the  Spirit;  and,  that 
being  over,  he  must  afterwards  have  felt  it  still 
more.  His  position  was  now — beyond  any 
thing  that  he  had  anticipated — so  confused  and 
perplexed  between  the  Roman  authorities,  the 
council,  and  the  people,  that  the  best  prospect 
■was  a  wearisome  imprisonment,  with  moreover 
the  danger  of  all  kinds  of  malicious  plots  against 
Lim.  How  stood  it  now  with  his  purpose, 
after  Jerusalem  to  visit  Rome  also  ?  The  pru- 
dent thought  of  appealing  to  Ciesar,  which 
was  suggested  by  the  development  of  the 
event,  he  had  certainly  not  as  yet  pondered 
and  determined  on.  As  of  his  Roman  citizen- 
ship, so  also  of  the  right  of  appeal  bound  up 
with  it,  he  can  make  exceptional  use  only 
■when  the  Lord's  directing  guidance  suggested 
and  required  it.  Thus  Paul  was  anxious, 
prayed  probably  this  night  for  light  and 
strength  from  his  Lord,  and  he  obtained  his 
answer.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  not 
regard  him  as  assailed  by  fear,  as  in  Corinth  ; 
still  less  must  we  assume,  what  Schafi"  so 
strongly  expresses,  that  "  exhausted  by  many 
fatigiies,  overwhelmed  with  anxiety  and  des- 
pondency, he  might  lose  sight  of  his  plan  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  Rome."  The  "  Be  of 
good  courage  I "  does  not  seem  to  us  to  go  on 
such  a  supposition  ;  but  rather  to  carry  with 
it  a  commending  acknowledgment  of  the  faith- 
ful servantt — So  far  all  is  iceU,  he  still,  of  good 
courage !  And  the  rather,  as  the  reason  given 
for  the  encouragement,  before  the  promise, 
contains  in  itself  a  gracious  acknowledgment. 

As  thou  Iiast  borne  witness  of  me  in  Jerusalem, 
that  is,  speaking  after  our  common  manner,  a 
testimony  of  the  satisfaction  of  his  Lord  and 
King  with  his  conduct.  So — strange  that  the 
force  of  this  is  almost  universally  overlooked 
— gives  our  Lord's  own  favorable  judgment  in 
confirmation  of  our  exposition  of  Paul's  de- 
portment recently  before  the  council.  Paul 
did  not  commit  himself  in  passion  and  precipi- 
tation when  he  rebuked  the  high  priest,  so  that 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  retract  with  the  un- 
imaginable and  almost  false  apology — I  knew 
not,  or  rodected  not,  that  ho  was  the  high 
priest.  We  cannot  think  that,  at  this  first 
most  important  defence  of  the  great  witness 
before  the  council,  that  grace  which  was  at 


*  Yet  in  the  Sspt,  K"i^n"?K  tea  times  (accord- 
iug  to  Kircher)  is  translated  by  Bccpdet. 
f  Matt.  XV.  HI,  iu  the  Greek  tu  precedes. 


other  times  so  abounding  within  him  failed  his 
spirit,  and  that  the  Spirit  promised  for  such 
emergencies  ceased  altogether  to  guide  him — 
so  that  he  fell  to  the  level  of  Ananias,  whom 
he  rebuked,  in  his  human  wrath.  In  truih 
Paul  could  not  before  this  miserable  council 
have  so  unworthily  exposed  the  cause  of  his 
Lord,  which  was  in  the  estimation  of  his 
enemies  one  with  his  own  person,  as  to  ask 
forgiveness  for  a  judgment  perfectly  just. 
That  would  have  been,  at  least  in  the  eyes 
of  his  malignant  foes,  at  once  to  impeach 
by  his  own  conduct  the  bold  avowal  with 
which  he  had  commenced,  ver.  1.  No,  the 
Lord  does  not  thus  abandon  his  saints  in  the 
critical  time,  and  suffer  his  representatives  and 
messengers  thus  to  fall.  The  Lord  had  stood 
by  Paul  in  the  dav,  even  as  he  stood  before 
him  in  the  night.  Thus  the  Apostle  had  right- 
ly and  worthily  iotijied  in  Jerusalem,  as  the 
Lord  says.  The  appeal  to  his  good  conscience 
from  the  beginning  was  in  opposition  to  these 
miscreants  and  knaves,  quite  right.  The  cry 
that  he  was  a  Pharisee,  that  he  held  with 
those  in  the  council  who  held  the  resurrection, 
was  not  a  human  expedient  of  cra'"t  to  extri- 
cate himself  from  difficulty  (against  which  the 
Apostle  himself  had  befure  protested,  chap. 
XX.  2-1),  but  it  was  the  last  condescension  of 
merciful  love,  v/hich  the  Lord  himself  directed 
him  to  exhibit.  The  appeal  to  this  party  feel- 
ing within  the  council  itself  was  a  most  legiti- 
mate and  solemn  protest  against  the  sitting  of 
unbelieving  heretics  in  the  midst  of  it — a  pro- 
test against  the  verdict  upon  the  word  of  the 
resurrection  given  by  those  who  already  in 
their  theory  had  rejected  it.  But  it  was  more 
than  this,  it  was  a  demonstration  of  supreme 
compassion  and  grace  ;  the  well-known  Gospel 
of  Christ,  which  was  the  real  point  of  dispute 
throughout  the  proceedings,  condescended  to 
appeal  to  the  one  only  existing  feeling  in  the 
council  of  which  it  could  take  advantage ; 
Paul  in  this  last  great  testimony  at  Jerusalem, 
cries  out  all  the  more  urgently  "the  more  vehe- 
mently they  reject  him — The  "true  and  genuine 
Judaism  is  nevertheless  on  my  side  (comp. 
chap,  xxviii.  20).  Because  thej"- answered  him 
only  by  blows,  ihe  Apostle's  prapherj  (not  rail- 
ing) proceeded — God  will  smite  thee!  and  it 
not  merely  fell  upon  Ananias  (who  according 
to  Josephus  was  soon  afterwards  smitten),  but 
was  a  general  denunciation  upon  all  who  lall 
under  the  just  judgment  of  God.* 

"  As  thou  hast  borne  witness  concerning  me 
in  Jerusalem  "  means,  certainly,  "  As  praise- 
worthily  and  as  rightly,  not  marring  the  in- 
fluence of  thy  testimony  by  impropriety  and 
defect.  So  must,  shall,  and  wilt,  thou  also  in 
Jtoine  bear  witness."  That  which  the  Apostle 
in  chilp.  xix.  21  had  proposed  to  himself  for 
the  first  time  in  the  Spirit,  not   in  his  own 


*  Thi"?  whole  scene  before  the  council  lias  been 
most  lully,  and,  ns  tar  as  I  know,  more  distinctly 
than  any  where  else,  depicied  iu  my  Mccien  dor 
A^ostel, 


2  COR.  XII.  9. 


Bpirit  but  through  divine  impulse,  is  here  con- 
firmed by  the  Lord,  as  it  is  afterwards,  chap. 
xxvii.  24,  once  more  by  the  angel,  when  in  the 
peril  of  shipwreck  all  prospect  of  its  accom- 
plishment might  seem  to  be  shut  out.  As 
thou  hast  borne  witness,  thou  shalt  bear  wit- 
ness :  the  former,  which  had  taken  pl.-xce,  is  the 
pledge  of  the  latter,  which  should  take  place. 
"  Thou  shalt  still  bear  witness  according  to 
thy  vocation  " — this  is  the  powerful  and  essen- 
tial encourafjement  which  the  Lord  addresses  to 
his  servant,  who  in  all  his  infirmity  desired 
only  to  testify  unto  death.  In  the  two  great 
capitals  of  the  then  known  world,  the  city  of 
God  and  the  city  of  CjBsar  (the  latter  the 
goal  of  the  Acts),  he  should  bear  and  proclaim 
the  name  of  Jesus.  The  city  of  Ctesar,  the 
city  of  the  world,  had  also  its  high  calling  and 
destination  for  the  kingdom  of  God — alas  1 
she  fulfilled  it  but  a  short  time,  and  soon  base- 
ly fell  from  it.  It  is  already  hinted  by  the  Lord 
that  this  imprisonment  in  the  hands  of  the 
Romans  was  to  be  the  means  to  that  end  ;  for 
the  as  and  the  so  contain  in  this  concise  saying 
more  than  one  meaning.  As  was  the  past,  so 
surely  will  be  the  future — as  thou  hast  riffhtly 
borne  witness — and  finally,  as  an  undertone 
for  the  Apostle's  reflection,  as  hound  at  Jeru- 
salem, so  also  with  these  bonds  in  Rome. 
Thus  there  is  set  before  the  Apostle  new  labor 
in  continuing  tribulation,  and  that  itself  was 
real  encouragement  to  the  apostolical  spirit  of 
testimony. 

"  Bear  witno-ss  of  me — to  faith  in  me"  (chap. 
xxvi.  18).  We  have  not  yet  remarked  that 
this  is  not  strictly  according  to  the  original, 
•which  means,  "  bear  witness  of  the  things  con- 
cerning me,  my  cause."  It  is  not  merely  the 
common  Greek  paraphrase  for  the  person,  but 
indicates,  by  a  fine  and  striking  expression  as 
■well  the  narrated  account  before  the  people  as 
the  maintenance  before  the  council  of  the  de- 
cisive testimony  concerning  Jesus  in  the  doc- 


trine of  the  resurrection  (compare  chap.  xxv. 
19  with  chap.  i.  22,  iv.  2,  33).  From  the  fact 
that  the  saying  contains  precise  delicacies  of 
Greek  expression,*  we  might  suppose  (though 
no  more)  that  the  Lord  did  not  on  this  occa- 
sion speak  to  the  Apostle  in  Hebrew,  but  in 
the  now  to  him  current  missionary  language, 
Greek  ;  and  this  would  have  its  own  affecting 
significance,  besides  confirming  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  personal  address  by  the  name  Paul, 
as  this  was  the  Greek  form  instead  of  Saul. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  the  final  emphasis  of  the 
whole  saying  rests  upon  the  disclosed  mii.%t  or 
shall  (compare  chap.  ix.  6  and  16)  by  which 
the  absolutely  certain  pre-ordained  future  is  in- 
dicated. 

This  was  not  yet  the  last  time  that  the  Lord 
spoke  to  Paul.  Besides  the  words  preserved 
in  2  Cor.  xii.  9,  we  read  elsewhere  of  visions, 
manifestations,  and  revelations,  the  particu- 
lars of  which  are  not  recorded.  Tiiese  repeat- 
ed revelations  were  a  compensation  for  the 
lack  of  that  intercourse  with  Jesus  in  the 
flesh  which  was  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  other  Apostles  stood ;  and  a  continual 
strengthening  of  Paul's  confidence  in  the  inde- 
pendent way  which  was  marked  out  for  him, 
and  which  to  him  was  to  be  so  peculiarly  full 
of  suffering.  There  was  a  considerable  inter- 
val of  testfor  his  patience  and  faith  between 
Jerusalem  and  Rome;  but  this  word  of  his 
Lord  was  the  pole-star  to  him  in  all  the  dark- 
ness of  his  way.  It  constantly  assured  him  in 
every  crisis  of  peril  that  there  was  an  invio- 
lable ordination  concerning  him — that  his  life 
could  not  be  sacrificed  to  the  wrath  of  the 
Jews;|  that  his  imprisonment  should  issue  in 
public  testimony  ;  that  the  sea  should  not 
swallow  him  up,  and  the  viper  not  do  him 
harm.  Therefore  it  was  that,  during  this  im- 
prisonment, the  Apostle  wrote  such  letters  of 
energy  and  consolation. 


TO  PAUL  IN  HIS  INFIRMITY. 


(2  Cor.  XII.  9.) 


In  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians — although 
we  should  not,  humanly  speaking,  have  ex- 
pected such  special  confidence  to  this  church — 
the  Apostle  has  most  entirely  exposed  himself, 
and  his  whole  personality,  to  intimate  inspec- 
tion. He  so  fully  exhibits  his  official  voca- 
tion and  work,  the  way  in  which  God's  power 
wrought  in  his  words,  and  the  effectual  de- 
monstration of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  it  was 
proved  in  the  influence  which  he  was  able  to 
exert  upon  others,  that  these  two  Epistles 
Vr'ould  of  themselves  furnish  ample  material,  if 
properly  drawn_out  and  arranged,  for  a  treatise 
with  the  title,  "The  Apostle^ Va.nl,  delineated 
by  himself."     Still  more,  he  lays  bare  to  these 


Corinthians  the  inmost  merits  of  his  most  per- 
sonal intercourse  with  the  Lord,  in  a  manner  of 
which  we  find  no  other  example.  He  presents 
his  entire  personality  so  fully  as  to  make  these 
Corinthians  see  that  this  great  Apostle  was  by 


*  Not  only  this  rd  itspi  kuov,  but  also  the  in- 
tenser  word  diejuaforipoj,  as  also  both  times  eii 
'Ispov6a\int,  eii  'P&ua/v  :  wliich  scarcely 
st.mds  for  Iv,  but  is  used  in  the  latt  r  case  like 
ei?  naxpnVf  chap.  ii.  39,  and  of  Jerusalem  also 
for  the  sake  of  similarity. 

f  Their  murderous  counsel,  in  ver.  12,  foMows 
in  miserable  opposition  to  tlie  Lord's  appoint- 
ment. 


TO  PAUL  IN  HIS  INFIRMITY. 


nature  a  man  like  themselves  (James  v.  17)  ; 
and  thus  gives  us  in  these  Epistles  an  impres- 
sive and  most  important  example  of  the 
proper  appreciation  of  the  personal  character, 
in  opposition  to  the  absolute  authority  of  any 
office  whatever,  even  the  apostolical,  which  it 
is  sought  to  isolate  from  that  character,  and 
make  independent  of  it.  All  this  is  perfectly 
natural;  for  what  is  the  Apostle's  aim?  He 
would  suppress  and  rectify  the  spiritual-carnal 
pride  which  was  so  conspicuous  in  the  Cor- 
inthians :  he  would  defend  the  authority  and 
dignity  of  his  own  despised  office.  But  how 
could  he  more  fitly  accomplish  this  than  by 
revealing  to  them  the  power  of  God  in  his  own 
weakness,  teaching  them  humility  by  his  own 
lowliness,  rebuking  and  exhorting  them,  not 
by  words  only,  but  by  setting  before  them  the 
most  direct  and  living  example  of  his  own  life 
and  experience? 

In  this  we  find  the  key  for  the  interpretation 
of  the  strain  and  peculiarity  of  the  Epistles  to 
the  Corinthians  generally  ;  and  particularly  a 
solution  of  the  reason  why  we  find  in  this 
place  that  word  of  the  Lord  which  we  now  con- 
sider, and  which  is  the  only  immediately 
spoken  word  of  Christ  recorded  in  Scripture 
between  the  Acts  and  the  Revelation.  Paul 
must  speak  of  the  labors  and  successes  which 
legitimated  bis  office ;  but  he  would  rather 
speak,  in  addition,  of  his  afflictions.  It  is  ne- 
cessary that  he  should  glory  against  them  as  a 
fool ;  but  in  his  wisdom  he  glories  after  such  a 
manner  that  God's  glory  alone  results,  and 
his  own  is  brought  to  naught.  He  is  con- 
strained to  tell  them  of  high  revelations  ;  but 
he  places  beside  them  his  own  deep  infirmity  ; 
and  distinguishes  so  affectingly  the  "man  in 
Christ"  from  himself,  that  his  absolute  subjec- 
tion and  nothingness  bofore  his  Master  is  the 
only  result  of  all.  It  is  in  this  connection, 
after  the  teaching  which  so  wonderfully  blends 
together  in  his  own  example  humiliation  and 
encouragement,  that  he  relates  for  all  Chris- 
tians in  common  what  (among  other  things) 
the  Lord  had  said  to  him  in  the  agony  of  his 
uttermost  trials. 

But — I  hear  the  reader  ask — have  we  really 
any  right  to  place  this  word  also  among  the 
proper  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  ? 
Very  many  expositors  look  at  it  otherwise, 
and  regard  it  as  merely  an  expression  of  an 
answer  of  the  Lord  through  his  Spirit  within 
Paul — such  an  answer  as  any  petitioner  might 
obtain.  But  is  it  this,  and  no  more?  May 
we  resolve  the  expression,  "The  Lord  said 
unto  roe,"  into  the  mere  suggestion  of  the 
Lord's  Spirit,  as  if  it  meant,  "The  Lord  in- 
spired me  with  the  conviction,  and  it  was  to 
me  as  if  he  had  spoken  ? "  Assuredly  not, 
dear  readers.  The  man  like  ourselves  was 
also  jicadiarly  favored  above  other  men,  and 
stood  in  a  nearer  relation  of  internal  fellow- 
ship than  that  would  imply.  When  he  simply 
relates  this  speaking  of  the  Lord  to  himself,  as 
something  not  unusual,  he  gives  us  plainly  to 
understand  that  he  had  more  than  once  re- 


ceived express  and  audible  communications 
of  this  kind.  Immediately  before  he  had 
been  speaking  of  visions,  and  revelations,  and 
trances.  When  he  new  gives  us  a  view  of  his 
tribulations,  he  shows  that  his  Lord  had  not 
been  less  near  to  him  m  them.  It  is  true  that 
we  here  approach  the  boundary  where  the  per- 
sonal direct  address  of  the  Lord,  this  time  cer- 
tainly without  any  vision  or  appearance,  pass- 
es over  into  the  Spirit's  ordinary  method  of 
communing  with  our  spirits,  in  which  believers 
are  continually  receiving  his  words;  and  many 
childlike,  simple  souls  may  dare  to  say,  simi- 
larly to  the  Apostle — Thus  did  the  Lord  Jesus 
speak  to  me.  But  still  there  is  a  difference : 
it  was  not  simply  thus  that  Paul  heard  what 
is  here  recorded.  Here,  where  he  has  just  been 
speaking  of  revelations  generally,  he  distin- 
guishes plainly  and  expressly  the  Lord's,  to 
him,  well-known  speaking ;  so  that  we  must 
take  the  word  as  it  stands — it  was  an  audible 
word  of  Jesus  to  the  Apostle. 

In  the  severe  conflict  of  profound  suffering 
— which,  at  any  rate,  the  thorn  in  the  flesh, 
the  messenger  of  Satan,*  must  indicate — he 
had  prayed  the  Lord  thrice  for  the  removal  of 
the  distress  ;  that  is,  according  to  New-Testa- 
ment and  apostolical  language,  not  to  "  the 
Lord  God,"  but  to  the  Iy>rd  Jesus,  to  him  who 
in  the  days  of  his  flesh  had  thrice  prayed  to 
his  Father — Take  this  cup  from  me.  Not,  in- 
deed, with  the  perfect  resignation  of  him  who 
in  Gethsemane  learned  and  confirmed  his  obe- 
dience in  suffering,  for  there  might  be  some 
admixture  of  human  impatience;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  not  without  the  humility  of  im- 
portunate .supplication,  in  which  nothing  more 
13  required  of  us  weak  men  than  this — I  will 
not  let  thee  go,  unless  thou  help  me.  Thrice — 
this  we  Cannot  regard  as  a  mere  phrase  for 
"  several  times,  repeatedly  ;"  the  Apostle  would 
have  been  restrained  from  such  a  phrase  by 
the  thought  that  it  might  be  understood  as  an 
intentional  comparison  with  Gethsemane.  That 
comparison  does  not  occur  to  him ;  he  simply 
relates  what  actually  took  place :  thrice  I 
prayed  to  the  Lord — not  to  be  understood  of 
intervals  of  supplication,  days  or  nights  in 
succession,  but  of  one  continuous  struggle  in 
prayer,  TAe  Lord  did  not  suffer  him  to  cry  a 
fourth  or  a  seventh  time  ;  but  he,  the  same  to 
whom  Paul  addressed  his  supplication,  gave 
him  at  the  third  time  the  sublime  answer. 
That  answer  will  be  filled  with  a  richer 
strength  and  emphasis  to  us  all,  for  whose 
sake  the  Apostle  has  communicated  it,  if  we 
regard  it  not  merely  as  a  divine  consolation 
inspired  into  the  Apostle's  soul,  but  as  an 
express  and  definite  word  of  the  Lord  from 
heaven. 

Literally,  according  to  the  original :  Suffi- 
cient is  mrj  grace  to  thee,  for  my  strength  is  per- 
fect in  (the)  weakness.     This  decisive  expres- 


♦  Tho  difficult  interpretation  of  llii?.  so  far  as 
it  belongs  to  tlie  liuesiion  Leic,  we  shall  subse- 
queull/  consider. 


2  COR.  XII.  9. 


895 


Bion,  the  saving  ordinance  and  mle  of  conduct, 
as  it  were,  for  all  who  are  severely  tried  in  the 
following  of  Christ,  has  first  its  special  mean- 
ing for  Paul,  but  also  a  general  symbolical 
meaning  and  design.  Indeed,  this  universal 
significance  is  stamped  upon  the  form  of  it 
(lor  the  second  clause  is  not  a  personal  ad- 
dress) more  definitely  than  in  the  earlier  say- 
ings of  the  glorified  Lord ;  so  that  here  also 
■we  disc&rn  a  trmisition  to  the  more  ordinary 
communications  of  the  Saviour  to  his  people. 
That  even  a  Paul  was  still  in  danger  of  being 
exalted  by  the  superabundance  of  the  revela- 
tions, and  of  preaching  to  others  through  the 
still  remaining  gifts  of  grace,  while  himself  a 
castaway  through  the  loss  of  grace  itself,  is  a 
most  keen  and  earnest  warning,  which  Paul's 
own  person — with  all  its  high  prerogative  of 
election,  still  a  perfectly  typical  and  exemplary 
person — impresses  upon  us  all.  The  Lord  se- 
cures him  against  this  danger  by  sufferings, 
which  must  so  bring  home  his  wfirmity  to  him 
that  he  can  find  no  consolation  but  grace,  and 
must  forever  give  up  all  glorying  in  that  he 
had  received  from  God.  This  is  to  us  all  the 
way  of  grace  and  the  method  of  our  salvation. 
Are  there  sufferings  which  we  procure  for  our- 
selves, and  which  we  may  avoid  by  avoiding 
the  sins  which  occasion  them  and  which  they 
punish? — so  there  are  also  sufferings  which 
the  wisdom  and  mercy  of  the  Lord  imposes 
upon  us  without  any  specific  guilt  of  our  own, 
though  for  the  sake  of  the  universal  sin  of 
our  corrupted  nature.  Are  there  tribulations 
which  we  may  pray  against,  remove  by  fervent 
and  persevering  appeals  to  the  Redeemer  and 
Helper  of  our  souls? — so  there  are  also  ap- 
pointed and  salutary  burdens  which  shall  not 
and  must  not  be  taken  from  us ;  although 
grace  wiJl  establish,  strengthen,  and  console 
the  spirit  under  every  tribulation  of  the  fiesh. 
For  even  the  most  keenly  penetrating  trial  of 
the  human  spirit  is  essentially  only  a  thorn  in 
the  flesh,  in  ihe  nature  which  is  flesh  born  of 
flesh.  It  is  even  questionable  whether  that 
which  Paul  found  so  hard  that  he  thought  he 
could  no  longer  bear  it,  did  not  consist  in  buch 
so-called  spiritual  assaults  of  satanic  tempta- 
tion :  he  might,  in  harmony  with  his  phrase- 
ology elsewhere,  name  them  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh.  We  might,  indeed,  almost  say,  that  to 
bear  the  most  painful  tribulation  in  the  body 
Lad  become  a  light  thing  to  the  Apostle, 
through  the  discipline  of  grace ;  and  that  the 
counterpoise  to  high  revelations  would  be 
trials  which  fell  upon  the  true  and  inner  flesh. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  and  to  decide  this  is  not 
of  moment,  Ciirist's  word  retains  its  universal 
meaning  for  all  those  salutary  afflictions  which 
may  seem  to  us  intolerable,  but  which  he  has 
irrevocably  ordained.  He  infuses  his  grace — 
80  that  we  can  bear  them;  and,  not  only  so, 
the  bitterest  medicine  becomes  at  last  sweet  in 
the  good  and  gracious  will  of  our  Lord.  My 
grace — is  the  word  of  his  majesty  and  power, 
as  well  as  of  his  love  and  consolation.  Luther 
thought  to  bring  out  the  saying  better  when 


he  translated — Let  it  he  svfficienl,  and  we  are 
loath  to  correct  trifles  in  sentences  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  made  precious  to  so  many. 
Here,  however,  the  meaning  is  considerably 
affected.*  The  immediate  assurance  is  more 
needed  by  the  desponding  than  the  exhorta- 
tion and  doctrine,  and  it  is  that  which  is  first 
given.  As  the  answer  to  the  anxious  question 
— "Am  I  then  abandoned,  cast  out,  rejected?" 
comes  the  fact,  not  expressed,  but  graciously 
taken  for  granted,  that  Christ's  grace  is  already 
with  the  Apostle,  that  he  has  it,  testified  by 
him  who  alone  is  perfectly  assured  of  it.  "  f 
am  merciful  to  thee.  Thou  hast  my  grace. 
What  wilt  thou  more  ?  "  Even  if  the  tempted 
man  might  not  in  his  weakness  be  satisfied 
with  that,  which  he  was  to  learn  and  would 
learn,  his  merciful  Lord  declares  to  him  the 
fact  against  all  his  doubt,  as  a  truth  beyond 
all  his  consciousness  and  feeling.  It  is  so.  Thou 
hast  sufficient  in  my  grace.  The  Lord  places 
this  word,  as  it  were,  in  Paul's  lips,  that  he 
may  utter  it  after  him  in  faith — "Yea,  Lord, 
thy  grace  is  sufficient  for  me."  Zinzendorf 
brings  out,  in  his  translation,  the  true  exhor- 
tation— "  Be  content,  that  I  am  merciful  to 
thee  ;"  but  the  exhortation  is  all  the  stronger 
for  not  being  expressed. 

Now,  as  in  almost  every  previous  instance, 
the  Lord  speaking  from  heaven  gives  in  the 
second  clause  the  ground  and  reason  of  the 
first,  by  a  sublime  demonstrative  for.  That 
which  he  thus  goes  on  to  say  and  testify  is  no 
longer  directly  spoken  to  the  Apostle  ;  but  it 
is  given  to  him  as  a  general  saying  applicable 
to  himself,  and  placing  him  under  a  universal 
ordinance.  What  a  saying — doctrine  and  fact 
at  once  foe  Christ's  kingdom  of  grace,  in  in- 
exhaustible depth  and  comprehensiveness  of 
meaning.  For  my  strength — we  hold  fast  this 
reading  against  Tischendorf  and  Lachmann, 
and  this  time  even  against  Bengel.  The  latter 
thinks  that  if  Paul  had  written  ''My  strength," 
he  must  also  have  added  "  in  thy  weakness." 
But  why?  That  question  is  not  so  much  what 
Paul  might  have  written,  as  what  was  fitting 
for  the  Lord  to  say,  and  what  he  actually  could 
have  said.  "  My  strength  "  was  alone  appro- 
priate; but  "thy  weakness"  could  not  follow, 
for  the  reason  already  assigned,  that  the  saying 
is  a  universal  one.  That  great  student  of  Scrip- 
ture seems  to  have  afterwards  bethought  him- 
self; for,  in  his  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  "my"  remains.  Manuscripts  and 
authorities  are  generally  not  decisive  of  them- 
selves; here  certainly  not,  where  important 
witnesses  are  on  both  sides.  The  decision  is 
finally  a  matter  of  taste  and  feeling,  of  internal 
reasons.  A  recent  English  criticf  says,  that 
unless  he  errs,  the  word  was  added  for  distinct- 


*  For,  that  dpuEi  must  be  translated  suj^ere 
debet,  sufficiat — is  arbitrary  and  vapid,  after  the 
style  ol  Rosenmiiller. 

f  Alford,  who  sometimes  concedes  too  much  to 
German  science. 


TO  PAUL  IN  HIS  INFIRMITY. 


ness'  sake,  and  to  malce  the  sentence  coincide 
with  the  Apostle's  subsequent  "  the  power  of 
Christ."  We  think,  on  the  contran',  that  this 
subsequent  word  of  the  Apostle,  which  appro- 
priates to  himself  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
repeats  its  emphatic  "  my,"  is  in  favor  of  the 
ordinary  reading.  We  maintain  that  the  Lord 
would  nave  spoken  not  merely  with  less  dig- 
nity, but  with  an  obscurity  which  might  easily 
be  misunderstood,  if  he  had  spoken  of  strength 
generally  instead  of  his  own  strength.  The  re- 
peated "  my  grace,  my  strength,"  is  altogether 
in  harmony  with  the  throne  style  of  his  words 
from  heaven,  as  we  have  heard  it  throughout. 
If  he  had  said,  almost  descending  from  his 
dignity  to  an  altogether  general  dogma,  "  For 
strength,  is  made  perfect  in  the  weakness  (or  in 
weakness)" — it  is  true,  we  admit,  that  the  Apos- 
tle would  at  once  have  been  likely  to  under- 
stand it  of  Christ's  strength  ;  but  to  all  others, 
in  the  long  future  o£  his  kingdom  of  grace, 
for  whom  this  word  was  to  be  preserved,  this 
interpretation  of  it  would  not  have  been  suffi- 
ciently obvious.  Does  not  the  saying  thus  run 
altogether  in  the  form  of  a  common  proverb, 
especially  with  its  striking  apparent  antithesis 
of  opposite  words?  "  Strength  is  fully  proved, 
made  perlect,  in  tccakness  "—-ia  this,  then,  com- 
monly trite?  The  Romanist  expositor  Allioli, 
who  clings  to  the  Vulgate,  "  first  of  all  "  refers 
the  grace  and  the  strength  to  God,  but  then 
goes  suspiciously  further :  "  Moral  strength, 
the  higher  life  of  man,  is  also  meant,  so  that 
the  words  include  the  meaning  that  the  higher 
life  of  the  spirit,  virtue  in  man,  is  brought  to 
perfection  by  such  tribulations  ;  through  the 
weakening  of  the  old  nature  we  attain  to  the 
perfect  power  of  the  new  life."  Rightly  under- 
stood, this  is  true;  but  still  it  may  be  misappre- 
hended, and  may  be  taken  in  that  meaning  for 
which  Grotius  has  collected  several  passages 
from  the  classics.*  This  indefinite  and  gen- 
eral saying  concerning  strength  in  weakness 
may  have,  under  the  discipline  of  concealed 
preparatory  grace,  where  there  is  no  absolute 
distinction  between  what  is  man's  and  what  is 
God's,  a  certain  preliminary  prophetic  truth — 
but  in  the  kingdom  of  Chnst,  where  nature 
and  grace  are  distinctly  separated,  it  is  no 
longer  applicable;  and  as  a  rule  in  his  king- 
dom it  could  not  have  been  asserted  by  Christ. 
It  would  have  been  necessary  that  he  should 
add,  in  order  to  obviate  in  his  wisdom  all  mis- 
understanding and  error — "  In  me,  and  only  in 
me,  is  the  saying  true  concerning  strength  in 
weakness."  The  opposite  is  true  of  ins  ser- 
vants, in  their  conflicts  under  the  light  of  his 
heart-seaichmg  countenance  ;  and  the  warning 
must  have   been  given — "  Your  own  strength 


*  Of  Pliny:  "  Optimos  nos  esse,  dum  infiimi 
sr.mus."  Of  Seneca  :  "  CalaniiLas  virtutis  occasio 
est."  Of  Quinlilian:  "  Tenierilas  omuis  nniino- 
rum  cahiniiinte  cori)oium  frangitur."  That  a 
"self-collected,  humble,  and  thus  confident,  bold- 
ness of  sp  rit  is  strengthened  in  coiiQict  " — can 
scarcely  Batisiy  liere. 


is  weak  even  in  the  strong ;  it  comes  to  its 
end  in  weakness,  passes  away,  and  comes  to 
naught."  This  is  what  the  Lord  does  say  in 
warning,  when  he  declares,  as  we  must  under- 
stand the  expression — "Jf^  strength  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness." 

Now  at  length  we  have  made  full  provision  for 
a  further  exposition  of  this  profound  thought. 
Tiie  progress  into  the  second  clause  thus  tes- 
tifies— My  grace,  the  grace  of  God  in  me  and 
through  me  for  men,  is  power  in  them  (Ti^ph.  i. 
19,  iii.  7  ;  Col.  i.  29).  What  a  truth  is  this  I 
Who  is  sufficient  to  expound  it  fully  ?  We  can 
now  only  give  prominence  to  its  protest  against 
all  the  misunderstanding  and  perversion  which 
is  too  lightly  satisfied  with  the  profound  word 
"  grace,"  and  denies  it  all  its  meaning.  We  mean 
all  such  idle  resting  in  the  consolation  of  "  the 
forgiveness  of  sins^"  and  the  consciousness  of 
justification,  as  forgets  that  this  grace  is  per- 
fected in  the  power  of  sanctification.  Berlenh. 
Bibel:  "  Grace  is  here  not  alone  forgiveness  of  sins, 
butsomething  thatiror^sin  aman  and  overcomes 
his  sins,  though  not  without  his  suffering." 
This  is  according  to  the  ever-needful  word  of 
James — "  And  not  by  faith  alone."  Assuredly, 
not  the  beginning  alone,  but  the  abiding  ground 
of  all  strength  of  grace,  is  the  firm  consolation — 
I  obtained  mercy.  But  it  is  most  important  to 
know  and  experience  that  this  consolation  is 
itself,  and  works,  power  in  the  soul  ;  that  he 
who  rejoices  in  the  grace  of  Christ,  has  re- 
ceived it  to  that  end,  and  can  only  thus  find  it 
sufficient. 

Luther's  translation — "Heine  Kraft  ist  in 
den  Schwaclien  machtig  "  (My  strength  is  mighty 
in  the  weak) — is  very  far  from  bringing  out  the 
weight  and  significance  of  this  word  of  our 
Lord.  It  is  not  to  no  purpose  that  he  orders 
the  expressions  with  a  three-fold  difference: 
not  in  the  weak,  hnt  imceahie^s  ;  not  merely 
m!>7^^7/(which  is  self-understood,  as  being  funda- 
mentally the  same  with  strength),  but  perfect ; 
not  merely  is  perfect,  but  is  made  so.  It  is  not 
only  that  "the  phraseological  contrast"  strength 
and  weakness"  must  be  retained;  the  expres- 
sion gives  another  meaning,  since  it  speaks  not 
so  much  of  the  xteak  in  common  (which  we  all 
are,  and  always,  of  ourselves),  but  of  particular 
circumstances  and  trials  in  which  the  weakness 
makes  itself  especially  felt — precisely  in  the 
same  sense  as  the  Apostle  presently,  and  fre- 
quently elsewhere,  uses  the  word.  In  weaJoicss 
(there  is  no  article  in  the  original),  as  in  the 
element  and  domain  of  its  working,  the  strength 
is  perfected,  proves  and  confirms  itself  perlect- 
ly.  Zmzendorf:  "  It  first  becomes  absolutely 
mighty."  But  this,  once  more,  is  not  spoken 
(in  the  sense  of  chap.  iv.  7)  of  the  weak,  earth- 
en vessel  of  human  nature  generally,  in  which 
the  superabounding  grace  of  God  works,  but  of 
the  perfecting  of  its^indwelling  and  penetrating 
influence,  pre-supposed  even  at  the  beginning; 
and  concerning  this  perfecting  it  is  said  for 
consolation,  that  it  only,  but  also  certainly,  ia 
brought  to  its  consummation  in  weakness,  in 
the  path  of  trials  and  suffering.     The  power  it 


REV.  I.  11.  17-20. 


897 


made  perfect,  becomes  consummate — that  is, 
obviously,  not  in  itself,  since  as  power  it  is  al- 
ready perfect ;  but  it  absolutely  proves  itself, 
expresses  its  perfect  energy  and  influence.* 
As  Christ  himself  reached  the  It  is  finkhed  in 
tlie  strength  of  God,  through  uttermost  weak- 
ness upon  the  cross  (chap.  xiii.  4) — and  he  re- 
members this,  now  sneaking  from  heaven — so 
through  the  continual  energy  of  Am  strength  in 
his  servants  a  victorious  perfection  is  wrought 
out,  in  the  same  way  of  suffering  and  subjec- 
tion in  weakness.  And  if  it  be  Satan,  or  his 
angel,  who  causes  the  weakness  and  tribula- 
tion, Christ's  pmoer  is  victorious  over  him  in  all 
who  receive  Christ's  grace,  and  who  retain  it  in 
faith;  that  is,  who  count  that  grace  sufficient, 
trust  in  it  absolutely  and  humbly,  and  wait 
confidently  for  the  full  demonstration  of  its 
power. 

Paul  himself  at  once  makes  the  ajyjMcaiion, 
setting  himself  before  the  Corinthians  and  us 
all  as  a  pattern  :  "  Because  it  is  so  as  the  Lord 
said  vnto  me — and  that  is  sufficient  for  me: 
therefore  I  will  rather  glory  in  my  infirmities, 
that  the  power  of  Christ  may  dwell  in  me." 
How  humbling  this  to  the  Corinthians,  who 
gloried  in  the  gifts  which  dwell  among  them  ! 
What  a  lesson  is  here  taught  by  supreme  au- 
thority, through  the  person  of  Paul — that  to 
have^race  is  sufficient,  and  infinitely  more  than 
the  po-ssession  of  all  gifts  !  The  greatest  danger, 
even  for  "  men  in  Christ"  (ver.  2),  is  ever  that 
of  thinking  too  highly  of  themselves.  The 
safest,  rather  the  only  safe,  way  for  the  most 
sanctified  and  favored  with  special  dispen- 
sation, is  to  humble  themselves  under  the 
mighty  hand  of  God,  whose  salutary  discipline 
will  never  cease;  to  place  themselves  among 
the  chief  of  sinners,  that  they  may  receive  the 
perfection  of  Chnst's  strength  in  their  own 
weakness.  The  best  answer  for  the  natural 
mind,  even  of  an  elect  Apostle,  inclined  to 
pride,  and  therefore  exposed  to  despondency  in 
the  time  of  oppressive  trial — given  to  him  for 
the  sake  of  the  putFed-up  Corinthians,  and  of 
all  the  downcast  every  where — and  v/hich,  in 


the  most  gracious  form  of  an  almost  enforced 
consolation,  "Thou  hast  grace,"  points  to  the 
victorious  consummation  of  their  power,  as 
found  only  in  the  sufTerings  which  crush  in 
them  all  that  is  their  own.  It  is  a  most  tender 
repulsion  of  the  urgent  prayer  that  the  salutary 
rod  of  discipline  might  be  removed.*  The 
supplication  of  his  faith  to  the  great  Helper, 
in  the  time  of  his  distress,  was  good  and  right 
— for  what  better  can  our  weakness  do  through 
the  grace  of  God? — but  the  answer  comes  down 
from  heaven  with  victorious  j)ower  into  the 
depth  of  trial  and  discomfiture:  "Ask  not  so 
vehemently  and  unconditionally  that  tJii/  will 
may  be  done,  the  will  of  thy  flesh,  which  is  un- 
willing to  sufTer  for  holiness  and  salvation." 
iilbertini  (sometime  Bishop  of  the  Moravian 
Brethren)  very  foolishly  charges  the  Apostle, 
in  one  of  his  sermons,  with  falling  here,  in 
Scripture,  into  foolish  self-exaltation  ;  but  his 
own  experience  taught  him  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly in  what  follows:  "We  have  here  a 
sample  of  the  spiritual  history  and  the  spiritual 
discipline,  not  of  Paul  only,  but  of  all  pardoned 
sinners.  Every  where  glorious  revelations, 
and  rough  sufferings  to  qualify  them.  Always 
all-sufficiency  in  the  grace  of  the  Saviour,  and 
always  insufficiency  on  our  part ! "  Paul  knew 
well  how  to  teach  the  fruit  and  the  necessity 
of  afflictions;  but  when  they  come  in  ail  their 
secret  force  upon  his  own  soul,  in  order  to  make 
him  (according  to  what  had  been  predicted  for 
him.  Acts  ix.  16)  perfect  as  an  elect  vessel  for 
the  name  of  Jesus,  he  needs  once  more  direct 
instruction  and  help  from  heaven.  This  he 
received  :  the  Lord  uttered  to  him  these  words, 
from  which  he  never  afterwards  ceased  to 
derive  strength.  He  repeats  it  here  in  the 
centre  of  his  teaching  to  the  Corinthians,  who 
themselves  specially  needed  it ;  but  he  also 
says  it  to  us  all,  and  leads  us  into  the  inmost 
mystery  of  the  Lord's  spiritual  communion 
wi'th  our  hearts  —  in  which  his  grace  and 
strength  graciously  encourage  our  weakness,  in 
Older  to  perfect  in  it  his  work. 


TO  JOHN  IN  PATMOS,  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  HIS  VISION. 
(Rev.  I.  11,  17-20.) 


John — a  personality  gifted  and  called  in 
another  manner  than  Paul.  All  that  may  be 
established  as  to  the  difference  between  these 
two,  both  in  their  natural  and  supernatural 
birth  ;  as  to  their  several  historical  relations 
in  their  apostolical  office,  with  all  the  impor- 
tant consequences  which  resulted  from  these 
several  relations — may  very  appropriately  be 


*  Benuel :  "  Omnia  sua  p'^ragit :"  the  reading 
TEXElzatov-rEXEiovTai  makes  scarcely  any  dif- 
ference. 


brought  into  view  here,  when  we  are  called  to 
see  and  hear  how  the  Lord  comes  and  speaks 
to  his  servant  John  in  Patmos.  Not  that  we 
can  now  enter  at  large  upon  this  subject ;  it  is 
enough  if  we  remind  our  readers— whom  we 
suppose  to  be  thoughtful  students  of  Scripture 
— of  its  importance,  as  exhibited,  for  instance, 
in  our  observations  upon  the  last  chapter  of 
John's  Gospel.     Paul,  although  not    without 


*  So  Von  Gerlach  says,  after  Bengel  (Benignis. 
sima  repulsa,  indicativo  modo  expressa). 


m 


TO  JOHN  IN  PATMOS. 


Btrong  points  of  dissimilarity  to  Peter,  stands 
by  his  side  in  the  energy  of  external  influence; 
and  both  are  thus  in  opposition  to  John, 
whose  spirit  was  pre-eminently  inward  and 
contemplative.  The  Apostles  who  were  mighty 
in  action  and  teaching  founded  the  Church  in 
the  beginning  from  among  the  Jews  and  the 
Gentiles  ;  but  John,  living  himself  in  profound 
heart-mysticism,  who  livingly  combmes  to- 
gether all  that  has  been  dialectically  devel- 
oped in  detail,  who  sinks  with  his  readers  into 
the  inmost  centre  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  truth  (light,  life,  love),  speaking 
from  the  Lord's  heart  to  our  hearts — he,  and 
only  he,  among  the  elect,  could  have  been  the 
Seer  of  the  New  Testament.  His  calm  and 
tranguil  soul  was  the  purest  mirror  for  the 
reflection  of  those  great  symboUcJigures,  in  which 
the  Lord  would  close  his  words  from  heaven 
for  all  futurity,  seal  and  subscribe  the  new 
Huly  Scripture  at  its  close,  and  expound  what 
was  still  in  arrear  of  Old-Testament  prophecy 
for  his  Church  down  to  the  end  of  its  career- 
most  plainly,  though  under  a  seven-fold  veil — 
80  that,  in  the  process  of  fulfillment,  history 
makes  all  his  meaning  clear  to  his  believing 
people.  The  disciple,  who  gave  not  his  name 
in  the  Gospel,  here,  on  the  contrary,  mentions 
it  three  times  at  the  outset,  and  once  again,  at 
the  end  (chap.  xxii.  8).*  Not  to  discern  the 
Apostle  John  in  the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse, 
as  well  as  in  the  Gospel,  is  a  pseudo-criticism, 
the  worst  characteristics  of  which  condemn 
themselves  to  every  simple  eye,  and  the  best, 
most  plausible  characteristics  of  which  are 
wanting  in  insight  into  the  divine  plan  both 
of  Scripture  and  the  kingdom  of  grace.  For 
this  plan,  according  to  which  the  whole  of 
Scripture  must  correspond  to  the  whole  process 
of  the  kingdom,  would  not  have  been  rounded 
and  complete  without  the  revelation  given  to 
John. 

Once  more  the  Faithful  Witness  opens  his 
mouth  in  a  confirming  conclusion  of  all ;  but 
words  are  not  sufficient  for  this  great  close ;  it 
must  be  shotcn  in  speaking  figures,  just  as  the 
mysteries  of  God  had  been  declared  from  the 
beginning  by  his  servants  the  prophets.  The 
final  matter  of  all  these  final  visions  is  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  the  conqueror  in  all  the 
conflicts  of  his  Church  ;  that  coming  which 
typical  catastrophes  precede  (Matt.  xvi.  28). 
Shortly  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  which  was  one  of  those  comings — almost 
simultaneous  with  it,  and  yet  beholding  before- 
hand what  he  afterwards  survived — John  re- 
ceived the  Revelation,  in  which  the  Lord  says 
— "  Behold,  I  come  I" 

Not  under  Doraitian,  but  under  Nero,  was 
the  Apostle  banished  to  desolate  Patmos,t  for 


*  The  correct  reading  omits  the  name  in  chap. 
xxi.2. 

f  'Eyevofjttjv,  just  as  before,  "  I  u-a$  in  the 
i.slc  ;"  where  we  must  not  expound — I  came,  or, 
had  coiiiR,  like  yeyeCOactf  e.  g.,  2  Tim.  i.  17  ; 
Luke  X.  82,  xxii.  40. 


the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  island,  as  Bengel  observes,  looked 
towards  Asia,  where  were  the  seven  churches, 
surrounded  by  the  three  divisions  of  the 
world,  and  the  capitals  of  the  five  subse- 
quent Patriarchates.  In  this  solitude,  sepa- 
rated only  in  body  from  the  worshipping  com- 
munity, and  on  that  account  only  the  more  firm- 
ly united  with  it  in  spirit,  the  Apostle  celebrated 
the  Lords  day,  the  birth  day  of  the  First-born 
from  the  dead  (ver.  6);  his  devotion  had  al- 
ready raised  him  into  ecstasy  in  the  spirit,  when 
this  ecstasy  was  heightened,  and  this  Sunday 
was  made  to  him  one  of  the  especial  days  of 
the  Lord.  Let  us  not  forget  to  observe  the 
confirmation  which  this  gives  to  the  Church's 
Sabbath  :  John  does  not  fail  to  observe  it, 
though  alone.  Jesus  comes  to  him  on  his  own 
day,  just  as  in  the  beginning  he  had  returned 
to  his  disciples  on  the  recurrence  of  the  day 
of  his  resurrection. 

He  hears  a  loud  voice  as  of  a  trumpet :  not 
merely  like  the  voice  of  the  herald  proclaiming 
the  coming  of  the  King,  as  the  word  has  been 
used  in  Scripture  from  Sinai  downwards,  and 
as,  before  this  revelation,  the  trumpets  of  the 
day  of  judgment  are  spoken  of;  but  the  voice 
sneaks  to  him  immediately  in  intelligible  words. 
The  voice  sounds  f/ehind  him,  so  that  his  atten- 
tion is  excited  to  hear  before  any  sight  has  too 
much  amazed  him.  Affrighted  enough,  how- 
ever, he  turns  and  looks  round  him,  and  beholds 
a  manifestation  of  the  Lord.  Whether  the 
first  voice  proceeded  from  the  Lord  himself, 
may  admit  of  question  ;  Ebrard  denies  that  it 
did,  and  thinks  that  a  heralding  angel  uttered 
it,  who  is  also  referred  to  in  chap.  iv.  1.  But, 
after  most  careful  consideration  of  the  text,  we 
cannot  agree  with  him.  To  us  it  seems  that 
John  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lords  day  needed  not 
the  mediation  of  any  such  herald :  he  needed 
only  the  first  cry  that  he  should  see  and  write 
his  visions ;  and  that  summons  must  have 
been  the  Lord's  own  voice  on  the  day  of  the 
Lord.  The  "  I  will  show  thee"  afterwards  in 
chap.  iv.  1  is  appropriate,  as  we  think,  only  to 
the  same  who  at  the  beginning  began  to  say 
(chap.  i.  11) — "  What  thou  icest,  write."  The 
distinction  of  the  "first  voice "  in  chap.  iv. 
looks  forward  to  the  voices  which  were  after- 
wards heard,  and  means,  the  same  first  voice 
and  no  other;  it  marks  the  diflference  (for  so 
much  is  true)  between  the  first  trumpet-like 
cry  and  the  more  qualified  tone  of  the  voice 
which  spoke  to  him  like  the  sound  of  many 
waters.  Ver.  12  is  similarly  to  be  understood  : 
John  turned  himself  round  to  see  the  voice 
that  spake  with  him — that  is,  him  from  whom 
it  came — and  he  saw  the  form  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  not  of  an  angel;  and  that  Son  of  Man 
continued  to  speak. 

But  the  first  word  of  this  trumpet-u^tt^rance 
of  the  Lord  was  not,  as  the  translation  gives 
it,  "  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  tho 
last."  This  is  one  of  the  many  false  readings 
which  are  the  result  of  transposition  in  this 
book.    How  could  this  "  I  am    of  the  supreme 


KEY  I.  11.  17-20. 


majesty  of  the  God-man  have  been  uttered  be- 
fore the  Apostle  had  become  collected  enough 
to  see  the  Speaker,  and  had  become  really  a 
seer  ?  The  first  words  are  plain  and  simple  as 
possible,  though  spoken  with  loud  voice: 
What  thou  seest,  write  in  a  hook,  and  send  it 
unto  the  Seven  Churches  tchich  are  in  Asia  ; 
vnto  Ephesus.  and  unto  Smyrna,  and  unto 
Peraamos,  and  unto  Thyatira,  and  unto  Sar- 
dis,  and  unto  Philadelphia,  and  unto  Laodi- 
cea.  This  is  the  only  correct  commence- 
ment: What  thou  seest,  that  is,  wilt  see  now 
and  henceforth,  what  I  will  show  thee.  This 
is  the  plainest  annunciation  and  beginning 
of  the  visions  :  the  calling  of  John  to  be  the 
last  seer  in  the  whole  series  of  the  canon  of 
Holy  Scripture;  although  prophetic  revela- 
tion of  a  lower  degree  may  have  con- 
tinued in  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  should  see 
and  write,  that  it  may  be  a  book  added  to 
Scripture;  the  entire  book  being  dictated  by 
the  Lord  himself,  in  the  manner  of  things  seen. 
But  this  book,  without  disparagement  to  its 
vast,  far-reaching  destination  for  the  whole 
Church  to  the  end  of  time,  is,  according  to  the 
law  of  prophecy,  typically  connected  with  the 
present  time ;  it  was,  first  of  all,  to  be  sent  to 
the  Seven  Churches,  which  were  specially 
elected  to  become  types.  We  may  well  sup- 
pose that  John  in  the  Spirit,  in  his  solitary 
Sunday  solemnities  at  Patmos,  had  been  pres- 
ent with  these  his  churches,  and  had  regarded 
them  in  his  earnest  supplications  to  the  Lord ; 
so  that  this  commission  would  graciously  meet 
his  own  inmost  wish  and  impulse  to  have  some 
apostolical  intercourse  with  them  from  the 
place  of  his  banishment.  The  names  are  men- 
tioned in  geographical  order  from  Patmos : 
Ephesus,  the  nearest;  Smyrna,  to  the  north, 
and  Pergamos  ;  bending  lower  into  Asia  Minor, 
Thyatira  and  Sardis  nearer,  and  Philadelphia 
and  Laodicea  farthest  removed.  That  with 
this  geographical  order  there  marvellously 
coincides  a  prophetic  symbolical  significance, 
we  shall  see  hereafter,  upon  the  indications 
given  by  our  Lord  himself  (ver.  20)  of  the 
mystery  of  the  seven  stars,  candlesticks,  and 
churches.  At  present  we  remark  only  that, 
according  to  the  first  word  of  Christ,  the  seven 
epistles  were  to  accompany  the  whole  hook  as 
its  special  dedication ;  hence,  in  ver.  4,  John 
designates  the  whole  book  an  epistle  from  his 
own  hand,  in  which  the  seven  immediate 
epistles  are  found  inserted.*  The  solemn  com- 
mission to  tcrits  recurs  at  the  most  sublime 
passages  of  the  book,  chap.  xiv.  13  and  xxi.  5  ; 
comp.  the  final  conclusion,  chap.  xxii.  17.  As 
the  first  place  in  Holy  Writ  where  the  word 
"  write"  occurs,  E.^od.  xvii.  14,  contains  a  di- 
vine commission  to  Moses  touching  the  destruc- 


*  Guericke  observes,  upon  the  blending,  pecu- 
liar to  this  book,  of  the  New-Testament  episto- 
lary form  with  the  Old-Testament  prophetic  sym- 
bolical representations,  The  Lord  himself  ad- 
dresses epislles^to  the  churches — and  what  letters 
are  they  I 


tion  of  the  arch-enemy  of  Israel — "  write  this  for 
a  memorial  in  a  book  "  (in  tlie  book,  the  great, 
complete  book  of  God,  as  1  Sam.  x.  25,  Esther  ix. 
32,  and  in  a  certain  sense.  Job  xix.  23) — so  here 
we  have,  concerning  the  visions  of  victory,  in 
the  highest  and  last  sense  of  the  word  (chap, 
vi.  2,  xii.  7,  8),  the  command  of  him  who,  as 
the  last,  stands  and  will  stand  above  the 
dust  (Job  xix.  25,  in  the  right  translation)  to 
his  servant,  for  his  people — Write.  Referring 
to  all  that  had  been  already  written  by  divine 
commission,  and  that  should  yet  be  written 
(John's  Oospel),  the  Lord  speaks  of  the  whole 
plan  of  a  Scripture  to  be  completed — now  from 
heaven,  as  formerly  upon  earth,  when  he 
pointed  always  to  the  existing  Scripture. 

John  heard  a  voice,  which  said — That  which 
thou  seest.  The  trumpet-sound  had  terrified 
him ;  but  he  could  not  otherwise  than  obe- 
diently listen,  as  long  as  the  voice  continued  to 
speak.  When  the  words  ceased,  and  not  till 
then,  he  turns  round,  not  from  his  oWn  impulse 
but  in  obedience  still,  to  see  that  which  he  was 
to  Bee — that  is,  of  course,  him  who  hads  poken. 
He  sees  the  Lord,  his  Lord,  on  whose  breast  he 
had  lain  ;  whom  his  more  penetrating  soul  had 
discerned,  when  the  rest  discerned  him  not, 
after  the  resurrection — It  is  the  Lord  (John  xxi. 
7).  He  sees  him  in  his  actual  verity,  as  Ste- 
phen and  Paul  had  seen  him,  and  not  a  vision 
representing  him  ;  yet,  as  every  manifestation 
of  the  Glorified  Redeemer  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father  must  necessarily  involve  some 
medium  of  softening  and  concealment  for  the 
eyes  of  men,  this  manifestation  to  John  (pro- 
bably the  first  to  him)  was  of  a  peculiar 
character.  The  glorious  appearance  is  sur- 
rounded with  all  kinds  of  figurative  investi- 
ture, because  a  prophetic  series  of  symbols  is 
to  be  disclosed.  Stephen  beheld — as  was  ap- 
propriate in  his  circumstances — the  "  Son  of 
Man  at  the  right  hand  of  God,"  in  direct  vision, 
as  it  were,  almost  after  the  manner  of  the 
future  beholding:  but  to  the  receiver  of  the 
Apocalyptic  visions,  which  were  to  wind  up 
the  book  of  Revelation  by  returning  back  to 
Old-Testament  prophecy,  the  Lord  reveals 
himself  as  he  did  to  Daniel :  hence  here  as 
there  the  expression  like  to  the  Son  of  Mm.  As 
in  the  midst  of  a  wonderful,  heavenly  temple  : 
instead  of  the  one  seven-branched  cantZ^fs^/ci-  in 
the  old  sanctuary,  there  are  seven  around  him- 
self. These  candlesticks  are  first  beheld  by  the 
seer,  or,  he  mentions  them  first,  because  all 
that  was  to  be  beheld  and  recorded  should  find 
its  goal  in  the  churches  which  they  signified. 
In  an  assumed  symbolical  form  and  investiture, 
the  particulars  of  which  are  afterwards  again 
introduced  for  e.~planation,  the  first-born  from 
the  dead  shows  himself  as  a  faithful  witness : 
never  should  this,  and  what  else  is  exhibited 
in  the  Revelation  to  be  writi^en,  have  been  un- 
dertaken by  the  painter's  pencil !  The  high- 
priestly  and  kingiy  raiment  indicates,  in  con- 
descension to  human  view,  his  dignity ;  yet 
the  talar,  which  clothes  him  round,  is  simpler 
than  Aaron's  rich  variegated  vesture ;  and  iU 


f@0 


TO  JOHN  IN  PATMOS. 


color  is  not  described,  only  that  the  most  daz- 
zling white  of  Lis  head  is  distinguished  from 
it.  It  may  be  self-understood,  that  the  gar- 
ment ^Yas  only  of  resplendent  white.  The 
girding  with  the  golden  gmlle  around  the 
breast  does  not  so  much  indicate  (as  even  Ben- 
gel  supposes)  rest  after  labor,  as  generally  the 
glorification  of  the  human  form,  which  is  thus 
exhibited  in  a  nobler  and  more  dignified  man- 
ner; for  (as  Ebrard  remarks),  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  the  body 
is  thus  done  away  with.  The  head  also  and 
feet  exhibit  the  glorification  of  the  human  ; 
though  viewed  in  its  aspect  to  human  eyes. 
The  head  and  hairs  (scarcely  put  for  the  hairs 
of  the  head)  appear  here  in  the  Son  of  Man 
like  as  in  the  Eternal,  Dan.  vii.  9,  the  Ancient 
of  Days,  before  whom  the  Son  of  Man  was 
brought.  In  his  eyes  burns  the  pure,  judicial 
fire  of  the  holiness  of  God.  The  metallic 
brightness  of  his  feei  does  not  refer  to  the  de- 
structive approach  of  the  Mighty  One,  under 
whose  footseps  the  mountains  melt ;  for,  it  is 
not  the  bui'nmg  fire  (any  more  than  the  burn- 
ing eyes)  which  is  here  involved,  but  the 
brightness,  as  the  connection  in  chap.  x.  1  es- 
tablishes. For  the  rest,  it  is  quite  consistent 
with  this,  that  afterwards  in  chap.  ii.  IS,  the 
feet,  as  snch,  indicate,  at  the  same  time,  the  j 
approach  to  judgment.  The  peculiar  Greek  | 
expression  here  is  as  much  controverted  by  the 
learned,  as  the  mysterious  corresponding  word 
in  the  Hebrew,  Ezek.  i.  4.  The  voice  (that  is, 
in  which  what  followed  was  spoken  ;  as  John 
must  anticipate  the  entire  description)  must 
be  interpreted  according  to  the  precedent  of 
Ezekiel  (chap.  i.  24,  xliii.  2  ;  comp.  Dan.  x.  6). 
The  seven  itavs  in  his  right  hand,  correspond- 
ing to  tiie  seven  candlesticks — scarcely  (as 
Meyer  says)  like  precious  stones  in  rings  upon 
his  fingers — are  freely  suspended  on  or  over  it, 
as  held  and  borne  by  him,  probably  shining 
rather  in  a  circle.  We  must  restrain  ourselves 
from  any  speculations  which  go  beyond  the 
test ;  it  is  enough  that  v.'e  have  afterwards  the 
Lord's  own  interpretation  of  these  figures. 
Thus  we  must  understand  the  two-edged  siconl, 
not  only  of  the  retributive  judicial  might  of 
his  word  (Isa.  si.  4),  but  at  the  same  time  and 
generally,  as  m  Isa.  xlix.  2,  and  Heb.  iv.  12,  of 
its  judging  and  saving  power  in  the  Spirit 
(Eph.  vi.  17).  Finally,  his  countenance  shines 
above  all  other  brightness,  v.-hether  of  his 
snow-white  hair  or  of  his  darkly-glowing  feet, 
like  the  snn  in  its  utmost  power.  Comp. 
Judges  V.  31  ;  Psa.  six.  6.  The  whole  sym- 
bolical manifestation  is  exhibited  in  human, 
earthly  points  of  resemblance;  but  in  this 
form,  it  is  the  Lord  himself,  the  Eternal  Liv- 
ing One,  with  light  and  fire  beaming  forth 
from  his  heavenly  glorification,  as  the  sequel 
plainly  shows. 

The" bosom  disciple,  who  had  boon  an  Apostle 
for  forty  years,  the  most  confidential  and  famil- 
iar friend  of  the  Lord  in  his  present  spiritual 
revelation,  as  well  as  in  his  former  earthly 
iialercoarde,  is  now,  when  he  beholds  tho  well- 


known  countenance  of  Jesus  his  Lord,  crotbed 
in  more  glory  than  the  sun,  cast  down,  in  tho 
fear  of  nature,  recoiling  before  the  might  »nd 
majesty  of  God,  at  his  feet — as  one  dead.  As- 
suredly it  was  not  mere  fear  of  the  amazement 
into  which  he  was  thrown  ;  but  John  in,  his 
trance,  experienced,  at  the  same  time,  a  rapture 
of  recognizing  love,  and  sank  in  adoration  at 
his  feet,  with  the  perfect  consecration  of  his 
whole  life,  passing  beyond  all  fleshly  limits. 
Nevertheless,  the  fundamental  feeling — for  the 
first  word  of  the  Lord's  encouragement  retains 
its  truth — was  the /tar  which  must  overwhelm 
the  saints,  even  the  most  favored  of  them, 
when  the  divine  majesty  bursts  upon  and 
around  thorn  from  the  dread  secrecy  of  the  other 
world.  It  was  far  from  being  the  full  glory  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  not  to  be  beheld  by  mortal 
eye,  which  here  appeared — and  even  John, 
still  having  sin  in  him,  must  fail  before  it.  It 
was  far  from  being  the  full  power  of  the  Eter- 
nal Spirit,  of  eternal  life  in  God,  which  breath- 
ed upon  him— and  even  he,  who  was  in  the 
Spirit,  and  lived  in  the  Spirit,  like  no  other 
man,  must  after  the  flesh  die  when  it  moves 
upon  him. 

And  he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me — thus 
writes  the  seer  in  alter  times — and  said :  Fear 
not  ;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  he  that 
liveth.  And  I  ii-as  dead;  and  hchold  lam 
alive  for  evermore,  and  have  the  Jcei/s  of  death 
and  of  hell.-  This  is  here  to  be  otherwise 
understood  than  in  tho  former  passage,  ver.  8, 
where  John,  after  the  prophetic  manner,  fol- 
lowed his  own  testimony — B.'hold,  he  comdh! 
by  introducing  the  Lord  as  saying,  by  his  ser- 
vant's mouth,  lam  Alpha  and  Ome,a.  It  is 
now  tho  immediate  voice  of  the  Lord  from 
heaven — from  which  the  Evangelist  had  de- 
rived those  previous  words.  Let  each  of  us 
also  fall  at  his  feet,  and  pray — Lord,  be  merci- 
ful, and  reveal  thyself  to  me  !  who  does  not 
yet,  with  tlie  contiile'.ice  of  faith,  for  his  own 
encouragement  in  living  and  dying,  know  him, 
the  Living  One,  who  was  dead  for  us  children 
of  death  I  We  mourn  over  the  dry  and  unfeel- 
ing souls  who  can  bring  their  sophistical  criti- 
cisms to  such  words  as  these,  and  write  about 
this  or  that  "  author,"  or  "  Apocalyptist," 
having  here  glvon  a  specimen  of  his  high  style. 
It  is  not  the  style  of  a  man  which  is  here  con- 
cerned, but  the  most  sublime  utterance  of  the 
divine-human  personal  Lord  Jesus — rising  to  a 
higher  grandeur  than  they  have  ever  assumed 
belore,  even  in  his  words  from  heaven.  The 
sublimity  of  the  words,  taken  as  a  whole,  and 
in  tlieir  inefifabie  combination,  using  clear  hu- 
man language  concerning  time  and  eternity, 
living  and  dying,  in  the  great  and  unparalleled 
testimony  to  that  only  /which  has  not  its  fel- 
low— can  scarcely  be  otherwise  than  marred  by 
any  exposition  which  they  may  receive.     Yet, 


*  Tlio  Aincn,  Ion?:  added  in  the  received  text,  is 
I  not  auihenlic;  thou'.ih,  to  la^ny,  it  seems  coa- 
i  lirmed  hy  chap.  iii.  14. 


EEV.  I.  11,  17-10. 


many  may  require  a  finger-sign  to  point  the 
wavfor  their  meditation. 

Once  more,  the  last  time  in  Holy  Writ  (for 
chap.  ii.  10  is  something  different),  the  primi- 
tive and  ever  new  word  of  God  to  the  children 
of  men— Fmr  not*  This  goes  beyond  that  of 
Matt.  xvii.  7,  at  the  preliminary  vision  of  the 
transfiguration.  He  who  now  speaks  had  Ions; 
since  accomplished  his  exodus  through  death 
unto  life  at  Jerusalem,  and  had  gone  up.  at  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  to  the  right  hand  of  the  ma- 
jesty on  high  ;  but  he  now  looks  down,  as  the 
Lord  who  is  the  Spirit,  in  the  glorified,  divin- 
ity-pervaded corporeity  of  his  human  being, 
upon  those  who  still  have  the  gloomy  gates  of 
death  before  them.  We  may  thus  separate  the 
words  in  the  exposition  :  "  I  am  he,  the  first 
and  the  last"— and  then  we  should  expect  the 
words  of  the  Risen  Lord  to  be  repeated,  "  I  who 
was  dead  and  now  live."  But,  before  he  thus 
speaks,  he  utters  here  a  still  loftier  word,  which 
testifies  his  eternal  God-head  before,  and  in  his 
humanity.  He  who,  in  the  flesh,  said  to  the 
blaspheming  Jews,  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I 
am" — and  in  his  prayer  to  his  Father,  spake 
of  the  glory  which'he  had  with  him  before  the 
world  was,  yet  had  never  said,  "  I  am  God  " — 
now  at  last  utters  that  great  word,  in  the  say- 
ing of  God  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  "  I  am  the 
first,  and  I  am  the  last,  and  beside  me  there  is 
no  God"  (chap.  xliv.  6,  xlviii.  12),  or,  "And 
■with  the  last  still  the  same"  (chap.  iv.  1-4) 
For  the  speech  of  this  final  revelation  is  mostly 
taken  from  the  old  prophets. 

The  fir  at  and  the  last,  and  he  that  livcth.  This 
once  mere  goes  beyond  the  prophetic  definition 
of  the  sole  eternal  Godhead,  in  a  most  sublime, 
most  profound,  and,  at  the  same  time,  most 
intelligibly  consoling  expression.  "The  Living 
God  "  often  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament;  only 
in  Gen.  xvi.  14  (xxiv.  62,  xxv.  11)  does  it  ap- 
proach, though  without  reaching,  the  absolute 
solc-ness  of  the  idea  as  here  used  :  compare  its 
expansion  in  Pi.ev.  iv.  9,  10,  x.  6.  "The  eter- 
nity of  God  is  a  living  eternity.  He  is  not  the 
absolute  because  he  is  the  most  abstract,  but 
because  he  is  the  most  concrete — the  2}crsonal 
God,  who  has  a  heart,  who  is  bve,  and,  there- 
fore, the  life  and  the  source  of  life  to  all.  The 
living  killeth  not  that  which  liveth :  therefore 
John  need  not  fear."t  The  same  Living  One 
here,  who,  incarnate  in  Christ,  was  dead,  and 
had  risen  again  to  an  eternal  life  of  God,  is  in 
this  /  which  here  speaks,  in  the  human  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  As  he  was  the  living  from 
eternity,  before  the  incarnation,  so  now — Be- 
hold, I  am  alive  forever,  to  all  eternity.  This 
present  saying  reaches  higher,  and  has  a  more 
God-like  distinctness,  than  that  former  one — 1 


*  Twenty-one  times  (three  times  seven)  we  have 
counted  it,  as  a  direct  address,  in  the  Old  Teita- 
ment ;  and  nine  times  ;^three  times  three),  in  the 
New. 

f  AVe  gladly  nccept  this  beautiful  sentence  of 
Ebrard,  more  especially  as  we  bo  oUen  liud  occa- 
fiion  to  contradict  him. 


am  the  resvrrcdion  and  the  life — although  the 
former  was  involved  and  included  in  the  latter. 
Behold,  behold,  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  personage 
who  has  existed,  who  has  gone  beyond  the  limits 
of  humanity;  as.  alas!  many  think,  who  know 
not  the  Living  God,  and  dare  to  speak  of  him 
as  of  common  children  of  men.  The  personal 
continuance  in  being  of  every  man  who  has 
once  lived  and  is  dead,  is  taken  for  granted 
here  as  the  least  thing;  and  then  the  sole 
supremacy  of  this  first  one  before  the  creation 
of  the  world,  who  was  dead  and  liveth,  his  in- 
alienable divine  life,  is  fully  sealed.  But  he 
also  liveth  it,  as  he  was  dead  according  to  the 
flesh  of  his  human  nature,  in  glorified  flesh,  in 
full  and  entire  human  personal  bodiliness ; 
whereas,  even  the  saved,  who  live  with  God, 
are  still  dead  till  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
which  alone  will  restore  them  to  perfect  lifo 
(chap.  xiv.  13,  xx.  5).  Rothe  misses  the  point 
of  this  passage,  when,  at  the  end  of  his  other- 
wise beautiful  sermons  upon  it,  he  asserts  of 
Christ,  that  "  he  no  longer  works  by  the  in- 
strument of  a  sensuous  nature,  but  by  the 
energy  of  his  spiritual  nature  and  its  organs, 
now  consummated  in  him  ;  by  the  energy  of 
his  Holy  Spirit."  This  marvellous  doctrine  of 
the  reduction  of  the  body  into  mere  spirit,  is 
not  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
and  the  Risen  Lord:  there  is  a  third  between 
sensuous  nature  and  mere  spirit — the  spirit- 
penetrating,  glorified  corporeity,  in  virtue  of 
which  flesh  and  blood,  in  and  besides  the  sa- 
crament, are  the  "  organs  "  of  the  operation  of 
Jesus  ;  and  thus  the  Living  One  communicates 
his  life,  even  to  their  incorporation  in  him,  to 
those  who  otherwise  have  no  life  (John  vi.). 

It  is  on  the  Lord's  day  that  the  self-manifest- 
ing Lord  first  gives  his  testimony  to  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead.  The  Living  One  is  no 
object  of  fear  to  his  disciple;  and  the  allusion 
to  the  death  of  atonement  and  conquest  still 
more  efifectually  dissipates  his  fear.  As  among 
the  unbelievers,  they  speak  of  a  certain  dead 
Jesus  whom  the  disciples  maintain  to  be  alive 
(Acts  xxv.  19) — so  speaks  he  himself  in  this 
final  testimony,  which  was  to  be  a  declaration 
in  Scripture  to  all  unbelievers  forever,  first  of 
all  of  his  having  been  dead  and  of  his  living. 
I  was  dead — that  includes  not  merehj  the  body, 
but  the  entire  human  person  ;  embraces  his 
descent  into  the  kingdom  of  the  dead,  into 
hell ;  and  to  this,  therefore,  is  attached  the 
word  of  the  Conqueror — and  have  the  lej/s  of 
death  and  of  hell.  What  death  and  what  hell 
(compare  chap.  vi.  8,  xx.  13)  mean  in  Scrip- 
ture, we  cannot  now,  upon  the  exposition  of 
this  word,  fundamentally  and  from  the  begin- 
ning expound.  Death,  as  the  personified  ruler 
of  destruction,  comes  first ;  and  then  is  added 
his  domain  and  kingdom  -.  both  in  their  com- 
bination form  the  double  expression,  so  fright- 
ful to  the  children  of  men,  for  the  final  and 
really  existing  object  of  their  inmost  fear. 
Christ  has  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  death, 
the  might  of  which,  on  account  of  the  curse  of 
sin,  shuts  in  and  holds  fast  all :  he  has  opened, 


902 


TO  JOHN  IN  PATMOS. 


and  can  open  ;  he  alone  can  deliver  thence  and 
Bet  free  ;  as  he  now  is  the  Lord  over  the  dead 
and  the  living,  and  seals  his  dominion  (Rom. 
xiv.  9).  But  now  to  John  he  refers  only  to 
his  Jinvinj  the  keys  ;  he  does  not  make  them 
visible  in  his  harul,  which  rather  holds  in  it 
those  who  have  been  won  from  death,  the 
angels  of  the  churches,  victoriously  as  shining 
stars. 

In  this  mogt  essential  word  of  introduction 
and  explanation  for  the  final  revelations,  before 
the  command  to  write  recurs,  the  sum  of  the 
whole  G'spd  for  mankind  is  condensed  in  the 
person  of  Christ.  Oh  that  it  may  be  a  living 
faith  in  us!  Behold,  a  man  like  thyself,  dead 
like  thyself,  who  has  been  among  the  dead,  and 
is  now  eternally  living  and  giving  life — behold, 
he  it  is  in  whom  it  is  an  eternal  truth  and 
reality,  though  a  boundless  mystery,  that  the 
true  God  hath  given  himself  to  death  for  thee, 
lost  man.  Say  to  him,  with  Thomas  and  John, 
in  the  faith  which  he  himself  demands  and 
offers — My  Lord  and  my  God  !  and  then  thou 
shalt,  without  fear,  secure  from  death  and  hell, 
become  partaker  of  his  life  and  of  his  glory, 
even  to  all  eternity. 

Now,  after  the  great  "  I  am  "  had  announced 
him  as  the  utterer  of  that  first  voice,  the  first 
commandment  is  resumed  from  it,  to  icrite  thai 
which  teas  seen — the  writing  now  taking  the 
first  place  in  tlie  sentence.  Write,  therefore,* 
the  tJnnfjs  ichich  thou  hast  seen,  and  the  things 
which  are,  and  the  things  ichich  shall  he  here- 
after. This  triple  description,  which  first  of 
all  excites  attention  to  the  comprehensive  per- 
fectness,  and  most  certain  reality  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  book  to  be  written,  may  be  under- 
stood arcording  to  the  three  dimensions  of 
time:  What  thou  hast  hitherto  seen  (the  glo- 
rious manifestation  described  from  ver.  12 
onwards) — the  things  which  nowrt;-^,  and  which 
are  disclosed  with  an  "  I  know,  "  must  also  be 
set  down  by  thee,  that  is,  the  condition  of 
these  present  churches  as  exhibited  in  the 
epistles,  chaps,  ii.  and  iii. — and  the  things 
which  shall  be  hereafter,  as  they  are  typically 
involved  in  these  epistles,  and  as  they  will  be 
seen  in  all  the  following  visions,  down  to  the 
new  Jerusalem,  on  the  new  earth,  under  the 
new  heaven,  down  to  the  eternally  decisive, 
"  Blessed  are  " — "  But  without  are."  This  would 
give,  in  a  certain  sense,  three  divisions  of  the 
book,  unequal,  indeed,  as  to  their  extent,  but 
in  their  substance,  strictly  corresponding  to 
each  other:  first,  the  appearance  of  the  Living 
Lord — then  his  seven  epistles — then  the  con- 
tinuous epistle  of  what  remained  to  be  shown 
(with  which  chap.  iv.  1  might  agree).  This 
would,  at  the  same  time,  involve  the  thought, 
that  what  was  to  happen  would  go  on  in  the  im- 
mediate processor  development  (shortly,  ver.  1), 
from  the  then  circumstances  of  the  Church  as 
Bvmbolically  exhibited  by  the  seven  churches. 
We  will  not  reject  this  exposition,  but  rather 


*  The  ovv,  which  Luther  omits,  thus  obtains 
its  emphasis. 


hold  it  fast,  as  demonstrative  against  every 
false  view  which  would  discover  in  the  Revela- 
tion of  John,  not  the  whole  of  progressive 
history,  but  merely  the  things  in  the  far  future 
which"  will  take  pla-e  immediately  before  the 
Lord's  coming.  Still,  as  the  pregnant  language 
of  prophecy  often  admits  more  than  one  in- 
terpretation, we  would  also  more  simply  un- 
derstand, by  the  triple  description  (as  probably 
John  did,  before  his  deeper  penetration  into  the 
word),  a  merely  parallel  description  of  the 
same  thing.  "The  things  which  thou  hnst 
seen" — may  comprehensively  mean  (in  har- 
mony with  ver.  11)  only,  "What  thou  now, 
and  "from  this  time  seest."  But  that  which  is 
shown  to  the  seer  to  see,  is  no  phantasm  of  a 
dream  or  poetical  invention.  It  is  most  ab- 
solute reality  in  the  condition  and  process  of 
things  upon  earth,  as  also  before  the  counsel 
of  God  in  heaven,  especially  after  the  revelation 
here  of  the  otherwise  secret  powers  and  ener- 
gies which  operate  upon  this  world  from  the 
other :  hence,  "  thou  shall  see  the  things  which 
are!'  But,  finally,  this  that  was  seen  and  al- 
ready existing,  refers  collectively,  not  so  much 
to  the  then  present,  as  to  the  things  which 
should  come  to  pass  from  that  time  onwards — so 
that  "hereafter"  is  not  opposed  to  the  pre. 
ceding  "  things  that  now  are,"  but  is  no  othei 
than  merely  the  prophetic  expression  for  the 
future.  Thus,  similarly,  the  third  is  only  a 
designation  of  the  whole,  with  which  chap.  i.  1 
and  IV.  1,  and  also  the  corresponding  conclusion, 
would  better  agree.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
former  interpretation,  which  lays  stress  on  the 
connection  with  the  present  and  development 
from  it,  is  included  in  this:  the  reality  of  the 
visions  of  the  future  (as  we  may  mo.st  briefly 
combine  the  three  expressions  in  their  true 
meaning),  indeed,  pre-supposes  the  develop- 
ment of  the  future  from  the  present.  There  is  no 
more  actual  future  than  that;  therefore,  there 
is  no  other  prophecy  than  that  which  connects 
itself  with,  developes,  and  typically  sets  out 
from,  what  already  is — thus  showing  what, 
though  it  has  yet  to  come  to  pass,  exists  noin 
in  God's  counsel,  and  to  the  opened  eyes  of 
the  seer,  who  beholds  internal  and  external 
realities. 

This  view  of  the  previous  sentence  most  ap- 
propriately prepares  the  way  for  its  continua- 
tion, which  at  once  sets  out  with  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  figures  that  had  been  seen 
in  their  reality,  with  an  explanation  of  the 
tijpical  meaning  of  the  seven  churches  first- 
named.  Wo  may  either  take  it  as  in  the  accu- 
sative, following  the  sentence  before — "  Write 
the  mystery,"  etc. ;  or  regard  it  as  a  new  S'»n- 
tence — "The  mystery  of  what  thou  sawe.'^t  is 
as  follows:  the  seven  stars  ar-e,"  etc.  The 
sense,  in  both  cases,  is  the  same,  and  the  words 
run  :  The  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  which  t!ion 
saiccst  in  my  right  hand,  and  the  seren  go  den 
candlesticks.*     The  sn-en  stars  are  the  angeh 


*  Instead  of  "  and  of  tlie  seven  " — for  the  can- 
dles'.icks  seeu  are  theaiselves  also  the  mystery. 


BEV.  L  11,  17-20 


903 


tfthi  seven  churches  ,•  and  the  seven  candlesticks 
are  the  seven  churches. 

The  signilicance  of  the  number  seven  in 
Scripture  is  well  known.  Although  stamped 
cpon  -sound,  and  light,  and  other  patterns  of 
things  heavenly  upon  earth,  it  belongs,  with  the 
number  three,  essentially  to  the  upper  king- 
dom ;  and  has  indicated,  ever  since  the  festival 
of  the  seventh  day  ut  the  end  of  creation,  "  the 
number  of  the  perfection  oidiviM  possibilities." 
The  twelve,  the  forty,  or  thirty,  on  the  other 
hand,  correspond  i-ather  to  the  creature  in 
itself;  and  this  will  at  once  teach  us  why  the 
j)cr/ect  mnnifoklnens  of  the  New-Testament 
people  of  God,  the  Lord's  Church,  the  tweke- 
number  of  which  is  also  found  afterwards  in  the 
Apocalypse,  and  seen  in  the  New  Jerusalem, 
is  here  at  first  exhibited  in  the  Lord's  own 
presence  in  his  sacred  number  seven.  In  as 
far  as  the  Lord's  feoi-k  is  derived,  and  grows, 
and  becomes,  from  the  ground  of  the  creature, 
it  is  unfolded  in  twelve  stems,  and  enters, 
finally,  through  twelve  gates  into  the  Jeru- 
salem of  the  new  creation.  But,  in  as  far  as 
the  Lord's  Church,  lighted  by  liis  light,  shines 
in  his  temple  and  sanctuary  from  the  begin- 
ning before  him,  it  is  exhibited  in  the  seven 
churches.  To  this  corresponds  a  historical  and 
eternal  reality  ;  but  whether  the  twelve  and 
seven  have,  in  any  sense,  a  literal  value,  or  are 
only  symbolical  numbers  for  more  or  less  mani- 
fokiness  in  unity,  will  be  easily  decided,  as 
respects  at  least  the  seven,  by  the  specially 
directed  epistles. 

That  the  seven  en iidle.sticlg,  as  the  extension 
and  unfolding  of  the  seven-branched  candle- 
stick in  the  old  sanctuary,  and  mentioned  first 
in  ver.  12,  are  the  foundation  of  the  whole  sym- 
bolism in  this  place,  is  quite  clear.  Originally 
corresponding  to  the  seven  spirits  of  God  (chap, 
i.  4,  iii.  1,  iv.  5,  v.  6),  they  then  represent  those 
which  are  enlightened  and  kindled  by  the  one 
Spirit  in  his  manifoldness  ;  just  as  the  shew- 
bread  represented  the  people  prepared  by  God's 
nourishment,  and  placed  before  his  presence  as 
acceptable.  Now,  because  these  candlesticks, 
standing  before  the  Lord  in  his  light  (never- 
theless, according  to  the  inwardness  of  the  New 
Testament,  not  so  much  before  him  and  he  far 
over  against  them,  but  he  being  in  their  midst), 
are  alreadv,  in  some  degree,  intelligible  to  John 
from  the  Old  Testament,  their  special  significa- 
tion is  reserved  for  the  close;  first  comes  now 
the  therewith  connected  seven  stars,  the  mys- 
tery* of  which  previously  required  explana- 
tion. We  learn  what  they  mean  from  the  fact 
that,  elsewhere  in  the  Old  and  New  Scriptures, 
the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  the  heavenly 
kingdom,  is  compared  with,  or  likened  to,  the 


Such  incorrectness  of  language,  and  change  of 
construciion.  are  designedly  and  significantly  fre- 
frcquiMii  in  the  Apocalypse. 

*  Mv^TT/piov,   in    apocalyptic    language,    is 
rquiralen'„  to  y>nD — secret  sense  of  the  letter; 

corap.  chap.  xvii.  5. 


upper  heaven.  We  could  not,  and  would  not, 
write  here  a  treatise  on  biblical  typology  and 
symbolism,  and  must  content  our.selves  with 
(he  most  concise  interpretation.  When  the 
Lord,  in  Matt.  xxiv.  29,  speaks  in  the  language 
of  the  Old  Testament  of  the  "  heaven-church," 
the  stars  in  that  heaven  are  no  other  than  "  the 
heads  of  the  congregation,  and  teachers" — fop 
which  Dan.  viii.'lO,  11,  and  further  Rev.  vi. 
13,  viii.  12,  xii.  1-1,  may  be  compareil.*  As, 
in  the  above  passage  "  host  of  heaven  "  (which 
expression  itself  thus  occurs  in  a  double  mean- 
ing), the  stars  correspond  to  the  nyigels  (Job 
xxxviii.  7),  as  their  domain  and  dwelling,  this 
simply  of  itself  decides  who  the  angels  of  the 
churches  in  our  lower,  reflected  church-heaven 
must  be:  they  can  only  be  human  persons 
typically  described  by  this  name.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  learned  parallels 
from  the  constitution  of  the  Jewish  svnaeogue.f 
nor  to  think  of  messengers,  appointed  officials  of 
the  then  existing  Asiatic  churches, J  But  no 
more  must  we  spiritualize  in  a  manner  which 
is  o'.it  of  harmony  with  the  entire  character  of 
the  Apocalypse,  and  make  them  poetical  per- 
sonifications of  the  Church  and  its  common 
spirit.  The  important  question,  whether,  at 
tliat  early  period,  one  of  the  presbyters  had  the 
pre-eminent  place  as  bishop,  is  easily  settled 
if  we  remember  that  the  angel,  or  president,  or 
leader  of  the  Church  here  singled  out  by  the 
Lord — that  is,  that  one  per.sonality  in  whom 
the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Church  was  repre- 
sented and  most  perfectly  impressed — by  no 
means  must  be  regarded  as  bearing  an  oificial 
title  pre-eminent  over  the  rest.  Sutfice  it  that 
every  congregation  had — so  far  as  it  is  here 
viewed  as  one  whole,  characteristically  and 
peculiarly  isolated — as  its  own  specific  char- 
acter, so  also  some  one  personal  representative 
of  that  character.  In  the  college  of  the  elders 
there  was  certainly  every  where  one  who  was 
prominent,  without  priority  of  rank,  and  who 


*  See  our  exposition  of  tho  passage  of  Mat- 
thew. 

t  As  thnt  oyysXoi  etymologically  corres- 
ponds to  ihe  official  who  led  the  prayers,  who  was 

called  -|!i3V  ry^bv. 

X  So  Ebrard,  from  ienorance  of  the  typical  re- 
lation between  angels  and  stars,  has  erred.  It 
seems  to  us  impossible  tliat  the  meaning  "  ambas- 
sadors," wh'ch  oniy  first  occurs  elsewliere  in  the 
New  Testament,  should  be  the  meaning  in  this 
book,  which  speaks  so  much  of  dyysXoii  as  an- 
gels. The  fiction  that  messengers  came  to  Jol-n 
in  Patmos,  to  wliom  the  epistles  were  to  bo  com- 
mitted, is  most  inappropriate  for  the  seeing  of 
the  things  which  actually  arc.  and  introduces  some- 
thing commonplace  for  tiie  explanation  of  the  mys- 
tery. Fmally,  who  could  ever  say — Write  to  the 
messengers  who  will  cany  (lie  epistle ;  instead  of — 
to  those  to  whom  it  was  to  be  carried.  That  in 
every  epistle  the  messenger  himself  is  addressed 
instead  of  the  Church,  is  not  so  "natural"  as  it 
is  assumed  to  1)e,  even  if  he  was  viewed  as  a  r©- 
presemalive  of  the  presbytery. 


90* 


TO  JOHN  IN  PATMOS 


was  well  known  by  that  preponderance,  at  least 
to  apostolical  eyes.  If  even  this  had  not  been 
the  case,  the  Lord  might  have  shown  to  the 
Apostle  whom  he  meant,  and  to  whom  the 
letter  was  to  be  sent ;  though  this,  as  not  being 
of  importance  to  futurity,  and  therefore  a  sub- 
ordinate matter,  was  not  to  be  written  in  the 
book,  any  more  than  the  names  of  these 
"  angels "  generally.  Thus,  we  understand 
these  angels  "  of  the  churches  to  be  persons  who 
stood  before  the  Lord's  view  as  the  represen- 
tative leaders  of  the  Church,  with  or  without 
prominent  office,  but  in  prominent  spiritual 
position,  and,  therefore,  assumed  to  be  the  re- 
ceivers of  that  which  was  to  be  said  to  the 
Church*  They  are  by  no  means  collectively 
the  "  teaching  order,"  or,  "Ihe  eldership,"  or 
any  thing  of  the  kind,  but  actual  individual 
persons.  Not  therefore,  however,  "quasi- 
guardian  angels"  of  the  churches,  since  their 
typical  designation  as  angels  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  idea  of  guardianship  ;  but,  in  the  pro- 
lound  and  yet  simple  allusion,  the  significance 
of  the  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  ruling  min- 
isters of  the  Lord  in  his  congregation,  the  true 
heads  and  princes  of  the  Church,  so  regarded 
and  esteemed  by  himself,  was  to  be  shadowed 
out  by  these  angels  of  the  churches,  which, 
indeed,  is,  and  must  ever  be,  a  mystery. 

Now,  finally,  for  the  seven  churches  them- 
selves. It  is  certain  at  the  outset  that  the 
interpretation  of  the  mystery  cannot  be  re- 
stricied  to  those  seven  churches  then  existing 
in  Asia  Minor.  Certainly  John,  according  to 
vcr.  4,  sent  to  these  "  seven  churches  in  Asia" 
the  whole  book,  with  the  seven  epistles  at  the 
head  of  it.  This  was  according  to  the  com- 
mand which  he  received,  ver.  11  ;  when,  how- 
ever, as  a  kind  of  hint  of  another  signification 
of  these  names  and  addresses,  the  geographical 
note  "in  Asia"  is  not  found. t  But  here  in 
ver.  20,  where  the  Lord  interprets  the  whole 
typical  symbolism  of  his  first  manifestation, 
even  the  article  is  wanting,  according  to  the 
best  reading,  and  it  runs :  The  seven  candle- 
sticks are  seven  churches.  Again,  afterwards  in 
the  epistles,  the  seven-fold  appeal  calls  upon 
him  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear  what  the  Spirit 
»».\i\iunto  the  churches — the  seven-number  being 
wanting,  and  "  the  churches"  signifying  simply 
—the  entire  Church  of  the  Lord.  Accordingly, 
we  must  admit  that  there  is  a  symbolical  prin- 
ciple of  interpretation  underlying  the  wnole, 
however  difficult  it  may  be  to  apply  that  prin- 
ciple to  tiie  individual  cases.  The  book,  as 
chap.  i.  1  in  its  superscription  says,  is  from  the 
beginning  (and  not  merely  from  chap.  iv.  1  on- 


"  In  this  we  quite  agree  with  Zellor  {Beitggm. 
Monaishl.  i848):  "  That,  predominant  (single  or 
collective)  teaching  or  ruling  personality,  whose 
spirit,  example,  and  work  exerted  a  main  influ- 
ence upon  the  spirilunl  condiiion  of  their  (Muirch 
and  their  tira.?,  and  wh:ch  figured  iho  Churcli 
either  in  a  good  or  evil  sense." 

\  It  is  found  in  Luther's  translation,  following 
aa  iucorrocl  i-ea>liug. 


wards)  prophetic  for  the  future.  Ho\r  would 
the  seven  churches  be  a  mystery,  if  nothing  was 
prophesied  under  their  several  names?*  How 
would  they  then  correspond  to  the  seven 
candlesticks,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  Lord 
walked  (which  presently  is  mentioned  again, 
chap.  ii.  1),  and  their  angels  to  the  seven  stars  ? 
For  the  Lord  dwells  in  the  midst  of  his  whole 
Church,  and  holds  all  its  "  angels,"  in  all  lands 
and  in  all  times,  in  his  hand.  Thus,  most  in- 
controvertibly,  as  we  have  above  expounded, 
this  number  seven  of  the  congregation  is  not 
alone  a  typical  counterpart  to  the  twelve  of  the 
tribes,  but  it  is  here  placed  first  in  ihe  prophet' 
ical  perspective — a  prophetic  type  of  that 
which  was  to  take  place  in  the  succession  of 
time ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  twelve 
tribes  indicate  only  the  manifoldness  of  the 
people  of  God  in  their  unity.  We  may  in  a 
certain  sense  compare  Avith  this  the  seven 
parables  in  Matt,  xiii.,  placed  in  a  similar  pro- 
phetic background;  except  that  now,  in  thepres- 
ent  much  more  perfect  development  of  the 
Church,  containing  the  evident  germ  of  all  the 
future,  the  prophecy  is  incomparably  more 
special,  concrete,  and  plain. 

The  historical  basis  is  the  actual  position 
and  character  of  a  selected  number  of  the 
churches  of  Asia  Minor,  that  district  where 
John  had  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  the  preparer  of  the 
way,  regulating  all  its  affairs  from  Ephesus  as 
a  centre.!  Rich  life  was  there,  but  also  per- 
version and  corruption  commencing  and  actual ; 
war  of  the  Spirit  with  the  flesh  ;  conflict  of  the 
Church  of  the  Lord  with  the  world  and  its 
prince,  in  all  stages  of  victory  or  commencing 
fall.  For  even  apostolical  power  and  vigilance 
were  not  sufficient  to  release  the  Church  of  the 
beginning  from  the  process  of  development  ia 
human  freedom;  even  the  Apostolical  Church, 
in  this  immediately  following  stage,  which  we 
may  term  the  Johannean,  bore  in  it,  concur- 
rently with  its  strength  of  faith  and  faithful- 
ness of  love,  the  beginnings  and  types  of  all 
future  apostacy  and  corruption,  down  to  the 
Laodicean  lukewarmness  of  the  last  days.  For 
this,  the  territory  of  the  Church  of  Asia  Minor, 
so  variously  made  up  of  peculiar  characteristics, 
was  a  most  apt  and  apjtropriate  emblem  ;  and 
hence  it  was  the  historically  existing,  and  not 
arbitrarily  chosen,  type  of  all  the  future. 

It  follows  from  all  this,  as  indeed  from  the 
fact  of  these  Epistles  being  sent  to  these 
churches,  that  the  words  of  praise  and  censure, 
of  consolation  and  exhortation,  which  were  ap- 
propriately addressed  to  each  of  them,  will 
prove  themselves  applicable  in  all  similar  cir- 


*  Steinheil  {Blickc  in  die  Apokali/pse,  Basel,  1857) 
observes  that  the  tpxt  does  not  say  so.  But  it 
most  surely  does.  Bengel,  who  with  all  his  pene- 
tration sometimes  striking  y  fails,  very  erroneous- 
ly reters  the  "  mystery  "  oniy  to  the  siars. 

f  Israel  retires  for  a  season  altogether  into  the 
ground  of  Gentile  C.irislianily,  for  the  scope  and 
aim  of  the  Apocalypse. 


EEV  I.  11, 17-20. 


909 


carastaTices  of  the  progressive  Church.  This  is 
even  the  plain  and  obvious  meaning  which  the 
Holy  Spirit,  in  this  relatively  very  compre- 
hensible introduction  of  the  dark  book  of  pro- 
phecy, suggests  to  all  individual  souls.  The 
churches  which  rise  successively  are  in  some 
sense  always  simultaneously  existent  also, 
though  not  always  stamped  so  distinctively  as 
in  these  seven  types, — even  as  "invisible heart- 
churches,"  as  Meyer  expresses  it.  Neverthe- 
less, this  does  not  exclude  the  fact,  that  these 
characteristics  and  main  features  of  the  devel- 
opment are  exhibited  in  the  periods  of  church 
history,  and  that  to  point  to  this  in  the  back- 
ground is  the  main  design  o[  ih^  prophetic  word 
— as  in  the  case  of  the  seven  parables  it  was 
but  involuntary,  so  to  speak,  and  subordinate. 
For,  as  we  said  there,  the  history  of  the  Church 
is  no  other  than  the  Church's  progressively- 
developed  doctrine  concerning  itself,  its  own 
revelation  ;  so  we  may  here  still  more  distinctly 
assert  that  the  stages  and  forms  of  the  develop- 
ment which  exhibit  to  us  in  miniature  its  con- 
dition in  its  course  through  time,  are  stamped 
with  historical  necessity  upon  that  course  on 
the  greatest  scale. 

The  Lord's  glance,  every  where  having  the 
ground  and  the  final  consummation  in  view, 
beheld  an  these  sevea  churches  of  Asia  Minor — 
though  there  were  other  and  not  insignificant 
churches  there — a  complete  and  self-contained 
symbolical  circle.  There  were  many  various 
elements  intermingled,  as  we  shall  see,  in  each 
individual  example  ;  yet  in  each  there  is  most 
evidently  a  fundamental  feature,  a  main  char- 
acteristic. Ever}'  epistle  is  comprised  under 
the  sam«  four-fold  arrangement :  "  Whatsaith," 
with  a  title  of  the  Lord  coming  first — "  I  know 
thy  works,"  with  a  disclosure  of  its  condition, 
and  praise  or  blame ;  exhortation,  consolation, 
threatening,  variously  expressed ;  finally,  in 
each  case,  the  promise  for  hearing  ears  to  him 
ikat otercometh :  and  this  uniformity  will  make 
the  variety  all  the  more  intelligible.  Each 
several  title  of  the  Lord  at  the  beginning  bor- 
rows something  from  the  preceding  manifesta- 
tion, though  not  following  the  precise  order  of 
the  description;  even  the  "  keys"  of  chap.  iii. 
7  looks  back  to  chap.  i.  18,  as  the  comprehen- 
sive name  to  the  seventh,  chap.  iii.  14,  looks 
back  in  its  meaning  to  the  whole.  Only  the 
toice  and  the  face  are  appropriately  left  un- 
mentioned  again  by  the  writer  of  the  epistles. 
The  concluding  promises  point  back  directly, 
dn  the  first  iour,  to  the  ancient  Scriptures,  and 
in  order:  to  the  tree  of  life  in  Paradise  ;  death 
■^although  now  the  second  death);  the  manna 
of  the  desert;  and  David's  typical  kingdom. 
They  then  leave  this  course,  and  exhibit  an 
ever  more  nearly  approximating  appearance  of 
the  Lord  as  Judge.  From  the  beginning  it  was 
jalmost  every  where — I  will  come  (chap,  ii  5, 
16,  25)  ;  but  in  the  last  three  it  comes  strik- 
ingly nearer  and  nearer:  read  together  chap, 
iii.  vers.  3-5,  vers.  10-12,  vers.  20,  21.  This  last 
(obseivation  rdiites  the  notion  of  Ebi'ard,  that 
4)iily  .the  firat  .lour  "^huxchdoms"  jare  in  Jiis- 


torical  sequence,  and  that  the  last  three  will 
appear  at  once  in  the  end. 

The  reader  may  expect,  after  this  necessary 
exposition  of  chap.  i.  20,  as  an  inevitable  in- 
troduction to  the  seven  epistles,  that  we 
should  give  our  own  exclusively  prophetic  in- 
terpretation ;  but  this  we  are  not  inclined  to 
do.  This  book  is  intended  rather  for  edifica- 
tion, than  for  the  assistance  of  a  few  to  find 
the  depths  of  knowledge  which  are  attainable 
only  to  a  few.  Moreover,  we  must  confess 
that  we  have  not  attained  to  any  absolute  sure 
understanding  ;  in  all  previous  interpretations, 
not  excepting  those  which  have  been  thor- 
oughly versed  in  Scripture  and  in  history,  we 
have  found  some  coinciding  com«nencements 
of  presentiment  indeed,  but  no  established 
and  irrefragable  conclusions.  Bengel,  it  is  well 
known,  maintained  that  the  seven  churches 
have  no  prophetical  meaning,  and  llofmann 
denies  any  such  meaning,  at  least  for  the  whole 
of  church  history  ;  we  think  otherwise,  as  al- 
ready hinted,  but  do  not  presume  to  expound 
the  Spirit's  mystery  as  already  known.  It  is 
not  our  vocation  to  add  one  more  to  the  abun- 
dant chronological  tables  of  the  corresponding 
periods  in  church  history,  certainly  not  to  con- 
teri'l  on  such  a  question  as  this. 

Thus  much,  however,  is  plain  to  our  appre- 
hension on  a  general  view,  that  in  Ephem.s  and 
Lxodicea  are  exhibited  the  first  and  the  last 
ecclesiastical  period.  Ephesus,  the  central 
church  of  the  Apostle  John,  in  his  consum- 
mating period,  the  laboring,  enduring,  Apos- 
tolical Church,  which  condemned  and  put  away 
the  evil  and  the  false,  yet  already  in  a  transi- 
tion to  the  leaving  of  her  first  love  ;  therefore 
the  removing  of  the  candlestick  from  its  first 
place  is  set  threateningly  in  view.  Laodicea 
(the  name  appears  in  all  cases  significant,  and 
here  means — where  the  people  rule  and  judge) 
is,  with  equal  certainty,  the  Church  as  at  the 
last  time  altogether  fallen  from  love,  lukewarm, 
self-complacent,  blind;  the  vast  broad  state 
Church,  blending  all  things  together  in  a  so- 
called  Christendom,  before  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  who,  standing  at  the  door,  as  the  Amen 
yet  once  more  faithfully  testifies  and  exhorts, 
and  can  save  and  preserve  those  who  sit  with 
hinx  at  the  table,  and  are  to  sit  upon  his 
throne,  only  by  chastisement  and  discipline. 
What  lies  between  this  beginning  and  this  end, 
admits  of  less  clear  demarcation  in  detail. 
The  most  definitely  marked  are  Smyrna,  fol- 
lowing the  first, and  Philadelphia,  preceding  the 
last,  and  its  time  stretching  through  the 
last.  The  former  signified  the  post-apos- 
toiical  Church,  which  is  exhorted  to  fidelity 
unto  death  in  the  midst  of  fearful  persecutions 
of  the  Fdsen  Lord.  Philadelphia  (brotherly 
love),  holding  fast  the  word  with  the  open 
door  and  little  strength,  and  therefore  itself 
protected  from  the  great  hour  of  temptation — 
may  surely  exhibit  to  us  the  pure  united  evan- 
gelical Church,  the  time  of  which,  whatever 
others  may  say,  has  already  commenced;  and 
to  which  the  "name  of  the  citj  of  God,  of  the 


96S^ 


THE  SEVEN  EPISTLES  TO  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES. 


alone  true  and  pure  0hurch,.i9  held  out  at  least 
in  promise.  Only  Smyrna  and  Philadelphia 
are  not  rebuked,  as  ©nly  Laodicea  is  not  com- 
mended. The  three  intermediate'  churches  are, 
in  the  stronc;er  intermixture  of  their  charac- 
ter (as  church  history  corresponds  to  it),  less 
individually  discernible  in  their  demarcation. 
Whether  actually  in  Pergamoa  (tower)  is 
shadowed  out  the  witnessing  Church  dwell- 
ing in  the  midst  of  pseudo-churchdom,  and 
the  high  (CiBsardom  and)  Popedom,  which  alas! 
was  not  untarnished — that  is,  the  beginnings 
of  that  witnessing  Church — and  ■whether  in 
Sardis  the  Reformed  Church,  fallen  down  to  a 
name  without  truth,  and  to  only  a  small  rem- 
nant of  faithful,  first  orthodox  and  then  ra- 


tionalist— we  cannot  venture  positively  tcr  pro- 
nounce: certainly  a  place  belongs  to  the  con,' 
timious  old-catholic  churehes  (with  and  after 
Pergamos).  These  find,  indeed,  their  type  in 
Thyatira,  that  is,  the  believing,  serving,"work- 
ing  Christians  among  them  ;  if,  namely,  we 
rightly  consider  the  whore  Jezebel  and  her 
idol  sacrifices,  the  threatened  judgment,  the 
true  authority  to  feed  the  nations  promised  to 
the  overcomer.  But  enough  :  wo  reserve  the 
rest  for  the  exposition  of  the  details ;  and 
leave  it  to  the  Lord  to  reveal,  in  his  own  time 
and  way,  to  every  one  what  may  do  himself 
and  others  service— being  for  our  own  part  far 
from  asserting  that  what  we  have  to  say  ia  ia- 
controvertibLy  true. 


THE  SEVEN  EPISTLES  TO  THE  SEVEN  CHUKCHES. 


(Kev.  II,  III.) 


That  which  these  Epistles,  placed  thus  in 
the  forefront,  demand  of  the  reader  of  this 
prophetic  book  of  history  and  mystery — to 
wit,  self-eimnina'ion  before  we  presume  to  hear 
and  interpret  the  things  that  shall  be — we 
earnestly  commend  to  every  student  of  this 
Apocalypse  generally  ;  and  to  every  reader  of 
this  little  book,  which  professes  to  expound 
only  its  commencement  as  containing  the  im- 
mediate words  of  our  Lord.  The  whole  Church 
of  Christ,  every  particular  church,  and  every 
individual  believer,  should  constantly  lay  bare 
the  heart  to  the  word  of  this  great  Searcher  of 
hearts  with  the  flaming  eyes,  of  this  Judge 
who  Cometh  with  the  two-edged  sword  of  his 
mouth — 1  know  thy  v/orks.  Every  one  must 
receive  from  him  the  exhortation  and  appeal 
which,  while  it  warns  and  even  threatens,  is 
yet  full  of  the  strongest  encouragement.  Tlius 
these  epistles  correspond  with  the  words  which 
begin  and  end  the  great  prophecy  of  our 
Lord  yet  upon  earth — See  that  ye  be  not  de- 
ceived. Watch  always.  What  I  say  unto  you 
I  say  unto  all,  Watch  (Matt.  xxiv.  4;  Luke 
xxi.  06  ;  Mark  xiii.  37)-  Hence  Rev.  xxi.  11, 
12,  returns  to  the  same  injunction. 

That  is  an  incorrect  exposition — pervading 
Bengel'a  school,  and  otherwise  common — 
which  refers  the  address  to  the  angel  of  the 
church  alone  and  as  an  individual.*  The  sig- 
niticantly  running  "  Jle  tiiat  hath  oars  to  hear, 
let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  vn'o  the 
churches!  "  is  decisive  against  such  a  limitation,, 
as  also  the  transition  to  the  more  comprehen- 
sive ye  in  the  application,  chap.  ii.  10,  24. 
Nevertheless,  so  much  is  true,  that  in  the 
"angel"    the   position   and  consciousness  of 


*  As,  e.  ff.,  in  Bengel's  iVVif  Ttgtainfnt;  we  read 
on  ver.  2 :  "  Thus  ihis  man  must  huv^  liad  a  pene- 
tiatiag  underatandiasJ' 


the  Church  belongino:  to  him  is  essenfially  rep- 
resented and  inwardly  concentrated;  there- 
fore all  exhortation  was  to  touch  him  first,  and 
then  in  him  and  further  through  him  tiio 
Church.  Consequently,  every  such  president 
or  ruling  person,  from  the  minister  of  the 
smallest  cure  to  the  general  superintendent 
of  the  whole  district,  every  one  who  is  thus 
responsible  for  the  rest,  must  specifically  ex- 
amine himself  whether  and  in  what  way 
that  which  the  Spirit  saith  to  his  Church 
afTects  himself  individually.  Consequent!}', 
also,  every  theologian  who  would  be  an  ex- 
positor of  the  Revelation  of  John  "  the  divine," 
must  not  rapidly  hasten  over  this  commence- 
ment, given  for  his  own  self-examination  ;  he 
must  not  consider  it  all  his  duty  to  investi- 
eate  and  treat  of  the  relation  which  the  epis- 
tle had  to  the  angel  of  Ephesus,  or  Smyrna,  or 
the  rest.  Let  us,  with  such  a  hearing  ear  as 
this,  hear  the  words  of  the  heavenly-epistle 
writer  through  the  Spirit. 

Unto  the  anrjcl  of  ihe  church  of  Ephesus 
write:  These  things  saith  he  that  holdeth  the- 
seven  stars  in  ]iis  right  hand,  uho  icalkeih  i>i 
ihe  midst  of  ihe  seven  golden  candlesticks.  The 
metropolis,  and  central  church  of  lesser  Asia» 
openstho  series  ;  where,  in  the  very  seat  of 
idolatry,  superstition,  and  sorcery,  the  nour- 
ishing plantation  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
heathen  had  come  under  the  immediate  care 
of  John.  The  name,  the  historical  derivatioa 
of  which  is  obscure,  might  be  prophetically  in- 
terpreted The  beloved,  the  dewed  ;  or  the  Sender, 
which  would  more  aptly  note  the  di.-^tinctioa 
of  the  great  "Apostolical  "  Church  of  the  be- 
ginning. But  all  this  is  undefined,  and  has  no 
bearing  upon  the  exposition.  Nor  are  we  to 
refer  this  to  Timothy,  who  was  only  for  a  time 
an  "  evangelist"  to  Ephesus  (2  Tim.  iv.  5,  9), 
and  aa  it  were  au  apostolical  delegate  for  tha 


REV.  II.  1-7. 


907 


full  establishment  of  the  Church  ;  not  to  men- 
tion other  reasons  which,  when  we  reflect  fur- 
ther, turn  our  thoughts  away  from  him.  The 
personalities  of  the  historical  basis  retreat 
into  that  obscurity  in  which  it  has  pleased 
the  wisdom  of  God  that  the  specialties  of  the 
early  Church  should  be  wrapped,  in  order  that 
the  permanent  canonical  word  written  for  us 
might  more  clearly  shine  out.  Thus  it  rather 
import?!  us  to  behold  and  hear  hiin  who  speaks 
to  the  Ephesian  angel,  and  who  prefixes  to  the 
epistle  \\\(i first  comprehensive  title — I,  the  su- 
preme Pastor  of  all  the  churches.  After  the 
manner  of  the  old  prophetical.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  he  utters  his  majestic  I,  though  him- 
self speaks  in  the  third  person  ;  yet  this  is  all 
the  more  emphatic  after  the  preceding  mani- 
festation. He  hohleth  the  seven  stars  in  his 
right  hand,  and  this  in  the  original  has  a 
strong  meaning;  who  by  the  might  of  his 
right  hand  holds  them  fast*  ruling  and  defend- 
ing them,  that  they  may  not  fall  from  his  hand, 
and  that  no  man  may  pluck  them  thence. 
Even  Sardis  and  Laodicea  are  still  in  his  hand  ; 
with  all  their  severe  rebukes,  they  are  not  yet 
cast  away.  A  candlestick  may  indeed  be  re- 
moved out  of  its  place  (ver.  3) — yet  only  to 
another;  the  seven  candlesticks  as  a  whole 
cannot  be  extinguished  before  him.  But  that 
comes  only  of  the  grace  in  which  he  walkcth 
among  them  :  he  visits,  cares  for,  and  guards 
all  in  particular — as  to  every  candlestick  there 
might  appertain  many  lesser  lights,  scarcely 
glimmering  in  their  feebleness.  He  who  walk- 
eth  i?i  the  midst  of  the  seven  churches  is  the 
same  who  promised  that  wherever  two  or  three 
were  gathered  together  in  his  name,  he  would 
be  iu  llie  midst  of  them.  In  this,  at  the  same 
time,  consists  the  unity  of  all  believers  and  of 
all  churches  in  the  one  Church  ;  as  this  unity, 
testified  here  first  for  Ephesus,  was  acknow- 
ledged in  the  Apostolical  Church.  Alas!  that 
the  isolated  churches  of  later  times  have,  in 
the  darkness  of  their  pride,  forgotten  that  the 
Lord  walketh  among  all  the  candlesticks,  in 
all  churches,  confessions,  and  sects  which  rest 
upon  the  one  foundation  ! 

I  hioio  thy  icorks,  mid  thij  labor,  and  thy 
patience,  aid  how  thou  canst  not  hear  them 
tvhich  are  evd ;  and  thou  hast  tried  them 
which  say  then  «'■<?  Apostlea.  and  are  not,  and 
hast  found  them  liars.  Thus  upon  the  one 
sure  loundation  which  God  in  Christ  hath  laid, 
this  seal  is  engraven — The  Lord  hnowelh  them 
that  are  his.  The  first  prayer  of  his  little 
company  addressed  to  him  ran — Thou,  Lord, 
knowest  the  hearts  of  all  (Acts  i.  24).  How 
ehould  not  he  know  them,  who  walks  among 
them,  v,-ho  dwells  in  their  midst,  whose  light 
alone  enkindled  the  stars  and  keeps  them  shin- 
ing? But  because  the  Searcher  of  hearts 
speaks  here  as  also  the  coming  and  warning 
Judge,  he  mentions  only — while  he  means  the 


ground  of  the  heart — the  worTci  with  their  ab- 
solute evidence,  as  they  are  always  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  judgment;  the  fruits 
for  which  he  will  ask,  the  gain  which  he  will 
look  for.  There  are  works  seemingly  good,  but 
he  means  not  these;  they  are  tlie  genuine, 
substantial,  and  worthy  works,  to  which  are 
opposed  the  mere  conceit  of  an  imaginary 
faith.  Works,  which  are  valid  before  the 
Lord,  are  found  only  where  there  is  lahor  or 
diligence;  and  farther,  these  are  only  where 
there  \?,  patience,  not  merely  in  suffering,  but  in 
all  perseverance  generally  in  the  sense  of  this 
scriptural  word.*  Parallels  in  matter  and 
word  are  1  Cor.  xv.  58  ;  1  Thess.  i.  3  ;  Heb. 
vi.  10.  How  many  would  fain  satisfy  and 
appease  the  Lord  with  so-called  "  works," 
who  must  hear  the  further  question  to  their 
shame — But  where  is  the  toil  and  labor  of  love, 
as  the  demonstration  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
work  oi faith?  where  the  perseverance  in  fidel- 
ity, the  patience  from  liope  ?  It  is  not  that  the 
earnestness  of  this  persevering  maintenance  is 
to  be  sought  in  the  latter  maturity  of  the 
Christian  life;  we  see  rather  here,  that  this 
test  is  applied  to  what  may  be  termed  youth- 
ful Christianity,  to  the  Apostolical  Church — 
as  generally  the  epistle  to  Ephesus  is  adapted 
to  rightly  established  beginners.  For,  as  we 
hear  again  in  the  conclusion,  it  is  the  fresh, 
pure  beginning  of  separation  from  the  evil 
world,  its  sin  and  lie,  that  is  threatened  with 
the  warfare  with  opposers  and  seducers.  Then 
comes  in  the  word — And  I  know  that  thou 
canst  not  bear  those  that  are  evil,  although  thy 
patience  hcareth  rauch.t  It  is  quite  a  differ- 
ent thing  to  bear  evil  iu  the  sense  of  2  Tim.  ii. 
4  :  as  the  necessary  corrective  of  a  patience 
which  receives  all  suffering,  and  whicli  other- 
wise might  degenerate  into  mere  unholy  weak- 
ness, there  must  always  be  bound  up  with  all 
true  love  a  hatred  against  evil  (Rom.  xii.  9), 
and  consequently  a  holy  intolerance  so  far 
against  all  the  doers  of  evil.  We  must  actu- 
ally, for  the  sake  of  truth,  not  be  able  to  bear 
the  least  imputation  of  such  bearing  with  sin- 
ners as  tolerates  and  is  content  to  have  any 
fellowship  with  their  sin.  IWat  inability  to 
hear  is  a  high  commendation  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord,  and  stands  here  prominently  among 
the  first-fruit  virtues  of  his  first  community. 
Finally,  there  are  at  all  times,  and  there  were 
in  the  Oeginning  also,  seducers  and  teachers  of 
error  who  came  forward  with  verv  specious 
pretensions  ;  but  they  were  to  be  tried,  tested 
by  the  true  standard,  to  see  whether  they  were 
what  they  pretended  to  be.     The  text  speaks, 


*  Kfjarel'y  from  wpa'roS  is  elsewhere  used  in 
tVie  sense  of  Ji(rtct  fast,  praerve  :  lor  example,  rer. 
25  of  this  chapter. 


*  In  conformity  with  this  order  of  the  thought, 
each  of  the  three  words  has  the  pronoun.  We 
would  not,  therefore,  with  many,  strike  out  the 
dov,  that  labor  and  patience  might  be  brought 
nearer  tosether. 

t  'AvE^iHaHO?,  nccording  to  He«ychius,  vtto- 
qjepcav  liCiHCc.  The  adversaries  must  be  really 
withstood,  tlioiiCTli  it  mny  be  with  meekness:  ihey 
are  not  to  b3  tolerated  and  borne  with  as  such. 


90S 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  EPHESUS. 


with  reference  to  the  time  in  which  there  were 
Btill  true  Apostles,  of  the  false  ones  whom  the 
New  Testament  o'.ten  sets  before  us ;  Paul, 
who  was  greatly  beset  by  them,  prophesied  of 
their  coming  to  Ephesus,  Acls  xx.  29.  The 
testing;  of  these  false  Apostles,  so  that  they 
might  be  found  to  be  liars  as  they  were,  is  by 
no  means  only  a  "  matter  for  the  Bishop  " — as 
the  simple  Ptomanist  Allioli  says,  in  his  "  ap- 
proved "  exegesis;  but  it  is,  according  to  1 
John  iv.  1,  the  duty  and  prerogative  of  every 
Christian  man.  The  sheep  may  themselves 
test  the  shepherd,  whether  lie  be  a  stranger  or 
not. 

Still  more  perfectly  exhibiting  his  meaning, 
and  still    dwelling  on  the   good    fundamental 

Principle  which  is  graciously  acknowledged,  the 
;ord  concludes  this  first  part  of  his  address  to 
Ephesus:  And  hast  {ov rctainest)  patience,  and 
hast  borne  for  mtj  name's  saJce,  and  hast  not 
fainted.  Patience  has  the  honor  ot  being  twice 
mentioned,  for  it  is  the  decisive  grace  (chap, 
xiii.  10,  xiv.  12) ;  as  James  says,  she  must 
have  her  work  perfected,  must  fully  prosecute 
and  finish  the  good  work  of  faith  :  James  i.  4. 
The  words  defend  themselves  on  both  sides 
aga'nst  misunderstanding:  that  the  work,  the 
work  of  love  in  patience,  may  not  be  inter- 
preted in  a  sense  contrary  to  holy  truth  and 
rigid  purity,  there  comes  first  the  not  bearing 
with  the  evil,  the  testing  and  rejection  of  the 
false;  but  then,  on  the  other  hand,  that  this 
may  not  be  pressed  in  a  spirit  opposed  to  love, 
there  is  the  hearing  of  the  evil  and  injustice 
which  the  wicked  inflict,  and  that  in  its  onlv 
genuine  spirit — For  my  name's  sake.  This 
embraces  both  at  once  and  in  one,  as  well  the 
love  of  Christ  which  impels  a  man  to  suffer,  as 
the  truth  of  Christ  for  the  maintenance  and  pro- 
fession of  which  a  man  is  ready  to  suffer.  Let 
every  Christian  and  every  Christian  Church 
look  in  the  glass  here  presented  to  him  by 
Christ,  and  ask  whether  the  Lord  has  found 
the  works  of  such  patience  accomplished?  As 
the  seeming  antithesis — Thou  hast  borne,  al- 
though thou  canst  not  bear — most  plainly  ex- 
hibits how  it  is  rightly  to  be  understood,  so 
also  in  the  still  more  untranslateable  words  of 
the  original  which  follow — I  know  thy  labor, 
but  thou  hast  not  labored.*  The  same  word  is 
used  in  another  correlative  meaning,  in  the 
Becond  clause:  but  it  is  not  so  much,  an  Zin- 
zendorf  says,  "  Thy  labor  has  not  been  heavy 
and  tedious,  thou  hast  done  it  willingly,"  as, 
*'  Thou  hast  not  become  weary  in  thy  toil,  thou 
hast  not  sunk  under  thy  work."!  As  nothing 
so  much  tends  to  produce  dejection,  and  to  de- 
stroy the  perseverance  of  patience,  as  the  con- 
flict'wiih  lalso  Apostles  and  brethren,  so  it  is 
certainly  the  highest  praise  of  tho  first  lovs  of 
the  beginning  of  the  apostolical  time,  that  it 
bad  preserved  its  fidelity  in  protesting  truth 
and  in  sufleiting  love. 


*  Tlv  hokov  dov — j<ai  ov  HEKoitiaxaZ. 
■)  Compnro  tho  sam;'  G-eek  word  in  Joha  iv.  G  ; 
and  simi.arly  Gal.  vi.  9,  LxHaKeir. 


Nevertkelesi — alas  !  this  nevertheless  follows, 
"  Thou  hast  not  been  weary  ;  thou  hast  labor- 
ed and  had  patience;  thou  hast  for  a  while  held 
out  both  in  the  not  suffering  and  the  sufferint;: 
but  now  thou  beginnest  to  be  weary  and  to 
relax."  Alas  !  if  such  a  word  as  this  must  be 
spoken  in  the  Lord's  first  address  to  his  first 
Church — and  the  history  even  of  the  apostolical 
age  shows  us  the  justification  for  it — who  is 
there  that  can  repel  and  decline  the  same 
heart-searching  declaration?  Who  among  us 
has  remained  uncontaminated  and  blameless  :n 
his  first  love  ?  "  Let  the  righteous  smite  me  in 
kindness;  it  shall  be  balsam  upon  my  head," 
spake  David,  the  type,  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
(Psa.  cxli  5)  ;  and,  verily,  here  the  alone  right- 
eous rebukes  and  smites  his  own  with  the  ex- 
cellent oil  of  everlasting  love.  First  comes  the 
full  and  unsparing  praise;  and  not  till  then  the 
equally  just  blame.  When  that  censure  comes, 
it  begins  in  the  gentlest,  mildest  expression — 
which,  however,  on  that  very  account  is  keen- 
ly penetrating — and  only  after  that  does  the 
increasing  severity  of  the  inevitable  threaten- 
ing follow. 

Nevertheless,  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou 
hast  left  thy  first  love.  As  the  Lord  directed  his 
disciples  ttiat  the  brother  should  speak  to  the 
brother,  if  he  have  aught  against  him,  so  does 
he  condescend  himself,  in  all  the  greater  ma- 
jesty and  conviction  to  say — I  have  somewhat 
against  thee  !  Ha  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let 
him  hearken  when  the  Lord  has  any  thing 
against  him — let  him  return  and  reconcile  him- 
self with  his  Lord.  Do  we  not  perceive  that 
it  is  his  lore  alone  which  seeks  and  finds  want- 
ing the  love  in  us?  Can  any  one  more  touch- 
ingly  rebuke  than  by  commencing  with  the 
complaint — Thou  no  longer  lovest  me  enough? 
Indeed,  from  the  lips  of  sinners  this  may  be  a 
selfish  and  unrighteous  demand;  but  when  the 
love  of  him  who  thus  rebukes  is  firm  and  cer- 
tain, and  proves  itself  even  in  the  manner  of 
the  rebuke,  he  has  verily  in  strict  right  this 
charge  to  bring.  The  inmost,  deepest  root,  the 
faith  pre-supposed  in  ver.  2,  which  is  the 
source  and  impulse  of  works,  is  not  now  men- 
tioned or  laid  bare,  because  it  is  self-understood 
to  be  involved  in  the  charge.  The  necessity  of 
the  doctrine  and  experience  of  faith  had  been 
pre-eminently  set  forth  by  Paul;  the  Lord 
himself,  after  he  had  spoken  in  the  same  strain 
while  upon  earth,  now  that  he  speaks  from 
heaven  lays  more  stress  in  his  phraseology — 
like  John,  whose  pen  he  put  into  his  hand  else- 
where for  the  same  purpose — upon  Ine,  the 
power  and  fruit  of  faith  ;  in  order  that  no  man 
in  his  Church  might  fall  into  tho  false  perver- 
sion of  tho  doctrine  of  "  faith  a'one."  Twice 
only  in  the  seven  epistles  (to  Pergamos,  ver. 
13,  and  Thyatira,  ver.  19)  do  we  find  tho  word 
faith  ;  and  in  tho  rest  of  the  Apocalypse  only 
in  the  two  comprehensivo  ana  strictly  con- 
nected fundamental  passage,  chap.  xiii.  10,  xiv. 
12. 

Ebrard  understands  by  the  "sacred  fire  of 
first  love,"  which  had  declined,  "  not  their  lov« 


REV.  II.  1-7. 


m^ 


to  Christ,  but  their  love  to  one  another  " — but 
in  our  opinion  incorrectly':  as  if  such  a  sepa- 
ration were  conceivable;  as  if  love  to  Clirist 
could  be  maintained  in  work  and  patience, 
while  love  to  the  brethren  was  wanting.  As 
we  have  understood  the  whole,  the  praise  of 
vers.  2  and  3  was  not  deserved  simultaneously 
with  the  condemnation  of  ver.  4  ;  bat  the  con- 
mendation  speaks  of  a  leg'mning  which  had  not 
been  sustained,  of  the  same  abandoned  firiit 
love.  But  thus  much  is  true,  that  when  that 
love  which  is  the  energy  and  living  power  of 
faith,  and  which  in  its  profoundest  depth  unites 
in  one  the  love  of  God  and  man,  of  the  I^ord 
and  of  the  brethren,  begins  to  relax  and  de- 
cline, its  coldness  is  first  seen  and  made  mani- 
fest in  the  external  ofiBces  of  charity  (Matt. 
xxiv.  12).  From  the  weakening  of  brotherly 
love,  and  concurrently  of  that  love  to  all  men, 
even  enemies,  which  "is  kindled  on  that  hearth, 
and  is  ever  sustained  from  above,  flows  all 
apostacy  and  backsliding:  therefore  the  Lord's 
convincing  word  seizes  us  by  that  lack,  which 
we  first  become  aware  of  ourselves — indeed 
only  in  order  to  disclose  the  damage  and  defi- 
ciency of  faith  which  that  very  lack  indicated. 
If  we  do  not  love  the  brethren,  and  all  men, 

f)erfect'y,Wt€«ceis  that  but  because  we  no  longer 
ove  the  Lord  perfectly  ?  For,  it  is  only  the  one 
loveof  CA?7A«.  poured  into  our  hearts  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  order  to  our  love  in  return,  which  can 
urge  us  to  show  love  to  our  brethren  and  fel- 
lows in  pardoning  mercy,  or  at  least  in  redeem- 
ing love.  It  is  not  in  vain  or  without  signifi- 
cance that  "thy  first  love  "  is  spoken  of.  It 
is  not  only  to  shame  them  by  reference  to  the 
past — that  which  thou  formerly  hadst;  but  it 
]s  emphatically — iWy  love  hath  not  left  thee; 
but  thou  hast  forsaken,  hast  let  go,  this  love 
of  mine  which  had  become  thine. 

The  history  of  the  Church  from  the  begin- 
ning is  a  thou3and-fold  recurring  commentary 
upon  this  unspeakably  significant  word — the 
first  rebuke  of  the  Church  from  her  Lord  in 
heaven,  and  penetrating  the  hearts  of  his  peo- 
ple below.  The  special  individual  church  his- 
tory of  all  hearts,  as  spread  before  the  Lord's 
eye,  testifies  that  something  of  this  relaxation 
of  the  first  love  has  befallen  every  man,  even 
the  Apostles  in  some  degree,  and  multitudes  of 
others  much  more  fully  and  miserably,  Sanc- 
tification  does  not  in  any  soul  reach  its  perfec- 
tion without  the  standing  still  and  sometimes 
the  going  back  :  this  is,  alas !  a  law  in  the 
kingdom  of  grace,  in  which  human  freedom  is 
not  abolished.  But  the  ceasing  of  the  first  love 
does  not,  properly  speaking,  consist  in  the 
abatement  of  the  powerful  and  happy  feel- 
ings of  the  commencing  period,  the  purifica- 
tion and  softening  down  of  which,  rather,  be- 
longs to  the  strengthening  and  deepening  of 
grace  ;  but  in  the  weakening  and  growing  faint 
of  the  energy  which  sustains  the  work  pro- 
ceeding from  faith — as  ver.  3  preparatorily  in- 
timated. Genuine  love  is  not  a  feeling,  but  a 
willing  and  a  working.  When  that  grows  ex- 
kausted,  there  may  indeed  be — as  was  the  case 


in  the  apostolical  period — a  confinuance  of  tho 
working  and  conflict  &5  against  the  world,  of 
the  witness  and  maintenance  of  the  truth. 
This  may  actually  seem  to  increase  and  becomcj 
more  zealous  ;  but  it  will  no  longer  be  of  tho 
genuine  character  ;  it  does  not  go  aflfectionately 
into  the  world  to  win  its  victories,  because  it  no 
longer  proceeds  from  the  brotherly  love  whit  '\ 
burns  vigorously  upon  the  enclosed  hearth, 
and  which  rests  unon  the  common  love  of  each 
to  the  Lord.*  The  church  in  Ephesus  is  not 
yet  wanting  in  pure  doctrine;  the  false  Apostles 
are  repelled,  and  will  be  so;  nor  is  it  wanting 
in  sharp  discipline,  the  wicked  are  not  borno 
with,  but  are  handled  with  increasing  severity. f 
Bui  all  these  manifestations  are  internally  con- 
nected with  a  lack  of  truth  and  spiritual  vigor, 
of  sacred  and  divine  life.  The  external  too 
much  conceals  before  human  eyes  an  internal 
too  little  ;  but  the  Lord  discloses  it,  and  keen- 
ly pierces  the  heart  of  his  Church — Thou  hast 
left  thy  first  love  ;  as  if  he  would  utter  the 
words  once  spoken  to  Israel — /  remind  thee  of 
the  kindness  of  thy  3-outh,  the  love  of  thino 
espousals,  when  Israel  was  holiness  to  tho 
Lord,  and  the  first-fruits  of  his  increase  (Jer. 
ii.  2,  3).  Remember  thou  through  my  remind- 
ing. 

Remember,  therefore,  from  tchence  thou  art 
fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  tvorks.  Call 
to  mind  the  first  days  of  thy  good  beginning, 
and  deeply  reflect.  For  Surdis,  which  repre- 
sents a  new  commencement,  the  same  exhor- 
tation is  repeated,  chap.  iii.  3.  IIov/  were  ye 
then  so  blessed!  writes  Paul  to  the  Galatians 
(chap.  iv.  15).  Even  with  the  increasing 
severity,  which  speaks  of  an  actual  fall  and  a 
new  repentance,  how  gracious  is  the  evangeli- 
cal preaching  and  enforcement  of  this  repent- 
ance— on  the  ground  of  grace  once  more  offered, 
a  grace  which  had  already  been  received  and 
experienced.  It  was  thy  first  love,  glowing 
then  so  strongly  and  blessedly  from  my  love, 
which  thou  hast  not  held  fast !  Herder  writes 
too  much  in  the  modern  sentimental  tone, 
though  not  without  truth  :  "  The  whole  epistle 
comes,  as  it  were,  from  the  paradise  of  inno- 
cence and  love.  The  mother  could  not  mora 
tenderly  remind  the  child,  nor  the  bride  her 
beloved,  of  happy  times  gone  by  which  have 
not  returned."  He  then  goes  on,  with  less 
justifiable  exaggeration  :  "As  if  this  voice  of 
love  would  come  stealthily,  after  abounding 
praise,  to  the  subject  of  that  which  was  yet; 
wa;?ting;  and  that  is  spoken  of  as  what  might 
soon  be  repaired — remember  how  it  was  with 
thee.     And  is  it  better  now  ?     Then  new  praiso 


*  Worse  in  later  times,  with  the  zeal  of  the  con- 
fessions against  brethren  uni  ed  even  in  faith, 
without  the  uniting  principle  of  a  livinc;  oneness 
with  all  members  in  the  Lord's  one  body. 

f  This  will  show,  in  comparison  with  Pergamoa 
presently,  vers.  14,  15,  and  ihefollowins  churches, 
that  the" first  epistle  was  not  t',o:ou2:hly  and  ex- 
dusivehj  meant  of  the  Apostolical  Church,  as  a 
one-sided  prophetical  inter^jretatioa  assumes. 


&1» 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  EPHESUS. 


for  more  abundant  encouragement."  No,  this 
is  not  the  spirit  of  the  rebuke.  This  is  not  the 
sweet  relish  which  the  bitter  medicine  of  the  in- 
termingled lememher  leaves  upon  ourthoughts. 
Its  solemn  and  searching  general  lone  has 
made  it  a  piercing  word  of  thunder,  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  used  among  all  fallen  churches 
and  souls,  even  those  which  have  fallen  worse 
than  Ephesus.  What  a  history  has  tim  text 
ot  Scripture  had  in  the  secrets  of  men,  where 
the  Lord  is  now  carrying  on  his  judgment  of 
grace  !  Thou  art/c/Z/en— that  means  a  real  and 
actual  fall,  though  only  at  first  in  the  ground 
of  the  heart,  and  but  little  made  evident  in 
external  things.  And  from  whence?  From 
the  full,  rich  grace  of  the  new  life  in  the  love 
of  God  ;  in  a  certain  sense,  therefore,  it  is  a 
wprse  fall  and  more  perilous  than  the  first  fall 
of  man,  of  which  the  Lord's  word  reminded  the 
church  of  Ephesus.  There  is  something  true 
in  the  doctrine  of  tlie  Irvingites  concerning  a 
great  apostacy  of  the  original  Church,  the 
"  catastrophe  of  a  second  fall ;  "  but  the  fanatical 
error  which  has  caricatured  this  liisto:  ical  truth, 
and  perverted  its  meaning  into  sad  extrava- 
gances, is  plain  in  the  words  themselves. 
Where  does  the  Lord  speak  of  the  loss  of  spir- 
itual gifts,  of  the  disruption  of  ecclesiastical 
order,  of  the  abandonment  of  obedience  to  of- 
ficial dignities,  and  all  those  other  matters  in 
which  these  strange  people  behold  at  once  the 
guilt  and  the  punTshment  of  the  first  Church  ? 
The  Lord  rests  his  charge  upon  very  different 
grounds  :  he  rebukes  the  angel  with  the  Church  ; 
he  does  not  merely  refer  the  congregation  back 
to  the  discipline  and  form  of  a  forsaken  consti- 
tution, but  to  their  first  love ;  he  does  not 
teach,  in  the  Corinthian  manner,  the  distin- 
guishing value  of  miraculous  gifts,  which  are 
not  even  mentioned  here,  any  more  than  in 
the  whole  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (although 
such  great  miracles  were  performed  there,  no 
mention  is  made,  even  in  chap.  iv.  11,  of  workers 
of  miracles) ;  he  preaches,  simply,  a  renewed 
repentance,  as  in  the  beginning.  This  preach- 
ing of  repentance,  indeed,  with  which  Christi- 
anity began,  as  did  the  reformation,  and  which 
is  evermore  preached  on  every  relapse  of 
churches  or  souls,  is  something  very  different 
from  Ihone  means  of  grace  which,  in  our  days, 
even  Lutherans,  like  the  Irvingitey,  ap])oint  in 
the  Church  as  false  physicians.  Not  from  with- 
out inwards,  and  from  above  downwards,  but 
from  within  outwards,  through  return  to  first 
iove,  the  hurt  of  souls  is  healed:  this  cannot 
be  too  diligently  remembered,  and  earnestly 
enforced. 

As  love  is  not  merely  a  delectable  feeling, 
but  a  labor  of  the  dependent  and  devoted  will ; 
03  taith  is  not  merely  a  thought,  but  an  im- 
pulsive and  abundant  spring  of  good  works  ; 
to  the  Lord  will  recognize  no  repentance  but 
that  which  is  confirmed  in  the  doing  of  the 
first  works.  In  this  he  requires,  as  Tlio- 
iuck  says,  "  the  energy  and  strength  of  the 
works  of  first  love."  2'hey  must  be  the 
proof  of   thy   change   of    mind,  and   return 


to  God.     These   thou  canst  present,  if  tlfou 
dost  repent. 

But  that  is  ever  left  with  human  freedoTn  ; 
Christ's  wholesome,  disciplinary,  faithfully  in- 
viting and  clia?f  ising  grace,  puts  force  on  none. 
Or  else  I  uill  come  unto  thee  {quickly),  and 
v:ill  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  his  place,  ex- 
cept thou  repent.  The  deepest  emphasis  falls 
upon  the  rqietition  at  the  close  of  this  except.  It 
seems  at  first  to  strengthen  the  threatening; 
but  when  we  lay  it  to  heart,  it  rather  softens 
the  rigor  of  the 'simply  conditional  threaten- 
ing. It  goes  on  to  say — Only  if  thou  repentest 
not,  will  this  judgment  befall  thee.  Wilt  thou 
not  turn  it  away  ?  I  will  come  vnto  thee^ 
thus,  with  evident  difference,  the  preliminary 
judgment,  first  upon  Ephesus  alone,  is  indi- 
cated ;  thus  the  Lord  cometh,  in  all  ages,  to 
judgment  upon  men  individually,  as  well  as  to 
hischurclies.  These  epistles  speak,  each  of  them, 
of  this  ;  and,  as  we  have  remarked,  with  pro- 
gressive distinctness  unto  the  last  and  per- 
fect judgment.  The  "soon"  which  has  been 
placed  here,  also  may  have  been  falsely  in- 
serted from  later  passages  (ver.  16  and  chap, 
iii.  11) — yet  we  would  not  positively  strike  it 
out,  since  it  holds  good  of  every  such  threaten- 
ing, and  is  true  even  of  the  slowly  coming 
judgments.  We  would  further  remark  that, 
as  our  Lord  announces  his  coming  as  a  first 
typical  judgment  upon  Jeru.s6lem,  so  now,  in 
these  epistles,  he  speaks  in  the  same  manner 
of  his  coming  to  his  Church.  Threatening  of 
judgment,  as  actual  threatening,  is  ever  and 
absolutely  necessary,  and  from  the  beginning 
could  not  be  spared.  The  revelation  and  ut- 
terance of  such,  not  merely  threatened,  but 
actually  accomplished,  judgments  of  the  Lord 
— accomplished  upon  many  churches  of  the 
great  Church — is  the  removal  of  the  candlestick. 
Literally  taken,  it  does  not  mean  an  overturn- 
ing or  extinction  of  the  light;  but  the  expres- 
sion (which  is  moving  away,  as  in  chap.  vi.  14) 
simply  purports  the  ditiplacing  from  where  it 
stood — to  this  place  a  testimony  of  guilt  and 
punishment — and  thus  the  grace  is  renewed  in 
another  place.*  Ephesus  did,  indeed,  onco 
repent,  even  if  not  with  all  her  might,  and, 
therefore,  the  judgment  was  restrained.  But 
then  "the  subsequent  desolation  of  the  city 
of  Ephesus"  has  something  to  do  with  the 
typico-prophetical  threatening;!  although  the 
true  fulfiilraent  came  long  afterwards,  in  the 


*  The  expositors  who  regard  the  epistles  as  di- 
rected only  to  tiie  angels,  are  obliged  here — be- 
cause the  h^lits  are  the  cliurclies  themselves — to 
resort  to  stranee  shifts.  Bengel  :  The.e  will  be 
an  an  an^el  wiihout  a  church.  R.eger ;  The 
Church  is  the  ligiit  of  the  teacher. 

t  This  is  not  (as  Ebrard  says)  a  confusion  of 
the  historical  and  prophetic  mennintjs,  l)ecaiise 
God's  government  does  lurther  exhibit  and  st;im[) 
the  lyps  in  history  itself.  The  vil.a<;e  into  which 
Ephesus  lias  .'-uiik  (Aja-Soluk,  ayia  Sfu'Ao/oS, 
or  SeoXuyov)  stands  as  the  type  of  fallen  and 
desolated  churches. 


REV.  II.  1-7. 


911 


destrnction  of  the  whole  of  the  first  oriental 
churches  by  Mohammed.  Indeed,  this  threat- 
ening of  the  removal  of  the  candlestick,  intelli- 
gible without  much  exposition,  has  its  uni- 
versal meaning,  and  is,  by  the  Spirit,  applied 
in  many  ways  to  the  churches. 

He  who  ihreateneth  hath  a  gracious  mean- 
ing, and  turns  his  threatening  almost  immedi- 
ately to  consolation.  For  Ephesus  the  name 
is  preceded  and  lollowed  by,  is  wrapped  up  in, 
praise.  At  the  first  glance  it  is  similar  to  the 
words  of  the  prophet  Jehu  to  king  Jehoshaphal, 
"Nevertheless  there  are  good  things  found  in 
thee,  in  that  thou  hast  taken  away  the  groves 
cut  of  the  land,  and  hast  prepared  thine  heart 
to  seek  God"  (2  Chron.  xix.  3);  but  here 
there  is  much  more  grace,  But  ihis  thou  hast, 
that  thou  hatest  the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes. 
which  I  also  hate.  Their  fail  from  first  love 
was  not  so  deep  and  incurable  but  that  their 
concurrent  zeal  against  those  who  had  still 
more  deeply  fallen  might  be  acknowledged. 
Thus,  the  Lord  says  here,  the  Nicolaitanes — 
them  indeed  thou  shouldst  not  love,  and  in  false 
love  tolerate.  Thy  hatred  against  their  false 
works  is  good;  it  is  itself  something  that  may 
help  thee  to  improvement  and  conversion  ;  for 
it  is  something  remaining  of  thy  first  strength 
and  purity.  The  epistle  makes  mention  of 
this  matter  as  a  prop,  leaning  upon  which  the 
fallen  may  rise  and  re-establish  themselves. 
Again,  it  carefully  speaks  (more  precisely  than 
the  Old  Testament,  e.  g.,  Psa.  cxxxix.  21,  22)  of 
merely  hating  the  works,  and  not  the  persons. 
These  Nicolaitanes,  whose  evil  works  are  plainly 
manifest,  need  no  temptation  to  reveal  them, 
as  the  ialse  Apostles  previously.  What  con- 
cerns their  historical  relations,  the  learned  may 
decide  when  they  can  ;  to  us  all  such  matters 
are  subordinate.  Certainly  they  were,  as  vers. 
14,  15  show,  a  kind  of  undisciplined  Gnostics 
or  false  Theosophists,  who,  under  the  proud 
pretext  of  higher  knowledge,  gave  the  reins  to 
the  flesh,  and  perverted  the  grace  of  God  into 
licentiousness.  Whether  the  name,  as  the 
fathers  thought,  was  derived  from  their  foun- 
der Nicolas  (him  mentioned  in  Acts  vi,  5) 
can  neither  be  maintained  nor  denied  with  con- 
fidence ;  but  it  appears  to  us,  as  compared  with 
Jezebel,  ver.  20,  much  more  probable  that 
Nicolaus  is  only  a  translation  of  Balaam  (ver. 
14),  and  theretore  no  other  than  a  symbolical 
name.  Bat  this  would  not  permit  us  to  say, 
"That  sect  bore  in  prosaic  reality  the  name 
of  Nicolaitanes" — for  had  "Jezebel"  a  name 
corresponding  in  actual  fact?  We  think  that, 
in  the  every  where  mysterious,  symbolical  style 
of  the  Apocalypse,  where  besides  the  names  of 
the  churches  no  other  historical  names  occur, 
actual  "  Nicolaitanes,"  can  hardly  be  assumed  to 
have  existed.  Nicolaus  means  "conqueror  of 
the  people ; "  Balaam  "  seducer  of  the  people  :  "* 


♦  We  cannot  see  why,  according  to  Ewald  r.nd 
Gesenius,  another  etymology  (the  latter  gives  ^^ 
vot,  not  of  the  people,  a  stranger)  must  be  sought. 


this  is  plain  enough  aa  the  signature  of  such 
people,  of  whom  ver.  14  will  speak  more  par- 
ticularly. We  only  add,  for  practical  use  and 
application  :  Hate  thou  only  with  true  earnest- 
ness all  abominations  of  the  fleshly,  impure, 
proud — and  be  thou,  through  such  opposition, 
warned  back  into  pure  and  holy  love  of  the 
Spirit.  Deep  repentance  of  those  who  for  their 
internal  bacuslidings  are  punished,  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  the  abhorrence  of  the  sins  which 
show  themselves  in  others.  Thou  hatest  what 
/  also  hate — the  Lord  acknowledges,  probably 
not  without  reference  to  that  Old-Testament 
passage,  already  quoted,  in  which  Jehoshaphat 
was  rebuked — Shouldst  thou  help  the  ungodly 
and  love  them  that  hate  the  Lord?  But  the 
Lord  does  not  hate  those  who  hate  him;  but, 
as  he  commands  us,  only  their  works. 

The  promise  to  the  overcomer — so  suggestively 
the  same  in  form  throughout,  yet  varying  in 
each  case  the  matter — is  the  conclusion  of  all 
the  epistles — to  give  assurance  that  it  is  the 
purpose  of  grace  to  inflict  salutary  chastisement 
and  by  its  severest  threatenings  to  encourage 
and  strengthen  the  soul  to  overcome  in  the 
great  warfare.  This  evangelical  character  of 
the  epistles  is  to  be  all  the  more  clearly  appre- 
hended and  impressed  upon  the  mind,  becp.use 
the  predominant  judicial  rigor  which  reigns 
througliout  the  book  of  Revelation  must  by  it 
be  interpreted  and  understood.  In  these  pro- 
mises the  thou  every  where  ceases  ;  and  its 
place  is  taken  by  the  "  whosoever,"  so  specifically 
characteristic  of  our  Lord's  earthly  prophetic 
office.  We  know  well  the  attractive  words — 
Whosoever  Cometh  to  me  ;  whosoever  believeth 
on  me;  whosoever  believeth  and  is  baptized  : 
compare  Rev.  xxii.  17.  Whoso  heareth  ;  who- 
soever will  come;  this  is  the  consoling  little 
word  of  promise,  which  keeps  open  the  door  of 
grace  to  every  man  to  the  end  of  time.  But 
with  this  we  must  connect  another  whosoever, 
which  establishes  the  condition,  and  makes 
room  for  the  promise — Whosoever  hath  ears  to 
hear,  let  him  hear.  This  word — also  a  usual 
expression  of  the  Lord — occurs  in  the  first 
epistles  before  the  concluding  promise  ;  in  the 
last  four  before  it. 

He  that  hath  an  car,  let  him  hear  tvhat  the 
Spirit  saitk  unto  the  churches :  To  him  that 
ocercometh  icill  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life, 
which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  my  God. 

As  formerly  Jesus  demanded  for  his  faraliles 
hearing  ears  in  order  to  understand  them,  so 
here  in  his  figurative  prophetical  addresses. 
The  expression  is  now  condensed  and  strength- 
ened thereby  :  the  ear  is  more  solemnly  and 
spiritually  spoken  of;  and  "to  hear"  is  not 
now  added.  Whosoever  hath  the  ear  of  the 
inner  man  opened  and  attentive  to  the  words 


Furst  rightly  remarks  that  even  tor  the  name  of  a 
place,  DypS'j  the  connected  form  Di'73  occurs  in 

1  Chron.  vi.  55.  The  exposition  in  Hoimann,  that 
the  angel's  wife  was  Jezebel,  and  consequently 
her  true  name  sufficiently  well  known  to  liim,  ap- 
pears to  us  too  historical  and  unapocalypticaL 


dl2 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  EPHESUS. 


of  God — whosoever  has  it  still  open,  or  opens 
it  again — shall  in  every  epistle  hear  some- 
thing for  himself;  for  each  of  them,  apart  from 
its  special  significance  for  the  churches,  is  ad- 
dressed lo  all  men  generallj-  and  in  common. 
Let  us  not  deny  or  forget  the  specific  pro- 
phetic meaning  ;  but  let  us  not,  while  investi- 
gating that,  neglect  their  general  lessons,  which 
would  be  the  greater  evil.  We  must  not  point 
the  sentence  as  if  the  prefatory  address  referred 
only  to  the  following  promise  ;  this  is  opposed 
by  the  change  of  the  form  in  the  last  epistles. 
All  that  proceeds  and  all  that  follows  must  be 
heard  by  each,  because  the  Spirit  saith  it  to 
the  churches.  This  hearing  is  ever  the  way  to 
the  attainment  of  the  promised  reward  of  vic- 
tory. Tlie  Sjiirit  saith — hereby  this  Inst  per- 
sonal utterance  of  our  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven 
passes  over  into  speaking  through  the  medium 
of  the  Spirit,  as  it  continues  tnroughout  the 
booic  ;  it  must  be  understood,  that  here  par- 
ticularly the  Spirit  is  meant  as  the  Spirit  of 
prophecy.  Probably,  he  who  appeared  as  in 
chap.  i.  did  not  continue  to  dictate  the  epistles, 
Btanding  visible  still  as  he  did  at  the  first,  but 
uttered  the  words  more  inwardly  to  the  seer; 
notwithotanding,  there  is  a  distinction  in  this 
book  between  the  immediate  speaking  or  dic- 
tating and  the  prophetic  inspiration  elsewhere. 
Assuredly,  even  John  would  not  dare,  other- 
wise than  by  express  inspiration  of  the  words, 
to  send  to  the  churches  epistles  of  such  a  form 
and  of  such  contents,  clothed  in  such  a  style  of 
supreme  majesty.  Thus  it  was  only  transitional 
and  intermediate  between  the  speaking  of  the 
Lord  and  the  speaking  of  the  Spirit;  and  at 
the  same  time  immediately  personal  in  its  par- 
ticular kind. 

The  Lord  speaks  of  overcoming  absolutely, 
without  saying  whom  or  what;  just  as  else- 
where— Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  !  without 
reeding  to  specify  lohom  the  petitioner  is  to 
ask.  The  Lord's  sayings  from  heaven  do  not 
begin  an  altogether  new  language;  but  pre- 
suppose the  style  of  thought  and  words  which 
had  been  prevalent  in  his  Churcli  from  the 
beginning.  The  overcoming  which  he  refers  to 
stretches  beyond  death  ;  it  is  perfected  in  death, 
as  the  common  language  of  the  world  in  Chris- 
tendom lias  learned  to  say  of  the  departed — 
He  has  conquered  all.  If  we  would  begin  here 
at  the  close  of  Scripture  to  develope  the  mean- 
ing of  this  sublime  expression — reaching  from 
the  height  of  heaven  to  (he  deepest  abyss  of 
hell — it  would  open  up  the  whole  of  inspired 
revelation.  John  speaks  elsewhere  (1  John  v. 
4)  ol  a  faith  which  overcometh  the  world;  in 
bis  revelation  (chap.  xii.  11)  we  read  of  an 
overcoming  of  Satan  ;  comp.  1  John  xi.  14. 
But  the  world  and  Satan  are  also  within  us 
through  sin ;  we  overcome  them,  however, 
through  the  might  of  him  who  hath  loved  us 
and  overcome  for  us — thus  the  final  promise  in 
the  seventh  epistle  holds  out  lo  the  Church 
which  had  sunk  the  lowest  the  same  prize  of 
the  highest  victory.  This  first  promise  does 
not  extend  to  far  as  that  lost;  it  begins  with 


that  first  thing  which  the  Lord  promised  to 
the  thief  on  the  cross,  the  bliss  of  Paradise  re- 
opened by  his  death,  that  is,  the  blessedness  of 
an  uninterrupted  life  in  God's  presence.  The 
expression  is  figurative  so  far  as  it  is  derived 
from  the  primitive  history;  but  there  is  a 
mysterious  reality  corresponding  to  it  in  the 
heavenly  regions,  as  2  Cor.  xii.  4  gives  us  to 
understand.  Who  will  venture  to  say  more, 
when  Paul  could  not  utter  the  unspeakable 
words?  "The  Paradise*  of  my  God"  (accord- 
ing to  the  right  reading)  is  spoken  by  Carist  as 
the  forerunner  and  first-born  according  to  his 
humanity ;  compare  chap.  iii.  2,  12.  This 
manner  of  speech  is — excepting  John  xx.  17 — 
peculiar  to  the  Apocalypse,  in  which  it  is  re- 
markable (as  Bengel  has  observed)  that,  while 
sometimes  the  Father  of  Christ  is  mentioned, 
God  is  never  called  "  Father"  as  addressed  by 
men;  and  he  himself  promises  to  be  their  Ood, 
chap.  xxi.  3,  only  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  Old- 
Testament  word.  This  has  its  reason  in  the 
profound  reverence  and  the  holy  rigor  of  the 
spiritual  combatants  to  whom  this  book  is 
written;  and  also  in  the  return  to  Old-Testa- 
ment phraseology,  which  is  thus  made  to  coin- 
cide with  the  New.  The  wood  or  the  treef  of  life 
in  Paradise  glances  forward  by  anticipation  to 
the  close  of  the  whole,  chap.  xxii.  2,  14-19;  as 
almost  all  the  objects  of  the  promises  at  the 
end  of  the  epistles  re-appear  later  in  the  book: 
the  second  death,  chap.  xx.  6,  14,  xxi.  8  ;  the 
new  name,  chap.  xiv.  1  ;  power  over  the  na- 
tions, chap.  XX.  4  (xii.  5)  ;  the  white  garment, 
chap.  vii.  9,  13;  the  book  of  life,  chap.  xiii. 
8;  the  new  Jerusalem,  chap.  xxi.  ;  the  sit- 
ting upon  the  throne,  chap.  v.  As  the 
manna,  ver.  17,  is  termed  hidden,  so  the  sure 
interpretation  of  all  these  glorious  realities 
is  reserved  for  experience  ;  but  when  that  ex- 
perience comes,  they  will  most  abundantly  re- 
veal their  meaning.  We  have  only  one  more 
remark  to  make,  that  the  promise  in  every 
epistle  is  chosen  with  appropriate  reference  to 
the  condition  and  conflict  of  the  church  ad- 
dressed ;  so  here  the  paradisaical  fruit  of  the 
tree  of  life  is  opposed  to  the  forbidden  fruits 
of  fleshly  lust  with  which  the  Nicolaitanes 
were  swollen.  That  in  these  epistles  the  clear- 
est, most  penetrating  words  of  ordinary  preach- 
ing and  teaching  are  bound  up  with  the  most 
mysterious  enigmas,  sinking  deep  into  the  trea- 
sures of  divine  revelation  Irom  the  beginning, 
is  the  necessary  result  of  the  royal  style  which 
is  impressed  upon  them  as  coming  from  the 
throne.  The  Spirit  reveals  their  meaning,  ac- 
cording to  our  capacity  and  our  need,  in  pre- 
sentiments which  cannot  be  translated  into 
plain  exposition,  and  are  not  the  prerogative 
of  everv  man. 


♦  There  can  bo  no  reference  here  admitted  to 
the /our/-  Paradise  in  Hades  (which  aljiie  the  thief 
could  understand  at  fiist,  whatever  other  menning 
was  in' hided.)  Compare  ray  exposition  of  Luk.o 
xxiii.  43. 

\  The  Sept  in  Genesis  has  ^iXov^ 


REV.  II.  8-11. 


913 


And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna 
write  :  These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last, 
which  ivas  dead,  and  is  alive.* 

This  IS  the  briffest  among  the  epistles,  as  that 
to  Thyatira  is  the  longest.  So,  Smyrna  re- 
ceives no  blame,  Philadelphia  alone  standing 
Tvith  her  in  this.  To  the  persecuted  martyr 
church,  suffering  unto  death,  it  is  enough  to 
say— Be  thou  faithful.  For,  if  for  their  puri- 
fication after  falling  from  the  first  love  tribula- 
tion and  shame  canse  upon  them,  this  of  itself 
was  punishment  enough,  and  the  Lord  has 
nothing  but  consolation  to  give.  Smyrna  is 
chosen  as  the  type  of  such  a  condition  of  the 
Church  .  her  name  {myrrh)  speaking  of  the 
bitterness  of  suffering,  but  also  of  balsam  and 
costly  incense,  yea,  of  the  anointing  and  adorn- 
ing of  the  bride,  according  to  the  Song  of  Solo- 
mon (chap.  iii.  6,  v.  5).  Smyrna  was  in  John's 
time  an  important  place,  though  not  equal  to 
Ephesus  ;  she  is  the  only  one  of  the  seven  which 
remains  to  this  day,  more  flourishing  and  larger 
than  in  the  time  of  the  Apocalypse:  hence 
there  is  no  removal  of  the  candlestick  prefigur- 
ed in  her.  She  has  four  Christian  churches  ; 
since  1759  has  had  the  labors  of  evangelical 
missionaries,  and  is  now  a  central  mission  sta- 
tion ;  as  if  this  new  blooming  in  the  midst  of 
the  prostrate  East  would  speak  of  the  imperish- 
able crown  of  victorious  life. 

To  Ihe  church  thus  pointed  lo  suffering 
and  death  the  Lord  exhibits  himself  as  the 
Conqueror  who  pressed  through  death  into  life. 
The  words  which  first  accompanied  the  "  Fear 
not!"  to  the  seer  are  here  most  filly  repro- 
duced ;  the  former  part  of  the  sublime  title  is 
unchanged — The  first  and  the  last  (finally  re- 
curring m  this  book,  chap.  xxi.  6,  xxii.  13) ; 
the  second  part,  which  speaks  of  dying  and  liv- 
ing, is  condensed  with  heightened  majesty  into 
fewer  words.  He  who  in  his  divinity  was  the 
first  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  who 
as  also  the  last  will  remain  the  same  with  and 
after  the  last,  will  maintain  the  victory  through 
bis  hand  and  power  for  his  people  ;  he  who  in 
his  humanity,  assumed  for  all  eternity,  was  for 
one  short  .space  dead,  and  now  liveth  again  as 
the  God-7aan,  the  first  who  lived  again  from 
death  for  all.  He  may  well  require  fidelity 
unto  death  in  order  to  the  promised  crown  of 
lif^.  Some  would  here  distinguish,  and  say 
that  in  chap.  i.  17,  18  he  calls  himself  the  liv- 
ing in  fjnle  of  death,  while  here  he  liveth  again 
after  death.  But  this  is  artificial  ;  it  scarcely 
harmonizes  with  the  original;  and  somewhat 
disturbs  the  strong  emphasis  of  the  pregnant 
reality — the  having  been  dead  of  the  Living 
One.  He  ivas  dead:  this  retains  indeed  is 
continuous  truth,  as  we  continually  celebrate 
it  in  the  sacrament,  and  is  the  theme  of  the  new 
Bong  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  ;  but,  at  the 
Bame  time,  we  cannot  too  confidently  and  too 
thankfully  mingle  with  our  Passion  thoughts  the 


♦The  xaidSov  ^c^v  £//a' appears  to  us  quite 
the  same  as  the  xai  e^rfGev — in  both  cases  there 
is  a  contrast  with  the  actual  yenpoi. 


great  truth  that  the  limng  was  dead  and  is  alivs 
again.  An  effeminate  and  sentimental  Mora- 
vian dealing  with  the  suffering  and  dying 
Lord  would  have  been  very  distasteful  to  the 
Apostles  and  the  early  Church  ;  the  New-Tes- 
tament Scriptures  give  it  neither  approbation 
nor  nourishment. 

I  know  thyworJcs,  and  tribulation,  and  pov- 
erty (but  thou  art  rich)  ;  and  I  know  the 
blasphemy  of  them  which  say  tJiey  are  Jews, 
and  are  not,  but  are  the  synagogue  of  Satan. 

This  recurring  testimony  I  know  is  so  beau- 
tifully expounded  by  Bengel  that  we  must  here 
at  least  quote  his  words.  "  We  go  from  one 
hour  to  another,  from  one  day  and  year  to 
another,  and  what  is  once  fairly  past  in  our 
doing,  and  omitting,  and  suffering,  is  scarcely 
regarded  by  us  any  more  :  it  is  like  water  that 
has  flowed  away.  But  into  the  omniscience 
of  Christ  all  things  are  taken  up."  Yes,  in- 
deed, the  God-man  related  to  us  as  the  first 
and  the  last  preserves  in  his  thought  the 
works  which  are  forgotten  by  U3,  works 
whether  of  first  love  or  of  unfaithfulness;  he 
knows  beforehand  our  future  sufferings  as  well 
as  our  past,  and  makes  concerning  all  things 
his  gracious  appeal  to  our  souls.  In  this  second 
epistle  there  is  a  strengthening  of  the  expres- 
sion (which,  omitted  in  the  third,  continues 
through  the  rest; — thy  icorks,  "  thy,"  that  is, 
being  put  first  wiih  specific  emphasis.  The 
criticism  of  Tischendorf,  so  rigidly  tied  to  the 
manuscripts,  maintains  that  "the  words"  are 
an  interpolation  here  and  at  ver.  13,  in  order 
to  make  all  the  epistles  uniform.  Were  this 
so,  there  would  indeed  be  a  very  significant 
connection  with  the  preceding  words — I,  who 
was  dead,  know  well  by  ray  own  experience 
thy  tribulation.  Now,  as  respects  ver.  13,  our 
internal  criticism  cannot  dispense  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  works  coming  first  (for  the 
mere  "where  thou  dwellest"  is  not  a  suffi- 
ciently emphatic  object  of  the  knowledge;  nor 
is  it  a  sharp  enough  antithesis  to  the  hut,  of 
ver.  14)  ;  and  when  we  find  in  the  uncontested 
text  of  ver.  19,  "  I  know  thy  works"  standing 
before  four  other  words  ending  with  "works" 
again,  we  cannot  but  conclude  that  our  Lord's 
purpose  was  to  express  this  seven  times  con- 
secutively with  unchanged  emphasis.  But  the 
word  must  be  understood  after  the  analogy  of 
scriptural  language,  and  not  as  we  might  speak 
in  an  insolated  manner  of  "  works."  Smyrna 
presented  her  works  to  the  Lord  in  sufferings: 
this  is  here  the  pregnant  meaning.  If  her 
angel  might  say  in  tribulation  and  poverty— 
"  Fain  would  I  also  perform  good  works,  but, 
alas  !  cannot ;"  the  Lord  testifies  on  the  con- 
trary— "  Thou  art  rich  in  works  of  patience, 
which  are  indeed  the  severest  and  the  best." 
Poverty  must  here  be  understood  of  external 
need  ;  and  we  have  record  elsewhere  of  the 
poor  state  of  the  Christians  generally  in  Smyrna. 
Moreover,  the  rich  among  them  took  joyluUy 
the  spoiling  of  their  goods  in  the  persecution 
(Heb.  X.  34) — and  the  Lord's  assurance  meets 
them  in  love,  But  thou  art  rich.     For  the  better 


M 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  SMYRNA. 


and  enduring  substance  in  heaven,  which  the 
poor  and  the  plundered  already  possessed, 
niaketh  the  poor  rich  ;  so  we  read  2  Cor.  v.  10, 
James  ii.  5  ;  and  the  Lord  himself  opposes  to 
the  heaping  up  of  treasures  the  being  rich  to- 
wards God.  But,  if  we  ask  further  whether 
Smyrna  was  joyfully  conscious  of  these  riches, 
theanswer  must,  we  think,  be  in  the  negative  ; 
and  this  gives  occasion  to  remark,  tl)at  tlie 
poverty  must  be  meant,  at  the  same  time,  of 
spiritual  tribulation,  oppression,  and  abase- 
ment. Those  persecuted  unto  death  have  not 
been  hasty — with  all  their  faith  in  the  midst  of 
the  fires — with  the  triumphant  note,  "But  we 
are  the  heirs  of  the  kingdom,  the  elect  of  God." 
So  far  Smyrna  exhibits  to  us  the  opposite 
counterparL  of  Laodicea.  "  Thou  sayest,  I  am 
rich,  and  knowest  not  how  poor  thou  art " — has 
an  evil  soand.  But  "  I  know,  thy  poverty, 
in  which  thou  art  rich" — is  precious  in  the 
Lord's  lips  for  them  and  for  us. 

Tribulation  and  poverty  are  followed  by 
shame  ;  but  that  shame  is  an  honor.  For  the 
adversaries  hlamheme  in  a  two-fold  manner: 
they  scorn  the  Lord  himself  in  his  people  ;  and 
they  wickedly  assume  to  be  his  true  people 
themselves.  The  presuming  Jews  are  intro- 
duced again,  chap.  iii.  9,  in  Philadelphia,  and 
there,  more  evidently  than  here,  in  the  far- 
reaching  meaning  of  the  symbolical  word.  In 
the  first  history  they  were  actually  Jews  who 
generally  appear  as  the  main  authors  of  perse- 
cution (I  Thess.  ii.  15,16);  Eusebius,  when 
he  relates  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp  and  other 
Christians,  tells  us  that  they  were  so  in  Smyrna 
itself.  That  these  Jews  were  rather  Satan's 
children  and  instruments,  the  Lord  himself  once 
told  them,  John  viii.  4-1:  ;  here  they  are  called 
the  congregation  or  church,  the  synagogue  of 
Satan — instead  of  the  lost,  and  now  blasphe- 
mously self-asserted,  title  of  "  the  congregation 
of  the  Lord,"  which  they  had  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment fcomp.  Psa.  xxvi.  4,  xxii.  17).  Not  with- 
out design  is  the  word  "synagogue"  chosen, 
in  order  to  meet  the  Jwlaizing,  still  so  called, 
of  all  futurity.*  But  the  words  point  still 
further,  and  are  not  less  on  that  account  spoken 
in  prophetic  type.  It  is  no  more  than  a  use- 
less contention  of  the  expositors,  whether  they 
were  properly  Jews  or  not,  the  former 
holds  good  of  the  history  itself,  but  as  a  figure 
the  latter.  Christianity  alone  was  from  that 
lime  the  essential  fulfillment,  the  consummate 
truth  of  Judaism;  the  abiding  perversion  of 
which  blasphemously  still  terms  the  way,  to 
which  the  law  and  the  prophets  pointed,  heresy 
and  a  sect  (Acts  xxiv.  14).     The  Jew  in  his 


•  In  the  0.  T.  we  have  InKXi/dia  for  nin'  JTiy 

or  nin'  bnp  (in  Neh.  xiii.  1  D'H^NH  Snpj  and 

Exod.  xii.  3  ^X"lt^^   bT^p)  especially  in  Cliron., 

Ezra,  Nehemiali  (as  ea  lier  in  Deut.  xxiii.  1-3, 
XXX.  1-10 ;  1  Kings,  viii.  14,  22).  On  the  otlier 
hand,  in  such  most  ancient  passaues  as  Exfi<l. 
xii.  3,  Numb.  xvi.  3,  xx  4,  ixvii.  17,  the  N.  T, 
6vvayo3/t}. 


inner  reality,  in  which  the  prophetic  signifi- 
cance of  the  name  Judah  (Gen.  xlix.  8,  xxix. 
35)  first  finds  its  full  propriety,  whose  2>/-aae  is 
not  of  men,  but  of  God — the  same  Apostle  tells 
us  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  who  he  is 
(chap.  ii.  28,  29).  Thus,  so  far  as  Smyrna 
furnishes  the  type  of  a  condition  and  a  period 
of  the  Church  in  which  the  Lord's  people,  in 
poverty  and  lowliness,  without  power  and 
authority  in  this  world,  without  the  help  of  a 
fleshly  arm,  are  given  up  to  the  suffering  of 
shame  and  persecution  even  unto  death — the 
persecuting  false  Church  must  be  intended  by 
the  false  Judaism,  as  far  as  regards  the  later 
period  of  that  position  and  character.  For  the 
Smyrna  period,  although  it  is  clearly  stamped 
as  a  time  immediately  after  the  apostolical, 
yet  both  stretches  backwards  into  this  latter, 
and  simultaneously  goes  onwards  into  later 
periods.  This  is  the  only  exposition  which  will 
satisfy  the  whole  case. 

Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
suffer  :  behold,  the  devil  shall  cast  some  of  yon 
into  innson,  that  ye  may  be  tried ;  and  ye  shall 
have  tribulation  ten  days :  be  thou  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  icill  give  thee  a  crown  of  life. 

Smyrna,  ihe  church  of  the  martyrs,  receives 
enough  in  that  one  word — Fear  not ;  be  faith- 
ful !  because  he  who  utters  it  had  overcome 
death  as  the  Forerunner,  and  brought  eternal 
life  to  light.  Even  the  historical  Smyrna 
shines  in  history  with  the  glory  of  her  crown- 
ed martyrs,  among  whom  Polycarp  is  pre- 
eminent, the  pupil  of  John,  who  was  executed 
A.  D.  167.  But  to  regard  Polycarp  as  himself 
the  "  angel "  is  an  error ;  for  he  had  scarcely 
at  this  early  period  any  prominence  in  the 
Church,  and  certainly  could  not  have  held  that 
which  was  afterwards  called  the  otHceof  bishop. 
Our  translation — Thou  shalt  suffer,  the  devil 
shall  cast  into  prison — is  still  stronger  in  the 
original ;  It  is  appointed,  it  must  be  so.  That 
which  the  divine  counsel,  here  announced  be- 
forehand, will  wisely  permit,  is  not  to  be  fear- 
ed, for  it  will  issue  not  in  destruction  but  in  vic- 
tory: therefore  the  first  strong  words — Fear 
rtone  of  those  things  !  It  is  indeed  the  devil, 
the  wicked  enemy  and  persecutor  in  his  instru- 
ments, who  opposes  the  people  of  God  ;  but 
there  is  already  a  consolation  in  this,  that 
they  have  him  for  an  enemy  who  assaulted 
their  Lord  and  Forerunner,  who  was  judged  by 
him  on  behalf  of  his  people,  and  who  can 
move  no  further  than  is  permitted  to  him. 
Satan  and  Dtvil,  the  two  names  of  the  evil 
one,  according  to  his  spirit  and  his  act: 
"  Satan  "  signifies  enemy  and  opposer  in  prin- 
ciple, according  to  the  Jewish  phrase,  and 
hence  it  is  used  first  with  reference  to  the 
Jews;  "devil,"  in  Greek  phrase,  indicates  his 
blasphemy,  persecution,  accusation,  and  stands 
here  in  connection  with  the  work  which  he 
wrought  by  the  Gentiles  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Jews,  lie  will  not  cast  all  together  into 
prison,  but  many  from  among  you — we  have 
already  obesrved  how  this  shows  that  the  an- 
gel of  the  church,  as  such,  would  have  not 


REV.  11.  S-11. 


915 


been  in  harmony  with  the  heart-penetrating 
■style  of  these  epistles,  and  consequently  that 
every  church  was  with  profound  propriety 
viewed  as  exhibited  in  one  person.  Further, 
the  suffering  and  the  test  affect  the  whole 
Church,  if  some  of  her  members  are  impris- 
oned and  slain.  That  ye  may  be  tried,  tested, 
and  proved :  this  is  less  the  devil's  design, 
that  they  may  be  ashamed  in  the  test  (Luke 
xxii.  31) — than  the  design  of  God's  per- 
mission and  appointment,  who  will  crov/n 
those  who  are  proved  (1  Pet.  iv.  12).* 
To  the  previous  tribulation,  already  men- 
tioned in  ver.  9,  there  is  to  be  added  a 
tribulation  of  imprisonment;  but  this  will 
have  its  short  and  measured  period,  and  its 
happy  issue.  Ten  daya  — this  we  must  not  in 
the  ordinary  manner  take  as  a  round  num- 
ber for  a  brief  space  ;  all  these  well-adjusted 
words  have  something  below  the  surface. 
Whether  any  portion  of  the  church  in  Smyr- 
na suffered  ten  actual  days  of  imprisonment, 
can  neither  be  proved  nor  contradicted  ;  but  a 
ten  days'  tribulation  seems  to  us  too  slight  for 
the  express  prediction,  accompanied  by  the 
earnest  preface — Fear  none  of  these  things  I 
To  endure  ten  days,  and  more  than  ten  days' 
imprisonment,  was  at  that  time  a  very  fre- 
quent calamity  of  the  Christians.  Thus  we 
are  constrained,  in  this  strikingly  significant 
term  for  Smyrna,  as  often  afterwards  in  this 
book  of  prophecy,  to  observe  a  prophetic 
meaning  underlying  the  number.  It  is  ob- 
vious enough  to  think  of  the  ten  great  perse- 
cutions which  have  been  reckoned,  from  the 
earliest  time  downwards,  as  taking  place  be- 
tween Nero  and  Diocletian,  whose  most  severe 
persecution,  again,  lasted  ten  years  ;  and  this 
would  give  us  incidental  evidence  that  the 
book  was  written  under  Nero.  Yet,  whatever 
may  be  the  fact  with  regard  to  these  uncertain 
historical  circumstances,  the  general  meaning 
of  this  word  will  assure  us  that  all  times 
of  tribulation  are  measured  before  the  Lord, 
and  that  they  will  be  cut  short  for  salvation 
(Matt.  rxiv.  22). 

Whether  this  deliverance  from  imprison- 
ment, from  the  tribulation  of  the  ten  days, 
should  issue  in  life  or  death,  was  not  to  be 
matter  of  anxiety  to  them  ;  their  duty  was  to 
fear  nothing  and  be  faithful.  "  In  the  words, 
Be  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  the 
crown  of  life,  there  is  so  gracious  and  sparing 
a  pre-announcement  of  death,  that  death  is 
not  seen ;  being  in  the  one  clause  covered  by 
the  fidelity,  and  in  the  other  by  the  crown" 
(Ricger).  It  may  indeed  be  said  that  death 
is  included  in  this  "unto;"  but  in  death  itself 
fidelity  is  no  more  wanted,  and  such  a  death 
demonstrates  itself  to  be  death  no  more.  Thus 
it  is  unto,  altogether  as  in  Matt.  xxtv.  13,  x. 
22,  unto  the  end.  Smyrna  receives  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  which 
is  wanting  in  none  of  the  epistles,  only  in  this 


♦  Thus  the  iva  TtetpocSQijre  gives  the  ground 
of  the  jueXXsii  and  MeXXei, 


gracious  form  with  reference  to  every  indi- 
vidual, to  every  one  of  whom  in  death  the 
Lord  comes  with  the  crown  of  life  (compare  to 
Thyatira,  ver.  25,  "until  I  come,"  connected 
with  the  threatening  of  ver.  23,  "I  will  give 
to  every  one  of  you  according  to  your  works  ") ; 
Laodicea,  on  the  contrary,  receives  it  in  the 
strongest  and  sharpest  form  of  the  expression 
— "I  will  sjme  thee  out,"  which  is  then  again 
softened  by  the  gentler  invitation—"  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock."  Further,  it  is  only 
for  Smyrna,  the  church  which  is  to  be  greatly 
comforted,  that  the  promise  to  the  overcomer 
begins  at  once  with  the  universal  anticipating 
crown*  This  is,  indeed,  in  a  specific  sense  the 
victor-crown  of  the  witnesses  unto  blood,  of 
which  the  very  name  of  the  _first  martyr  of 
Christ  (Stei'hanus  means  wreath  or  crown)  was, 
as  it  were,  a  prophecy;  but  this  expression, 
well-known  among  the  Christian  congregations 
(1  Cor.  ix.  25,  pointing  to  the  figure  before;  1 
Pet.  V.  4,  the  unfading  crown  of  glory  ;  James 
i.  12,  as  here,  the  crown  of  life),  embraces,  at 
the  same  time,  generally,  the  reward  of  all  ap- 
proved conquerors,  as  Paul  speaks  in  2  Tim. 
iv.  7,  8  with  due  humility  of  this  crown  oj 
rigteousness :  the  righteous  Judge  will  give  'it 
not  to  me  alone,  but  to  all  who  love  his  ap- 
pearing. A  crown  of  life  he  gives  imme- 
diately after  death  to  those  who  die  saved, 
to  those  who  are  confirmed  in  victory;  but 
only  as  the  pledge  of  that  crown  of  honor  or 
glory  in  consummate  eternal  life  which  he  will 
give  in  the  day  of  his  appearing,  according  to 
both  Peter  and  Paul. 

He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  ichat  the 
S2}irit  saitk  unto  the  churches :  He  titat  over- 
cometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 
What  "  ear  "  instead  of  "  ears  "  means  we  have 
already  shown  ;  but  take  occasion  now  to  op- 
pose Bengel's  erroneous  notion :  "  What  is 
said  loudly  is  heard  with  both  ears  ;  what  is 
spoken  into  the  ear  is  secret."  This  is  to  us 
unsatisfactory  ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  mys- 
teries which  are  intermixed,  the  Spirit  cries 
aloud  in  these  epistles  to  the  churches  with  the 
clearest,  most  awakening,  and  heart-searching 
words ;  words  which  have  been  popularly  ap- 
plied, and  universally  preached  about,  in  every 
age  of  the  Church.  To  "have  an  ear"  for 
what  the  Spirit  saith  is  rather  an  intensifica- 
tion than  a  weakening  of  the  saying;  since  it 
requires  the  same  spiritual  "  hearing"  for  the 
understanding  and  acceptance  of  these  exhor- 
tations, threatenings,  and  promises,  which  those 
parables  of  our  Lord  required,  for  which  the 
Lord  demanded  hearing  ears. 

The  concluding  promise  for  Smyrna  not  only 
is,  like  the  whole  letter,  of  the  shortest,  but  its 
lowered  and  negative  form  seems  scarcely  in 
harmony  with  the  gracious,  unraingled  com- 
mendation. When,  however,  we  look  at  it 
more  carefully,  the  negation  will  be  seen  to  be 

*  It  is  something  different  when  the  while  gar- 
ments are  appropriated  to  only  a  few,  in  the  epis- 
I  tie  to  Sardis,  chap.  iii.  4. 


THF.  EPISTLE  TO  PERGAMOS. 


most  positivs  and  full,  like  the  sublime  words 
before  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus — He  that 
liveth  and  believeth  in  meshaMmverdie.  As- 
suredly, for  this  martyr  church  this  was  the 
undertone  of  the  words — Though  ihQ  first  death 
may  have  hurt  him,  yet  he  that  overcometh 
shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second.  But  must  we 
not  all  die,  must  we  not  all  press  into  life  by 
overcoming  death?  This,  therefore,  is  no  es- 
pecial bitterness  for  Smyrna;  the  Lord  rather 
means  the  same  comforting  and  stimulating 
word  which  he  once  spoke  upon  earth  :  Fear 
not  them  who  can  kill  the  body,  and  nftericards 
have  Jio  more  that  they  can  do  (Luke  xii.  4). 
That  is,  if  in  ver.  5  of  that  chapter  the  es- 
sential enemy  who  is  behind  men — that  is, 
Satan  himself — is  meant,  who  hath  power  and 
authority  to  cast  into  his  own  hell,  that  worse 
imprisonment,  and  therefore  is  to  be  feared ; 
so  here  for  the  strong  encouragement  of  those 
who  are  faithful  and  overcome  it  is  intimated 
— This  Satan  shall  have  nothing  more  that  he 
can  do  against  you.  The  serond  death  is  a  name 
of  eternal  damnation  which  occurs  among  the 
Chaldee  translators  and  the  Rabbins  ;*  but 
throughout  the  Scripture  ordy  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. But  it  so  clearly  shuts  out  any  such 
prospect  of  a  future  restoration,  as  has  been 
found  in  this  "  hard  mystery,"  that  we  are 
constrained  to  leave  it  in  all  its  horrors,  and 
dare  not  seek  for  any  light  beyond  it.  This 
glance  forward  to  the  terrific  end  of  the  second 
death  is  the  antithesis  of  the  paradise  of  the 
promise  of  Ephesus  ;  but  it  is  opened  only  for 
the  gracious  excitement  and  invigoration  of 
those  to  whom  it  is  said — To  them  that  over- 
cometh no  harm  shall  happen  from  him  ;  he 
shall  have  no  more  than  he  can  do  If  Whether 
here  already  for  the  martyrs  the  lirst  resurrec 
tion  is  indicated,  as  it  comes  forward  promi 
nently  in  chap.  xx.  6,  we  much  doubt,  since 
there,  as  here,  pre-eminence  cs.nnot  be  intimated 
in  that  which  will  hold  good  of  all  the  saved — 
the  second  death  (vers.  14,  15  in  chap,  xx.) 
hath  no  power  over  them.  But  this  has  more 
significance,  when  we  compare  the  other,  final 
passage,  chap.  xxi.  8,  where,  in  contrast  with 
this  fidelity  and  its  reward,  ihefcarful,  that  is, 
those  who  hold  not  out  in  the  conflict,  are 
threatened  with  the  second  death. 

And  to  the  anr/el  of  the  church  in  Pcrcfamos 
write:  These  things  sa.th  he  tchich  hath  the 
sharp  sword  ivith  two  edges. 

Of  this  then-existing  church  we  know  nothing 
in  particular,  and  are  therefore  commended  to 
a  consideration  of  the  character  assigned  to  it, 
and  of  its  prophetic  significance.     Fergamos,  a 

*  Lent,  xxxiii.  6.     Let  not  Reul)en  die  ;  Chald 

N3n.     similarly,  Isa.  xxii.  14,  the  Clialdec  bring.s 

iii  tlio  sani<»  ^yir\  NjIIO— ind  Rashi  says  upon 
't-  K3n   C^iy^.     K.inclii  cites  still  more  plainly 

Nan  oisiya  :^•DJ  nn'o- 

t  Ou  fn)  aSiHr/Or/,  as  in  Luk"  x.  19,  ovdey 


not  insignificant  city  in  Illyra,  formerly  the 
metropolis  of  a  kingdom  so  called,  contains  in 
its  name  a  hint  which,  more  significantly  than 
in  most  of  the  others,  corresponds  with  the 
contents  of  the  epistle.  Castle  or  tower — indi- 
cates the  period  and  character  of  the  church 
which  exhibits  her  as  possessing  earthly  power  ; 
but  is  a  time  of  temptation  and  danger  to  the 
true  kernel  of  the  Church,  so  that  there  springs 
up  the  indolence  which  does  not  resist  the  en- 
trance of  impure  morals,  and  the  false  doctrine 
on  which  they  are  based.  Why  the  Lord  here 
in  particular  represents  himself  as  possessing 
the  sharp  two-edged  sword  (chap.  i.  16),  is 
easily  seen,  as  afterwards  explained  in  ver.  16 ; 
and  even  with  specific  reference  to  the  history 
of  Balaam,  from  whom  the  typical  designation, 
vers.  14,  15,  of  him  that  defiled  and  seduced 
the  Church  was  derived.  Thus  it  is  against 
this  intermixture,  with  the  spirit  of  apostacy 
creeping  in,  that  the  Lord  draws  his  cutting, 
judging,  and  punishing  sword ;  in  which  it  is 
obvious  further  to  understand — "  Hadst  thou 
in  my  name  rightly  used  my  sword,  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  the  judgment  of  my  sword  would 
not  have  been  summoned  against  thee. "  Tak- 
ing a  general  view  of  the  epistle  at  the  outset, 
its  fundamental  traits  come  out  with  great  dis- 
tinctness; that  is,  if  we  refrain  from  drawing 
those  specific  parallels  with  church  history  of 
later  times  which  have  led  so  many  expositors 
astray.  The  seat  or  throne  even  of  the  same 
Satan  from  whom  th6  persecution  came  to 
Smyrna,  is  here  set  up:  the  God-opposing 
power  of  this  world  is  predominant;  and,  as  we 
shall,  alas  !  see,  has  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  the  Church.  The  congregation  of  the 
faithful  has  no  longer  martyrdom  before  it; 
but  is  only  reminded  thereof,  as  of  something 
past.  Then  formerly  there  had  been  no  denial ; 
there  were  to  the  last  faithful  witnesses  unto 
death.  But  now  the  stumblingblock  of  fellow- 
ship with  idolatry  and  whoredom,  in  deference 
to  worldly  power,  is  not  cast  out,  but  rather 
tolerated  even  unto  open  doctrine.  All  this 
suits  generally  the  character  which  the  Church 
assumed  alter  the  persecution  ended  with  Con- 
stantine;  and  especially  the  Eastern  Christi- 
anity with  its  corrupted  imperial  court  under 
a  Christian  title,  the  influence  of  which  was  to 
bind  the  Church  under  a  bondage  of  corruption 
and  inertness.  Wiiether,  moreover,  as  many 
would  have  it,  the  period  of  Pergamos  stretches 
only  to  Charlemagne,  or  further  on  into  the 
developed  Pa[)acy,  is  hard  to  say ;  we  hold  that 
these  periods  generally  pass  one  into  another, 
as  respects  both  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
corresponding  his'ory,  and  that  they  should 
not  be  limited  to  any  distinct  epochs. 

1  hnoiv  thij  works,  and  where  thou  dwellest, 
cren  where  Satan's  scat  is  ;  and  thou  holdest 
fast  my  name,  and  hast  not  denied  my  faith, 
even  in  those  days  wherein  Antipas  was  my 
faithful  martyr,  ivho  was  slain  among  you 
ichcre  Satan  dweUeth.  We  have  already  given 
our  judgment  that  here  also  the  uniform  com- 
mencement, "I  know  thy  works,"  is  genuine, 


KEV.  II.  12-17. 


m 


as  a  general  introductory  testimony.  While 
the  Lord  must  blame  the  evil  works  of  Perga- 
mos,  especially  her  laxity  in  controversy  with 
error,  and  even  her  positive  defilement  with 
that  which  was  indolently  permitted,  he  never- 
theless begins  most  graciously,  as  in  the  case 
of  Ephesus,  with  calling  to  remembrance  the 
good  and  honorable  past,  which  had  still  its 
value  in  his  eyes.  Still  more,  he  himself  finds 
a  gentle  apology  for  them  in  their  perilous, 
strongly-tempted  position — "I  know  this  also, 
how  hard  is  thy  situation  and  trial."  How  gra- 
ciously encouraging  to  his  people  in  similar 
circumstances  always,  to  hear  him  saying,  "  I 
know  tchere  Vwu  dwelled  !  "  Not  as  if  this  was 
meant  as  a  justification  of  their  evil  conduct, 
because  they  were  under  persecution  and  op- 
pression;  but  condemnation  fails  less  heavily 
upon  the  stranger  sojourning  in  Mesech  and  the 
tents  of  Kedar  (Psa.  cxx.  5),  than  upon  him 
who  dwells  among  the  people  of  God,  in  God's 
own  house,  amidst  blessings  and  peace.  We 
must  here  once  for  all  remsmber  that  these 
epistles  are  not  directed  to  the  great  mass  of 
nominal  Christians,  which  is  ever  increasing  as 
ages  roll  along,  or  to  the  so  called  churches  ; 
but  only  to  the  faithful  among  the  many,  the 
society  which  actually  n;ore  or  less  holds  to  and 
depends  upon  the  Lord.  This  becomes  an  im- 
portant consideration  in  the  third  epistle,  and 
retains  that  importance  throughout  all  the 
remainder.  Hence  it  will  appear  what  Satan's 
scat  means  in  its  prophetical  sense.  First, 
indeed,  as  regards  the  then  Pergamos,  which 
furnished  the  basis  of  the  symbol,  it  may  have 
been  a  public  heathen  power,  through  which 
Pergamos  attained,  in  its  degree,  to  the  emi- 
nence of  a  metropolis  of  heathenism.  The  learn- 
ed refer  to  the  then  celebrated  temple  oi  ^xu- 
laphis,  the  "  healer  and  saviour  " — and  to  the 
symbol  of  the  serpent*  as  still  connected  with 
the  physician's  art.  Ebrard,  on  the  other  hand, 
thinks  that  this  would  not  have  made  Per- 
gamos worse  than  Diana's  temple  in  Ephesus 
(Acts  xix.  27);  and  prefers  finding  Satan's 
throne  in  the  court  of  judicature  for  the 
Eoman  province  of  Asia,  which,  according  to 
Pliny,  was  established  there.  However  that 
may  l)e— and  we  can  feel  no  certainty  about  it 
— the  prophetic  meaning,  which  takes  that  only 
as  its  point  of  connection,  plainly  refers,  as 
respects  the  period  of  the  Church  designated  by 
Pergamos,  to  a  7io  longer  public  heathen  power, 
but  a  throne  of  Satan  having  a  Christian 
semblance  and  pretension.  For  thus  much  we 
regard  as  certain,  that  the  epistles  in  some 
sense  proceed  onwards  chronologically.  Con- 
sequently, if  first  to  Ephesus  false  Apostles  were 
mentioned,  and  then   to   Smyrna  false  Jews, 


*  To  refer  this  to  Satan  is  petty,  and  croundless 
accordiiis  to  tlie  double  meaning  of  tliis  .'symbol, 
pood  nnd  l)ad,  which  had  existed  in  all  times. 
The  title  'AdnXt^nioi  Gooryp  seems  more  remark- 
able, as  the  heathenish  counter-power;  nnd  an 
anc^entwriter  acttrally  cnlLs  the  city  klxz££8qoX.ov 
inip  irjv  'ACiay  ndOav. 


that  is  (as  we  saw)  false  Christians,  a  syna- 
(jogne  of  Satan;  so  now,  according  to  the  under- 
tone of  meaning,  in  the  still  increasing  devel- 
opment of  corruption,  ih^  throne  of  Sal  an  must 
mean  something  in  Christendom,  and  only 
something  present  in  it.  We  have  already,  in 
our  general  summary,  given  to  be  understood 
whither  that  points  :"  it  is  the  wordly  mUhority 
of  the  external  church,  politically  victorious 
and  predominant,  judging  spiritual  matters  in 
worldly  wise,  which— although,  according  to 
chap.  xiii.  2,  the  throne  of  the  dragon  is  to  be 
long  afterwards  first  established— the  Lord 
beholds  from  heaven  as  being,  in  its  evil  depth 
of  reality,  the  dominion  of  the  prince  of  this 
world.  Compare  the  profound  saying,  Psa. 
xciv.  20:  Wilt  thou  then  have  fellowship  with 
the  seat  of  shame  (throne  of  corruption),  which 
establisheth  mischief  as  law  (or  against  the 
commandment)  ? 

Intelligent  readers  will  understand  this  ;  and 
will  discern  the  mischief  which,  in  its  manifold 
forms  as  slate  Church  and  Church  state,  clung 
to  the  system  of  salvation  and  co-existed  with 
it.  The  community  dwelling  in  this  condition 
has  praise  enough  first  accorded  :  Thou  boldest 
yet  fast  my  name  (comp.  chap.  iii.  8),  with  all 
that  it  contains,  and  hast  not  denied  my  faith. 
The  not  denying  is  here  already  counted 
worthy  of  commendation.  "  My  faith,"  that 
is,  faith  in  me — but  not  in  the  sense  of  any 
doctrine  of  faith  or  dogmatics,  as  if  (according 
to  many  expositors)  the  Lord  would  praise 
the  doctrinal  elaborations  and  contests  of  a 
corresponding  period,  especially  those  of  the 
Oriental  Church  ;  vvliile  liis  eyes  are  looking 
every  where  for  a  very  different /ai'cVt  (Jer.  v. 
1-3).  But  the  genuine  and  sound  faith  which 
he  means,  as  the  source  of  all  works  valid  in 
his  sight,  is  one  vi'\\.\\  fidelity  :  thus  Antipas  is 
presently  termed  the  faithful  witness,  and 
Smyrna  was  before  bidden  to  he  faithful.'^  Was 
Antipas  a  historical  person  of  this  name  in 
Pergamos?  The  Ilischherger  Bibel  says  cor- 
rectly, that  "no  trace  has  remained  of  him  in 
history;"  for  that  which  is  found  (in  the 
Menologies)  concerning  one  of  that  name  who 
suffered  martyrdom  under  Domitian,  is  without 
trustworthiness,  probably  being  an  invention 
founded  upon  this  passage,  and  further  em- 
bellished. The  grave  pointed  out  there  is 
certainly  one  of  these  deceptions.  It  is  pos- 
sible, however,  that  there  was  an  "Antipas" 
who  was  slain  in  Pergamos  for  the  Lord's  name's 
sake;  and  the  mention  of  him  would  be  only 
an  affecting  condescending  example  for  all  his 
witnesses,  whom  he  knows  and  remembers. 
But  still  it  would  be  the  only  historical  name 
in  all  the  epistles — since  the  Nicolaitanes  and 
Jezebel  are  not  such — and  that  would  appear 
an  improbability.  Probably,  therefore,  it  is 
only  a  typical  name,  intended  to  signify  gen- 
erally the  individual  witnesses  unto  death  (for 
the  expression  "  witness"  has  already  here  the 


*  In  Greek,  TtiCrii  and  niGzoi  are  from  one 
and  the  same  root. 


918 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  PERGAMOS. 


specific  meaning  of  "  martyr  ;"  comp.  Acts 
xxii.  20).  Holding  this  firmly,*  we  find  the 
meaning  of  the  name  (if  it  was  originally  an 
abbreviation  of  Antipater,  that  does  not  hinder 
the  prophetic  use  of  the  changed  form)  very 
significant — Against  all,  one  who  stood  out 
a<iainst  the  multitude  as  an  individual  faithful 
confessor.  Such  an  Antipas,  as  we  understand 
it.  has  more  than  once  been  slain  among  you, 
wlure  Satan  dwelleth.  The  praise  which  began 
now  returns  :  "  I  know  and  remember  where 
thou  must  dwell,  thou  oppressed  and  tempted 
flock;  and  that  where  Satan  dwells  there  is 
little  rocra  for  thee." 

"  In  truth,  thypositioa  is  still  most  difficult, 
and  thou  comest  not  unhurt  from  the  danger." 
For  Pergamos  was  not — and  this  is  not  to  her 
praise — aiiy  longer  persecuted  like  Smyrna. 
The  whole  of  ver.  13  exhibits  the  past,  before 
the  hut  follows,  as  to  Ephesus  in  vers.  2,  3. 
"  In  the  days  of  Antipas  thou  didst  not  deny 
— but  now  I  must  rebuke  thee,  that  thou  hast 
reconciled  thy.self  too  easily  with  Satan's  throne, 
that  ihou  hast  made  perilous  compromise  with 
the  impure  element  of  worldly  power  in  the 
Cliurch,  though  thou  hast  not  utterlv  fallen. 
But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because 
ihou  hast  there  tliem  t'lat  hold  the  doctrine  of 
Balaam,  irho  tat<ght  Balak  to  cast  a  stumhling- 
hlock  before  the  children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things 
sacrificed  unto  idols,  and  to  commit  fornication. 
So  hast  t':ou  also  them  that  hold  the  doctnne  of 
the  Nicola  it' tnes."  Zinzendort,  in  his  transla- 
lation  oi  the  New  Testament,  translates  as  if 
it  were,  "  A  few  things,/^  example,  the  doctrine 
of  Balaam."  But  what  the  Lord  has  to  say 
against  his  churches,  he  ever  speaks  plainly 
and  faithfully  out — not  merely  giving  e.xamples 
of  his  meaning.  The  litt/ef  seems  at  first  difli- 
cult ;  but  the  word  is  used,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
mitigate  the  blame — Only  this  one  thing  ;  and; 
on  the  other,  with  warning  severity  to  say — 
Take  pood  heed.  Let  this  soon  cease ;  for  a 
little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump. 

While  the  omni-scient  Guardian  and  Warner 
of  his  Church  shows  the  seer  in  Patmos  the 
future  under  the  figures  of  the  present,  he  has 
also,  after  the  prophetical  manner  (because  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  Spirit  of  prophecy, 
chap.  xix.  10),  the  past  from  the  beginning  be- 
fore his  all-embracing  glance.  Beginning  with 
the  epistle  to  Ephesus,  he  looked  back  to  the 
fall  and  Paradise  ;  and  with  this  was  connected, 
in  the  epistle  to  Smyrna,  perseverance  in  the 
view  of  d.:ath,  the  first  and  the  second.  Now 
the  backward  reference  of  the  type  proceeds 
into  the  history  of  Israel;  and,  first  of  all,  to 
the  time  of  Moses,  when  the  chosen  and  re- 
deemed people  were  subjected  to  temptation  in 
the  wilderness.  According  to  the  same  funda- 
mental law  of  the  divine  guidance,  concurring 
with  human  freedom,  the  Lord's  New-Testa- 
ment people  proceed  in  the  same  way  ;  so  fully 


corresponding  on  the  whole  and  at  large,  that 
a  parallel  of  the  Old-Testament  times  and  his- 
tory with  those  of  the  New  in  their  entire 
development,  oflTers  us  much  most  important 
instruction.*  Manifold  in  their  ample  appli- 
cation are  the  types;  to  teach  us  this  tho 
Lord  makes  prominent  here  a  person  and  a 
history  which  Peter  (chap.  ii.  15),  and  Jude 
after  him  (ver.  11),  have  used  in  the  same 
way.  Balaam,  was  the  ambiguous  prophet  ex- 
ternal to  Israel,  from  the  beginning  unfaith- 
fully wavering  between  obedience  \t^  God's  re- 
velation, and  the  lust  for  the  rewards  of  un- 
righteouness.  He  was  warned,  and  yet  went 
his  own  way  ;  but  must,  against  his  will,  bless 
Israel.  But  this  vexed  him  all  the  more  ;  and 
we  read  in  Numb.  xxv.  1,  2,  xxxi.  16  of  hia 
cunning   and  revengeful  counsel  to  Balak,  in 


*  Williout  needing  to  re.sort  to  Hengsteiiberg's 
further  subtililies. 

|-  'OXiya  U  neutral  for  uXiyov  tu 


*  As  suggestive  hints  for  the  reflection  of  such 
as  will  i)nrsue  them,  we  add  what  follows.  Seven 
great  periods,  or  rather  six,  passing  over  into  a 
seveath,  may  be  disclosed  as  corresponding,  part- 
ly by  contrast,  and  partly  as  parallel.  The  prim- 
itive world  under  divine  long-suifcTing,  the  con- 
tini'.ons  fall  down  to  the  first  jiidgmetiL  of  the 
world — primitive  Christendom  under  d.vine  pow- 
er of  grace,  continuous  downtall  of  heathenism 
down  to  the  first  jii  Igment  upon  it  (Noah — Con. 
stantine).  The  preparation  of  God's  people  in  the 
dark  period  of  tlie  other  peoples  ;  the  jirepara- 
tion  of  the  European  peoples — Christendom  in  tho 
unresting  time  of  the  wanderings  of  races  (Moses 
— Charlem.igne).  The  kingdom  of  Israel  as  tho  . 
appointed  type,  in  wliich  decline  and  perversion 
is  developed  and  revealed;  the  Romish  Church 
as  the  tolerated  transition,  in  which  we  see  ihe 
STme  decline  (Nebuchadnezzar  —  Ilildebrand). 
The  B  ibylonisli  period,  time  of  servitude,  the 
lime  when  the  empires  of  heathenism  begin; 
Paj)al  worl  ily  period,  only  a  waiting  seed  (like 
the  two  tribes  of  Israel)  is  reserved,  tlie  separa- 
tion of  the  European  states  begins  (Zerubbabel^ 
Luther).  Persian-Greek  period,  building  of  the 
second  temple,  the  first  bloom  of  heathen  culture 
ceases — Protestant  political  age,  founding  of  the 
new  Church,  the  first  reloimalion  of  national  life 
lias  the  same  fate  (Alexander — Napoleon ).  Greek- 
Roman  time,  advancing  power  of  the  world,  Israel 
recedes  before  the  second  bloom  of  hea.henism, 
general  decline,  and  most  proper  time  of  expectation 
— missionary  ])eriod  and  period  of  development, 
advancini  revelation  of  the  true  Church,  the 
second  reformation  in  which  Christian.^  become 
predominant,  finally  restoration  (even  for  Israel 
after  the  flesh)  and  the  most  proper  time  of  fulfil- 
ment. Lastly,  as  according  to  the  ancient  history 
the  appearance  of  the  Lord  brings  its  end  (in- 
stead of  judgment)  to  the.se  six  diys,  so  similarly, 
at  the  end  of  the  new  period,  there  will  be  the  mil- 
lennial kingdom,  the  final  appearance ;  and  with 
it,  at  the  same  time,  the  judgment.  How  the 
churches  of  these  epistles  coiTe>pond  to  these 
periods  as  indicated  by  them,  must  be  left  to  the 
individual  pondering  of  the  reader  ;  in  this  inter- 
nal relation  there  are  other  points  which  must  be 
brought  into  view  ;  but  Thyatira  may  refer  to  the 
Pajial,  Sardis  to  the  Protestant  period,  while  Phil- 
I  adelphia  and  Laodicea  go  in  concurrently  to  tho 
I  coming  of  the  Lord, 


REV  II.  18-29. 


m 


orfcTtoroin  Israt^l  by  seduction,  that  he  should 
set  a  stiimblingblock  in  the  way  of  the  people 
of  God— timt  IS,  literally,  throw  an  offence  in 
their  wav,  to  be  to  them  a  pitfall  or  a  snare. 
With  this  the  Lord  now  compares  the  people 
of  tire  church  in  Pergamos,  who,  favoring  the 
lialmmoi  their  time  (for  that  is  the  right  read- 
ing), that  is,  for  the  sake  of  the  worldly  power 
before  mentioneci  as  the  throne  of  Satan,  seduce 
the  spiritual  Israel  to  infidelity,  yea,  construct 
a  lormal  theory  and  (hclrine  to  which  they  hold 
— instead,  as  was  said  before,  of  holding  to  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  The  point  of  comparison  is 
first  exhibited,  even  in  external  reality;  while 
yet  op'en  heathenism  still  predominated,  the 
eating  of  tMngs  mcrificed  to  id/An  and  fornication 
were  "the  sins  of  those  who  renounced  not  the 
false  and  seducing  fellowship  with  him  ;  and 
this  was  already  foreseen  in  Acts  xv.  29,  though 
not  till  I  Cor.  x.  by  Paul  most  earnestly  de- 
nounced. The  eating  at  the  table  of  devils  was 
at  the  same  time  a  spiritual  tornication  and 
idolatry.  Both  the  proper  and  the  figurative 
meaning,  but  rather  the  latter,  apply  to  the 
later  time  which  Pergamos  typified,  since  the 
teaching  and  acting  after  the  manner  of 
Balaam,  the  compromising  and  impurely  self- 
justifying  fellowship  with  the  nominally 
■Christian  powers  of  the  world,  manifests  itself 
both  in  actual  immorality  and  in  hyjwcritical 
dogmatics  touching  the  seats  of  Gesars'and 
Bishops,  the  establishment  of  idolatrous  images 
in  the  place  of  God's  pure  worship,  and  so  forth. 
But  we  will  abstain  from  the  special  ecclesias- 
tical interpretation,  in  order  tliat  no  one  may 
overlook  that  which  suits  his  own  time. 

This,  however,  is  clear  and  certain  to  us  ; 
ver.  15  does  not  distinguish  other  so-called 
Mtcdaitanes  from  the  BaLaamites  (so  to  term 
them) ;  but  both  are  evidently  tho  same.  All 
things  tend  to  this,  when  carefully  considered. 
So  tlioualiso  had — this  so  with  this  also  gives  us 
the  interpretation  of  what  had  been  figuratively 
expressed  :  "  Alas  !  thou  also,  a  Christian  com- 
munity, h<ist  retained,  and  dost  not  cast  out, 
such  '})eujde,  Nkolailanes,  as  I  have  already,  for 
the  first  church,  plainly  translated  their  name." 
"  Who  hold  to  the  doctrine" — the  same  formula 
is  repeated.  Probably  the  definite  article  in 
"doctrine  of  tlie  Nicolaitanes"  is  not  genuine; 
in  the  original  it  would  be  the  mere  translation 
of  "  Balaam  ;"  such  Balaam  doctrine,  Nicolai- 
tan,  seductively  overcoming  the  people.  In 
ver.  6  only  the  xoorks  were  mentioned  ;  but  now 
there  has  a  doctrine  crept  in,  within  the  church 
which  tolerated  those  works.  The  theory  has 
never  been  long  wanting,  in  the  world  and 
even  in  the  Church,  when  the  practice  has 
gone  before.  Finally  (instead  of  the  "  which  1 
hate,"  as  in  ver.  6)  stands,  according  to  the 
more  correct  reading,  once  more  "in  like  man- 
ner."*    The  "  so  "  at  first,  and  "  in  like  man- 


*  This  vnoiooi,  which  many  (Grotius  and  Bf  n- 
gel)  carry  on  to  the  following  word,  has  been 
changed  into  o-pii6(a,  because  of  the  oi'rcas 
going  before. 


ner  "  at  last,  combine  very  strongly  to  assure 
us  that  a  doctrine  of  Nicolaitanes  is  meant 
which  perfectly  corre.-iponds  to  the  doctrine  of 
Balaam. 

Bepent  therefore.  If  not,  I  icill  come  unto 
thee  quickly,  and  ivill  fijht  again4  them  with 
the  stcord  of  my  mouth.  On  the  pertect  Ba- 
laamites  or  Nicolaitanes  repentance  is  no  longer 
enjoined,  but  judgment  is  denounced;  but 
those  who  were  entangled  with  them  are  (with 
the  same  "  noio"  as  in  ver.  5)  exhorted  to  con- 
version in  penitent  change  of  mind.  iSo  far 
the  denunciation  of  the  fighting  agains'.  (hem 
applies  to  the  whole  church — so  tar,  that  is,  as 
they  were  in  and  among  the  church  ;  but  it 
is  something  different  from  saying,  "  I  will 
fight  against  thee. "  We  must  understand  : 
"  if  thou  dost  not  perform  thy  duty,  and  cast 
them  out  from  thee,  I  will  undertake  it  myself." 
The  sword  of  the  7nouth  is  spoken  of,  which 
may,  indeed,  include  a  spiritual  judging  and 
restoration  of  sinners  through  the  word ;  yet 
we  see  plainly  in  chap.  xix.  15,  21,  that  con- 
demning sentence  of  wrath  mav  proceed  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Almiglity.  The  language  of 
prophetic  symbols  is  ever  comprehensive  for 
manifold  interpretation  and  reference  ;  and  it 
sometimes  retains,  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
specific  allusions,  as  here  the  threatening  Siwrti 
certainly  refers  back  once  more  to  Balaam's 
history.  Because  Balaam  did  not  yield  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  which  came  in  his  way 
(Num.  xxii.  23,  31)— for  his  "I  will  get  me 
back  again"  was  not  sincere;  the  evil  desire 
remained  in  him,  and  was  at  first  punished  by 
being  permitted — we  read  afterwards,  in  Num. 
xxxi,  8,  the  express  requital,  "  Balaam  also, 
the  son  of  Beor,  they  slew  with  the  sword." 
We  have  it  in  our  power,  through  penitence  or 
the  reverse,  to  decide  how  gently  or  severely, 
whether  in  wrath  or  mercy,  this  sword  of  his 
mouth  shall  judge  us. 

He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  he'^ir  what  the 
Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches :  To  him  thnt 
00  rcoineth  will  I  give*  of  the  hidden  manna, 
and  will  give  him  a  tchite  stone,  and  in  the 
stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  man 
knoweih  saving  he  that  receiveth  it.  The  op- 
pression and  imprisonment  in  Egypt — the  per- 
secutions and  plagues,  which  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament fell  not  upon  Egypt,  but  upon  Israel — 
are  now  passed  to  Pergamos  ;  but  to  her  the 
way  through  the  wilderness  is  appointed  as  a 
time  of  probationary  trial.  .  As  the  name  of 
Balaam  was  taken  from  this  period,  so  also 
are  the  figurative  expressions  of  promise.  The 
antitype,  indeed,  often  corresponds  with  the 
type 'in  the  way  of  contrast.  Israel's  manna, 
not  yet  the  true  bread  from  heaven,  was  not 
hidden;  but  that  which  Christ  gives  to  the 
faithful,  as  the  compensation  of  the  renounced 
idol-sacrifices  and  carnal  lusts— not  properly 
the  same  as  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  ver.  7, 
since  already  before  death  the  foretaste  of  that 


*  The  cpayelv   dno  (to  eat  of),  brought  for- 
ward from  ver.  7,  we  omit. 


920 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THYATIRA. 


is  received — is  a  spiritual  nourishment,  known 
only  by  experience  to  those  who  receive  it.* 
The  white  stone  has  been  variously  interpreted. 
The  ancients  used  such  stones  in  voting  and 
electing,  as  the  Greek  verb  shows  ;  and  accord- 
ingly Luther  understood  it  here  of  a  "  good  tes- 
timony "of  absolution — it  might  be  said  also,  of 
election.  Others  have  thought  of  the  little 
tablets,  or  stone  counters,  which  were  given  to 
the  conquerors  in  contests,  as  the  pledge  of  the 
prize;  and  which  were  also  their  claim  to  public 
support,  thus  connecting  them  with  the  manna 
already  spoken  of.  We  would  not,  indeed, 
assert  that  heathen  customs  could  not  be  used 
in  Christian  symbols,  for  1  Cor.  ix.  24-27  gives 
a  decisive  example  to  the  contrary;  on  the 
other  hand,  it  might  be  regarded  as  not  inap- 
propriate that,  in  the  letter  to  Pergamos,  the 
Lord  should  set  his  own  in  opposition  to 
wordly  and  political  marks  of  honor  and  care. 
Nevertheless,  the  name  written  upon  the  stone, 
in  connection  with  the  allusion  to  the  time  of 
Moses  which  pervades  all,  decide  us,  in  common 
with  mai>y  others,  to  interpret  it  differently. 
But  not  as  Herder  does,  who  thinks  of  the  new 
reckoning  of  the  people,  as  it  were  chosen 
anew.  Num.  xxvi. ;  for  that  would  apply  to  all 
the  rebuked,  and  not  merely  to  the  faithful. 
The  tohite  stone,  that  is,  in  the  language  of  the 
Apocalypse  (chap.  i.  14,  iii.  4,  vi.  2,  vii.  14),  the 
shining  stone,  with  the  name  upon  it,  seems  to 
be  most  correctly  understood  of  a  precious 
stone, t  with  allusion  either  to  the  breatsplate, 
or,  still  better,  to  the  frontlet,  of  the  high 
priest,  and  thus  of  priestly  ornament.  The  book 
ol  Revelation  mentions  and  promises  generally 
much  that  is  neto  (chap.  v.  9,  xiv.  3,  xxi.  1,  2, 
5)  out  of  the  transcendently  fulfilling  grace  of 
the  New  Testament;  as  the  Evangelist  of  the 
Old  Covenant,  Isaiah,  delighted  to  point  for- 
ward to  it  from  the  far  distance,  chap.  xlii.  9, 
xliii.  19,  xlviii.  6.  The  same  prophet,  chap. 
Ixii.  2,  Ixv.  15,  Ixvi.  22,  promised  for  Jerusa- 
lem generally,  and  all  her  justified  residue  of 
citizens,  with  all  joined  unto  them  by  grace 
(chap.  Ivi.  5),  a  new  name — new,  like  the  new 
heaven  and  the  new  earth,  which  God  in  the 
end  would  make;  and  our  book  brings  here 
the  nearer  pledge  of  its  lullillmeiit.  To  give  a 
new  name  liad  been  from  the  time  of  Abraham 
and  Israel  a  symbolical  and  elective  act  of  God, 
containing  in  its  meaning  some  new  gift  or 
new  creation,  either  in  the  present  reality  or 
in  prophecy.  The  new  name  for  him  that 
overcometh,  is,  according  to  its  essential  signi- 
ficance, one  with  tlie  name  of  the  new  city  of 
God  :  and  this  again  is  one  with  the  new  name 
of  the  Lord  himself,  who  buildelh,  and  who 
alone  maketh  all  things  new  (chap.  lii.  12,  xxi. 
2.  xix.  12,  comp.  Jer.  xxiii.  6,  xxiii,  16;  Ezek. 


*  Tlie  Jewish  fable  concerning  the  hidins;  of  tlie 
ark  of  the  covenant,  and  its  l)eing  found  in  the 
time  of  tlie  Messiah,  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  ; 
for  in  1  Kiiiiis  viii.  9  wo  are  told  that  the  manna 
was  no  longer  in  it. 

f  This  may  be  meant  by  ^r/g^Qi, 


xlviii.  35).  This  still  concealed  name,  which 
the  Lord's  mouth  will  utter  (Isa.  Ixii.  2),  as  i{ 
is  termed  a  sign  and  seal  upon  the  foreheads  of 
the  servants  of  God  (Rev.  vii.  3,  xiv.  1,  xxii. 
4),  corresponds  to  the  golden  frontlet  of  the 
high  priest,  with  the  inscription,  "Holiness  to 
the  Lord."  It  is  not,  like  other  names,  a  mark 
to  denote  their  person  to  others,  but  a  promise 
and  fulfillment  of  that  blessed  and  glarious 
state  and  experience  concerning  which,  as  con- 
cerning the  being  and  glory  of  the  Lord  him- 
self, it  can  only  be  said,  that  no  man  knows 
that  name  but  he  that  has  it — he  that  has 
received  it.  Thus  high  does  the  promise  to 
those  who  overcome  in  J'ergamos  already 
reach;  as  we  shall  see  that  throughout  the 
epistles  the  promises  advance  higher  and 
higher,  as  the  counterpoise  to  the  more  and 
more  severe  conflict,  until  in  chap.  iii.  21  the 
highest  that  can  be  said  is  said  to  Laodicea — 
the  sitting  with  the  first  overcomer  upon  his 
throne  being  the  sublime  conclusion. 

And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thi/- 
atira  write:  These  things  saith  the  Son  of 
God,  tvho  hath  his  eyes  like  utito  a  flame 
of  fire,  and  his  feet  are  like  fine  brass.  The 
same  who  in  chap.  i.  13  was  "  like  unto 
the  Son  of  Man  " — which  recurs  in  the  still 
more  indirect  and  vision-like  representation  of 
his  coming  in  chap.  xiv.  14 — calls  himself, 
here  alone  in  the  entire  book,  the  Son  of  God 
(comp.  chap.  xix.  13.  This,  however,  only 
brings  into  prominence  what  was  pre-sup- 
posed  in  that  other  name).  Manifestly,  it  13 
used  not  only  to  exhibit  his  own  despised  dig- 
nity in  opposition  to  the  shameless  prophetess 
Jezebel,  ver.  20,  but  at  the  same  time  to  op- 
pose to  the  lyingly  so-called  "  depths  of  God," 
ver.  24  (only  thus  to  be  explained),  his  own 
perfect  interior  knowledge  of  those  divine-deep 
things  (Matt.  xi.  27).  The  eyes  of  flame  ex- 
hibit in  connection  with  this  his  omniscience 
as  regards  the  secrets  of  men  (Rom.  li.  16), 
the  Searcher  of  hearts  who  is  prominent  ui- 
terwards  in  ver.  23.  That,  further,  precisely 
here  the  feet  of  fine  brass  indicate  a  coming  to 
judgment,  can  scarcely  be  rejected,  as  we  re- 
marked upon  the  appearance  at  the  beginning  ; 
but  in  that  former  passage  this  is  not  the  ouhj 
interpretation,  and  in  this  one  it  is  not  to  be 
pressed  too  far.  Treading  down  all  that  op- 
poses, and  victoriously  pressing  onwards — so 
tar  all  is  right ;  but  it  is  questionable  whether 
"  s'ampinr/  doion  and  burning  all  that  thwarts 
him,"*  and  that  with  allusion  to  Jezebel's  fate, 
2  Kings  ix.  33,  is  so.j  The  casting  ii:t  >  a  bed 
afterwards,  ver.  22,  is  not  a  treading  down  ;  nor 
is  even  the  smiting  to  death,  ver.  23.  We  tiiink 
that  in  chap.  i.  14,  15,  previously,  the  dark 
glowing  brightness  of  the  feet  was  no  more 
designed  to  indicate  hurning  than  the  glance 
of  theeyos;  we  understand  generally  the  re- 
splendent footsteps  of  his  advancing  and  irrp- 

♦  So  we  read  in  Von  Gerlach. 

f  Herder,  contrary  to  his  wont,  tastelessly  ia 
terpieted  it  thus. 


REV.  II.  18-29. 


921 


Bi-tible  might :  compare  for  Thyatira  afterwards, 
ver.  26.  That  the  semblance  of  burning  is 
mentioned  here,  may  be  regarded  as  leaving  in 
its  sole  prominence  the  meaning  of  victorious 

f)o\ver,  without  any  accessory  notion  of  tramp- 
ing or  consuming  by  fire.  These  symbols 
must  neither  be  exaggerated  nor  confused  :  the 
treader  of  the  wine-press,  chap.  xix.  15,  comes 
not  with  glowing,  burning  feet;  hence  while  in 
ver.  12  of  that  chapter  the  eyes,  and  in  ver.  15 
the  sword,  are  mentioned  again,  the  feet  of  the 
previous  appearance  are  not  introduced. 

The  prophetic  significance  of  the  church  of 
Thyatira,  to  which  the  longest  epistle  was  sent, 
appears  the  most  obscure  of  all,  as  it  stands  in 
the  midst  of  the  seven  ;  as  obscure  as  the  mid- 
dle ago  of  ecclesiastical  history  to  our  dim 
«yes,  when  we  attempt  to  trace  the  Lord's 
ways  and  dealings  with  his  never-failing 
Church.  Certainly  there  existed  at  that  time 
in  the  Lydian  Thyatira,  whence  the  first  fruits 
of  the  rnission  in  Europe  came.  Acts  xvi.  14, 
a  Christian  church,*  which,  under  the  pres- 
sure of  fearful  apostacy,  nevertheless  had  yet 
its  faithful  members,  vers.  24,  25.  And,  with 
equal  certaint\%  the  stamp  upon  Thyatira  ex- 
hibits to  us  a.  progression  of  corruption  even  be- 
5'ond  Pergamos,  inasmuch  as  a  ruling  Jezebel 
is  much  more  than  a  Balaam  giving  evil  coun- 
sel. But  the  detail  will  follow  m  the  exposi- 
tion. 

The  original  cannot  be  exactly  translated  ; 
for  it  gives  the  pronoun  thy  expressly  twice  to 
the  works,  but  only  once  to  all  the  otlier  four 
intermediate  words  together.  To  the  love  in- 
deed corresponds  the  service,  as  to  the  faith 
the  patience  or  continuance;  yet  the  preced- 
ing two  designations  of  internal  sentiment  are 
more  closely  connected  than  the  two  designa- 
tions of  the  outward  act.!  Judging  from  the 
filentitude  of  the  words  and  the  priority  of  the 
ove,  which  in  Ephesus  had  grown  faint,  one 
might  at  first  suppose  that  Thyatira  received 
the  highest  praise ;  but  when  we  look  more 
carefully,  that  appearance  is  removed.  We  see 
rather  that  it  is  ouly  the  great  grace  of  the 
Lord  which  will  at  tlie  outset  acknowledge  as 
much  as  is  consistent  with  truth,  as  much  as 
the  eyes  of  flame  piercing  through  the  evil 
signs  may  yet  discern.  That  the  works,  here  as 
«very  where  mentioned  first,  recur  again  at  the 
end,  must,  when  we  connect  with  it  the  rest  of 
the  epistle,  beintorpreted  as  somewhat  qualify- 
ing and  diminishing  the  whole.  Assuredly,  Thy- 
atira has  works  of  Jove  to  present  to  the  Lord  ; 
and  where  this  low,  here  graciously  named  first, 
exists,  there  must  most  certainly  be  also 
J'aith :  this  inference  from  without  to  within 


appears  to  be  denoted  by  the  succession  of  the 
words.  That  this  faith,  working  by  love,  by 
no  means  denotes  that  adherence  to  d^gma, 
which  in  the  Lord's  sight  has  no  distinctive 
value  and  praise,  we  have  already  shown  upon 
ver.  13.*  The  faith  which  the  Lord  acknow- 
ledges is  never  mere  doctrine,  mere  confession  : 
in  the  connection  and  process  here,  it  is  no 
less  than,  as  in  ver.  13,  the  Jhlelily  of  faith 
holding  fast  to  him  ;  although  it  would  not  be 
right  on  that  account  to  translate  "  fidelity  " 
simply,  for  the  fundamental  idea  is  always  the 
same  as  the  former.  Service  of  love  does  not 
merely  indicate  in  the  most  specific  sense  be- 
nevolence and  communication,  as  is  meant  in 
2  Cor.  ix.  12,  13  (more  closely  translated,  "  the 
presentation  of  this  service  ;"  in  Greek,  diako- 
nia)  ;  but  it  means  what  we  generally  find  in 
Heb.  vi.  10.  Thyatira  exhibited  her  perse- 
verance in  works  of  serving  and  solicitous  love, 
which  cannot  be  presented  in  their  genuineness 
without  genuine  faith — hypocritical  works  the 
Lord  never  could  praise — she  continues  in 
them  so  diligently,  that  the  Lord  even  beholds 
the  last  to  be  greater  than  the  first.  This, 
taken  by  itself,  and  thus  compared  witii  ver. 
6  preceding,  would  constitute  the  highest 
praise  of  spiritual  growth:  but  how  does  this 
consist  with  the  remaining  characteristics  of 
that  church,  which  must  however  modify  its 
meaning  ?  Is  Thyatira  on  that  account  better 
than  Ephesus?  or,  can  there  be  a  general  and 
real  advancement  in  the  energy  of  Christian 
life  and  work,  even  while  a  Jezebel  is  guiltily 
allowed  place  and  power?  An  unprejudiced 
consideration  of  the  whole  context  constrains 
us  to  adopt  an  exposition  which,  at  the  same 
time,  opens  to  us  the  prophetical  meaning  of 
the  whole.  It  is  obvious  that  the  Lord  ad- 
dresses only  the  faithful  in  and  among  the  com- 
munity of  Thyatira.  These,  partly  seduced, 
partly  not  seduced,  thoogli  guilty  of  an  un- 
holy compromise  with  evil,  may  be,  in  relation 
to  the  predominant  corruption,  only  a  very 
small  flock  :  but  they  are,  nevertheless,  and 
they  are  called,  the  Lord's  Church.  Here  we 
should  discern,  and  learn  to  imitate,  the  mild 
judgment  of  him  who  did  not  absolutely  reject 
the  legal  zeal  of  the  Jewish  Christians  who 
believed  on  him,  with  all  its  slow  perception 
of  faith,  and  even  mistrustful  enmity  to  his 
Apostle  Paul  and  the  Gentile  brethren.  If  it  be 
said  that  those  walked  uprightly  according  to 

owledge 

that  the 
i\\Q  sauUs  in  the  finished  CaOwlic  Church  (for 
thither  all  points  in  the  end),  practice  pre- 
eminently worlcs  of  serving  love,  as  must  be  evi- 
dent to  aX  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  put 


*  According  to  Epiphanius,  many  rejected  the 
Apocalypse  on  accoant  of  its  historical  incorect- 
r.ess  in  ll;is  particular.  Bengel  refers  to  the  fact 
that  a  reading,  which  however  is  not  to  be  ap- 
proved omiis,  lHHXt]6iai. 

\  Tliere  is  a  reading  which  brings  these  two  more 
closely  io^eihev-r SiaHoviav  xai  i.7toj.Loy7J.v^ 
wiUiout  the  repeated  aiticle. 


their  best  knowledge  and  ability  in  grace,  W( 
may  also  say  that  the  Christians  in   Thyatira, 


*  Ebrard,  therefore,  is  not  correct :  '•  Men  may 
be  zealous  in  good  works,  and  even  (as  opposed 
to  heaihenism)  in  orthodox  Christian  faith,  and 
nevertheless  have  a  Jezel)el  for  queen  and  prophet- 
ess." J^or  was  this  church  "  worse  th  n  aisy 
other ;"  for  we  find  worse  in  chap.  ill.  1,  2,  and 
again  iiu  15, 16. 


922 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THYATIRA. 


evatiigelical  churehes  to  shame.  Shortly  be- 
fore, and  again  alter  the  Relormalion,  we  see 
the  last  works  more  and  better  than  the  first ; 
faithful  strivings  after  amendment  of  the  head 
and  the  members,  co-existing  with  deficient 
knowledge,  and  a  labor  all  the  more  on  that 
account  zealous.  Many  reformers  before  the 
Relormation — those  especially  who  with  all 
their  endeavors  never  broke  with  Rome,  and 
many  earnest  and  most  honorable  laborers 
aftej-  the  Reformation,  who  would  not  become 
Protestants,  have  their  share  in  this  commen- 
dation. But  we  would  not  reckon  among  the 
last  works  the  testimonies  again^^t  the  Papacy, 
and  make  "  the  Reformation  itself  the  crown 
of  this  period  ;"  for  that  would  be  a  premature 
antici})ation  here  at  the  beginning,  and  in  ver. 
28  we  have  an  intimation  of  that  end  and  the 
reicard  of  the  genuine  and  faithful  of  Thyatira. 
At  first  the  vehement  condemnation  of  the 
predominance  of  the  great  offence  breaks  out. 
Notwithstanding  I  have  against  thee  that 
thou  sufferest  that  woman  Jezehel,  tvhich 
callcth  herself  a  prophetess,  and  teacheth  arul 
seduceth  my  servants  to  commit  fornication, 
and  to  eat  things  sao'ificed  unto  idols.  Here 
we  must  not  introduce  a  reading  which  Lu- 
ther received  and  so  translated — a  few  things, 
or  a  little  thing.  For  Jezebel's  dominion  was, 
as  has  been  observed  already,  more  than 
Balaam's  counsel.  Thou  unfferest  her ;  that  is, 
to  do  what  she  will,  unhindered  and  unpunish- 
ed.* With  all  the  diligent  service  of  their 
benevolent  and  practical  faith,  there  was  yet 
no  practical  and  earnest  contradiction  of  god- 
less power  and  predominant  sin  :  this  was  a 
characteristic  which  we  see  historically  illus- 
trated in  the  later  times  of  the  Church,  and 
which  prevented  Thyatira  from  taking  a  place 
on  a  level  with  apostolical  Ephesus  with  her 
first  love,  and  enduring  Smyrna.  A  modern 
expositor  makes  a  strange  mistake  when  he 
says;  "The  longing  desire  for  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  present  state 
of  things  is  a  sad  but  affecting  aberration  of 
overflowing  love."  0,  no  ;  the  whore  Jezebel  in 
Christendom  seduces  to  open  fornication,  and 
the  sacrifices  of  idols:  she  springs  from  a  very 
different  origin,  even  as  the  typical  Jezebel 
was  the  heathenish  daughter  of  a  king.  Ebrard 
has  correctly  observed  tiiat  (he  typical  expres- 
sions of  the  epistles  are  chosen  in  historical 
progression,  this  being  taken  from  the  time  of 
the  kingdom  of  Israel  ;  and,  moreover,  the 
miserable  period  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel  is  chosen, 
as  opposed  to  the  flourishing  (though  not  ideal, 
as  Ebrard  says)  period  of  David  and  Solomon. 
He  perceives  also  (though  inconsistently,  alter 
his  earlier  assertions  concerning  the  Nicolai- 
tanes)  that  this  ruling  Jezebel  (whose  whore- 
dom and  witchcraft  are  great,  2  Kings  ix.  22) 
could  not  have  been  an  actual  historical  person- 
age in  Thyatira.     How  could  a  woman  have  so 


*  The  form  dq>f.H  has  I  een  defended  by  Ben- 
gel,  as  from  the  lorm  dcpeo).  The  reading  liii  is 
obviously  an  explanatory  gloss.. 


taught  and  .seduced,  and  sudi  doctrfm?  a?  r* 
described  afterwards  in  ver.  24?  We  read, 
indeed,  in  Brandt's  SehuUehnr  Bibel :  "It 
was  the  chief  minister's  own  wife — a  wicked 
hypocrite,  who  donbtloss  deceived  her  own 
husband;"  but  we  regard  it  as  out  of  the 
question,  and  utterly  untenable,  that  the  wife 
of  the  bishop  had  literally  in  Thyatira  setluced 
the  community  to  debauchery,  and  that  the 
bishop,  whose  last  works  were  better  than  the 
first,  had  leniently  tolerated  it.  The  reading 
"  thy  wife/'  which  Luther  retains,  thongh  it  is 
not  in  the  ordinary  text,  is  undoubtedly  cor- 
rect ;*  but  it  does  not  of  itself  mean  the  wife 
of  the  "  angel,"  because  the  thou  of  these 
epistles  does^  not  apply  to  the  representative 
personally,  but  rather  to  the  chnrch  which  was 
represented  by  him.  As  Ahab  formerly  sold 
himself  to  his  wife,  to  do  evil  before  the  Lord 
(1  Kings  xxi.  20,  25,  according  to  the  more 
exact  translation;  compare  Rom.  vii.  14),  so 
here  the  typical  expression  referring  back  to 
him,  runs — I'hou  lettest  tht)  w/'<?rule  ;  that  is, 
thou  art  a  king  Ahab,  actmg  as  he  aete^J.  This 
Jcsete/,  whom  Rieger  not  unaptly  terms  "the 
female  antichrist  of  the  Old  Testament,"  diJ 
not  assume,  if  we  read  her  history  literally,  to 
be  a  prophetess  while  she  was  a  prophet-mur- 
deress;  but  it  is  in  harnaony  with  the  deeper 
interpretation,  that  we  should  regnrd  her  as 
inspired  and  urged  to  her  deeds  by  demoniac  or 
Satanic  influence.  In  the  wider-reaching  mean- 
ing of  this  mystico-propheticiil  parsonage,  we 
shall  scarcely  err  if  we  think  of  the  great  whore- 
of  chap.  xvii.  1,  2,  of  the  spiirions  and  lying 
church  which  cherishes  an  apostate  fellowship 
with  the  powers  of  this  world,  and  thereby 
rules  over  nations  and  kings — the  full  reality 
of  which  must  be  sought  in  a  later  futurity, 
while  its  prelude  has  been  seen  in  the  Papacy, 
but  not  in  that  alone.  For,  why  should  wo 
think  only  of  Rome,  and  not  also  of  the  "  holy 
.-synods"  of  the  "  orthodox  "  church  wliich  for- 
bids all  missions,  and  encourages  the  worship 
o>  saints  and  relics?  Are  there  not  others  that 
might  be  included? 

The  beginning  of  this  abomination  was  al- 
ready indicated  in  Pergamos,  ver.  14  ;  but  now, 
when  it  has  become  a  power  which  shamefully 
veils  its  iniquity  by  the  name  ot  Gcx!  (as  pro- 
phetess), whoredom  comes  first  with  intenser 
expression.  Here,  as  there,  it  is  usetl  both  in 
the  proper  and  in  the  figurative  sense  of  the 
word  ;  for,  where  the  reins  are  gives  to  the  flesb 
in  idolatrous  apostacy,  the  vilest  debauchery 
and  uncleanness  must  be  a  eonaimitant.  Th© 
pretension  to  splendid  sanctity  issues  often  in 
this  miserable  opposite,  as  the  results  of  celib- 
acy, and  monkery  too,  have  too  much  shown^ 
But  the  principal  meaning  is  here  spiritual 
adultery,  of  which  vi?r.  22  especially  sj)eaks. 

All  this  sets  more  and  more  plainly  before 
us  that  interpretation  of  Thyatira  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  which  we  avow  as  our  own. 


*  Bengal  sajs,  without  reason,  "  Vidalur  ess* 
giossaJ' 


REV.  II.  18-29. 


though  without  contending  for  it  here ;  and 
the  nmne  of  this  Lydian  town  might  seem  ex- 
pressly chosen,  under  the  direction  of  Provi- 
dence, to  this  end.  It  signifies  etymolcgically,* 
"  zealous  in  sMcrifices  or  slaughter,"  which  may 
be  taken  both  in  a  good  and  bad  sense  ;  though, 
after  the  analogy  of  Pergamos  and  Laodicea, 
we  might  make  the  bad  sense  alone  prominent. 
First,  the  wicked  sacrifices  which  Jezebel,  per- 
secuting and  slaughtering  the  prophets  and 
witnesses  of  God  (and  this  name  is  sufficient  to 
establish  the  point),  are  surely  no  acceptable 
odor  before  the  Lord  ;  and  similarly  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  mass,  with  all  that  it  presumes 
and  all  its  results,  i.s,  and  must  ever  be,  as  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  rightly  affirms,  an  ac- 
cursed idolatry.  To  unite  with  this  in  one 
common  character  and  name  the  good  v.'orks 
of  pious  service,  which  ver.  19  previously 
praises,  as  if  they  were  merely  "  consecrations  " 
and  "  offerings,"  seems  to  us  altogether  un- 
worthy of  the  prophetical  typology  of  the 
Lord's'  manner  of  speaking  here.  Thus  we  can- 
not agree  witli  the  generally  enlightened  Von 
Meyer,  who  describes  the  church  of  Thyatira 
as  the  sacrificer  generally,  blending  the  good 
and  the  laudable  with  the  superfluous  and  evil. 
He  refutes  himself  afterwards,  when  he  shows 
that  the  word  lying  at  the  root  of  "  Thj'atira" 
was  used  specificallv  of  the  Bacchic  orgies  and 
all  their  frenzy. f  This,  in  its  mildest  interpre- 
tation, would  lead  us  to  no  other  than  enthu- 
siastic fanaticism  and  fanatical  enthusiasm  ;  but 
the  Lord  himself  gives  the  right  name — whorish 
sacrifices  to  idol?.  Thus  it  is  the  pseudo- 
sacrificial  church  ;  as  Pergamos  was  the  false 
tower  and  elevation.  As  even  the  faithful  in 
Pergamos  receive  their  name  from  dwelling 
there,  where  this  falsely  e.xalted  seat  of  Satan 
was,  so  we  need  not  be  astonished  that  simi- 
larly Jezebel,  with  her  shameful  offerings,  must 
give  her  name  to  the  church  held  fast  under 
her  power.  Yet  the  Lord's  justice  distinguishes 
this  church  from  Jezebel  herself;  and  condemns 
her  only  for  this,  that  with  much  otherwise 
praiseworthy,  she  tolerated  Jezebel. 

And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent ;  and  she  tcill 
not  repent  of  her  fornication.  This  is  the  ori- 
ginal, and  not  as  in  our  translation.  The  limit 
assigned  by  forbearance  is  very  distant,  as  his- 
tory has  shown  us  ;  and  in  a  certain  sense  it 
is  not  yet  reached,  though  Sardis  has  been  in 
existence,  and  the  beginning  of  Philadelphia 
has  appeared.  To  Pergamos  it  was  threaten- 
ed, "  i  come  ^quickly  ;  "  but  here,  on  the  con- 
trary, there  is  the  prediction  of  a  long  delay 
of  judgment.;);     But  this   patience — the   Lord 


*  Cer;ainly  from  S-ioi  and  dreiptjg,  inex- 
haustible, unwearying  ;  though  with  considerable 
chanse  of  ilie  torm. 

t  Oteiv,  primarily  equivalent  to  raffing,  heiyig 
inspired,  etc. ;  the  substantive  being  used  in  the 
same  meaning,  and  then  incense,  offering. 

\  For,  xftovoi  is  always  a  relatively  long 
space ;  hence  it_is  equivalent  to  continuance,  or  de- 


says  beforehand — will  by  the  ungodly  be  per- 
verted to  license :  she  only  hardens  herself  in 
consequence,  and  will  persistently  not  repent. 
Is  it  not  as  if  this  was  a  prophecy  of  the 
notorious  consistency  of  the  never  retrogressive 
Papacy,  and  of  all  established  ecclesiastical 
systems  like  her  in  secular  corruption  ?  But 
the  punishment  will  not  fail  in  this  lengthened 
delay;  it  is  already  announced  in  its  preludes. 
"  Behold,  I  cast  her  into  a  bed,  and  those 
that  commit  adultery  with  her  into  great 
tribulation,  except  they  repent  of  her  deeds  ; 
and  her  children  I  will  smite  with  death " 
(litenJly,  in  the  death).  To  Thyatira  and 
Laodicea  only,  the  exhortation — which  is  never 
altogether  wanting — begins  in  connection  with 
a  preliminary  threatening.  Indeed,  for  Jezebel, 
supposed  to  be  impenitent,  and  therefore  not 
exhorted  to  repentance,  the  judgment  here 
spoken  ot  holds  good :  but  not  only  for  her,  for 
them  also  who  by  their  own  fault  and  folly 
have  been  perverted  with  her ;  although  for 
them  it  follows  more  gently — If  they  repent 
not.  The  bed  of  whoredom  shall  be  turned,  as 
the  natural  consequences  of  debauchery  abun- 
dantly typify,  into  a  bed  of  pains  and  plagues, 
into  which  the  Lord  as  Judge  will  cast  them  in 
his  time,  so  certainly  that  it  is  already  spoken 
of  as  in  the  present  time — Behold,  I  cast  them.* 
Job  xxxiii.  19  and  Isa.  xxviii.  20  are  parallel 
for  the  figurative  expression.  The  SchuUehrer- 
hlhel,  which  we  have  already  quoted,  says  here 
most  strangely :  "  The  seducer  was  present 
when  all  this  was  publicly  read  in  the  church, 
and  may  well  have  been  smitten  with  sickness 
on  hearing  it."  Whatever  calamity  may  have 
befallen  the  historical  Thyatir?.,  qg  a  sudden 
judgment,  the  chief  meaning  here  "efers  to  a 
very  different  fulfillment  of  th"  vcrd.  Those 
who  commit  adultery  with  Jezebel — .'lere  mani- 
festly figurative — are  by  no  mec:  3  one  with 
Jezebel  herself,  as  if  this  was  only  the  collec- 
tive name  for  the  guilty.  For,  as  we  have  said, 
the  provision  for  their  repentance,  in  order  to 
the  turning  away  of  the  judgment,  distinguishes 
them  from  the  esisential  evil  power  and  corrup- 
tion itself;  and,  agiiin,  these  adulterers  are  to 
repent  of  her  works,  that  is  of  Jezebel's,  which 
indeed  have  become  their  own.  Once  more, 
not  altogether  the  same  with  themselves  are 
her  chiUiren,  begotten  of  adulterers  and  the 
great  harlot  (so  that  here,  as  in  Isa.  Ivii.  3,  the 
TwAher  is  the  stem) — that  is,  the  brood  of 
Jezebel  growing  up  and  thriving  in  successive 
and  progressive  corruption.  These  become 
naturally  worse  than  their  fathers,  the  first 
adulterers  ;  so  that  again  we  find  to  these, 
without  any  "  if  they  repent  not,"  certain  death 
pre-announced.f     The  righteous  Judge  leaves 


*  The  needlessly  emphatic  eyonjs  spurious; 
nor  is  it  to  be  corrected  into  fiaXc^,  either  here 
or  ver.  24  although  the  epistles  do  every  where 
promise  and  threaten  in  the  tuture,  and  a/To«- 
TEvoo  lollows. 

f  Meyer  understands  actual  child'en,  who 
would  be  hidden  by  death  from  greater  evil ;  but 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THYATIRA. 


nothincf  unpunished  ;  but  measures  out  to  each 
his  judgment  according  to  the  degree  of  guilt. 
In  the  killing  we  are  scarcely  to  think  of  the 
slaughter  of  the  seventy  sons  of  Ahab,  2  Kings 
X.  7  ;  for,  these  were  not  all  the  sons  of  the  one 
mother  Jezebel  (any  more  than  the  seventy 
sons  of  Gideon,  Judg.  ix.  5,  were  the  fruit  of 
one  marriage),  nor  were  they  adulterously  be- 
gotten to  Ahab.  A  comparison  has  been  more 
plausibly  instituted  with  the  vengeance  pre- 
dicted on  children  in  the  Old  Testament,  such 
a.s  Psa.  cxxxvii.  9;  2  Kings  viii.  12;  Isa.  xiii. 
IG;  Nahnm  iii.  10;  though  it  is  merely  the 
strong  expression  of  "killing"  which  has  oc- 
casioned it.  The  words  are  plain  enough,  with- 
out any  such  collation  of  other  passages :  the 
bed  and  the  killing  belong  to  each  other ;  the 
one  illustrates  the  other,  since  the  couch  of 
pain  and  tribulation  ends  with  death  and  de- 
struction, that  is,  for  the  children  as  well  as  for 
the  mother.  As  to  the  fulfillment  of  all  this 
in  the  history  of  the  Church,  we  can  only  say 
that  the  further  into  the  distance  tiie  prophe- 
cies recede,  the  more  difficult  it  is  to  point  to 
the  d(*f:nite  fulfillment  in  facts.  We  agree 
generally  with  Von  Meyer,  who,  without  fore- 
closing whatever  else  the  future  may  bring,  re- 
gards this  threatening  to  Thyatira  as  already 
variously  fulfilled  in  preliminary  judgments, 
both  in  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Church  : 
in  wars  and  divisions,  in  Mohammedan  vic- 
tories, in  afflictions  and  losses  of  every  kind 
which  have  befallen  the  dominant  "Church" 
down  to  our  times.  The  final  bed  of  plagues, 
indeed,  in  which  Jezebel  will  be  monj  closely 
pressed  than  she  has  ever  yet  been,  and  have 
no  longer  the  power  to  stretch  herself  out  and 
turn,  the  future  has  yet  to  bring  :  for  Thyatira, 
alas!  still  continues  ;  the  various  characteris- 
tics of  this  midmost  form  of  the  Church,  as  they 
are  developed  by  time,  run  together  through 
history  more  evidently  than  those  of  any  of  the 
others. 

Very  aptly,  as  a  hint  for  this  interpretation, 
meets  us  the  additional  clause,  here  alone  thus 
enlarged:  And  all  the  churches  shall  knotv 
that  I  am  he  which  searcheth  the  reins  and 
hearts  :  and  I  u'ill  give  unto  every  one  of  you 
according  to  your  ivorks. 

Thyatira  lay  about  the  middle  of  the  typical 
circle  of  the  seven  ;  what  befell  in  her  was 
known  all  round.  So  the  approaching,  and  at 
last  decisive  judgment  upon  the  ecclesiastical 
economy  typified  by  Thyatira,  is  before  the 
eyes  of  all  the  others,  as  it  were,  after  each  ol 
the  seven  forms  of  the  Church.  Therefore  we 
have  the  additional  clause  concerning  the  final 
general  judgment,  of  which  this  will  be  a  tvpe 
and  awtul  warning,  with  the  well-known  Old- 
Testamcnt  formula,  which  recurs  in  chap.  xx. 
12,  13,  xxii.  12— -jfb  every  man  according  to  his 
iDorks.  To  every  man  among  you:  here  the 
address  is  changed,  and  the  view  is  extended 
beyond  the  individual  epistle  to  include  oZZ  the 


this  mixes  up  too  much  the  literal  and  the  flgu- 
rative. 


churches;  ver.  24  returning  again  to  the  par- 
ticular you  for  Thyatira.  According  to  chap 
xix.  1-6,  the  hosts  and  elders  in  heaven  extol 
the  judgments  of  God,  with  the  first  and  only 
"Halleluiah"  of  the  Apocalypse  and  of  the 
New  Testament,*  that  he  had"  condemned  the 
great  whore.  But  in  the  judgment  is  revealed 
the  Searcher  of  hearts  ,  and  Jesus  Christ  will  re- 
veal himself  as  such.  In  the  Old  Testament 
this  sublime  and  penetrating  title  (also  speak- 
ing of  the  reins  and  hearts,  that  is,  the  desires 
and  the  thoughts)  occurs,  of  course,  only  of 
God  :  e.  g.,  Psa.  vii.  10;  Jer.  xi.  20,  xii.  3;  also, 
in  connection  with  the  judgment,  and  just  as 
here,  Jer.  xvii.  10;  Prov.  xxiv.  12.  All  thi 
churches  have  indeed  long  known  that  he  whom 
they  call  the  Lord,  this  Searcher  of  hearts  and 
Judge,  is  one  and  equal  with  the  Father.  They 
have  known  it,  but  have  not  sufficiently  under- 
stood and  remembered  it ;  therefore  the  Lord, 
who  had  named  himself  before,  ver.  IS,  the  Son 
of  God,  significantly  says  here:  "They  shall 
know  that  I  am  he."  This  threatening  of 
judgment  once  more  combines  tenderness  with 
its  severity :  "  I  will  assuredly  look  at  the 
heart,  and  only  according  to  the  heart  estimate 
the  deeds." 

Of  this  he  gives  at  the  same  time  a  proof, 
when  he  graciously  returns  to  the  oppressed 
and  burdened  I'kyutira,  who  can  stand  tlirough 
their  fidelity  to  him,  and  to  the  little  centre 
of  believers  already  praised  in  ver.  19  as  exist- 
ing even  under  the  Jezebel  government. 

But  un'o  you  I  siy,  the  rest  in  T/n/a'ira,  as 
many  as  hare  not  t'lis  doctrine,  and  have  not 
known  the  d^^p'.lis  of  Satan,  as  they  speak:  I 
will  put  upon  you  no  o'ltcr  burden.  The 
reading  and  interpretation  "  unto  you  and 
unto  the  rest"  is  correct;  for  who  could  be 
referred  to  over  and  above  those  who  were  ad- 
dressed ?  The  r-if.t  are  rather  all  who  stand  be- 
fore the  gentlfc  yet  severe  juiigment  of  the 
Lord,  whom  the  "Searcher  of  all  hearts  knows 
to  be  his  own  iu  Thyatira,  and  whom  therefore 
he  thus  terms,  as  in  the  case  of  Sard  is,  also, 
chap.  iii.  2.  The  protesting  minority,  hidden 
for  the  most  part  from  the  eyes  of  men,  was 
the  saved  "  remnant  "  according  to  the  election 
of  grace,  mighty  in  them,  corresiiondint:  to  the 
seven  thousand  of  the  time  of  Elias  (Rom.  xi. 
2-5).  To  these  belong  all,  exactly  numljered 
in  the  Lord's  "  as  many  as,"  who  have  7wt  and 
do  not  hold  that  doctrine  of  ruin  ;  although 
even  they,  as  was  said  before,  too  generally 
tolerate  it,  anil  there  is  no  zealous  prophet 
Elijah  among  them.  And  how  was  that?  Be- 
cause they  have  not  knoicn  that  which  the 
Lord  alone  can  know  as  in  it3  depths  satanic. 
Ebrard  unnaturally  refers  the  clause,  "  as  they 
say,"  to  the  Christians  of  Thyatira  themselves, 
while  he  condemns  the  common  exposition 
("  as  those  who  hold  the  doctrine  call  it  ")  as 
unnatural.  But,  were  that  the  case,  we  should 
certainly  expect,  after  the  address  with  "  but  I 

*  Comi)ave  the  first  time  in  the  Old  Testameut, 
in  Psa.  civ.  85. 


REV.  II.  lS-29. 


eny  unto  yon,"  and  so  much  other  reference  to 
the  persons  spoken  to,  that  the  recognition  of 
their  right  senliment  would  also  be  introduced 
by  a  personal  address,  "  as  ye  rightly  term  it." 
Moreover,  the  entire  character  of  the  church 
of  Thyatira  does  not  prepare  us  to  expect 
among  them  any  such  decisive  testimony 
against  Jezebel.  Assuredly,  these  "  remaining 
ones  "  here,  that  is,  all,  as  many  as  do  not  hold 
this  doctrine,  are  not  entirely  distinguished 
from  that  "  main  bulk  of  the  church  which 
tolerated  Jezebel's  evil  doings  " — they  are  the 
same,  those  which  were  before  commended, 
ver.  19,  though  certainly  the  best  portion  of 
them.  Thus  these  were  not  they  who  "boldly 
condemned  these  doings  as  sata?iic,  and  opposed 
Jer.ebel  as  Eiijaha."  But  we  must  understand 
them  to  be,  as  a  consideration  of  history  will 
ehow,  those  men  (the  sympathizing  high  priest 
calls  them  sei-vants  of  God,  and  in  ver.  20  his 
servants,  embracing  the  seduced  in  common), 
pious  Catholics,  before  and  a.ter  the  Reforma- 
tion, who  nevertheless,  like  even  John  Huss, 
■were  so  blinded  by  Jezebel,  that  they  enter- 
tained no  doubt  of  the  divine  institution  of  the 
Papacy,  but  supposed  rather  that  such  an  in- 
stitute was  necessary  for  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  for  the  preservation  of  apostolical  tra- 
dition, and  for  a  certain  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  Lord,  indeed,  plainly  declares,  that 
■while  they  are  not  seduced  by  this  doctrine,  and 
have'xi  not  in  its  practical  consequences,  do  not 
teach  the  essential  evil  which  was  connected 
with  it,  yet  they  are  at  least  deceived  concern- 
ing it,  since  they  do  not  know  its  evil  ground, 
and  in  spite  of  all  that  obviously  might  have 
taught  them,  have  not  discerned  its  essential  sin. 
They  are  lho.se  who  have  not  been  initiated 
into  the  abysmal  corruption  ;  and  therefore, 
through  this  lack  of  insight,  have  been  pre- 
served and  saved.  In  these  pregnant  words 
the  emphasis  liea  upon  the  "depths:"  this  is 
the  third  and  final  denomination,  after  the 
synagogue  of  Satan  in  Smyrna,  and  the  seat 
of  Satan  in  Pergamos  ;  now  first  is  the  perfect- 
ly perverted  anti-Christianity  arisen  from  these 
depths  as  a  doctrine  and  a  power.  The  expres- 
sion connects  itself  with  manifestations  of  the 
apostolical  age,  in  which  the  mystery  of  ini- 
quity was  already  beginning  in  its  pre-intima- 
tions  to  work  (2  Thess.  ii.  7).  Those  fleshly 
Gnostics  built  their  adulterous  life  upon  high- 
flown  theories  of  a  so-called  Tcnoidedge,  and 
talked  about  "  the  deep  things  of  God,"  which 
the  Spirit  had  revealed  unto  them  (1  Cor.  ii. 
10).  To  us  it  is  by  no  means  unnatural,  in 
the  concise  phrase  which  must  be  understood 
by  the  whole  connection,  that  the  Lord  correct- 
ingly  terms  their  so-called  deep  things  (which 
■word  alone,  as  we  have  said,  is  here  in  ques- 
tion) the  depths  of  Satan  ;  and  thus  refers  the 
clause  "  as  f^f^/ speak  "  only  to  the  former  word 
of  the  two — As  they  babble  in  their  perversion 
concerning  (but  he  will  not  take  into  his  lips 
their  blasphemous  lie)  the  deep  things  "  of 
God."  - 

Suffice  it  that  the  rest  in  Thyatira  have  not, 


on  the  one  hand — and  this  was  sufGcient  for 
their  salvation — known  these  depths,  in  the 
sense  of  the  falsely-vaunted  knowledge  of  the 
prophets  and  instruments  of  Jezebel  ;  while, 
on  the  other,  they  have  not,  in  another  sense, 
understood  and  penetratingly  perceived  that 
they  were  the  depths  of  Satan  and  not  the  deep 
things  of  God.  They  have  indeed,  according 
to  the  degree  of  their  knowledge  and  in  part, 
withstood  the  influx  of  the  evil — so  much"  was 
true  ;  but,  on  that  very  account,  because  they 
regarded  the  error  of  doctrine,  and  the  wicked- 
ness of  life,  as  no  more  than  evil  which  was 
built  upon  a  good  foundation,  and  therefore 
did  not  break  with  the  fundamental  power  and 
the  fundamental  doctrine  itself — they  were 
very  hard  put  to  it  in  such  a  conflict  with 
Jezebel,  and  much  more  heavily  troubled  than 
if  their  opposition  had  been  pure  and  perfect. 
This  their  Lord  knows,  and  therefore  says  to 
them  graciously :  "  I  put  not  upon  you  any  o'.her 
burden.  That  it  is  not  ray  will  to  do — Thus 
do  I  not  (in  the  correct  reading) ;  be  assured 
that  I  do  not  so  deal  with  those  who  are  al- 
ready plagued  and  oppressed."  We  must 
understand  "  no  other  burden  "  (as  if  for  vis- 
itation upon  your  failure  to  know  the  evil 
depths)  "  besides  that  harassing  oppression 
under  which  ye  are  held  by  Jezebel's  power."* 
But  that  which  ye  have,  holdfast  fill  I  come. 
Not  (though  there  is  such  an  exposition  cur- 
rent)— "  The  burden  which  you  have,  and  be- 
sides which  1  will  lay  upon  you  none  other." 
Chap.  iii.  11  teaches  us  how  to  understand  it: 
"  Tiiat  gift  of  grace  which  ye  have  received 
from  me  hold  fast,  and  in  it  abide  faithful." 
The  coming  of  the  Lord  is  not  only  death,  as 
regards  every  individual  (ver.  10)  ;  but,  with 
reference  to  the  whole,  also  the  judicial  coming 
to  judgment  and  separation,  as  spoken  of  in 
ver.  23.  The  Lord  here  speaks  of  that  coming 
with  a  designed  indefiniteness,t  because  gen- 
erally his  judgment  upon  Thyatira  was  being 
variously  accomplished  in  preparatory  displays. 
But  it  is  not  his  design  expressly  to  say  that 
the  duration  of  this  church  would  extend  to 
his  final  coming.  Let  it  be  observed  that  to 
these  "  the  rest,"  not  repentance,  but  holding 
fast,  is  spoken  of.  Thus  there  is  a  three-fold, 
distinction  ;  Jezebel  herself  is  hardened,  and 
will  not  repent,  as  was  already  said  ;  all  who 
commit  adultery  with  her  are  yet,  ver.  22,  ex- 
horted to  repentance;  finally,  this  residue, this 
better    part,  this   small    minority,  needs   not 


*  The  interpretation  found  in  Herder  is  niani- 
fe.'stly  incorrect :  "  I  will  not  upon  you  cast  a 
strange  burden,  not  reckon  to  you  others'  sins." 
This  cannot  be  the  meaning  of  a'AAo  ,•  oomp.  1 
Tim.  V.  22.  Nor  is  ftocpoi  a  commandment  or 
prophetical  utterance,  as  if  the  Lord  used  a 
phraseology  which  was  denounced  in  Jer.  xxiii. 
33-38. 

t  But  the  av  is  not  a  mark  of  indefinitenoss,  as 
has  been  said;  it  is  only  a  strengthenins;  in  con- 
nection with  axpt?  ov  or  'ioDi,  as  oltea  else- 
where ;  see  1  Cor.  xv.  25. 


92ff 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THYATIRA. 


that  exhortation.     With  these  last  is  connect- 
ed the  promise  : 

And  lie  that  overcome'h,  and  Tceepe'h  my 
viorlcs  nn'o  the  end.  to  him  will  I  give  power  over 
the  na'ions.  And  he  shnll  rule  (hem  with  a  rod 
of  iron;  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  he 
brokn  to  shivers ;  even  as  Irpceived  <fmy  Fa- 
ther. And  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star. 
He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  whtt  the 
Spirit  s'lith  unto  the  Churches.  My  works, 
saith  the  Lord,  instead  of  those  works  ol 
darkness  .  "  The  works  which  are  well-pleas- 
ing to  rr.e;  the  works  of  love  and  faith,  of 
service  and  patience,  wrought  through  my 
grace — as  before  said.  That  is  what  ye  must 
have,  and  hold  fast;  these  are  your  works, 
according  to  which  I,  the  Judge,  will  deal 
with  you.  The  power  is  mine;  the  reward 
is,  properly  speaking,  your  benefit:  yet  it  will 
be  the  actual  reward  of  the  faith  which  re- 
ceived, and  of  the  fidelity  which  held  fast  and 
overcame."  Ifow,  the  "  unto  the  end,"  as  re- 
spects the  individuals,  is  the  same  with 
"  unto  death,"  ver.  10.  Because  Thyatira  had 
wrongly  anticipated  the  kingdom  of"  the  Lord, 
and  perverted  it  to  sinful  dominion,  the  reward 
of  those  who  overcome  is  in  opposition  de- 
scribed as  tiie  true  power  over  the  nations,  as 
the  symbolical,  prophetical  word  promised  it 
to  the  Son  of  God,  for  the  antitype  and  fulfill- 
ment of  tiie  kingdom  of  David,  Psa.  ii.  6-9. 
That  which  is  there  the  ictptre  of  the  kingdom, 
is  here  translated  into  staff  ox  rod.  The  saying 
of  the  Psalm  recurs  twice  more,  chap.  xii.  5, 
six.  15,  and  as  here,  according  to  the  ancient 
Greek  version,  "  he  will  pasture  them  with  it," 
although  the  Hebrew  text  speaks  of  breaking 
inj>iece!i,  even  in  the  first  member  of  the  sen- 
tence. The  Hebrew  word  contains  in  its  root 
&  double  allusion,  including  that  of  feeding; 
and  the  translation  which  arose  out  of  that 
fact  may  be  retained  in  order  to  indicate,  in  con- 
formity wilh  the  meaning  here,  that  both  are 
included— as  well  the  final  destroying  judg- 
ment of  wrath  upon  the  evil-doers,  as  the 
victory  of  tlie  power  of  grace  which  opposes  in 
order  to  salvation,  and  thus  brings  into  the 
fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  Both  are  referred 
to  in  the  promise  of  this  passage,  but  especially 
the  ruUmj  which  wins  and  saves,  as  it  is 
abundantly  promised  to  the  partakers  of  the 
first  resurrection,  in  a  final  kingdom  of  the 
Lord  upon  earth,  chap.  xx.  4,  and  finally  in 
chap.  xxii.  5.  Thatwiiich  Psa.  cxlix.  6-9  pre- 
announces  concerning  the  honor  of  God's  saints, 
that  they  shall  rule  and  bind  the  nations, 
means  assuredly,  first  of  all,  as  ver.  6,  rightly 
viewed,  gives  us  to  understand,  the  office  of 
the  word  and  spirit  as  opposed  to  the  unbelief 
of  the  world  ;  although  the  final  judgment  is 
assuredly  not  excluded:  compare  Wisil.  iii.  8 
and  Ecclus.  iv.  16  (more  strictly  translated, 
"  who  shall  judge  the  Gentiles  ")  with  1  Cur. 
vi.  2.  What  the  relation  of  these  promises  is 
to  the  time  of  the  end,  and  before  tlie  end,  we 
can  now  only  forecast  in  a  very  gf^neral  way, 
ivnd  define  only  by  negations.     That  power 


over  the  nations  is  here  held  out  to  those  who 
overcome  as  a  reward,  and  in  contrast  with 
the  false  power  which  had  been  arrogated,  is 
very  plain.  But  we  cannot  see  that  there  is  in 
it  a  special  severity  and  keenness,  in  conformitji 
with  the  strain  of  the  whole  epistle  :  for,  first, 
the  epistle  is  full  of  gracious  encouragement  to 
the  believers ;  and,  secondly,  the  promised 
power  is  by  no  means  intended  merely  of  de- 
stroyingjudgment.  Herder,  therefore,  commits 
a  two-!old  mistake,  when  he  says  that  "  even 
the  reward  in  that  world  is  in  harmony  with 
this  character,  quite  in  the  spirit  of  Elias, 
rigorous  and  destructive."  For,  oi  thai  world, 
in  which  there  will  be  nothing  to  destroy, 
nothing  is  here  said  ;  and,  moreover,  our  Lord 
obviates  all  such  misunderstanding  of  the  de- 
structive power,  by  the  additional  clause, 
"  Even  as  I  have  received  of  my  Father."  That 
is  not  merely  a  formula  of  citation,  referring  to 
the  second  Psalm ;  but  it  is  a  prelude  of  the 
promise  in  the  final  epistle,  chap.  iii.  21.  The 
as  has  the  same  protbund  meaning  which  it 
had  when  the  Lord  in  his  humiliation  first 
used  it,  Luke  xxii.  29. 

But  what  is  the  morning  star?  Pious  read- 
ers of  a  certain  kind  pass  over  this  with  devout 
feelings,  as  something  undefined,  and  form  no 
clear  impression  of  it  in  their  minds;  but  the  ex- 
positor must  look  at  it  more  carefully,  according 
to  his  best  ability.  It  is  dispatching  it  too  easily 
to  compare  chap.  xxii.  16,  and  say  that  this  con- 
cluding word  only  sums  up  the  whole  promise 
from  ver.  26  onwards:  "  I  will  thus  give  myitei/ 
to  him  as  the  true  ruler  and  king."  For,  Christ 
is  not  called,  as  a  ruler,  the  bright  morning 
star;  and,  moreover,  the  phraseology  would  be 
strange  and  unexampled  ;  "  I  will  give  myself 
to  him,"  and  as  the  "  morning  star,"  meaning 
again  only  "  My  power,  the  true  Christocracy." 
We  think  that  the  "  morning  star  "  to  be  given 
is  something  different  from  the  Lord  himself 
so  termed,  although  there  is  naturally  a  con- 
nection between  the  two.  But  must  we  ad- 
duce 2  Pet.  i.  19,  and  refer  it  only  to  the  rising 
of  light  in  the  heart?*  This  again  is  saying 
too  httle ;  it  goes  back  inappropriately  to  the 
beginnings,  whereas  this  concluding  promise, 
like  all  the  rest,  manifestly  stretches  forward 
to  a  mysterious  future.  In  a  general  way,  it 
would  be  sufficient  to  interpret:  "He  "that 
overcometh  shall  be  present  at  the  first  en- 
trance and  dawn  of  my  true  kingdom  over  the 
nations,  and  share  it  with  me."  But  this  has 
not  enough  personal  appropriation  of  the  pro- 
mise; it  is  not  sufiaciently  concrete.  I  will 
give  him — must  have  the  same  meaning  as  in 
the  similar  lormulas,  vers.  7,  10, 17.  We  think 
that  the  truth  of  this  undoubtedly  peculiar  ex- 
pression lies  in  the  middle  between  the  future 
and  the  mere  preparation  for  it,  as  the  morning 
Atar  points  to  such  an  intermediate  position: 
not  yet  the  day  itself,  but  the  messenger  pre- 
ceding and  pre-announcing  it.     Thus,  ttie  over- 


*  Zinzendorf  translates,  without   furlhor   ado, 
I  will  give  him  in  hn  heart  the  morning  aiar." 


REV.  11.  18-29. 


927 


comer,  under  the  burden  and  darkness  of 
Tbyatira,  receives  actually  already  in  his  heart 
the  prospect  and  commencing  pledge  of  the 
light  which  will  rise  :  this  is  included,  but  it  is 
not  all  t'le  meaning.  He  has  not.  merely  "  the 
living  hope  and  assurance  of  final  victory  "  (as 
Von  Geriach  says);  but  is  really  a  participa- 
tor and  receiver  of  a  beginning  of  the  king- 
dom, of  that  victory  of  the  true  Shepherd  and 
King  over  the  nations,  which  was  future  to 
Thyatira,  and  would  come  in  the  end.  And 
what  is  that  itself?  Assuredly  the  millennial 
kingdom,  to  which,  in  a  certain  sense,  all  these 
promises  point ;  but  before  that  full  fulfillment, 
it  is  also  a  specific  prelude  of  it,  which  is 
parallel  with  the  previously  threatened  judg- 
ment upon  Sardis,  as  the  other  side  of  that 
coming  of  the  Lord.  Thus,  to  speak  plainly  out, 
the  so-called  reformation  of  the  Church  is 
signified  by  the  promised  morning  star,  so  far 
as  regards  the  jfirst  fulfillment;  but  this  as- 
suredly 0.1  ly  as  the  type  and  earnest  of  an- 
other much  moreglorious  victory  of  li^ht.  If,  as 
we  shall  be  contrained  (though  to  the  offence 
of  some)  to  admit,  Sirdis  is  the  church  suc- 
ceeding the  commencement  of  the  Reformation, 
which  brought  in  no  "Philadelphia"  (that  is, 
biotherly  love),  but  fell  again  almost  into 
death  with  its  cold  orthodoxy,  bearing  the 
name  of  new  life  and  ])urified  doctrine;  and  if, 
therefore,  the  work  of  the  Reformation  itself, 
which  formed  so  wonderful  an  epoch,  would 
otherwise  be  altogether  unmentioned,  which 
we  cannot  imagine — it  will  appear  strikingly 
harmonious  that  we  should  read  here,  by  way 
of  close  and  transition  at  least,  of  a  morning 
star  of  new  light  and  life  rising  upon  the  faith- 
ful of  Thyatira,  as  a  victory  of  the  sceptre  of 
Christ  over  the  power  of  the  ruling  harlot.  So 
far  we  agree  generally  with  Von  Meyer,  whose 
altogether  different  interpretation  of  Sardis  we 
cannot  accept:  "The  true  evangelical  illumi- 
nation which  broke  out  every  where  about  the 
time  of  the  Reformation,  the  first  new  enlight- 
enment was  the  reward  of  the  heroes  of  faith 
in  Thyatira,  who  after  the  midnight  of  super- 
stition received  the  light  of  Christ,  and  ex.-r- 
cised  with  him  the  office  of  the  morning  t^tar 
which  heralds  the  day."  Did  not  Luther  him- 
self go  forth  from  Thyatira  as  one  who  broke 
through  and  overcame  under  the  pressure  of 
her  power  and  might?  Sander  expresses  this 
even  more  strongly  than  we  should  be  inclined 
to  do  :  "  Among  these  overcomers,  to  whom  the 
iron  sceptre  and  the  morning  star  were  given, 
the  reformers  in  common  are  not  to  be  mis- 
taken."* Certainly  it  is  here  first,  at  the  close 
and  not  already  in  the  midst  of  the  period  of 
Thyatira,  that  we  find  the  true  "  Elijahs." 
The  reader  must  now  adjust  for  himself  the 
things  which  we  have  given  as  no  more  than 
forecasting,  in  a  domain  where  strict  exposition 
must   needs  be  at  fault.     If  he  cannot  agree 


with  us.  let  him  find  something  better,  which 
will  fairly  and  fully  coir-;spond  with  the  well- 
weighed  letter  and  the  connection  of  the  pro- 
phetical word. 

And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis 
write:  These  things  saith  he  that  hath  the 
Seven  Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven  stars  ;  I 
Icnow  thg  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that 
thou  livest,  and  art  dead.  The  epistle  on 
which  we  now  enter  presents  a  great  diffi- 
culty, both  for  exposition  and  application. 
With  reverent  awe  of  the  Spirit's  word  in 
the  lips  of  .Jesus,  which  so  wonderfully  yields 
its  own  self-demonstration,  we  proceed  to 
give  the  best  interpretation  we  can  :  it  will 
be  our  object  to  avoid  as  much  a?  possible  all 
imposition  of  our  own  meaning,  while  shrink- 
ing not  from  the  expression  of  what  seems  to 
us  the  truth.  We  have  hitherto  found  a  chro- 
nological progression  of  predominant  reference 
to  successive  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
Church — successive,  though  in  a  sense  running 
into  each  other;  this  we  must  still  hold  fast, 
unless  the  sense  of  the  words  absolutely  disal- 
low it.  We  have  also  found,  with  tolerable 
certainty,  a  prophetical  significance  even  in 
the  names  of  these  churches;  and  tliis  will  be 
still  more  plainly  seen  in  the  last  two.  Is 
Sardis  to  be  the  sole  exception  ?  It  is  indeed 
the  name  most  etymologioally  obscure  of  all, 
inasmuch  as  the  Greek  language  affords  no 
derivation.  The  Oriental  tongues  have  (since 
Vitringa)  been  resorted  to  for  help;  and  the 
first  meaning  given  is  "  the  rest  "* — which  will, 
as  we  shall  see,  suit  well  enough.  But  later 
learning  has  traced  the  name  of  the  ancient 
metropolis  of  Lydia  (once  the  rich  residence 
of  Croesus,  now  existing  only  in  a  miserable 
village)  to  a  Lydian  root :  and,  moreover,  re- 
fer to  it  the  mysterious  Shepherd  in  Obadiah 
(ver.  20),  as  meaning  the  same  Sardis,  proper- 
ly "  Sevarda  "  or  "Separda."  With  this  last 
we  do  not  agree,  thinking  "  Sparta "  rather 
probable  in  Obadiah  ;t  but  the  Sanscrit  deri- 
vation of  the  Lydian  name  will  stand — it  be- 
ing equivalent  to  "neio,  new-born  with  the 
year,  renewed."  Thus  much  appears  to  us 
clear  at  the  outset :  Thyatira  passes  over  into 
Sardis,  and  that  which  in  the  former  was  "  the 
rest,"  becomes  in  the  latter  a  "  new  "  form  and 
constitution,  under  another  name  and  charac- 
ter. Not  as  if  "  the  rest"  of  ver.  2  stood  in 
connection  with  these  (for  there  the  meaning 
is  quite  different)  ;  but  the  residue  of  Thyatira, 
rewarded  with  the  morning  star  of  a  new  light 
and  life,  form  the  transition  to  the  new,  whose 
subsequent  and  speedy  declension  is  condemn- 
ed in  Sardis.  Accordingly  we  should  find  a 
consistent  meaning  for  both  interpretations  of 
the  name  at  once ;  but,  declining  this  double 


*  He  afterwards  incorrectty  interprets  the  morn- 
ing star  to  hejhe  word  of  God — which  would,  ac- 
cording to  his  view,  better  suit  the  sceptre. 


*1>-)b'  frequently  in  the  Old  TesLamenl :  those 
who  have  escaped  in  battle,  the  residue  after 
fight,  like  I3'i53. 

+  See  Delltzsch  in  Taidelbach's  Zcitschrift,  1851, 
i.  100. 


'SSS 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  SARDIS. 


meaning,  we  accept  the  definition  of  a  new 
form  of  the  Church,  as  being  etymologically 
the  more  sure,  and  better  con-esponding  with 
facts. 

Ebrard  thinks  it  maybe  observed, that  after 
this  filth  epistle  there  is  no  longer  any  histori- 
cal progression  in  the  prophetical  interpreta- 
tion; but  that  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  Laodicea, 
are  to  be  sought  collectively  in  connection  tcith 
the  abiding  Thyatira.  This  much  only  is  true, 
that  Loneraliy  the  several  characteristics  of 
the  churches  are  not  rigidly  defined  in  strict 
succession  only;  but  that  those  which  follow 
are  prepared  lor  in  those  which  precede,  while 
those  which  precede  continue  on  in  those 
which  follow.  So  also  Von  Meyer,  with  the 
same  fundamental  view,  strangely  calls  Sardis 
and  Philadelphia  the  two  daughters,  and  Lao- 
dicea the  grand-daughter,  of  Thyatira;  but 
we  regard  all  this  as  disturbing  the  clearness 
and  simplicity  of  the  prophecy.  Is  Sardis, 
then,  according  to  this  notion,  "  the  Catholic, 
especially  the  komish,  church  after  the  time 
of  the  Peformation  ?  "  In  that  case  we  cannot 
fee  the  distinction  from  Thyatira,  since  the 
Heformation  did  not  give  a  different  character 
to  the  church  which  rejected  it ;  nor  can  we 
understand  how  the  Relormed  church  is  to  be 
first  introduced  under  the  name  of  Philadel- 
phia. All  things  concur  to  lead  us  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  Sardis,  with  her  new  name,  to 
which,  nevertheless,  the  reality  does  not  cor- 
respond, with  her  declension  from  a  first  re- 
ceiving and  hearing  ("ver.  3),  must  mean  pre- 
eminently the  church  which  arose  from  the 
work  of  the  Reformation.  Some  commenta- 
tors (lollowing  a  very  doubtful  derivation  of 
the  name  Sardis)  understand  the  various  resi- 
dues of  the  old  churches,  the  Greek,  Armenian, 
Coptic,  Maronite,  Abyssinian,  etc.,  which  were 
all  dead;  while  they  hold  that  the  interpre- 
tation, or  the  restriction,  which  refers  the 
whole  to  the  "  evangelical  church,"  to  be  in- 
correct and  unhistoncal.  But  we  think  that, 
without  excluding  these  side-glances,  the  suc- 
cession of  the  seven  epistles  adheres  to  the 
main  line  of  history  ;  and  to  us  it  seems  high- 
ly artificial  to  refer  the  plural  form  "  Sardes  " 
to  manifold  residues,  instead  of  giving  to  this, 
as  to  every  other  church,  its  distinctive  char- 
acter. The  historical  interpretation  must,  of 
course,  be  in  harmony  with  real  history  ;  but 
then  we  reasonably  ask,  Where  is  the  "evan- 
gelical" church  not  long  after  the  Reforma- 
tion ?  Alas  I  that  we  could  find  it  and  see  it ! 
Was  the  old  Catholic  church  actually  at  that 
time,  otherwise  than  before,  dead  and  dried  to 
"a  mummy?"  Does  not  impartial  history 
bear  witness,  alas  !  that  that  actually  befell  the 
church  which  the  reformers  raised  up,  which 
was  called  a  new  and  living  church,  but  was 
not  in  reality  such  ?  In  one  of  the  seven  we 
must  find  iUis  church,  on  account  of  ht  r  his- 
torical importance:  where,  then,  shall  we  find 
her,  if  not  in  Sardis  after  Thyatira?  We  can- 
not see  her  true  image  in  J^hiladelfihia  ;  for  we 
ask,  Whtre  is  then  the  open  door  for  the  little 


strength?  (ver.  8).  Apart  from  missions  to 
the  heathen — to  which,  however,  that  points 
— was  not  rather  the  door  shut  again  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  and  the  peace  of  Westpha- 
lia? Did  not  the  first,  preliminary  hour  of 
temptation  (ver.  10)  miserably  overpower  her, 
so  that  she  fell  into  rationalism?  When  \Ye 
read  the  epistle  to  Sardis,  without  any  refer- 
ence to  its  prophetic  interpretation,  we  see 
that  the  lineaments  of  its  character  lament- 
ably but  faithfully  suit  that  church  which 
bore  the  name  of  being  new,  of  being  restored 
to  new  life.  It  is  not  external  persecution 
that  is  spoken  of,  nor  internal  heresy.  "  She 
glories  in  being  alive,  but  is  dead  ;  because  the 
truth,  which  she  once  embraced  with  subject- 
ive heartfelt  zeal,  is  now  regarded  only  as  an 
objective  treasure  for  the  head ;  because  an 
awakened  Christianity  is  wanting  in  her,  she 
makes  only  masses  of  Christians."  These  are 
the  pregnant  words  of  the  thoughtful  Ebrard, 
the  application  of  which  he  shrinks  from  ex- 
pressing. We  will  also  let  some  others  speak 
who  have  expounded  this  before  us.  Father 
Von  Brunn,  "the  old  servant  who  waited  for 
his  Lord,"  though  not  furnished  with  much 
penetration  or  thorough  knowledge,  could  not 
avoid  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  "  Sardis  is 
the  type  of  the  purified  Western  church  after 
the  Reformation,"  though  he  exaggerates  the 
condemnation  of  her  beginning  and  origin. 
Sander  wrote  thirty  years  ago:  "This  church 
represents  to  us  a  time  when  a  dead  oriTwdoxy 
restrained  and  bound  the  fresh  life  of  the  evan- 
gelical churches — when  the  spirit  was  oppress- 
ed by  forms — when  scholasticism  lifted  its 
head  again,  and  fettered  the  living  word  of 
God — when  life  and  doctrine  were  severed, 
and  men  were  satisfied  with  a  dead  knowledge 
of  the  truths  of  salvation  ;  the  Church  was 
during  this  period,  from  the  end  of  the  six- 
teeenlh  till  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  a  Sardis — men  were  proud  of  their 
soundness  of  faith,  and  took  refuge  in  their 
good  works,  their  sacraments  and  church- 
going,  and  ielt  not  the  ban  which  burdened 
the  churches,  and  the  judgments  which  were 
at  the  door."  Finally,  even  Brandt,  who 
deals  so  strangely  with  the  seven  epistles  gen- 
erally, makes  almost  the  same  observations  in 
his  comment  upon  Sardis. 

After  this  anticipating  introduction — neces- 
sary in  order  to  show  the  transition  from  Thya- 
tira to  Sardis,  where  otherwise  there  might  ap- 
pear to  be  a  sudden  spring  to  an  unconnected 
new  beginning — we  shall  perhaps  be  able  better 
to  understand  the  details  of  what  is  here  spoken. 
That  the  Lord  describes  himself  here,  as  in  chap, 
ii.  1,  as  holding  all  the  seven  stars,  corresponds 
entirely  with  the  critical  period  of  this  new  be- 
ginning of  the  Church.  But,  instead  of  tho 
seven  candlcsticTcs,  he  now  mentions  the  light 
and  life  itself  which  was  typified  in  them  and 
imparted  to  them  ;  Jn  order,  as  it  were,  to  say 
that  this  did  not  res'ult  from  the  mere  "  frame" 
of  the  candlesticks.  Spirit  is  hie ;  therefore, 
"  he  that  haLli  the  Spirit,  that  is,  the  Living 


EEV.  III.  1-6 


929 


One  with  whom  is  all  spirit  and  life,  and  "who 
therefore  liath  no  pleasure  in  those  who  have 
the  name  to  live  and  yet  are  dead."  It  is  not 
so  much  in  Isa.  xi.  2  that  we  find  ihe  seven 
Spirits  of  God*  (of  which  John  also  in  Eev.  i.  4 
and  ver.  6  speaks),  as  in  Zech.  iv.  2,  10,  iii.  9, 
where  they  correspond  to  the  seven-branched 
candlestick  as  the  seven  all-penetrating  eyes  of 
the  Lord.  These  seven  "living  Spirits"  are  a 
typical  expression  for  the  reality  of  the  mani- 
fold influences  of  the  one  Holy  Spirit.  The 
glorified  Lord  of  glory  will  not  go  back,  as  it 
were,  to  the  position  of  his  humble  humanity, 
and  say,  "  I  am  ho  who  was  anointed  most 
fully  with  the  Holy  Spirit;"  but  when  he 
terms  himself  the  possessor  of  the  seven  Spirits 
before  the  throne  of  God,  he  thereby  testifies  his 
essential  divinity,  just  as  in  chap.  ii.  IS  for 
Thyatira.  But  here  Sardis  is  referred  to  the 
variety  of  the  churches  which  in  the  Lord's  pres- 
ence are  regarded  as  a  unity,  because  she,  in 
her  presumption,  misunderstood  that  truth ; 
even  as  to  Lphesus  the  variety  was  rather  re- 
garded as  a  unity.  The  Lutheran  church  es- 
pecially, the  most  expressly  developed  stem  and 
stock  of  the  evangelical,  needs  to  be  reminded 
that  every  candlestick  receives  its  specific  light 
only  from  the  entire  unity  and  fulness  of  the 
divine  gifts  of  the  Spirit. 

I  know  thy  works.  Thus  stands  here  also  at 
the  outset  the  unaltered  formula  of  the  judicial 
sentence  (as  again  in  vers.  8  and  15),  although 
the  condemnation  proceeds  that  the  true  and 
perfect  works  are  not  found  among  them.  "  I 
know  how  it  is  with  thy  works ;  that  is,  thou 
hast  the  name  that  thou  livest,  and  &xidead."^ 
Judgment  could  scarcely  be  uttered  more  keenly 
and  decisively  upon  any  church  than  this.  It 
is  literally  still  more  rejecting  than  the  "  luhe- 
warm"  of  Laodicea;  but  it  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood in  its  most  literal  severity,  as  we  learn 
from  vers.  2  and  4.  What  remained  was  not 
yet  dead,  and  there  were  some  among  them  un- 
defiled ;  yet  the  Faithful  One  speaks  thus  keenly 
and  zealously,  we  might  say  thus  extremely,  at 
the  beginning,  in  order  to  awaken  by  such 
words  of  fear  those  who  were  almost  dead.  We 
are  taught  every  where  by  the  language  of  these 
epistles  to  interpret  their  expressions  according 
to  their  relative  power  and  significance,  without 
unduly  pressing  the  letter.  As  people  are 
found,  and  the  words  suit  them,  they  are  ad- 
dressed: thus  did  the  Lord  address  them  when 
upon  earth,  and  thus  he  still  addresses  them 
from  heaven.  Sardis  has  the  name — or  a  name, 
which  is  equivalent! — that  she  lives;  but  the 
Lord  tells  her  that  she  is  dead:  this  language 
has  almost  as  condemnatory  a  tone  as  chap.  li. 
9  concerning  the  Jews  who  were  not  Jews  ;  and 
may,  according  to  the  analogy  of  Rom.  li.  17, 


*  Yet  even  there  the  seven-number  is  not  acci- 
dental. 

f  The  first  Zrt  is  not  for,  but  dependent  e::plan- 
atorily  upon  oida. 

X  The  article  before  ovojj.a  is  not  in  the  cor- 
recu  i(kxt. 


etc.,  be  interpreted  of  the  so-called  church  of 
the  simple  word  and  pure  doctrine.  False  doc- 
trine is  not  objected  to  her;  the  name  has  con- 
sequently a  half-true  ground:  all  the  worse  is 
it,  that  that  name  should  be  made  the  occasion 
of  vain-glorying  in  opposition  to  the  truth  of 
life.  The  parallel  which  has  been  sought  in 
Paul's  words,  1  Tim.  v.  6,*  concerning  an  in- 
dividual person,  is  something  different;  for 
here,  amid  predominant  death,  the  collectivs 
whole  approaching  a  condition  of  death,  there  is 
yet  remaining  a  germ  of  life  Avhich  may  be 
awakened.  But  it  is  with  sufficient  earnest- 
ness declared  to  us  "Protestants,"  glorying  as 
such  in  opposition  to  the  Ptomish  church,  that 
life  and  a  living  Christendom  is  no  mere  name, 
not  any  thing  that  may  be  borne  in  the  mouth, 
and  assuredly  not  matter  of  vain  self-glorying. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  exhortation,  based 
upon  the  name  which  we  bear,  has  ever  been, 
and  will  always  be,  a  very  piercing  and  con- 
vincing exhortation.  The  beautiful  name  of 
li!e,  which  is  here  held  up  in  condemnation,  is 
indeed  not  the  ambiguous  appellation  "  Pro- 
testant," in  use  against  Rationalism  as  well  as 
fanaticism  in  its  two  extremes ;  but  the  name, 
pre-supposed  with  a  secret  hint  which  the  course 
of  history  will  solve,  of  the  new  and  renewed, 
the  pure  and  the  purified.  Church,  the  Church 
of  the  pure  word  and  uncorrupt  faith. 

Oh  that  it  had  been  in  all  from  the  beginning 
the  uncorrupt /aiiVA,  or  that  it  had  remained  so. 
It  is  deeply  humbling  for  the  history  of  our 
Church  and  Reformation,  that  the  Lord  does 
not  say  for  Sardis  one  word  about  the  great 
conjlict,  which  yei^first  was  carried  on  sincerely 
and  not  without  victory  in  his  might:  he  says 
not  here,  as  elsewhere,  any  thing  about  foye  and 
patience;  yea,  he  does  not  expressly  mention 
(nor  did  he,  indeed,  to  Ephesus)  faith,  the 
great  critical  v/ord  of  the  Reformation,  in  the 
urging  of  which  the  Reformation  was  sound. 
And  wherefore?  Because  he  has  not  in  view, 
and  does  not  address  his  epistle  to,  that  first 
outset  of  a  revivification  of  Ctiristendom,  v/hich, 
while  it  was  not  unworthy  of  praise,  did  not 
need  to  be  praised ;  but  the  church  which 
sprang  from  it,  and  which  both  deserved  and 
needed  blame.  We  hear,  however,  in  the  fol- 
lowing condescending  words,  that  he  does  not 
reject  or  cast  away  this  church,  any  more  than 
any  of  the  others  ;  but  that  he  so  severely  ad- 
dresses her  on  account  of  her  high  vocation  and 
name. 

Be  tvatchfal,  and  strengthen  the  things  tvhich 
remain,  that  are  readij  to  die:  for  I  have  not 
found  thy  worlcs  perfect  before  God.  IS'ot 
simply,  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  rise 
up  from  death ;  nor,  as  Luther's  translation 
might  be  misunderstood,  Be  from  this  time 
more  watchful  than  hitherto;  but.  Become 
watchful.  Become  what  befits  thy  name,  a 
watcher,  a  truly  awakened  church,  lifting  up 

•  Zc26a  rsOvT/HS  is  dead  in  connection  witli  a 
living  body,  and  more  rigorously  exclusive  than 
the  only  seemingly  equivalent  vsxpoi,  dead. 


^imo 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  SARDIS. 


aloud  the  awal^ening  voice  of  the  word  of  God. 
The  morning  star  hath  called  thee  unto  life — 
arise,  then,  and  become  light.  Thou  wast,  and 
wouldsL  be,  a  watchman  who  should  herald  my 
dawn — alas !  thou  thyself  art  not  enough 
awake  !  This  word  of  the  Lord  to  Sardis  is  the 
voice  of  (lie  true  "  Watchman  of  Zion  ;  "  and  it 
gives  us  the  legitimate  superscription  of  that 
chapter  in  the  history  of  his  Church  which  we 
call  the  reformation  history:  there  was  to  the 
waiting  Christians  of  Thyatira  a  breaking 
morning,  though  the  day  as  yet  was  wanting. 
It  was  a  wakening,  but  not  to  full  wakeful- 
ness ;  sleep  soon  lollowed  again.  What  is  it 
that  the  evangelical  Church  lacks  for  the  con- 
summation of  her  good  beginning  ?  A  wakening 
and  watchfubiess,  the  internal  spiritual  life  of 
her  people,  who  have  received  and  admitted 
the  pure  doctrine.  AVho  is  there  that  will  or 
that  can  deny  this?  Who  dares  challenge 
with  incorrectness  this  application  to  our  Sar- 
dis ?  To  Peter,  who  denied  him,  the  Lord  once 
said  upon  earth,  "  When  thou  art  converted, 
itrengtken  thy  brethren."  To  the  church,  which 
conftsscs  him,  he  now  speaks  from  heaven  the 
same  word  ;  "  When,  thou,  by  repentance,  hast 
risen  from  thy  weakness,  yea  rather  art  become 
truly  alive,  watchful,  and  strong,  then  strength- 
en the  remainder,  which  with  thy  confession  has 
scarcely  received  lif«,  and  in  thy  continued  con- 
fession has  drawn  near  to  utter  death  !  "  We 
see  and  learn  that  the  mere  confession  even  of 
bis  name  is  not  enough  ;  it  is  not  pure  doctrine 
that  avails,  but  the  living  life.  The  remainder 
— this  word  may  indeed  allude  to  chap.  ii.  24  ; 
but  by  way  of  contrast — we  might  almost  say 
ironical  contrast.  In  Thyatira  there  was  a 
little  residue  of  faithful  ones,  out  of  whom  the 
new  confessors  arose;  here,  on  the  contrary, 
there  is  an  inert,  dead  mass  and  majority,  which 
is  called,  in  opposition  to  the  addressed  and 
awakened  kernel  of  the  Church,  and  for  its 
rulers  and  guides,  the  rest — aud  in  the  neuter, 
just  as  a  mass,  which  is  without  personal  life 
in  the  individuals.  "  Which  tcould die"  (so  in 
the  original) :  that  is,  was  in  the  act  of  dying, 
over  which  death  impended,  and  which  will  al- 
together die  «n/ess  thou  watchest  and  strength- 
enest  it.  Here  we  are  told,  on  decisive  author- 
ity, what  was  the  need,  and  what  the  neglect, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  reformation ; 
what  the  only  means  of  invigoration  and  life 
for  the  dead  communities  over  which  we 
mourn.  It  is  the  special  cure  of  souls,  which 
our  fanatical  young  Lutheranism  declares  to  be 
needless.*  Isot  the  people  into  the  Church, 
but  the  Church  into  the  people.  JZome  mis- 
tions,  rightly  understood,  and  rightly  conduct- 
ed.!    More  correctly,  and  more  conformably  to 


*  One.  Potel  in  Gnadau  savs :  "  A  particular 
cure  of  souls  does  not  exist,  ottier  than  the  true 
administration  of  tlie  office  of  the  keys  "  {Ei'attg. 
Kucluuzcitung ,  1857,  No.  85). 

+  "  Which  are  taking  the  place  of  the  Lutheran 
ruitng  ojjicea  " — laments  the  same  Potel, 


Scripture  and  fact — The  right  constitution  of 
our  churches,  the  pastoral  and  diaconate  min- 
istries in,  and  in  connection  with  the  office  of 
the  word.  Exhortation,  edification,  and  com- 
fort of  souls  ;  governing  them  not  by  ecclesias- 
tical police,  but  by  true  spiritual  discipline. 
These  are  the  things  which  are  wanting,  and 
they  alone  will  repair  the  mischief  which  tha 
Lord  here  rebukes,  not  without  a  glance  back 
to  the  reproof  in  Ezekiel  :  "The  diseased  havo 
ye  not  strengthened,  neither  have  ye  healed 
that  which  was  sick,  neither  have  ye  bound  up 
that  which  was  broken,  neither  have  ye  brought 
again  that  which  was  driven  away,  neither 
have  ye  sought  that  which  was  lost ;  but  with 
force  and  with  cruelty  have  ye  ruled  them  " 
(Ezek.  xxxiv.  4,  where  in  ver.  16  the  promiso 
follows— I  myself  will  do  it). 

Luther,  when  urged  to  establish  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline  and   the  pastoral  cure  of  souls, 
said,  I  have  not  the  men  fit  for  it;  and  thia 
littleness  of  faith  in  the  strong  believer  has 
wrought  very  great  mischief.   Printarily  of  this 
fundamental    deficiency    in  onr    ecclesiastical 
constitution  as  Lutherans,  and  at  the  same  tima 
of  others  in  the  Reformed,  the  Lord's  judgment; 
speaks — I   have   not  found   thy  irirks  perfect. 
The  works  are  rightly  objected  to  the  Church 
of  faith ;  for  it  is  through  no  other  than  a  want 
of  faith  that  the  works,  weighed  in  the  balance 
of  the  sanctuary,  are  found  too  light  and  not 
complete.     What  was  the  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tion  established  by  the   Reformation    but  a 
foundation,  and  an  imperfect  one,  a  work  not 
thoroughly  carried  out.     It  is  not  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  foolish  notions,  now  prevalent,  wo 
are  wanting  in  a  Romanist  ecclesiastical  autlior- 
ity,  and    in    an   enforced    hypocritical   unity, 
in  the  ofReial  prerogative  of  a  vain -glorious 
church  system  ;  what  we  have  lacked  from  the 
beginning,  is  the  prosecution  to  its  full  issue 
of  preaching,  for  the  conversion  and  religious 
life  of  a  Christian   people.     The  nearness  to 
death  of  this  most  abundant  residue  should 
teach  tis,  who  by  the  Lord  are  held  responsible, 
to  mark  our  own  supineness   and  neglect,  in 
order  that  we  may  arouse  ourselves  in  alarm, 
instead  of  indulging  in  vain-gloryings.     How 
can  we  make  the  works  perfect,  how  can  this 
residue  be  strengthened,  but  by  ourselves  being 
invigorated  in  the  might  of  the   Lord?     He 
who  utters  with  /  his  decisive  judgment — "  I 
have  not  found  perfect " — condescendingly  adds 
for  confirmation,  as  if  we  would  not  receive  it 
from  himself,  before  my  God.     As  all  things  are 
before  God,  they  are  in  their  reality  before  him. 
In  chap.  ii.  4  it  was  said,  "In  the  Paradise  of 
my  God   (ver.  liS,  of  ray  Father,  and  so  in 
chap.  iii.  5  ;  compare,  further,  ver.  12  with  ver. 
21).     It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  Revelation 
of  John  the  Lord  speaks  several  times  of  his 
God  (as  Paul  often  speaks  of  the  God  and  Fa- 
ther of  Christ),  pointing  back  to  the  first  words 
of  the  Risen  Jesus  in  John  xx.  17 ;  for  now,  tes- 
tifying from  heaven,  he  will  avow  himself  to  ue 
properly  and  perfectly  in  all  things  the  glorified 
Uod-man. 


REV.  III.  1-6. 


931 


r.emember  therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and 
heard,  and  hold  fast  and  repent.  We  now 
Lear,  what  our  exposition  has  taken  ior 
granted,  as  it  is  here  confirmed,  that  the 
churcli  of  Sardis  took  its  rise  from  a  new  begin- 
ninjT,  from  the  laying  of  a  new  foundation  of 
recnving  and  hearing— s.  receiving  of  grace,  a 
hearing  of  the  word.  Thus  the  work  of  the 
Reformation  itself,  and  in  itself,  so  far  as  it  re- 
stored through  God's  grace  the  preaching  of 
the  true  word  of  God,  is  not  rebuked  in  the 
epistle  to  Sardis,*  but  is  rather  most  plainly 
recognized.  It  is  not  blamed  as  a  breach  with 
the  old  and  false  church  ;  it  is  not  condemned 
as  a  self-originating  work  which  elevated  sub- 
jective reason  against  tradition  and  authority, 
or  any  thing  of  that  kind.  The  perfect  right  is 
thus  conceded  :  Sardis  received  and  heard  from 
the  Lord  that  upon  which  she  was  built.  The 
Lord  addresses  her  as  Paul  addresses  Timo- 
thy :  "  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words, 
which  thou  hast  heard  of  me;  keep  this  good 
deposit"  (2  Tim.  i.  13,  14).  As  Ephesus  was 
to  remember  the  life  of  her  first  love,  so  Sardis 
is  to  remember  the  preaching  which  she 
first  received.  She  has  not  fallen  from  the 
truth  of  her  doctrine,  she  has  still  what  she 
must  keep  and  maintain,  even  while  her  re- 
pentance is  urged.  But  she  has  forgotten  how 
she  received  and  heard  it  at  the  beginning: 
this  h'm,  which  must  not  be  overlooked,  but 
must  be  understood  as  equivalent  to  what,  gives 
the  proper  key  for  the  whole.  She  had  once 
receivid  it,  taken  it  to  herself  in  the  right  way, 
"  with  holy  heartfelt  zeal,  but  now  only  with 
the  head  ;  once  she  had  heard  it  in  the  inner 
man,  now  only  with  the  outward  ear."t  In- 
deed, this  first  good  beginning  of  the  right  how 
does  not  extend  very  far,  certainly  not  to  the 
"  final  close  of  the  confession  "  in  the  Formida 
Concordim,  or  afterwards  in  that  of  Dort.  We 
need  only  take  the  trouble  to  read  through 
Planck's  "  Origin  of  Protestant  Doctrine,"  and 
we  shall  find  (after  all  abatements  for  his  per- 
versions, which  are  not  slight)  so  much  of  the 
undeniably  human  and  false  in  the  "  how  "  of 
the  reduction  of  the  word  of  God  to  ecclesias- 
tical doctrine,  that  we  shall  be  constrained  to 
remember  and  repent  of  this  "  how  "  itself.  It 
is  not  concerning  that  frenh,  pwe  beginning  of 
the  testimony  to  which  the  Lord  refers  us,  but 
concerning  the  progress  of  it,  that  the  following 
too  strong  expressions  of  Von  Brunn  hold  good : 
"  We  shall  not  wonder  at  the  severe  declaration 
of  the  Lord,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  sum 
of  all  doctrine  is  not  a  scientific  estimate  of 


*  "  The  thing  itself  is  not  rejected.  That  which 
is  Gods  work  must  endure.  But  there  are  people 
who  tal:e  the  form  only.  This  is  the  age  of  Sar- 
.dis,  and  we  may  weil  observe  whither  it  tends  " 
(BcHenb.  Bihei). 

f  This  we  once  more  gladly  quote  from 
Ebrard.  Certainly  the  how  of  receiving  is  meant, 
and  not  of  God's  giving  ;  hence  the  Berknh.  Bebel 
is  wrong  :  "  How  mercifully,  richly,  mildly,  sea- 
sonably," etc. 


dogma,  but  love  out  of  a  pure  neart  and  a 
good  conscience,  and  faith  unfeigned:  and  if 
we  remember,  further,  that  in  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  this  latter  was  not  the  character- 
istic either  of  the  teachers  or  the  people,  but 
that  they  were  actuated  by  a  general  disgust 
at  the  secularity  of  the  Pope  and  the  assump- 
tions of  the  prieshood,  combined  with  a  deep- 
ening insight  into  the  oppressive  corruptions 
which  had  insinuated  themselves  into  the 
Church.  For  we  cannot  perceive  in  that  time 
much  (?)  of  that  spiritual  life  which  the  Lord 
requires  of  his  disciples.  AVhere  there  was 
any  real  amendment  of  the  Church,  it  was  the 
work  less  of  effective  sermons  than  of  learned 
disputations,  which  proved  by  conclusions, 
based  upon  Scripture,  that  the  charges  urged 
against  the  Papacy  found  their  warrant  in  the 
word  of  God."  From  this,  much  of  its  exag- 
geration must  be  deducted;  but  the  truth  re- 
mains, that  the  work  begun  in  the  Spirit  was 
not  in  the  Spirit  entirely,  or  even  to  a  great 
extent,  carried  out.*  Alas  !  how  soon  did  the 
Church  of  the  Reformation  require  as  a  whole 
that  other  exhortation,  "  O  Timothy,  keep  that 
which  is  committed  to  thy  trust,  avoiding  pro- 
fane and  vain  babblings,  and  oppositions  of 
science  falsely  so-called,  which  some  professing, 
have  erred  concerning  the  faith "  (1  Tim. 
vi.  20,  21).  Repent  of  thy  human  perversion 
of  the  treasure  of  grace  entrusted  to  thee.  Be 
watchful,  that  thou  mayest  mark  it,  and  put  it 
away. 

If,  therefore,  thoit  shalt  not  icatch,  I  ivill 
come  (upon  thee)  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt 
not  know  ivhat  hour  I  tvill  come  tipon  thee/l 
We  hear  in  these  words  the  echo  of  those 
sayings  of  our  Lord  concerning  watching  and 
the  coming  of  the  thief.  Matt.  xxiv.  42-51 ;  to 
which  the  Apostles  also  refer,  1  Thess.  v.  2, 
and  2  Pet.  iii.  10 ;  see  once  more  Rev.  xvi.  15. 
In  this  expression  the  advancing  glance  draws 
nearer  to  the  Jinal  day  of  judgment.  The 
thief  does  not  say  beforehand  that  he  will 
come;  but  the  Lord,  in  his  merciful  fidelity, 
tells  us  so  abundantly.  When  he  so  comes  at 
the  end,  he  will,  in  righteous  retribution,  en- 
tirely take  away  all  that  had  been  received 
from  him,  but  not  preserved  and  diligently 
used.  If  he  comes  to  a  church,  it  will  be,  what 
fundamentally  signifies  the  same  thing,  to  re- 
move its  candlestick  from  its  place  ;  their  old 
church  treasure,  which  they  have  hid  in  the 
napkin  of  idleness  or  dissipated  in  proud  con- 
tention, will  be  taken  away  from  those  who 
hitherto  possessed  it.  When  the  final  remov- 
ing judgment  will  come  upon  Sardis,  after  its 
judgment  through  rationalism,  we  know  not  ; 
it  may  be  much  nearer  than  we  think ;  and 
possibly  hastened  by  our  present  unrighteous 


*  The  same  writer  adds  afterwards :  "  Thus  we 
cannot  be  astonished  that  in  most  of  the  religious 
wars  of  that  time,  divine  help  was  withdrawn  from 
the  Protestants." 

■f  The  first  "  upon  thee  "  is  probably,  though 
not  certainly,  spurious. 


932 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  SARDIS. 


and  impure  zeal  for  tlie  re-eslablishrnent  o^  old 
things  in  that  church  whose  good  name  speaks 
of  that  which  is  livingly  new.  But  when  Sardis 
falls,  the  time  will  follow,  as  we  perceive  al- 
ready in  the  preparatory  beginning,  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Laodicea  together.  As  in  the 
faithful  of  Thyatira  the  Eeformation  was  be- 
fore prepared  for,  so  the  pure  and  living  in 
Sardis  form  the  secret  root  of  the  Philadelphian 
church.  To  these  the  gracious  words  of  the 
Lord  now  turn,  that  right  may  be  fittingly 
done  to  the  other  side. 

But  thou  hast  a  feic  names  in  Sardis  ichich 
have  not  defiled  their  garments  ;  and  tliey  shall 
tcalk  ivith  mc  in  white,  for  they  are  tcorthij. 
Only  in  the  epistles  to  Thyatira  and  Sardis 
are  the  names  mentioned  twice ;  and  in  each 
case  when  the  faithful  are  referred  to.  The&wi; 
coming  first  (wanting  in  the  translation)  has  a 
tone  of  grace  after  the  threatening.  Here  it  is 
said,  Thou  hast — and  the  presence  of  these 
worthy  ones  in  the  church,  now  first  late  men- 
tioned, is  represented  to  the  angel  of  the  church 
as  a  treasure  in  his  possession  which  had  been 
hitherto  as  it  were  unknown,  or  at  least  not 
rightly  estimated,  and  by  the  use  of  which  he 
might  come  to  true  repentance.*  They  arefeio, 
but  in  them  thou  hast  many:  if  thou  only 
knowest  how  to  value  them,  as  I  count  them 
worthy  !  Names  are  spoken  of — not  as  belong- 
ing to  celebrated  personages,  the  mention  of 
whom  would  be  enough  to  mark  them  out ;  nor 
as  meaning  that  "among  thy  names,  for  thou 
hast  many  distinguished  iiT^n  of  name,  yet  only 
a  few  which  have  any  value  before  me."  For, 
assuredly,  those  who  are  meant  here  are  among 
the  less  known,  manifest  only  to  the  Lord,  and 
whom  v;e  must  seek  among  those  who  have 
been  called  the  "silent  in  the  land."  Names 
are  equivalent  to  persons,  in  chap.  xi.  13,  as  in 
Acts  i.  15.  Nevertheless,  there  is  something 
in  the  background,  when  the  e.xpression  is  used 
as  here.  Before,  the  dead  mass,  which  together 
bad  the  "  name"  that  it  lived,  was  called  the 
remainder,  in  the  neuter  :  in  opposition  to  that, 
we  have  now  the  names  or  the  persons  known 
to  the  Lord,  and  mentioned  with  honor  before 
his  God  ;  for  personal  sanctification  in  the  per- 
sonal life,  sa\-Qi\  perso7ialiiies,  worthy  of  eternal 
salvation,  arc  what  is  essential.  This  is  here 
asserted  against  those  who,  like  their  modern 
representatives,  decried  in  a  v.'rong  spirit  the 
"  subjective  "  out  of  deference  to  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal "objectivity" — as  if  the  blessed  God  could 
take  any  pleasure  in  a  glorious  liturgy  ofi'ered 
by  dead  souls ! 

The  pure  and  undefiled  service  of  God,  is  to 
keep  ourselves  unspotted  from  the  world  (James 
i.  27).  Sinners  defile  their  garments,  their  in- 
ner man,  by  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  ns  the  un- 
clean body  spots  a  garment  (Jude  23).  This 
is  a  profound  symbol  of  an  essential  truth  ;  as, 


t  The  rest  in  Thyatira,  and  tho  remainder  in 
Saidis,  form  a  contrast.  Similarly,  to  Pergamos 
— T'lon  hast  heretics;  but  here  only — Thou  hait 
faithful. 


'  according  to  the  same  fundamental  idea,  Isa. 
l.xiv.  6  terms  all  our  own  natural  righteousness 
a  filthy  garment  (Heb.  stained  with  the  specific 
defilement  of  impure  flesh).  To  the  church  of 
Sardis  there  is  now  promised,  and  magnified, 
the  wedding-garment,  which  not  only  covers  but 
in  a  wonderful  manner  takes  away,  our  shame 
— the  righteousness  of  Christ  through  faith. 
Concerning  this  garment,  too,  it  is  further  said, 
that  only  a  few  of  those  who  actually  have  onco 
put  it  on,  have  preserved  it  unspotted;  or, 
without  figure,  that  only  on  and  in  few  has 
justification  exerted  its  full  power  unto  that 
sanctification  which  is  valid  before  God,  and 
which  he  looks  for  as  the  fruit  of  that  tree. 
Only  those  who  are  sanctified  receive  the  in- 
heritance (Acts  xxvi.  18) — only  those  who  are 
pure  in  heart  behold  the  face  of  the  pure  (Heb. 
xii.  14;  Matt.  v.  8).  Their  reward  is— as  the 
Lord  who  walketh  amid  the  candlesticks,  chap, 
ii.  1,  promises — They  shall  walk  with  me,  that 
is,  stand  before  me  in  confirmed  life,  and  shall 
be  with  me  in  the  region  of  eternal  life  (chap. 
xxii.  3,  4),  where  will  not  be  a  stationary  still- 
ness, but  rather  the  abundance  of  holy  activity. 
And  in  white,  resplendent  vestures  of  glorified 
bodies,  which  will  then  be  given  to  the  right- 
eous as  the  bright  manifestation  of  their  in- 
ward purity  and  righteousness;  as  in  ver.  5 
the  great  promise  is  resumed,  and  as  in  chap, 
xix.  8,  14,  this  book,  throughout  so  wonder- 
fully woven  into  the  unity  of  a  great  plan,  re- 
peats and  explains  the  promise.  Not  that 
"  walking  with  me  in  white  garments  "  means 
"going  clothed  in  white  like  myself" — for  in 
the  title,  ver.  1,  the  Lord's  bright  garments 
were  not  made  prominent;  yet  there  is  a  simi- 
larity (not  equality)  between  liis  vesture  and 
that  of  his  people,  as  Phil.  iii.  21  declares, 
liis  righteousness  in  the  beginning,  his  holi- 
ness in  the  process,  his  glory  at  the  end,  all 
are  to  become  ours.  But  glory  is  for  the 
holy  alone ;  only  of  the  guests  found  thus 
clothed  does  he  say — They  are  worthy  ;  they 
are,  though  by  grace  alone,  yet  through  the  ac- 
ceptance and  preservation  of  that  grace,  as 
much  as  is  in  man,  worthy  of  the  reward.  (The 
contrast  for  the  condemned  comes  after  in  chap, 
xvi.  6:  compare  also  Matt.  xxii.  8). 

He  that  overcometh,  the  same  shall  he  clothed 
in  loJdte  raiment ;  and  I  will  not  blot  out  his 
name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess 
Jiis  name  before  my  Father,  and  before  his  an- 
gels. He  t'lat  hnt'i  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
tchat  the  Sjjirit  saith  unto  the  churches.  The 
figure  of  white  or  bright  garments,  which 
here  in  this  book  points  to  the  glorifica- 
tion of  tho  body,  and  probably  also  to  a 
previous  transitional  slate,  at  the  same  time 
goes  back  to  the  putting  on  of  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  the  gift  of  the  grace  of  God  : 
thus  it  is  interpreted  expressly  in  chap.  xix.  8. 
It  is  the  priestly  pure  garment,  first  of  all 
(comp.  chap.  xv.  6),  in  which  Zech.  iii.  4,  5, 
the  unclean  high  priest,  was  arrayed  when  his 
sin  was  removed;  the  robe  of  righteousness, 
Isa.  Ixi.  10.     But  this  festal  wedding-garment, 


REV.  III.  7-13 


983 


or  "imputed"  righteousneps,  not  being  per- 
fectly valid  without  the  holiness  which  grows 
out  of  it — which  the  Reformation  tiieor}',  and 
the  subsequent  dogmatics  of  the  Church,  did 
not  sufficiently  emphasize,  however  correctly 
acknowledged — the  same  garment  is  finally 
exhibited  as  resplendent  giory.  Thus,  in  the 
meaning  of  the  promise,  the  bright  garments 
are  something  other  and  greater  than  the  clean, 
of  which  they  are  the  reward.  He  that  over- 
cometh,  even  Ae,  only  he  and  no  other:  this 
has  a  specific  emphasis  in  the  Greek,  which 
cannot  well  be  translated.*  As  Sardis,  on  the 
whole,  lias,  alas  I  only  the  name  to  live,  so,  on 
the  contrary,  the  iiamesoi  those  who  overcome 
in  the  conflict  with  this  death,  twice  mention- 
ed and  acknowledged  v/ith  emphasis  by  the 
Lord,  are  to  be  inscribed  in  the  book  of  life, 
where  they  shall  remain  and  never  be  blotted 
out  or  taken  away.  This  last  appears,  in  pass- 
ing, to  be  directed  against  the  Reformed  pre- 
destination dogmatics,  even  as  the  former  word 
conceriiing  the  true  wedding-garment  was  di- 
rected against  the  practical  perversion  of  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  of  justification.  The  book 
of  life — see  further  chap.  xiii.  8,  xx.  12,  xxi. 
27 — occurs  a'so  Phil.  iv.  3  ;  as  also  in  the  Old 
Testament,  P.sa.  Ixix.  28  ;  Isa.  iv.  3  ;  Dan.  xii. 
1  (vii.  10).  It  is  of  most  weighty  significance 
in  connection  with  this,  that,  in  the  fint  place 
of  Holy  Writ  in  which  this  phrase  occurs, 
Exod.  xxxii.  32,  we  read  of  a  blotting  oat  of  the 
book  (like  Psa.  Ixix.  28)  ;  as  also  that  there  is 
not  in  the  entire  Scripture,  not  even  in  the  book 
of  Pvevelation,  any  mention  of  a  contrasted 
"  book  of  death."  This  intimates  to  us  that 
men  redeemed  by  Christ  are,  through  a  primary 
gracious  will  of  God,  appointed  and  written 
down  for  salvation  ;  while  the  lest  arc  them- 
selves the  guilty  cause  that  they  must  be  re- 
Ijected  and  blotted  out.  Even  this  last  prom- 
ise for  Sardis  confirms  our  prophetic  interpre- 
tation of  this  church,  which  unprejudiced  ex- 
position suggests,  but  which  we  do  not  insist 
upon  as  inlallible.  To  the  church  of  conftss- 
sions  the  Lord  speaks  only  of  his  confessing 
those  who  ove'-come  in  her ;  for  this  is  most 
plainly  involved  in  the  concluding  word, 
which  almost  literally  refers  to  Matt.  x.  32  and 
Luke  xii.  8,  pointing  again,  like  ver.  3,  for- 
ward to  the  last  day  of  judgment.!  Herder 
goes  too  far  when  he  says  that  the  whole  epis- 
tle is  written  in  the  words  of  Christ,  which  he 
spoke  while  yet  upon  earth ;  but  certainly 
there  are  many  such  allusions  to  his  own  word, 
now  expressly  opened  up  anew  to  this  church. 
We  may  refer,  in  conclusion,  to  Luke  xxii.  32  ; 
Matt,  x'xiv.  42-4:i  (also  what  follows  there  in 


*  Generally,  we  cannot  exactly  reproduce  tlie 
interchanseable  forms  in  the  concludinf;  promises, 
rqj  viHwyrt — 6  vikgov  ;  and  in  the  case  of 
Sardis  the  additional  ovro?,  for  which  we  can- 
not accept  the  ovujoi  of  the  critics,  which  yields 
no  proper  morning. 

t  But  the  Lord-K;annot  now  continue  to  say — 
Before  my  Father  in  heaven. 


its  impressive  adaptation  to  Sardis),  xxii.  8 
11,  X.  32. 

And  to  the  anr/cl  of  the  church  in  Phil- 
adelphia write:  These  things  mith  he  that 
is  hoi,/,  he  that  is  true,  he  that  h  dh  the 
key  of  David ;  he  that  opencth,  and  no  man 
shiitteth  ;  and  s'lnttefi,  and  no  man  openeth. 

TheLydian  city  of  Philadelphia,  so  called 
from  its  builder,  King  Attalus,  surnamed 
Philadelphus,  or  lover  of  his  brother,  wa3 
the  seat  of  a  small  church  in  the  time  of 
John  ;  and  here  gives  its  beautiful  name,  in 
the  prophetical  meaning  of  the  heavenly 
writer,  as  the  symbol  of  a  period  and  charac- 
ter of  the  Church  which  has  for  its  signature 
brotherly  love.  This  is  of  all  the  names  the 
most  obvious  in  its  prophetic  meaning,  so  that 
the  confusion  which  has  been  fallen  into  by 
some  expositors  seems  to  us  matter  of  won- 
der. Even  the  circumstance  that  Philadelphia 
lay  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tmolus,  close  t)  Sar- 
dis,* is  not  without  useful  application.  If  we 
have  in  any  measure  found  the  interpretation 
of  Sardis,  the  transition  now  to  the  next  pre- 
sentation of  the  Church  suggests  itself  at  once  : 
the  faithful  Thyatira  prepared  the  way  for  Sar- 
dis, and  now  the  acknowledged  kernel  of  Sar- 
dis comes  out  into  prominence  as  Philadelphia  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  only  out  of  the  re- 
proved mass  could  Laodicea  spring.  Phila- 
delphia, placed  in  the  midst  between  Sardis 
and  Laodicea,  is  the  counterpart  of  both.  She 
does  not  glory  in  her  name,  nor  does  she  think 
herself  rich  and  satiated  ;  but  is  blessed  in  her 
little  strength  and  faithful  patience,  and  com- 
mended and  encouraged  far  beyond  all  the 
other  churches.  Not  even  Ephesus  stands  so 
entirely  in  the  Lord's  presence.  We  are  for- 
bidden, by  the  sad  and  incontrovertible  history 
of  the  church  which  sprang  from  the  so-called 
Reformation,  to  interpret  Philadelphia  gener- 
ally, and  without  qualification,  of  that  cliurch. 
But  it  is  at  the  some  time  evident  that  a 
Philadelphia  could  not  follow  Sardis,  and  an 
evil  Laodicea  again  foUov/  her,  in  definite  and 
exclusive  periods;  the  clear  meaning  of  the 
word,  apart  from  mere  prophetic  interpreta- 
tion, will  constrain  us  to  adopt  the  view  to 
which  we  have  already  given  preliminary  ex- 
pression. If,  generally,  the  interming  i;ig  pre- 
sentations of  the  Church  from  the  beginning 
exhibited  their  respective  characteristics  as 
more  or  less  passing  into  each  other  and  co- 
existing, it  is  obvious  that  this  will  be  still 
more  tho  case  as  the  end  approaches :  Phila- 
delphia, as  well  as  Laodicea,  are  prepared  for 
in  Sardis,  and  reach  onwards  to  the  close  of  tho 
Church's  history  in  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

We  cannot  say  (with  Meyer)  that  the  attri- 
butes of  the  Lord's  first  manifestation  are  ex- 
hausted, so  that  he  must  himself  give  new 
names  for  this  new  church  ;  nor  (with  Ebrard) 
maintain  that  the  title  here  given  is  no  longer 


*  About  five  Roman  miles  nearer  than  Sardis  to 
Thyatira,  wh.ca  are  the  least  two  distaucei  of  the 
whole. 


934 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  PHILADELPHIA. 


derived  from  the  first  description  of  his  person, 
but  chosen  with  strict  relation  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  church  addressed.  For,  the  key 
certainly  does  look  back  to  the  final  saying  of 
chap.  i.  IS;  and  what  precedes  is  only  an  ad- 
dition similar  to  "  Son  ot  God,"  in  the  epistle 
to  Thyatira,  and  already  prepares  the  way  for 
the  concluding  summary  to  Laodicea  (ver.  14). 
The  Amen,  the  True  and  Faithful  Witness,  co- 
incides almost  exactly  with  "he  that  is  holy, 
and  he  that  is  true."  Later,  in  chap.  vi.  10,  the 
same  description  returns;  and  chap.  xix.  11 
substitutes  very  evidently  "faUhftil  and  true." 
The  Ilohj  One  reminds  us  of  the  phrase  wiiich 
occurs  almost  only  in  Isaiah,  The  Holy  One  of 
Israel.  Thus  is  termed  there  the  Lord,  in 
whose  place  the  Son  of  God  appears  here,  not 
only  as  being  beyond  all  comparison  (Isa.  xl. 
25),  bmt  in  his  revelation  of  himself  as  love 
ever  faithful  *  glorious,  and  to  be  praised  above 
all  things  ;  love  true  to  itself  in  condescending 
greatness,  and  in  the  greatness  of  its  conde- 
scension. Both  united  in  one  here  are  t:ie  ex- 
pression of  sublime,  rejoicing,  protecting  com- 
placency in  that  church,  which  had  beyond 
other.s  kept  his  word  without  denying  his  name 
(vers.  8,  10),  and  derived  its  own  name  Irom 
love.  He  that  is  holy  is  also  he  that  is  true, 
who  never  denielh  himself,  never  changeth  ; 
as  in  1  Sam.  xv.  29  was  said  of  the  Abiding 
One  in  Israel. f 

This  holy  and  true  One,  faithful  and  un- 
changeable in  the  pure  love  which  is  his  es- 
sence, has  now,  as  the  Son,  supreme  authority 
for  the  government  of  the  house  and  kingdom 
of  God  upon  earth;  in  his  hand  is  the  key  of 
David.  These  words,  which  once  more  go 
back  to  the  Old-Testament  types,  are  easily 
understood ;  especially  if  we  connect  with 
them  the  passage,  Isa.  xxii.  22,  which  is  almost 
verbally  quoted  in  the  context.  Opening  and 
Ehutting  are  suggested  by  the  key  :  first,  with 
reference  to  the  inhabitants,  opening  \^  concern- 
ed, and  this  in  the  Hebrew  gives  its  name  to 
the  key  ;  but  shutting  also  is  involved,  and 
this  gives  the  key  its  name  in  the  Greek,  as 
also  in  the  German.  Reference  is  here  made 
to  the  key  of  supreme  authority  in  both  re- 
spects; and  that  holds  good  which  is  figura- 
tively said  in  Job  xii.  14,  "  When  he  shutteth. 
DO  man  can  open."  But  no  man  can  shut 
when  he  in  lus  grace,  as  it  is  always  and 
every  where  his  good  pleasure  to  do,  open- 
cth.  Tlie  bya,  in  the  plural  (in  chap.  i.  IS 
still  more  solemnly  and  expressly  used  of  /At- 
gates,  the  entrance  and  exit  of  death  and  of 
hell),  become  now — not  without  connection 
witii  the  authority  of  the  keys  generally, 
which  is  given  to  tiie  Conqueror  for  all  doors 


*  Wo  would  request  those  who  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  consult  our  commentary  on  tliis  pas.s,ioe 
in  Isaiah,  as  al.so  the  remarks  upon  Jolin  xvii.  11. 

•)■  Luther  translates,  without  any  ffood  moaninn, 
der  Held.     The   Hebrew  is  nVJ*  one  of  li.e  pro- 

fcundest  words  of  the  Old  IV 8  ament. 


of  every  kind — the  key  of  David.  Stilling 
would  strangely  interpret  this  of  "  the  subter- 
ranean regions;"  but  the  typical  David  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  opening  of  hades,  or 
any  other  subterranean  and  hidden  region ; 
and,  moreover,  there  was  not  any  necessity  for 
the  threatening  (or  promising)  reference  to 
death  and  hell,  in  the  case  of  this  faithful 
church.  The  superscription  refers  at  the  out- 
set, by  anticipation,  to  the  giving  of  an  open 
door,  ver.  8.  In  the  liook  of  Isaiah,  where 
chap.  xxii.  gives  us  a  representative  picture  of 
the  whole  on  a  small  scale,  the  proud"  treasurer 
Shebna  being  cast  out  of  his  office,  and  Eliakim 
(that  is,  "the  Lord  will  set  up'')  being  put  in 
his  place,  we  have  the  expression  in  the  fuller 
historical  style— the  key  of  the  house  of  David. 
But  here  the  same  meaning  is  given  in  a  more 
condensed  form,  "  the  key  of  David,"  in  order 
to  make  prominent  the  typical  phrase,  and  to 
exhibit  Chriht  as  the  fulfiiler  of  the  type,  the 
true  King  David  o\eT  the  house,  and  kingdom, 
and  people  of  God.  When  we  penetrate  more 
deeply  into  its  prophetic  significance  for  Phil- 
adelphia, there  may  appear  to  be  another 
meaning  in  the  background,  beside  the  open- 
ing and  shutting  of  the  door,  in  the  success  of 
the  word  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom.  For 
he  speaks  here,  who  also  in  ^latt.  xvi.  19 
spoke  of  keys  in  his  house  and  kingdom  upon 
earth,  which  were  to  be  given  to  his  disciples. 
We  mark  that,  after  in  Thyatira  the  "  succes- 
sors of  Peter,"  and  not  merely  they,  but  their 
imitators  in  Sardis,*  had  carried  the  doctrine 
of  the  keys  to  most  exaggerated  perversion, 
the  Lord  comes  forward  himself  to  Philadel- 
phia— I,  the  supreme  holder  of  all  authority 
of  the  keys,  to  receive  and  to  reject  in  my 
Church;  1  have  never  given  up  this  power, 
but  use  it  myself  from  age  to  age,  I  alone  in 
holiness  and  truth. t 

/  know  thy  tcorks :  hehold  J  have  set  before 
thee  an  open  door,  tchich  no  man  can  shut ;  for 
thou  hast  a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept  my 
woi'd.  and  hast  not  denied  my  name.  To 
the  absolute  I  know  thy  works,  which  stands 
here  alone  for  uniformity,  is  appended,  without 
any  mention  of  faith  or  love,  the  encouraging 
declaration  of  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  Phila- 
delphia, which,  speaking  of  what  was  given, 
promises  still  more;  and  then  first  follows,  as 
the  commended  susceptibility  for  the  Lord's 
gift,  their  little,  but  faithfully-used  strength. 
"  Well  for  him,  whose  characterization  requires 
nothing  more  to  be  said  than  what  the  Lord 
has  done  in  him  I  A  sign  that  such  a  man  has 
let  the  Lord  accomplish  his  work."  Thus  does 
Ebrard  keenly  ami  truly  describe  the  "  noble 
delineation  "  of  the  state  of  Philadelphia.  The 
"  beh-old,"  so  frequent  in  the  ancient  prophets, 


*  Accordinc  to  Luther's  well-known  saying: 
There  is  no  little  priest  who  miglit  not  make  % 
litlle  pope. 

t  Philadelphia  is  the  symbol  of  a  cbv.rch  in 
which  the  otlice  ot  the  keys  la  truly  administered 
(Leyrer). 


EEV.  III.  7^13. 


S3§ 


'Rrhic^  -was  •spolcen  -only  once  to  Smyrna  as  not- 
ing the  temptation,  and  only  cnee  to  Thyatira 
as  conveying  a  threatening,  and  to  Laodicea 
<once  more  in  connection  with  warning  and  ex- 
hortation, ver.  20,  is  addressed  to  Philadelphia 
€hrice  m  connection  with  the  highest  grace  and 
honor*  The  liberal  Giver,  who  giveth  every 
thing  out  of  his  all-governing  hand,  hath  given 
liefore  this  chwrch  an  ojiCK  diwr^  which  shall  be 
shut  by  no  man,  but  shall  be  more  and  more 
open  m  spite  of  all  opposers.  This  is  not  a 
door  of  access  or  entrance  into  his  ""temple" 
{into  which  Philadelphia  does  not  need  ad- 
mission) ;  but  it  corresponds  to  a  phrase  of  the 
great  Apostle,  which  (he  Holy  Spirit  suggested 
and  stamped  upon  more  than  one  passage  of 
the  New  Testament  Paul  wrote  from  Ephemii 
■'—A  great  door  of  full  activity  is  opened  to  me, 
afid  there  ai^e  many  enemies  (who  shall,  never- 
theless, not  bs  able  to  -shut  it) :  1  Cor.  xvi.  9. 
Similarly  agaia  m  2  Cor.  ii.  12;  and  most 
plainly,  Col.  iv.  ■S :  Pray  for  us,  that  God  may 
open  to  «s  a  door  of  the  'Wonl.'\  This  entrance, 
which  the  messengers  of  the  Lord  find  for  their 
preaching  (I  Thess.  i.  9),  includes  at  the  same 
time,  as  is  said  before  t!ie  Churcli  to  the  glory 
of  God  in  Acts  xiv.  27,  the  opening  of  the  door 
of  faith  for  the  heathen,  as  an  earnest  of  that 
time  when  the  gates  of  the  city  of  God  should 
stand  open  day  and  night  for  the  Gentiles, 
whereof  Isa.  Ix.  11,  and  Rev.  xxi.  25,  26,  pro- 
phesy. Thus  the  Lord  promises  a  prosperous 
and  unhindered  career  of  missions,  as  m  the 
apostolical  time  to  Ephesus,  to  Philadelphia 
the  final  and  most  favored  church,  the  plain 
prophetic  name  of  which  speaks  of  entrance 
into  the  union  of  brotherly  love.  Here  we 
have  the  key  for  the  opening  of  the  mystery  of 
this  chutxih,  this  most  brightly  shining  star  and 
candlestick. 

We  ask  whether  that  is  of  itself  appropriate 
to  the  first  church  of  the  Reformation;  and  let 
history  give  the  answer.  Even  the  entrance 
into  the  rest  of  Christendom  was  presently  shut 
again,  and  Jezebel  remained  enthroned  in  un- 
changed Thyatira;  but  the  mission  to  the 
heathen,  of  which  the  word  pre-eminently 
speaks,  was  long  held  back.  Richter,  the  In- 
spector of  Missions,  might  have  learned  in  his 
official  capacity  something  better  than  what  he 
writes  in  his  Bible  (with  much  else  that  is 
confused  and  arbitrary)  :  "  Many  seek  Phila- 
delphia merely  in  attempts  at  union  ;  but  the 
evangelical  Church,  especially  the  Lutheran, 
does  not  make  union,  but  is  union."  We  under- 
stand this  self-contradicting  word  too  well  to 
be  misled  by  it.  Certainly  we  do  not  seek  the 
Philadelphian  community  in  ecclesiastico-polit- 
ical  attempts  at  union;  nor  alone  or  pre-emi- 
nently in  that  which  now,  under  the  beautiful 


*  In  ver.  11  it  is  a  spur.ous  reading  from  chap. 
xxii.  7. 

f  Then  no  longer  defended  against  enemies,  as  a 
castle  and  fortress.  Then  will  come  into  .t  those 
who  peacefully  ffiter,  whereas  before  conquerors 
went  forth  among  them  from  iU 


name  of  union,  is  feebly  and  preparatorily 
sought  after;  but  still  less  do  we  seek  it  in 
that  Lutheran  church  which  recognizes  no 
other  union  than  that  of  entering  like  good 
Catholics  into  her  bosom.  The  very  name  of 
Lut/iemn,  so  firmly  held  fast — we  hold  to  this, 
let  men  say  what  they  will — plainly  denies 
that  immediate  dependence  on  the  one  only 
name  in  which  salvation  is  given  to  all  men 
under  heaven,  and  does  not  acknowledge  the 
walking  of  the  Lord  amid  the  seven  golden 
candlesticks.  The  true  Pliiladelphia  mast  be 
willing  to  abolish,  and  must  actually  in  repara- 
tion abolish,  the  great  unjustifiable  division 
and  controvers}'  through  which  Sardis  came  to 
her  end;  she  must  not  hold  fast  the  funda- 
mental error  which  has  crept  in,  and  which  has 
been  so  lamentably  refuted  by  all  history,  that 
Ufe  and  the  right  of  belonging  to  the  "  true 
Church  "  depends  upon  a  mere  human  system 
of  "pure  doctrine,"  going  beyond  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  salvation.  As  respects,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  aspirations  after  union, 
which  have  in  earlier  and  later  times  proceeded 
from  a  pure  Ph.iladelphian  mind,  we  agree  with 
the  Derlenb.  Bibd,  which  says,  "  Who  will  de- 
spise the  day  of  small  things?  (Zech.  iv.  10). 
How  small  was  the  number  [better,  how  little 
was  the  strength]  from  which  Philadelphia  was 
to  arise  as  a  testimony  !  just  as  out  of  the  re- 
mainder of  Sardis  Laodicea  was  to  spring." 

It  is  a  position  of  sure  and  profound  truth, 
both  for  theory  and  practice,  that  union  and 
missions  stand  or  fall  together  in  the  Church ; 
in  their  inmost  principle  the  two  are  one,  being 
the  expression,  of  life  among  Christians,  under 
two  several  but  mutually  confirming  aspects. 
So  far  as  believers  are  perfected  into  one,  the 
world  knoweth  the  power  and  glory  of  the  Lord 
in  this  Church  (Job.  xvii.  23).  Richter  says, 
that  "  the  work  of  missions  must  be  carried  on 
through  the  union  of  all  true  Christians,  of  all 
confessions,  in  common  fellowship  of  labor." 
This  is  the  character  and  seal  of  Philadelphia. 
Has  not  the  Lord,  since  the  beginning  of  this 
century — without  despising  former  endeavors 
—been  openly  illustrating  and  fulfilling  his 
"Behold,  I  have  given  you  an  open  door"  in 
the  fellowship  of  those  who  have  been  seeking 
the  true  union?  Will  the  more  bigoted  Lu- 
theran missions,  which  despise  or  know  nothing 
of  this  blessing,  have  equal  success  ?  We  wait 
a  while,  and  shall  see. 

Philadelphia  was  first  most  clearly  illustrated 
by  the  church  of  the  Brethren  ;  and  Luther 
himself  long  before  might  have  been  admonish- 
ed by  their  ancestors,  the  old  Bohemian  Breth- 
ren, not  to  neglect  the  foundation,  the  lack  of 
which  was  exhibited  in  the  words  to  Sardis, 
ver.  2.  And,  notwithstanding  all  the  error 
and  weakness  which  adhered  to  their  institu- 
tion, they  were  actually  the  first  who  carried 
forth  the  missionary  standard.  Not  that  we 
would  interpret  (like  Erunn,  but  without  any 
excuse  no«c)  Philadelphia  as  meaning  Herrnhut: 
this  little  company,  and  its  little  strength,  was 
always  from  the  beginning  too  small  lor  that. 


936 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  PHILADELPHIA. 


But  this  interpretation  was,  when  it  was  first 
put  forwarJ,  based  upon  a  right  principle,  and 
pointed  in  the  right  direction.  We  trust  tliat 
the  Lord  will  raise  up,  out  of  all  the  naani- 
fold  efforts  after  union,  the  pure  germ  of  a 
much  larger  community  of  brethren  —  how 
soon  or  how  late,  we  know  not ;  men,  alas ! 
have  too  much  power  to  hinder  the  work  of 
his  grace. 

Thou  hast:  In  the  same  half-praising,  half- 
blaming  formula,  beginning  in  chap  ii.  6,  it 
was  said  to  Sardis,  Thou  hast  only  a  few  who 
have  not  defiled  themselves.  Now,  to  the  col- 
lected and  combining  Philadelphia,  on  the 
other  hand,  Thou  hast'a  Utile  strength  (or  might, 
to  war  and  conquer) — but  on  that  account  she 
is  blessed  of  the  Lord,  who  doeth  great  things 
from  beginning  to  end  by  little  means.  Rieger 
remarks,  that  the  manner  in  which  this  men- 
tion of  the  little  strength  is  woven  into  the 
testimony  of  the  Faithful  One,  gives  us  to  sup- 
pose that  "  the  angel  of  Philadelphia  has  the 
words  given  back  to  him  which,  in  his  lamen- 
tation before  the  Lord,  he  had  frequently  made 
use  of."  He  who  knows  and  feels  his  own 
weakness,  depends  all  the  more  faithfully  on 
the  Lord's  grace  for  the  weak  :  only  in  this 
spirit  will  the  Lord's  pure  and  really  evangeli- 
cal Church — in  the  midst  of  Sardis  and  Laodi- 
cea,  and  not  without  some  from  Thyatira  too, 
standing  in  the  Lord's  might  upon  the  basis  oi 
union — go  on  more  and  more  abundantly  to 
conquer;  and  the  doors  at  the  threshold  of 
Christendom  every  where  shall  no  more  be  shut 
against  her.  "  God  is  more  quick  with  the 
open  door  than  we  are — were  only  the  people 
ready,  who  would  begin  with  a  feeble  few." 
{Berlenh.  Bibel).  The  Lord  here  encourages 
the  little  strength  by  pointing  to  a  blessing  al- 
ready received,  and  would  have  it  more  earnest 
in  its  endeavors  after  more ;  for  fidelity  in  that 
which  is  least  has  its  own  appropriate  promise. 
Only  to  the  Philadelphians  does  the  Faithful 
Witness  give  the  perfect  testimony —  Thou  hast 
kept  my  word.  Thou  hast  in  thy  sound  confes- 
sions not  denied  my  name;  though  doubtless 
Philadelphia  was  not  without  temptation 
enough.  He  adds  for  the  faithful  a  further  and 
higher  promise:  "  As  the  heathen  will  hear  thji 
voice  in  my  word  spoken  by  thee,  so  shall 
many  come  from  false  Christendom,  and  give 
thee  thy  due  honor — that  is,  give  it  to  me  in 
thee." 

Behold,  I  ivill  make  them  of  the  synarjogue, 
of  Satan,  tvhich  saj/  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not, 
but  do  lie ;  behold  I  will  make  them  to  come 
and  worship  before  thy  feet,  and  to  Icnoio  that  1 
have  loved  thee.  As  the  exhortation  to  Thytira 
began  with  t'lreatening  and  rebuke,  so  the  true 
and  genuine  Philadelphia  receives  her  exhorta- 
tion at  once  combined  with  promise  in  vers.  9, 
10 — and  only  the  short  word,  vcr.  11,  follows 
as  simple  exhortation.  For  the  fifth  and  last 
time  in  these  epistles,  t'.ie  Lord  from  heaven 
mentions  Satan,  and  without  any  Jewish 
phraseology  or  fic;ure ;  as  we  remarked  upon 
Acts  xxvi.  23.     iSmyrna's  position  and  trial. 


chap.  ii.  9,  returns  ;  rather,  it  has  continued  on 
since  then — which  is  another  hint  of  the  mutu- 
ally interwoven  meaning  of  the  seven  descrip- 
tions of  the  Church's  state.  The  expression  is 
made  more  intense,  and  now  runs — They  are 
not,  hut  do  lie.  It  is  obvious  of  itself,  that  only 
presumptuous,  false  Christians  can  here  be 
meant.*  That  which  was  promised  in  Isa. 
xlix.  23,  Ix.  14,  to  the  true  Israel  of  Go. I,  and 
the  genuine  "  Zion,"  should  be  fulfilleil  in  the 
beloved  and  true  Church  of  Christ;  partly  in 
typical  prelude,  as  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  25  (knowing  and 
confessing  that  the  Lord  is  in  truth  among  this 
people) ;  but  still  more  effectually  in  the  times 
of  final  decision,  when  not  merely  some  among 
them,  but  all  of  the  congregation  of  Satan  who 
are  still  susceptible  of  knowledge,  shall  give 
the  truth  its  honor,  and  say,  "This  is  the 
Church,  and  here  is  the  Lord."  Obviously,  the 
"  worshipping  at  thy  feet "  refers  to  the  Lord 
himself  in  his  despised  people,  who  have  now, 
as  the  antitype  of  Eliakim,  Isa.  xxii.,  received 
the  place  of  honor  ;  thus  the  additional  clause 
obviates  all  misconception — They  shall  know 
that  J  have  loved  thee.  (Compare  Isa.  xliii. 
4.)  They  had  before  bitterly  contested  this 
against  the  Lord's  people,  but  they  shall  be 
ashamed;  and,  humbling  themselves,  they  shall 
confess  that  the  Lord  did  love  them,  and  more- 
over "shall  know  that  /  am  he  on  whose  love 
every  thing  depends."!  Thus,  the  greatest 
honor  is  put  upon  Philadelphia  ;  and  in  this 
love  of  the  Lord,  a  return  to  that  first  love 
from  which  Ephesus  fell,  is  pre-supposed  in 
gracious  confidence.  She  is  Iherelore  not 
merely  a  penultimate  church,  which  would  yet 
once  more  give  way  to  apostacy,  but  (as  ver. 
10  continues)  a  community  kept  to  the  end, 
which  the  coming  Lord  will  find  by  the  side  of 
Laodicea.  This  was  what  we  had  in  view 
when  we  said  that  Philadelphia  is  the  pure  and 
genuine,^  \miicd-evnngelical  Church,  collected 
around  the  true  and  defended  word,  in  living 
unity. 

Because  thou  hast  kept  the  tvord  of  my  jm 
tience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of 
temptation,  which  sliall  come  upon  all  the 
world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  tlie  earth. 
As  the  Lord  loves  all  men  with  the  love  of 


*  The  Apocalypse,  so  frequently  condemned  as 
Jewish,  no  where  speaks  expressly  of  Israel's  res- 
toration and  final  place  of  honor ;  only  in  cliap. 
XX.  9  is  there  even  a  hidden  allusion  to  it.  Here 
in  chap.  ill.  '.)  there  is  certainly  no  allusion  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews,  and  missious  lo  tliat  peo- 
ple. 

\  So  Von  Gerlach  beautifully  says,  expressing 
moic,  perhaps,  than  lie  understood  in  liis  own 
words.  Oh  that  many  who  think  "hat  all  doppnd« 
on  this,  or  that,  or  the  (.llier,  would  rememt  er  it ! 

X  "  Philadelphia  exh'l)its  to  us  the  church  in 
which  the  first  brottiei'ly  love  begins  to  burn  in 
many  hearts ;  in  which  Ckri.stiam  out  of  many 
conffs.iio)i8  approximate,  assembling  round  tho 
word  of  the  c"o.ss  as  a  common  standard,  and 
abounding  losolhor  iu  works  of  lovo  "  (Sander). 


EEV.  III.  7-13. 


937 


Bfeking  mercy,  wnTIe  lie  loves  only  those  -who 
love  him  with  the  love  of  complacency  (John 
xiv.  21,  xvi.  27),  so  he  will  and  can  Tcee'p  those 
only  who  teep  his  word.  That  church  which 
remains  taithful  to  the  last,  even  in  the  final 
great  temptation,  remains  finally  before  him  as 
kept  and  approved.  If  he  says,  the  word  of  my 
f alienee,  he  does  not  mean  merely,  as  Zinzen- 
dorf  says,  "the  point  of  ray  sufferings,"  or 
what  the  Scripture  terms  "  the  word  of  the 
cross."  Tiiis  last  is  indeed  at  the  foundation — 
so  that  it  certainly  does  not  mean,  as  has  been 
most  flatly  expounded,  "  My  commandment  to 
be  patient."  John,  in  chap.  i.  9,  points  us  to 
the  true  B^ense,  which  Ebrard  well  exhibits: 
"The  word  of  Christ,  so  far  as,  being  the  word 
concerning  the  cross,  it  is  not  a  word  of  tri- 
umph, but  of  patience  and  waiting,  of  believ- 
ing and  hoping."  Philadelphia  held  to  this 
word,  "as  the  whole  word  of  God,  to  its  awak- 
«ning  part  as  well  as  its  simply  dogmatic." 
This  makes  (in  the  faith  and  ^wtaVrtce  of  the 
saints,  chap.  xiv.  12,  xiii.  10)  of  the  pure  doc- 
trines of  faith  a  matter  of  practice,  in  which 
patience,  as  the  work  of  works,  proves  it- 
self perfect  unto  the  end  (James  i.  4).  That 
end  is  brought  very  near  in  this  penultimate 
epistle,  while  the  great  hour  of  temptation, 
^Ynich  will  precede  it  is  made  prominent.  As 
regards  the  immediate  historical  meaning  for 
the  typical  Philadelphia,  this  might  refer  to 
the  impending -severe  persecution  under  Dom- 
itian  or  Trajan  ;  but  the  prophetic  meaning 
shines  very  clearly  through  these  words  to  our 
view.  That  we  may  not  limit  the  "whole 
earth,"  according  to  the  phraseology  of  that 
time,  to  the  Pioman  empire  (Luke  ii.  1  ; 
Acts  xi.  28),  a  well-kown  expression  'is  added 
from  the  ancient  prophets,  with  reference  to 
the  comprehensive  prediction  of  the  end — "  All 
that  dwell  upon  earth."  Paul,  2  Thess.  ii., 
prophesies  of  the  antichristian  apostacyas  of 
a  power  of  delusion  ;  the  Lord  gave  the  same 
intimation,  Matt.  xxiv.  21-24  ;  and  further 
particulars,  though  still  obscurely,  are  given  in 
the  Revelation,  chap.  xvii.  12,  with  allusion  to 
Dan.  vii.  24.  This  hour  of  temptation  will 
correspond  to  that  "hour"  of  temptation 
through  the  power  of  darkness  which  fell 
upon  the  Forerunner  himself.  He  that  shall 
be  found  in  watchfulness  and  prayer  keeping 
his  word,  will  enjoy  the  protection  here  prom- 
ised, and  will  conquer  in  the  Lord's  strength, 
though  he  also  must  enter  into  the  great 
temptation  or  trial.  That  our  commonly  call- 
ed Lutherans,  or  even  Re.ormed,  have  not 
a!l  been  trained  to  such  warfare  and  victory, 
many  a  prelude  has  shown.  In  multitudes 
^vill  they  go  over  to  Antichrist;  while  only  the 
Philadelphians,  with  those  saved  at  the"^  list 
hour  out  of  Laodicea,  will  hear  the  voice  of 
him  who  standeth  at  the  door,  and  become  the 
guests  of  the  kingdom  that  shall  be  set  up 
after  the  conflict  at  tho  resurrection  of  the 
dead. 

Concerning  thin  catastrophe  of  judicial  de- 
cision,.this  iuto-mediate  coming  for  the  setting 


up  of  the  kingdom,  the  gracious  ana  all-com- 
prehending exhortation  speaks  to  every  one 
who  is  numbered  among  those  "  who  have" — 
/  come  quicMy.  Uoldfant  that  thou  hast,  that  no 
man  take  thy  crown*  This  is,  as  it  hangs  on 
the  promise  of  ver.  10,  rather  a  word  of  conso- 
lation than  a  threatening;  yet  it  is  also  an  ex- 
hortation the  only  one  of  which  Philadelphia 
stood  in  need.  As  an  exhortation,  it  is  re- 
markably like  that  to  the  faithful  in  Thyatira, 
chap.  ii.  25;  it  speaks  of  no  other  crown  than 
the  crown  of  life  (chap.  ii.  10)  for  all  who  shall 
he  finally  found  confirmed  and  approved.  Be- 
fore the  end  no  man  is  crowned;  although 
fro.m  the  beginning,  and  throughout  all  the 
conflict,  the  crown  is  held  out  and  exhibited  as 
a  reserved  treasure.  What  then  must  the 
church  of  Philadelphia  holdfast?  That  which 
she  has.  But  what  has  she?  Not  yet  tho 
crown.  What  then?  Her  little  strength  with 
the  Lord's  great  help,  the  word  of  his  patience 
and  her  persevering  continuance  therein.  From 
this  we  may  gather  how  incorrect  is  that  appli- 
cation (so  common  in  our  sermons  on  the  Re- 
formation) of  this  saying,  which  makes  Phila- 
delphia the  Reformed  Church  in  opposition  to 
antichristian  Rome;  as  if  by  the  "crown" 
was  to  be  understood  the  "  glory  "  or  "  especial 
treasure"  of  the  evangelical,  or  Lutheran 
church,  as  such.  The  original  speaks  with 
quite  another  meaning  of  quite  another  crown 
lor  quite  different  persons:  it  says  rather — 
Hold  fast  thy  standing  in  grace  with  persever- 
ing fidelity,  tihat  no  man  ms.y  receive  at  the  last 
thy  crown  of  victory  ;  that  is,  instead  of  thy- 
self. Zinzendorfs  pointed  note  hits  the  sense 
here — "  As  the  place  was  to  be  taken  from  the 
first  church." 

Him  that  overcometh  trill  I  make  a  pillar  in 
the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more 
out  7  and  I  will  tcrite  upon  him  ths  name  of  my 
Gud,  and  ths  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  which 
is  new  Jeritscdcm,  u-hicli  cometh  down  out  of 
heaven  from  my ;  God  and  I  icill  tvrite  vpon 
him  my  nno  name.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  lei  him 
hear  what  the  Sjjirit  saiih  unto  the  churches. 
This  promise  once  more  rises  higher  than  the 
preceding,  and  opens  up  the  vision  of  the 
firm  and  glorious  foundation  of  the  city  of 
God,  when  all  things  are  made  new.  Four 
times  "  My  God,"  in  solemn  and  stately  ful- 
ness— uttered  by  the  heavenly  Son  of  Man  and 
Son  of  God.  Nevertheless,  in  this  lofty  and 
sublime  glance  forward  to  the  last  things,  there 
is  at  the  same  time  a  backward  allusion — for, 
heavenly  wisdom  would  e.xercise  us,  as  the 
epistles  have  shown,  in  the  art  of  discerning 
the  shadowings  of  the  last  things  in  the  first, 
throughout  the  histories  and  narratives  of 
Scripture — to  the  records  of  David's  house 
concerning  Shebna  and  Eliakim  (already  pre- 
sented to  notice  in  ver.  7),  where  from  afar  tho 
old  and  new  Jerusalem,  or   Israel,   are    very 


•The  " Behold,"  -prefixed  to  these  words,  we 
have  aireauy  shown  to  be  spurious. 


938 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  LAODICEA. 


stribinglj'  pretypified  in  historical  miniature.* 
The  first  rel'erence  to  this  is  the  expression,  so 
intensified  in  the  original,  "  shall  go  no  more 
ouf't — that  is,  shalTnot  be  displaced  and  cast 
out  as  Shfbna  was  there.  Assuredly  also — 
Shall  not  be  broken  off  and  carried  away  like 
the  pillars  in  the  old  temple,  Jer.  lii.  17; 
thouf^h  tlie  former  allusion  pleases  us  better, 
since  in  Isa.  xxii.  Shebna  was  to  be  cast  out  as 
"  the  shame  of  his  Lord's  house,"  ver.  18, 
while  Eliakira,  ver.  23,  was  to  be  fastened  as  a 
nail  in  a  sure  place,  upon  which  the  glory  of 
the  house  should  be  hung,  and  was  to  be  a 
glorious  throne  to  his  Father's  house.  But 
here  the  words  are  loftier  :  I  will  make  him  a 
pillar  in  the  temple  of  God  ;  which  certainly 
does  not  mean  merely,  as  Lisco  says,  that  he 
should  remain  unchangeably  fixed  in  the  wor- 
ship of  the  sanctuary,  like  a  shaft  which  moves 
not  from  its  place.  The  Lord  speaks  here  in 
the  same  sense  as  in  Gal.  ii.  9  apostolical  men 
are  called  the  pillars  of  the  Church ;  though 
not  here  of  the  church  still  in  contention,  but 
of  the  consummate  temple  of  glory.  Compare 
the  echo  of  the  passage  in  Isa.  Ivi.  5;  and 
then  reflect  what  a  promise  is  here  given  to  the 
faithful  possessors  oi  the  little  strength  of  God. 
Yea,  then  shall  the  weak  be,  as  wo  read  in 
Zech.  xii.  8,  like  David,  and  become  like  firm 
and  stable  pillars  of  the  finished  building  ;  be- 
cau.se  all  temptation  will  have  been  overcome, 
and  all  danger  of  falling  done  away.  The  three 
names  written  upon  the  pillar,  or  him  that 
overcometh  (in  the  figure  they  coincide),  cor- 
respond to  the  Triunity,  just  as  in  chap.  xiii.  6  ; 
a  remarkable  passage,  where,  in  connection 
with  God,  his  7ia7ne  (in  the  Son)  and  his  tahr- 
7iacZe(  the  spiritual  building  in  the  Holy  Ghost) 
are  mentioned.  J  We  now  understand,  it  may 
be  hoped,  after  all  that  has  preceded,  why  the 
perfected,  iiite,  and  eternal  Church,  the  new 
Jerusalem  which  will  finally  come  down  oiU  of 
heaven  (chap.  xxi.  2,  3) ;  consequently  not  a 
church  of  temporal  manifestation,  is  opened  in 
the  promise  to  Philadelphia,  the  only  church 
which  is  fully  acknowledged.  We  may  say — 
This  is  "  Philadelphia;"  the  unity  of  love  per- 
fect, and  superabundantly  exceeding  that  ear- 
nest oi  first  love  which  the  Pentecostal  church 
exhibited  to  us.  The  three  names — of  God, 
and  his  city  or  tabernacle,  and  his  Son,  who 
speaketh — are  essentially  one.  The  name  of 
him  who  speaketh  closes  in  solemn  confirma- 
tion— And  mine,  the  new  name.  (Compare, 
once  more,  chap.  xiv.  1,  xix.  12,  xxii.  4.)  The 
new  name  of  glory,  of  victory,  never  yet  fully 
revealed,  will,  when  the  kingdom  of  the  cross 
ia  past,  shine  forth  in  the  eternal  city  of  Uod 
upon  all  who  are   Luilt  there  as  pillars.     It 


*  So  I  observed  in  my  "  Isaiah,"  without  then 
thinking  of  the  Apocalypse. 

\'Elai  ov  ).n)  l^e\0^  en. 

X  According  to  Meyer's  profound  exposition  in 
the  lii.  fur  h.  Walir/te'/t.  viii.  ^  .307.  ((Jump,  also  1 
Cor.  vi.  11.  The  name  ol  Jebus  lu  cumiection 
with  the  Spiril-X 


seems  almost  a  marvellorrs  corncicTencs  fn  fhm 
divine  providential  government,  that  the  his- 
torical Philadelphia,  to  which  this  promise  was 
symbolically  sent,  is  now  calle<.l  bv  the  Turks 
"'Allah-Sehr,"  that  is,  the  cilij  of  God. 

And  ttnto  tlwangcl  of  the  churdt  in  LawTicert 
write  :  These  thivgs  saith  the  Amen,  the  Faith- 
ful and  True  Witness,  the  heginniug  {the  orcf- 
inal)  of  the  creation  of  God.  h\  the  final 
epistle  the  title  of  the  Redeemer  at  once  rises 
to  the  highest  grandeur,  for  the  suprpme 
glory  and  authentication  of  Mm  who  »]>£akt(h. 
For  in  Laodicea  we  find  a  church  which  is 
least  of  all  disposed  to  hear  and  receive 
counsel.  The  place  thus  named,  in  earlier 
times  often  laid  waste  by  earth'juakes,  and  ut- 
terly ruined  since  Timur(1402),  is  now  re- 
placed by  a  Turkish  village  called  "Eskihis- 
sar."  We  find  its  church  mentioned  elsewhere- 
in  the  Kew  Testament,  Col.  ii.  1.  iv.  13,  16; 
and  to  us  it  is  extremely  probable  that,  in  the 
circle  of  churches  for  which  the  epistle  to  the- 
Ephesians  was  designed  as  an  encyclical  letter,, 
Ephesus  was  the  first  and  Laodicea  the  last.*" 
The  designation  which  the  Lord  now  gives  to- 
himself  is  no  longer  a  single  one,  and  definitely 
derived  from  anything  in  his  earlier  manifesta- 
tion ;  but  in  its  meaning  it  sums  up  that  entire- 
manifestation,  and  in  a  certain  sense  may  be- 
said  to  refer  to  the  commencement  o-f  his  worda 
on  that  occasion — I  nm  the  first  and  the  last. 
Here  we  have  first — 'i  lie  Amen,  in  which  with 
sublime  boldness  the  "  verily  "  of  our  Lord's 
preface  to  his  utterances  upon  earth — swearing- 
by  himself— is  made  into  a  substantive  nam* 
of  his  person  ;  at  the  same  time  with  allusion 
to  a  word  of  the  prophet,  referring  to  the  lust 
time,  concerning  the  finally  acknowledged  God 
Amen,  Isa.  Ixv.  IG.f  This  Amen,  as  the  per- 
sonal independent  truth,  is  now  the  True  and 
Faithful  Witness,  he  being  immediately  such ; 
while  all  who  before  or  after  him  testify  the 
truth  of  God  are  only  himself,  who  speaks  and 
bears  witness  through  them.  Thisexpression^ 
again  allusive  to  Isa.  Iv.  4,  is  not,  as  has  been 
inconsiderately  said,  "  derived  I'mm  Rev.  i.  5  ; '" 
on  the  contrary,  John  takes  the  greeting  at  th» 
beginning  of  his  book  from  the  before-received 
word  of  the  Lord  himself.  Because  proud 
Laodicea  is  wise  in  her  own  conceit,  and  must 
be  sharply  rebuked,  the  Lord  himself  confronts, 
her — Is  it  not  I,  who  speak  the  truth"?  Wilt 
thou  contend,  and  maintain  thy  cause,  against 
me?  To  raise  this  to  the  highest  pitch,  h& 
terms  himself  finally  the  hcQinniny  of  the  crea- 
tion or  creature  (all  creatures)  of  God  ;  that  is, 
not  indeed  the  hrst  creation,^  but  rather  the 


*  This  -n'ill  be  found  estabhshed  in  luy  Upheser- 
Iricf,  i.  8-U. 

f  Tliis  is  the  translation  of  th©  IIebrev_  uistead 
of  Luther's  weakening  phrase. 

:|:  It  is  melancholy  to  ;  ead  the  heretical  not©  of 
Brandt's  HthtiUchrcrbibcl  :  "  Je^us  reckons  himself 
with  the  creation  ot  God  " — to  e.\p  ain  Col.  i. 
15..    \k'hat  dpx^'}  liii  n-zi^ecai  and.  n(2unoiuK.ai 


REV  III.  14-22. 


originrtl  and  primal  ground  {pr!ncipmm  creandi), 
as  in  John  i.  1-3  and  Col.  i.  15  (correcllv,  if 
not  literally  after  the  original — the  lirst- 
I'egotten  before  all  creatures),  is  meant.  In 
Prov.  viii.  22,  23,  the  same  idea  evidently  shines 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  Old  Testament.  If  we 
compare  the  still  more  strictly  corresponding 
passage,  Rev.  v.  8,  where  he  terms  himself, 
after  the  "  Yea,  Ainen,"  the  Alpha  and  Omega,* 
we  must  observe  what  he  would  here  say  to 
Laodicea.  Since  the  Amen  specifically  refers  to 
the  subsequent  confirmation  and  fulfillment  of 
every  promise  and  every  threatening  (2  Cor.  i. 
20),  and,  as  Meyer  excellently  says,  is  the  con- 
firming end  of  all  prayers,  we  have  in  this  word 
here  the  title  which  runs  back  from  the  Omega 
to  the  Alpha;  he  is  the  fulfilling,  victoriously 
self-approving  lad,  as  he  is  the  first  in  and  be- 
fore all  creation — but  in  the  midst,  between  the 
beginning  and  the  end,  he  is  the  faithful  wit- 
ness, as  he  openly  proclaimed  himself  in  the 
days  of  his  liesh.  As  the  beginning  of  the 
creation  of  God,  he  inoics  every  creature 
through  and  through;  he  knows  what  is  in  it, 
in  order  that  he  may  bear  his  sure  testimony. 
To  (his  he  at  ona3  points — Who  hath  the  truth 
to  say  to  thee,  and  with  most  supreme  right 
declareth  to  thee  in  thy  blindness,  /  Ivww — 
what  thou  knowest  not!\ 

I  know  thy  icorhf,  that  thou  art  neither  cold 
nor  lot :  I  ivoiild  thou  ica-t  cold  or  hot.  So 
then  because  thou  art  lulceicarm,  and  neither 
cold  nor  hot,  I  ivill  spue  thee  {literally,  I 
design  to  spue  thee)  out  of  my  mouth.  This 
is,  verily,  a  keen  word,  the  most  fearfully 
severe  in  all  (he  seven  epistles.  No  de- 
nunciation of  judgment  elsewhere  cuts  so 
sharply  and  bitterly.  Fearful  it  is  to  think 
that  there  could  be  at  that  time  a  historical 
Laodicea  deserving  such  a  denunciation  as 
this.  In  this  last  epistle  the  second  and  third 
parts,  the  "  I  know  "  and  the  resulting  appeal, 
pass  one  into  the  other.  The  first  disclosure 
of  their  lukewarmness  is  the  foundation  of  a 
threatening ;  the  exhibition  of  their  proud 
blindness,  and  the  "not  knowing"  of  ver.  17,  in- 
troduces a  counsel  to  them  to  receive  help  ; 
with  that  connects  itself,  vers.  19,  20,  the  exhor- 
tation which  now  passes  into  gracious  promise. 
But  even  here  the  rule  is  preserved,  and  first 
comes  "  thy  icorks" — though  in  Laodicea  there 
were  works  only  of  a  miserable  kind,  as  it  were 
DO  works,  so  that  the  Lord  says  nothing  more 
about  them  and  their  wretched  negation,  but 

Sroceeds  to  the  exposure  of  their  inner  mind, 
levertheless,  in  all  these  epistles  he  urges  the 
uorlcs,  which  he  looks  for  every  where. 

Neither  cold  nor  warm — has  become  in  Ger- 


ira'dr;?  jcridsoai  properly  denote,  could  bo  made 
clear  on  y  i:i  a  iheosophical  treatise. 

*  With  a  dubious  additional — The  beginning  and 
the  end — which  is  only  an  explanation. 

j-  Ebrard  otherwise  :  He  hath  also  power  to  ex- 
ecute his  threats.  But  this  epistle  to  L.iodicca — 
which  is  almostrentiiely  a  revelation  of  themselves 
— speaks  nothing  of  threatening  and  powei*. 


man  a  proverb,  as  it  wa?  use.1  among  the  an- 
cients, to  describe  those  miseraLily  negative, 
characterless  people  who  hold  a  middle  place 
between  two  parts  of  a  great  alternative.  Bat; 
the  German  translation — which  cannot  now  he 
altered — unhappily  enleebles  the  sense  of  the 
original,  which  gives  the  contrast  more  severe- 
ly, and  with  more  strict  truth — cold  or  hot  ; 
Jor  the  fervent  burning  in  spirit*  in  love,  is 
meant,  the  glow  of  which  is  as  "  coals  of  fire, 
and  a  flame  of  the  Lord"  (Cant.  viii.  6).  Cold- 
ness is  not  set  over  against  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, "  fiery  fanaticism  "  (as  has  been  falsely 
interpreted) ;  for  the  coldness  which  is  ours  by 
nature  cannot  bo  absolutelv  changed  into  its 
opposite  by  the  heavenly  fire.  When  now  a 
sigh  of  love  bursts  from  the  mouth  of  the  Faith- 
ful Witness,  who  cannot  constrain  the  creature 
to  salvation — Ah,  that  thou  wert  cohl  or  hot ! 
He  speaks  the  most  simple  truth.  Positively 
raging  enmity,  vehement  opposition  to  his 
grace,  he  cannot  desire  as  something  better, 
cannot  even  relatively  or  in  any  manner  wish 
for;  but  that  is  not  meant,  for  Saul  was  not 
merely  cold,  bat  inflamed  by  another  fire,  whea 
he  persecuted  the  Lord's  people.  Be  it  true 
that  such  a  Saul  was  sooner  won  by  the  Lord 
than  a  respectable  neutral  Gamaliel,  waiting 
under  all  the  acts  of  God  ;  that  bad  its  reason 
not  in  the  enmity  of  Saul  as  such,  but  in  other 
principles  which  do  not  involve  the  question  of 
"  hot  or  cold."  The  words  have  their  truth  in 
this,  that  they  who  have  never  been  touched 
by  the  power  and  love  of  God,  and  are  still  in 
their  first  natural  condition,  are  in  a  stale  less 
dangerous,  and  may  more  easily  be  brought  to 
the  experience  of  the  truth,  than  those  who 
have  lallen  away  from  experienced  grace  into 
a  dying  and  dead  indifference.  For,  as  Lisco 
preaches,  "  while  in  natural  things  transition  to 
heat  is  easier  in  a  state  of  lukewarmness  than 
in  a  state  of  coldness,  is  it  not  so  in  spiritual 
things,  where  the  opposite  always  hold  good  ;" 
but  he  improperly  reckons  decided  enmity  as  a 
state  of  coldness.  Our  readers  well  understand 
without  much  expounding,  the  Lord's  word, 
which  says  fundamentally  the  same  thing  con- 
cerning his  kingdom  which  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  saying  concerning  our  own  human  affairs  : 
we  prefer  decided  and  honest  reality  to  a 
wavering,  indifl"erent,  negative  medium.  The 
word,  John  ix.  41,  to  the  Pharisees — If  ye 
were  blind — is  something  similar,  although  in 
a  somewhat  different  relation.  We  can  now 
observe  whither  Laodicea's  prophetical  inter- 
pretation points:  it  is  the  great  residuum  of 
dead  Christianity,  gathered  together  at  the 
last  time,  which  has  not  yet  passed  over 
into  the  camp  of  anti-Christendom,  enkindled 
from  below,  only  not  yet  having  become  re- 
leased from  all  connection  with  Christ ;  it  is 
the  common  secular  Christianity  which,  in  its 
melancholy  apathy  and  self-satisfied  blindness, 
goes  on  its  respectable,  easy  way — the  wretch- 


*  Rom.  xii.  11,  in  the  correct  reading :  ^iovzsi 
-as  iiere  ^a6rui  :  comp.  Acts  iviii.  25. 


940 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  LAODICEA. 


ed  caricature  of  the  fervent  love  of  the  Phila- 
delphian  union,  though  in  some  respects  hard 
to  'be  distinguished  before  the  final  tests  are 
applied  with  all  their  severity.  It  is  a  lifeless 
and  impotent  combination  of  all  the  world 
under  the  name  of  Christ,  with  some  slight  re- 
mains of  real  connection  with  him. 

The  judgment  upon  this  lukewarmness  is 
expressed,  the  figure  of  lukewarm  water  being 
continued,  in  a  tone  as  it  were  of  mockery  ; 
yet  there  is  some  degree  of  encouragement 
even  in  the  first  sharp  word.  Because  thou  art 
lukewarm — is  more  rigorous  than  the  original: 
there,  it  is — But  so  thou  art,  beirig  thou  art ; 
in  which  the  because  seems  to  pass  over  into — 
If  thou,  so  remainest.  Being  mch,  thou  art  an 
offence  to  be  ,<<p)ied  out.  In  Lev.  xviii.  28,  xx. 
22,  the  land  of  Canaan  is  spoken  of  as  spueing 
out  her  inhabitants  on  account  of  their  abo- 
minations, as  she  had  done  the  Cananites;  but 
this  seemingly  more  rigorous  phrase  does  not 
reach  the  severity  of  our  Lord's  word — Spue 
thee  out  of  my  mouth.  For  he,  out  of  whose 
lips  Cometh  the  decision  of  our  salvation  or 
perdition,  takes  us  into  his  lips  first  when 
ne  fraya  for  us  that  our  term  of  grace  may  be 
lengthened  out,  and  then  when  \\Qcalbi  upon  us 
to  be  saved,  and  finally  when  he  acknowledges 
his  own  belore  the  Father.  This  last  ajjplies 
here  pre-eminently,  as  in  ver.  5  such  confession 
of  them  was  spoken  of.  Thus,  if  Laodicea 
continue  lukewarm,  he  will  entirely  give  her 
up  and  deny  her,  and  no  more  take  her  name 
upon  his  lips,  as  Psa.  xvi.  4  is  threatened 
to  the  idolaters.  In  the  original  the  expression 
is  once  more  softened  ;  for  it  is  not  simply  in 
the  future,  "  I  wilL  sjjue  thee,"  still  less  a  de- 
cided "I  icill  spue  thee" — but  a  word  which 
may  be  translated,  "  It  is  impending,  I  have  in 
purpose" — by  which  the  accomplishment  of 
the  threat  retains  its  undecided  and  conditional 
character.* 

Bee  ruse  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  in- 
creased with  ff'M'ds,  and  have  need  (f  ndh- 
ing ;  and  hvncest  not  that  thou  art  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  Mind,  and  naked. 
The  devout  reflection  which  we  have  seen  here 
— "  Thou  spcaJcest  of  thy  riches  ;  the  speaking 
is  everything  with  thee,  and  nothing  else  ; 
that  is  thy  Christianity  and  piety" — is  beside 
the  meaning.  Speaking  is  here,  according  to 
the  Old  Testament  phraseology,  equivalent  to 
thinking,  speaking  inwardly  to  self.  Thus  it 
is — Thou  thinkest,  imaginest  that  thou  art 
rich  in  every  supply,  and  knowest  it  not  to  be 
otherwise.  It  is  wrong,  again,  to  expound  this 
glorifying  of  the  possession  of  the  external 
riches  and  fortunate  outward  circumstances, 
and  the  being  satisfied  with  early  things.  So 
Lisco  preaches  that  "  the  Laodicean  Christian 
draws  a  wron^  conclusion  ;  flattering  himself 
on  account  oi  his  externally  favorable  condi- 


*  Brnael  in  the  Gnomon:  "The  expression  is 
gentler  ihan  if  it  had  been  lu£6a}  6e.  MeXXcc 
makes  it  not  categorical,  but  modal."  Viilg., 
also,  thoujih  wrongly,  "  Incipiam  te  evotuere." 


tion,  that  I'e  has  the  approbation  of  God."  Nor 
does  it  refer  to  the  imagination  that  it  was  in- 
wardly as  well  with  them,  as  their  outward 
condition  was  fortunate  and  enviable.  For  the 
Lord  never  speaks  generally  of  external  circum- 
stances in  these  epistles,  having  begun  with — I 
know  thy  works.  The  words  refer  directly  to 
their  internal  condition,  else  the  exact  opposi- 
tion would  not  be  preserved  in  what  follows. 
Indeed,  Laodicea's  blind,  satiated  self-glorying, 
the  beginnings  of  which  were  here,  is  to  be  found 
united  with  glorying  in  industry,  civilization, 
science,  national  progress,  and  what  else  ;  yet 
it  is  not  so  as  if  the  rebuking  Lord  could  mean 
only  this,  as  Meyer  thinks  :  "  Thou,  secular 
Laodicea,  sayest  tliat  thou  art  already  rich  by 
nature,  through  reason,  genius,  and  temper  of 
mind,  through  the  divine  in  man."  For  thus 
to  speak  would  be  to  give  up  all  sense  of  need- 
ing Christ,  to  renounce  him  altogether,  and  to 
be  no  longer  even  luJceicarm.  A  mass  so  cor- 
rupted in  unbelief  would  as  sxich  receive  no 
pastoral  epistle,  it  would  be  no  longer  a  church. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  would  still  be 
Christians,  who  think  (however  much  they 
err)  that  they  have  Christ  fully  and  sufficient- 
ly, because  they  certainly  have  something 
good  remaining  in  them  (which  they  regard  as 
all  goodj — these  are  the  people  of  Laodicea. 
This  something  good  remai.iing  may  take  tho 
most  specious  form  in  its  exhibition — familiar- 
ity with  his  word,  and  seemingly  spiritual 
talking  about  it,  and  co-operation  in  Philadel- 
phian  works;  all  being  done,  however,  without 
power  and  life,  on  the  ground  of  self-pleas- r^ 
lukewarmness  and  emptiness.  The  thive-lold 
expression  of  the  vain-glorying  is  artificiall)'' 
expounded  by  Bengel :  I  have  goLl  ;  have  be- 
come rich  in  garments;  and  have  need  of  no 
medicine  or  salve  for  my  well-being.  In  any 
case,  this  specific  reference  to  the  several  coun- 
sels which  follow  must  be  spirituaUy  interpret- 
ed ;  but  Laodicea  did  not  as  yet  know  enough 
to  be  able  thus  to  speak  concerning  her  pos- 
sessions— I  am  wanting  neither  in  tliis  nor  in 
that  of  the  divine  gift  and  help.  The  Lord 
must  first  annihilate  her  general  and  indefinite 
boast,  and  reveal  further — Behold  this,  and 
further  that,  thou  hast  not,  or  no  longer  hast. 
Thus  the  three-fold  prating  goes  on  like 
prating  generally,  or  mere  tautology,  with  ex- 
pressions growing  more  and  more  strong :  I  am 
now  rich — I  have  made  myself  rich,  taken 
good  care  of  myself — finally,  obviating  all 
warning  of  need,  I  v.-ant  nothing  more.  Com- 
pare in  the  New  Testament  the  apostolical 
irony  addressed  to  the  satisfied  Corintliians  (1 
Cor.  iv.  8),  and  in  the  Old  Testament  (Hos. 
xii.  9)  the  still  more  similar  boast  of  Ephraira 
— "  1  am  become  rich,  I  have  found  me  out 
substance:  in  all  my  labors  they  shall  find 
none  iniquity  in  me  that  were  sin."*   This  last 


*  The  Lord  seems  evidently  to  refer  to  this  pas- 
sage ;  for  the  second  clause,  >^  }ix  'riXV!3  {I 
have  found  my  substance)  quite  corresponds  to 


REV.  III.  14-22. 


941 


is  the  same  which  the  third  clause  in  our  pass- 
age expresses — I  need  no  reproof  or  warning, 
that  any  thing  is  wrong  in  me. 

But  the  Lord  begins  at  once  with  awful  re- 
buke :  Thou  who  thus  speakest  canst  thus 
speak  only  because  thou  knowest  not  what  I 
know  of  thee,  thy  misery  in  uttermost  pover- 
ty and  blindess.  This  lelf-deception  clings  to, 
or  roots  itself  in,  the  fact,  that  Laodicea  was 
not  altogether  cold.  But  it  does  not  mean,  as 
we  have  said,  "  not  hostile,  only  a  negative, 
Christianity."  There  is  something  positive  in 
the  lukewarmness;  and  in  this  consisted  their 
wretchedness  and  misery,  that  that  minimum 
of  good  left  was  regarded  by  them,  in  their 
blind  perverseness,  as  amply  sufficient,  and 
thus  turned  to  their  hurt  even  more  than  cold- 
ness itself.  Our  translation  cannot  express 
the  peculiar  force  of  the  orignal — That  even 
thou  art  the  wretched  and  the  miserable,  that  is, 
before  all  others  who  make  no  such  boast ;  thy 
very  boasting  makes  thee  the  worst  among  all 
the  seven  whom  I  must  rebuke  and  punish. 
Wretched  or  unhappy  in  themselves,  as  near  to 
judgment ;  V^ertiiove  miserable  or  intiahle,  to  be 
commiserated  and  mourned  over.  These  two 
come  first  with  the  strongest  emphasis  ;  then 
follows  a  three-fold  evolution  of  the  pitiable 
wretchedness — the  preparation  for  the  counsel 
that  follows,  though  not  in  the  same  order. 
Poor  in  true,  gold-precious  riches — bliiul  in  the 
self-deception,  not  knowing  their  own  poverty — 
naked,  without  shame  and  consciousness  thereof. 

Now  we  ask,  whether  such  a  Laodicea  can 
be  imagined  as  existing  again  at  the  end  of  the 
thousand  years'  kingdom  of  peace.*  Indeed, 
in  this  kingdom  itself  there  will  not  be  possi- 
ble any  such  manner  of  lukewarmness,  if  our 
notion  is  not  "  enthusiastically  extravaga.it ;" 
the  nations  deceived  by  Satan,  under  Gog  and 
Magog,  are,  according  to  Rev.  xx.  8,  Ezek. 
xxxviii.  39,  to  be  sought  in  the  external  bor- 
ders of  that  kingdom.  The  epistles  do  not 
stretch  forward  to  this  final  stage  of  all.  But 
there  will  be,  under  and  with  the  «/i<i-Chris- 
tendom  which  will  be  developed,  before  the  en- 
tering in  of  the  kingdom,  a  ^«a.si-Christendorn  to 
be  found  ;  and  that  is  here  described.  Laodicea, 
in  earlier  times  a  rich  commercial  place,  had 
changed  its  first  name  Diof-polis  (the  city  of 
Jupiter,  or  God)  into  the  opposite,  when  the 
Syrian  king  Antiochus  Theos  (that  is,  God) 
named  it  after  his  wife  Laodice.  This  name 
does  not  lead,  as  has  been  said  in  despite  of 
the  derivation,  to  "  the  time  when  God  will 
judge  the  peoples  (or  his  people)  " — none  of 
these  churches  is  prophetically  designated  with 
reference  to  time.     But  a  condition  and  a  con- 


the  itEn\ovTr)Ha,  which  is  the  very  word  used 
by  the  Sept.,  but  in  the  wronjr  place  in  its  trans- 
lation. Every  where  throughout  the  New  Testa- 
ment— where  they  say  the  Septuagint  is  alone 
used — we  find  passages  like  this  which  go  back  to 
the  original. 

♦  Thus  Richtw's  Ilaiishcbel  says,  with  vehement 
consistency  in  aa  erroneous  prophetic  sysleni. 


slitution  is  intimated,  in  which  the  people  ]wA^p.s 
and  rules,  tiie  multitude  has  the  govern- 
ment and  authority.  Whether  this  points 
formally  to  a  "  democratically  organized  " 
church  establishment  in  states  similarly  demo- 
cratical,  cannot  be  determined  ;  this  may  be 
included  with  reference  to  its  final  form.  In 
general,  Meyer's  remark  is  correct — "  Periods 
of  Revolutions  in  Church  and  State" — tlie 
meaning  expresses  authority  from  below  up- 
wards, and  the  rule  of  arms,  which  is  in  fact 
the  most  appropriate  ground  and  scene  of  rich, 
satisfied,  lukewarm  quasi-Christianity. 

I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the 
fire,  that  thou  mayest  he  rich ;  and  ivhite  raiment, 
thai  thou  mayest  he  clothed,  and  that  the  shame 
of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear  ;  and  eye-salve 
to  anoint  thine  eyes,  that  thou  mayest  see. 
There  is  counsel  and  help  even  for  Laodicea, 
if  in  the  last  hour  Laodicea  will  receive  counsel 
unto  repentance  and  conversion.  But  how 
many  will  be  wilLng  to  receive  it,  the  alone- 
helping  counsel  of  the  true  Witness  and  faith- 
ful Shepherd?  In  \\\'i  last  pastoral  epistle  he 
no  longer  commands  those  who  are  almost  es- 
tranged from  his  voice ;  he  gives  only  good 
counsel,  in  which,  on  the  one  hand,  we  cannot 
fail  to  perceive  something  ironical — //'  thou 
wilt  yet  hear  me;*  while,  on  the  other,  the 
words  are  the  faithtiil,  earnest  purpose  of  the 
love  of  this  great  Counsellor.  It  sounds  as 
another  deep  sigh — Oh  that  thou  wouldst  yet 
hear  me  !  The  series  which  follows  is  in  har- 
mony, as  with  the  irony,  so  with  the  convinc- 
ingness of  the  loving  reproof:  it  first  oflfers  the 
needed  riches,  then  the  needed  covering,  and 
finally  the  knowledge  of  their  need  ;  so  that  tho 
good  counsel  must,  in  fact,  be  received  in  the 
inverse  order.  "  Art  thou  poor,  I  can  help 
thee  out  of  thy  poverty  ;  thy  nakednes  I  can 
and  will  cover,  then  wilt  thou  attain  thy  riches  ; 
but  before  all  it  is  necessary  that  thou  shouldst 
see  thy  poverty  and  nakedness,  that  thou  mayest 
look  for  and  stretch  out  thy  hands  to  receive 
my  help."  Hence  we  observe  tiiat  the  gold,  in 
its  connection  with  the  garments  of  righteous- 
ness, of  a  holy  life,  must  not  be  too  specifically 
interpreted  oi faith  (1  Pet.  i.  7) — nor  of  wisdom, 
as  coming  from  the  word  and  revelation  of  God 
(Prov.  viii.  10-18;  Job  xxviii.  15-19;  Psa. 
xii.  7),  Vi'liich  coincides  rather  with  the  seeing 
eyes — but  generally,  embracing  in  one  all  that 
belongs  to  it,  of  the  genuine  riches  which  will 
stand  the  test  of  the  fire  of  judement  (literally 
— coming  confirmed  oj^iq/"  the  fire ).t  But  how 
can  man  buy  gold,  which  buys  all  else?  And 
what  price  must  the  poor  give  for  it  ?  Marvel- 
lous buying  indeed  it  is,  without  gold  and 


*  Even  Ebrard  dii>cerns  a  "  wonderful  touch 
of  sacred  irony  " — not  like  many  who  arbitrarily 
deny  the  possibility  of  irony  in  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

f  As  we  think  almost  with  allusion  to  Psa. 
Ixxii.  15,  where,  rightly  interpreted,  the  Great 
King,  who  livelh  ever,  will  give  to  the  poor  gen- 
uine gold :  comp.  Job  xxii,  25. 


942 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  LAODICEA. 


without  price,  as  Isa.  Iv.  1  (where,  too,  in  ver. 
4  the  fait liful  Witness  is  set  belore  us)  speaks 
of  it ;  yet  it  is  a  buying  at  the  cost  of  all 
imagined  riches,  by  the  offering  up  of  our  entire 
poverty,  and  all  the  pride  that  clings  to  it 
(Prov.  iv.  7,  in  the  original,  "  at  the  cost  of  all 
thy  having").  Fireproof*  gold  and  posses- 
sions buy  of  me,  the  Lord  says  with  emphasis  ; 
not  false  treasure  from  others,  from  deceitful 
traders  and  seducers.  The  way  to  obtain  it  is 
by  the  putting  on  of  the  garments  which  hide 
the  shame  of  our  nakedness  (Ezek.  xvi.  22; 
Gen.  iii.  7),  garments  which  the  Lord  alone  can 
and  will  give,  and  which  are  at  the  same  time 
white  and  glorious.  But  before  all  there  must 
be  the  true  opening  of  the  eyes,  self-knmclejge, 
which  leads  to  the  knowledge  of  God  (Eph.  i. 
18).  Probably  not  without  some  allusion  to 
the  history  of  the  blind  man,  John  is.,  does  the 
Lord  speak  here  from  heaven. t 

As  many  as  I  love,  J  rebul-e  and  chasten :  he 
zealous,  therefore,  and  repent.  Here  the  true 
and  faithful  Witness  utters  a  principle  which, 
throughout  the  whole  of  Scripture,  has  been 
declared  to  be  fundamental  in  the  dealings 
of  God  with  men.  The  "  reproof"  which  con- 
vinces by  word,  and  reclaims  from  error  (as 
the  Holy  Spirit  reproves  the  world,  and 
Jesus  has  here  reproved  the  Laodiceans),  is 
certainly  included  in  the  former  of  these  two 
words;  but  this  word  itself,  as  connected  with 
the  second,  means  also  actual  judgments;  pun- 
ishments designed  by  grace  for  good,  whole- 
some disciplinary  chastisement.  ^This  is  the 
fundamental  meaning  of  the  old  saying,  which 
is  found  in  Job  v.  17,  18  (not  meant  merely 
as  in  Psa.  xciv.  12) ;  and  still  more  plainly  re"- 
produced  in  the  New  Testament,  Heb.  xii.  5,  6, 
Irom  Prov.  iii.  11,  12  (comp.  Prov.  xiii.  24  ; 
Ecclus.  XXX.  1).  Ebrard  explains  that  "judi- 
cial inflictions  are  not  here  threatened  to  the 
Laodiceans,  the  fear  of  which  might  urge  them 
to  repentance;  but  that  the  past  rebukes  and 
threatenings  are,  as  it  were,  affectingly  apolo- 
gized for,  as  having  proceeded  from  love."  I 
confess  that  this  is  to  me  too  mild  and  affect- 
ing. Can  we  suppose  that  for  Laodicea  alone 
there  was  such  a  gentle  apology  reserved — as 
it  were,  almost  retracting  the  tlireatening — in 
manner  so  different  from  that  of  all  the  other 
epistles?  In  that  case,  Laodicea — which  heard 
at  the  outset  tho  piercing  denunciation,  I  will 
spue  thee  of  my  mouth— would  receive  no 
further  threatening  (which  Ephesus,  Pergamos, 
Thyatira,  Sardis  received,  however),  but  only 
a  deprecatory  apology.  Was  Laodicea  to  be 
brought  back  to  rectitude  by  rebuking  words 
alone ;  and  by  such  as,  commencing  with — 
Thou  art  nanaeoui  to  me,  ending  with — These 
things  I  say  because  I  love  iheeJ  We  think 
that  the  whole  pas.sage,  Heb.  xii.  7-11,  sufli- 


ciently  determines  the  meaning  of  (he  chastise* 
ment,  of  which  the  saying  of  Solomon,  quoted 
here  as  there,  speaks.*  To  Laodicea,  there- 
fore, the  Lord  would  say:  "I  must  and  will 
strengthen  my  rebuking  word,  in  order  that  it; 
may  convict  and  recover  thee,  with  strokes  and 
sharp  discipline  ;  for  thus  do  /  deal  (which  is 
prominent  in  the  original) — as  ruling  in  the 
place  of  the  paternal  God — with  all  whom  I  love,  f 
according  to  that  ancient  and  true  word."  The 
word  used  to  denote  this  love  is  the  mora 
general  one  ;  less,  here  at  first,  than  the  intenser 
love  of  acknowledgment  and  complacency  J 
Thus,  this  conclusion  of  the  ^(i*<  pastoral  epistle, 
which  is  the  severest  in  its  commencement, 
gives  a  solution,  applicable  to  all  of  them,  of 
the  gracious  design  of  all  the  threatenings  de- 
nounced ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  holds  out  the 
doom  of  eternal  condemnation — 7/"  thou  repent 
not.  For  ver.  19  is  not  merely  connected  with 
the  rebukes  and  counsel  which  precede  ;  but 
(and  this  must  not  be  overlooked)  still  more 
closely  with  what  follows  :  I  stand  before  the 
door,  as  Judge  also,  as  we  shall  see.  The  second 
clause  unites  itself  with  the  first  by  the  inter- 
vening thought — "  Thus,  by  rebukes,  punish- 
ments, chastisements,  wholesome  and  merciful 
punishment,  I  call  to  thee  to  he  zealous  and  re- 
pent." Luther's  "  fleissig  "  is  not  enough  :  tho 
Greek  word  is  more  than  ddigent ;  it  refers  to 
the  burning  zeal  wi'h  which  repentance  must 
be  set  upon,  and  may  be  translated — Be  hot, 
thou  htlcewarm  one ^ 

Behold.  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knocJc :  if 
any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I 
tvill  come  in  to  him,  and  icill  sup  icifh  him,  and 
he  with  me.  Strictly  translated  it  is — I  have 
stood,  have  been  already  long  standing.  Cer- 
tainly, the  first  thought  which  rises  out  of  this 
word  is  that  of  the  announcement  of  the  Judge, 
who  is  ever  drawing  nearer,  and  who  as  gra- 
ciously as  solemnly  declares  his  coming :  we 
have  seen  that  this  judgment  draws  nearer  and 
nearer  as   the   epistles   proceed.  1|      Thus   an- 


*  nETtvponnEvov,  as  in  Zccli.  xiii.  t),  Sept. 

\  He  uses  a  peculiar  medical  word  for  eye-salve. 
KoWoi  [itov  or  xoKXvptoyy  like  woAAupz?,  of 
uncertain  origin;  j)repared,  according  to  a  pas- 
sage 01  G.deu,  from  a  Phrygian  sloue. 


*  Yet  in  both  cases  there  is  a  change  in  tho 
word.  Tlie  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  takes  the  word 
naidsvei  liom  Prov,  iii.  12  (not  the  wronjj 
reading,  Cod.  li.  EXeyxEt),  because  it  designs  to 
bring  out  specifically  the  idea  of  the  latherly 
naidsia:  the  jucxonyol,  connected  with  ir, 
speaks  plainly  enough  of  the  rod  so  frequent  in 
Solomon's  writings.  The  Lord,  speaking  to  Lao- 
dicea, appropriating  the  saying  to  himself  in  the 
first  person,  says,  iXeyx*^  ^«'  naiSEicD^ 
wherein  tl;ero  is  apparently  nothing  said  of 
stripes,  and  yet  he  certainly  means  the  same 
chastizing  and  disciplinary  punishments  which 
save,  by  wholesome  punishment  hero,  from  eter- 
nal condemn  ition  hereafter,  1  Cor.  xi.  3J. 

t  Again  strensthened  by  odoVi  lay  instead 
of  uy  yap  in  Solomon. 

X  Solomon  has  ay  an  a — instead  of  that  it  is 
here  (piXsl.  Compare,  on  these  synonyms,  our 
exposition  of  John  xx.  15-17. 

^  Z)'}Xm6 oy  (hiyc\\m.  P.tjXevE) — for  cJ/JAo?, /t-r- 
vor,  comes  from  ^ego. 

II  Bengel :  "  As  if  a  good  friend  should  let  ma 


EEV.  III.  14-22. 


943 


nouncing  himself,  he  stood  indeed  from  the  be- 
ginning at  the  door ;  but  that  he  now  so  speaks 
of  it,  as  he  had  not  yet  before  spoken — even 
that  is  his  last  and  most  direct  knocking.  While 
in  Laodicea  "  the  people  think  they  are  silting 
in  judgment,  without  marking  Ihat  they  stand 
before  the  awful  judgment-seat"* — he  an- 
nounces himself  most  faithfully  as  a  Judge  and 
Saviour,  either  as  each  will  receive  him.  Not 
merely  distributively — "  as  a  Judge  to  some,  as 
a  Saviour  to  others  "f — but  in  both  characters 
to  every  man.  There  seems  to  us  to  be  a  plain 
echo  of  the  words  of  our  Lord,  Luke  xii.  36-40, 
when  this  great  alternative  is  exhibited  to  the 
servants.  What,  then,  is  the  knocking  f  It  is, 
as  we  have  said,  the  nearest  announcement  at 
last  of  his  nearness,  with  reference  to  all  the 
announcements  which  had  already  preceded. 
Gossner  disturbs  the  sense  by  his  exposition — 
"  And  if  thou  hearest  not  the  knocking,  I  will 
speak  to  thee  ;"  for  the  voice,  mentioned  at  the 
same  lime,  which  should  be  heard,  is  this 
knocking  itself;  although,  thus  understood, 
there  is  an  abundant  fulness  of  meaning  wrap- 
ped up  in  this  comprehensive  kernel-word.  We 
shall  not  do  justice  to  its  exposition,  if  we  wil- 
fully neglect  the  manifold  application  which  the 
Spirit  provided  for  in  this  saying.  All  his 
chastising  visitations  were  knockings  with  his 
voice ;  and  he  will  loudly  and  urgently  call 
Laodicea,  while  still  chastising.  Nevertheless, 
we  must  distinguish  from  this  the  proper  voice 
of  the  inmost  calling  and  exhortation  ;  while,  on 
the,  other  hand,  all  may  be  considered  as  one 
voice  together.  Let  it  be  observed  that  he, 
who  hath  the  keijs,  stands  icithout  on  account 
of  human  freedom  ;  and  must  seek  entrance  into 
his  own  possession.  Alas  !  he  would  fain  enter 
to  the  supper,  and  not  come  to  the  judgment. 
When  Pilate  asked  the  question,  what  is  truth  ? 
the  Amen  himself  stood  before  the  door  of  his 
heart.  All  his  testimonies,  all  his  threatenings 
and  chastisements,  are  accompanied  by  the  in- 
ward voice  of  the  faithful  Witness,  saying  in 
his  love — Behold,  it  is  I,  and  my  heart  is  full 
of  love ;  open  then  to  me  !  Few,  however, 
have  ever  heard  the  voice  as  it  would  be  heard 
— very  lew  in  Laodicea.  This  is  found  in  the 
turn  of  expression — If  any  man,  in  the  same 
significant  meaning  as  John  xiv.  23  (the  ori- 
.ginal.  If  any  man.  loveth  me) ;  and  thus  the 
distinction  is  made  between  believers  and 
the  world,  comp.  John  viii.  51.  To  the  right 
hearing  belongs,  and  from  it  follows,  the 
opening  of  the  door,  as  obedience  meeting  the 
call  and  the  knocking — Open  unto  me  !  Goss- 
ner is  onco  more  much  mistaken,  when  he 
says — ■'  He  will  make  it  easier  still,  and 
himself  open."  Oh,  no;  that  he  cannot  do; 
else  why  should  he  stand  without?  The  ex- 
pression of  Acts  xvi.  14  which  also  has  its  true 


know,  I  am  in  the  village— before  the  conrfyard- 
door — at,  the  house-door — at  the  hall-door — on 
U,e  steps — at  the  chamber-door." 

*  Zeller,  3IomtsilaU,  1818,  No.  0. 

t  Zeller,  ibid. 


sense,  is  not  to  be  understood  as  abolishing 
that  first  self-decision  of  men  which  thft  Lord 
here  expressly  makes  the  condition  of  his  enter- 
ing. 

It  is  now  time,  after  having  considered  the 
general  meaning  of  this  wonderful  word,  to 
look  into  the  gracious  depth  which  the  second 
part  of  it  opens  up  to  us,  below  its  judicial  an- 
nouncement. He  that  heareth  the  graciously 
correcting  voice  of  the  Saviour-Judge,  sum- 
moning to  repentance;  he  that  voluntarily 
opens  the  door  of  the  heart,  before  the  door  of 
judgment  is  broken  in — with  him  will  he  hold 
the  supper.  The  most  direct  reference  to  the 
great  marriage  supper  (chap.  xix.  7,  9)  is  inter- 
woven with  the  secret,  blessed  pre-festival 
which  is  appointed  and  prepared  lor  his  dis- 
ciples in  all  time — in  order  that  we  might  have 
a  word  here,  which  the  Spirit  may  preach  to 
the  churches  of  every  age.  As  the  knocking 
of  the  Judge  is  combined  in  one  with  the 
knocking  ot  the  friend  of  the  Beloved  (Cant.  v. 
2) — so  the  final  feast  of  victory  and  joy  is  com- 
bined with  "the  internal  supper,"  as  this  is  its 
type,  and  earnest  and  foretaste.  Although  tha 
German  "  das  Abendmahl,"  tha  Supper,  doea 
not  literally  correspond  to  the  original,*  yet 
the  reference  of  the  significance  to  the  sacra- 
ment is  periectly  correct,  for  the  word  is  both 
here  and  chap.  xix.  taken  from  it.  All  the 
communion  and  confirmation  sermons  on  this 
text  are  correct  which,  leaving  out  of  sight  the 
special  prophetic  meaning  in  it,  speak  of  the 
internal  truth  of  fellowship  between  those  wlio 
open  the  door  and  their  Lord.  For,  in  oppo-i- 
lion  to  the  external  sacrament,  specifically  des- 
ecrated in  Laodicea  by  the  forgeifulness  of 
this  truth,  the  Lord  speaks  of  its  internal 
reality  here.  How  impressively  this  speaks 
against  the  Lutheran  exaggeration  of  an  un- 
thinking reception  on  the  part  of  unbelievers, 
we  have  elsewhere  expressly  shown.!  Wo 
may  gather,  even  from  this  text,  what  is  true 
even  of  the  mere  external  sacrament,  as  cele- 
brated in  fallen  Christendom — that  there  is  for 
all  an  earnest,  repeated,  and  affectionate  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  heart ;  though  he  enters 
only  to  those  who  open  to  him. 

"  I  will  come  into  him,"  he  says,  "  and  hold 
the  supper  with  him,  and  Jie  icilh  me."  En- 
tirely in  harmony  with  the  discourses  of  the 
Lord  in  John  ;  comp.  John  xiv.  20,  xv.  4,  vi. 
66.  Only  when  a  man  opens  to  him,  does  he 
enter  in;  again,  only  when  he  keeps  the  sup- 
per with  us,  can  we  keep  it  with  him  ;  that  is, 
only  when  he  spreads  the  table,  and  gives  him- 
self to  our  participation,  do  we  eat.  Not  as 
in  Zinzendorf's  loo  confident  paraplirase,  which 
loses  the  true  meaning—"  Then  will  we  feast 
together."  That,  to  speak  boldly,  the  Lord 
himself  feasts,  in  the  satisfaction  of  the  desire 
of  bis  love,  when  he  can  impart  himself  to  us, 
is  a  sacred  truth  which  cannot  well  be  intro- 


*  It  uses  a  verb — I  will  sup,  8Entvj}6ca. 
\  See  our  exposition  of  John  vi.  53. 


Ui 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  LAODICEA. 


duced  into  tins  passage.*  He  keeps  the  feast 
tcilk  vs  as  the  host ;  we  with  him  as  the  guests. 
Finally,  we  may  quote  the  striking  word  of  Rie- 
ger — "  What  a  contrast !  On  the  one  hand,  he 
who  rejects  the  Lord  being  an  object  of  such 
loathing  as  to  be  threatened  with  being  spued 
out  of  his  mouth  ;  and  he  who  hears  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  being  made  capable  of  being  his 
companion  at  his  table." 

To  him  that  cvercomeih  uiU  I  grant  <?  sit 
tcith  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame, 
and  am  set  dotcn  icith  my  lather  in  his  throne. 
The  words  now  reach  their  highest  point ;  so 
that  the  severe  rebuke  may  be  superabundant- 
ly counterpoised  by  the  most  attractive  pro- 
mise. "  To  sit  tcith  me  " — thus  the  words  con- 
nect themselves  with  what  precedes — "  not 
merely  at  my  table,  but  on  my  throne."  "  The 
crowns  become  loftier  and  more  beautiful  as 
the  epistles  pi'oceed ;  this  is  the  highest  and 
grandest  of  all"  (Herder).  To  the  first  church 
Paradise  was  shown,  as  the  Lord  himself  after 
the  victory  of  his  cross  entered  into  it;  to  the 
last  church  the  view  is  opened  up  even  to  the 
throne  on  which  he  finally,  as  it  Is  said,  seated 
himself.  This  is  more  than  the  twelve  thrones 
of  the  Apostles,  Matt.  xix.  28.  This  is  the 
sitting  together  with  him  itpon  his  throne — for 
every  one  that  overcometh.  He  overcame — 
this  we  find  echoed  so  early  as  chap.  v.  5,  and 
it  reminds  the  reader  of  Scripture  of  Heb.  xii. 
2.  The  conflict  of  those  who  overcome  as  his 
followers  is  severest  in  the  last  time  ;  therefore 
the  highest  crown  of  victory  is  expressly  ex- 
hibited to  all  in  Laodicea  who  should  rouse 
themselves  Irom  their  lukewarmness — though 
it  applies,  in  common  with  them,  to  all  who 
overcome.  That  this  sitting  with  him  upon 
the  throne — according  to  the  relative  meaning 
of  the  expression,  as  already  shown — does  not 
exclude  the  woishipping  service  oi  the  perfected 
servants  hefore  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb 
(chap.  XXI.  3),  is  obvious;  but  there  remains, 
nevertheless,  that  reigning  with  him  of  which 
Paul  speaks,  2  Tim.  u.  12,  and  that  participa- 
tion in  his  glory  of  which  the  Lord  himself 
speaks,  John  xvii.  22,  24.  The  promise  of  this 
royal  dominion  and  glory  appertains  to  the 
silting  at  his  table,  of  which  he  had  already 
spoken,  just  as  in  Luke  xxii.  29  the  appoint- 
ment ot  the  kingdom  is  connected  with  the  in- 
stitution of  the  sacrament. 

He  that  hath  an  car,  let  Urn  hear  what  the 
Spirit  sai'Ji  tino  the  churches.     That  which 


*  Thus  6ei7tJ'T'/6(a  here,  because  required  by 
the  wondenul  suljject — an  unusual  expresiioa  in- 
stead of  de'iTtvov  zoiJJCoj. 


the  Spirit  saith,  the  Lord  himself  saith  from 
the  throne,  as  his  last  directly  personal  word, 
chap.  xxi.  5-8,  will  sublimely  declare.  But, 
again,  even  this  personal  speaking  of  the  Lord, 
although  it  retains  its  distinction,  is  yet 
through  the  Spirit,  as  that  of  the  Lord  who  is 
the  Spirit  (2  Cor.  iii.  18).  Let  us  here  at  the 
conclusion  once  more  make  this  seven-fold  cry 
which,  as  the  sum  of  all  the  epistles  and  of  each, 
urges  us  to  remember  that  all  depends  on  hear- 
ing. On  hearing  hangs  all  faith,  all  repent- 
ance, all  love,  all  patience  and  hope,  all  ap- 
proval of  the  conquerors.  Whosoever  yet 
shall  incline  his  ear — though  sunk  in  Laodi- 
cean lukewarmness — may  yet  attain  to  the  sit- 
ting with  him  in  his  throne.  Write,  said  the 
Lord,  who  appeared  to  John.  That  which  he  dic- 
tated, the  Spirit  of  his  mouth  now  saith  ;  and 
we  hear — "  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  those 
that  hear  the  words  of  the  prophecy  "  (chap.  i. 
3).  What  is  said  applies  to  the  churches,  to  all 
generally  in  all  places  and  in  all  times,  as  they 
are  signified  by  these  seven — to  each  in  par- 
ticular that  which  is  its  own,  and  to  all,  all 
in  common — consequently,  also,  to  every  in- 
dividual who  hath  an  ear,  and  will  open  it. 
The  Spirit  who  writes  and  speaks  is  not  the 
spirit  of  John — although  he  used  the  instru- 
mentality of  John's  ear  and  hand — but  really 
and  truly  the  spirit  of  prophecy  as  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus  (chap.  xix.  10).  This  is  prov- 
ed and  certified  to  every  opened  ear  of  all  who 
are  sincere  and  willing  to  understand — by 
the  sublime  utterance  which  contains  sayings 
the  simple  might  of  which  is  as  gloriously 
convincing  as  the  great  "Let  there  be  light! 
and  there  was  light,"  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Book  of  God,  the  Book  of  books ;  by  the 
heart-disclosing,  conscience-piercing  power  of 
the  exhorting  word  ;  by  its  wonderful  typical 
and  symbolical  language,  laying  hold  of  the 
entire  ancient  Scripture,  glorifying  the  old  in 
every  case  anew,  profoundly  connecting  every 
individual  detail  with  the  great  whole  ;  by  its 
paradoxes  themselves,  which  are  an  ofience 
only  to  ignorance,  and  are  interwoven  for  the 
purpose  ol  repelling  blind  presumption  ;  finally, 
by  the  remarkable  prophetic  significance  of 
the  historical  and  geographical  names  of  places, 
before  provided  lor  in  the  divine  government. 
Thus  the  seven  epistles,  with  their  "  He  that 
hath  cars  to  hear,  let  him  hear!  "  are  placed 
first,  as  an  introduction  to  the  entire,  still  more 
mysterious  book.  And  with  this  book  itself 
— though  many  dark  places  may  remain  unil- 
lumined — every  one  will  be  more  at  ease,  in 
proportion  as  he  understands  and  lays  to  hearl  . 
those  epistles  which  preface  it. 


i  WILL  SHOW  THEE. 
(Eev.  IV.  1.) 


That  this  "first  "voice  is  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  himself,  and  not  of  an  angel,  we  have  al- 
ready considered,  and,  as  far  as  loe  may  under- 
stand, established.  He  who  speaks  now  is  not 
the  angel  who  in  chap.  i.  first  announced  the 
manifestation  of  the  Son  of  Man;  nor  he  who 
was  generally  the  instrument  of  communicat- 
ing the  whole  Revelation  of  John,  and  of  whom 
we  read  in  the  superscription,  chap,  i,  1 — as 
respects  this  latter,  it  has  even  been  very 
questionable  what  it  means.  This  expression, 
which  does  not  occur  again  till  the  conclusion, 
chap.  xxii.  6,  does  not  by  any  means  designate 
the  various  angels  who  come  forward  in  this 
book  of  visions ;  for  that  would  be  a  very 
strange  manner  of  speech.*  But  it  might  be, 
as  it  were,  the  "  body-angel  "  of  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  he  specifically  terms  "  Ilii  angel ;" 
Gabriel  (probably  since  the  annunciation  the 
guardian  angel  of  the  holy  child)  most  natu- 
rally having  the  prerogative  of  this  relation. 
Even  this  supposition,  which  we  do  not  ab- 
solutely reject,  admits  the  further  question, 
whether  all,  even  the  personal  mani testation, 
chap.  i.  13,  must  be  regarded  as  presented 
through  this  an  ^el,  which  to  m  is  by  no  means 
clear;  or,  whether  the  business  of  the  angel 
commences  here  in  chap,  iv.,  where  the  slwicing 
begins  (comp.  chap.  xxii.  6}.  Of  the  two  we 
should  prefer  the  latter ;  which,  however,  must 
be  consistent  with  chap.  iv.  1,  where  the  Lord 
says — I  will  show  thee,  through  mine  angel. 
But  there  remains  another  solution,  which, 
with  all  becoming  diffidence  in  such  a  matter, 
we  would  prefer  to  any.  When  we  read  in 
Acts  xii.  15  that  the  believers  said  to  Ehoda, 
who  persisted  that  it  was  Peter  himself  whose 
voice  she  knew,  It  is  his  angel,  the  connection 
necessarily  leads  us  to  that  meaning  of  the 
word  to  which  Meyer  devoted  a  separate  es- 
say.f  The  word,  namely,  may  signify  gener- 
ally, without  involving  the  specific  personality 
of  one  sent  as  distinct  from  the  sender,  a  send- 
ing, message,  intimation  ;%  and  the  Ciiristians 
who,  after  praying  for  Peter's  bodily  deliver- 
ance, were  strangely  unable  to  believe  that  it 
was  he,  declare  what  Pthoda  heard  to  be  a  spir- 
itual manifestation,  similarly  to  Luke  xxiv.  37 
— whether  Peter's  "  genius,"  so  to  speak,  was 
thought  of  as  identical  with  himself,  or,  more 
eimply,  his  sjAril  was  equivalent  to  his  '■  an- 


*  Grotius  :  "  Modo  per  nunc,  modo  per  ilium 
an_2elum." 

t  In  the  Biheldentiwgen  (Frankf.  1812) — a  work 
still  well  worth  reading. 

X  So  TC^h'O  in  its  fir^t  meaning,  and  numiua  in 
Latia.  " 


nounceraent,  or  token  "—as  the  common  peo- 
ple say  concerning  a  supposed  apparition  of 
the  dead.  Suffice  it  that  this  gives  us  a 
phrase  which  I  think  applicable  liere  in  the 
Apocalypse:  His  appearance — "the  raying 
forth  of  his  personality,"  which  is  not  itself 
another  person,  but  yet  not  Christ  himself  fully 
and  immediately.  Thus  we  are  to  understand 
the  revelation  which  is  not  only  not  percepti- 
ble to  our  senses,  but  not  fully  intelligible  to 
our  spirit  here  below  ;  it  is,  however,  some- 
thing much  more  intimate  than  when  the  law 
was  given  upon  Sinai  by  the  ministration  of 
actual  angels  (Col.  iii.  19).  This  "  by  his  an- 
gel," and  "  1  have  sent  mine  angel,"  do  not 
coincide  with  the  appearance  and  speaking  of 
individual  angels;  it  is  the  foundation  upon 
which  this  latter  rests,  the  revelation  itself 
which  proceeds  from  the  person  of  Jesus. 

AVe  thought  it  necessary  to  establish  this  be- 
forehand, ,in  order  that  it  might  convey  our 
most  distinct  protest  against  the  interpretation 
which  would  introduce  in  chap.  iv.  1  a  personal 
angel  distinct  from  Christ.  We  must  now 
carefully  consider  the  short  utterance  of  our 
Lord,  as  it  is  connected  with  what  precedes 
and  what  follows. 

After  this  I  saw — to  be  understood  simply 
and  literally  as  meaning  ,  "  After  hearing  and 
receiving  the  seven  epistles  dictated  to  me, 
concering  which  it  had  been  seven  times  said, 
Write!"  Many  assume  here,  and  often  be- 
tween the  various  visions,  an  interval  dividing 
them  ;  as  if  "after  this"  meant  "  alter  a  cer- 
tain time,  yet  once  again."  AVe  see  no  reason 
for  this,  but  regard  all  as  exhibited  at  once  and 
in  direct  succession;  otherwise,  some  intima- 
tion would  have  been  given  of  such  intervals. 
That  John,  in  order  to  write  down  the  epistles 
at  once,  lapsed  back  in  the  interval  to  his  or- 
dinary consciousness,  and  then  anew  (accord- 
ing to  ver.  2)  passed  into  trance,  we  cannot 
believe,  since  the  seeing  and  hearing  of  ver.  1 
supposes  him  to  be  still  "  in  the  spirit."  It  is 
not  said — And  I  wrote  these  epistles  as  was 
said  to  me,  and  afterwards  saw.  The  same 
Spirit  who  elevated  the  seer  to  see,  gave  him 
also  the  power  of  remembering  what  he  saw, 
in  order  "afterwards  to  write  it  down:  this 
alone  is  appropriate  in  itself  and  conform- 
able with  chap.  i.  11.  Thus  after  this— that 
is,  after  the  first  manifestation  of  the  Lord  had 
vanished  from  siglit,  and  only  the  dictating 
voice  through  the'Spirit  or  in  the  Spirit  pro- 
I  ceeded — John  sem  again  other  things,  and  at 
once  records  it  with  the  prophetic — Behold  a 
door  in  heaven  opened  (was  before  me,  or 
shown  to  me).  Not  "tens  opened  " — for  he  no 
more  saw  the  opening  of  the  door  than  he  saw 

yi5 


946 


I  WILL  SHOW  THEE. 


the  throne  set  be''ore  his  eyes*  Both  were  at 
once  present,  visible  before  him.  The  open  door 
according  to  tlie  appearance  in  the  visible 
heaven,  according;  to  the  corresponding  real- 
ity in  heaven,  is  here  not  altogether  the  same 
which  Stephen,  Acts  vii.  55,  saw ;  but  it  may  an- 
swer to  the  opening  of  heaven  to  Ezekiel,  who 
records,  chap.  i.  1 — The  heavens  were  opened, 
and  I  saw  visions  of  God.  We  may  profitably 
refer  this  to  the  great  truth,  that  through 
Christ  the  heavens  were  more  and  more  fully 
opened  to  rs,  from  the  words  of  John  i.  51  up 
to  their  full  opening  in  the  ascension.  But 
this  general  interpretation  is  only  the  founda- 
tion for  that  specific  opening  of  the  heaven 
which  is  here  spoken  of,  for  beholding  in  the 
spirit.  John  was  in  the  spirit,  chap.  i.  10; 
and  then  through  the  manifestation  of  the 
Lord  was  exalted  still  higher  in  the  spirit; 
then  again  he  is  e::ulted  a  step  higher  (for 
trance  and  inspiration  have  many  degrees)  by 
the  repeated  cry  of  the  first  trumpet-voice,  in 
which  the  Lord  here  speaks  to  him.f 

Come  vp  hither.,  and  I  ivill  slioio  tliee  tuings 
tridch  must  he  hereafter.  Tiiis  brief  word  is 
the  majestic  and  most  significant  introduction 
to  all  "that  follows.  What  preceded  had  been 
shown  to  him,  and  had  passed,  as  still  upon 
earth.  Now  he  must,  not  in  body,  but  in 
spirit,  (JO  vp  to  the  opened  door  of  heaven  ;  that 
is,  be  altogether  translated  and  exalted  to  the 
contemplaiion  of  heavenly  things,  the  symbols 
of  which,  apprehensible  by  him  and  the  Church, 
the  Lord  will  show  him.  In  the  strength  of 
this  word,  and  at  the  same  time  in  obedience  to 
it,  he  immediately  rises;  so  that  we  read  in 
ver.  2,  "And  inimediately  I  w&s in i/ies2nrit."X 
This  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  highergrade  ;  as,  for 
example,  in  the  case  of  Ezekiel,  chap.  xi.  1,  5. 
The  Apostle  was  step  by  step  prepared  and 
purified,  by  the  laying  of  the  right  liand  upon 
Iiim  after  "the  terror  of  his  mortal  nature  unto 
death,  by  the  heart-revealing  exhortations  and 
sublime  promises  of  the  epistles,  into  a  perfect 
capacity  for  beholding  all  that  follows  :  this 
seems  far  more  appropriate  than  the  assumption 
of  an  interval  oi'  ordinary  consciousness,  and 
the  writing  of  the  epistles.  From  this  time  all 
goes  on  in  one  connected  trance,  one  scene  re- 
solving another,  imtil  the  new  Jerusalem,  the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  one  word  from  the  throne,  chap.  xxi. 
5-S,  which,  as  it  were,  breaks  in  to  interrupt, 
there  is  no  more  personal  speaking  on  the 
Lord's  part ;   but  a  sJivicing  in  the  manner  of 


*  Gr.  sxetTo,  as  in  John  ii,  6,  xix.  29. 

t  Chap,  i.   10-13.      Tlie  Pii-ya>v  (Ueb.  ibx^) 

which  is  added  to  the  (poovn  and  Xa\ov6>??, 
marks  tiie  new  begiuniny  ol'  the  abrupt  mumicr 
of  speaking. 

t  Lacliniann  wilhout  reason  removes'  liEzd 
TaCra  from  ver.  1,  carrying  it  on  to  ver.  '2  ;  but 
Tischendorf  does  not  follow  him,  tliougli  he  also 
reads  EiOiooi  without  nai. 


symbolical  visions  down  to  the  last  And  fie 
shoiccd  me,  chap.  xxii.  1  (compare  witli  this 
chap.  xvii.  3,  xxi.  10).  But  first  John  sees  the 
tlirone  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  with  the 
seven  Spirits,  of  which  the  last  promise,  chap, 
iii.  21,  had  spoken  ;  now  without  a  veil,  corre- 
sponding with  the  mercy-seat  in  the  earthly 
temple.  Come  up  hither — saith  he  who  dwellelh 
and  is  enthroned  in  heaven — who  by  his  as- 
cending first  changed  the  closed  and  distant 
"there"  of  the  children  of  men  into" hers;" 
who  in  his  humiliation  himself  knew  not  the 
time  and  hour  of  all  those  things  which  now 
he  can  and  will  show  as  the  Lord  "  to  his 
servants."  I  will,  I  shall  shoio  thee.  This 
word  in  iJiis  place,  embracing  the  whole  reve- 
lation, is  altogether  appropriate  only  to  Christ 
himself.  In  due  time  particular  angels  may 
show  what  was  particularly  committed  to  them  ; 
but  now  he  summons  his  servant  upwards  with 
the  promise.  "  What  shall  be  hereafter  " — this 
connects  itself  with  the  first  words  in  chap.  i. 
19.  Hereafter,  or  literally,  after  this,  proceeds 
from  the  then  present  time,  and  teaches  us  that 
the  visions  thus  referred  to,  relate  not  merely  to 
far  distant  times,  but  that  their  fulfillment  em- 
braces all  time  from  the  then  presput.  It  gives 
us  the  right  interpretation  of  the  prophetic 
formula  "  shortly,"  chap.  i.  1  and  chap.  xxii. 
6.  In  those  first  words,  chap.  i.  19,  the  things 
that  are  came  first.  This  is  wanting  here,  be- 
because  it  is  self-understood  in  "I  will  show 
thee;"  for  (according  to  the  meaning  which  we 
there  established)  the  future  has  its'foundation 
in  the  present.  That  which  shall  and  nmst  take 
place  upon  earth,  in  the  evolution  of  time,  pro- 
ceeds only  from  that  which,  as  a  higher  reality, 
is  already  present  in  heaven,  and  can  be  shown. 
Above  is  already  pre-typified  all  that  the  future 
will  unfold  to  us ;  as  the  idea  of  the  world  and 
its  history  was  present  in  God  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  So  far  as  we  are  car- 
ried np  thither,  through  the  revelation  and  tho 
showing  which  removes  the  veil  and  reveals 
the  events,  so  far  we  know  the  future  reserved 
from  human  eye.  To  ascend  into  heaven,  is  m 
its  nature  to  prophesy  for  earth. 

Let  us  read  and  learn,  so  shall  we  also  see 
and  hear  ;  then  will  to  us  also  the  heavens  be 
opened,  and  thereby  "  all  things  in  the  invisible 
world  will  be  shown  as  present,  living,  moving 
action — as  far  as  it  belongs  to  the  collective 
revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  glory"  (as 
Ptieger  profoundly  and  trulj'  expresses  himself). 
If  wc  open  the  door  of  our  hearts  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  as  the  last  epistle  requires,  at  the  close, 
he  will  open  the  door  of  heaven  to  each  of  us 
according  to  his  capacity  and  need,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  his  gift ;  so  that  we  shall 
in  the  general,  if  not  with  the  specific  under- 
standing of  him  to  whom  it  was  shown  in  Pat- 
mos,  behold  and  understand  the  conflict  and 
victory  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  Christ,  and 
what  shall  be  from'this  time  to  the  end.  Tlius 
the  Lord's  word  gives  free  permission  to  the 
desire  of  us  all  to  look  into  his  great  futurity. 


FINAL  WORD  FROM  THE  THRONE 


(Rev.  XXI.  5-8.) 


Iti  t!ie  introduction  we  explained  cjenerally 
v.-liy  we  single  out  this  word  as  the  immediate 
saymg  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven,  in  con- 
tradistinction from  all  else  that  John  had  seen 
and  heard.  Our  remarks  upon  chap.  iv.  1 
hav^  made  h,  we  hope,  still  plainer;  and  now 
our  final  exposition  of  the  last  word  will  re- 
move any  remaining  obscurity. 

I  tcill  ulioio  thee — said  the  Lord  to  John  ;  and 
he  has  shown  him  all;  this  book  of  visions 
comes  to  its  end.  The  seer  has  seen  and  heard 
in  manifold  symbols  and  voices— with  clear  and 
intelligible  words  intervening,  which  shine  as 
lights  in  the  prophetic  darkness — all  that  upon 
v/hich  the  n;ost  gifted  and  humble  exposition 
can  do  no  more  than  spell  the  meaning  out, 
until  one  day  the  fulfillment  glorifies  the  pro- 
phecy, and  God's  Book  will  be  read  clearly 
from  the  end  of  it  backwards.  There  has  been 
shown  to  the  seer  the  future  already  present 
before  God,  the  heavenly  and  the  earthly — the 
upper,  with  its  mysteries  and  powers  for  the 
lower,  with  its  gVatulations  of  victory  and 
plagues  of  wrath  ;  the  powers  out  of  the  abyss, 
the  great  conflict,  and  the  glorious  victory.  He 
has  seen  the  throne  with  its  living  creatures 
and  elders — the  Lamb  in  his  glory — the  blessed 
with  their  palms  and  harps — the  seven  seals 
with  their  judgments  before  the  great  day  of 
wrath — the  seven  trumpets  with  their  plagues 
and  woes — the  two  witnesses— the  temple  in 
heaven — the  woman  in  the  wilderness — the 
might  of  the  dragon  in  the  beast — the  angel 
with  the  everlasting  Gospel — the  patience  of 
the  saints,  and  the  smoke  of  torment — the  last 
vials  of  wrath  below,  in  apposition  with  the 
song  on  the  crystal  sea  above — the  great  whore 
on  her  breast — Babylon's  fall  and  the  marriage 
of  the  Lamb — the  victory  and  binding  of  Satan, 
and  the  kingdom  of  the  first  resurrection — the 
final  insurrection  afterwards,  and  the  last  judg- 
ment— the  neir>  Jeruinlem  in  the  new  world. 
All  has  hitherto  proceeded  upwards  in  grada- 
tion ;  but  now  he  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
speaks  above  all  the  angels,  and  above  all  other 
voices  that  had  proceeded  from  him,  a  glorious 
word.  Then,  with  a  description  more  lull  and 
complete  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  and  the  con- 
cluding sayings  of  the  Spirit,  the  whole  book  is 
brought  to  a  close. 

Stephen  saio  the  Lord  upon  the  throne;  but 
at  that  crisis  any  word  would  have  been  inap- 
propriate. John,  at  the  corresponding  end, 
hears  the  voice  from  the  throne,  after  he  has 
seen  and  heard  much  that  was  great  and  full 
of  the  final  glory,  chap.  xxi.  1-4.  The  new 
heaven  inclines  to  the  new  earth ;  the  heavenly- 
earlhlv  new  Jerusalem  is  the  bond  of  connec- 
947 


tion.*  The  upper  congregation,  which  alrea^^y 
keeps  the  marriage-feast,  begins  llie  govern- 
ment for  the  healing  of  the  nations  who  had 
not  fallen  in  the  judgment.  Nov/,  more  clearly 
than  to  Ezekiel,  is  shown  to  him  the  c\[y  icith- 
Old  a  temple,  with  the  name,  Here  is  the  Lord 
with  his  people  (Ezek.  xlviii.  35).  The  blessed- 
ness of  its  inhabitants  the  voice  to  John  could 
only  negatively  describe :  There  is  no  more 
death,  and  no  more  sorrow.  That  indeed  was 
the  first ;  the  overcomers  have  all  come  out  of 
much  tribulation,  as  the  Lamb,  the  Captain  of 
their  salvation,  came  out  of  blood  and  death. 
But  the  former  things  are  passed  away;  the 
last  and  the  neio  is  come.  So  the  seer  beholds 
it;  and  thus  does  the  Lord  speak  of  it. 

And  he  that  sate  (or  sits)  upon  the  throne 
said.  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new.  Here  the 
"loud  voice  from  heaven "f  is  followed  and 
surpassed  by  a  word  from  the  sitter  upon  the 
throne  himself  (chap.  xx.  11)— which  we  may 
justly  claim  as  a  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  the 
Son  oi  God.  Manv,  indeed,  think  that  here  (for 
the  first  and  only"time)  God  the  Father  speaks, 
and  they  refer  to  chap.  iv.  2,  9,  10,  v.  1,  7,  13. 
There,  certainly,  to  John  was  shown— alter  the 
example  of  Daniel— the  eternal  Father  as  per- 
sonally sitting  upon  the  throne,  to  whom  the 
incarnate  Son,  the  Lamb,  was  brought;  but 
since  even  there  (chap.  v.  13)  all  creatures 
gave  like  adoration  to  him  that  sate  upon  the 
throne  and  to  the  Lamh,  there  can  be  no  more 
a  distinction  of  the  Father's  person  when  in 
subsequent  visions  the  throne  is  concerned. 
The  perfected  assumption  of  the  Lamb  to 
conjoint  sitting  thereupon  recurs  soon,  in 
chap.  vii.  10,  11 ;  where,  down  to  ver.  17,  the 
"  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne"  is  inter- 
woven with  all  worship  on  our  part,  and  with 
all  the  promised  acts  of  God  towards  us.  So 
we  must  understand  the  throne  of  light  in 
chap.  XX.  11,  from  which  the  judgment  goes 
forth  ;  for  the  Father  hath  committed  all  judg- 
ment to  the  Son  (John  v.  22,  27).  The  Lord, 
even  in  his  humiliation,  had  spoken  of  this, 
Matt.  XXV.,  Then  will  the  Son  of  Man  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  his  glory  ;  and  how  could  John 
behold  any  other  vision  than  that?  Si^milarly, 
in  conclusion,  we  read,  chap.  xxii.  1,  3,  of  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb ;  and  when  the 
"  seeing  of  his  face"  is  spoken  of,  we  know  full 


*  So  in  JIatt.  v.  ?A,  85,  the  symbolical  city 
stands  thus  inteimediately. 

f  According  to  a  re.iding  now  aocepted;  to 
which,  however,  we  would  i)refer  another  :  From 
the  Uu-one;  literally,  out  of  the  throne,  as  is  meant 
in  chap.  vi.  6,  xix.  5,  xvi.  1. 


913 


FINAL  WORD  FROM  THE  THP.ON; 


well  that  the  Son  is  "the  face  and  visible  image  " 
of  the  Father.  To  suppose  that,  in  this  inter- 
mediate chap.  Tix'i.  5,  he  that  speahth  is  not  the 
Son,  is  to  contradict  the  fundamental  tone  of 
this  whole  revelation.  It  is  -without  doubt  he 
whom  John  elsewhere  calls  the  Eternal  Word 
with  Gcd — who  terms  himself  at  the  end  of  the 
book.  chap.  xxii.  13,  once  more  "  the  Alpha  and 
the  Omega,"  just  as  here,  ver.  6,  from  the  throne 
— so  that  the  beginning  too,  chap.  i.  8,  must 
be  understood  accordingly.  That  for  the  rest, 
when  Christ  speaks,  it  is  God  in  Christ  who 
speaks,  God  throuc,h  Christ,  is  perfectly  self- 
understood. 

How  runs  the  £rst  word  of  the  last  saying 
from  the  throne?  With  the  simplest  expres- 
sion which  human  language  could  furnish  for 
the  most  sublime  and  comprehensive  of  all 
thoughts — with  a  Behold,  which  points  to  the 
«ec;inew  heaven  and  new  earth,  a  behold  which 
surpasses  all  the  many  "  beholds  "  of  this  book 
and  of  the  whole  of  Scripture — Imalce  all  things 
neiB ;  and  in  the  original,  in  this  expressive, 
untranslatable  order:  Neio — all  things  onalce  I. 
Not  only  the  city  which  thou  beholdest ; 
heaven  also,  and  earth,  aZ^  things  nG\7.  This  is 
immeasurably  moi-e  than  the  early  and  distant 
prelude  in  Isa.  xliii,  18, 19,  when  the  New- 
Testament  economy  generally  v/as  compre- 
hended in  one  antithesis  to  the  previous  typi- 
cal dispensation — although  even  there  the  end 
(new  heavens  and  new  earth,  Isa.  Ixv.  17)  was 
included  in  that  glance  forward  from  the  begin- 
ning, just  as  here  the  last  words  from  the  throne 
concerning  the  end,  looking  back,  embraced 
also  the  beginnings.*  The  new  creation  in 
the  individual  regenerate,  2  Cor.  v.  17,  is  the 
fundamental  beginning,  and  is  the  slow  con- 
tinuation which  v/ins  the  victory  ;  for  a  human 
heart  is  harder  to  change  than  the  heavens  and 
earth.  When  the  whole  company  of  the  saved, 
the  collective  "bride"  (previously,  ver.  2), hath 
been  made  ready  with  her  adornments,  then  is 
all  this  v,'ork  of  preparation  complete — then 
will  one  mighty  word  of  her  husband  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  heaven  and  earth  new. 

But  those  who  would  gather  from  this  iso- 
lated "all  things  new"  the  so-called  restitution 
of  all  things,  the  final  salvation  of  all,  even  of 
the  devil  and  his  angels,  the  conversion  even 
of  hell  into  a  heaven  of  the  glory  of  God — a 
doctrine  contradicted  by  the  whole  of  Scripture 
— have  no  ground  here  to  rest  upon  ;  for  very 
soon,  in  ver.  8,  we  hear  the  fearfully  protesting 
word  concerning  the  lake  of  brimstone  and 
fire,  the  second  death,  as  actually  the  conclu- 
sion of  all.  As  in  Eph.  i.  23  we  read  only  "  all 
in  all"  (not  in  all  thinga),  that  is,  in  a'U  the 
Ecetubers  of  the  body — and  1  Cor.  xv.  28  must 


*  Only  in  the  apocrvpTial  words  of  the  book  of 
Wisdom,  chap.  vii.  27,  do  wo  find  an  aj)proxima- 
tion  to  this  expression  :  The  cvorlastinii  Wisdom, 
who  can  do  all  things,  the  brightness  of  the  ever- 
lasting Light,  maJceth  all  thwrjs  vcw,  rrf  Ttn'vra 
Maivi^Ei — but  the  idea  is  there  very  waveiing, 
and  ind:sUr.cJy  conceived. 


be  understood  in  the  same  way — so  here  we 
find  it  not  written,  "  alt  creatures  new,"  or  "  all 
things  saved."  The  new-created  all  things  refer 
not  to  the  universe* — as  if  nothing  would  re- 
main unglorified ;  for  in  ver.  8,  and  again  ver. 
27,  and  lurther,  cliap.  xxii,  15,  there  is  a  fear- 
ful without,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  new  world 
and  the  city  of  God.  There  will  be  no  more 
death — in  the  new  Jerusalem.  There  will  be 
no  more  sea — as  sea  upon  the  new  earth.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  abyss  there  is  and  will 
ever  be  the  second  death.  We  might  indeed, 
say,  if  this  also  must  be  added  to  the  "all 
things,"  that  in  a  certain  sense  the  lake  of 
damnation  is  a  final  and  new  revelation  and 
confirmation  of  eternal  righteousness  and  judg- 
ment ;  but  we  prefer  the  undisturbed  reference 
of  the  expression  to  the  new  revelations  of 
glory. 

Hereupon,  once  more,  Andhesaith  (unto  me) 
then,  again.  And  he  said  unto  me.  Is  al!  this 
the  one  continuous  word  of  the  Lord  from  the 
throne,  as  many  understand?  If  so,  why  the 
repetition  T\  W''e  are  convinced  rather,  that 
another  voice  speaks  in  the  interim  ;  and  only 
in  ver.  6  the  Lord's  own  word  continues.  J  The 
intervening  angel  it  is  who  once  more,  lor  the 
third  time,  adiiiiS,  Write!  as  this  voice  occurred 
before  in  chap.  six.  9,  in  opposition  to  Write 
not !  chap.  x.  4.  Thus,  with  a  designed  dis- 
tinction, the  high  word  from  the  throne  is 
made  prominent ;  iov  the  Amen,  who  here  sit- 
tethon  the  throne,  it  would  have  been  here  un- 
befitting to  declare  again  the  truth  and  cer- 
tainty of  his  words.  The  assurance,  2'hese 
tcords  are  faithful  and  true  (Gr.,  true  and  to  be 
relied  on),  recurs  in  chap.  xxii.  6,  and  had  its 
more  simple  prelude  in  chao.  xix.  9.  To  our 
feeling,  at  least,  however  appropriate  as  the 
exclamation  of  the  angel,  it  is  not  in  harmony 
with  the  throne-style  of  him  who  Jiere  at  once 
follows  the  short  and  sublime  word  which  we 
have  heard  by  one  still  shorter  and  er^ually  sub- 
lime. 

It  is  donc.%  Lot  us  not  frigidly  paraphrase 
it,  as  exposition — It  is  done  as  certainly  as  if 
it  had  already  come  to  pass.  This  is  not 
enough,  and  does  not  reach  the  presentation  of 
the  future  before  the  Eternal  who  here  speaks, 
and  at  once  continues — 1  am  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega,  the  h:ginning  awl  the  end.  Once  before, 
at  the  seventh  vial  of  wrath,  a  voice  had  said, 
It  is  done  (chap.  xvi.  17).  That  was  spoken 
of  the  fall  of  Babylon  and  the  judgment  of 


*  IlavTa,  not  rd  itcivxay  as  the  took  of 
Wisdom  ir.coiTecLly  writes. 

t  For,  to  refer  it  to  the  Tiini:y  is  altogether  too 
far-fetched. 

%  The  \iyzi  intovvenin!?  is  distinsushcd  from 
tlie  ropetitioa  cf  the  first  r.iXL  iiitEv. 

\  We  hold  to  this  reading,  and  c.inrot  rr-concile 
ourselves  lo  the  yiyovav,  which  probably  came 
from  the  incorrect  VfyoJ'a.  "  The.sa  words  artf 
ah'cady  accomplished,  as  good  as  luifilled,"  would 
be  a  most  inaiipropriate  continuntioa,  oa  the  part 
of  our  Lord,  oi'  the  angel's  word. 


REV.  XXI.  5-8. 


949 


God.  Concerning  what  does  the  Lord  here  use 
the  same  word?  Manifestly  concerning  the 
completion  of  redemption  and  salvation,  the 
new  creation  unto  glory,  as  the  third  and 
greatest  It  is  finished,  which  points  back  to  the 
finished  upon  the  cross,  and  through  that  to 
the  finishing  of  the  first  creation.  Between 
the  Alpha  and  Omega  lies  all  the  successively 
evolved  and  yet  united  alphabet  of  all  letters, 
in  all  the  tongues  of  the  words  and  works  of 
God  ;  that  is,  the  whole  development  of  history, 
written  in  the  seven-fold  sealed  book  of  chap. 
V.  By  the  Son  was  in  the  beginning  the  cre- 
ation, in  the  middle  the  redemption,  and  at  the 
end  will  be  the  glorification,  of  the  redeemed  ; 
through  him  and  in  him  all  history  is  accom- 
flished,  for  the  solution  of  the  mysteries  of 
which  he  alone  is  the  key. 

Now  once  more — what  a  combination  !  His 
all-embracing  word  and  testimony  goes  back 
from  that  which  is  last  to  that  which  is  first  ; 
that  is  to  the  first  beginning  of  the  new  cre- 
ation in  every  one  who  thirsts  for  salvation. 
The  I,  twice  in  the  original  made  prominent — 
I  am,  /will  give — is  certainly  no  other  than 
the  I  of  the  Son  who  thus  speaks  throughout 
this  book.  1  will  give  unio  him  that  is  athirst  of 
the  fountain  of  the  water  of  life  freely.  The  things 
which  are  here  spoken  together,  are  spoken 
separately  in  chap.  xxii.  13,  17 ;  for  this  book 
abounds  in  the  repetition  of  great  fundamen- 
tal testimonies.  In  chap.  vii.  17  we  read  of 
living  fountains  of  life  (which  are  now  united 
in  one  fountain  and  stream,  as  in  chap.  xxii.  1) 
— there  following  the  prophetic  word,  Isa.  xlix. 
10,  yet  adding  the  interpretation  "  of  life," 
with  allusion  to  John  iv.  14,  we  shall  avoid 
any  useless  attempt  to  disturb  the  "figure" 
(as  it  is  termed)  by  so-called  explanation. 
He  to  whom,  as  athirst,  his  thirst  itself  does 
not  expound  it,  will  not  understand  it  even 
only  in  the  beginning ;  he  to  whom  the  fulfill- 
ment does  not  bring  it  at  the  end,  will  never 
understand  this  giving  to  drink  with  eternal 
life,  for  here  to  understand  is  to  experience. 
Thus  much,  however,  we  may  say  for  the  ex- 
position of  the  connection :  Although  the 
f)romising  word  from  the  throne  promises  the 
ast,  full  refreshment  of  those  who  have  con- 
quered in  the  conflict,  yet  it  connects  this  prof- 
lered  reward  with  the  first  decisive  beginning 
of  thirsting,  as  an  indispensable  condition. 
With  the  thirsting  the  giving  begins  and  goes 
on  increasingly,  as  the  thirsting  is  the  living 
impulse  throughout  the  whole  conflict,  becom- 
ing more  and  more  internally  vehement  in  its 
ardor  for  the  crown  of  victory.  But  all,  it 
must  be  carefully  observed,  is,  though  not 
without  our  desiring  and  receiving,  yet  ih&free 
gift  of  the  Lord,  his  pure  grace  without  any 
merit  of  ours.  To  hira  that  is  athirst — this 
looks  forward  from  the  verj'  beginning  to 
the  utmost  end.  He  that  overcometh — this 
looks  back  from  the  end  to  the  beginning ; 
which  simple  remark  of  itself  overturns 
the  strange  opinion  of  some  expositors,  that 
in  the  iollowing  ver.  7  God  the   Father  be- 


gins anew  to  speak  of  Christ,  the  Overcomer 
for  us  all. 

He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things  ; 
and  I  tvill  be  his  God,  and  he  shall  be  my  son. 
Here  once  more,  and  the  only  time  since  the 
seven  epistles,  is  this  siimulating,  attracting, 
and  more  elevated  he  that  overcometh.  (In  the 
middle  of  the  book,  chap.  xii.  11,  we  have 
once  mention  of  those  who  have  overcome.) 
This  similar  phraseology  shows  most  certainly 
that  Christ  is  speaking  here,  although  the 
promise  afterwards  strikingly  runs — He  shall 
be  my  (literally,  to  me  a)  son.  We  shall  see 
and  understand  why  this  is  said,  here  at  the 
end  of  Revelation,  where  the  co-enthroned 
Son,  delivering  up  all  to  the  Father  (1  Cor. 
XV.  24) — giving  back  himself  and  his  king- 
dom won,  as  it  were  his  inheritance,  absolutely 
to  God — on  that  very  account  speaks  as  God 
sitting  upon  the  throne,  while  he  nevertheless 
remains  the  Son,  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,*  He  himself,  who  first  overcame, 
speaks  thus  here  in  the  name  of  the  Father 
(who  forever  speaks  only  through  him)  of  the 
inheriting,  which  in  the  Old-Testament  type 
was  used  mostly  of  the  people  as  a  whole, 
though  sometimes,  in  anticipation  of  its  final 
fulfillment,  it  was  used  (e.  g.  Psa.  xxxvii.  9,  11, 
comp.  Matt.  v.  5),  as  here,  of  the  individuals. 
The  translation— ^He  shall  inherit  all  things — 
is  not  wrong,  though  springing  from  an  incor- 
rect reading.  The  right  reading  says— He 
shall  inherit  this,  these  things  ;  that  is,  all  the 
blessedness  and  glory  of  the  city  that  was 
shown,  the  water  of  life  from  the  inexhaustible 
fountain  of  my  eternal  being  communicated  to 
him,  the  new  world  (Rom.  iv.  13) — the  new- 
created  all  things.  Consequently,  the  transla- 
tion may  be  clearly  expressed  by  both — all 
these  things. 

I  will  be  his  God — this  goes  back  once  more 
to  the  first  great  promise  of  the  typical  begin- 
ning (Exod.  xix.  6,  XX.  2;  Lev.' xxxvii.  27), 
just  as  we  said  in  ver.  3.  The  "God  with 
them  "  (as  it  is  there,  not  without  signification) 
IS  fulfilled  only  in  him  who  is  called  Immanuel 
or  "  God  with  us."  But  here  we  have — in  a 
specific  application,  the  misunderstanding  of 
which  has  misled  the  expositors — the  promin- 
ent promise  of  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  given  indeed  to 
Christ,  but  to  hira  also  as  connected  with  his 
people  ;  for  in  the  Apocalypse  all  the  lines  of 
all  the  types  and  prophecies  run  together  to 
one  great  all-comprehending  end.  If,  as  the 
misunderstanding  which  we  have  referred  to 
expounds,  the  Overcomer  here  is  Christ  alone, 
of  whom,  the  Father  (strangely  enough,  now 


*  On  chap.  v.  6,  7,  ^feyer  snys,  correctly,  as  to 
its  deep  meaning  :  "  Here  we  see  a  double  angel, 
that  is,  manifestation  of  the  Son.  He  sitteth  upon 
the  throne  according  to  his  divinity  or  glorifica- 
tion ;  he  is  the  Lamb  according  to  his  suflfering 
humanity.  The  Father  is  not  manifested  save 
through  the  Son,  or  by  means  of  the  Son,  in 
whom  is  thf»  ground  of  all  manifestation,  and  who 
is  the  appearance  of  the  Father." 


950 


FINAL  WORD  FROM  THE  THRONE. 


after  the  overcoming)  spoke  these  words,  the 
quotation  would  have  remained  unaltered — I 
■will  be  to  him  a  Father.  But  this  is  not  its 
form  here;  it  is  changed  in  order  to  show 
(more  plainly  than  when  both  were  originally 
interwoven)  that  here  the  promise  to  Christ  is 
expressly  extended  to  all  his  saints,  precisely 
in  the  sense  of  the  last  promise  to  those  who 
overcome,  chap.  iii.  21.  This  is  the  truth 
which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  misunder- 
standing of  that  exposition:  Of  every  one 
who  overcomes  that  holds  good,  which  holds 
good  of  me.  Thus  wonderlully  are  both  in- 
terwoven in  the  fulfilled  reality  of  the  typical 
expression  ;  Christ  becomes  our  God,  as  the 
Father,  touching  his  humanity,  is  hh  God — 
every  one  of  us  becomes  Christ's  son  both  ac- 
cording to  his  divinity  and  his  humanity,  be- 
cause the  second  Adam,  the  mighty  God  {Im- 
manuel — El-gibbor),  becomes,  in  the  consumma- 
tion of  his  kingdom  of  peace,  the  everlasting 
Father  of  all  who  derive  their  life  from  hira.* 

Now  the  words  suddenly  descend  from  this 
height  of  consummated  victory,  from  this 
brightness  of  highest  glory,  to  a  terrific  warn- 
ing glance  at  the  last ;  which  may  affright  all 
still  capable  of  being  affrighted  into  the  desire 
of  yet  overcoming.  This  was  necessary  to 
complete  the  salutary  teaching  of  the  grace 
that  disciplines  us  ;  however  much  a  perverted 
habit  of  tnought,  or  effeminate  habit  of  feeling, 
may  rebel  against  it. 

But  the  fearful  and  uribeUcving  and  sinners, 
the  abominable  and  murderers  and  tvhoremon- 
gers,  and  sorcerers  and  idolaters  and  all  liars, 
shall  have  their  part  in  the  lalce  which  burneth 
n-ith  fire  and  brimstone;  tvhich  is  the  second 
death.\  He  that  overcometh  shall  inJierit  what 
is  prepared  for  him  by  grace ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  sinners  receive  iheir  meet  portion  in  strict 
justice.  The  words  proceed  with  three  times 
three  significant  descriptions,  not  of  sinners 
generally  in  the  world  as  yet  untouched  by  the 
Gospel,  and  therefore  not  yet  ripe  for  the  deciS' 
ion  of  eternal  judgment ;  but  of  those  same 
unbelievers,  refusers  of  grace,  and  apostates 
whom  the  Lord's  word  at  the  ascension,  Mark 
xvi.  15, 16,  leaves  in  conclusive  damnation,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  them  being  pre-sup- 
posed.  But  he  that  believeth  not — this  is  the 
fundamental  note  of  all,  and  all  else  follows 
only  from  that.  In  opposition  to  the  promised 
eternal  inheritance,  and  testified  by  the  like 
Bure  and  certain  words,  there  is  the  dark 
threatening  of  the  second  death — never  liter- 
ally, indeed,  termed  in  Scrii>ture  eternal  death; 
yet  everywhere,  when  the  same  sad  mystery  is 
spoken  of  in  other  words,  most  plainly  without 


*  Isa.  ix.  6,  in  its  right  translation  :  Wonderful- 
Counsel;  God-hero  (Ileb.  as  in  chap.  x.  HI);  Ever- 
lastinfj-Father ;  Peace-Piince. 

t  Wo  follow  here  a  reading  recommended  by 
Griesbach  and  Scholz — xai  auaprcoXoli — a 
reading  which  strikingly  brines  out  the  measured 
arrangement  of  the  clauses,  aud  which  we  cannot 
therelore  avoid  acceptiug. 


hope  or  prospect  of  any  further  second  aahation 
— so  that  for  the  unbelieving  (as  Harms 
preaches)  "  there  is  not  only  a  great  salvation 
to  be  lost,  but  a  great  damnation  threatened." 
Even  in  this  terrific  threatening  there  re- 
mains a  blessed  testimony  to  the  grace  which 
is  reserved  in  the  redemption  of  all  prepared 
for  it;  for  salvation  is  sure  to  persevering 
faith.  First  comes  the  fearful — all  hangs  upon 
this  personal  fault  on  the  part  of  the  lost. 
These  are  obviously  not  the  weak  and  dis- 
pirited, who  rather,  rc^cording  to  Isa.  xxxv.  4, 
10,  shall  be  comforted  ;  but  they  are  the  faint- 
hearted who  throw  away  their  confidence,  con- 
cerning whom  Heb.  x.  35-39  speaks,  according 
to  the  fundamental  meaning  of  another  pro- 
phetic passage.*  This  first  word  already  con- 
tains the  rigorous  antithesis  to  the  overcomers; 
and  it  is  then  explained  by  the  two  following 
words  (since  the  triplets  must  be  taken  togeth- 
er throughout  the  verse) :  The  fearful  despair 
and  remain  without,  because  they  are  unbelieV' 
ers;  thus  they  remain  in  spite  of  redemption, 
becoming  again  sinners,  having  fallen  back  en- 
tirely into  sin  after  the  first  beginning  of  sanc- 
tification.  Thus  ceases  the  thirsting  which 
savingly  impels  to  seek  invigoration,  and  its 
place  is  taken  by  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  which 
hurries  away  to  disgraceful  and  abominabla 
transgressions,  in  many,  if  not  in  all,  exhibit- 
ed according  to  the  descriptions  which  follow. 
The  preceding  word,  "  sinners,"  is  further  de- 
veloped: aiomtnaWef  (who  work  the  abomi- 
nation, ver.  27)  means  those  who  sink  into  un- 
natural lusts  of  the  flesh,  probably  the  "  dogs," 
chap.  xxii.  15,  and  corresponding  to  those  men- 
tioned in  1  Cor.  vi.  9  ;  1  Tim.  i.  10— imirderera 
and  whoremongers  include  generally,  in  addition, 
all  works  of  hatred  and  impurity.  This  second 
triplet  of  sins  which,  more  or  less  foully,  yet 
with  equal  guilt  before  the  judgment  of  God, 
express  the  wicked  spirit  disclosed  in  the  first 
triplet,  is  followed  by  a  third  which  finally 
names  the  transgressions  exclusively  commit- 
ted against  God,  as  the  second  referred  more 
especially  to  sins  against  the  neighbor;  and 
the  close  returns  back  to  the  beginning  by  a 
final  definition  of  the  devilish  element  into 
which  these  wretched  souls  had  fallen.  Sorcer- 
ersX  and  idolaters — together  express  all  apostacy 
from  God,  the  going  into  forbidden  Avays,  hav- 
ing recourse  to  strange  and  wicked  powers ; 
and  its  profound  meaning  suggests  reference  to 
1  Sam.  XV.  23.    In  the  Apocalypse  itself,  chap. 


♦  JeiXoiy  eotvard,  is  used  generally  of  those 
who  fail  to  stand  fast  in  battle. 

t  'E/38e\vyiu£yot  is  more  specific  than  the 
general  (iSsKvuToi,  Tit.  i.  16.  In  the  Sept, 
/JdeXvyjLia  occurs  for  nayin.  Lev.  xviii.,  as  also 

for  nQTO>  Jer.  xi.  15,  coiup.  /JSeXvhto?,  Tiov. 
xvii,  15. 

^  Not  specifically  poisonous,  According  to  the 
derivation  of  the  word  ;  but  cpapjitaxoi  accord- 
ing to  the  phrabeology  of  ciiap.  ii.  21,  xviii.  23  ; 
Gal.  v.  20. 


EEV.  XXI.  5-3. 


S51 


IX.  20,  21  is  connected  with  this ;  but  also 
chap.  xiii.  15,  xvii.  4,  xviii.  23.  Again,  in  its 
profoundest  and  most  universal  meaning,  John 
in  his  first  epistle,  chap.  v.  21,  enforces  the 
•warning  against  idolatry  and  idolaters.  Finally, 
there  is  the  strengthening  addition — all  liars, 
who  have  fallen  into  the  lie  against  God's 
wrath  in  whatever  way,  every  lie  springing 
from  the  same  principle  and  leading  to  the 
same  condemnation.  In  chap.  xxii.  15  it  is  yet 
plainer :  who  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie,  which  may 
be  sufficiently  explained  without  many  words 
by  simply  referring  to  2  Thess.  ii.  11,  12  and 
John  viii.  44,  45,  This  is  then  the  compre- 
hensive sura  of  all:  the  fearful  and  unbe- 
lievers make  God  a  liar  (1  John  v.  10,  i.  10), 
and  thereby  give  themselves  up  (that  is,  if 
they  so  continue,  involved  and  hardened  in  it 
to  the  end)  to  the  devilish  lie,  which  is  the 
alone  unpardonable  sin  of  blasphemy  against 
God's  truth. 

The  lake  or  fOol  (wrongly  translated  by 
many,  sea)  is  here,  aceording  to  the  valid, 
fundamental  meaning  of  the  Greek  word,*  the 
residuum  and  caput  mortuitm,  the  remaining 
ruined  residue  which  is  incapable  of  renewal. 
By  no  means  is  it  merely  a  "  sensible  figurative 
representation"  of  eternal  torment,  but  as 
physically  real  as  the  new  Jerusalem.  This 
lake,  which  has  already  been  three  times  men- 
tioned, chap.  xix.  20  and  again  chap.  xx.  10, 
14, 15,  comes  after  the  great  conflagration  in 
the  place  of  the  sea,  which  till  then  stood  in 
close  connection  with  the  depth  of  the  abyss ; 
and  it  was  certainly  pretypified  by  the  Dead 
Sea  after  Sodom's  subversion,  although  then 
"fire  and  brimstone"  were  only  rained  down 
from  heaven  as  a  sign,  and  did  not  continue  to 
burn.  What  kind  of  fire  and  brimstone  (pre- 
intimated  in  chap.  xiv.  10)  it  will  be  we  know 
not,  any  more  than  the  locality  of  the  lake 
(chap.  xxii.  15,  comp.  Isa.  Ixvi.  24,  called  a 
without) ;  but  our  presentient  exposition  should 
receive  what  is  said  of  these  things  as  a  de- 
scription of  what  is  to  come  by  the  likeness  of 
things  that  now  are.  It  is  the  Tophet  or  place 
of  burning,  Isa.  Ixvi.  24  xxx.  33;  Dan.  vii.  11 
calls  it  literally  the  burning  flame. 

The  Lord,  in  the  first  section  of  his  teaching 
upon  earth.  Matt.  xxv.  46  (comp.  chap.  xxvi. 
1),  placed  first  eternal  torment,  and  closed  with 


eternal  life;  but  now  the  order  is  inverted,  for 
the  stronger  warning  of  his  Church  ;  the  wis- 
dom of  his  love  knows  that  it  is,  and  why  it 
is,  necessary  thus  to  change.  How  significant- 
ly the^Apocalypse,  attesting  the  "wrath  of  the 
Lamb  "(chap.  vi.  16),  returns  back  to  the  judi- 
cial severity  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  have  al- 
ready observed.*  The  Lord  speaks  of  eternal 
torment  in  the  same  manner  as  of  eternal  life ;  as- 
suredly, therefore,  the  second  death  can  be  only 
eternal  death,  though  the  word  is  not  expressly 
used.  Elsewhere,  as  in  chap.  xiv.  11  (after 
Isa.  xxxiv.  10),  we  read  of  the  endless  smoke 
of  torment,  as  similarly  of  the  undying  worm 
and  the  fire  unquenchable.  Many,  like~'Mever, 
repose  upon  the  thought,  "  It  ia'noi  said  that 
it  13  the  last  of  all,"  and  hope  that  "  the  fire  of 
Gehenna  may  finally  dry  up  the  pride  of  the 
twice  dead,  and  kindle  their  thirst  for  the 
water  of  life."  We  cannot  see  (even  if  it  were 
lawful  to  go  beyond  the  letter  of  Scripture) 
how  that  were  possible  in  "  the  infinite  eterni- 
ties." We  bow  with  fearfal  awe  before  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  as  we  find  it  written  ;  and 
could  more  easily  think  that  from  the  saints 
will  be  taken  away,  not  only  all  their  suffer- 
ing, but  also  all  sympathy  with  the  lost. 
(Halleluiah  !  chap.  xix.  1-4). 

Let  no  one  irreverently  wonder  that  the 
Lord's  last  word  from  the  throne  was — Which 
is  the  second  death.  His  words  of  promise, 
invitation,  and  encouragement  had  been  abun- 
dant— from  the  word  outside  Damascus  down 
to  the  word  addressed  to  Paul's  infirmity ;  and 
so  throughout  in  this  book.  Nor  is  this  sad 
word  the  actual  close  of  the  Apocalypse  •.  it  is 
followed  by  the  description  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  heavenly  city ;  and  there  is  once 
more  the  great  invitation,  chap.  xxii.  17 — 
Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely.  "  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
with  all  the  saints,"  is,  in  ver.  22,  the  gra- 
cious end.  But  we  close  our  book,  and  let 
every  reader  close  it,  with  the  prayer :  Even 
so,  come,  Lord  Jesus ;  abide  with  me  and 
strengthen  my  faith,  that  I  become  not  fearful 
— defend  me  from  sin  and  shame — cleanse  and 
sanctify  me,  that  I  may  in  lowly  adoration 
abide  faithful  to  thy  truth,  that  I  may  over- 
come and  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 
Amen. 


*  Ai/.ivrjt  cast  out  and  standing  water. 


I  on  Luke  is.  55. 


HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES. 


953 


HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES  SELECTED  FROM  MATTHEW. 


Matthhw. 

1              Mark. 

Luke. 

JOUN. 

Vol.  Page. 

Hi   15     

vi.  5,  10-12 

vi.  20 

i     ..        5 

iv.4,  7,  10 

iv.4  8.  12 

i 8 

iv   17 

i    15  

i             ''7 

iv.  19  

i.  17 

V.  4,  10 

vi.  20-49 

i . .          28 

i 31 

vi.  9-13 

i.  41-44 

^-.13,14 

vii   9            

i 83 

viii.  3,  4 

viii  7  10  13 

i 133 

i           135 

viii  20  22     

ix.  58  60 

i.     .     138 

viii   26     

iv.  35-39,  40 

viii.  22-25 

viii.  30,  39 

V.  20,  22-24 

i 142 

V.  8,  9,  19 

i 144 

ix   2  4-6       

ii  5  8-11      

i 147 

ix.  9   12   13 

ii.  14-17 

ii. 19-22 

V.  27,  31,  32 

V.  35-39 

i l.jo 

ix.  15  17 

i 154 

jx  22            

V  30-34           

viii.  45  46-48  

i 1(50 

ix  24     

V.  36  39  41 

viii.  50,  52,  55,  56.., . . . 

i 162 

ix. 28  30 

i 164 

ix.  36,  38 

X  5  42              

vi.34 

vi.  8-11 

X.  2 

ix.  3-5 

i 165 

i 167 

xi.4  30     

vii.  22-35 

i 191 

xii    3  8 

ii.  25-28 

vi.  3-52 

i JIS 

xii   11   13 

vi.  8  10 

i 223 

xii  25  45      

jii.  23  29 

xi.  17-36 

i 224 

xii.  48  50 

iii.  33-35 

viii.  21 

i 241 

xiii  11  17 

iv.  11,  12,  21-25 

iv  3-9  13-20 

viii.  10  16-18 

i -^49 

xiii  3  9  18  "^ 

viii.  5-8,  11-15........ 

i 2')4 

xiii  -'4  30  37-43 

i 261 

xiii  31  33 

jv    30  32       

xiii  18-21 

i 269 

xiii  44  50 

i 273 

xiii  51  52                   . . 

.■■**.*■.".!"!' 

i 276 

X  V.  16  19     

vi.  31,  37-41 

,x.  13-16 

i 278 

xiv  27   29  31 

vi    50            

i 281 

XV  3  20 

vii  6  23     ............ 



i 283 

XV  24  2o  28  

vii.  27,  29 

i 291 

XV  32  34 

viii  2  3  6 

i 295 

xvi  2  4 

i 297 

xvi.6,8,  11 

viii    15  17  21 

i 299 

ix.  18-27 

i 302 

xvii  7   9   11   12 

ix  9   12    13 

i 316 

xvii.  17,20,22 

xvii.  22,  23 

xvii    25  27     

ix.  16,  19,  21-29 

X.  31 

ix.41 

ix.44 

i 321 

i 326 

i 327 

xviii    3  20 

IX.  33-50 

X  316 '. 

ix.  48-50 

i 330 

xviii.  22-35 

xix  4-14 

xvii.  3,  4 

xviii   16    17 

i 345 

i 349 

xix  17-xx   16    

X    18-31      ..       .      . 

xviii.   18-30..... 

i 358 

XX  18  28  

X.  33  45 

xviii.  31-33 

xviii    41   42 

i 375 

X  51   52 

i 333 

XX!   2  3     

.xi.  2,  3 

N:i.  17 

x;ix  30    31 

i 384 

xxi  13-16 

xix.  46 

i 387 

xxi   19-22 

xi.  14,  22,26 

i 39i) 

xxi  22-44     

xi.  29-xii.ll 

XX  3  18    

i 393 

XX  i  2  14      

i 403 

xxi    18  '^l 

xii    15  17      . 

x-i   23  '>5              

1 409 

xxli   29  32 

vii    24-27   

XX   31-38 

i 414 

xxti.  37-45 

xxiii.  2-39_ 

xxiv.  2,  4-28 

xxiv.  29-44 

xii.  29-37 

xii.  38-40 

x,ii.  2.5-23 

xiii.  24-33 

XX  41  44            

i 4:!i 

XX.  46,  47 

xxi   6    8  '^4            

i 4:;4 

i 454 

xxi.  25-36....,, 

i 4tj5 

954 


HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES. 


Matthew. 

Mark. 

LCKE. 

John. 

Vol 

Page. 

i.' 

xiii.  34-37 

xiv.  4.-46 

xiii.  21*.*.*.*. 

I  Cor.  xi.  24-25. 

xvii.  iV.*.*. 

xvii.  34-37 

i. . 

i.'." 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
li. 

...474 

. . . 476 

XXV   14   GO 

xix.  12-27 

...481 

. . . 487 

xxvi.  2 

xxvi.  18 

xxvi.  21-25 

XXVI  26-28 

xxvi.  2'J 

xxvi.  31-34 

xxvi.  36-42 

xxvi.  45-46 



'^'s'.'\C\h'.\\\\\\.\\'. 

xiv.  18-21 

xiv.  22-24 

xiv.  25 

x.v.  27-30 

xiv.  32-30 

xiv.  41,  42 

xxii".8-V2.V.V.!!  !!*.!!! 

xxii.  22 

xxii.  10,  20 

xxii".  40-42,  46 

xxii.  46 

xxii.  48 

...481 
. . . 484 

. .  .407 
. . . 5U8 
. . . 547 
. . . 555 
. . . 560 
. . . 580 

xxvi.  50 

. . . 503 
. . . 508 

xxvi.  55-54 

.xiv.  48,49 

^jv  62     

. . . 602 

...611 

xxvii.ll 

XV.  2 

XV.  34 

xxii:.C 

...610 

. . . 672 

...718 

xxviii.  18-20 

.^vi.  15-18 

...704 

HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES  SELECTED  FROM   MARK. 

Mark. 

Matthew. 

Luke. 

Jou.v.           iVol. 

Paso, 

•     .- 

.... 

i. . 

!•• 
i- 

i..' ." 

4"U 

i    3S 

,v.  43 

...402 

. .  Am 

...405 

▼ii.  34.  36 

.  ..r.t8 

vii'.  23,  25,  2C 

ix.  33.  50 

x.i.43  44 

XV, ii.  3-20 

ixV48-5d  .'.".*.*.'.*  .".'.*!!!! 

x.xi.  3,4 

. .  500 
..501 
..511 

HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES  SELECTED  FROM  LUKE. 


Luke. 

Matthew,            |               Mark. 

John. 

Vol.  Pa^e. 

ii    40 

1 

.... 

i 1 

iv.  17-27 

xiii.  57 ^'i-  4 

,v    10  i.  17 

i 514 

i 522 

vi    r>  14 

i 524 

vii   40  50 

i 526 

i 582 





535 

T    "   16 



i 536 

i 539 

X  "6  37     .        ... 

1           

i 513 

»   41    4"' 

i 550 

•«•;    •>    1" 

vi   9  n-   vii    7   11 

i 5.J4 

x;    og 

i 559 

X    30-5'' 

xxiii   "^  39 

i 560 

xii.  1-12 '; 

xii.  14-59 • 

xiii   "9 

(xvi.  6  ;    X,    26-33  ;  ) 
xii.  31,  32;  X.  19,^ 
20) ) 

(vi,    25-53,    19-21;] 
xxiv,    42-51 ;      x.  1 
34-36  ;    xvi.   2,  3  ;  [ 
T.  25,  26) J 

i 603 

i 564 

i 574 

Xiii    I"   1,3   IC        



i 578 

xiii.  21-30 \ 

xii!.  .S2-3o 

XIV.3-:5 

(vii.    13,   14,  21-23;) 
viii.  11,  12;     XX.  V 
16) ) 

xxiii    37  39 

i 580 

i .583 

xii.  10,  11 

(xxiii.  12;   xxii.  2-9;  \ 
X.  37,38 ) 

i 586 

i 587 

( 

HARMONY  OF  PASSAGES. 


955 


Luke. 

Matthkw. 

Mark.                [          John. 

v'ul.  Pa-e. 

XV.  4-10 

XV    11  32 

(xv.ii  12  13)   

(xiii.  36-3*8).... 
xiii.  23-2'J 

i.. 

i.. 

i.. 

i*.' 

ii. 

{.'. 
i.. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 

ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 
ii. 

. .  600 

.  .601 

XV:      1      13                        

.  .608 

xv;   1.5  31 

..625 

xvii.  1-10 

xvii.  14   17   10... 

■■{ 

^xviii.  6,  7,  16,  21,  22 
xvii.  20) 

\ 

..610 
..CGvJ 

xvii.  20-37 

■■\ 

(xxiv.  23-28;    37-41 
17,  18) 

! 

...6CG 
. .  .675 

XV. ii    10  14 

. .  080 

xix  5   9   10     ..    , 

. . .68 J 

six.  r'    '7     



(xxv.  14-30) 

.  ..Cs9 

xix.  40,  42  44... 

, . .090 

X\ii    i5   18       .     . 

...494 

xxii.  21-22..." 

xxii  25-30 



...487 
549 

xxii.  31-34 

. . .550 

xxii.  3::-b8 

xxii.  51 



XX.  19-23'. 

...•'■-62 
. . .596 

xxii    67-70 

617 

xxiii    '^S-31   

617 

Tcciii.  43 

.  ..6G0 

xxiii.  46 

...692 

xxiv.  17-27  

xxiv.  3,0-41 

xxiv.  44-1'.) 

xvi.  14 

. .  .738 
...838 

ARMONY  OF  PASSAGES  SELECTED  FROM  JOHN. 


Matthew. 


Mark. 


\\o\.    l'il-0. 


38,  39-'i:', 
48-50,  51, 
4,7,8.... 


ii.  16-19. 
iii.  3-21. 


IV.  t-J.*3 

iv.  32-38 

iv.  48-50 

V.6,  8,  14 

V.  17,  19-47 

vi.  26-58 

Ti.  61-65 

vi.  67-70 

vii.  6-8 

Tii.  16-29 

vii.  33,  34 

vii.  37.  38 

Tiii.  7.  10,  11 

viii.  12-19 

viii.  21-58 

ix.  3-7,  35-37 

ix.  39-x.  18 

X.  25-30 

X.  32-38 

X.4,  7,9-11,  14-15. 

xi.  23,  25.  26 

X. 34,  39-44 


xi'i.  23-36 

xii.  44-50 

xiii.  7-20 

xi,i.  26,27 

xiii.  31-35 

xiii.  36.38 

xiv.  1-31... -5-. 
XV.  1-6 


xxvi.  10-13. 


xiv.  6-9. 


(xxii.  34). 


in 

i 50 

i. .  . .    7  . 

1 i  1 

i 8] 

i 85 

ii. 

. . . 238 

11. 

. . . 254 

ii. 

. . . 258 

. 

11. 
ii. 

. . . 264 
. . . 272 

, 

ii. 

. .  288 

. 

11. 

. .  295 

, 

ii. 

..306 

, 

II. 

..310 

. 

11. 

. .  323 



ii. 

ii. 

..327 
. .  336 

, 

11. 

..338 

. 

ii. 

..374 

HAEMONY  OF  PASSAGES. 


John. 

Matthew.             |                Makk. 

Luke. 

Vol.  Page. 

XV  7  17      

xxIy.  36-41 

ii 882 

-vtr      IS     •'>\ 

ii          339 

■TV       ''R       Tvi       d. 

■ •• 

ii          396 

ii 403 

xvi   16  24  

ii 418 

ii....428 

ii 439 

ii,...588 

xvi.i   20  21    23 

ii....634 

xix.  11  '  . .' 

ii 635 

xix.  26  27 

ii....668 

xix    28 

ii 681 

xix    30             ... 



... 

ii 688 

XX  15-17      

ii....702 

XX.  19-23 

ii....738 

ii         755 

xxi.  6,  6,  10,  12 

ii....765 

xxi.  15-22 

, 

U....774 

ACTS. 


i.4-8. 


ge:^ekal  ikdex  to  passages 

TREATED  OF  IN  BOTH  VOLUMES  OF 
"WORDS  OF  THE  LORD  JESUa" 


Page. 

Matt.  iii.  15 Vol.  i.      5 

"      iv.  10 i.      8 

-     iv.  17 1.    27 

•'      iv.  19 i.  28  and  523 

"      iv.  19-21 i,  564 

"      v.-vii i.     31 

"      v.1-48 i.     34 

"      V.  25  20 i.  564 

"      vi.  1-8 i.    81 

"      vi.  9-13 i.  83  and  554 

"      vi.  14-54 i.     95 

«      vi.  19-21 i.  564 

"      vi.  25-CO i.  5G4 

"      v.i.  1-29 i.  106 

"      vii.  7-11 i.  554 

"      vii.  13,  14,  21-23 i.  580 

"      viii.3,4 i.  1.33 

"      viii.  7-13 i.  135 

"      viii.  11,  12 i.  580 

"      viii.  20-22 i.  138 

"      Viii.  26 i.  142 

"      viii. 32 i.  144 

"      ix.2-G i.  147 

"      ix.  9-13 i,-150 

"      ix.  15-17 i.  154 

"      ix.  22 i.  160 

"      ix.  24 i.  162 

"      ix.  28-30 i.  164 

"      ix.36-38 i,  165 

"      x.5-42 167 

"      X.  19,20 i.  563 

"      X.  26-33 i.  56-3 

"      X.  34-36 i,  564 

"      x.37,38 i,  587 

"      xi.4-30 i.  191 

"      x.i.3-8 i.  218 

"      xi.  10,  11 i.  586 

'•      xii.  11-13 i.  223 

"      x.i.  25-45 i.  224 

"      xii.  31,  32 i.  563 

"      xii.  48-50 i.  244 

"      xiii i.  246 

"      x.ii.  11-17 i.  249 

"      xiii.  3-9,  18-23 i.  254 

"      xiii. 12 i.  587 

"      xiii.  24-30,  37-43 i.  261 

"      xiii.  31-33 i.  269 

•'      xiii.  44-50 i.  273 

"      xiii.  51-52 i.  276 

"      xiii.  57 i.  514 

"      xiv.  16-19 i.  278 

*♦      xiv.  27,  29,  31 1.281 

«      XV.  3-20 i.  283 

"      XV.  24,  26,  28 i.  291 

"      XV.  32=34 i.  295 

"      xvi.  2-4 i.  297  and  564 


Page. 

Matt.  xvi.  6,8,  11 Vol,  i.  299  and  563 

"      xvi.  13-28 i.  302 

"      xvii.7,9  11,12 i.  316 

"      xvii.  17-21 i.  sii 

"      xvii.  20 i.  660 

"      xvii.  22,  23 i.  326 

"      xvii.  25-27 i.  327 

"      xviii.  3-20 i.  330  and  501 

"      xviii.  6,  7,  15,21,22 i.  660 

"      xviii.12,13 5,  602 

"      xviii.22-35 i.  345 

••      xix.  4-14 i,  349 

"      iix.  17-xx.  16 i,  358 

"      XX.16 i,  680 

«      xx.18-28 i.  875 

"      XX.  32 i.  383 

"      xxi.  2,  3 i.  384 

"      xxi.  13-16 i.  387 

"      xxi.  19-22 i.  390 

"     xxi.  24-44 i.  392 

"     xxii.  2-14 i.403and587 

"      xxii.  18-21 i.  409 

♦»      xxii.  29-32 i.  414 

«'      xxii.  37-45 i.  422 

"      xxiii.  2-39 i.  434  and  560 

"      xxiii.  12 i.  587 

"      xxiii.  37-39 i.  583 

"      xxlv.  and  xxv i.  451 

•«      xxiv.  2,  4-28 i.  454 

••     xxiv.  42-51 i.  564 

«'      xxiv.  17,  18,  28-28,  37-41 i.  668 

"      xxiv.  29-44 i.  465 

"      xxiv.  45-51 i.  474  and  56 1 

"      xxv.  1-13 i.  476 

•«      xxv.  14-30 i.  4S1  and  689 

«      xxv.  31-46 i.  486 

"      xxvi.  2 ii.  481 

«»     xxvi.  10-13 ii.  288 

•«      xxvi.  18 ii.  484 

««      xxvi.  21-25 ^ ii.  497 

«•      xxvi.  26-28 ii.  508 

"      xxvi.  29 ii.  547 

«      xxvi.  31-34 ii.  555 

"      xxvi.  36-42 ii.  569 

«      xxvi.  45,  46 ii.  58o 

"      xxvi.  60 ii.  693 

"      xxvi.  52-54 ii.  598 

"      xxvi.  55,  56... ii.  602 

"      xxvi.  64 ii.  611 

"      xxvii.  11 ii.  619 

"      xxvii.  46 ii.  672 

•'      xxviii.  9,  10 ii.  718 

"      xxviii.  18-20 ii.  794 

Mark  i.  15 i.  27 

"      i.  17 i.  28  and  523 

"      125 i.  491 


GENERAL  INDEX  TO  PASSAGES- 


P 

i.38 Vol.i. 

i.  41-44 i. 

ii.  5,  8.  8-11 i. 

ii.  14-17 i. 

ii.  19-22 i. 

ii.  23-28 i. 

iii.  3-5 i. 

iii.9,  17 i. 

iii.  2o-'J9 i. 

iii. 33-35 i. 

iv.  3-9,  13-20 i. 

iv.  11,  12,  21-25 J. 

iv.  26-29 i. 

iv.  30-32 i. 

iv.  35-39,  40 i. 

V.8,  9,19 i. 

V.  30-34 i. 

V.  36-41  (43; i. 

vi.4 i. 

vi.8-11 i. 

vi. 31, 37-41 i. 

vi.  34 i. 

vi.50 i. 

vii.  6-23 i. 

vii.27,  29 i. 

vii.  34-36 i. 

viii.  2,  3,  5 i. 

viii.  12 i. 

viii.  15,  17-21 i. 

Viii.  23,  25,  26 i. 

viii.  27-ix.  1 i. 

ix.9,12,  13 i, 

ix.  16,  19,21,29 i. 

ix.  31 i. 


ix.  33-50. 
x.3-16.. 
X. 18-31. 
X.  33-45. 
x.51,52. 
xi.  2,  3.. 


330  and 


Luke 


xi.  14,22,26 i 

xi.l7 i 

xi.  29;  xii.  11 i 

xii.  15-17 i 

xii.  24-27 i 

xii.  29-37 i 

xii.  38-40 i, 

xii.  43,44 i 

xiii.2,5-23 i, 

xiii.  24-33 i 

xiii.  34-37 i 

xiv.  6-9 ii 

xiv.  13-15 ii 

xiv.18-21 ii 

xiv.  22-24 ii, 

xiv.25 ii 

X  v.  27-30 ii, 

xiv.  32-39 ii, 

xiv.  41,  42 ii, 

xiv.  48,  49 ii, 

xiv.  62 ii, 

XV.  2 ii 

xv.34 ii, 

xvi.14 ii, 

xvi.  15-18 ii, 

ii.49 i. 

iv.  4.  8,  12 i. 

iv.  17--.:7 i. 


ase. 
492 
133 
147 
150 
154 
218 
223 
493 
224 
244 
254 
249 
495 
269 
142 
144 
160 
162 
514 
167 
278 
167 
281 
283 
291 
498 
295 
297 
299 
500 
302 
316 
312 
326 
501 
349 
358 
375 
383 
384 
390 
387 
393 
409 
414 
422 
434 
511 
454 
465 
474 
288 
484 
497 
508 
547 
555 
569 
586 
602 
611 
619 
672 
738 
794 
1 


i.  514 

iv.  35 i.  491 

iv   43 i.  492 

T.  4-lU ii.  28  and  523 


Pa  JO. 

LuKK  v.13,14 Vol.i.  133 

"      v.20,22-24 i.  147 

"      V.  27-32 i.  150 

"      V.  35-39 i.  154 

"      Ti.3-5 i.  218 

"      vi.8-10 i.  223 

"      vi.  10-49 i.  31  and  127 

"      vii.  9 i.  135 

♦'      vii.  13,14 i.  544 

"      vii.  22-35 i.  191 

•*      vii.  40-50 i.  526 

"      viii.  5-8,  n-15 i.  254 

"     viii.  10,  10,  1 i.  249 

"      viii.  21 i.  244 

"      viii. 22-25 i.  142 

"      viii.  80-39 i.  144 

"      viii.  45-48 i.  160 

"      viii.  50-54,  (55,  56) i.  162 

"      ix.  3-5 i.  167 

"      ix.13-16 i.  278 

"      ix.  18-27 i.  302 

"      ix.  41 i.  312 

"      ix.44 i.  326 

"      ix.  48-50 i.  330  and  501 

"      ix.  55.  56 i.  532 

"      ix.  58-60 i.  138 

"      ix.  62 i.  5  5 

"      X.  2 i.  616 

"      x.2-16 i.  53G 

"      X.  18-24 i.  5J0 

"      X.  26-37 i.  543 

"      X.  41,  42 i.  505 

"      xi.  2-13 i.  554 

'•      xi.  17-36 i.  224 

"      xi.  28 i.  559 

"      *.  39-52 i.  434  and  560 

'♦      xii.  1-12 i.  566 

"      xii.14-59 i.  564 

'«      xii.  42-46 i.  474 

"      xiii.2-9 i-  574 

"      xiii.  12,15,  16 i.  578 

"      xiii,  18-21 i.  269 

'•      xiii.  24-30 i.  580 

"      xiii.  32-35 i.  434  and  583 

"      xiv.  3-5 i.  58G 

"      i;v.8-35 i.  587 

•*      xv.4-xvi.31 i.  600 

"      XV.  4-10 i.  602 

"      XV.  11-32 i.  608 

«      xvi.  1-13  i.  625 

«      xvi.  15-31 i.  640 

"      xvii.  1-10 i.  660 

"      xvii.  3,  4 i.  345 

"      xvii.  14,17-19 i.  666 

"      xvii.  20-27 i.  668 

"      xviii.  2-8  i.  675 

"      xviii.  10-14 i.  680 

'"      xviii.  16,  17 i.  319 

"      xviii.  18-30 '.  358 

'•      xviii.  20-37 i.  668 

"      xviii.  31-33 '•  375 

"      xviii.  41,42 i.  383 

"   xix.  5,  9,  10 i.  686 

"   xix.  12-27 i.  481  and  689 

"   x.x.  30.31 i.  383 

"   xix.  40,  42-44 i.  692 

"   xix.  46 i.  387 

"   XX.  3-18 i.  393 

"   XX.  23-25 i.  409 

"   XX.  34-38 i-  -114 

"   xx.41-44 i.  422 


GENEKAL.  INDEX  TO  PASSAGES. 


959 


Pa-o. 

LritE  xxAC  47 Vol.  i.  4^)4 

"      XX  .::,  4 i.  511 

"      xxi.  C.  8-::4 i.  454 

"      XXI.  2.3-nC i.  465 

"      xxii.  S-12 ii.  484 

"      xxii.l.'.-18 ii.  494 

«      xx;i.  19  20 ii.  608 

•'      xxii.  21,  22 ii.  549 

««      xxii.22 ii.  497 

•«      xxii.  25-30 ii.  487 

«      xxii.  31-34 ii.  550 

«      xxii.  34 ii.  S36 

«      xxii.  3j-3S ii.  562 

«      xxii.  40-42,  46 ii.  669 

"      xxii.46 ii.  586 

"      xxii.  48 ii.  693 

"      XX  1.51 ii.  596 

"      xxii.  52.  53 ii.  602 

♦'      XX  i.  G7-70 ii.  617 

«      xxiii.  3 ii.  619 

"      xxii'.  28-31 ii.  C47 

"      xxiii.  34 ii.  655 

«'      xxiii.  43 ii.  660 

"      xxiii.  46 ii.  692 

"      xxiv.  17-27 ii.  722 

"      xxiv.  36-41 ii.  738 

«      XX  V.  44-49 ii.  838 

John   i.  38-51 i.     13 

"      ii.4-8 i.     19 

"      ii.  16-19 i.    21 

"      iii.3-21 ii.      1 

"      iv.  7-26 ii.    60 

«      iv.  32-38 ii.     71 

«•      iv.  48-50 ii.    77 

"      v.6.8,14 ii.    81 

"      V.  7,  19-47 ii.    85 

"      vi.  5,  10-12 i.  278 

"      vi.  20 i.  281 

"      vi.  26-58 ii.  112 

"      vi. 61-65 ii.  135 

««      vi.  67-70 ii.  144 

"      vii.  6-8 ii.  148 

"      vii.  16-29 ii.  152 

"      v,i.  33,  34 ii.  164 

"      vii. 37, 38 ii.  166 

"      viii.7,10,11 ii.  173 

"      viii.  12-19 ii.  182 

•«      viii.  21-58 ii.  189 

«      ix.3-7,  35-37 ii.  227 

"      ix.  .39-x.  18 ii.  238 

•♦      X.  25-30 ii.  254 

"      X.  32-38 ii.  258 

-      xi.4,  7,  9-11,  14, 15 ii.  264 


Pa  26. 

John   x1.  23,  25,  26 ii.  272 

••      xi.34,  39-44 ii.  277 

«      xii.7,8 ii.  288 

"      xii.  23-36 ii.  295 

«      xii.44-50 ii.  306 

"      xiii.7-20 ii.  310 

«      xiii.21 ii.  497 

"      xiii.  23-29 ii.  540 

"      xiii.  26,27 ii.  323 

"      xiii.31-35 ii.  327 

"      xiii.  36-38 ii.  336  and  550 

"      xiv.  1-31 ii.  338 

"      iiv.1-10 ii.  340 

"      x;v.  11-24 ii.  351 

"      xiv.  25-31 ii.  305 

"      XV.  1-6 ii.  374 

"      XV.  7-17 ii.  382 

"      xv.  18-25 ii.  389 

"      XV.  26-xvi.  4 ii.  396 

"      xvi.5-15 ii.  403 

"      xvi.16-24 ii.  418 

"      xvi.  25-33 ii.  428 

"      xvii ii.  439 

"      xviii.  4,  7,  8 ii.  588 

"      xviii.  11 ii.  598 

"      xviii.  20,  21,  23 ii.  604 

'•      xviii.  34-37 ii.  619 

"      six.  11 ii.  635 

"      xix.  26,  27 ii.  6G8 

"      xix.28 ii.  681 

"      xix.30 ii.  688 

"      XX.  16-17 - ii.  702 

"      xx.19-23 ii.  738 

'«      XX.  26-29 ii.  703 

"      xxK  5,6.  10,  12 ii.  765 

"      xxi.15-22 ii.  774 

Acts  i.  4-8 ii.  843 

"      ix.  4-6 ii.  863 

"      ix.  10-16 ii.  870 

"      X.  13-16 ii.  884 

"      xi.  7-10 ii.  884 

'*      xvi,  16-18 ii.  878 

"      xviii.  9,  10 ii.  888 

"      xxii.  7-10 ii.  863 

•»      xxii.17-21 ii.  875 

"      xxiii.  11 ii.  890 

"      xxvi.  14-16 ii.  863 

1  Cob.  xi.  24,  26 ii.  508 

2  "      xii.9 it.  893 

Rev.    i.  11,  17-20 ii.  897 

"      ii.,iii ii.  906 

«      iv.  1 ii.  945 

«     xxi.5-8 ii.  947 


EXEGETIOAL  INDEX 


OP  PASSAGES  IN  THE  BIBLE  (AND  APOCRYPHA)  EXPLAINED  IN  THIS  WORK,  WITH 
THE  EXCEPTION  OF  SUCH  AS  ARE  EXPRESSLY  QUOTED  BY  OUR  LORD  OR  THE 
EVANGELISTS. 


Gek 

i.2 

ii  2     

Page. 

Vol.  i.  424 

ii.  85,  86 

i< 

ii.7 

ii.  748 

^ 

iii   12 

ii.  211 

u 

iii.  16 

iv  1           

ii.  422 

ii.  422 

" 

iv.  19,  23 

iv.  24 

i.  56  and    72 

i.  346 

" 

ix.  20 

xviii.  13. 

xxxix   9     

i.  473 

ii.     24 

ii.  466 

.t 

xlix    11   

ii.  376 

„ 

xlix  18  

ii.     66 

EXOD 

xlix.  22 

iii.  5 

iii   12                  .    .. 

ii.     53 

ii.  460 

ii.  352 

„ 

iii   14                

ii,  191 

l< 

iv.  25 

xi  2     

ii.  160 

i.  546 

:: 

xii. 6 

xii.  11 

ii.  313  and  512 

ii.  497 

„ 

xii    13 

ji.  610 

« 

xii.  33 

xix.  10,11 

XX.  2 

x\.  3   

i.  166 

ii.  406 

.i.  So  ;  ii.  201  and  247 
i.  102 

„ 

xK  5  6 

ii    305 

„ 

XX  '>0 

i    544 

„ 

■^x  "4       

ii.  527 

„ 

xxi  6            

ii.  261 

« 

i  i    883 

;'_ 

xxii.  1,4 

xxi.  8 

i.  689 

ii.  261 

,, 

xxix  37 

i.  463 

„ 

xxx   18   19     

ii.  318 

(, 

xxxii   32 

i.  541 

u 

ii.  349 

Lbv 

:;    19 

i    (^no 

ii.  529 

;; 

xix.  18 

XX   10     

i.76;  ii.  334 

(, 

xxi.  10 

ii.  016 

NoMi 

XV  38  40 

i.  426 

xviii   19             .... 

i.  509 

,, 

xxi   6  9 

ii      3  J 

" 

xxii.2'> 

xxix.  35 

.   viii.  3 

XV.  4.  11 

xvi   2         

ii.  3J5 

ii    ]t;7 

Dri-T 

ii.  511 

ii.  292 

ii.  311 

„ 

ii.  511 

^, 

xviii.  18,  19 

xix.  21 

ii.     51 

i.    71 

Pa2<». 

Dettt.    xxii.22 i'-  177 

"        xxiv.  1-4 i.  65,  350  and  352 

"        XXV.2 '•  571 

"        xxviii.  48-52 ••  46:i 

"        xxix.23 i-  60S 

"        XXX.20 ii-  275 

«'        xxxii.  20 i. : 

"        xxxviii.  2,  3 

"        xx.xiii.  28 

JosnuA   xxii.  4 


$21  ;  ii.  214 
i      32 


53 
C37 
503 


Judges 

1  S.\MUEI 

2  Samuei 

xxni.  14 

iii.  20 

.ii.  600 

.  -i.  220 

vii   19           

.  .i.  434 

xviii.  23 

.ii.  325 

11 

1  Kings 

xx'ii.  1-3 

ii.2 

xiii  28  

.ii.  842 
.ii.  503 
.ii.  525 

II 

xvii  1 

.,5.  52J 

M 

xviii  12              ... 

.  .ii.     21 

11 

xviii.  30 

xxii  22       

..i.  319 

.  .ii.  325 

2  Kings 
1  Chhon. 
2CnR0N. 

iv  27  

..ii.  711 

X   13     

..ii.  190 

XXX   '''^ 

..ii.  311 

XXXV  7  9 

.  .ii.  311 

Ezra 

vii   11 

.  .ii.      7 

entile 

..ii.  422 

vii  4  ■  viii.  1 

.  .ii.  148 

Job 

i  21       

..ii     16 

ix.  5-8 

..i.  324 

II 

xi.7-12 

xix.  29 

XX  V  13  16      .     . 

..ii.     20 
.  .ii.  558 
.  .iJ.    48 

II 
Ii 

M 

II 
II 

Psalms 
II 

II 

II 
(1 

xxvii.  8 

xxxii   19 

..i.  567 
..i.  158 

xxxiii.  4 

..ii.  748 

xxxviii.  28,  29. ... 

..ii.     22 

..ii.    20 

xlii.6 

..ii.    21 

ii  12     

..ii.     32 

viii  4           

.  .ii.  678 

ix  14   15 

i    300 

xvi.  3,  4 

....ii.  458  and  529 
ii.  421 

.  .ii.  674 

xxii.  4-7 

xxii   10  11 

ii.  460 

and  479 
.  .ii.  679 

xxii.  17 

i.  39J 

and  433 

xxii  21 

.  .ii.  558 

xxii  23                 i  '. 

246  ;  ii.  455 
....ii.  424 

and  715 

xxii.  27 

xxii.  32 

xxiii.  4-C 

ai.d  736 
..ii.  640 
..ii.  204 

9G0 


EXEGETICAL  INDEX. 


9C1 


Pa  26. 

Psalms   xxiv.  2 i.  310 

"         ixvii.  4 i.  114 

•♦         xxxi.  entile ii.  693,  694 

«         xxxi.  10 ii.  170 

••        xl.8,9 i.48;  ii.  170 

"         xl.  13 ii.  678 

"         xlv.  6 ii.  629 

«<■       Ixiii.  2 ii.  582 

Ix.ii.  12 i.     70 

"         Ixix.  entire ii.  684,  685 

"        lxix.6 ii.  690 

Ixix.  9 i.  246;  ii.  149 

"         Ixix.  21 ii.  572 

Ixxii.  14 ii.  199 

]x.xviii.  2 i.  250 

"        Ixxviii.  24,  25 ii.  117,  118 

"        Ixxx.  15-18 ii.  375 

«        Ixxxvi.  11 i.  423 

«        Ixxxix.  16-19 ii.  460 

«         lxxxix.51 ii.  424 

"         xcx.  entire ii.  460 

cii.  20,21 ii.  460 

«        c;ii.  1 ii.  460 

«'        civ.  4 ii.    22 

«         civ.  23 i.  103 

«*        cix.  28 i.    77 

"        cxvi.  12,13 i.  378 

"         cxviii.  entire i.  401 

«         cxix.  160 ii.  467 

««        cxxiii.  2 i.  666 

"         cxxxv.  7 ii.     22 

'«        cxxxvii.  8,  9 ii.  422 

«*        cxxxix.  15 ii.     16 

cxliii.2 ii.     94 

"        cxlv.  17 ii.  461 

«        cxlv.l8 ii.    66 

cxlix.  6-9 i.  692 

Prov.     i.  19 i.  636 

viii.17 ii-  363 

"        XX.27 ii.  170 

"         xxvii.  19,  20 i.  240 

"        XXX.4 ii.     32 

EccLES.  xi.  1 i-  636 

xi.9 ii.    94 

Caxt.     entire ij.  134 

Isaiah    iv.  2 i.  253 

"        iv.  3,  4 ii.  406  and  852 

«        V.  1-7 i.  397 

«        vi.  3 ii.  460 

«        vii.  14 i.  246 

"        viii.  19,20 i.  656 

-        ix.3 ii.     77 

«        xi.3,4 ii.     98 

"        xiv.  12 i.  540 

«         XXV.  7 ii.  695 

xxvi.  9 ii.  582 

xxviii.  9-14 ii.  208 

"         xxviii.  16 i.  403 

"         xxix.  3 i.  695 

««        XXX.  12 ii.  842 

"        XXX.  20,  21 ii.  367 

«         xxxi.  3 ii.     17 

xxxiv.  14 i.  242 

X        xl.lO i.  228 

"         xli    U ii.  460 

««         X  iv.  2.'5 ii.  191 

"        xlviii.  IC ii.  608 

xlx.  24,  25 i.  229 

"         li  3   ii.  663 

Ii.  17 i.  378 

«        i.i,6....T ii.  I'Ji 


.ii.  663 


Page. 

IsAiAn   liii.  5 ii.  369  ami  525 

liii.lO ii.  ^49 

"        liii.  12 i.  228 

««         liv.  6 i.  156 

««         liv.  13 ii.  124 

«         Ivii.  15,  16 ii.  460 

"         Ixi.l i.  229 

'•         lxvi.5 i.  130 

"        lxvi.2l i.  507 

Jeb.      xvi.  16 i.     29 

xvii.  13 ii.  179 

"        xvii. 16 ii.  248 

"        xxxi. 3 ii.  123 

"        xxxi.  34 ii.  533 

EzEKiEL  i.  entire ii.     22 

iii.l9 ii.  190 

"        xii.25 )>.  194 

«        xvi.38,40 ii.  177 

"         xvii.  22-24 i.  422  ;  ii.  G53 

"         xviii.  26 ....ii.  I'JO 

"        XX.12 i.     85 

"        XX.  47. ii.  653 

•'        xxiii.  47 li.  177 

«        xxviii.  13.  ) 

'«        xxxi.  8,  9.^ 

«        xxxiii.9,  18 i'.  190 

"         xxx:v.29 ii.  299 

"         xxxvi.  25-27 ...ii.     16 

"         xxxv.i.  entire i.  324;  ii.     95 

««        xxxvii.  6-8 li.  743 

««        x.xxvii.  9 ii.  748 

"        xxxvii.  24 ii.  252 

"        xxxix.  19,  20 ii.  5-t* 

**        xlvii.1-12 ii.  168 

"        xlvii.lO i.     29 

Daniel  ii.  34 i.  408 

««        iv.  14 ii.  819 

«        vii,  13,  14, i,  K9  and4C8;  ii.     96 

«        ix,24.  .    ii.  601 

"        ix.  26,  27 i.  407 

**        xii.2 ii.     97 

"        xii.3 i.  2G9 

"        xii.4,10 ii.  858 

Rosea   ii,  19,  20 i.  156 

"        iii.  5 ii.     92 

«        V.  15-vi.  6 i.  167;  ii.  361 

"        ix.l4 ii.  652 

««        xi.  8,  9 ii.  461 

«        xii.2 ii.     97 

«        xiii.  13,.... ii.     26 

Ajios     viii.  9, 10 ii.  673 

"        ix,  9 ii.  552 

Jonah   ii.  entire i.  240 

iii.5 i.  241 

MicAH   iv.  14 ii.  609 

V.  1 i.     13 

"        vii.&,6 i.  187 

Hab.     ii.5-13 i,  694 

Zeph.     i.8 .i.  4C8 

Zecu.    entire i,  S86  ;  ii.  556 

vii,  10 i.     76 

«         ix.  9 i.  386 

'•         xi,  entire ii.  557 

«        xi.  12 ii.  325 

"         xiii.  6,  7 ii.  557 

MAtAcm  i.6 i-  426 

ii.  14-16 i.     65 

M        iii.  1 i.  200 

♦«         iv.  4.  5 i.  205,  316  ai.d  819 

Wisdom  vi.  17-20 ii.  384 

"        vii- 3 ii.     18 


962 


EXEGETICAL  INDEX. 


Wisi>OM  Tiii.  19,  20... 

"        XV.  8 .... 

"         xix.  6 

xii.  9;  X  V.  9. 
xix.  12 


TOBIT 
BiBACH 


Page. 

ii.  229 

i.  567 

ii.     11 

i.     81 

ii.  170 


.11. 


XXIV.  Zl 

"         xxviii.  1-5 i.  -'6 

**        Ixvi.  1 ii.  453 

-        xlviii.  1 ii-  101 

"        li.lO i.  428 

IMac.   i.36 ii-  146 

2iMAC.   ii.  13 ii.  841 

iv  2     ii.  490 

"        xii.  43 i.  418 

Matt.    i.  liO ii-  18 

viii.  17 ii.  592 

xiJ.20 ii.  307 

•'        xxvi.  15 ii-  550 

"        xxviii.  5,  6 


Mark    vi. 


703 
477 
472 
477 


ix.24 

"        X.35 

xiv.l2 ii-  313 

"         xiv.23 ii.  324 

Luke     i.  1-4 

i.  33 

«        1.35 

"        i.  49,  50 ii-  460 

«•        ii.  31,  32 ii.  798  and  860 

"        ii.52 i.  103 

"        iii.1,2 ii.  204 

«        iii.  3 

••        iii.  23 

••         vii.  44 

««         viii.  14 ii.  38 

"         ix.  16 ii-  51 

"        ix.51 i.534;  ii 


27 
.ii.  855 
.ii.     18 


....11.   «ui 

ii.  860 

....ii.  315 


Jons 


xxn.  6   

xxii.  7 

xxii.  21 

xxii.  53 

xxiii.  22,  24 

xxiv.  5 

i.l7 , 

i.  18 


.11. 


356 
325 
313 
324 
373 
646 
719 
69 


Acts 


iii.  27-36 

iii.  35 

. . .  .ii.  29  and    50 
ii.  777 

iii.  36 

iv  44            .      ... 

ii.  8;2 

i.  515 

vii  50              .     .  . 

ii.      4 

xviii.  28;  xix.  14.. 

ii.  311 

ii.      4 

xxi.24,  25 

ii.  793 

j      28 

i   1               

<j{  and  860 

i  2     

ii.  849 

i  3 

li.  736,  839  and  840 

i.8  

i.  181) 

i.l6 

j  20             

ii.  750 

ii.  843 

ii.  850 

j;     8        

ii.  208 

ii   19 

ii.     79 

ii  '>0 

ii    .308 

ii.  24 

ii.  33 

ii.  38 

ii.  39 

....ii.  3J9and  678 

ii.  143  and  846 

ii.  817  and  820 

ii.  812 

17.... 
20. . . . 


i.40O;  ii. 

il.  45  aud 


604 


Acts     iii.  21 i.  320;  ii.  539,  854  nnd  8-57 

iv.6 ii.  604 

H        iT.  20 il.  860 

••         iv.  30 il.  836 

•«         vii.  8 ii-  1-59 

••         vii.  17,  20 ii.  8-57 

••        Tii.  38 ii.  467 

"         Tii.  53 ii.  157 

"        Tiii.  12 ii.  852 

"        Tiii.  16 ii.  520 

"        viii.  26 ii-  214 

M         Tiii.  37 ii.  81o 

•'        X.38 ii.      7 

««         X.  41 ii.  548  iind  745 

««        3  4-3 ii.  803  and  8.'0 

«        xi.l7 ii-  816 

«         xii.  15 i-  3;;8 

"         xiii.  13 ii.  272 

«        xiii.27 i.  4U0 

"        xiii.  48 i.  172  and  260 

*•        xiv.l7 ii.    55 

**        XV.  3 « ii.  5-54 

M        XV.  14 ii.  789 

-        XV.  25.28 i.  344 

"        xvi.  15,  32 i..  733  and  812 

"        xvii.3 ii.  842 

«•        xix.  1-7 ii.  805 

**        xix.6 ii.  820 

M        XX.  28 ii.  248  and  783 

"         xxi.  11 'i.  784 

«        xxii.  18,21 ii.  798 

"         xxiii.  3 ii.  &•<> 

••        xxiii.  8 i.  414;  ii.  C95  and  741 

"        x.xvi.  16 ii.  826 

"         xxvi.  22 ii.  196  and  215 

"         xxvi.  24 ii-  154 

RoMAHS  i.  9 ii.     ^6 

1.18 ii.  632 

••        ii.l6 ii-  632 

««         iii. 19 ii-  395 

•«         iv.l7 ii-     91 


T.  15,  18.... 

Ti.  2-11 

vi.  3-11 

Ti.  3 

vi.  4 

vii.  14 

vii.  18 

Tiii.  3 

Tiii.  15 

Tiii.  19-23.. 
Tiii.  26. . .. 

Tiii.  32 

X.17 

X.  ir 


.ii.  534 
.ii.  806 
and  472 

.ii.  820 


.11. 


.  .11 


11. 

2.35  and 


201 
584 
471 
42G 
828 
358 
44 
23 
458 


Xll 


16 ii.  468 

i.  154:  ii.  301 


1  Cor. 


xvi.  18,  19 

i.  13 

i   16 

i.  176 

ii.  80.0 

ii.  813 

i.  30 

ii.  472 

ii.8 

iii.  6,7 

ii.  65;> 

i.  406 

T  7            ........ 

ii    526 

..      ..i.  565 

Ti.  2.  3 

Ti.7 

Tii.l 

Tii.   10,   11 

i.  638 

i.     7;! 

i.  ."•'):> 

i.  «54 

EXEGETICAL  INDEX. 


963 


Pasp. 

1  Cor.    vii.  14 ii.  468  and  814 

•viii.  6 n.  ;J48 

ix.  13,  14 i.  17U 

X   2 ii.  803 

X.  16 ii.  516,  517,  525,  542  and  544 

X.  17 ii.  521  and  534 

xi.  16 i.  381 

"         TI.23 ii.  737 

xi.24 ii.  525 

xi.27   29 ii.  541 

"         xii.l3 ii.  52'J  and  806 

"         xiii.  12 ii.  332 

"         X  V.  7 ii.  307 

"         xiv.  16 ii.  816 

"         XV.  4 i.  15! 

"         XV.  5,  7 ii.  738,  767  and  850 

XV.  24 ii.  481 

XV.  45 ii.  143  and  749 

"         XV.  50 ii.  14  J 

2Cou.    i.  22 ii.  750 

"         iii.  2,  3 ii.     51 

"         iv.  4 ii.  47  and  313 

"         iv.  6 ii.  323 

V.  4 ii.  741 

vi.  9 i.  162 

X.5 i.  641 

"         xii.  4 ii.  664 

Gal.      1.  enlire i.  306 

"         ii.  15 ii.  588 

"         iii.  1 ii.  216 

"         iii.  14 ii.  846 

"         iii.  15 ii.  307 

iii.  20 i.  424 

"         iii.  27 ii.  814  and  820 

"         iv.  9 ii.     11 

vi.  2 ii.  334 

Epii.      ii.  8 ii.  116 

iii.  20.  21 ii.  847 

iv.  1,  2 i.     37 

"         iv.  4,  5 ii.  806 

iv.  9 ii.  191 

"         iv.  10 ii.  143  and  848 

iv.  13 i.  103 

iv.  27 ii.  146 

V.  26 ii.  804  and  818 

"         vi.  1 li.  815 

vi.  2 i.  285 

vi.4 ii.  812 

"         vi.  15 ii.  747 

Phil.     i.  16-18 i.  503 

i.  18 i.  233 

"         ii.  6 ii.  355 

'•         ii.  15 i.     44 

iii.  12, 15 i.  79  and  584 

iv.  12 i.  114 

Col.      i.23 ii.  828 

ii.9 ii.  143 

"         ii.  10 i.     79 

ii.  11,  12 ii.  806  and  807 

"         ii.  15 i.  229 

ii.  22 i.  288 

1  Thess.  ii.  5 ii.  394 

"         ii.  16 i.  407 

"         iv.16 i.  444 

"         V.  1 ii.  857  and  858 

v.  7 ii.     48 

2  Thess.  ii.  3 ii.  147  and  464 

iii.  2 ii.  411 

1  Tim.    ii.  15.^ i.  496 

"         iii.  2 i.  356  ;  ii.  667 

"        iii.  6,  11 ii.  146 


P.12P. 

1  Tim.    iii.  16 h.  475 

V.  10 ii.  320 

"         V.  18 1.  171 

"         vi.8 i.  li:3 

"         vi.  13 ii.  616 

"         vi.  15 i  .  6  .;; 

"         vi.  17-19 i.  636 

2Tim.    ii.7 i.  ■.■.[}, 

ii.  16 i.  52i 

ii.  19 i.  Ii5 

"         iii.  3 ii.  146 

"         iii.  8 i.  237 

"         iii.  15 i.  357 

"         iv.  7 ii.  93  and  473 

iv.  17,  18 i.  28,  93  and  458 

Titps     ii.  3 i'.  146 

iii.  5,  6 ii.  11,  16  and  818 

Hebrews  ii.  10 i.  6  ;  ii.  690 

ii.  16 ii.  452 

ii.l7 i.  49 

"         iv.  9 i.  223;  ii.  690 

"         iv,  10 ii.  JS6 

"         iv.  13 ii.  829 

"         iv.  15 ii.  494 

"         v.  7 ii.  574 

"         v.  9 ii.  690 

"         v.  14 ii.  135 

"         vi.  2 ii.  799  and  836 

"         vi.  7,  8 i.  260 

"         vi.  10 ii.  481 

"         vii.  24,  25 i.  490  ;  ii.  458 

"        ix.  7 ii.  659 

"        ix.  14 ii.  425 

"         ix.  15-18 ii.  533 

"         ix.20 ii.  532 

««         X.  19  20 ii.  354  and  695 

"        X    22... ii.  16 

"         X.  24,25 i.  342 

"         X.34 i.  '.'8 

"        xi.  11 ii.  451 

"         xii.  5-10 ii.  462 

•'         xii.  18-25 ii.  40S 

"         xii.  22-24 ii.  14::: 

xiii.  19 li.  834 

1  Peter  i.  11,12 ii.  406 

i.  13 ii.  787 

i.21 ii.  312 

"         ii.  13 ii.  829 

"         iii.  18 ii.  253  and  694 

"         iii.  20 i.  659 

"         iii.  21 ii.  819 

"         iv.  17,18 ii.  6.')3 

V.  8-10 ii.  5.'>4 

2  Peter  i.  4 ii.  415 

i.  7 i.  78;  ii.  333 

i.l4 ii  788 

"         i.  19 ii.  100  and  22.1 

«         i.  21 i.  430 

ii.22 i.  112 

"         iii. 5 ii.  16 

iii.  9 i.  339 

1  John   i.  1 i-  744 

i.  4 ii.  468 

ii.l ii.  357 

"         ii.7,  8 ii.  332  and  339 

"         ii.  13 ii.  779 

"        iii,2 ii.  479 

iii.  3 ii.  427 

"         iii.  8 ii.  210  and  212 

"         iii.  10 i.  622 

"        iii.  10-12 ii.  210 


964 


EXEGETICAL  I^'DEX. 


1  John 


2  Jon.N 
James 


Page. 

.  IG ii.  386 

5  ii.  8'j2 

e" ii.  216 

.9 ii.  43 

.  11 ii.  44 

.  17 ii.  299 

3 i.  424 

6 ii.  470 

8 ii.  fi39 

1(J ii.  660 

19 ii.  424  and  427 

20 ii.  401 

ii.  197 

> ii.  467 

25 ii.  116 

7 i.  130 

,  8 li.  333 

:.  6 i.  210;  ii.  837 

.  11 ii.  333 

,2,3 i  98  and  130 

.7 i.  260 

,12 i.  68  and  70 


JUDE 


Rev. 


4  25  

Page. 
ii.  447 

8  9 

).  227 

ii.  581 

ii.  417 

i  1             

ii.  304 

i  5     

ii.  719 

17     

ii.  C15 

i   17   18 

ii.  7 17 

iii    9 

ii.  475 

iii   20            

ii.  132 

iv  8             

ii.     86 

V  13     

ii.  829 

vi.  16 

i.  464 

ix.  11 

xii  7    12 

i.  540 

xxi   4 

1.  490 

xx\.  6 

ii.  69i> 

xxii.  11,12 

xxii.  17 

ii.  407 

ii.  J68 

xx.i.  20,  21 

i.  2C3  i  ii.  7  '<i4 

ALPHABETICAL  mDEX  TO  YOLS.  L  Al^D  IL 


Aliandonm?nt,  of  Jesus  on  the  Cross,  predicted,  ii. 
674  ;  severity  of,  ii.  678  ;  d;d  not  invoie  despair, 
ii.  679 ;  the  Scripture  was  the  sustaining  i)ow- 
er  under,  ii.  6B0. 

Abraham,  saw  the  d-yof  Christ,  ii.  222 ;  Jesu-^ 
exiNteil  before,  ii.  225  ;  Jews  claim  him  as  iheir 
father,  ii.  200. 

Abnihiim,  bosom  of,  explained,  i.  619. 

Abraham  dau^lUer  of,  meaning  of  the  ph'ase,  i. 
579. 

Absolution,  no  Scripture  warrant  for  Popish  doc- 
trine of,  i'.  751. 

Adultery,  close  connection  between,  and  mu-dpr, 
i.  62 ;  forbidden,  i.  66  ;  woman  taken  in  tin-, 
ii.  173. 

Adversary,  agreement  with,  i.  62,  573. 

Agony  of  J.-.SUS,  as  histoiical  truth,  ii.  569;  is  re- 
ferre  I  to  in  lleb.  v.  7,  8,  i.570  ;  agreement  be- 
tween the  Miree  records  of,  ii.  571 ;  Christ's 
presevm  "nt  of,  ii.  571  ;  its  i)rpliminary  sorrows, 
ii.  572;  its  cu<ps,  ii.  573;  prayer  ot  Jesus  in, 
ii.  571,  584,  586,  587  ;  its  objects,  ii.  577,  584  ; 
Christ's  desire  for  sympathy  in,  ii.  576  ;  Christ's 
subuiiss  on  in,  ii.  579.     See  sufferings  of  Jesus. 

Almsgiving,  Clirist's  teacliin'j  concerning,  i.  83. 

Ananias,  comni'ss.on  of,  li.  870. 

An'.',e!s,  ascending,  etc.,  on  the  Son  of  Man,  i.  19; 
are  reapers  of  the  fin:il  harvest,  i.  273;  minis- 
ter to  men,  i.  350  ;  saints  will  be  equal  to,  in 
the  future  world,  i.  419  ;  shall  gnther  the  elect, 
i.  468  ;  come  with  Christ  to  judj;ment,  i.  487  ; 
receive  the  spirit  of  the  righteous  at  death,  i. 
567,  617  ;  comforts  Jesus  in  his  agony,  ii.  575  ; 
are  the  hosts  of  Jehovnh,  ii.  6  )1  ;  roll  the  st  'ne 
from  the  sei)ulc:ire,  ii.  702 ;  two  appear  to  Mary 
Magdalene,  ii.  705. 

A'lger,  causeless,  ih?  doom  of,  i.  60. 

Annus,  Je^us  arraigned  before,  ii.  605. 

Ai.tichrist,  doom  of,  foreshadowed  in  doom  of 
Jif  a-,,  ii.  507. 

Apostles,  were  itinerant  preachers,  i.  170;  perse- 
cution of,  i.  178  ;  were  not  to  fear  those  who 
kill  the  body,  i.  182  ;  piuck^d  corn  on  Sibbath, 
i.  221 ;  kingdom  and  thrones  promised  to,  i. 
365  ;  ii.  492  ;  chosen,  ii.  145  ;  inspire  I  by  thr 
Spirit,  ii.  413;  testily  of  Jesus,  ii.  398 ;  their 
per[)le.\ity  at  prospect  of  Christ's  departure,  ii. 
404,  418 ;  could  not  bear  all  Christ's  sayinss, 
ii.413;  their  sorrow  turned  into  joy,  ii.  421  ; 
their  faith  in  Jesus,  ii.  433,  434,  456;  scit- 
tering  of,  nnnounced,  ii.  437  ;  found  pence  in 
Christ,  ii.  437  ;  given  to  Chr:st,  by  the  Father, 
ii.  455  ;  Jesus  prays  for,  ii.  457  ;  Chv  st  idorified 
in,  ii.  458;  their  sanctification,  ii.  466;  coi.ten- 
t  on  amonsj,  rebuked,  ii.  487  :  their  fiileli  y  with 
Jesus  in  his  temptations,  ii  491;  iheir  assoc'ation 
with  Christ  inHiis  kingdom,  li.  492  ;  their  sor- 
row when  to'd  one  ot  them  .-hould  betray  Jesu-i, 
ii.  499  j  offended,  when  told  one  of  them  would 
9GJ 


betray  Jesus,  ii.  556  ;  scattering  of  announced,  if, 
_^  559 ;  were  to  make  suitable  provision  for  thi-ir 
great  mission,  ii.  563  ;  reproved  forsleeping  dur- 
ing the  agony,  ii.  581,  586;  were  the  brethren  of 
Jesus,  ii.  715  ;  Jesus  appears  to,  in  the  room,  ii. 
738;  believed  not  Mary's  report  concerning  the 
Rc-surrection,  ii.  739;  suppose  Jesus  to  have  been 
a  spir.t,  ii.  741 ;  Jesus  shows  them  his  hands 
and  side,  ii.  743  ;  their  gladness  when  they  saw 
Jesu=i,  ii.  745;  Jesus  ap;  ears  to,  at  the  sea 
shore,  ii.  765;  go  a  lishing.on  the  Lake  of 
Gihlee,  ii.  768;  care  of  Jesus  for  their  tem- 
poral welfare,  ii.  770 ;  Jesus  dines  with  them 
after  his  resurrection,  ii.  768;  Je.sus  opens 
their  understanding,  to  know  the  Scriptures,  ii. 
840;  weie  witnesses  of  the  things  concerning 
Cia-.st,  ii.  815;  their  question  as  to  the  re.s- 
toraiion  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel  explained,  ii. 
854 ;  kn?w  not  the  time  and  the  seasons,  ii. 
854  ;  are  Christ's  witnesses,  ii.  859. 

Apostles,  fir.^t  mission  of,  i.  167;  to  be  confined 
to  Israel,  i.  169;  aitcided  and  attested  by 
miracles,  1.  170;  no  temporal  provision  made 
for,  i.  171;  a  mission  of  peace,  i.  172;  conse- 
quences of  neglecting,  i.  173;  dangers  of,  i. 
175;  referred  to,  ii.  563;  contrasted  with  their 
future   ii.  561. 

Apostles'  filial  mission  of,  intimation  of,  received 
on  the'  day  of  the  Resurrection,  ii.  746;  resem- 
bled the  mission  of  Jesus,  ii.  747  ;  Holy  Spirit 
anointed  them  (or,  ii.  747  ;  was  founded  on 
medintorial  power,  ii.  796;  its  obj  ct  was  to 
disciple  all  nations,  ii.  798  ;  i)erpetual  presence 
of  Cluist  with  them  in,  ii.  825;  was  lo  eveiy 
creature,  ii.  828. 

Apostles,  final  mission  of,  as  recorded  by  Luke, 
its  connection  in  the  Evangelical  narratives,  ii. 
798 ;  time  and  p'ace  of  its  delivery,  ii.  839 ; 
analysis  of,  ii.  840 ;  exposition  of  ii.  811 ;  its 
great  theme  was  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins,  ii.  844  ;  was  to  begin  at  Jerusalem,  ii.  844  ; 
the  Spirit  was  to  anoint  them  for,  ii.  816. 

Ascension  of  Jesus,  announced,  i'.  137 ;  Mary 
c  mmissioned  to  announce  to  the  apostles,  ii. 
715 ;  did  not  take  place  imniedialeiy  afier  his 
resurrection,  ii.  716;  was  in  bodily  form,  ii. 
849;  insei)arab'y  connected  with  his  dignity 
and  mediation,  ii.  849  ;  occurred  near  Bethany, 
ii.  850;  was  from  Mount  Olivet,  ii.  850 ;  time 
of  the  day  of,  not  known,  ii.  850;  the  witnesses 
of,  ii.  850 ;  took  place  in  the  act  of  blessing,  ii. 
861 ;  was  to  heaven,  ii.  8G1. 

Assemblies  of  worshij),  Jesus  present  in,  i.  354 ; 
ii.  827. 

Atonement.     See  Death  and  SufT'rings  of  Jesus. 

Baptism,  meaning  of  the  term,  ii.  800  ;  an  ex'ernal 

mark  of  discipleship,  ii.  800 ;  d  ffrtrs  from  John's 

baptism,  ii.  801  ;    to  bo   administered   in  name 

I     of  the  Trinity,  ii.  802;   the  failh  necessary.  la 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


966 


order  to,  ii.  804;  different  exposition  of  nature  I 
of,  ii.  8Uo ;  took  the  place  tif  circumcision,  ii.  | 
80C  i  positive  eflect  ot,  on  children,  ii.  807  ;  in-  '■ 
liuits  proper  suhjects  of,  ii.  808;  Peter's  refer- I 
eiice  to,  in  1  Peter  iii.  21,  explained,  ii.  819; 
the  wo  ds  of  Christ  to  be  used  as  the  formu'a 
of,  ii.  820  ;  to  be  followed  by  teachinjr,  ii.  822  ; 
is  no  pirt  of  preaching,  ii.  827;    rela.ion  be- 
tween la.th  and,  ii.  831 ;  effects  of,  upon  chil- 
dren, ii.  832;    effects  of,  upon  adults,  ii.  833 ; 
wns  it  adniinislered  to  the  apostles,  ii.  854. 

Baptism,  cliildien  proper  subjects  of.  Scriptural 
argument  for,  ii.  808 ;  apostolic  practice  in 
favor  of,  ii.  812;  practice  of  early  church  in 
favor  ot,  ii.  816  ;  duty  of  the  cliuicli  to  baptize 
infants,  ii.  817  ;  involve  the  communication  of 
grace  to,  ii.  818;  not  essential  to  their  final 
salvation,  ii.  832  ;  positive  effects  of,  ii.  833. 

Baptism  of  Jesus,  i.  5;  time  of,  i.  23. 

Bapti>m  of  John,  was  a  baptism  of  repentance,  5. 
6;  whence  was  it,  i.  394;  difTerence  between, 
and  Christian,  ii.  801. 

B  iptism  of  fire,  i.  572. 

Baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  John  predicted  the 
ii.  852 ;  niture  of,  ii.  852 ;  its  counectiou  with 
b)i)ti>m  by  waiter,  ii.  853. 

Beatitudes,  exposition  of,  i.  32,  134. 

Beelzebub,  Ciirist  called,  i.  182. 

Beiieveis,  given  to  Jesus  by  the  Father,  ii.  120, 
257,  457  ;  their  safely,  ii.  121,  257  ;  are  tau2ht 
of  God,  ii.  124;  shall  not  see  death,  ii.  219,276; 
do  works  greater  than  Jesus,  ii.  352 ;  know  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  ii.  361 ;  are  to  abide  in 
Christ,  ii.  380;  to  iibide  in  Christ's  love,  ii. 
383  ;  are  friends  of  Jesus,  ii.  386  ;  are  ordained 
to  bring  forth  fruit,  ii.  387  ;  hated  of  the  world, 
ii.  384;  testify  of  Christ,  ii.  398;  union  of, 
prayed  for,  ii.  462,  472,  474  ;  Jesus  prays  that 
they  may  be  kept  from  evil,  ii.  464,  465;  their 
snntification,  ii.  468-471  ;  their  glorification 
prayed  for,  ii.  474 ;  tempted  by  Sitan,  ii. 
551  ;  are  called  the  brethren  of  Christ,  ii.  715  ; 
when  they  may  coiciml*  that  Je>us  is  near 
them,  ii.  736;  their  different  attaii.ments,  ii. 
780 ;  signs  which  follow  their  faith,  ii.  834. 

Benevolence,  reward  of,  i.  191,  591  ;  enjoined,  i. 
590. 

Betrayal  of  Jesus,  announced,  i.  337  ;  accom- 
plished, ii.  482,  588 ;  was  to  be  by  one  of  the 
disciples,  ii.  497. 

Bethesda,  pool  of,  ii.  81. 

Bethsaida,  doom  of,  i.  213. 

Bigotry  rebuked,  i.  503. 

Binding  and  loosing,  explained,  i.  343.  See  Keys, 
power  of. 

Birth,  new,  nature  of,  ii.  10 ;  work  of  the  Spirit 
in,ii.  16. 

Bl  spliemy,  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  i.  237 ;  na- 
ture of,  i.  237  ;  is  greater  than  if  ng  linst  Jesus, 
i.  238 ;  is  an  individual  act,  i.  238 ;  is  a  Sa- 
tanic sin,  i.  239;  no  forgiveness  for,  i.  239;  is 
the  only  unpardonable  sin,  i.  240. 

Blasphemy,  Jesus  charged  with,  ii.  616. 

Blessing  of  Jesus  at  the  ascension,  ii,  861. 

Blind  min,  at  Bethsaida,  liealed,  i.  500. 

Blind  men,  two,  healed,  i.  164  ;  at  Jericho,  healed, 
i.  384. 

Blind,  man  horn,  cured,  ii.  227 ;  sin  not  the  cause 
of  his  blindness,  ii,  228;  questioned  by  the 
Pharisees,  ii.  235 ;  acknowledaes  Jesus  as  the 
Mi^ssiah,  ii.  236  ;  believes  in  Christ,  ii.  237. 

Blood  of  Christ,  sacramental  wiue  au  emblem  of, 


ii.  529  ;  in  what  sense  dr^nk  in  the  stcrament, 
ii.  530  ;  is  the  blood  of  atonement  and  coven- 
ant, i.  531  ;  blood  of  the  passover  a  type  of,  ii. 
532;  shed  for  many,  ii.  534;  shed  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  ii.  535. 

Body,  the  resu;rec!ion,  constitu  ion  of,  i.  419; 
eating  and  drinking  not  inconsistent  with,  ii, 
549.     See  Resurrection. 

Body  of  Christ,  compared  to  the  Temple,  i,  25; 
bread  of  the  sacrament  an  emblem  of,  ii.  519  ; 
how  received  in  the  sacrament,  ii.  618,  5J3  ; 
pretended  exhibition  of,  by  Papists,  censured, 
ii.  521 ;  how  given  for  us,  ii.  522 ;  in  what 
sense  broken,  ii.  525 ;  difTerent  views  concern- 
ing ubiquity  of,  ii.  537  ;  its  presence  in  the 
sacrament,  ii.  539 ;  a  real  human,  ii  584  ;  not 
altered  in  its  appearance  after  the  resurrection, 
ii.  722  ;  characters  of,  between  resurrectim  and 
ascension,  ii.  740 ;  supposed  ubiquity  of,  ii. 
741 ;  retains  the  marks  of  sufferin:;s,  ii.  744 ; 
resurrec'ion,  partook  of  food,  ii.  745, 

Born  anain,  meaning  of,  ii.  10. 

Born  of  the  flesh,  ii.  17. 

Born  of  tfie  Spirit,  ii.  16. 

Born  of  water,  ii.  14. 

Borrowins,  Christ's  teaching  concerning,  i.  77. 

Bottles,  old  and  new,  parable  of,  i.  164. 

Brethren,  differences  amoni,  how  to  be  settled,  L 
62,  348 ;  love  to — see  Love  to  the  brethren. 

Brethren  of  Jesus,  rebukrd  for  their  unbelief,  ii. 
148 ;  apostles  and  Christians  are  the,  ii.  715. 
See  Kin.sfolk  of  Jesus. 

Biidegoom,  Christ  the,  i.  479. 

Burden  of  Christ,  i.  219. 

Bread,  men  do  not  live  by,  alone,  i.  19. 

Bread,  from  Heaven,  siven  by  the  Father,  ii.  118  ; 
Jesus  the  true,  ii.  119,  126. 

Bread,  of  the  sacrament,  ii.  616  ;  Jesus  b'essed, 
ii.  516;  breaking  of,  ii.  517,524;  eaiing  of, 
what  signified  by,  ii.  518  ;  an  emblem  of  Clirisi's 
body,  ii.  624. 
I  Caiapha*,  prophecy  of,  if.  287  ;  Jesus  tri°d  before, 
ii.  611 ;  his  sin  greater  than  Pilate's,  i.  645. 

Called  and  chosen,  meaning  of,  i.  375. 

Capernaum,  doom  of,  i.  213. 

Care,  worldly,  nature  of,  106,  56 i ;  arguments 
against,  i.  107  ;  riches  a  source  of,  i.  666. 

Celibacy,  Christ's  teaching  concerning,  i.  356. 

Censoriousness,  rebuked,  i.  112. 

Centurion  at  Capernaum,  his  servant  raised  from 
the  dead,  i.  140 ;  his  faith  commended,  i.  141. 

Centurion  at  the  Crucifixion,  acknowiedges  the 
innocence  and  divinity  of  Jesus,  ii.  696. 

Cheek,  smiting  on,  explained,  i.  74. 

Childien,  little,  an  emblem  of  humility,  i.  344 ; 
to  be  received  in  Christ's  name,  i.  345  ;  not  to 
offend  against,  i.  347  ;  members  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  i.  357  ;  Jesus  kisses  and  blesses, 
i.  358 ;  sing  praises  to  Jesus,  i.  389 ;  proper 
subjects  of  baptism,  ii.  808. 

Chora/.in,  doom  of,  i.  213. 

Christ — see  Jesus. 

Christians — see  Believers. 

Christs,  false,  foretold,  i.  455,  462. 

Church,  perpetual  presence  of  ChriNt  in,  ii.  826. 

Church,  the,  compared  to  salt  and  liaht,  i.  44  ; 
built  upon  Peter,  i.  316;  safely  of,  i.  318;  to 
settle  differences  between  brethren,  i.  854 ; 
proper  idea  of,  i.  355;  practice  of  the  early,  in 
favor  of  infant  baptism,  ii.  815  ;  duty  of,  to 
baptize  children,  ii.  817. 

Cloak,  let  him  t&ke  thy,  explained,  i.  75. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


967 


Closet.     See  Prayer,  secret^ 

Cloih,  old  and  new.  paiable  of,  i.  1C3. 

Cock,  crowins  of,  lessons  irorai  the,  ii.  5C0. 

Coaitorter.     See  Si)irit,  Holy. 

Coniint:  of  Christ,  lo  desiroy  Jeiusalem,  prophecy 
concerning,  i.  457. 

Com  iia  in  the  middle  advent,  i.  465;  the  signs  of, 
i.  400 ;  sliall  be  as  a  thief,  i.  474,  570. 

Cominu  to  leceive  his  people,  ii.  344. 

Coining  to  judge  ihe  world.     See  Judgment,  final. 

Comniimdment,  t!ie  Saviour's  new.  ii.  331 ;  not 
opposed  to  the  law,  ii.  332  ;  different  exposi- 
tions of,  ii.  333  ;   its  true  meanias,  ii.  335. 

Commandments  of  God,  <:iiilt  ot  breaking  the,  1. 
54;  contrasied  with  tradilions  of  Phaii.-,ees,  i. 
291  ;  the  first  and  t':e  grentest  of  the,  i.  422; 
the  second  of  the,  i.  425  ;  blessedness  ot  kee.p- 
ing,  i.559;  obeJienc*  to,  an  evidence  of  love,  ii. 
355,  303. 

Confessing  Christ,  duty  of.  i.  186. 

Conversion,  ii.  554. 

Consubstantiatioa,  doctrine  of,  ii.  53i.. 

Corban,  meaning  of,  i.  294. 

Corner-.-tone,  Christ  the,  i.  401. 

Covenant,  meaning  of,  ii.  532. 

Covetousness,  wainiag  against,  i.  505. 

Creature,  every,  the  [jhra-e  explained,  ii.  8:8. 

Criticism,  of  Gospels,  has  been  too  much  occupied 
with  traditions,  i.  viii. ;  licentious,  protesied 
against,  i.  ix. :  principles  of,  adopted  in  this 
wo.k,  vindicated,  ii.  xiv. 

Cross,  to  be  borne,  i.  189,  324. 

Crucifixion,  announced,  i.  377  ;  ii.  483  ;  darkness 
at,  ii.  673  ;  vail  of  (he  temple  rent  at,  ii.  695  ; 
earthquake  at,  ii.  090. 

Cup,  an  emblem  of  Christ's  sufferings,  i.  378  ;  ii. 
578 ;  of  the  passover,  drunk  by  Jesus,  ii.  497. 

Darkness,  men  love,  ii.  40 ;  at  the  crucifixion,  il. 
673. 

D  vid  eating  the  shew-bread,  i.  222  ;  Jesus  the 
Son  and  Lord  of,  i.  427 ;  his  knowledge  of 
Christ,  i.  433  ;  predicts  the  rejection  and  exalta- 
tion of  Christ,  i.  407 ;  foretells  our  Lord's 
abandonment  on  the  Cross,  ii.  674. 

Day  of  Christ,  seen  by  Abraham,  ii.  222 ;  filial 
up,  ii.  266. 

Dead,  let  the,  bury  their  dead,  meaning  of,  i.  145. 

Deaf  and  dumb  man  healed,  i.  498, 

Dea;h,  compared  to  sleep,  1.108;  ii.  2G9;  be- 
lievers shall  not  see,  ii.  219. 

Death  of  Jesus,  was  sacrificial,  i.  383 ;  God  glori- 
fied by,  ii,  227 ;  represent  d  as  a  lifting  up,  ii. 
88,  304;  compared  to  corn  of  wheat  dying,  ii. 
297  ;  comprehended  in,  "  It  is  finished,"  i.  690  ; 
not  like  the  passive  death  of  man,  ii.  C94,  See 
Sufferings  of  Jesus. 

Debtors,  parable  of  the  two,  i.  523, 

D  Mlication,  feasts  of,  ii.  255. 

Defileth  a  man,  wh  it,  i.  296. 

Demoniacs,  cured,  i.  492 

Devil.     See  S  itan. 

Disciples,  many,  offended  at  Jesus,  ii.  136  ;  great- 
ness of  true,  i.  341,  50.  See  Apostles  and  Be- 
lievers. 

Discourse  of  Jesus  to  the  Apostles  when  first  se.nt 
out  to  preach,  i.  107  ;  order  of,  i.  167;  exposi- 
tion of.  i.  168  ;  analysis  of,  i.  180. 

Discourse,  his  fHrewell,  to  the  Apostles,  ii.  338- 
338;  iniroductiou  to,  ii,  338;  analysis  of,  ii. 
438;  exposition  of,  ii.  340. 

D.vinity  of  ChrNt,  ii,  86,  260,  447;  acknowledged 
by  Thomas,  ii.  759. 


I  Divorce,  Mosaic  precepts  concerning,  i.  67;  Clirlst's 
leacliing    concerning,    i.   67,    642;     Pharisees 
tempt  Jesus  concerning,  i.  349. 
Doctors,  Christ's  interview  with,   in  the  temple, 

Doctrine,  known  by  doing  the  will  of  God,  ii. 
155. 

Door  of  the  sheepfold,  Christ  is  the,  ii.  247. 

E  irthquake  at  the  crucifixion,  ii.  690, 

Elias,  coming  of,  in  John  Baptist,  i.  330;  Jews 
supposed  Jesus  to  call  for,  on  the  cross,  ii.  687. 

Emmaus,  the  two  disciples  who  went  to,  knew  not 
Jesus,  ii.  723;  were  not  of  the  twelve,  ii,  724; 
th^ir  conversation,  ii.  724  ;  Jesus  appears  to,  ii. 
725 ;  their  surprise  at  the  Lord's  question,  ii. 
725  ;  their  expectation  of  a  tem[)oral  kin::;dom, 
ii.  726;  express  astonishment  at  the  tidings  of 
the  women,  ii.  727  ;  their  ignorance  and  slosv- 
ne.ss  of  belief  rebuked,  ii.  728  ;  their  anxiety  to 
retain  Jesus,  ii.  734 ;  Jesus  made  known  lo 
them  in  break. ng  of  bread,  ii.  735  ;  their  hearts 
burned  within  them,  ii,  735 ;  predicted  signifi- 
c.wice  of  the  Lord's  interview  with,  ii,  736  ;  their 
hasty  return  to  Jeru-alera,  ii.  738. 

Enemies,  love  to,  i.  79,  136 ;  Christ  prays  for  his. 
ii.  656. 

Ephesus,  epistle  to,  in  Revelation,  ii.  906. 

Eucharist,  Lord's  Sujiper  called  the,  ii.  514. 

Evil,  resist  not,  meaning  of,  i.  74, 

Evil,  moral,  origin  of,  i.  269;  Jesus  prays  his  dis- 
c'p'.es  miy  be  kept  fiom,  ii.  342. 

Example,  Jesiis  an,  of  humility,  ii.  319,  491. 

Excu^es  for  rejecting  the  Gospel,  i.  591. 

Exegesis,  Biblical,  follows  ciiticism,  i.  xi. ;  proper 
stand-point  of,  i.  x'. ;  general  deficiency  ot,  i.  xii. 

Eye,  p'uck  out,  meaning  of,  i.  65;  single  and  evil, 
explained,  i.  103. 

Faith,  its  nature,  i.  25;  commended,  i.  141;  the 
co:tdilion  of  salvation,  i.  142;  little,  rebuked,  i. 
148;  healing  efficacy  of,  i.  167  ;  strong,  i.  335; 
power  of,  i.  392 ;  overcom  -th  offences,  i.  663  ; 
lationalily  of,  ii.  30;  necessity  of,  ii.  39,  45; 
want  of,  rebuked,  ii.  74;  pride  a  hindrance  to, 
ii.  108  ;  is  Ihe  work  of  God,  ii,  116  ;  in  God  and 
Christ,  urged,  ii.  341 ;  in  wiiat  is  written  con- 
cerning Christ  urged,  ii.  728  ;  its  blessedness. 
ii.  760  ;  its  relations  to  sight,  ii.  762 ;  essential 
to  salvation,  ii.  829 ;  connection  of,  with  bap- 
tism, ii.  831 ;  wonder-working  power  of,  ii. 
833. 

Fasting,  Christ's  teaching  concerning,  1.  94; 
Christ's  answer  concerning,  to  the  disciples,  i. 
160;  its  connecdon  with  miracles,  i.  337. 

Father,  God  the,  worship  to  be  paid  to,  ii.  63 ; 
Jesus  claims,  as  his,  ii.  86  ;  his  love  to  the  Son, 
ii.  89,  252;  works  of,  ii.  88;  raiseth  the  dead, 
ii.  91 ;  faith  in,  ii.  93 ;  hath  life  in  himself, 
ii.  90  ;  bears  testimony  to  Christ,  ii.  99,  187  ; 
not  seen  hymen,  ii.  103,  125;  word  of,  ii.  104; 
draweth  men,  ii.  123;  Jesus  equal  to,  ii.  257; 
Jesus  came  from,  ii.  163,  164,  434;  Jesus  goes 
to,  ii.  165,  166,  434 ;  Jesus  the  way  to  the,  ii. 
347  ;  Philip  asks  to  be  shown  the,  ii.  349  ;  is  in 
the  Son,  ii.  350;  sends  the  Holy  Si)irit,  ii.  366; 
is  greater  tlian  the  Son,  ii.  371 ;  Jesus  prays  to, 
ii.  442;  called  the  true  God,  ii.  446 ;  is  glori- 
fied by  Jesus,  ii.  448  ;  called  "  Holy  Father," 
ii.  460 ;  called  "  Righteous  Father,"  ii.  477  ; 
world  do!h  not  know,  ii.  478 ;  promise  of,  ex- 
plained, ii.  846  ;  reserves  the  time  and  seasons 
in  his  owu  hand,  ii.  857.  See  God,  and  Sou  of 
God. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Fear  of  man  forbidrlen,  i.  182  563. 
Fear  of  Satan  enjoined,  i.  184. 
Feasts,  soci.il,  directioBS  for  observing,  i.  588, 
"  Few  that  lie  .^aved,"  are  there  1  i.  580. 
"  Finished,  it  is,"  as  used  by  Jesus  on  the  cross, 
ii.  68S;  its  comprehensiveness,  ii.  688  ;  includes 
tlie  fulfillment  of  Scripture,  ii.  689;    refers  lo 
the  close  of  liis  sufferings  and   death,  ii.  689 ; 
was  a  cry  of  victory  and  joy,  ii.  691. 
Fidelity  in  teni[)oral  and  spirituil  tliin<?s,  i.  638. 
Fiil-t'-ee,   the   barren,   cursed,  i,  390 ;  parable  of, 
in  Matt.  xxiv.  SI,  exp.ained,  i.  469,  parable  of, 
in  Luke  xiii.  6-9,  explained,  i.  376. 
Pile,  baptiNm  of,  i.  571. 
Fire,  salted  with,  explained,  i.  408. 
Fire,  hell,  i.  66. 

Fisheis  of  men,  the  Apostles  wore,  i.  29,  524. 
Fishes,  miracles   of  the   loaves  and,  i.  285,  304 ; 
miraculous,  drautjht  of,  i.  533;  second  miracu- 
lous draught   of,  ii.  770j  its  predictive  mean- 
inz,  ii.  772. 
Flesh  ot  Je.>us,  in  what  sense  to  be  eaten,  ii.  126. 
Flesh,  born  of,  ii.  17. 
Following   Jesus,  sacrifices   required  by,  i.   363, 

365. 
Forsiveness.     See  Enemies  and  Sins,  forgireness 

of. 
Fowls  of  the  air,  God's  care  for,  i.  107,  186. 
Freedom,  spiritual,  ii.  198. 
Friends,  believers  are  the,  of  Jesus,  ii.  386. 
Fruit,  tree  known  by  its,  i.  127. 
Fruit,  .spiritual,  ii.  378;    much,  glorifies  God,  ii. 

382;  believers  ordained  to  bring  forth,  ii.  387. 
Ga;ment,  the  weildmg,  explained,  i.  498. 
Gate,  strait  and  wide,  the,  i.  121,  580. 
Gtlileans  slain  by  Pilate,  i.  574. 
Gililee,  Jeus  promises  lo  meet  the  disciples  in, 
ii.  721  ;    meets    the   Apo.sllt^-^.  <>n   t'p-     i      <>  of 
the  Lake  of,  ii.  769. 
Galilee,  Lake  of.     See  S  'a  of  G.i  i.t  •, 
Gentiles,  calling  ot,  ii.  551. 
Gc't!L>emaiie,   the    place    of    ago.y,   i.   o6S),      See 

Agony. 
Glorified,  Qod  ii,  by  Christ,  ii.  449. 
Glorified,  Jesus  prays  to  be,  ii.  442. 
Glorified,  the  Son  of  Man  is,  ii.  297. 
God,  tempting,  i.  11  ;  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
i.  216;  revealed  by  Christ,  i.  217 ;  his  relation 
to  the  saints  in  a  fuiure   life,  i.  420;  unity   of, 
i.  423  ;    love  of,  gift  of  Christ,  ii.  43  ;  spiritual- 
ity of,  ii.  67  ;    glorified    by  denth  of  Christ,  ii. 
328;  c.illed  the  "True  God,"  ii.  446;  his  holi- 
ness, ii.  460 ;  his  righteousness,  ii.  477  ;  his  love 
manifested  by  Jesus,  ii.  479.     See  Father,  God 
the. 
Gods,  "  I  said  ye  are,"  explained,  ii.  260-263. 
Going,  of  the  Son  of  Man,  predicted,  ii.  502.     Sec 

Son  of  Mm,  Jesus  the. 
Goigollia,  the  place  of  crucifixion,  ii.  655. 
Gi»spel,  nature  of,  i.  29;    invitations   of,   i.  405, 
594 ;     excuses    for    rejecting,   i.   591 ;     to   be 
preached   to  all   nations,  ii.  798 ;  is   the  great 
theme  of  all  preaching,  ii.  827  ;  to  be  preaclieil 
to  every  creaiure,  ii.828;  neglect  of,  leads  to 
damnation,  ii.  829  ;  belief  of,  leads  to  salvation, 
ii.  829;  is   preached   in    Hides,   to   those  who 
have  not  heard    it   on    earth,    ii.   829;    to  be 
preached  in  the  name  of  Christ,  ii.  814;  to  be 
l)reachnd  to  the  uit/^rmost  parts  of  the  earth,  ii. 
859.     See  Kingiom  of  heaven. 
Giispels,  i()P  Four,  written   under  the   inspiration 
of  the  Spirit,  i.  x.  ii. ;  charucl  'lislics  of  each,  i. 


xiv. ;  a  tubular  Harmony  of,  and  remarks  ujoo 

it,  i.xx.;  chronology  of  their  events,  i.xxiv.;  each 

has  its  own  particular  plan,  i.  xxv. 
Greatest  dispute  among  the  twelve  who   should 

be,  i.  341. 
Greatness   of  Christ's   disciples,  i.  S41,  501 ;    of 

humility,  i.  344. 
Greeks,  certain,   would  see  Jesus,  ii.  296  ;  deep 

significance  of  their  words,  ii.  296 ;  Jesus  did 

not  refuse  their  request,  ii.  297, 
Gulf,  areat,  the,  i.  654. 

Habakkuk,  general  scope  of  his  prophecj',  i.  591. 
Hades,  general  view  of,   i.  648;  ii.  451;  Gospel 

preached  in,  ii.  829. 
Hand,  cut  off  the,  meaning  of,  i.  65  j  man  with  a 

withered,  healed,  i.  226. 
Harvest,  the  plentiful,  i.  170 ;  fields  white  unto, 

ii.  73. 
Harmony,  of  the  Gospels,  difficulties  of  a,  i.  x., 

xix. ;    principles  of,  adopted  in  this  woik,  vjn- 

dlcated,  ii.  xv,;  a  tabular,  and  remarks  upon  it, 

i.  XX. ;  ii.  xviii. 
Hearers,  d.fferent  cV  ss  s  of,  i.  260;  the  wayside, 

i.  260;    the   stony    g  ouiul,  i.  202;  the  tliorny 

ground,  i.  263  ;  the  good  ground,  i.  264  ;  d.ffer- 

ei,t  hindrances  of  i.  265. 
Ileal  t,  purity  of,  i.  41 ;  grossuess  of,  i.  257  ;  is  the 

fountain  of  evil,  i.  299. 
Heaven,  exclusion  from,  i.  129,  142,  581  ;    social 

character  of  its  happiness,  i.  141  ;  a  house  of 

many  man-ions,  ii.  3j3;  Je^us  goes  to  prepare, 

ii.   313;    shadowed   forth   in   tl:e   passover,  ii. 

496;  Jesus  did  not  ascend  to,  immediately  after 

his  resurrection,  ii.  716. 
Her,  gates  of,  i.  318  ;  torments  of,  i.  66,  406.  619  , 

meaning   of,   i.''^618 ;    did   the  soul    of    Jesus 

descend   unto?  ii.    664;    its   deep   d.^spair,   ii. 

680. 
Herod,   craftiness   of,  i.  583 ;   Jesus   sent  to.    ii. 

638. 
Holiness,  nature  of  ii.  400. 
Holy  Ghost.     See  Spirit,  Holy. 
Hour  of  Jesus,  not  yet  come,  i.  21  ;  arrival  of,  ii. 

604. 
Humility,  greatness  of,   i.  344  ;    enforced,  i.  381  ; 

ii.  491 ;  Jvsus  an  e.ximple  of,  ii.  319,  491. 
Ilimgor,  spiritual,  nature  and  blessedi.ess  of,  J. 

40. 
Ignorance,  of  Jews,  in  crucifying  Jesus,  ii.  659. 
lin[iotont   nnn,   lieali'ig   of,    ii.  81  ;    his   anxious 

wailing,  ii.  83;  his  despondency,  ii.  S3;  i)erfec- 

lion  of  his  cuie,  ii.  83;  Jews  complain  that  he 

was  healed  on  the  Sabhith,  ii.  84 ;  he  is  ex- 

hortc<l  to  sin  no  move,  ii.  84. 
Inspiration,  of  the  Old  Test.,  i.  429;  true  idea  of- 

i.  4''.0;  of  prophecy,  i.  431  ;  source  of,   i.  431  ; 

Cliiist    the    great   theme    of,    i.    433;    different 

theories  of,  i.  433  ;  of  the  Apostles,  if.  414. 
Isaiah,  announces  the  impenitence  of  the  Jews,  i. 

257;  predicts  the  b-^nevolence   of  Christ's  mi.s- 

sion,  i.  518;  foretells  the  suflerings  of  Christ,  i. 

566. 
Israel,  mission  of  the  Seventy  confined  to,  i.  169; 

Christ's   personal  mission   coiifliieil  to,   i.  307 ; 

apo-tolic  inquiry  concerning  restoration  of  ihi> 

kingdom  to,  explainel,  ii.  851. 
Jairus,  his  dau2ihtor  raised,  i.  162. 
James  the  brother  of  John,  requests  to  sit  at  the 

right  hand  of  Jesus  i.  877  ;    called  a  .son  of 

thunder,  i.  491 ;  wish-s  to  call  fire  fiom  he.iven, 

i.  533;    accompanies  Jesus  to  Gcth&enuiie,  ii. 

672. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Jemsalem,  Jesus  enters  in  tnuniph,  i.  885,  692; 
llie  Lor^Ts  comiiassion  for,  i.  449,  585  ;  Jesus 
weeps  oTer,  i.  693  ;  guilt  of,  i,  69i  ;  destruc- 
tion of,  announced,  i.  457,  695  ;  ii.  16,  650  ;  to 
have  the  first  off^r  of  mercy,  ii.  845. 

Je-us  first  words  of,  i.  1 ;  goes  up  to  the  lemn'e, 
i.  1  ;  his  interview  vv.tli  the  Doctors,  i.  1 ;  re- 
proved by  his  motlier,  i.  4  ;  calis  Go  i  Father,  i. 
4 ;  ii.  86 ;  is  about  his  Fatlier's  business,  i.  3  ; 
taught  of  the  Fath.er,  i.  4 ;  grows  in  wisdom  and 
stature,  i.  5  ;  fulfills  all  righteousness,  i.  6  ;  is 
perfect  man,  i.  10 ;  how  he  is  to  be  sought,  i. 
15  ;  his  first  miracle.'i.  19 ;  rebukes  his  mother, 
i.  20 ;  his  respect  for  ordinary  customs  of  life, 
1.22;  purifies  the  temple,  i.  23  ;  olten  taught 
the  same  thing",  i.  33  ;  came  to  fu  fill  the  liw, 
3.  47  ;  his  testimony  of  himself,  i.  47  ;  ii.  185  ; 
heals  a  leper,  i,  138;  raises  centurion's  servant 
i.  140;  stills  the  tempest,  i.  148;  raises  Jaiiu--' 
daughter,  i.  162;  greater  than  the  temple,  i. 
223  ;  greater  than  Jonas,  i.  244  ;  greater  than 
Solomon,  i,  245 ;  walks  on  the  sea,  i.  288 ; 
various  opinions  about,  i.  312  ;  his  transfigura- 
tion, i.  302 ;  heals  a  lunatic,  i.  321 ;  his  tri- 
umphant entrance  into  Jerusalem,  i.  385,  692  ; 
is  David's  Son  and  Lord,  i.  427  ;  his  compassion 
for  Jerusalem,  i.  449,  585;  his  first  sermon  nt 
Nazareth,  i.  514  ;  raises  the  widow's  son.  i.  524; 
his  visit  to  Dethany,  i.  550;  design  of  his  mis- 
sion, ii.  44;  is  weary  at  the  well,  ii.  53 ;  pro- 
claims himself  the  IMessiah,  ii.  71 ;  his  know- 
ledge of  men,  ii.  60 ;  nuses  a  nobleman's  son, 
ii.  77  ;  heals  the  impotent  man,  ii.  81 ;  receives 
not  honor  from  men,  ii.  107;  was  free  from  sin 
ii.  215;  had  not  a  devil,  ii.  217  ;  honored  his 
Father,  ii.  217  ;  his  unceasing  activity,  ii.  231 ; 
heais  man  born  blind,  ii.  227  ;  his  works  are 
good,  ii.  258 ;  rai.ses  Lazarus,  ii.  264  ;  is  anoint- 
ed at  Bethany,  ii.  288  ;  washes  his  disciples' 
feet,  ii.  310;  is  the  true  vine,  ii.  374;  his  joy, 
ii.  384 ;  his  great  love,  ii.  385 ;  eats  the  last 
passGver  with  his  disciples,  ii.  482;  his  pre- 
science, ii.  486  ;  his  agony,  ii.  559  ;  his  appre- 
hension, ii.  588;  heals  the  ear  of  M,i'.':hus,  ii. 
696  ;  arraigned  before  Annas,  ii.  604;  tiied  be- 
fore Caiaphas,  ii.  611;  examined  before  the 
Sanhediim,  ii.  617;  tr.ed  by  Pilate,  ii.  619 ;  is 
sent  to  Herod,  ii.  635 ;  did  his  soul  dei-cend 
into  hell  ?  ii.  664 ;  commends  his  mother  to 
John,  ii.  668 ;  iiis  cry  of  abandonment  on  the 
cross,  ii.  674  ;  commas  his  spirit  to  the  Father, 
ii.  692;  resurrecti<m  of,  ii.  702;  appears  lo 
Mary  Magdalene,  ii.  706  ;  his  appearance  to  the 
women  in  the  gardea,  ii.  718  ;  accompanies  the 
disciples  to  Emmaus,  ii.  722;  mirarulously  ap- 
pears to  the  Ai)osdes  when  the  doors  are  shut, 
ii.  738;  meets  the  Apostles  on  the  Lake  of 
Galilee,  ii,  769;  appears  to  many  disciples,  ii. 
794;  his  perpetual  prcsenca  Wu  h  Apostles  and 
ministers,  ii.  825;  opens  the  Scrifitures  to  the 
disciples,  ii.  841;  ascension  of,  ii.  848.  860.  See 
body,  divinity,  death,  scfleilngs,  soul,  and  re- 
surrection of  Jesu*^ 

Jesus,  parents  of,  understood  him  not,  i.  5 ;  re- 
prove him  for  his  absence,  i.  -5  ;  he  is  subject, 
to,  i.  5.  See  Biethren,  and  Kinsfold  of  Jesus; 
and  Mary,  mother  of  Jesus. 

Jews,  required  signs  in  order  to  faith,  ii.  77;  con- 
derane  1  by  the  writ  nas  of  Moses,  ii.  109;  did 
not  believe  Moses,  ii.  110;  murmur  at  Jesus,  ii. 
123;  accuse-Jesus  of  not  hiving  learned,  ii. 
152;  kept  not  the  law,  ii.  157;  .sougUl  to  kill 


Jesus,  ii.  158,  205 ;  seek  Christ  and  not  find 
him,  ii.  164;  claim  to  be  Abraham's  seed,  ii. 
199 ;  understood  not  the  words  of  Jesus,  ii. 
208;  call  Jesus  a  Simaritan,  ii.  215 ;  called 
God  Father,  ii.  220  ;  attempt  to  stone  Jesus,  ii. 
226,  246 ;  division  among,  on  account  of  words 
of  Jesus,  ii.  254;  their  dispersion  and  recovery 
announced,  ii.  554  ;  iguonnce  of,  in  crucitymg 
Jesus,  ii.  657 ;  rulers  of,  mock  Jesus  on  the 
cross,  ii.  660. 

John,  the  Baptist,  knew  not  Jesus,  i.  5:  "rcond 
interview  with  Jesus,  i.  14;  his  impritour.xei.t, 
i.  192;  did  not  doubt  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  i. 
19 J;  his  message  to  Jesus,  and  the  reply,  i. 
194;  our  Lord's  testimony  to,  i.  199;  was  a 
prophet,  i.  200  ;  his  steadfastness,  i.  201 ;  the 
forerunner  of  Jesus,  i.  201  ;  his  greatness,  i. 
203  ;  the  Elias,  i.  207,  208,  285;  his  abstinence, 
!.  210;  bore  witness  to  Jesus,  ii.  99 ;  \wis  a 
burning  and  a  shining  light,  ii.  101;  predicts 
the  baptism  of  the  Sprit,  ii.  852. 

John  the  Evangelist,  reque>ts  to  sit  at  the  right 
hand  of  Jesus,  i.  377  ;  called  a  son  of  thunder, 
i.  494  ;  forbids  one  casting  out  d-vils,  i.  502; 
wishes  to  call  fiie  from  heaven,  i.  .533 ;  lay  in 
Jesus'  bosom,  ii.  323 ;  sent  to  prejjare  the 
Passover  feast,  ii.  485 ;  accompanies  Jesus  to 
Gethsemane,  ii.  572 ;  Jesus  commends  his  moth- 
er to,  ii.  670;  visits  the  se;)ulchre,  ii.  704;  the 
disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  ii.  788 ;  the  pro- 
l)hecy  that  he  should  continue  till  Christ  came, 
ii.  790;  contrasted  with  Peter,  ii.  793. 

John,  Gospel  according  to,  charac; eristics  of,  i. 
xxiii.  ;  preface  to,  ii.  v. ;  false  theories  of  ex- 
posit  on  of,  ii.  vi.  ;  validity  of  cli.  xxi.  vindicate  i, 
ii.  765;  validity  of  conclusion  of,  vindicated,  ii. 
791. 

John,  in  Patmos,  ii.  897 ;  shown  the  future,  ii. 
945;  final  word  to,  ii.  947. 

Jonas,  the  sign  of,  i.  243. 

Joy  of  Je^us,  ii.  385.  * 

Judas  Iscariot,  his  betray  d  of  Jesus  announced, 
ii.  146 ;  is  a  devil,  ii.  146 ;  complnins  of  wa-te, 
ii.  289;  is  a  thief,  ii.  29J ;  Satan  tempos,  ii. 
314  ;  his  crime  predicted,  ii.  322;  marked  out 
as  the  traitor,  ii.  323;Satnn  enters  into,  li. 
325  ;  is  the  son  of  perdition,  ii.  463 ;  the  instru- 
ment of  Satan  and  executor  of  Divine  ])urpose, 
ii.  482;  marked  out  as  the  traitor,  ii.  501,  549; 
woe  pronounced  agaiast,  ii.  503;  his  act 
not  necessitated  by  Divine  counsels,  ii.  505 ; 
his  guilt,  ii.  506;  l;is  insensibiHty  to  his  posi- 
tion, ii.  507 ;  a  sore  temptation  to  Je*ius,  ii. 
502  ;  doom  of,  foreshadows  doom  of  Antichrist, 
iL  507  ;  the  worst  of  all  sinners,  ii.  588;  did 
not  kiss  Jesus  at  the  betrayal,  ii.  593  ;  his  .salu- 
tation in  the  garden,  ii.  595  ;  greatness  of  his 
sin,  ii.  694. 

Judging,  censorious,  L  112;  after  the  flash,  ii, 
186. 

Jud;.>ment,  final,  the  coming  of  Christ  to,  d<»scrib- 
ed,  i.  486 ;  ii.  615;  committed  to  the  Son,  ii. 
92 ;  terrors  of,  ii.  653. 

Judgment  of  Jesus,  true,  ii.  187. 

Judge,  unjust,  the,  parable  of,  i.  676. 

Justification,  doctrine  of,  i.  685.  See  Sins,  for- 
giveness of. 

Kedron,  brook,  Jesus  passes  over,  ii.  571. 

Keys,  power  of  the,  i.  319,  313.  iS"**  Sins,  remis- 
sion of,  by  ministerial  power. 

King.  Jesus  acknowledges  himself  to  be  a,  ii. 
623. 


910 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


King  going  out  to  battle,  parable  of,  i.  598. 

Kings  of  the  Gentiles,  th'?ir  luidsliij)  not  to  be 
followed  in  the  Cluircli,  i.  381  ;  ii.  400. 

Kingdom  of  heaven,  of  God,  its  nature,  i.  28;  ii. 
11 ;  is  at  hitnd,  i.  28 ;  suffereth  violence,  i.  204  ; 
ii.  642;  myt.teries  of,  i.  255  ;  kn-s  of,  319,  343  ; 
liitie  cliidrn  m°niber.>»  of,  i.  357  ;  liow  to  be 
received,  i.  357  ;  likened  to  ten  virgins,  i.  477  ; 
compared  to  .seed,  i.  495 ;  cometh  not  wiih  ob- 
servation, i.  669. 

K  nudom  of  Cliri.-t,  i.  690;  nature  of,  ii.  624;  not 
of  this  world,  ii.  625 ;  is  a  kinadom  tf  truth,  ii. 
630;  its  restoration  to  Israel  explained,  ii. 
855. 

Kingdom  and  throne.s,  promised  to  Apostle.s,  i. 
365 ;  ii.  492. 

Kinsfolk  of  Christ,  i.  248;  his  spiritual,  i,  249. 
See  Brethren,  Parents,  and  M.uy,  the  mother, 
of  Jesus. 

Knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ,  ii.  445. 

Laborers  in  the  vineyard,  parable  of,  i.  368  ;  its 
ol)ject,  i.  371 ;  ex|iosiiion  of,  i.  372. 

Lamps,  of  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins,  meaning 
of,  i.  478;  signify  tlie  heart,  i.  478;  conse- 
quenco  of  thoir  becoming  extinguished,  i. 
479. 

Laouica;,  epistle  to,  ii.  938. 

Law,  the,  fulfilled  by  Jesus,  i.  47,  49;  division  of, 
i.  57;  not  opposed  to  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  i. 
58 ;  love  the  the  fulfilling  of  the,  i.  71. 

Lawyer,  a,  tempts  Jesus,  i.  68 ;  inquires  for  eter- 
nal life,  i.  543. 

Lazarus,  parable  of  rich  man  and,  i.  640 ;  his 
poverty  and  wretchedness,  i.  645 ;  his  death  and 
jiappiness,  i.  647. 

Lazarus,  :e'<urreclion  of,  ii.  2G4 ;  his  sickness  for 
glory  ot  Go  l,ii.  265. 

Learning,  human,  not  necessary  to  spiritual  re- 
ligion, ii.  155. 

L;'aven,  parable  of  the,  i.  277  ;  of  the  Pharisees, 
i.  308. 

Leper,  the,  healed,  i.  133. 

Lepers,  the  ten,  cleansed,  i.  666;  their  faith  in 
Je  us,  i.  667;  the  araleful  one,  i.  6G7;  the  un- 
thankful nine,  i.  667. 

Lite,  to  be  sacrificed  for  Christ,  i.  189,  324. 

L  fe,  spiritual,  comes  from  Christ,  ii.l06. 

Life  eternal,  the  gift  of  Christ,  ii.  256;  flows  from 
a  knowledge  ot  God  ;in  1  of  Christ,  ii.  445. 

Light,  an  emblem  of  piely,  i.  45;  the  body  fidl  of, 
explained,  i.  102.  104  ;  men  love  darkness  rath- 
er than,  ii.  46  ;  John  Baptist  was  a  burning  and 
shilling,  ii.  101. 

Light  of  the  Christian,  not  to  be  h'd,  i.  45. 

Liijht  of  the  world,  Christ  the,  ii.  183,  233  ;  Chris- 
ti  ins,  the,  i.  45. 

Lilies,  God's  care  for,  an  argument  for  tru!>t,  i. 
107. 

Loave's  and  fishes,  miracle  of  feeding  the  five 
thousand  wth,  i.  285;  ot  feeding  the  four 
thousand  with,  i.  304  ;  people  followed  Christ 
for,  ii.  113. 

Looking  back,  reproved,  i.  535. 

Love,  the  fulfilhng  of  llie  law,  i.  426. 

Love  to  the  brethren,  ii.  331 ;  commandid,  ii. 
388. 

Love  to  Christ,  demanded,  i.  188;  to  be  supreme, 
i.  546;  prompts  to  obedience,  ii  35-'>,  364; 
want  of,  criminal,  ii.  365  ;  believers  to  ab.de  in, 
ii.  384  ;  evidences  of,  increasing,  ii.  787. 

Love  to  enemies,  i.  79,  136. 

Love  to  God.  i.  424. 


Love  to  neighbor,  i.  78,  425. 

Love  ot  God,  in  the  gift  of  his  son,  ii.  43. 

Lord's  Supper,  not  referred  to  in  John  vi.,  ii.  ISO; 
its  institution,  ii.  508:  symbolized  by  the  Pass- 
over,  ii.  511 ;  diffdrence  in  the  words  of  insti- 
tution, ii.  514;  bread  used  in,  significince  of, 
ii.  516 — see  Bread;  is  called  the  Eucharist,  ii. 
514  ;  how  the  Body  of  Christ  is  received  in,  ii. 
518,  523 ;  observance  of,  enjoined,  ii.  525 ; 
Ciirist  to  be  remembered  in,  ii.  527  ;  shows 
forth  death  of  Christ,  ii.  528;  the  wine  use.l  in 
the,  ii.  528;  controversies  concerning,  noticed, 
ii.  536 ;  worthy  and  unworthy  reception  of,  ii. 
540 ;  is  significant  of  union  among  Christians, 
ii.  542 ;  consecration  of  the  elements  in,  ii.  544  j 
si)iritual  discernment  necessary  to  the  recep- 
tion of,  ii.  545  ;  has  anticipative  reference,  ii. 
549;  not  celebrated  at  Emmaus,  ii.  734. 

Lost  sheep,  parable  of,  in  Matt,  xviii,  12-14,  i. 
339;  parable  of,  in  Luke,  xv.,  i.  604. 

Lost  piece  of  money,  parable  of,  i.  606. 

Lot,  days  of,  i.  472,  675. 

Lot's  wife,  i.  675. 

Luke,  Gospel  according  to,  its  characteristics,  i. 
xvii.;  chronology  of  is  narrative,  i.  xxvii. 

Lunatic,  the,  cured,  i.  321. 

Malchus,  his  ear  hea'ed,  ii.  596. 

Mammon,  cannot  seive  God  and,  i.  106,  568;  un- 
riirhtf  ous,  i.  634  ;  making  frieuds  of,  i.  637. 

Mark,  Gospel  according  to,  i.  xvi.  ;  characteristics 
of,  i.  xvii.,  491 ;  chronology  of  its  narrative,  i. 
xxvi.;  validity  of  ch.  xvi.  14,  ii.  738. 

Marriage,  exists  not  in  a  future  state,  i.  420 ;  a 
.'ymbol  of  the  union  between  Christ  and  the 
Church,  i.  156.     See  Adultery  and  Divorce. 

Marriage  Supper,  parable  of,  i.  404,  591  ;  the  con- 
nection of,  as  related  by  Matthew  and  Luke,  i. 
408 ;  the  invited  guests  and  their  excuses,  i. 
405,  594. 

Mai  tha,  sister  of  Lazarus,  receives  Jesas  at  Beth- 
any, i.  550;  is  rebuked  for  overcare,  i.  551 ; 
of  whom  she  is  a  type,  i.  552;  family  of,  at 
Bethany,  ii.  264  ;  love  of  Jesus  to,  ii.  266;  her 
interview  with  Jem,  ii.  272;  her  belief  in  the 
resuirection,  ii.  274 ;  her  laitli  in  t'le  Messiah, 
ii.  278 ;  her  unbelief  rebuked,  ii.  283 ;  serves  at 
supper,  ii.  289. 

Mary,  the  Mo' her  of  Jesus,  reproves  Jesus,  i.  5; 
is  reproved  by  him,  i.  19;  not  to  be  worshipped, 
i.  20;  benediction  on,  i.  559;  committed  to  the 
care  of  John,  ii.  668;  why  Jesus  called  her 
woman,  ii.  669 ;  Romish  homage  to,  rebuked,  ii. 
669. 

Mary,  sister  of  Lazarus,  sat  at  Je.sus'  feet,  i.  551 ; 
of  whom  she  is  a  type,  i.  553 ;  goes  to  meet 
J.^su-i,  ii.  278;  anoints  Jesus  at  Bethany,  ii. 
288 ;  her  commendation,  ii.  204. 

Miry  Magdalene,  visits  the  sepulchre,  ii.  703;  tella 
the  disciples  of  resurrection  of  Jesus,  ii.  703; 
h?r  love  to  the  Saviour,  ii.  705  ;  sees  two  angels, 
ii.  705 ;  her  sorrow  at  the  empty  sepuKhre,  ii. 
705 ;  first  appeamnce  of  Jesus  to,  ii.  706;  calla 
Jesus  Rabboni,  ii.  709;  her  desire  to  touoh 
Jesus,  explained,  ii.  709. 

Master,  Christ  the  good,  i.  359;  Lord  and,  ii. 
321. 

Masters,  man  cannot  serve  two,  i.  105,  639. 

Mitlhcw,  cill  of,  i.  156. 

.Miuhew,  Go-pel  according  to,  characteristics  of, 
i.  xvi. ;  chronology  of  its  narrative,  i.  xxv. 

Meat,  spiritual,  ii.  71  ;  to  be  souaht  above  tein« 
poral,  ii.  114  ;  fljsh  ol  Jesas  the  irue^  ii.  12tL 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


971 


Meekness,  ifs  nature  and  blessedness,  i.  38. 

Mercilul,  true  character  and  blessedness  of  the,  i. 
41. 

Mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  meaning  of,  i.  158,  224. 

Ministers.     See  Apostles. 

Miracles,  jower  of  working,  conferred  on  the 
Apostles,  i.  170;  on  the  Seventy  disciples,  ii. 
540;   to  be  wronght  in  name  ot  Jesus,  ii.  835. 

Miracles  ot  Christ,  evidences  of  his  Divine  Mis- 
sion, i.  197. 

Mission,  of  the  Apostles — tec  Apostles,  mission  of; 
of  the  Seventy — see  Seventy,  mission  of. 

Missions  to  the  heathen,  instructions  concerning, 
in  the  commission  of  the  Apostles,  i.  171. 

Mite,  the  widow's,  i.  511. 

Money — see  Tribute  ;  lost  pirce,  parable  of,  i.  606. 

Morning,  sfiiritual,  its  natu  e  and  blessedness,  i. 
37;  lor  sin  urged,  ii.  649;  for  sufl'erings  of 
Christ,  ii.  650. 

Moses,  and  propltets,  meaning  of,  i.  656. 

Moses,  writings  of,  condemned  the  Jews,  ii.  109  ; 
Jews  believed  not  the,  ii.  110;  spoke  of  Jesus, 
ii.  731. 

Murder,  close  connection  of,  with  adultery,  i. 
57. 

Name,  change  of,  i.  16 ;  written  in  heaven,  i. 
541. 

Name  of  God,  ii.  454 ;  manifested  to  men,  ii,  455  ; 
declared  by  Christ,  ii.  479. 

Name  of  Jesus,  prayer  to  be  offered  in,  ii.  354; 
miracles  to  be  wrought  in,  ii.  835 ;  Gospel  to 
be  preached  in,  ii.  844 ;  salvation  only  in,  ii. 
844. 

Name  of  the  Trinity,  explained,  ii.  802. 

Nain,  young  man  raised  at  the  gate  of,  i.  524. 

N.ithanael,  his  first  interview  wilii  Jesr.s,  i.  17. 

Nazareth,  Christ's  first  .sermon  at,  i.  514. 

Neighbor,  love  to,  i.  78,  425 ;  duty  to,  i.  120, 
545. 

Net,  parable  of  the,  i.  275. 

Neutrality  between  Chr.st  and  Satan  criminal,  i. 
233. 

Nicodemu.s,  his  interview  with  Jesus,  ii.  2;  was  a 
Pharisee,  ii.  3  ;  his  character,  ii.  4;  spirit  in 
which  he  sought  Jesus,  Ii.  6:  his  ignorance,  ii. 
12,  25. 

Nineveh,  men  of,  i.  245. 

Noah,  days  of,  i.  473,  679. 

Nobleman,  a  certain,  and  his  servants,  parable  of, 
i.  689  ;  son  of  a,  raised  to  life,  ii.  77. 

Oaths,  Clirist's  leaching  concerning,  i.  70;  doc- 
trine of  Scribes  and  Pharisees  concerning,  i. 
443;  method  of  taking,  amono^  the  Jews,  ii. 
613  ;  Christ  jiut  upon  his,  by  Caiaplias,  ii.  614. 

Offences,  woe  unto,  i.  348,  662;  the  <aith  which 
overcometh,  i.  663. 

Olivet,  the  place  of  Christ's  retirement,  ?j.  571. 

Omnipresence  of  Jesus,  ii.  825. 

Parables  of  Jesus,  the  seven,  in  Matt,  xiii.,  i.  250; 
their  general  character,  i.  250 ;  why  Jesus  spake 
in,  i.  256  ;  the  three,  in  Luke  xv.,  their  charac- 
ter and  scope,  i.  600. 

Paradise,  meaning  of  the  term,  ii.  664 ;  is  a 
region  of  joy  in  Hades,  ii.  664. 

Paralytic  healed,  i.  147. 

Paxsovor,  Jesus  eats,  for  the  last  time,  ii.  484, 
494;  solemnity  of,  ii.  495;  heaven  shadowed 
forth  in  the,  ii.  496  ;  ceremonies  of,  ii.496  ;  the 
cup  of,  drank  by  Jesus,  ii.  496;  nature  and  ob- 
jects of  its  institution,  ii.  510;  a  symbol  of  the 
Lord's  Suppfr,  ii.  512. 
Paul,  Christ's  word;  to,  as  a  persecutor,  Ii.  863; 


his  mission,  ii.  875;  his  commission,  ii.  878;  in 
Corinth,  ii   888;  in  bonds  at  Jerusalem,  ii.  890; 
in  his  ii.flnity,  ii.  893. 
Pt-ace-makeis,  their  character  and  blessedness  i. 

41. 
Peace,  of  Jesus,  contrasted  with  that  of  the  world, 
ii.  368;    in  Jesus,  ii.  438;    bestowed   on  the 
Aposili's,  ii.  740;  wounds  of  Je.NUs,  the  ground 
of,  ii.  744. 
Pearls,  goodly,  par.ible  of,  i.  273. 
Pergamos,  epistle  to,  ii.  916. 

Persecution,  the  blessedness  aTid  reward  of  en- 
during, i.  42;  foretold,  i.  457  ;  Ai)o^tles  were 
to  flee  from,  i.  460;  days  of,  to  be  shortened,  i. 
461 ;  j)redicted,  ii.  39'.*. 
Peier,  his  first  interview  with  Jesus,  i.  16  ;  leaves 
his  worldly  calling,  i.  31 ;  is  convinced  of  his 
sinfulness,  i.  31 ;  walks  on  the  sea,  i.  281  ;  his 
noble  confession,  i.  304  ;  his  blessing  and  <  ora- 
mendation,  i.  305;  church  built  upon,  i.  307 ; 
reproves  Jesus  and  is  rebuked,  i.  312;  obtains 
tiie  tribute  money,  i.  321  ;  his  miraculous 
draught  of  fihes,  i.  523 ;  protests  his  deter- 
mination not  to  leave  Jesus,  ii.  145;  Jesus 
washes  feet  of,  ii.  316;  his  denial  of  Jesus  pro- 
I)hesied,  ii.  336 ;  sent  to  pre[)are  the  Passover 
feast,  ii.  485;  Satan  tempts,  ii.  550  ;  Je>  us  prays 
his  faith  may  not  fail ;  ii.  553 ;  conversion  of, 
ii.  554  ;  goes  with  Jesus  to  Gi  h^emane,  ii. 
572;  reproved  for  slee;)ing  duiug  tlie' agony, 
ii.  581  ;  smites  Malciius,  ii.  59iJ ;  rebuked  for 
using  the  sword,  ii.  599 ;  visits  the  sepulchre, 
ii.  704  ;  to  be  specially  inlbrmed  of  the  Lord's 
resurrection,  ii.  721 ;  leads  the  Apostles  a-fi^h- 
ing  on  the  lake,  ii.  768  ;  throws  himself  into  the 
sea  to  meet  Jesus,  ii.  770;  hia  love  to  Jesus 
questioned,  ii.  774  ;  why  Jesus  calls  him  son 
of  Jonas,  ii.  775;  stiength  of  his  love  to  Christ, 
ii.  776 ;  commissioned  to  feed  Christ's  lambs 
and  sheeji,  ii.  779  ;  his  sorrow  at  being  ques- 
tioned three  tim^s,  ii.  781  ;  acknowledges  the 
omniscierce  of  Christ,  ii.  782;  his  piimacy  as 
held  by  Papists,  not  scriptural,  ii.  782;"  his 
martyrdom  announced,  ii.  783 ;  contrast  be- 
tween his  youth  and  age,  ii.  784;  conminnded 
to  follow  Jesus,  ii.  787;  asks  whether  John 
shall  follow,  ii.  788  ;  his  prying  curiosity  abnut 
John  rebuked,  ii.  790 ;  contrast  between,  and 
John,  ii.  791  ;  and  John,  a  type  of  the  Chnrch, 
ii.  792 ;  his  trance  on  the  In  use-to  ,  ii.  884. 
Pharisees.  See  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 
Pharisee  and  publican,  parable  of,  i.  680, 
Philadelphia,  epistle  to,  ii.  933. 
Philip,  his  first  interview  with  Jesus,  i.  17  :  de- 
sires Jesus  to  show  him  the  Father,  ii.  349. 
Physician,  Christ  a,  i.  157;  heal  thyself  e.xplained, 

i.  521. 
Pilate,  Jesus  tried  by,  ii.  619;  is  representativo  of 
the  world-power,  ii.  619;  his  office,  ii.  619  ;  his 
insincerity,  ii.  623  ;  his  pride,  ii.  021 ;  ask-«, 
What  is  truth]  ii.  631;  declares  Christ  itu.o- 
cent,  ii.  634;  sends  Jesus  to  Herod,  ii.  635; 
offers  the  Jews  a  choice  between  Jo^us  and 
Barrab,is,ii.  636;  declines  to  execute  Jpmi>:,  ii. 
637;  his  fear,  ii.  638;  is  offended  at  Christ's 
silence,  ii.  639 ;  h.-^s  no  power  again-t  Jesus, 
except  permitted  from  above,  ii.  642  ;  tries  to 
•release  Jesus,  ii.  646;  delivers  Jesus  to  be  cru- 
cified, ii.  647. 
Poor,  Gospel  preached  to  the,  i.  199;  benevo- 
lence to,  i.  590;  are  always  with  the  chu.ch,  ii. 
292. 


972 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Poverty,  spiritual,  its  nature  and  blessedness,  i. 

36. 
Power,  mediatorial,  of  Christ,  its  universality,  ii. 

796 ;  is  given  to  liim,  ii.  796  ;  is  the  foundation 

of  tiie  universal  mission   to  preach  the  Gospel 

everywhere,  ii.  796. 
Power,   ministerial.      See   Keys,   power    of,   and 

Sins,  remission  of. 
Power  from  on  high,  Spirit  is,  ii.  847. 
Prayer,  encourajiemenl  to,  i.   118;     answers   to, 

promised,  i.  345  ;    ii.  384 ;    its  connection  with 

miracles,  i.  337  ;    Cnrist's  teaching  concerning, 

i.  554  ;  im|)onunity  in,  urged,  i.  556,  677  ;  to  be 

offered  in   the  name  of  Jesus,  ii.  354,425;  its 

connection  with  walchfulne.ss,  ii.  582. 
P;ayi?r,  secret,  to  be  strictly  private  and  without 

oslentation,  i.  84. 
Prayer,   Lord's,  the,   i.  85.  555 ;    comprt»liensive- 

ness  ot.  i.  85  ;  a  form  or  a  model  1  i.  86  ;  com- 

l)ared  with  the  law,  i.  87  ;    analysis  of,  i.  88 ; 

doxology  of,  i.  94  ;  indicates  the  progress  of 

human  life,  i.  95. 
Prayer,  of  Jesus,  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  ii.  283  ; 

for  the  Comforter,  li.  356 ;    in  Gethsemane,  ii. 

577,  585 ;    on  the  cross  for  his  murderers,  ii. 

655. 
Prayer,  of  Jesus,  his  intercessory,  ii.  439 ;  sim- 

pliciiy  and  sublimily  of,  ii.  440;  analysis  of,  ii. 

441 ;  exposition  of,  ii.  442-480. 
Prayer  6f  the  Pliarisee  in  the  temple,  was  offered 

standing,  i.  681  ;    its  haughtiness  and  pride,  i. 

682  ;  its  self-laudation,  i.  683. 
Prayer  of  the  publican  in  the  temple,  arose  from 

deep  repentance,  i.  684  ;    its  humilily,   i.  684  : 

so  icils  mercy,  i.  685;    obtains  justification,  i. 

685 ;    contrasted  with  thai  of  the  Pharisee,  i. 

686. 
Preaching,  its  distinc'ion  from  teaching,  ii.  824  ; 

the  Gospel  the  great  Ihems   of,   ii.  827 ;  is  the 

first  step  in   bringing   men  to  repentance,  ii. 

827 ;  baptism  no  p  irt  of,  ii.  827  ;  must  be  to 

every  creiture,  ii.  828. 
Preaching  of  Jesus,  i.  492;  its  openness,  ii.  607. 
Pride  a  hindrance  to  faith,  ii.  168. 
Prodigal  son,  parable  of,  i.  608  ;  demands  his  ])or- 

lion,  i.  609 ;    squanders  his  substance,  i.  611  ; 

his   misery,  i.  612 ;    his  penitence,  i.  612;    his 

reception,   i.   616;    haughtiness   of    his   eldest 

brother,  i.  619. 
Promise  of  the  Father,  the  Spirit  is  the,  ii.  816, 

852. 
Prophecy,  inspiration  of,  i.  431 ;  Christ  the  great 

theme  of,  i.  432. 
Prophecy  of  Caiaphas  concerning  the  necessity  of 

Christ's  death,  ii.  287. 
Pro[)h  -cy  of  David  concerning  Jesus,  as  his  Son 

and  Lord,  i.  427  ;  as  ihe  "  ci)rnt*r-stone,"  i.  401 ; 

as  abandoned  on  the  cross,  ii.  674. 
Propliecy  of  Habakkuk,  general  character  of,  i. 

693. 
Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  geneial  scope  of  his  early,  i. 

257  ;    concerning   the  benevolence  of  Christ's 

mission,  i.  517;    general  scope   of  his   later,  i. 

518;    concerning  the   sufferings  of  Christ,   ii. 

567. 
Pr.iphecy  of  Jesus,   concerning    destruction    of 
Jerusalem,  i.  45;  the  occasion  of  its  utterance, 
i.  45 ;  ii.  454  ;  exposition  of,  ii.  455. 
Proplifcy  of  Jesus,  concerning  his  middle  advent, 
i.  465;  introduction  to,  i.  465;  esposiiion  of,  i. 
466. 
Propliecy  of  Zechariah,  concerning  Christ's  entry 


into  Jerusalem,  i.  385  ;  general  scope  of,  ii.  557, 
(iind  note);  foretells  sufferings  of  Christ,  ii. 
557. 

Prophet,  Christ  a,  ii.  236. 

Prophets,  warning  against  false,  i.  123;  blood  of, 
avenged,  i.  447  ;  false,  not  to  be  lielieved,  i. 
462,  674. 

Provei  bs,  Jesus  sp.ike  in.  ii.  429. 

Provideiice,  s[)ecial,  i.  186. 

Psalm  viii.,  lu:fillodin  the  children  singing  praises 
ot  Christ  in  ihe  temple,  i.  389. 

Psalm  xxii.,  Messianic  character  of,  ii.  675. 

Psalm  ex.,  its  Messianic  character,  i.  427. 

Psalm  cxviii.,  announces  the  rejection  and  exalUi- 
tion  of  Jesus,  i.  401. 

Psalms,  Messiiuiic  character  of,  ii.  841. 

Piiblican  and  Pharisee,  parable  of,  i^s  occasion,  i. 
680;  its  exposition,  i.  681. 

Purity  of  heart,  its  nature  and  ble.ssedness,  i.  41. 

Reaper,  spiiitual,  his  joy  and  rew.ird,  ii.  75. 

Receiving  Christ,  nature  of,  i.  191. 

Reconciliation  between  brethren,  how  to  be  effect- 
ed, i,  62,  342. 

Regeneration.     See  Birth,  new. 

Regeneration  of  all  things  at  the  last  day,  i.  366. 

Repentance,  i.  28  ;  insufficiency  of.  alone,  i.  657 ; 
to  be  preached  to  ah  naiions,  ii.  844. 

Repentance  of  a  sinner,  deswib.ed,  i.  631,  612;  re- 
joicing pioduced  by,  i.  605,  607,  612. 

Repetitions,  vain,  in  prayer,  i.  84. 

R.'proof,  brotherly,  Giirist's  teaching  concerning, 
i.  113. 

Resurrection,  Sadducees  tempt  Je  us  concerning, 
i.  414  ;  was  known  to  the  patriarchs,  i.  417, 
421 ;  announced  by  Je.  us,  ii.  91,  91,  97  ;  is  the 
work  of  the  Failier,  ii.  91 ;  work  ot  the  Son, 
ii.  122  ;  compared  to  awaking,  ii.  269;  Jesu.> 
the,  ii.  275.     See  Body,  resurrection  of. 

Retaliation,  Cin'ist's  teaciiing  concerning,  i.  74. 

Reward  of  sacrifices  for  Christ's  .sake,  i.  367. 

Rich,  woe  pronounced  against  the,  i.  135;  t'leir 
scant  liberality  as  compaied  with  the  poor,  i. 
512. 

Rich  man,  and  Lazarus,  parable  of,  i.  610;  his 
wealtn  and  splendor,  i.  644  ;  liis  death,  i.  617  ; 
his  punishment,  i.  618 ;  his  |>rayer  and  its  an- 
swer, i.  651 ;  his  request  for  his  brethren,  i. 
651. 

Rich  worlding,  parable  of,  i.  566 ;  his  foolish 
security  and  anxiety,  i.  56J  ;  his  end,  i.  567  ; 
lessons  from,  i.  567. 

Riches,  to  what  extent  religion  demands  sacri- 
fice of,  i.  364 ;  a  cau-e  of  uisquietude,  i.  566. 
See  Treasure. 

Righteousness  of  Christians,  its  nature  and  extent, 
i.  55. 

Righteousness  of  Scrib's  and  Pharisees,  i.  55. 

Sabbath,  the,  i)rt>fined  by  the  priests,  i.  223; 
Christ  Lord  of  tiie,  i.  224  ;  lawful  to  do  good 
on,  i.  227  ;  healing  on,  lawful,  i.  518,  579,  586  ; 
ii.  158;  Jesus  accused  of  healing  m,  ii.  84; 
Jesus  vindicates,  ii.  85 ;  circumcision  on,  law- 
ful, ii.  158. 

Sacrament,  meaning  of  the  term,  ii.  509. 

Sacraments,     See  Baptism  and  Lord's  Supper. 

Salt,  Christians  are  the,  of  the  earth,  i.  44,  599; 
an  emblem  of  grace,  i.  510,  599. 

Salvation,  revealed  to  babes,  i.  215;    diffi  ulties 

of,  i.  364;    received  by   faith,  ii.  829;    only  in 

the  name  of  Je  us,  ii.  844. 

Samaritan,  good,  paribe  of,   i.  514  ;   ocrn'=ion  of, 

L  545  J    ex|.osiliou  of,  i.  546  \    the  ^loor   mau 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


973 


mentioned  in,  was  probably  a  Jew,  i.  546  ;  evil 
conduct  of  t'le  priest  aii(l  Leviie,  i.  546  ;  the 
charity  of  the  Samaritan,  i.  547  ;  its  great  les- 
sons, i.  549. 

Samaritan  worship.     See  Worship,  Sarairitan. 

Sanctification,  its  nalure  and  me. ins,  ii.  466. 

Sanhedrim,  Jesus  tried  before  the,  ii.  617 ;  their 
accusations  against  Jesus,  ii.  621. 

Sardis,  epistle  to,  ii.  927. 

Satan,  tempts  Jesus,  i.  8  ;  enters  into  the  swine, 
i.  151  ;  his  power  to  kill  the  soul,  i.  184;  Jesr.s 
not  in  leaaue  with,  i.  227  ;  his  kinsdom,  i.  229  ; 
sows  tares  among  the  wheat,  i.  267;  falls  from 
.  heaven  as  lightning,  i.  534 ;  a  liar  and  mu 
derer,  ii.  209;  tempts  Judas,  ii.  314;  was  a 
great  agent  in  the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  ii.  373  ; 
his  general  temptations,  ii.  551. 

Saul.     -Sf^Paul. 

S.yings  of  Jesus,  to  be  kept,  i.  130;  their  quali- 
ties i.  228.     See  Words  of  Jesus. 

Scribe,  ihe  young,  ofters  to  follow  Jesus,  i,  143; 
the  we  l-in>tiucted,  i.  284. 

Sc.ibes  and  Pharisees,  woes  pronounced  against, 
i.  435,  560  ;  s.t  in  Moses'  seat,  i.  437  ;  ostenta- 
tion of,  i.  439;  their  love  of  tii-les,  i.  441  ;  tiieir 
doctrine  conceriiing  oaths,  i.  443  ;  paid  tithes, 
i.  444  ;  their  hypocrisy,  i.  44-3  ;  ilK'ir  supersti- 
tious reverence  lor  tombs  of  prophets,  i.  446  ; 
their  zeal  tor  ceremonial  i)iirity,  i.  561 ;  tiieir 
a!msgi\ing  condemnrd,  i.  56'2  ;  warning  against, 
i.  563  ;  warn  Jesus  again- 1  Heio  1,  i.  583. 

Scriptuies,  use  of,  in  temptation,  i.  8  ;  tiie  great 
antidote  to  error,  i.  415;  iiiS[)i:aiion  of,  i.  429; 
testify  of  Ciuist,  ii.  104;  how  quoted  by  J  stis, 
ii.  556  ;  lu  filled  in  tlie  siifFeiings  of  Christ,  ii 
601,  603,  689,  730 ;  predicted  the  thirst  of  Je- 
sus on  tlie  cross,  ii.  682;  Jesus  expounds  tho  e 
concern  ng  himself,  ii.  731 ;  Christ  ilie  tiiem  ^  ol 
ail,  ii.  732;  their  liarmony  with  inwad  e.xpeii- 
ence,  ii.  737  ;  Jesus  opens  the  understanding, 
to  understand  the,  ii.  841  ;  Jews  uiidersiooil 
not  liow  ihey  related  to  Messiah,  ii.  842 ;  Cliri-t 
expounds  the,  to  his  Apoatles,  ii.  841.  See  Word 
of  God. 

Sea  of  Galilee.  Chrift  wa'ks  on,  i.  288-  Petor 
walks  on,  i.  289 ;  Jesus  dines  with  the  Apostles 
on  the  shore  of,  ii.  769. 

Sealed,  Jesus,  of  tlie  Father,  ii.  115. 

Seasons.     See  T.mes  and. 

Seed,  word  of  God  compared  to,  i.  259  ;  kingdom 
of  God  comi)arcd  to,  i.  495. 

Seed,  mustard,  parable  of,  i.275;  represents  the 
development  of  the  kingdom  ot  Christ,  i.  276. 

Seeking  Christ,  false  motives  in,  rebuked,  ii.  113. 

Self-deception,  danger  and  conseauences  of,  i. 
129 

Self  deniil,  enforced,  i.  65,  824,  348. 

Self-exaltation,  reproved,  i.  589. 

Self-justification,  i,  641. 

Sepu'chre,  stone  rolled  away  from,  ii,  702  ;  visits 
of  the  disciples  to,  harmonized,  ii.  703 ;  Peter 
and  John  visit  the,  ii.  704  ;  visits  of  the  women 
to,  harmoj.ized,  il.  718. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  introduction  to,  i.  32 ; 
teaches  wiierein  consists  the  kingdom  of  God,  i. 
33  ;  analysis  of,  i.  34  ;  exposition  of,  i.  35 ;  tes- 
tified to  Jesus,  i.  47  ;  not  opposed  to  the  law,  i. 
57 ;  the  impression  wliich  it  produced,  i.  131  ; 
as  given  by  Luke,  i   132. 

Serpent,  brazen,  a  symbol  of  Christ's  death,  ii. 
34.  _- 

Servants  of  Christ,  i.  481,  691. 


Servant,  good,  parable  of,  i.  474,  570;  reward  of, 
i.  484,  691. 

Servant,  evil,  i.  483 ;  imnisliment  of,  i.  484,  672. 

Servant,  wicked,  i)arahle  of,  i.  345. 

Service  rendered  to  God,  not  raenu.rious,  i.  664. 

Seven  Cliurciies,  ei.isiles  to,  ii.  906. 

Seventy,  the  mission  of  the,  i.  536  ;  not  the  same 
as  tliat  of  the  Twelve  in  Mriii.  x.,  i.  537;  Iheir 
retui^n  from,  witli  joy,  i.  539. 

Sheba,  Queen  of,  1.  245. 

Sh^ep  of  Christ,  Christians  are  the,  i.  568:  ii.  250; 
m.ni'ters  are  to  feed  the,  ii.  779. 

Shee|),  lost,  parable  of,  in  Matt,  xviii.  12.  ex- 
plained, i.  339  ;  in  Luke  xv.  4,  i.  6l)4. 

Sht-pherd,  Jesus  the,  i.  604 ;  lus  gr.iciousi.ess,  i. 
605  ;  is  the  good,  ii.  245  ;  smitten  as  the,  ii. 
557. 

Shepherd,  the  good,  parable  ( f ,  ii.  240;  analysis 
of,  ii.  241  ;  exposition  of,  ii.  241. 

Shepheids,  false  and  hireling,  are  ihieves  and  rob- 
bers, ii.  246,  248 ;  care  not,  for  the  sheep,  ii. 
249. 

Sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  i.  213;  Jews  required 
a,  in  order  to  faith,  ii.  78. 

Signs  of  tiie  times  referred  to,  i.  306,  572. 

Signs,  which  lollow  those  that  beiieve,  explained, 
ii.  833. 

Silence  of  Jesus  at  his  trial,  ii.  612  ;  before  Pilate, 
ii.  640. 

Siloam,  brook  of,  i.  234 ;  tower  of,  f.dl  on  eigh- 
teen men,  i.  575. 

Simon  the  Pharisee,  inv!t?d  Jesus  to  dinp,  i.  526  ; 
h.s  annoyance  at  our  Lord  conversing  with  a 
sinful  woman,  i.  527;  is  rebuked  and  put  to 
shame,  i.  528. 

Sin,  Spirit  convinces  the  world  of,  ii.  406  ;  differ- 
ent degrees  of,  ii.  645;  Christ  sulic-red  for,  ii. 
6J1. 

S.ns,  forgiveness  of,  Jesus  best<)ws,  i.  153;  doc- 
trine of,  i.  530;  blood  of  Christ  shea  for,  ii.  536  ; 
forgi.eness  of,  to  be  preached  to  idl  nations,  ii, 
844. 

S.ns,  remission  of,  by  ministerial  power,  explained, 
ii.  751  ;  not  exclusively  given  to  the  Ajiostles, 
ii.  751  :  is  held  in  connection  with  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ii.  752 ;  c&mprehen  Is 
the  right  of  Apostles  and  mini  ters  to  admit 
into  and  remove  from  Cliurch  of  Christ,  ii.  753  ; 
Sec  Keys,  power  of. 

Shivery,  ot  sin,  ii.  2Jl. 

Sleep,  deaih  compared  to,  i.  169;  ii.  2G9. 

Smyrna,  epistle  to,  ii.  913 

Solomon,  glory  of,  i.  108;    wisdom   of,  i.  245; 

Christ  iiieater  than,  i.  245. 
Son  of  God.  Jesus  the,  i.  314  ;  ii.  44,  87  ;  design 
of  his  mission,  ii.  45;  equal  wiih  the  F..ther,  ii. 
88;  judgment  committed  lo,  ii.  92  ;  to  be  hon- 
ored equihy  with  the  Father,  ii.  92;  his  works 
bear  witness  to,  ii.  88 ;  will  raise  the  dead,  ii. 
122;  came  from  the  Father,  ii.  163,  435;  re- 
turns to  the  Father,  ii.  165;  his  conscous 
knowledge  of  the  Father,  ii.  221  ;  his  pre-exist- 
ence,  ii.  2-'5,  450;  is  in  the  Father,  ii.  350;  his 
r<*lation  to  the  Father,  ii.  403 ;  prays  lo  t'  e 
Father,  ii.  443  ;  his  power  over  all  fk*sli,  ii.  444  ; 
prays  to  be  glorified,  ii.  451 ;  Jesus  is  condemn- 
ed as  the,  ii.  638  ;  centurion  acknowledges,  at  the 
crucifixion,  ii.  696.  See  Father,  God  the. 
Son  of  man,  Jesus  ihe,  i.  145;  ii.  32;  his  comins, 
i.  325  ;  ii.  615  ;  days  of,  i.  674  ;  glorification  of, 
i:.  297  ;  his  goins,  ii.  503. 
Soul,  imiuateiial,  i.  184 ;  va'ue  and  loss  of,  i.  325  : 


»74 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


conscious  existence  of,  between  death  and  re- 
Burrectim),  ii.  C65. 

Soul  of  Je.sus,  (li.1  it  descend  into  hell  ?  ii.  664; 
coniin.ned  into  tlie  han  is  of  tlie  Father,  ii.  69-  ; 
I)l;)ce  of,  If iNveeii  his  deatii  and  lesunection,  li. 
695. 

Sower,  parable  of  the,  i.  258  ;  the  seed,  i.  259 ;  the 
sower,  i.  '260;  iliediffr-rt-nt  kindsof  aroiUKi,  i.  260. 

Spirit,  Holy,  telected  wl.ai  words  of  Jesus  were 
to  be  writlen,  i.  22;  ;ind  b; ought  them  to  the 
nnienihrance  of  the  disciples,  i.  32;  devils  cast 
out  by,  i.  232;  blasphemy  against,  i.  237: 
anoinleii  Jesu>  for  his  mission,  i.  518  ;  born  of 
the,  ii.  17;  his  work  in  regenerat.'on,  ii.  17  ;  his 
operations  mysterious  and  sovereign,  ii.  20 ; 
liis  infliiei  ces  coni[)areiI  to  ilie  wind,  ii.  20; 
quickens  nnd  gives  Jile,  ii.  138;  his  Divin- 
ity and  Personality,  ii.  356;  is  the  Comfor- 
ter, ii.  357;  is  the  Spirit  of  truth,  ii.  358; 
world  cannot  receive,  ii.  359  ;  called  the  Holy 
Ghost,  ii.  867 ;  sent  by  the  Father  in  Chri.^t's 
Uiime,  ii.  3G6;  is  a  Teacher  and  Remembrancer, 
ii.  367;  his  procession,  ii.  398;  sent  as  the 
result  of  Christ's  departure,  ii.  406 ;  convinces 
the  world  of  sin,  ii.  410;  insisted  the  Apostles, 
ii.  414;  glorifies  Christ,  ii.  416;  api)lies  the 
words  of  Christ,  ii.  481  ;  anoints  the  A[)Ostles, 
ii.  748 ;  relation  which  the  gift  of,  to  the  Apos- 
t  es,  immediately  after  the  re^u^rection,  sus- 
tained to  the  outpouritig  of,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  ii.  748  ;  breathing  on,  a  sign  of  com- 
municating tlie,  ii.  749;  apostolical  power  of 
remitiing  sins  he'd  only  in  connection  with,  ii. 
751 ;  power  of,  wrouglit  signs  and  wonders,  ii. 
836;  is  the  promise  of  the  Father,  ii.  846,  851  ; 
is  the  power  from  on  high,  ii.  847  ;  baptism  of, 
ii.  852. 

Sjirit,  Apostles  supjiosed  Jesus  to  be  a,  ii.  741  ; 
man's  natural  liorror  at  tho  ajjpear.ince  of  a, 
ii.  741  ;  Jesus  affi;ms  the  existence  of,  ii.  743. 

Stewaid,  the  unjust,  patable  of,  i.  625;  various 
exiiositions  of,  i.  025;  his  guilt,  i.  028;  his 
cunning,  i.  629;  his  coinmendation,  i.  632. 

S  rong  man  cast  out,  parable  of,  i.  231. 

Sufferings  of  Christ,  made  kHown  to  his  disciples, 
i.  321,  337,  370 ;  cup  an  emblem  of,  i.  378 ; 
baptism  an  emb:em  of,  i.  378;  were  sicrificiai, 
i.  383  ;  Sonpluies  fuTilled  in,  ii.  602,  089,  730; 
mourning  lor,  ii.  630;  Scriptures  predict,  ii. 
814 ;  necessity  of,  ii.  844.  See  Agony  and 
D.ath  of  Jesus. 

Suii|ier  of  the  Loid.     See  Lord's  Supper. 

Sword,  Jesus  came  to  seu'l,  i.  187  ;  Shejiherd, 
Christ  the,  smitten  by,  ii.  558  ;  Apostles  were  to 
provide  a,  ii.  563 ;  the  two  possessed  by  the 
Apostles,  ii.  568 ;  Peter  rebuked  for  using,  ii. 
598  ;  lawful  and  unlawlul  use  of,  ii.  599. 

Sychar,  city  of,  ii.  53. 

Talents,  p^.ral>le  ot  the,  i.  481.  689. 

Tares  and  wheat,  pnrable  of,  i.  266 ;  illustrates  the 
origin  of  evil,  i.  260. 

Tabeinacles,  feast  of,  ii.  166,  182. 

Teaching  is  to  follow  baptism,  ii.  822;  to  be  per- 
pf^ttial,  ii.  823;  its  did'erence  from  preaching,  ii. 
823  ;  offica  of,  to  be  handed  down,  ii.  324. 

Tenipe.-t,  the,  stilled,  i.  148. 

'!'<  niple,  the,  a  house  of  merchandise,  i.  24  ;  puri- 
fi  d  by  Jesus,  i.  23;  Jesus  greater  than  the,  i. 
223;  made  a  den  of  thieves,  i.  40;  its  destiuc- 
tioii  announced,  i.  434  ;  aVioinination  of  desola- 
tion standing  in,  i.  458;  the  place  of  j)rayer,  i. 
681 ;  veil  of,  rent  at  the  crncifixion,  ii.  695. 


Temple,  the  body  of  Christ  a,  i.  25. 

Temptation,  prayer  against,  i.  95 ;    described,  ii. 

652  ;  disciples  warned  against,  ii.  582. 
Temptation  of  Christ,  in  the  Wilderness,  i.  17;  the 

time  of.  i.  xxiii. ;  his  life  was  full  of,  ii.  491  ;   by 

Judas,  ii.  502. 
Theolooy,  connection  and  distinction  between  the 

Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testament,  ii.  220. 
Thief,  impenitent,  rails  on  Christ,  ii.  061. 
Thief,  penitent,  testified  of  Jesus,  ii.  662;  acknow- 
ledges his  fault,  ii.  662 ;   his  prayer,  ii.  t;62 ;  hhe 

Lord's  promise  to,  ii.  662  j  his  faith,  ii.  063  ;  his 

charity,  ii.  60  ?. 
ThintTS,  heavenly  and  earthly,  conlra.sted,  ii.  30. 
Thirst,   sj)iritual — ace  hunger — of    Jesus   on    tlie 

cross,  ii.  081  ;  announced  in  Scripture,  ii.  082  ;  its 

nature  and  causes,  ii.  684;  its  sjnritual  signifi- 
cance, ii.  685;  how  the  Jews  attempted  to  a.lay 

it,  ii.  080. 
Thomas,   wishes   to   die  with   Lazarus,   ii.    271 ; 

absent  when  Jesus  appeared  to  Apostles,  ii.  75  \ ; 

unbelief  of,  ii.  754  ;  want  of  faith  rebul-ed,  ii. 

757  ;  acknowledges  Jesus  as  his  Lord  and  God, 

ii.  759;  his  ftilh,  ii.  700. 
Thought  for  the  morrow,  Christ's  teaching  con- 

cerninof,  i.  100,  568. 
Throne,  final  word  from,  ii.  947. 
Tin-ones,  promised  to   tlie   Apostles,  i.  365  ;    ii. 

492. 
Thyaiira,  epistle  to,  ii.  920. 
Times  and  Seasons,  are  reserved  in  the  Father's 

hand,  ii.  856;  meaning  of,  ii.  857  ;    aie  known 

to   Christ,  ii.  858,  860;    unknown  to  men,  ii. 

853  ;  wisdom  of  God  in  concealng,  ii.  859. 
Tower  of  Siloam,  fall  of,  i.  575. 
To.ver,  building  a,  parable  of,  i.  597. 
Toniiues,  spe.iking  wltli,  promised,  li.  491. 
TradiiioiiR,  of  Pliaiisees,   contrasted   with   cotn- 

mandments  ot  God,  i.  291. 
Transfiguiation,  of  Je.'us,  i.  317. 
Treasure,  Christ's  teaching  concerning  laying  up, 

i.  101,  669. 
Treasu'.e,  parable  of  the  hiilden,  i.  280. 
Trespasses,  steps  to  be  taken  lor  settlement  of,  i. 

352  ;  to  be  forgiven,  i.  356. 
Tribute  money,  miracle  of  the,  i.  338  ;  lawiulness 

of,  i.  409. 
Trinity,   doctrine  of,   ii.  802 ;    name  of,  various 

theories  concerning,  ii.  802  ;    true   meaning  of, 

ii.  803;    baptism  to  be  administered   in  name 

of,  ii.  802. 
Truth,  the  word  of  God  is,  ii.  467;  Jesu"  testifies 

of  the,  ii.  028;  Pilate  asks.  What  is  1  ii.  031. 
Unbelief,  its  criminality  and  iienalty,  ii.  190  ;  le..d3 

to  final  inmishm.^nt,  ii.  829. 
Unclean  spirit,  parable  of,  i.  246. 
Union,    Chiistian,   ii.  402,  472;    Lord's   Supper, 

significant  of,  ii.  542. 
Unity  of  God,  i.  423. 
Unjust  judge,  the  parable  of,  i.  075. 
Unjust  steward.     See  S:eward,  unjust,  the. 
Veil  of  temple,  rent  at  the  crucifixion,  ii.  695. 
Vine,  Jesus  the  true,  ii.  374. 
Vinegar  mix'^d  with  gall,  given  to  Jesus  on  iha 

cross,  Ji.  686. 
Vineyaid,  the  two  sons  sent  into,  parable  of,  i. 

395  ;  and  the  householder,  parable  of,  i.  397. 
Virgitis,  wise  and  foolish,  parable  of,  i.  476.     S't 

Lamp. 
Watchfulness,  enforced,  i.  569  ;   ii.  5S1  j    its  con- 
nection with  prayer,  ii.  582. 
Water,  made  wine,  i.  22. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


975 


Water,  bom  of,  ii.  14. 

Water,  living,  emblem  of  spiritual  tilings,  ii.  55; 
flows  from  Ciirist,  ii.  168. 

Way,  broad  and  narrow,  the,  i.  121;  Jesus  the,  to 
I  he  Father,  ii.  347. 

Weary  and  heavy  laden,  invited  to  Christ,  i.  217. 

Wlieal  and  tares,  parable  of  the,  i.  26G. 

Widow,  importunate,  parable  of,  i.  676. 

Wind,  an  emblem  of  the  Spirit's  influsnces,  ii. 
20. 

Wisdom,  justified  of  lier  children,  i.  211. 

Weeping,  of  Jesus  at  the  death  of  Lnzarus,  ii. 
279 ;  of  Jesus  over  Jerusalem,  i.  694 ;  of  the 
dauahters  of  Jerusalem  for  Jesus,  ii.  647. 

Well,  Jacob's,  ii.  53. 

Wine,  used  in  the  Sacrament,  ii.  528;  an  emblem 
of  the  blcod  of  Christ,  ii.  529;  all  are  to  drink 
of,  in  the  Sacrament,  ii.  530;  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  ii.  548. 

Witnesses,  Apostles  were,  of  the  things  concern- 
ing Christ,  ii.  846,  859. 

Woman,  Canaanitish,  her  faith  and  perseverance, 
i.  300. 

Woman,  with  the  issue  of  blood,  healed,  i.  166. 

Woman,  Samaritan,  her  interview  with  Jesus,  ii. 
50;  her  curiosity,  ii,  55;  her  ignorance,  ii.  56  ; 
her  anxiety  to  know  our  Lord's  meaning,  ii.  59  ; 
her  five  husbands,  ii.  61 ;  her  conviction,  ii.  62  ; 
acknowledges  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  ii.  70;  calls 
1  er  friends  to  Jesus,  ii.  71. 

WonitU!,  chat  was  a  sinner,  anoints  the  feet  of  Je- 
sus i.  526 ;  was  not  Mary  nor  Magdalene,!. 
527  ;  her  deep  sorrow,  i.  527  ;  her  love  to  Jesus, 
i.  529 ;  her  forgiveness,  i.  530. 

Womau,  with  spirit  of  iiifluuity,  healed,  i.  578. 


Words,  idle,  criniiralify  of,  i.  241. 

Wnids  of  Jesus,  their  deep  significance,  !,  Tiii. ; 
Evangelis'.s  record  the  true,  i.  viii. ;  collect  and 
l>lpnd  all  the  rays  of  truth,  i.  xi. ;  permanency 
of  i.  53,  612;  Jews  understood  not,  ii.  208 ; 
division  amorg  Jews  on  account  of,  ii.  254. 

Woids,  Seven,  the,  on  the  Cross,  exjiosition  of,  ii. 
655,  696  ;  why  Seven,  ii.  696,  697  ;  their  si2nifi- 
cance,  ii.  697 ;  significance  of  their  order,  ii. 
698;  symbolical  chaiacter  of,  ii.  699;  their 
l>redictive  intimations,  ii.  699. 

Word  of  God,  compared  to  seed,  i.  259 ;  hearers 
of,  different  classes,  i.  260 ;  is  truth,  ii.  468.  See 
Scriptures. 

World,  receives  not  the  Spirit,  ii.  359;  hate.s 
believers,  ii.  389  ;  sin  of,  in  rejecting  Ciirist,  ii. 
394;  persecutes  the  disciples,  ii.  401;  con- 
vinced by  the  Spirit,  ii.  406;  dolh  not  know  the 
Father,  ii.  478. 

Worldliness,  rebuked,  i.  564. 

Worldling,  the  rich,  parable,  i.  566.     Which  see. 

Worship,  to  be  paid  to  God  only,  i.  13;  to  bo 
rendered  to  the  Faiher.  ii.  63  ;  to  be  offered  in 
spirit  and  in  trntli,  ii.  65  ;  Jesus  present  in  the 
assemblies  of,  i.  345  ;  ii.  826  ;  the  disciples  of- 
fered, to  Jesus  at  his  ascension,  ii.  861. 

Worship,  Samaritan,  ii.  63 ;  ignorance  of,  ii.  64 ; 
difference  between,  and  Jewish,  ii.  64. 

Works,  believers  do  greater,  than  Jesus,  ii.  352. 

Yea  and  nay,  meaning  of,  i.  72. 

Yoke  of  Cliiisf,  i.  219. 

Zaccheus,  entertains  Jesus,  i.  686. 

Zei  harian,  j)rophecies  of,  illustrated,  ii.  557  (and 
votes)  ;  i>redicts  Christ's  entry  into  Jerusalem,  i. 
385  ;  foielells  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  ii.  657, 


PHILOLOGICAL    INDEX. 


Vol.    Page. 

D^nbs II-  261  rm. 

y^a  "^z^^ II-    60 

■^3  CSS. II.  292 

yC2i..'. II.  170 

13. II.  46.3 

ns^na,  n^na II.  828 

n^n3.....V. II.  53.3 

n3- I.  9 

nil I.  470 

Cn-r; II.  92 

N^n II.  191 

nisTGn  yn II.  511 

ci3.... I.  378 

r3b II.  847 

•7S5Ta I.    424 

rsi^ II.     79 

C^:5T2 II.    170 

c: II.    35 

nCD I.   463 

t2^T:3? I.    693 

liny II.  692 


Vo..  Page?. 

II.  558 

■^2^ I.  386;  II.  559 

*i:y  —  ny  onb II.  511 

rns?.......!! II.  167 

n^an? II.  313 

ncs. II.  311,446,511 

niprij^D I.  51,    19 

y^-is I.  388 

np-is I.  81 

m?? II,  298 

TlJi-p II.  459 

"isnp I.   286,  509 

-sn II.  762 

-?-i I.  76 

D?n. I  494 

^nDir IT.  20 

biso I.  648 

iJPbsc II.  819 

nibir II.  868 

nbip II.  234 

I'nsn  ni^nfin II.  191 


aya'^/ts II. 

ayaTTuv II.  89, 

kytd^fiv II. 


Eyios 
aSrifjiOViiu 

a5)js 

teT(Jy.  .  .  . 


oWia. 


II. 

I. 

a.K(paio^ I. 

a\a.$a(TTpoy ■ 1 1. 

aKfKTopo(p(iivia II. 

oAfKTtop II. 

a\r,bivos II.  75,  134,  168, 

aWd II. 

auaprld 11.  215, 

&y II. 


avaPXtTreif I.  500 

iii'iyaioi' II.  487 

ofaAiji/zij I.  533,  716 

avduvr)<Tts II.  527 

avivSeKTOs I.  C61 

avo-nros II.  728 

ai'TilSdWfiv  \6yovs II.  724 

aurinapfpxeff^at II.  647 

iixc^fv II.  10 

airfXiri^fiv I.  131 

aTTf'xf II.  587 

OTIO-TOS II.  758 

airn!^v>)(TK(ti> I.  162 

avoKa^tcrrdvci,  -dvfiv I.  319  ;  II.  8.14 

a-KOffiraabai II.  670 

07ro(TT(AA(<i' II.  747 

oTTOTafffftffSai I.  536 


PHILOLOaiCAL    IKDEX, 


Vol.    Page. 

airrea-^ai II.  709 

&ji(TToi/,   apiffray I.  405  ;  II.  772 

&pves I.  638 

apvia II.  779 

apxaloi I.  67 

T^v  apxv'^ II'  194 

apx'T€\a>v7}t I.  686 

apxiTpiKKivos I.  21 

aadei/fli/ II.  264 

airci)Tos I  610 

arifid^etv II.  217 

&TO-KOS II.  666 

av\i) )I.  241 

avTOv II.  571 

Selects II.  535 

axpe'ios I.  665 

Pdaavos 1.  64  8 

fiaaiKi  a  riv  ovpaviv I.  27 

/SaoraCefv II.  290,  413 

$ee\(f0ov\ I.  22.^ 

fiidCiffS^ai I.  203 

^\aff(l>-r]ula I.  291 

P-io-Kety II.  779 

fipiffts I.  98  ;   II.  72 

ya^o(pv\aKiov I.  512 

yaaoi I.  404 

yttwa I.  60 

yevea 1.  470  ;  II.   p.  vii 

ytvyav II.  422 

yiwpyhs II.  376 

7\w(7<roiy,  yKdffnr],  Xa\f7y II.  S3o 

ypdufiara II.  154 

ypafj./xaTi7i I.  54 

yvyai II.  669 

Sauumoy  ex^iy II.   1  58,  254 

SeiKvvfty II.  90 

SstAuiy II.  370 

SiTiryoy I.  405 

SevTep6irp<iiTos I.  218 

Sid II.  135 

dta^dWciy I.  628 

Sia^jAoy II.  146 

SiayyeWeiy I.  141 

Staypijyop^'iy 1.  318 

SiaAiiKr, II.  533 

5ia\oyia;u6s II.  742 

oidi/oia I.  424 

5:aJTpayixoTeve(T^ai I.  691 

Siaaxopiri^eiy 1.  484 

Siacrwapd II.  166 

Siao-reAAf  o-S-ai I.  299 

Sta(TTpi(f>eiu I.  322 

■  Siarii^ia^ai II.  492 

Sif|o5oy I.  4o7 

SiKaioffvyn I.  81 ;  II,  410 

SiH-aLoiu I.  209 

5ix'''^o"f '^'' I-  475 

SoKe7v I.  381 

a^ya/xt^ II.  347 

Swpidy II.  395 

e^a. I.  492 

iy('ip€<T!^ai I.  2i » 1 

lyKpvTrreiv I.  271 

ina.<pi(^iy I-  695 

ilp4)vrt T. II.  ■'^68,  740 

iKPlWety I.  160 ;   II.  243 


Vol.    Page. 

^HKaKtTy I.        676 

fKK\rt<Tia I.  308,  341 

iK\eiireiy I.        637 

iXtyxety II.       4ti7 

"■'EWnvts II.  166,  29o 

ilu0p'fJ-aa-^ai I.  164  ;    II.       279 

tV.. II.  268,  305 

iy^vyea-^ai II.       847 

eyraX/xa I.       288 

ivTos I.       669 

iyTpeireaS)ai I.       676 

i^aiTetff^ai II.       652 

fiiardyai.^ II.       727 

t^oixo\oyelffdat I.       214 

firayyeXia II.  847,  851 

iiravTO^Jopw II.       177 

(TTiyhvTris II.        770 

iirepJoTTJIiia II.       819 

fnripedCeiy I.         77 

fiTiKpiyfiy II.       646 

(TnopKeTy I.  68,  70 

eirtovcrioi I.  85,  89 

firt(rTpe<lmy,  -effbat II.       554 

epydCeff^at I.  482  ;  II.       114 

fpydrat I.       582 

ipevyay II.       105 

f!i7)^toy I.  339,  450 

epxf(T^ai 11.       791 

ipwray II.  356,  457 

C0-T7JKO II.  213 

iaxi^Toy  rris  yris II.  860 

etrco II.  756 

eruj^oj II.  594 

evayyiXioy I.  28 

€vepyeT7]^ !1.  490 

eudfws I.  465,  491 

fvXdffeia II.  575 

fiiXoyeiy II.  516 

evtppaiyfff^at 1 .  618 

(uxaptcrTe7y II.  516 

Ci'i>"a   I-       263 

Co^ypi7y I.       524 

Coyyvety II.      781 

r,X:K'ta I.        103 

iip^aTo II.       860 

SfeXeiy II.  476,  791 

^fX-nua II.  580 

^eds  Vocrtt II.  759 

dpf/jL/xaTa II.  57 

^pr/ve^y,  Sipriyos. II.  421 

Stveiy I.  406 

dipa I.  581 

ISiiirai II.  816 

•irjo-oCs II.  448 

Ixdaiceff^ai I.  685 

'iXf<as I-  312 

■iy?. I.  253  ;   II.  73,  223,  334,  382 

"icros II.  6  1 2 

iffrdyai H.  550 

Kabaipeiv II.       37''> 

KoJ^yririis I.       4!t> 

Kx^iCe^y II.  571,  846 

Ka^iiTTdyai I.  319  ;   II.       t-T)4 

Ka^cis If.       443 

Katpis II.       857 


978 


PHILOLOGICAL    IXDEX. 


Vol.     Page. 

Kara^oKri 11.  451 

KariXvfia II.  486 

Karavofiv I.  HO 

KaraffK-nvaxTts I.  139 

KaTa(piK(Ty II.  694 

Ke/fpafojuoi I.  692 

K«pa\aiovy  .  .  ^ I.  398 

Kripvfffffiv II.  824,  827 

KKrfToi I.  376 

KoiXla II.  170 

Kotj.i.a.<Tbai II.  286 

Koiutiivia II.  644 

KoKo^ovvdai I.  461 

KOTTtWV I.  216 

Kop^ay I.  286 

Kpardv,  -tlo-^ai .II.  723,  751 

KpavydCfii' II.  28.5 

Kpfij.a<Tbai I.  4  2.5 

/t/)i>a II.  239 

KTl<rtT II.  828 

Kvptos  Vocat II.  5? 

Xa\t?j/,  Kfyeiy II.  141,  194,  309 

\aKla II.  77,  2(18 

Aaju/Samc II.  100,  107,  108 

Ka/xnas I.       478 

Xarpfia II.       401 

KvSs I.       397 

K6yoi I.  p.  xviii 

\6yos II.  390,  395 

\oiir6y 11.       586 

Kovfiv II.       318 

\vTpov I.       382 

\vrpova^a.i H.       727 

ti.a.br\r(v(iv II.       798 

fiauoivai .1.       102 

fifyetv II.  305,  791 

IxepiijLv'iv I.        103 

Hiri I.       504 

^l.erewpi^ia^al I.       103 

^TJTI II.       500 

Hoyi\i\os I.       498 

fiov-h..    'I.       342 

fjLoyoyevns II.  41,  44 

Hop(l>-n II.       722 

yfuTfpoi II.  491 

yflirtoi I.  214 

yo(7y I.  301 

yun(pwy,  viol  tov  yuiJ,(puyos I.  156 

vfi/iara I.  500 

o/*<Bj II.  306 

6yiK6s I.  835 

vyoua II.  802 

i^os II.  686 

iirrfty II.  420 

iipafxa I.  317 

St. I.  530;  II.  104,  214 

b.riKal II.  193 

ovffia !•  610 

o'vTwi II.  63 

o^dpioy n.  771 

i^ts II.  102,  286 

iratS.oy. . II.  422,  769 

vdKiv  StvTfpoy II.        780 

Tayo,Ki.^ II.       8i;i 

rapapiii^iff^ai II.       734 


Vol.    I'aire. 

Tapa$o\-n I.  521  ;  II.  244 

napdieicros II.  603 

irapaKK-nros    II.  356,  429 

irapaKoXov^tiv 11.  833 

vapaTTopivtcrbai I.  292 

irapacKfvi) II.  311 

itapaTibia^ai I(.  693 

irapOLKe'iv II.  725 

Tapoifi'ia II.  244,  429 

irapprjaiif II.  430 

irierxa  . '. II.  311 

iroTpis I.  515 

viKuyos I.  836 

Vffnrdy II.  747 

oiirepi II.  272 

vfpiKviTOs II.  574 

irKTTfVfiy  iiri II.  729 

irio-TjKo'j II.  289 

irv(Zp.a I.  534  ;  II.  21,  67,  695,  741 

irotiiv I.  482,  561  ;  II.  49 

irotfialvfty 11.  779 

iroyrjpSy I.  72,  93  ;  II.  465 

TTOpfiieff^at II.  508 

TTpaynarevetrdai I.  691 

Trpd<Tffftv II.  49 

Trpavs,  irpao'! I.  37 

1Tpe<TfiVTfpOl II.  181 

irp6 II.  245-247 

irpodyeiy I.  396;  II.  660 

vpS^vfioi II.  584 

vpSffKaipos I.  257 

■irpoaKvv(7y II.  861 

Tpoffiroielff^at II.  179,  733 

vpoffpdyiov II.  769 

irp6<(>a<ns H-  393 

vpo<pT]rai II.  731,  841 

W», I.  581 

triipyos I.  675 

Pa^Bovyl II.  V09 

bairiCety,  pdiri(rua II.  fi09 

l,rifxa..... 1.9;  II.  141 

pvfxrj !•  594 

era\iri((iv 1-  ^1 

adp^ II.  17,  1 38,  443,  684 

ffr)fiaivfiv II.  304 

<rrifi€toy II.  '8 

aKKrjpoKapBia I.  364 

(TK\tip6s II.  1 36 

ffKvWfiy I.  1 66 

(Tirupa II.  689 

ffrvyv6s,  ffTuyya^fiy I.  288 

ffv(riT(7v II.  724 

(ruKa/jLiyoi I.  C63 

<rvK0(payTf7y I.  688« 

ffvyaKiCfff^ai H-  850 

cruff'xfo'i^'" !•  ^  *  ^ 

2uxt£p n.  63 

ff(ppayi(fty H-  116 

Tav(ty6s,  Tair(iyo<ppoffvyr] I-  332 

TfKvoyoyia •    I.  496 

'.                                                                                                   T  '7Q 

TtAeior •  ••  1^ 

Tt\uovy II-  681,  683 

T(\(iovff^at I.  684 

ripas II.  78 

rripuy H-  218,  361,  391 

ribfvai  ylivYV'' '^'  " 

riKTuy. II.  422 


PniLOi^OGICAL    INDEX. 


979 


tSkos.  . , 
r6nos. . . 
roffavra . 
Tovro. . . 


Vol. 

..I. 
..11. 
..II. 
..II. 


Tviros 11.  755, 


Page. 
485 
287 
800 
519 
r58 


Us II.      463 

ihs  Tov  av^p<iTrov I.  221,  303  ;  II.  96,  305,  615 

virdyttv II.  387,  503 

5f.5 
504 


virapxovra I. 

virip I. 

vvoKafi&avuv I. 

biro\4]vtov I. 

virofi.itJi.vi\ffK(iv II. 

VOTtpOV II. 

ui^ot  abai II. 


Vol.    Page. 


(pfpeiv II. 

tpStdvetv I. 

<f>i\(1v II.  8.9, 

<pipos I. 

tppivifios I. 

<pv\aKT^pia I. 

tpvffis II. 

<t>vrfia,  <pvr6v I. 


Xaipere 


.II. 


529  i  x<i-pis I. 

397     x^'^M" I. 

367     Xpio-TiJs II.  448,  614, 

738  xp^*">^ II- 

38  x'^P^^*' II- 


228 
777 
410 
633 
439 
22 
289 


720 
520 
654 
616 
857 
205 


(pay(7v  rh  irdcTxa II.       311     wSTves II.       423 

<t>av\os II.      310    utIov II.       597 


TEXTUAL   TN^DEX  TO   YOLUME  II. 


Matthew  xtv!.  2 

XXV.  10-13. . 

xxvi.  18 

xxvi.  21-25. , 
xxvi.  20-28.. 

xxvi.  29 

xxvi.  31-34. 
'•  xxvi.  £6-42.. 

«•  xxvi.  45,46.. 

••  xxvi.  50 

•«  xxvi.  52-54. . 

"  xxvi.  55,  56. . 

'•  xxvi.  64 

-  xxvii.  11.... 

«  xxvii.  46.... 

"  xxviii.  9, 10. . 

"  xxviii.  18-20. 

IIauk   xiv.  6-9 

"       xiv.  13-15 

"       XV.  18-21 

"       xiv.  22-24 

"       xiv.  25 

"       xiv.  27-30 

"       xiv.  32-39 

"       xiv.  41,42 

"       XV.  48,  49 

"       xiv.  62 

"       XV.  2 

"       XV.  34 

"       xvi.  14 

"       xvi.  15-18 


Luke 


XX  i.  34 

xxii.8-lJ 

xxii.  15-18 

xxii.  19,20.... 

xxii.  21,  22 

xxii.  22 

xxi'.  25-30. . . . 

xxii.  31-34 

xxii.  35-8 

xxi.  40-42,  46. 

xxii.  46 

xxii.  48 

xxii.  51 

xxii.  52,  53 

XX  i.  67-70 

xxiii.  3 

xxiii.  28-31... 
xxiii.  34 


XX 


"  xxiii.  46.  .. 

"  xxiv.  17-27. 

"  XX.  v.  36-41. 

*'  xxiv.  44-49. 

John  iii.  3-21 

"      iv.  7--6 

"  i v.  32-38... 

"  iv.  48-5(1. .. 

"  V.  6   S    14.. 

"  v. 17. 19-47. 
vi.  26-58.  .  . 

"  vi.  61-(;5.  .. 

"  vi.  67-';o... 


PAGR. 

481 

John 

288 

" 

484 

" 

497 

" 

5(J8 

«« 

547 

«i 

555 

<( 

569 

II 

586 

II 

593 

M 

598 

M 

602 

II 

611 

K 

619 

« 

718 
794 
288 
484 
497 
508 
517 
555 
569 
586 
602 
611 
619 
672 
738 
794 
336 
484 
494 
508 
549 
497 
487 
550 
562 
569 
586 
593 
596 
602 
617 
619 
617 
6  •■.5 
660 
692 


PAGE. 

vii.  6-8 148 

vii.  16-.9 1-.2 

vii.  33.  34 164 

vii.  37   38 166 

viii.7,  10,  11 173 

viii.  12-19 182 

viii.  21-58 189 

is.  3-7,35-37 227 

ix.  39-x.  18 238 

X.  25-30 254 

X.  32-38 258 

xi.  4  7,  9-11,  14-15 264 

xi.  23,  25,  26 272 

xi.  34,  39-44 277 

"      xii.7,8 288 

"      xii.  23-36 295 

"      xii.  44-50 3U6 

"      xiii.7-20 310 

"      xiii.21 497 

"      xiii.  23-29 bV.) 

"      xiii.26,27 323 

"      xiii.  31-35 327 

"      xiii.  36,  38 336.  550 

"      xiv.  1-31 o38 

"      xiv.  1-10 310 

"      xiv.  11-24 3-)l 

"      xiv.  25-31 365 

"      XV.  1-6 3i4 

"      XV.  7-17 382 

"      XV.  18-25 3i-9 

"      XV.  26-xvi.  4 396 

"      xvi.  6-15 403 

"      xvi.  16-24 418 

«      xvi.  25-33 428 

"      xvii 439 

«      xviii.  4,  7,  8 588 

"      xviii.  11 598 

«      xviii.  20,  21,  23 6  i4 

"      xv:i.  31-37 619 

«      xix.  11 635 

"      x:x.  26,  27   668 

"      xix.  18 681 

"      xix.  30 888 

"      XX.  15-17 702 

"      x.x.  19-23 738 

"      XX.  26-29 753 

"      xxi.  5,  6,  10,  12 765 

"      xxi.  15-22 774 

Acts  i.  4-8 818 

"      ix.  4-6,  xxii.  7-10,  xxvi.  14-16.  . ...  863 

"      ix. 10-16 870 

"      xxii.  17-21 875 

"      xvi.  16-18 878 

"      X.  13-16,  xi.  7-10 884 

"      xviii.  9,  10.... 888 

"      xxiii.  11 890 

1  ConixTiiiA.Ns  xi.  24,  25 508 

2  CoRixTitiAxs   xii.  9 893 

Ukvki.ation  i.  11,  17-20 897 

ii.,  iii 906 

"           iv.  1 945 

"          xxi.  6-8 947 


THE 


¥O^DS  OF  THE  ANGELS; 


OB, 


THEIR  VISITS  TO  THE  EARTH,  AND  THE  MESSAGES  THEY 

DELIVERED. 


RUDOLF   STIER,   D.  D., 

ADTHOS  OF  "  IHE  WOEDS  OF  THE  LOBD  JESUB,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 

N.    TIBBALS    &    CO.,    37    PAEK    EOW 


co^te:xts. 


Introduction v. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Gabriel's  Announcement  lo  Zacliarias—  Luk  •  i 1 

CHAPTER  II, 
Gabriel's  Announcement  to  Mary — Luke  i C 

CHAPTER  III. 
Appearance  of  the  Angel  to  Joseph  in  a  Dream — Matthew  i 11 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Angels  that  announce  the  Birth  of  Christ  at  Bethlehem — Luke  ii IJ 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Angel  returns  to  Joseph  in  D.eams — MaUhew  ii 18 

CHAPTER  VL 
The  Angels  at  the  Sepulchre — Matt,  xxviii.,  Mark  xvi.,  Luke  xxiv 21 

CHAPTER  A'll. 
The  Angel's  Question  to  Magdalene — John  xx 27 

CHAPTER  YIII. 
The  Angels  at  the  Ascension — Acts  i 28 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Angel  opening  the  Prison  Doors — Acts  v 30 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Angel  directing  Philip — Acts  viii C2 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Angel  sent  to  Cornelius — Acts  x S-1 

CHAPTER  XIL 
The  Angel  delivering  Peter — Acts  xii C7 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Tlie  Angel  to  Paul  at  Sea — Acts  xxvii 40 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Praise  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures — Revelation  iv 42 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Who  is  worthy  to  open  the  Book  I— Revelation  v 4-1 

'  CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Praise  of  maiiy  Angels,  and  the  Amen  of  ihe  Four  Living  Creatures — Revelation  v 46 

lU 


iv'  CONTE^sTh'.  '^ 

CHAPTER  XVII.                                                               PA'?E. 
The  Fourfold  Call— Come  and  See— Revelation  vi 47 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Angel  having  the  Seal  for  the  Servants  of  God— B  evelation  vii 48 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Worship  of  all  the  Angels — Revelation  vii 50 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Threefold  Woe — Revelation  viii 60 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Angel  with  the  Little  Book  open— Revelation  x, 52 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Three  Angels  that  herald  the  Fall  of  Babylon— Revelation  xiv ; 54 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  Two  Angels  at  the  Thrusting  in  of  the  Sickles— Revelation  xiv 58 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
The  Angel  of  the  AVaters  praises  God's  Justice — Revelation  xvi 59 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Angel  who  shows  the  Mystic  Babylon— Revelation  xvii CO 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
The  Two  Angels  at  the  Fall  of  Babylon— Revelation  xviii G4 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Angel  refusing  to  be  Worshipped — Revelation  xix C6 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
The  Angel  in  the  Sun  summoning  the  Birds  to  the  Great  Supper — Revelation  xix 69 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Great  Voice  out  of  Heaven — Revelation  xxi 69 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Interposing  Voice — Revelation  xxi 71 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
The  Angel  showing  the  Bride — Revelation  xxi 7i 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
The  last  Angelic  Speech— Revelation  xxii 72 


Il!TTRODXJOTIOIvr. 


It  is  a  striking  fact,  that  neither  in  ancient  nor  modern  literature  have  -we  any 
work  of  precisely  the  same  character  as  that  which  I  now  undertake — a  work  deal- 
ing exclusively  with  the  authentic  words  addressed  by  angels  to  men,  and  recorded 
by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Indeed,  no  monograph  even  on  the  Biblical 
doctrine  respecting  angels  has  ever  come  before  me.  We  have  treatises  and  disser- 
tations, it  is  true,  but  no  exhaustive  book  ;  and  even  these  are  exceedingly  meagre  in 
their  notices  of  the  intercourse  of  holy  angels  with  the  human  race.  They  are 
rather  to  be  classed  under  the  head  of  demonology,  and  historice  diahoU ;  whereas, 
in  the  Scripture,  especially  in  the  Old  Testament,  we  have  more  told  us  of  good  than 
of  evil  spirits.  Indeed,  to  say  nothing  of  unbelieving  and  half-believing  indifference, 
we  constantly  find,  even  in  orthodox  believers,  an  actual  ignoring,  as  it  were,  of 
angelic  agency.  Now,  we  hold  that  it  would  much  add,  both  to  the  full  understand- 
ing and  joy  of  faith,  if  the  testimony  of  Scripture  on  the  subject  were  properly 
received.  For  throughout  its  pages  the  existence  and  intervention  of  angels  is  dwelt 
upon  with  as  much  clearness  and  precision  as  is  compatible  with  the  necessarily 
mysterious  natui-e  of  the  subject. 

Our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ,  as  we  are  well  aware,  repeatedly  brought  the 
intervention  of  holy  angels  before  the  minds  of  his  hearers.  In  parables,  the  inter- 
pretation of  which  must  at  all  events  point  at  realities,  we  find  angels  described  as 
the  reapers  at  the  last  harvest,  the  executors  of  the  last  sentence,  the  devoted 
servants  of  the  heavenly  Master;  nay,  in  the  latest  prophecy  (Matt,  xxv.),  their 
accompanying  the  coming-in  glory  of  the  Judges  (ver.  31),  can  no  more  be  under- 
stood as  a  metaphor  than  the  mention,  in  ver.  41,  of  the  devil  and  his  angels. 

We  may  here  quote  with  advantage  a  striking  remark  of  Nitzsch  on  the  subject  in 
question  :  ''If,"  writes  he,  "  we  consider  the  origin  of  the  Old-Testament  representa- 
tion of  angels,  we  shall  certainly  not  be  able  to  hold  the  opinion  that  the  angels  were 
nothing  more  than  the  gods  of  Polytheism,  subordinated  by  the  growth  of  Monotheism 
to  this  inferior  position.  For  if  this  were  so,  we  should  find  the  angelic  world  most 
prominent  at  the  time  of  transition  from  the  polytheistic  to  the  monotheistic  creed ; 
whereas  it  is  at  a  later  period,  just  when  Polytheism  is  completely  overcome,  that 
we  find  the  existence  of  angels  reduced  to  a  dogma  by  the  Je■\^'s,  and  their  appearance 
most  freqviently  recorded."  Most  certainly  this  is  the  case.  The  angels  by  no 
means  recede  into  comparative  obscurity  as  clear  light  breaks  sin  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
it  is  on  the  occasion  of  the  full  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  that  they  appear  with 
increased  distinctness.  And  in  the  same  manner  with  regard  to  the  objective,  per- 
sonal devil,  his  image,  instead  of  waxing  fainter,  is  dwelt  on  and  defined  far  more 
than  heretofore,  both  in  the  parables  and  the  doctrinal  teaching  of  Christ. 

No  sooner,  indeed,  had  our  Lord  appeared  in  his  public  character  of  teacher,  and 
gathered  around  him  his  earliest  disciples,  than  we  find  him  spontaneously  alluding 
to  the  far-off  vision  of  the  patriarch  Jacob  (John  i.  51),  and  personally  applying  it. 
He  points  to  his  own  divine  humanity  as  the  centre  of  this  spiritual  intercourse 
continually  carried  on  between  earth  and  heaven ;  and  on  one  occasion,  previous  to 
his  last  prophecy  (Matt.  xxiv.  30 ;  xxv.  31),  speaks  openly  of  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man  with  his  angels  (Matt.  xvi.  27  ;  Mark  viii.  38). 

In  short,  neither  the  inquiries  of  science,  nor  the  inductions  of  reason  tend  to 
disprove  the  great  fact,  equally  transcending  the  telescope  of  the  one,  and  the  specu- 
lations of  the  other — the  fact  of  the  universe  being  peopled  with  intermediate  spirits 
between  GodTand  man.     It  is  only  a  meagre  pseudo-pliilosophical  Pantheism,  which 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

would  contract  the  starry  heaven  to  a  great  light-eruption  (according  to  Hegel's 
notorious  words,  Licht  Amchlag),  and  render  God  conscious  only  in  man  !  which 
must  needs  protest  against  a  doctrine  so  essentially  conservative  of  Monotheism  as 
this  of  worsliipping  and  ministering  angels. 

Even  in  Von  Meyer's  works  we  meet  with  a  most  inaccurate  observation  on  this 
Bubject.  i.  e.,  that  no  time  is  assigned  in  Scripture  to  the  creation  of  angels,  whi<;h 
leaves  it  to  he  inferred  that  they  have  existed  from  the  beginning.  Now,  that,  in  the 
beginning,  God,  together  with  heaven  itself,  created  the  whole  of  the  host  of  heaven, 
is  most  clearly'  stated.  Gen.  i.  1,  ii.  1,  compared  with  Psa.  xxxiii.  G  ;  Neh.  ix,  (). 

But  the  manner  of  creation  of  the  invisible  world  (Col.  i.  10),  must  remain  liidden 
from  us,  because  we  are  not  at  present  capable  of  understanding  any  revelation  of 
it.  One  bright  glance,  indeed,  is  allowed  us  of  the  singing  and  shouting  for  jo}'  of 
the  earliest  existing  sons  of  God,  the  morning  stars  of  primeval  creation,  over  the 
laying  the  foundations  of  this  present  world  of  ours  (Job  xxxviii.  7). 

Again,  in  Gen.  vi.  1—1,  we  liave  a  most  mysterious,  yet,  no  doubt,  literally  true 
account  given  us  of  a  second  fall  in  the  world  of  angels ;  of  which,  however,  we  will 
not  speak  any  further  here,  since  it  is  with  the  holy  angels  that  we  have  to  dp,  and 
with  their  sayings  to  men,  which  sayings  are  far  more  rare  in  Scripture  tluin  the 
general  mention  of  their  existence  and  services.  Now,  human  tradition  and  human 
poetry  Avould  have  reversed  this. 

The  primal  belief  that  angels  were  wont  to  help  and  serve  mankind,  and  to  do  so, 
be  it  well  observed,  by  the  command  and  sending  of  God,  we  find  in  Gen.  xxiv.  7, 
40,  simply  alluded  to  by  Abi'aham,  as  a  self-evident  fact;  and  in  like  manner  in  the 
book  of  Tobit  we  see  that  the  popular  belief  among  the  Jews  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  that  apocryphal  narrative.  Again,  Jacob  beholds  the  heavenly  company  at  the 
beginning  of  his  prilgrimage,  and  at  the  end  of  his  exile,  both  dreaming  at  Bethel 
and  waking  at  Mahanaim  (Gen.  xxviii.  12 ;  xxxii.  1,  2).  That  the  angels  of  the 
Lord  encamp  around  them  that  fear  him,  to  keep  them  in  all  their  ways,  seems  to  bo 
a  well-known  truth,  not  taught  as  any  thing  new,  but  comfortingly  alluded  to  as  a 
certain  fact  (Psa.  xxxiv.  8  ;  xci.  11).  The  Avatchers  around  the  lofty  throne  of  the 
Divine  Governor,  Avho  receive  and  execute  his  behests,  as  Nebuchadnezzar  saw  in  his 
dream  (Dan.  iv.  13-17),  are  not  merely  a  specimen  of  Chaldean  imagery,  incorporated 
in  Holy  AVrit,  but  are  akin  to  tliose  chariots  of  God  before  mentioned  (Psa.  Ixviii.  17). 
Micaiuh  the  son  of  Imlah  (1  Kings  xxii.  19),  sees  just  the  same  vision  of  the  Lonl 
on  his  tlirone,  surrounded  by  the  hosts  of  heaven,  that  Daniel  beheld  at  a  later  period 
(Dan.  vii.  10).  The  saints  in  Dan.  viii.  13  (Zech.  xiv.  5  compared  with  Deut.  xxxiii. 
2)  we  find  spoken  of  in  the  same  way  in  Psa.  Ixxxix.  5,  7  and  Job  xv.  15,  v.  1 ;  in 
which  last  place  we  have  a  very  significant  allusion  to  the  prohibited  invocation  of 
angels  as  being  idolati'ous  and  useless.  If  sometimes  these  angels  are  called  Elohim, 
or  children  of  God,  this  is,  according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  God-like  ;  this  is  intended 
to  express  their  exalted  dignity  as  the  ofRcial  representatives  of  God,  certainly  not  to 
attribute  to  them  a  share  in  the  divine  nature  or  independent  power.  Such  a  misun- 
derstanding as  this  is  guarded  against  by  the  name  most  generally  applied  to  them. 
Angels,  i.  e.,  messengers  and  ministers,  or  in  their  oldest  and  most  comprehensive 
designation,  God's  army,  God's  hosts  (Gen.  xxxii.  2 ;  Psa.  ciu.  20,  21  ;  c.xlviii.  2). 
And  even  God  the  Lord  adds  to  his  name  this  most  solemn  and  impressive  title  of 
Sabaolh,  in  other  words,  the  God  andGovernor  of  these  hosts  of  heaven.  Finally, 
we  have  the  definition  of  the  name  of  angel  given  to  us  in  Hob.  i.  14,  with  refereuco 
to  their  especial  work  as  messengers  from  heaven  to  earth. 

Now,  we  must  bo  careful  to  distinguish  between  these  commissioned  and  also 
created  spirits  and  tlio  angel  of  the  Lord,  whom  wo  find  in  the  Gld  Testament 
appearing  as  the  personal  manifestation  of  the  Triime  God,  the  God  of  God,  tlio 
visible  image  of  the  Invisible,  the  Ca])taln  of  the  Lord's  host  (Josh.  v.  14),  and  thus 
himself  tho  God  of  Sabaoth.  That  this  angel  of  the  Lord  is  no  created  angel, 
remains  an  incontrovertible  truth,  although,  strange  to  say,  even  behevers  luive 
sometimes  questioned  it.  To  insist  upon  the  word  angel  in  this  case,  overlooking  tlio 
divine  clement,  to  see  here  only  a  created  representative  of  the  Deity,  appears  to  mo 
unauthorized,  such  an  interpretation  entirely  doing  away  with  ho  partition-wall 
between  tho  created  and  the  Creator.  Again,  lleb.  i.  1,  2,  by  no  means  authorizes 
the  belief  held  by  some  that  God  did  not,  in  the  Old  Testament,  speak  by  his  Sou  aa 


INTRODUCTION.,  vii 

well  as  by  angels.  In  tlie  first  place,  he  can  speak  in  no  other  -way  than  through 
the  Eternal  Word  ;  and  next,  we  have  apostolic  expressions  like  those  in  John  xii.  41 
{his  gloi'y,  Christ's,  ver.  42) ;  and  1  Cor.  x.  4,  9,  which  prove  that  he  did.  From 
Gen.  xvi.  and  Job  down  to  Malachi,  we  find  scattered  throughout  the  whole  Old  Tes- 
tament isolated  yet  harmonizing  descriptions,  which,  at  once  in  their  mystery  and  their 
clearness,  testify  of  him  who  condescended  indeed  to  appear  in  the  form  of  an  angel, 
and  to  be  called  one,  yet  who  was  no  angel,  but  God  himself  sent,  proceeding  from 
God  concealed.  Let  the  following  passages  be  read  very  attentively :  Gen.  xvi.  13  ; 
xxii.  12  ;  Exod.  iii.  6,  7;  and  let  Exod.  xiii.  21  be  compared  with  xiv.  19;  xxiii.  21. 
Remark  also  how  the  prophet  Hosea  (xii.  5,  G)  names  Jehovah  the  God  of  Sabaoth, 
him  Vi^hom  we  find  (Gen.  xxxii.)  spoken  of  as  a  man  (ver.  24),  and  again  as  God  (ver. 
30) ;  how  in  Hosea  (xii.  5)  the  expression  is  the  (well-known,  so-called)  angel  (again, 
see  how  the  two  expressions  stand  side  by  side  in  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  IG ;  the  God  before 
whom  my  fathers  did  walk,  the  angel  avIio  redeemed  me  from  evil),  the  angel, 
namely,  in  whom  God's  name  is  (Exod.  xxiii.  21)  ;  the  angel  of  God's  presence  (Isa. 
Ixiii.  9),  t.  e.,  God's  own  presence  (Ex.  xxxiii.  14).  We  can  now  understand  the 
majestic  tone  in  which  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  speaks  on  the  occasion  of  his  very 
remarkable  appearance  recorded  in  Judges  ii.  1,  "I  made  you  to  go  up  out  of 
Egypt !  "  And  we  have  similar  instances  in  the  history  of  Gideon  and  Manoah,  as 
also  in  that  of  Elijah  (2  Kings  i.  3-15). 

The  Angel  of  the  Lord  referred  to  in  all  these  cases  is  spoken  of  in  Job  as  the 
mediating  angel  (in  the  English  Bible,  a  messenger,  an  interpreter)  who  has  found 
a  ransom.  Finally,  in  Mai.  iii.  1,  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  Angel  of  the  covenant,  one 
with  the  Lord  himself,  who  is  to  come  to  his  temple. 

Thus  the  sayings  of  this  Angel  of  the  Lord  have  no  place  in  our  present  book.  In 
many  passages  of  Scripture  it  seems  somewhat  doubtful  at  the  first  glance,  whether 
he,  or  a  created  angel  be  alluded  to,  but,  on  reflection,  the  context  or  parallel  pass- 
ages will  enable  us  to  decide,  as,  for  example,  in  Gen.  xxi.  17,  compared  with  xxxi. 
11,  13.  In  Numb,  xxii.,  let  especial  attention  be  paid  to  the  use  of  the  word  /,  in 
vers.  32,  33,  35. 

According  to  the  repeated  and  imvarying  testimony  of  Scripture,  numbers  of 
created  angels  are  busily  employed  in  the  affairs  of  humanity,  not  only  in  the  Hfetime 
of  our  Lord  (the  centre  of  the  history  of  salvation,  but  also  before  and  after ).  The 
Old  Testament  appears,  indeed,  in  a  special  manner  the  dispensation  of  angels,  as 
we  have  three  times  stated  in  Gal.  iii.  19  ;  Acts  vii.  53 ;  Heb.  ii.  2.  But  this  inter- 
vention of  theirs,  tliis  their  character  of  servants,  appointed  to  execute  the  diA-ine 
will  and  plans,  is  taught  us  alike  in  the  oldest  and  latest  of  the  sacred  writings  in 
their  own  characteristic  way ;  not,  indeed,  by  positive  doctrinal  statement,  so  much 
as  by  illustration  and  context.  Thus  we  learn  that  the  whole  of  nature  is  not 
merely  governed  by  natural  forces  and  laws,  but  that  the  immanent  Creator  acts 
upon  all  these  by  intermediate  agents.  It  is  in  this  especial  sense  that  these  spirits 
who  direct  the  course  of  nature,  receive  the  appellation  of  powers.  The  angel  at 
the  pool  of  Bethesda  is  no  myth,  for,  in  Rev.  xvi.  5,  we  have  the  positive  mention  of 
an  angel  of  the  water,  as  well  as  angels  of  the  wind  (vii.  1,  compared  with  ix.  14). 
Lastly,  in  Dan.  x.  18,  20,  21,  xii.  1,  we  read  of  other  angels  who  are  commissioned  to 
guide  the  affairs  of  individual  nations,  for  whom  they  light,  a  fact  which,  unintelli- 
gible as  it  is  to  us,  we  are  bound  to  receive  together  with  all  other  words  of 
inspiration  respecting  the  mysteries  of  God's  wonderfully  ordered  creation. 

That  in  this  great  world  of  spirits  there  should  be  degrees,  differences  of  rank,  as 
well  as  of  administration,  we  might  naturally  have  concluded,  even  if  the  Scriptures 
had  not  revealed  it,  not,  indeed,  by  laying  it  down  as  a  fact,  in  so  many  words,  but 
by  numerous  allusions  and  slight  touches,  which  it  isour  part  to  search  out  diligently, 
and  draw  our  own  inferences  from ;  but  yet  with  caution  and  humility,  lest  we 
intrude  into  those  things  that  we  have  not  seen  (Col.  ii.  18).  The  clearest  allusions 
that  we  find  are  the  passages  that  simply  enumerate  thrones,  principalities,  powers, 
dominions  (Eph.  i.  21;  iii.  10;  Col  i.  IG  ;  ii.  10;  of  authorities  and  powers,  1  Pet. 
iii.  22;  Dan.  iv.  32).  As  to  the  comparative  nature  and  rank  of  archangels  (1  Thess. 
iv.  16  ;  Jude_9),  and  that  of  the  seven  in  Rev.  viii.  2,  it  is  not  easy  to  decide,  though, 
with  respect  to  the  latter,  a  careful  comparing  Avith  Tob.  xii.  15,  may  teach  us  some 
respect  for  apocryphal  tradition.     Some  recent  commentators  have,  on  very  doubtful 


viii  INTKUDUCTiON. 

aiitliority,  soug-Kt  to  distinp^uish.  between  the  strong  angels  and  the  ministering'  angels 
(P.sa.  ciii.  20,  21),  as  though  they  were  two  separate  classes,  but  in  Psa.  Ixxviii.  '25 
(in  the  original),  all  angels  are  alike  designated  as  strong.  We  may  here  take 
Of'casion  to  protest  against  the  popular  error,  which  would  divide  the  whole  angelic 
Avorld  into  the  two  orders  of  cherubim  and  sera'phim,  for  which  there  is  no  authoi-ity 
in  Holy  Writ;  as  well  as  against  the  unworthy  idea  put  forth,  by  some,  that'  the 
cherubim  are  mere  creatures  of  the  imagination,  intended  to  convey  a  figurative 
impression  of  the  greatness  and  majesty  of  God.  We  hope  to  present  to  our  readers 
a  more  true  and  lofty  theory  than  this. 

Others  would  have  us  distinguish  between  angels  of  might  and  angela  of  know- 
ledge, but  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  lay  down  any  positive  line  of  demarcation 
between  these.  For  in  several  passages  we  find  that  a  knowledge  far  exceeding  the 
pi'esent  knowledge  or  wisdom  of  men,  is  attributed  to  all  angels  Avhatsoever  (2  Sam. 
xiv.  17,  20 ;  xix.  27 :  1  Sam.  xxix  9).  Indeed  this  had  become  an  expression 
proverbial  in  Israel,  and  we  find  it  confirmed,  Avhile  also  limited  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Our  Lord  himself  in  Matt.  xxiv.  36  ;  Mark  xiii.  32,  confirms  the  general 
pre-supposition  of  the  angels  in  heaven  having  a  widely  extended  knowledge,  yet 
adds  this  limitation,  tliat  they  do  not  know  the  day  nor  the  hour  of  judgment.  And 
again,  both  Paul  and  Peter  agree  in  giving  us  to  understand  that  the  angels,  holy 
and  wise  though  they  be,  have  not  so  deep  an  insight  into  the  mysteries  of  salvation 
as  those  children  of  men  whose  destiny  these  more  especially  concern  ;  that  the  less 
complex  existence  of  the  former  continually  finds  an  interest  in  watching  the  history 
of  the  Church  on  earth  ;  and  that  they  worshipped  before  the  throne  of  grace  w'ith 
something  of  an  unappeased  thirst  for  more  intimate  knowledge  (Eph.  iii.  10; 
1  Peter  i.  12).  Amongst  their  orders  there  is  very  possibly  an  ascending  scale  from 
those,  who  although  happy,  and  after  their  kind  perfect  spirits,  are  yet  simply  serving 
agencies  or  powers,  to  those  who  are  called  to  and  fitted  for  the  deepest  insight  and 
the  fullest  knowledge.  Thus  perhaps,  for  it  does  not  become  vis  to  speak  positively 
here,  the  four  living  creatures  whose  spirit  was  in  the  wheels  (Ezek.  i.),  really  denote 
four  primal  forces  of  created  life,  nature-spirits  in  creation,  free,  personal,  self-con- 
scious intermediate  agents,  to  whom  the  divine  power  was  delegated  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  material  Avorld.  If  so,  these  may  certainly  be  divided  into  angels  of 
grace  and  angels  of  truth,  of  mercy,  and  of  judgment ;  that  is,  they  may  be  viewed 
as  representatives  in  action  of  all  these  alike  (Psa.  Ixxxix.  15),  though  it  is  no  less 
true  that  angels  of  evil  (Psa.  Ixxviii.  49),  must  in  wrath  remember  mercy,  while,  on 
tlie  other  hand,  the  messengers  of  grace  and  peace  are  conversant  with  the  stern 
exercise  of  justice,  as  we  see  from  the  story  of  Mamre  and  Sodom. 

But  how  little  of  all  the  treasures  of  this  angelic  Avorld  is  revealed  in  Scripture 
history.  How  seldom,  it  we  consider  it  as  a  wlio!o,  have  Ave  any  details  afforded  us 
of  angel  nature  or  angel  Avork.  Hoav  few  angel  Avords  are  recorded.  We  are  told 
indeed  in  Liike  xv.  7,  10,  by  our  Lord  himself,  that  the  angels  rejoice  in  each  sinner's 
repentance,  feel  a  sympathizing  delight  in  the  recovery  of  every  single  human  soul: 
this  great  truth  flashes  out  in  these  words  ;  is  apparent  no  Avhere  else.  In  Matt. 
XA'iii.  10,  we  are  positively  told  that  the  children  of  Adam  have  guardian  angels 
specially  appointed,  but  in  no  other  passage  of  Scripture  have  we  any  further  allu- 
sion to  this  most  comforting,  most  edifying  mystery.  (For  Acts  xii.  15  is  to  be 
differently  understood.)  The  seor  of  Patmos  beheld  iudeod  the  prayers  of  the  saints 
being  presented  by  an  angel ;  but  Ave  only  once  road  elsewhere  of  this  interposition, 
in  Han.  ix.  23 ;  x.  12,  thougli  Ave  find  an  allusion  made  to  the  universal  belief  in  tho 
fact,  in  the  apocryphal  story  of  Tobit  (Tob.  xii,  12).  That  angels  have  their 
app:)inted  offices,  both  at  the  doatii  of  the  righteous  and  tho  ungodly,  avo  learn  from 
Luke  xvi.  22,  taken  in  connection  with  chap.  xii.  20,  Avhcro  tho  literal  meaning  is, 
"  tliey  shall  require  thy  soul  ;"  but  it  is  only  in  the  case  of  Herod  (Acts  xii.  23),  in 
that  of  the  Assyrian  host  (2  Kings  xix.  35),  in  tho  plagues  of  Egypt,  Exod.  xii.  23 
llleh.  xi.  28),  and  the  story  of  the  pestilence  in  Israel  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  10,  17),  that  wo 
read  expressly  of  their  being  the  exocutit)nors  of  the  divine  judgment.  And  it  is 
Jude  alone  Avho  gives  us  any  hint  of  tho  contention  of  Michael  AAdth  Satan  for  the 
bixly  of  Mo.ses. 

Again,  it  Avas  long  after  Mahanaim  that  the  cami)ing  of  the  heavenly  hosts,  under 
the  aspect  of  horses  and  chariots  of  lii-o,  was  oaco   more   revealed   to   one   of  tUo 


INTRODUCTION.  i^c 

young  men  of  the  prophets  (2  Kings  vi.  17).  It  is  only  in  Dan.  iii.  25,  that  the  son 
of  the  gods  shoAvs  himself  in  the  furnace  with  the  faithful  three,  to  which  cases  may 
be  addecl  the  two  instances  of  celestial  intervention  of  liberation  from  prison  by 
angelic  agency  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  What  a  reticence,  what  a  paucity  in 
Holy  Scripture  of  what  skepticism  would  ascribe  merely  to  human  imao-ination. 
Had  tlie  angels  indeed  been  mere  myths,  forms  originating  in  poetry  and  preserved 
by  tradition,  why  was  there  not  in  tlie  Bible  the  same  prominence  given  to  them  tliat 
we  find  in  apocryphal  literature  ;  for  example,  in  the  book  of  Tobit  and  the  fourth 
book  of  Ezra.  The  book  of  Tobit  is  full  of  beauty  and  significance,  but  the  episode 
of  the  angel  who  makes  journeys  here  and  there,  and  utters  lengthy  discourses,  at 
once  proves  its  apocryphal  origin.  In  our  OAvn  days,  when  fictitious  spirits  are  so 
singularly  garrulous,  we  cannot  lay  too  much  stress  upon  biblcal  reserve. 

And,  lastly,  when  Ave  consider  the  Avords  of  angels,  how  short  they  are,  how 
adapted  to  human  comprehension  in  their  simplicity,  and  yet  always  with  a  deeper 
meaning  concealed  beneath  the-primary  one.  Alas  !  commentators  for  the  most  part 
have  passed  over  these  very  words  lightly,  noticing  them  merely  as  angelic  Avords,  not 
pausing  to  Aveigh  their  inherent  value,  so  that  our  exposition  has  had  the  benefit  of 
very  little  previous  labor  in  this  department. 

Again,  all  the  accounts  given  of  the  appearance  of  angels,  are  characterized  by 
the  same  directness  and  simplicity.  It  is  only  in  the  matter  of  dreams  and  visions 
that  we  meet  Avith  apocalyptic  imagery;  as,  Jor  instance,. in  tJie  accounts  of  the 
seraphim  and  cherubim,  as  Avell  as  in  that  of  Jacob's  ladder ;  but  Avhere  angels  are 
introduced,  to  the  normal,  Avaking  consciousness  of  men,  Ave  do  not  find  that  they  are 
seen  flying  doAvn  from  heaven,  or  that  there  is  any  thing  marvellous  in  their  de'port- 
meut.  It  is  true  that  before  the  eyes  of  Manoah  and  his  wife,  the  angel  ascended  in 
the  "flame  of  tlie  altar,  but  then  this  was  the  uncreated  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  his 
doing  Avondrously  Avas  necessary  to  bring  about  tlieir  entire  conviction  of  the  truth 
of  his  message.  Compare  Avith  this  the  sublime  Christmas  celebration  recorded  in 
Luke  ii.  ;  the  beginning  in  ver.  9,  with  its  conclusion,  ver.  15.  Again,  Ave  usually 
read  of  a  man,  two  men,  of  a  young  man  (Mark  xvi.) ;  we  hear  nothing  of  AAdngs, 
or  of  flying,  or  of  any  of  the  adjuncts  by  which  the  imagination  of  artists  is  Avont  to 
mar  the  simple  Bible  narratives. 

If  it  be  inquired  Avhether  angels  have  a  corporeal  nature,  we  may  reply  that  it  is 
almost  certain  that  no  created  and  finite  being  (including  those  intelligences  that  in 
contradistinction  to  our  humanity  Ave  call  pitrely  spiritual)  can  exist  Avithout  some 
material  substance,  Avhich,  indeed,  is  the  condition  of  form,  and  form  is  implied  in 
the  words,  "their  own  habitation"  (see  Jude  6).  The  often  misunderstood  passage 
in  Psa.  civ.  4,  is  peculiarly  fraught  Avith  veiled  meaning.  In  the  first  place,  it  speaks 
of  actual  wind  and  flame  as  ministers  of  the  Lord ;  thus  illustrating  the  angelic 
poAver  and  swiftness,  and  also  mysteriously  conveying  by  these  types  some  idea  of 
the  higher  corporeal  nature  of  these  exalted  angelic  beings.  That  they  are  not 
created  out  of  tlie  dust,  like  the  children  of  Adam,  we  read,  moreover,  in  Job  iv.  18, 
19.  But  how  are  they  created  and  fornied  ?  Here  all  our  knoAvledge  is  at  fault ; 
only  there  are  two  hints  in  God's  word,  which  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  human 
shape,  as  the  form  of  forms,  the  original  type  of  the  rational  creation,  may  be  pecu- 
liar to  the  angels  also.  We  read  of  the  children  of  the  resurrection  being  made  like 
unto  the  angels,  Luke  xx.  36  ;  (Matt.  xxil.  30  ;  Mark  xii.  25),  and  this,  from  the 
nature  of  the  context,  eA'idently  refers  to  the  body;  while  Rev.  xxi.  17  harmonize* 
therewith,  it  beiig  there  said  of  "the  measure  of  a  man  (a  risen  glorified  man),  thpv 
is,  of  the  angel." 

It  is  also  noticeable  that  in  the  Old  Testament,  angels,  if  they  do  not  simply  reA-oal 
themselA'es  in  the  human  form,  have  a  fiery  appearance,  Avhile  in  the  New  Testament, 
on  the  contrary,  from  the  scene  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Saviour  (for  in  Luke  ii.  9 
there  is  a  verblal  difference  in  the  description)  they  appear  in  shining  raiment,  or  in 
bright  light  (Acts  xii.  7).  And  this  may  have  some  connection  with  the  reconciling 
of  all  things  through  Christ,  both  things  in  earth  and  things  in  heaven  (Ccl.  i.  20). 

That  angels  actually  spoke  to  men,  we  find  to  have  been  a  popular  belief  in 
Christ's  time,  recognized  in  John  xii.  29,  as  also  in  Acts  xxlii.  9,  with  AvhIch  we  may 
compare  1  Ivings  xlii.  18,  and  in  a  manner  Gal.  i.  8  as  Avell.  It  is  evident  that,  in 
order  to  have  been  understood  by  men,  they  must  necessarily  have  used   huinan 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

language,  and  not  spolcen  in  tlieir  own  peculiar  tongues,  wliicli  vro  find  alluded  to 
(1  Cor.  xiii.  1).  This  remark  applies  also  to  the  two  angelic  names,  translated  for 
our  comprehension  into  those  of  Gabriel  and  Michael,  to  which  the  Apocrypha  adds 
the  two  other  names,  formed  on  the  same  plan,  of  Eaphael  and  Uriel.  But,  once 
■more,  let  us  ask  where,  throughout  the  mythology  and  poetry  of  Taganism,  Judaism, 
or  Christendom,  we  find  any  thing  comparable  in  simplicity  and  dignity  to  the  Bible 
narratives  of  the  appearance  and  sayings  of  angels  ?  Poets  and  painters  have 
indeed  their  artistic  right  to  ideahzo  and  adorn,  but  they  ought  only  to  fill  up  the 
Bible  outline,  instead  of,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  altogether  departing  from  it. 

Our  purpose,  in  the  work  wo  now  lay  before  our  readers,  is  to  bring  to  light  the 
deep  meaning  which  we  believe  the  simplest  angelic  sayings  to  contain,  the  treasures 
that  lie  beneath  the  seeming  commonplace  surface.  In  order  to  do  this,  we  shall 
sometimes  have  to  rectify  the  common  version  of  the  sacred  text.  We  hope  thus  to 
be  able  to  present  the  collective  words  of  the  angels  under  a  neT^  aspect,  and  to 
afford  another  proof  that  the  Holy  Scriptures,  despite  the  variety  of  their  inspired 
■writers,  are  in  point  of  fact  one  organic  whole,  one  revelation. 


THE  WORDS  OF  THE  ANGELS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GaBBIEL's  AnN0U^;C£MENT  to  ZACnAHIAS. 

Luke   I. 

The  Lord  himself  is  about  to  come;  tlie 
Lord  of  eternal  glory  in  the  bosom  of  the  Fa- 
ther, before  the  fouiulalion  of  the  world,  is  to 
come  into  the  world,  clothed  in  the  flesh  of 
Adam's  fallen  race,  with  a  coming  essentially 
different  from  any  other  of  which  we  have 
hitherto  heard.  A  work  has  now  to  be  accom- 
plished wondrous  above  all  wonders ;  events 
are  to  take  place  whose  inexhaustible  interest 
will  forever  claim  and  repay  the  eternal  "  look- 
ing into  "  of  men  and  angels,  earth  and  heaven. 
What  marvel,  then,  that  those  heavenly  ser- 
vants, who  continuallv  wait  his  pleasure  (see 
how  the  Lord,  then  a  King  in  bonds,  speaks  of 
them,  John  xviii.  36),  should  make  themselves 
known  to  the  children  of  men  more  palpably, 
frequently,  intimately  than  heretofore  ?  There 
is  no  need  of  laborious  argument  or  elaborate 
proof  to  establish  this;  every  heart  susceptible 
of  the  impressions  adevotedstudentof  Scripture 
receives,  will  at  once  own  the  difTerence,  will 
recognize  and  feel  the  increased  tenderness  and 
dignity  combined,  which  the  heavenly  messen- 
gers henceforth  manifest  to  the  sons  of  men. 
Nor  is  it  possible  for  a  godly  simplicity  to  pro- 
test too  strongly  against  all  well-meaning  but 
unbecoming  criticism,  all  fanciful  interpreta- 
tion, that  may  detract  from  the  literal,  plain, 
but  profound  historical  character  of  the  narra- 
tive before  us.  It  is  not  with  shapes  projected 
by  the  inherent  force  of  the  human  intellect — 
art-creations  resulting  from  sense  experience — 
that  we  have  to  deal ;  nor  yet  is  it  with  images 
and  sounds  evoked  within  the  human  con- 
sciousness by  supernatural  influence,  and 
thrown  into  a  simple  historical  form,  that  the 
grand  history  of  salvation  opens.  It  is  with 
the  words  and  deeds  of  angels  themselves  ;  of 
separate  and  independent  beings,  in  a  marvel- 
lous and  miraculous  manner  no  doubt,  but  yet 
in  very  deed  and  truth  manifesting  themselves 
as  objective  realities  to  man.  As  the  human 
race  was  originally  created  to  carry  out  God's 
gracious  purpose  concerning  it,  against  the 
powers  of  a  fallen  spirit  world,  so  good  spirits, 
m  their  several  vocations,  were  appointed  to 
Borve  mankind  with  a  most  intimate  and  spe- 
cial interest.  And  to  the  Godman  was  from 
all  eu  rnity  ordained  Mediator  in  the  work  of 
salvation,  the  human  form  (as  it  was  in  its 
pristine  and  wi-H-  be  in  its  restored  ^lory)  is 


permanently  worthy  to  be  assumed  by  angeh 
when  they  appear  to  men;  nay,  more,  as  the 
original  and  typical  form  of  all  corporeity,  it  is 
in  all  probability  already  their  own,  or  will 
ultimately  become  so,  in  order  to  fit  them  for 
our  eternal  companionship. 

In  tlve  collective  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  we  only  find  the  appearance  of 
speaking  angels  recorded  thrice,  while  in  the 
Gospel  narrative  we  read  of  at  least  eight  dis- 
tinct angelic  addresses,  and  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  five.  The  birth  of  the  Saviour  is 
both  predicted  and  proclaimed;  his  first  jour- 
neys are  prescribed  ;  his  resurrection  and  his 
ascension  are  alike  declared.  During  the 
course  of  Christ's  ministry,  however,  we  have 
no  angelic  communications  made  to  us  ;  for 
although  the  Lord  asserts  that  a  constant  as- 
cending and  descending  of  angels  between  him 
and  the  opened  heaven  is  being  carried  on 
(John  i.  51),  and  we  feel  that  this  is  so 
throughout  the  heavenly  career  of  the  Son  of 
Man — since  we  hear  of  ministering  angels  in 
the  desert,  strengthening  angels  at  Gethsemane, 
and  are  well  entitled  to  imagine  how  angels 
watched  over  and  waited  on  his  childhood,  as 
it  silently  matured  into  the  consciousness  of 
his  divine  humanity — yet  of  all  this  increased 
and  exalted  angelic  intercourse  little  compara- 
tively is  directly  granted  to  man. 

Gabriel,  the  prince  who  had  already  once  ap- 
peared towards  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament, 
stands  out  foremost  as  annunciator  at  the 
beginning  of  the  New  ;  and  it  is  the  birth  of 
the  Forerunner  that  he  first  announces,  that, 
agreeably  to  the  order  of  nature,  the  dawn 
should  precede  the  sunrising.  The  pre-natal 
history  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  the  preparatory 
events  we  are  now  considering,  are  given  us 
with  greatest  minuteness  by  Luke,  whose  pur- 
pose it  was  to  set  all  things  in  order  from  the  be- 
ginning. His  Gospel,  addressed  toTheophilus, 
has  a  certain  private  character  about  it,  and 
brings  out  many  details  passed  over  by  the 
first  public  witnesses  to  Christ.  And  how  self- 
evidencing,  how  unparalleled  by  the  most  cun- 
ningly-devisetl  fables  (2  Pet.  i.  16)  of  man,  la 
the'historical  truth  of  the  record.  We  adopt 
the  words  of  Pfenninger  :  "  How  solemnly,  how 
divinely,  the  holy  drama  of  a  new  iwelation 
opens.  An  angel  from  heaven,  a  mau  on  earth 
— these  are  invariably  the  two  chief  characters 
in  the  sacred  story;  heaven  acting  uponeanh, 
man  brought  into  contact  with  the  beings 
of  the  invisible  world.  On  one  hand,  an 
Israelite,  one  ol  the  peculiar  people  to  whom 
the  pioiuises  belong;    more,  one  of  its  priests 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  ZACHAPJAS, 


appointpfl  lo  pload  for  God  to  man,  and  for 
mun  to  God  ;  ohr  specially  chosen  out  of  the 
chosen  nation.  On  the  other,  '  I,  Gabriel,  that 
stand  before  the  presence  of  God.'  The  scene 
is  tlie  most  sacred  spot  of  the  whole  earth,  of 
the  Land  of  Promise,  of  the  city  of  the  Great 
Kin,2;,  namely,  the  sanctuary  of  God's  house; 
and  here,  in  the  most  holy  retirement,  an  an- 
nouncement is  made,  a  dialogue  held  between 
the  two,  by  the  altar  of  incense — type  of  the 
worship  of  the  saints— in  the  hour  of  public 
prayer,  while  Israel  is  imploring  the  blessing 
of  Jehovah.  Could  the  opening  of  the  divine 
New-Testament  drama  be  more  solemn,  more 
appropriate,  more  Israelitish,  more  sacred, 
either  as  regards  person,  place,  time,  or  ac- 
tion?" 

Zacharias  is  the  representative  of  the  priest- 
hood of  Israel  as  Simeon  of  its  prophets.  No 
priest  could  be  found  mor6  worthy  to  receive 
the  earliest  message.  The  marvellously  late 
birth  of  the  forerunner  serves  as  a  transition 
to  the  miraculous  birth  of  the  Son  of  God  ; 
sn-ves  as  a  sign  to  confirm  the  faith  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mother  (ver.  So).  The  pious  sacredotal 
pair  unconsciously  prophecy  by  the  very  names 
they  bear:  Zacharias,  i.  e.,  the  Lord  remem- 
lers,  happily  combines  with  Elizabeth  (or 
Elisheba,  as  in  Exodns  vi.  23,  the  wife  of  Aaron, 
the  ancestress  of  the  whole  priesthood),  i.  e., 
God  of  the  oath,  the  covenant.  In  both  the 
songs  of  praise  contained  in  this  opening  chap- 
ter, we  may  observe  the  allusion  made  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  these  two  names. 

It  is  probable  that  this  first  appearance  took 
place  at  the  time  of  the  evening  sacrifice,  for  it 
was  at  that  hour,  five  hundred  years  before, 
that  the  same  Gabriel  announced  ifrom  afar  the 
coming  of  Messiah  to  Daniel  the  prophet.  At 
all  events,  commentators  have  no  ground  for 
supposing  that  on  account  of  the  sudden  dumb- 
ness of  Zacharias,  the  people  waiting  without 
were  deprived  of  the  priestly  benediction,  for 
it  is  highly  probable  that  this  was  bestowed 
only  in  the  morning.*  Otherwise  Luke  would 
surely  have,  alluded  to  this  benediction,  where- 
as he  gives  us  to  understand  that  the  priest's 
speechl'.-ssness  only  prevented  his  explaining 
the  reason  of  the  long  tarrying  in  the  temple 
that  had  surprised  the  people.  Again,  whellicr 
it  were  morning  or  evening,  surely  the  omis- 
sion of  the  blessing  would  have  been  peculiarly 
inappropriate  at  such  a  juncture,  so  that  every- 
thing leads  us  to  assume  both  that  the  an- 
nouncement was  made  in  the  evening,  and  that 
it  was  not  customary  then  to  bestow  it.  '  The 
offering  of  incense  was  the  symbol  that  accom- 
panied prayer,  so  that  it  was  in  the  sacred 
exercise  of  his  regular  official  duties,  not  in 
sleep,  in  a  dream,  or  ecstatic  trance,  but  with 
mind  upraised  to  God,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
colIw;led  and  calm,  that  Zacharias  saw  and 
heard  the  angel.     Tiiere  aj)peared  to  him  an 


48. 


?e  Lunds  Jcwisli  S  .nctuaiie.s,  DuoL  iii.  cha; 


angel  of  the  Lord  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  altar  of  incense. 

This  very  first  fact  already  promises  "  good 
tidings,"  with  whiih  expression  the  angel's 
second  address  closes  (ver.  19).  His  first  (vers. 
13-17)  begins  with  these  words,  so  frequenily 
made  use  of  in  the  Old  Testament,  "  Fear  no/,," 
words  that  here,  on  the  very  threshold  of  the 
New,  obtain  even  stronger  significance.  For 
even  the  pious  Zacharias  was  alraid,  when, 
through  the  cloud  of  incense  he  saw  the  majts- 
tic  form,  and  at  once  knew  that  it  was  no  man 
who  stood  there,  but  an  angel  of  the  Lord. 

And  now,  let  us  consider  the  exquisite  con- 
nection of  the  whole,  the  gradually  attained 
climax  of  the  divine  message  from  the  lips  of 
the  angel  from  before  the  throne.*  The  messen- 
ger of  joy  begins  with  the  mention  of  the  ac- 
cepted prayer,  promises  a  son,  gives  him  a  high 
name,  foretells  for  him  a  distinguished  otiice. 
But  the  greatest  tidings  are  yet  to  come  :  the 
longed-for  coming  of  the  Messiah,  whose  fore- 
runner this  child  is  to  be.  Again  we  quote 
Pfenninger:  "How  tenderly  inter\y,oven,  hovr 
intimately  connected  the  divine  with  the  human 
story.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  perfections  of  a 
drama  that  all  its  occurrences  should  essen- 
tially hang  together  ;  that  none  of  them  should 
appear  extraneous  or  isolated  ;  and  where  are 
these  conditions  better  observed  than  in  the 
divine  narratives  of  Holy  Writ?  Tlie  grand- 
est, divinest  story  in  the  world  blends  at  its 
first  most  human  commencement,  with  the 
human  heart  history  of  a  childless  wedded 
1  pair,  who  pray  to  God  for  a  son."  This  is  cer- 
1  tainly  true,  although  the  prayer  here  alluded 
I  to  can  hardly  have  been  confined  to  such  a 
petition.  The  heavenly  message,  however  ret- 
respectively,  includes  former  prayers,  and  has 
three  separate  clauses — first,  the  birth  of  a  son 
to  Zacharias;  last,  the  coining  of  the  Lord 
himself;  and  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
two,  the  announcement  that  this  soa  shall 
make  ready  the  way  of  this  very  Lord. 

"  Fdiir  not,  Z-tcharias ;  for  thy  frar/er  i$ 
heard;  and  Ih'j  xoife  EUziihelh  shall  hear  thee  a 
son,  and  thou  shtU  call  his  name  John."  It  was 
thus  that  the  message  to  Cornelius  the  cen- 
turion began  with  the  same  mention  of  jirayer 
heard  (Acts  x.  31)  ;  and  the  passage  in  Daniel 
(ix.  22,  23)  leads  us  to  associate  this  with 
angelic  interposition.  But  those  vvho  imagine 
that  the  prayer  of  Zacharias  here  alluded  to 
had  reference  only  to  the  birth  of  a  son,  are 
probably  mistaken.  We  are  inclined  rather  to 
conclude,  from  the  doubting  expression  em- 
ployed in  verse  IS,  that  this  wish  was  well- 
nigh  given  up  in  his  old  age.  Just  as  the 
Gent.le,  in  the  midst  of  his  God-fearing  and 
righteous  career,  prayed  earnestly  for  peace  of 
conscience  and  forgiveness  of  sins,  so  now,  in 
the  holy  place,  the  priest  of  Israel,  in  his  charac- 

*  Josephus  relates  a  snp'^rnntiir.il  v'sifatx^n 
male  to  tlie  lii^hjir  e.sf,.Jo!in  Ilyroaiuis,  <lur."n2  ths 
tiir.'iinD;  up  of  incense;  bui,  it  was  only  a  vo.c  •, 
nut  a  vijiun. 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  ZACHARIAS. 


ter  of  intercessor  for  the  people  prayed  for  the 
coming  of  the  promised  Deliverer,  and  he  would 
hardly  have  mingled  his  own  private  petition 
wiih  this  exercise  of  his  priestly  otBce.  If  it 
found  any  place  in  his  heart  at  such  a  time,  it 
could  only  have  been  in  some  form  like  this  : 
"  Oh,  if  my  sigh  might  rise  like  this  incense,  a 
perfume  acceptable  to  the  Lord,  and  that  he 
would  come  down  to  visit  his  people,  how 
gladly  would  I  give  up  all  other  wishes  of  my 
own!"  Neverthf-less  the  overflow,  of  the 
divine  grace  grants  his  former  and  sulDordinat- 
ed  private  desire  as  well  ;  nay,  gives  it  the 
first  place  on  the  list  of  blessings  implored  by 
and  granted  to  the  priest's  prayer.  This  pro- 
mised son  is  added  to  a  series  whose  birth 
lias  already  been  miraculously  foretold — Isaac, 
Samson,  Samuel.  The  significant  names  of 
both  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  his  wife  are 
mentioned  by  the  angel,  to  point  out  the  rich 
fulfillment  of  their  prophetic  meaning,  but 
the  appointed  name  of  this  promised  son  trans- 
cends theirs.  An  era  of  new  and  fuller  grace 
begins  wilh  him.  Later,  the  name  receives  its 
special  explanation,  in  that  the  stern  preacher 
of  repentance  is  found  only  to  lead  from  grace 
to  grace.  John  is  the  last  but  one  of  the  seven 
names  given  by  God  in  Holy  Scripture  to  those 
still  unborn,  and  the  seventh  name  is  Jesus* 

"And  he  (this  John)  sliall  he  ^oy  and  glad- 
ness to  thee  ;  and  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birth. 
For  he  shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 
shall  drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink  ;  and  he 
shall  he  filled  with  the  Holy  Glwst  even  from  his 
mother's  womb."  We  at  once  see  in  this  pass- 
ag*^,  taken  in  connection  with  verses  16,  17,  the 
difference  between  the  limited  and  immediate 
character  of  the  angelic  message,  and  that  of  a 
broad  prophetic  announcement  embracing  and 
expressing  the  whole  future  consequences  of 
the  event.  Such  a  prophecy  of  the  person  and 
ofTices  of  the  Baptist  could  not  have  spoken 
only  of  joy  and  success  ;  it  must  needs  have 
dwelt  upon  the  fruitlessness  of  his  mission  to 
the  majority,  and  his  own  cruel  death  ;  while 
the  angel,  on  the  contrary,  was  appointed  to 
deliver,  in  the  first  instance,  only  glad  tidings, 
to  announce  the  purpose,  and  means  employed 
by  the  grace  of  God.  In  the  same  manner, 
this  very  Gabriel  speaks  on  a  later  occasion  to 
Mary,  only  of  the  person  and  the  kingdom  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  ;  he  says  nothing  of  the  cross, 
or  the  world  at  large.  And  yet  it  remains  not 
the  less  true, nor  less  exactly  fulfilled,  that  not 
only  father,  mother,  friends,  and  neighbors  did 
'rejoice  over  John  (ver.  5S),  but  many,  who 
recognized  his  prophetic  character,  and,  in  a 
measure,  the  whole  nation,  although,  alas  I  it 
was  willing  only  "  for  a  season  to  rejoice  in  his 
light"  (John  V.  35),  instead  of  being  perma- 
nently kindled  by  his  Elias-like  zeal.  Truly  he 
was  and  is  great  as  the  last  and  greatest  pro- 
phet (]\Iatt.  xi.  11),  only  not  great  in  a  worldly 
eense  (as,  for  example,  was  Herod).     No  ;  we 


*  Ishmiel,  I^anc.  Solomon,  Josiah  (I  Kiiiss  xiii. 
i),  Cyrus  (Isaiah  xiiv,  28  ;  xlv.  1),  John,  Jesus. 


have  a  hint  given  us  of  an  ofTice  and  a  Vmc'. 
dom  of  quite  another  character.  He  was  great 
before  the  Lord.  The  word  thus  taken  by  t  ho 
sagacious  priest,  not  in  its  literal  sense,  but 
fraught  with  mysterious  import,  would  recall 
the  men  of  faiih  and  spiritual  power  of  Is- 
rael's good  old  times,  more  especially  the 
wondrous  champion  Samson  (Judges  xiii),  a 
rude  type,  finding  an  honorable  antitype  here; 
for  this  child  too  is  to  be  vowed  and  dedicated 
to  God.  Although  the  angel  makes  special 
allusion  to  Judges  xiii.  4,  5  •"  yet  in  his  subse- 
quent hymn  of  praise,  Zacharias  shows  that  he 
had  clear  insight  enough  not  to  look  for  a 
temporal  deliverer  from  the  Roman  yoke  after 
the  lashion  of  Samson  or  Gideon  (vers.  77-79). 
It  was  as  the  most  severe  upholder  and  preacher 
of  the  law  at  the  close  of  the  Old  Covenant, 
whose  office  it  was  to  prepare  the  people  by 
repentance  for  the  grace  of  the  New,  that  John 
received  a  life-long  consecration  to  God,  the 
"separation  of  a  Nazarite"  (Numb.  iv). 
Wine  and  other  strong  drinks  are  here  placed, 
as  in  Eph.  v.  18,  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of 
which  this  strenuously  active  servant  of  the 
Lord  was  to  be  full :  not,  indeed,  that  "  Holy 
Spirit"  with  which  only  a  mightier  than  John 
had  power  to  baptize,  but  an  abundant  mea- 
sure of  what,  up  to  this  time,  had  been  called, 
and  actually  was,  a  holy  spirit  in  the  men  of 
God. 

"And  many  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  he 
turn  to  the  Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go  be- 
fu,e  him  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  turn 
the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the 
diso'iedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just ;  to  make 
ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord."  Not  only, 
as  before  stated,  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birtii, 
but,  still  further,  still  better,  many  shall  be 
really  converted  by  him,  turned  back  from  the 
apostacyso  deeply  felt  and  lamented  by  Zacha- 
rias and  all  pious  souls.  It  is  not  indeed  said 
that  he  should  turn  all  the  children  of  Israel, 
convert  the  whole  nation;  and  this  limitation 
of  the  promise  may  have  occasioned  some 
anxiety  on  after  reflection.  But  at  first,  at 
least,  it  sounded  full  of  comfort,  as  when  in  a 
shipwreck,  or  the  falling  in  of  a  bridge,  out  of 
the  multitude  destroyed,  a  certain  number, 
thankfully  designated  as  many,  are  known  to 
be  saved.  It  is  true,  that  taken  on  a  great 
scale,  as  regards  the  result  which  Gabriel  goes 
on  more  precisely  to  indicate  as  the  end  and 
aim  of  his  office,  the  Baptist's  labor  was  vain; 
but,  neverthele.ss,  a  considerable  number — per- 
haps, with  a  few  exceptions,  all  those  who  were 
struck  by  the  first  apostolic  sermon  and  who 
joined  themselves  to  the  Church — had  been 
prepared  by  John.  Nay,  more,  there  was  a 
beginning  of  conversion  in  the  multitudes  who 
listened  to  his  doctrine  of  repentance,  only 
that  they,  alas  I  were  not  steadlast  in  their  re- 
solve to  turn  to  the  Lord  their  God.  AH  thia 
is  in  a  manner  implied  in  the  indefinite  sen- 
tence which  soon  passes  on  from  the  result  to 
the  character  of  the  Baptist's  office.  He  will 
begin  to  point  many  back  to  God,  for  his  mis- 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  ZACHAPJAS. 


aion  is  to  prepare  aU  the  people  of  Israel  (or, 
at  least,  out  of  them  a  people  of  the  Lord)  lor 
the  coining  Messiah,  whose  forerunner  he  is. 

We  notice  an  especial  emphasis  laid  in  the 
original  upon  the  word  he.  He,  thy  son,  it  is 
of  wiiom  the  prophet  writes  at  the  clo'^c  of  the 
OM  Testament,  that  he  is  to  come  as  tor.^runner 
before  the  coining  of  the  Lord.  We  m&.y  ques- 
tion whether,  before  the  time  of  the  l>aptist, 
any  one  had  attached  so  special  a  meaning  to 
tlie  more  general  expression  in  Isaiah  xl.  3  ; 
but  this  positive  declaration  of  Malachi's  was 
well  known  to  Zacharias  and  to  all  doctors  of 
the  law.  And,  therefore,  it  is  with  this  pro- 
phecy of  the  last  prophet,  that  the  annunciator 
at  once  connects  his  own  declaration,  not  only 
lor  the  sake  of  "  clothing  it  in  a  familiar  and 
intelligible  form  of  speech,"  as  Olshausen  has 
it,  but  because  for  the  angel  himself,  who  has 
for  centuries  attentively  watched  God's  ways 
and  words  with  regard  to  Israel  and  humanity 
at  large,  there  attaches  now  that,  after  so  long 
a  pause,  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  draws 
near,  a  deeper  solemnity  to  the  last  word 
spoken  for  four  hundred  years.  Accordingly, 
he  does  not  dwell  on  the  still  more  known,  or, 
at  least,  clearer  expression  in  Mai.  iii.  1,  but 
merely  glances  passingly  at  it,  to  combine  it 
■with  the  very  last  prophetic  utterance.  And 
thus  he,  as  the  first  commentator  on  the  pass- 
age, teaches  what  at  that  time  can  hardly  have 
been  clear  to  any,  that  the  messenger  or  anrrel 
preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord,  himself  the 
Angel  ol  the  Covenant,  is  at  the  same  time  the 
Elias,  that  is  to  say,  is  a  type  of  the  latest  and 
proper  fulfiller  of  the  prophecy.  And  he  shall 
go  he/ore  J  Ini.  Here  we  have  a  most  important 
testimony  borne  on  the  very  threshold  of  the 
New  Testament,  by  the  archangel's  lips,  to  the 
Godhead  of  the  Saviour  about  to  cohie  in  the 
form  of  man,  for  the  pronoun  expressly  relates 
to  the  foregoing  words— the  Dml  their  God. 

Again  it  is  before  Ilnn  whom  thou  hast  so 
anxiously  expected,  for  whose  coming  thou 
hast  prayed  ;  and  we  see  clearly  in  vers.  76,  77, 
how  Zacharias  on  farther  reflection,  and  still 
more  by  the  relation  of  the  Spirit,  understood 
this  going  before  the  face  of  the  Lord.  Indeed, 
it  was  already  openly  stated  to  Malachi  that 
the  Lord  himself  was  to  come  to  his  temple,  in 
the  person  of  the  desired  Messenger  of  the 
Covenant.  Before  him  John  is  to  go,  as  (we 
use  Augustine's  words)  "  the  voice  before  the 
Word,  the  light  before  the  Sun,  the  herald 
before  the  Judge,  the  servant  before  the  Lord, 
the  friend  before  the  Bridegroom."  This  going 
before  implies  preparation.  In  tfte  ffjurU 
and  power  of  Elia^,  the  great  reformer,  great 
rocaller  of  Israel  to  God  ;  thus  Gabriel  solves 
the  question  put  by  the  disciples  to  Jesus 
alter  the  transfiguration  (Malt.  xvii.  10) 
111  the  same  way  that  it  was  then  answered 
by  our  Lor.l.  The  actual  Elias,  the  prophet 
literally  s-poken  of  in  Malachi,  will  doubtless 
come  in  his  time,  beiore  the  second  advent; 
meanwhile  he  is  already  typically  come  in 
John,  to  whom  was  i^raultd  the  same  spirit  of 


power  in  his  own  days  formerly  exercised  by 
the  Tishbite  in  his. 

The  passage  that  follows — "to  turnthehearts 
of  the  fathers  to  the  children" — taken  word 
for  word  from  one  clause  of  the  prophetic  text, 
and  sup[>lemented  by  a  new  explanatory  sen- 
j  tence,  is  at  first  sight  rather  more  ambiguous, 
and  consequently  often  misunderstood.  For 
instance,  Meyer's  note  is  plainly  inadequate, 
giving  as  the  direct  meaning,  "  the  old  shall  be 
converted  to  childish  innocence  (Matt,  xviii. 
3),  and  to  faith  in  the  New  Covenant,  the 
childishly  frivolous  and  perverse  to  the  wisdom 
of  age."  Again  we  find  it  rendered  in  Berlen- 
hurff's  Bihel':  "  Tlie  children  shall  consider 
their  parents,  and  the  parents  their  children, 
and  both  shall  feel  that  they  must  be  mutually 
converted."  This  only  amounts  to  saying  that 
John  was  to  bring  both  old  and  young  to  re- 
pentance, to  make  ready  the  righteous  and  un- 
righteous, men  of  every  stamp,  in  short,  for  the 
Lord. 

One  of  our  latest  commentators.  Van  Ooster- 
zee,  gives  the  passage  a  more  special  meaning  : 
"  Owing  to  the  moral  degradation  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  sense  of  filial  dnty  had  grown  cold  in 
many  hearts  ;  when  the  forerunner  should  lift 
up  his  voic3,  the  ties  of  family  love  would  be 
drawn  closer."  If  this  were  so,  we  might  ex- 
pect to  find  the  turning  of  the  heart  of  the 
children  to  their  fathers  mentioned,  as  it  is  in 
Malachi,  and,  accordingly,  another  commenta- 
tor suggests,  on  the  other  hand  :  "  The  love  of 
parents  to  children  which  in  this  corrupt  time 
was  nearly  extinct,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of 
Herod,  would  be  reawakened  by  the  Baptist, 
and  thus  family  peace  restored  would  form  a 
foundation  for  the  fear  of  God."  But  what 
reason  have  we  for  believing  that  tlie  solitary 
of  the  desert  had  special  reference  in  his  preach- 
ing to  family  alTection  and  domestic  ties?  On 
the  contrary,  he  seems  to  ad<lres3  those  who 
come  to  him  in  a  strictly  individual  manner, 
each  one  for  himself.  We  do  not  see  any  con- 
gruity  in  such  a  theory,  but  the  chief  objection 
is  this  :  such  is  not  the  meaning  of  the  pro- 
phetic text  in  the  Old  Testament — the  neglect 
of  which  has  led  the  latest  commentators  astray 
here  as  elsewhere. 

What,  then,  do  we  read  in  the  prophet? 
We  must  keep  this  in  view,  for  the  funda- 
mental iilea  must  be  the  same  in_  both  pass- 
ages. 

It  is  true  that  the  Septuagint  does  afford  a 
ground  for  this  recent  interpretation,  but  this 
is  by  an  evident  departure  from  the  Hebrew  " 
text  and  context.  A  mere  restoration  of  family 
ties,  a  reconciliation  brought  about  between 
fathers  and  children  cannot  possibly  be  the 
meaning  of  the  profound  far-reaching  prophecy 
(one  only  to  be  entirely  fulfilled  at  the  second 
advent)  with  which  the  Old  Testament  con- 
cludes; such  a  meaning  were  far  too  special, 
too  weak  and  insignificant  altogether.  Al- 
though it  is  strikingly  put,  that  the  children 
and  the  parents  must  be  turned  to  each  other, 
yet  the  turning  of  them  both  to  the  Lord  theu 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  ZACHAPJA5 


God  (as  Gabriel  had  previously  said)  must  be 
the  principal  thing  implied  in  "this.  The  solu- 
tion of  the  difBculty  is  to  be  found  in  a  passage 
of  Scripture,  to  which  the  prophet  ]\Ia]achi  un- 
doubtedly refers,  when  he  foretells  the  return  of 
Elijah,  in  whose  history  that  passage  occurs. 
That  prophet  prayed  on  Carme),  as  we  read  in 
the  literal  translation  of  1  Kings  xviii.  37, 
"  Hear  me,  0  Lord,  that  this  people  may  know 
that  thou.  Lord,  art  God,  and  that  thou  turn- 
est  their  heart  back  again."  Here  we  have  the 
original  passage,  agreeably  to  which  the  ex- 
pression of  Malachi  is  to  be  understood. 
Malachi  has  previously  spoken  of  the  fathers 
in  the  sense  oiforefatliers  (lii.  7  and  ii.  10),  and 
evidently  this  is  his  meaning  still.  Thus  the 
leading  idea,  the  one  fundamental  sense,  which 
aome  have  erroneously  introduced  as  a  mere 
adjunct,  is  really  this  :  "The  unbelieving  de- 
scendants are  to  be  turned  back  to  the  Messianic 
faith  of  iixQW  forefathers,  so  that  the  latter  may 
be  at  one  with  them."  We  have  seen  that  the 
emphasis  is  primarily  laid  upon  the  heart  or 
the  sympathies  of  the  pious  fathers  being 
being  brought  back  to  their  descendants,  and 
this  is  because  the  heart  of  the  children  has 
already  been  turned  to  that  of  the  fathers. 
Thus  the  ancient  and  modern  spirit  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  will  once  more  be  reconciled  and 
reunited,  because  the  believing  fathers  will  again 
acknowledge  and  incline  to  the  once  apostate 
but  now  restored  children.  This  had  been 
formerly  tolerably  well  expressed  by  Jahn  : 
"  The  Baptist  was  to  make  the  last  attempt  to 
bring  about  a  resemblance  between  the  Jews 
and  their  ancestors,"  or  in  other  words,  as  a 
reformer  in  the  original  meaning  of  the  word, 
he  was  to  restore  and  re-establish  a  people  of 
Israel. 

Thus  Gabriel  begins  in  the  words  of  Malachi, 
but  he  goes  on  to  make  a  new  and  explanatory 
addition  to  the  passage.  With  the  believing 
fathers,  whom  the  prophet  had  in  view,  the 
angel  contrasts  the  unbelieving*  namely,  their 
children,  their  descendants  of  the  present  day  ; 
and  because  unbelief  is  essentially  folly,  they 
are,  he  declares,  to  be  converted,  turned, 
brought  back  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just. 

And  here  we  may  observe  that  the  word  J!«^ 
is  used  as  a  comprehensive  term  for  such  as  are 
justified  by  laith.  He  only  is  wise  who  seeks 
and  finds  righteousness  through  faith  ;  such 
wisdom  is  in  itself  righteousness,  while  the  un- 
believing are  at  the  same  time  the  disobedient, 
the  rebellious,  this  being  also  included  in  the 
Greek  word.  That  Zacharias  perfectly  under- 
stood this  is  proved  by  his  eloquent  song  of 
praise,  the  conclusion  of  which  resembles  that  of 
the  angel's  first  announcement.  Knowledge  of 
salvation  (the  true  wisdom)  receives,  in  the 
first  place,  i'orgiveness  of  sins  from  God's 
mercy,  then  guides  the  feet  into  the  way  of 
peace.  Both  together  constitute  righteousness. 
Had  Israel  been  willing  to  receive  andacknow- 


*  lu  our   Eu^IisU    version    the  word   is    dis 
olidicnt. 


ledge  that  this  was  the  true  salvation,  the  real 
deliverance,  then  had  it  been  indeed  a  people 
prepared  for  the  Lord,  for  the  visit  of  the  Day- 
spring  from  on  high.  Then  would  salvation 
have  soon  extended  from  this  elect,  this  earliest 
prepared  nation,  to  them  that  still  sat  in  dark- 
ness, and  in  the  shadow  of  death.  This  was  God's 
purpose,  God's  offer  to  them,  it  was  for  this 
that  John  came  and  labored.  And  that  this 
was  not  to  happen,  formed  no  part  of  the  glad 
message  the  angel  had  to  unfold  ;  it  was  only 
necessary  that  he  should  carefully  guard 
against  saying  (as  we  have  already  pointed 
out  in  commenting  on  ver.  16)  that  John  was 
to  convert  the  whole  people.  Preparation  for 
the  Lord,  that  is  his  last  word.  The  message 
has  two  prominent  clauses.  The  one  about  to 
be  born  to  thee,  is  ordained  thus  to  prepare  the 
people.  And  a  people  is  to  be  so  prepared  by 
him. 

It  would  have  been  neither  human  nor  na- 
tural in  Zacharias  to  forget  the  first  clause  of, 
the  angelic  message,  that  which  most  nearly 
concerned  himself  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
Messiah's  coming,  "  Thy  wife  Elizabeth  shall 
bear  thee  a  son  ! "  These  glad  words  must 
have  echoed  throughout  all  that  was  subse- 
quently said.  Accordingly,  he  puts  a  question 
that  others  had  put  before  him,  "  Whereby 
shall  I^know  this?"  Even  Abraham  (Gen. 
XV.  8)  had  used  these  very  words.  Only  we 
find  it  written  in  a  former  verse  that  Abraham 
believed  God.  Therefore  there  must  have  been 
a  difference  between  the  words  as  used  by  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  who  considered  no't  his 
own  body  then  dead,  neither  the  deadness  of 
Sarah's  womb  (Rom.  iv.  19),  and  by  the  weak- 
ly believing,  nay,  the  unbelieving'  Zacharias, 
who  goes  on  expressly  to  oppose  the  angel's 
declaration,  with  the  fact  that  he  is  old,  and 
his  wife  well  stricken  in  years,  i.  e.,  past  the 
time  of  child-bearing.  Mary's  question,  on 
the  contrary,  "  How  shall  this  be  ?  "  implies 
no  unbelief,  and  requires  no  sign. 

In  his  answer  and  second  address,  the  angel 
first  reiterates  the  assurance,  nay,  even  en- 
hances its  value,  and  then  proceeds  to  inflict 
the  punishment  of  unbelief  by  the  very  sign 
given. 

"  /  am  Gabriel,  that  stand  in  the  presence  of 
Ood ;  and  am  sent  to  speak  unto  thee,  and  to 
bring  thee  glad  tidings."  He  who  introduces 
himself  in  this  majestic  manner,  as  one  stand- 
ing before  God,  is  a  real  objective  being.  We 
are  not  to  believe  with  Lange,  for  instance,  in 
"  an  ecstatic  trance,  in  which  the  creative 
energy  of  God's  mighty  grace  assumed  the  form 
of  an  angel  to  both  these  elect  spirits  "  (Zacha- 
rias and  Mary),  and  thus  give  the  name  of 
Gabriel  to  what  had  only  a  subjective  reality. 
Such  interpretations  as  these  must  be  repelled 
as  diametrically  opposed  to  the  simple  Biblical 
truth.  This  actually  existing  angelic  being — • 
servant  before  the  throne,  whose  name  was  not 
only  familiar  to  the  priest,  but  to  Mary,  and 
indeed  to  all  Israel — now  proceeds  to  remind 
the   doubting    Zacharias  of  the   prophecy  in 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  MAHY. 


Daniel,  as  he  had  before  done  of  that  of  Mala- 
chi.  In  the  days  of  Herod  (ver.  5)  all  those 
■who  waited  for  salvation  in  Israel  were  under 
the  impression  that  the  time  was  drawing 
rear.  Thus  we  see  Zacharias  had  no  objection 
to  offer  when  the  coming  of  the  E,edeemer  was 
announced  to  him  ;  it  was  only  the  birth  of  a 
son  in  his  old  age  which  was  a  stumbling-block 
to  his  faith.  But  both  were  intimately  con- 
nected, as  he  had  before  heard  ;  therefore  Ga- 
briel, ratifying  both  at  once,  simply  says,  "  I, 
Gabriel,  am  sent  to  speak  with  thee ;  hast  thou, 
then,  not  heard  and  understood  me?  These 
are  the  glad  tidings  I  have  to  bring  thee;  wilt 
thou  reluse  to  believe  them  on  account  of  their 
very  gladness  ?  " 

"  And,  behold,  thou  shall  le  silent,  and  not  able 
to  speak,  until  tlie  day  that  Uiese  things  shall  he 
^performed,  because  tliou  believest  not  my  woi'ds, 
wliirh  sJiidl  be  fid  filled  in  their  sf.ason."  Silent, 
not  able  to  speak ;  this  sign,  given  in  answer 
to  Zacharias'  desire  for  one,  is  highly  signi- 
ficant. Many  divine  revelations,  indeed,  had 
previously  been  found  to  occasion  and  leave 
behind  bodily  infirmity.  But  there  is  this 
peculiarity  here  ;  the  sign  given  is  at  once  the 
confirmation  of  faith,  and  the  punishment  of 
unbelief;  chiefly,  indeed,  the  latter,  for  it  is 
expressly  declared,  "  because  i\\o\x  believest  not 
my  word."  Finally,  it  was  a  means  ordained 
by  divine  wisdom  to  conceal  for  a  while  the 
revelation  given.  Of  course  to  Elizabeth  the 
marvellous  promise  would  be  imparted  without 
words  ;  but  the  humbled,  miraculously  silenced 
man  would  certainly  not  dare  to  spread  it  any 
further.  Thus,  he  was  to  be  led  to  deeper 
meditation  in  sacred  silence  before  his  mouth 
should  break  forth  in  praise  to  God.  "  He 
who  does  not  believe  should  not  speak  : "  such 
must  have  been  the  admission  of  his  con- 
science, and  it  is  a  symbolical  lesson  to  us  all. 
Some  have  assumed  that  only  thus  could  the 
sacred  mystery  be  kept  safe  from  the  profana- 
tion of  unbelieving  brethren ;  but  this  is  not 
quite  a  just  remark,  because  Zacharias  could 
hardly  have  been  unwise  enough  to  disclose  it 
to  the  profane,  while,  again,  the  news  of  his 
sudden  dumbness  in  the  temple  was  in  itself 
calculated  to  excite  the  attention  of  all.  We 
may  rather  conclude,  that  while  the  nature  of 
this  first  revelation  was  wisely  and  befittingly 
withheld  irom  the  public,  yet,  at  the  same 
time,  there  was  enough  generally  known  to  ex- 
cite attention,  and  give  hints  of  the  truth  ;  for 
the  dumbness  must  have  been  patent  to  all, 
the  news  of  Elizabeth's  pregnancy  would  soon 
spread,  the  name  John,  given  contrary  to  cus- 
tom, would  occasion  surprise,  the  song  of 
praise  that  instantly  burst  from  the  lips  of  the 
father  when  speech  was  restored,  was  uttered 
■  in  a  large  assembly  of  people,  and  would  be 
furllier  disseminated  by  them.  This  opening 
of  the  closed  lips  to  spread  the  glad  tidings  is 
involved  in  the  word  until,  whicli  makes  the 
chastisement  less.  The  mighty  angel  now 
concludes  with  a  further  as.surance :  "  Mv 
words,  which  thou  hast  not  believed,  thall  be 


faJfdled ;  yea,  all  of  them  ;  first  of  all  t.h<? 
birth  of  thy  son,  and  next  wliat  has  been  fur- 
ther spoken  ;  word  after  word  will  come  to 
pass  in  their  season." 

Heiicefortli,  faith  must  be  stronger,  more 
unqualified  than  heretofore  ;  this,  too,  is  taught 
by  the  sign  given  to  the  pious  priest  at  the 
opening  of  the  new  dispensation.  In  this 
sense,  we  may  say  with  Hiller  :  "His  dumb- 
ness teaches  more  than  all  he  spoke  before." 
If  to  Gideon  and  to  others  the  requiring  of  a 
sign  was  a  permitted  thing,  a  stricter  rule  was 
now  about  to  begin,  agreeably  to  which  even 
the  highly-favored  priest,  blameless  before 
God  as  he  was,  according  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment standard  (ver.  6),  appears  blamable  and 
punishment-worthy  compared  to  her  who  re- 
ceived Christ  with  full  faith,  her  of  whom  alone 
Elizabeth  could  exclaim,  "  Blessed  is  sh*  that 
believed  1 " 


CHAPTER  II. 
Gabriel's  Announcement  to  Map.t. 

Still  more  solemn,  more  mysterious,  is  the 
announcement  of  the  woniler  of  wonders^  by 
the  prince  of  the  angels,  to  the  handmaid  of 
the  Lord,  whose  lowliness  he  had  regarded 
and  chosen.  God's  ways,  in  nature  and  in 
grace,  differ  from  those  of  the  proud,  perverse 
sons  of  men,  who  often  begin  with  much  show 
and  noise  what  in  its  execution  dwindles  and 
falls  short.  The  greatest  things  begin  in 
silence  and  obscurity;  this  is  generally  God's 
stamp  on  his  wondrous  works.  But  in  the 
lowliness  of  Mary  there  was  also  the  truest 
dignity.  This  lily  of  the  valley  who,  by  faith 
in  the  divine  grace,  had  attained  to  the  ten- 
derest,  purest  susceptibility  for  the  greatest 
miracle  of  grace  ;  this  virgin  in  soul  and  spirit, 
is  the  culminating  blossom  of  the  garden  of  the 
old  dispensation,  fit  and  worthy  that  the  seed 
from  heaven  should,  in  a  manner  transcending 
nature's  laws,  mature  to  wondrous  fruit  within 
her  pure  chalice.  The  sanctuary  of  her  virgin 
chamber  at  Nazareth  is  holier  than  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem.  Gabriel's  words  here  are  grand- 
er, more  mysterious,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
fraught  with  fuller  revelation  than  the  Christ- 
mas angel's  announcement  respecting  tlie  babe 
in  the  manger,  or  the  lieavenly  host's  song  of 
praise  over  the  fields  of  Bethlehem.  All  that 
artists  and  painters  have  imagined  and  exe- 
cuted to  illustrate  and  adorn,  all  wings,  rays 
of  light,  lily-stems,  and  the  rest,  do  but  de- 
tract, to  our  mind,  from  the  beauty  of  the 
simple  narrative.  Such  additions  desecrate 
Bible  stories  by  au  approximation  to  legend 
and  fable. 

Tliat  which  Mary  herself,  perhaps,  person- 
ally communicated  to  the  Evangelist,  or  that 
which  she  noted  down,  or  caused  to  be  noted 
down,  with  au  inspired  accuracy,  that,  and 
nothing  more,  is  open  to  our  reading  in  Scrip- 
ture.   Kot  one  syllable  too  much  is  given,  not 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  MARY. 


one  snperfliiong  detail  to  feoii  our  curiosity  on 
this  or  tliai  matter.  Mary  remains  the  mother 
of  the  Lord,  that  is  enough  ;  her  personality 
must  retreat  before  that  of  the  Lord  liimself. 
We  enter  ihis  protest  aorainst  the  blasphemy 
that  exalts  her  into  the  Queen  of  Heaven  and 
the  virtual  Saviour,  and  reduces  her  mighty 
Son  upon  the  throne  to  a  ciiild  within  her 
arms.  We  have  no  authentic  information  re- 
spectinrg  her  outward  circumstances,  her  pa- 
rents, her  career,  the  age  at  which  she  gave 
birth  to  the  Redeemer,  that  at  which  she  died. 
or  any  other  kindred  fact.  Tlie  last  mention 
made  "of  her  in  Holy  Writ  is  before  the  day  of 
Pentecost  (Acts  i.  14). 

She  was  a  virgin,  betrothed,  but  not  yet 
taken  home  by  her  husband.  Thus  was  it 
wisely  ordained  in  the  counsel  of  God,  so  that 
the  at  first  inconceivable  secret  being  kept,  and 
Jesus  passing  for  a  son  of  Josepli,  both  child 
and  mother  might  have  a  protector,  a  foster- 
father.  Although  the  connection  in  which  the 
words  stand  is  somewhat  ambiguous,  yet  it 
seems  that  it  is  only  Joseph  whom  Luke  in 
ver.  27,  states  to  have  been  a  descendant  of 
David  ;  but  that  Mary  was  of  the  same  royal 
descent,  is  to  be  inferred,  not  only  from  her 
being  taken  with  him  to  Bethlehem,  but  from 
the  angel's  mention  of  the  throne  of  hit  fa' her 
Dav'ul ;  for  how  could  Jesus  have  called  David 
his  father  after  the  flesh,  but  through  his 
mother? 

No  less  high  angel  than  Gabriel  could  be 
sent  to  Mary,  and  for  this  reason  he  was  the 
one  appointed  to  visit  Zacharias  also.  Now, 
we  read  that  he  came  in  unlo  the  Virgin,  who 
was  probably  at  that  time  engaged  in  lonely 
devotion,  and  peculiarly  fitted  to  receive  such 
a  visitation.  We  are  not  told  at  what  hour  of 
the  day  it  took  place.  It  is  said  only  that  he, 
the  angel  came  in,  i.  e.,  appeared  to  her  in  the 
visible  customary  form  of  a  man,  and  at  once 
greeted  her:  II<iil,  thmi  highly-favm-ed !  The 
Lord  loith  thee :  blessed  art  thou  among  women. 
Instead  of  the  more  general  form  of  salutation 
used  in  Israel,  Peace  icilh  thee,  which  would 
have  been  too  weak  here,  we  have  this  new, 
this  loitier  greeting,  to  the  highly-favored,  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  which  must  both  have  had 
reference  to  tlie  inner,  the  divinely-given  char- 
acter and  worth  of  this  chosen  vessel,  not  to 
her  external  appearance.  The  phrase  made 
use  of  in  the  old  Latin  version  of  the  Catholic 
Cliurch,  fall  of  javor  or  grace,  appears  to  us 
even  preferable  to  our  own,  as  more  positively 
expressing  this. 

But,  indeed,  the  angel  himself  proceeds  to 
explain  his  own  salutation,  when  he  says  in 
ver.  oO,  "  Thou  hast  found  favor  with  God." 
Thus  Mary  is  not  a  dispenser  of  favor  but  a 
recipient  of  it,  with  and  for  the  rest  of  u:-  ;  the 
type  and  germ  of  the  Church.  In  the  only 
other  passage  of  tl;e  New  Testament  in  which 
the  word  occurs  (Eph.  i.  6),  we  find  it  applied 
to  the  whole  company  of  the  elect,  believing 
and  sanctified — "  Through  the  glory  of  his 
grace  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  beloved," 


made  us  full  of  favtr.  No  doubt  that  the  ex- 
pression in  its  comprehensiveness  includes 
here,  as  with  regard  to  Mary,  the  being  made 
fair  and  well-pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God.  In- 
dwelling grace  has  a  gracious  semblance,  and 
makes  its  recipients  fair.  And  such  must  have 
been  eminently  the  case  with  the  highly-favored 
Mary,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  angel.%  adorned 
from  the  hidden  man  of  the  Jieart  (1.  Pet.  iii 
4). 

"  TTie  Lord  with  thee."  The  intermediate  form 
of  this  simple  and  ancient  salutation  ( Judg.  vl 
12  ;  Ruth  ii.  4)  needs  not  the  intercalated  2S  or 
be  with  thee.  It  tloats,  as  it  were,  between  a 
wish  and  a  promise,  as  is  still  more  clearly 
proved  by  the  context,  Blessed  t'lou.  Th^se 
words,  taken  in  connection  with  highly  favo) el, 
have  a  double  significance,  and  attach  a  fuller 
meaning  to  an  expression  which  had  already 
been  used  in  the  Old  Testament.  No  doubt, 
as  the  consequence  of  being  highly- favored  was 
to  be  fair  and  pleasing,  so  that  of  being  hissed 
of  God  was  the  being  blessed  or  praised  by 
men  also.  But  this  is  only  the  secondary 
sense;  the  real  force  of  the  salutation  lies  in 
the  word  blessed  (see  ver.  48).  Grace  removes 
sin  and  guilt,  therefore  a  bles^ng  is  now  sub- 
stituted for  the  primeval  curse,  which,  in  its 
physical  aspect,  pressed  most  heavily  upon 
woman.  Tlie  word  thoii,  v/hich  designates  the 
blessed  Virgin,  stands  with  greater  emphasis  in 
the  original :  Thou,  amongst  (all)  women  the 
most  blessed  ;  thou,  destined  to  conC''ive  him 
who  is  to  be  the  new.  the  full  blessing  for  all. 
Here  again  the  announcement  of  the  loftiest, 
the  most  unparalleled  mystery,  clothes  itself  in 
the  familiar  language  of  13oly  Writ,  in  order  to 
be  equally  intelligible  and  sacred  to  this  pious 
Israelitish  maiden.  Deborah  had  already  sung 
of  Jael,  "Blessed  among  women"  (Judg.  v. 
24).  The  Judith  of  the  Apocrypha— probably 
only  a  type  of  the  Jewisli  people,  as  Mary  is 
the  representative  of  the  Church — is,  in  chap, 
xiii.  42,  blessed  of  God  as  high  above  all  women 
on  earth.  But  this  last,  this  apocryphally  ex- 
aggerated expression  is  now  evidently  reproved 
by  the  more  measured  expression  of  Gabriel, 
which  is  again  repeated  through  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  lips  of  Elizabeth  : 
"  Blessed  thou  among  v/omen."  Thus  Mary 
even,  to  whom  alone  this  appellation  could 
correctly  apply,  is  not  the  exalted,  the  praised 
over  all  women,  for  all  her  grace,  as  well  as  all 
her  blessing,  is  the  portion  of  us  all — the  angel 
greeting  the  Churcii,  nay,  the  whole  of  human- 
ity, through  her— The  'Lord  is  with  you  ;  ye 
once  more  blessed  ones-!  And  thus,  while  the 
Church,  with  fullest  right  and  deepest  truth, 
authorizes  the  appropriation  of  Mary's  song  of 
praise  by  each  individual  saint,  she,  in  so  doing, 
condemns  and  refutes  the  ialse  honor  paid  to 
the  holy  Virgin  Mother. 

Lastly,  we  may  observe  that  the  whole  of 
Gabriel's  first  speech,  as  Mary  evidently  under- 
stood it,  and  as  we  shall  accordingly  read  it,^  is 
by  its  very  form,  specially  a  salutation.  The 
promise   and   the   announcement    are  indeed 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  MARY, 


latent  therein,  but  they  are  not  actually  ex- 
pressed. 

"  And  tcheii  she  saw  him."  The  word  him  is 
not  in  the  original,  and  the  reading  whicli  spe- 
cifically gives  us  the  verb  to  see  is  a  doubtful 
(.no  If  we  examine  more  closely  into  the 
passage,  we  shall  find  it  to  mean  that  Mary 
was  not  so  much  troubled  at  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance and  lofty  aspect  of  her  visitant,  as  at 
liis  Mii/iiiff.  This  trouble  of  hers  is  indeed  a 
deep  inward  vne,throt(gh  and  through  (such  the 
peculiar  iorce  of  the  original);  but  the  thonght- 
lul,  rellective  Virgin,  even  in  the  midst  of  this 
trouble,  at  once  observed  and  weighed  the  char- 
acter ot  the  greeting.  Her  luimility  at  once 
casts  in  her  mind  what  manner  of  salutation 
this  might  be.  "Whence  this  to  me?"  as 
Elizabeth  afterwards  expresses  it,  in  holy 
emulation  of  this  humility.  Alas  !  how  differ- 
ent, liow  darkened,  would  have  been  Mary's 
trouble,  if  she  could  have  foreseen  the  future 
idolatrous  repetition  of  the  holy  angel's  words, 
"Hail,  Mary!"  She  cast  in  her  mind,  with 
the  natural  wonder  of  a  lowly  heart,  but  with 
no  doubt  or  unbelief:  "  Why  should  a  heaven- 
ly messenger  so  greet  me,  a  poor  maiden? 
Whence  is  this?  Wliat  does  it  portend?" 
But  she  does  not  say  this  out,  which  would 
have  been  unmaidenly.  She  does  not  ask, 
"  Who  art  thou  ?  "  but  she  waits  thoughtfully 
for  the  continuation  of  the  speech,  whose  pause 
has  left  her  a  moment  for  reflection.  It  is  self- 
evident  to  her  that  she  sees  and  hears  an 
angel.  To  her  Gabriel  did  not  announce  his 
lofty  name  and  office  as  he  had  done  to  the 
priest ;  this  was  not  necessary  to  the  lowly 
maiden,  so  soon  simply  receiving,  as  she  did, 
each  word  by  this  messenger  as  from  God  him- 
self, and  at  last  concluding  with  iullest  sub- 
mission and  confidence,  "  Be  it  imto  me  as  thou 
(servant  of  the  Lord,  thou  also  art)  hast 
siioken." 

The  angel  now  resumed  answering  her 
thoughts  :  "  Fca?'  not  Mary,  for  thou  hastfoxnid 
favor  (or  grace)  with  God."  This  expression, 
Fear  not,  together  with  the  word  grace,  proves 
to  us  that  even  the  holy  Virgin  belonged  to  a 
sinful  race.  Yes,  the  irremissible  thrill  of 
trouble  or  terror  that  passed  through  the 
silently  praying  soul,  and  for  a  moment  cloud- 
ed the  gracious  visage,  tells  of  the  hereditary 
taint  of  humanity,  and  accordingly  Gabriel's 
condescending  kindness  proceeds  to  remove 
this  terror,  and  to  pour  increased  light  upon 
lier  mind.  He  now  names  the  favored  and 
blessed  one  by  her  name  Mary,  in  order  to  cer- 
tify her  that  the  message  was  indeed  rightly 
addressed  to  her.  This  name  Mary,  that  sounds 
so  sweetly  in  our  ears,  that  has  been,  and  ever 
will  be,  borne  by  thousands  of  women  through- 
out Christendom,  nay,  that  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries is  even  added  to  the  names  of  men,  must 
have  been  a  customary  and  favorite  appella- 
tion among  the  Jews,  since  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment alone  we  find  six  or  seven  who  were  so 
called  :  and  it  wns  in  all  probability  dfrived 
Iroiu  the  name  of  the  eloi^uent  prophetess,  the 


sisier  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  In  its  original 
form,  the  word,  Miriam*  spoke  strikingly  of 
the  bitterness  and  the  affliction  of  Egypt,  pe>'- 
haps  even  of  rebellion  and  apostacy.  Singular 
that  this  name  should  be  so  transformed  and 
glorified  !  j\Iary  has  found  favor  icith  Ood. 
This  is  a  very  common  expression  applied  ti 
sinful  men,  irom  the  days  of  Noah  downwards 
(Gen.  vi.  8  ;  compare  Gen.  xviii.  3,  and  xix. 
19;  Exod.  xxxiii.  12;  Judges  vi.  17;  2  S.im. 
XV.  25),  that  is  to  say,  it  is  very  often  invoked 
in  prayer;  but  as  a  greeting  to  man  from  on 
high,  it  is  no  where  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
Old  Testament,  and  thus  it  has,  when  here  ap- 
plied to  Mary,  a  quite  special  sense.  It  does 
not  convey,  "  Thou  hast  Ibund,  as  the  result  of 
thy  seeking  ;  "  but,  according  to  the  meaning 
of  the  Hebrew  word  to  find,  "  Thou  hast  re- 
ceived, obtained  Ireely." 

Up  to  this  moment  all  has  been  vague,  pre- 
paratory, awaking  intense  expectation  an>l  sus- 
pense. Now,  for  the  first  time,  prefaced  by 
the  familiar  Behold,  the  actual  promise  appears, 
and  at  once  refers  Mary  to  the  Virgin's  son  of 
prophecy,  "  And  behold,  tlion  shaft  conceive  in  thy 
womb,  and  hear  a  son,  and  sludt  call  his  nanm 
Jesus."* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mary,  the  chosen 
instructress  of  the  most  holy  child,  the  Jew- 
ish maiden  learned  in  the  Scriptures,  the 
pious  virgin  waiting  with  special  longing  tor 
the  coming  of  Messiah,  the  daughter  ot  David's 
house,  the  relation  of  a  priestly  family  (ver. 
36),  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  lead- 
ing prophecy  in  Isaiah  vii.  14,  of  which  the 
angel  reminds  her,  by  framing  his  speech  on 
the  very  same  plan.  To  conceive,  to  bear,  to 
call  his  name — the  sequence  is  in  both  passages 
the  same;  the  revelation  must  have  come  with 
power.  Thou,  Mary,  art  this  virgin  ;  thon 
shalt  conceive  in  thy  loomb.  Tiiis  addition  only 
gives  the  Greek  rendering  of  the  more  simple 
Hebrew  expression  (see  Gen.  xvi.  11;  Judges 
xiii.  3).  We  may  not,  as  many  have  done, 
dogmatically  deduce  hence  the  otherwise  cer- 
tain truth  that  Jesus  actually  took  flesh  and 
blood  from  Mary,  and  was  born  of  her.  More 
importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  divinely 
prescribed  name,  Jesus,  here  substituted  for 
the  prophetic  Immanuel,  which  even  Hebrew 
scholars  have  strangely  chosen  to  interpret, 
God  is  help,  or  God's  help,  God's  salvation,  al- 
though this  is  grammatically  incorrect.  The 
kindred  form  ot  Joshua  (ttie  name  given  tp  two 
typical  men,  the  leader  into  Canaan,  and  the 
high  nriest,  Ezra  ii.  2;  Zech.  iii.  8),  in  no  way 
incluues  the  divine  name  by  its  literal  con- 
struction, but  simply  signifies  a  promne,  H& 
will  deliver,  will  help,  i.  e.,  Helper  or  Deliverer, 
as  the  angel  exjiounds  it  to  Joseph  (Mitt.  i. 
21).  It  would  ue  unbecoming  that  he  who  is 
himself  (j'wZ  icitk  us,  or  the  redeeming  (.iod  in 
human  nature,  in  the  flesh,  should  bear,  as  a 
"  name  above  every  name,"  one  which  only 


*  Besides  the  sister  of  Moses,  ;li3  name  is  only 
found  iu  1  Chron.  iv,  17. 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  MARY. 


Tiromised  and  confirmed  to  his  forerunner  the 
lielj)  of  God.  Rather  was  the  name  thus  coa- 
st rucled  beforeliand  out  of  the  material  of  low- 
ly types,  that  it  might  now,  for  the  first  time, 
become  a  trutli  in  the  fullest  sense.  The  nam- 
ing of  ikk  chihi  could  not  possibly  be  tfusted 
to  a  liuman  decision  ;  a  literal  prophecy  was 
equally  unsuitable;  the  concealment  of  tlie 
mystery  by  an  already  customary  name  was 
essential.  All  these  requirements  were  met  by 
the  at  once  common  and  exalted  name  which 
tlie  angel  appoints. 

"  Ue  shall  he  great,  and  shall  he  called  the  San 
of  the  Ilighesl ;  and  tlie  Lurd  God  shall  give  unto 
him  the  thrnne  of  his  father  Da  old  ;  and  he  shall 
reign  over  the  house  of  Jarjih  forever  ;  and  of  his 
klfigdom  there  shall  be  no  end."  Here  are  evident 
relerences  to  .the  prophecies  concerning  Mes- 
siah's person  and  reign,  especially  to  those  in 
2Sam.vii.  12-16;  Psa.  Ixxxix.  27-30;  Isaiah 
ix.  7;  Dan.  vii.  14.  In  all  these,  as  here,  the 
Son  of  the  Uighest  is  alluded  to,  of  which  we 
sb.all  say  more  when  we  come  to  the  angel's 
explanation,  ver.  35.  Ha  shall  he  called  ;  this 
;s  equivalent  to  he  shall  be,  as  ver.  35  sets 
!orth,  rightly  called,  and,  at  the  same  time,  con- 
tains the  sure  promise  that  he  shall  be  recog- 
nized as  such,  shall  receive  the  glory  and 
honor  due  to  his  name.  With  respect  to  John, 
it  was  said.  Great  before  the  Lird ;  here  the 
simple  but  absolute  words  rise  higher, //e  shall 
he  great!  True,  if  in  connection  with  them  we 
think  only  of  his  earthly  career  from  birth  to 
death,  we  may  well  say  ;  "  That  was  a  singular 
greatness,  which  began  in  a  manger  and  ended 
on  a  cross,  and,  in  the  interval,  was  filled  with 
pain,  humiliation,  and  weariness."     Yet,  not 

•only  was  this  humiliation  more  than  out- 
weighed by  his  resurrection  and  ascension,  but 
this  Jesus  is  truly  great  already  ;  incomparably 
great  even  in  his  humility,  his  obedience,  his 

■  patience.  We  feel  this  with  regard  to  faint 
human  types  ;  we  call  him  a  great  man  who  is 
capable  of  self-abnegation,  and  deep  humility  ; 
we  honor  the  monarch  willing  to  enter  a  beg- 
gar's cottage,  rather  than  the  despot  who 
proudly  looks  down  on  all  from  his  throne. 
Jesus  is  never  greater  than  in  his  immeasurable 
and  unparalleled  humiliation  for  oursakes,  and 
while  with  the  eye  of  faith,  we  contemplate  the 
infant  still  in  Mary's  womb  as  the  eternal  Son 
of  God,  we  are  forced  even  then  to  exclaim,  He 
ia  great;  greater  than  all  the  great  ones  of 
earllil .  Again,  we  call  him  great  who,  for  the 
sake  of  some  high  aim,  is  willing  to  give  up 
and  subdue  even  his  own  lawful  will,  rather 
than  the  hero  or  the  tyrant  who  bends  and 
compels  millions  by  his  arbitrary  sway.  And 
once  more,  the  man  Jesus  is  great  in  his  unex- 
ampled and  perfect  obedience.  Who  worthier 
than  he  to  rule  and  to  be  worshipped  from 
childhood  upwards  ?  and  yet  he  quietly  obeyed 
and  ministered  both  as  child,  youth,  man,  up 
to  his  baptism  at  the  hands  of  John,  up  to  his 
suffering  upon  the  cross.  He  was  obedient 
even  uiiio  deathrand  in  his  patience  showed 
himself  greater  iuui  greater  to  the  end.     He 


who  can  suffer  is  greater  than  he  who  rules. 
Even  among  men,  he  who  can  only  command 
and  refuses  to  obey,  can  only  enjoy  and  is  in- 
capable of  enduring,  is  acknowledged  the  least 
and  meanest  of  human  beings.  Thus  Jesus  is 
great,  and  a  Son  of  the  Highest  even  in  hia 
suffering  !  Nay,  it  is  these  that  reveal  to  us 
the  secret  of  his  special  greatnes.'*,  L'w  ;  the 
love  which  led  him  to  humble  himself,  to  obey, 
to  endure.  Love  is  the  greatest  attribute  of 
God  himself.  Yes,  this  is  the  godlike  greats 
ness  of  the  humanity  of  Jesus,  far  transcend- 
ing the  greatness  of  the  consecrated  forerunner 
John,  and,  therefore,  as  the  angel  goes  on  to 
say,  God  gives  him  the  throne  of  his  father 
David. 

Gabriel's  message  naturally  relates  only  to 
the  humanity  of  the  promised  Son,  dwells  only 
on  this;  though  the  substitution  of  the  name 
Jesus  for  Immanuel  gives  a  hint  of  the  as  yet 
veiled  divinity,  and  there  is  evident  de.sign  in 
the  omission  of  the  word  his:  "  The  Lord  God," 
not  the  Lord  his  God,  shall  give  h;m  the  throne 
of  his  father  David."  Yet  it  was  impossible 
that  Mary  should  at  the  first  understand  this 
occult  meaning,  as  it  lias  been  very  happily 
observed  :  "  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
divinity  of  her  son  was  not  definitely  announc- 
ed to  Mary,  otherwise  she,  as  well  as  Joseph, 
would  have  been  unable  to  educa*e  the  child." 
That  which  was  signified  to  Zacharias  in  vers. 
16,  17,  is  here  left  completely  unspoken.  And 
although  the  Holy  Ghost  put  the  trutli  into 
the  priest's  mouth,  vers.  76,  77,  to  Mary  at 
least  it  must  have  remained  unintelligible. 
Again,  though  we  now  recognize  the  greatness 
in  the  very  humiliation,  and  Mary,  too,  must 
have  fully  understood  this  at  a  later  period, 
yet  the  angel  being  commissioned  to  carry  glad 
tidings  says  nothing  explicit  about  the  cross 
and  the  shame  Nor  yet  does  he  foretell  the 
reign  over  the  heathen,  though  in  the  phrase, 
"  the  house  of  Jacob,"  the  sti:  ^^e  nations  are 
virtually  included  (Isaiah  xiv.  1;  xliv.  5). 
But  as  it  was,  Mary's  faith  in  the  promise- 
must  often  have  been  severely  tried  ;  and  when 
at  last  she  stood  on  Golgotha — the  sword 
piercing  her  soul,  and  her  dying  son,  mocked 
with  the  title  of  King  as  he  hung  on  the  ac- 
cursed tree,  with  his  last  breath  gave  her  into 
the  charge  of  his  favored  disciple— oh,  where,i 
she  might  have  asked,  was  then  the  throne  of 
David  "his  father,  and  the  rule  over  the  house 
of  Jacob  forever  ?  And  yet,  even  at  that  mo- 
ment, all  was  fulfilled,  and  the  King  had,  with 
almighty  triumph,  won  the  kingdom  to  which 
he  was  hereafter  to  welcome  all  who  called 
upon  him,  and  the  throne  of  glory  at  the  right 
hand  of  power  I  But  the  beginning  of  the 
angel's  speech  is  fraught  with  a  still  more 
glorious  truth  ;  He  shall  be  great,  yea  great; 
till  the  end  of  time,  and  to  all  eternity.  Unlike 
all  earthly  kingdoms  in  their  decline  and  fall, 
his  kingdom  is"  to  have  no  end  !  This  is  evi- 
dently quoted  from  Dan.  vii.  14,  and  serves  at 
the  beginning  of  the  New  Testament  not  only 
to  coufirm  all'the  promise  in  the  Old  regarding 


GABRIEL'S  ANNOUNCEMENT  TO  MARY. 


tho  kin2;i1om  of  Iprnpl,  but  fo  perpetnate  iliis 
last  kingdom  elprnally.  Tiiis  everlasting  king- 
dom gives  an  in'ense  significance  to  the  name, 
•'.Son  of  the  Highest."  That  an  everlasting 
kingilom  sboiiLi  be  infinite  in  extent  (see  Dan. 
11.  44)  is  self-evident,  is  therefore  left  unex- 
pre.^scd.  And  here  we  are  taught  that  while 
tiie  onice  of  oropliet  and  ])riest  comes  to  an 
end,  that  of  King  remains,  so  (hat  the  passage 
ill  1  Cor.  XV.  24-28  is  not  to  be  explained  as 
contradicting  the  eternal  reign  of  the  Son. 

Mary  rightly  comprehended  that  that  which 
"A'as  announced  to  her  was  immediately  to  come 
to  pass,  namely,  the  conceiving  of  the  son  she 
■was  to  bear.  And  either  because  the  appoint- 
ed time  for  her  being  taken  home  by  Joseph 
■was  not  sufficiently  near,  or  that  after  the 
■words  spoken,  "Son  of  the  Highest,"  she  was 
unable  to  think  of  Joseph  as  the  destined  fa- 
ther, she  asks  plainly  and  freely,  out  of  the  in- 
most depths  of  her  pure  consciousness,  How 
eliall  this  be,  seeing  that  1  know  not  a  man  ? 
This  is  not  the  language  of  unbelief,  but  of  the 
most  chaste  maidenhood,  which,  at  once  bash- 
ful and  submissive,  could  find  no  other  expres- 
sion. The  angel,  who  was  fully  prepared  for 
this  most  natural  question,  now  goes  on  to 
reply  to  it.  "  I'he  ILthj  Qho»t  ihaU  come  vpon 
thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Ili/jhest  shall  overshadow 
thee  :  therefore  aho  that  holy  thing,  ichich  shall  be 
lorn  of  thee,  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God." 

"  That  Iioly  thing,  horn  of  thee''  i.  e.,  that  shall 
be  born  of  thee,  implies  the  immediate  nature 
of  the  promise;  compare  Matt.  i.  20;  the  ex- 
pression "  of  thee,"  or  literally,  "out  of  thee," 
we  hold,  upon  the  valid  ground  of  ancient  au- 
thority, both  as  a  genuine  and  conclusive  proof 
that  the  humanity  of  Jesus  was  derived  from 
that  of  Mary.  Her  offspring  is  spoken  of  in 
the  neuter  (Matt.  i.  20),  that  which  is  conceived, 
that  holy  thing  ;  partly  because  of  its  then  un- 
developed state,  ii.id  partly  because  this  thing 
conceived  and  born  is  really,  acording  to  our  in- 
terpretation, the  righteousness  spoken  of  in  Dan. 
ix.  24.  It  was  not  because  he  was  born  of  a  per- 
fect, immaculately-conceived  mother,  that  the 
child  was  holy,  but  because  he  was  conceived 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Mary  herself,  indeed,  was 
first  sanctified  by  Christ.  So  far  we  agree 
with  Bengel ;  but  when  he,  with  many  old  au- 
thorities, proceeds  to  construe,  the  thing  born 
,  .  .  shall  be  holy,  and  called  the  Son  of  God,  we 
protest,  out  of  mere  love  of  grammatical  accu- 
racy. The  originally  pure  human  person  born 
of  Mary  is  obviously  the  subject  of  the  pre- 
dicate "  Son  of  God."  For  this  much  is  clearly 
intelligible,  though  often  overlooked  or  vaguely 
apprehended  ;  here  it  is  the  humanity  of  Jesus 
T.'liich  is  to  be,  and  to  be  called  the  Son  of 
God  ;  not  only  thy  son — that,  the  angel  now 
throws  into  the  background,  being  already 
establi.^lied  by  the  words,  "  thou  shalt  conceive, 
born  of  thee" — but  God's  Son,  through  a  new 
creative  beginning,  even  as  Adam  was  (chap. 
iii.  38).  Neither  in  the  "theocratic"  sense 
which  man  has  invented,  nor  vet  in  tlie  so- 
called  rufctaphysicul,  which  could  ooly  be  un- 


folded at  a  later  period,  but  in  a  physical  senM 
does  Gabriel  now  say.  Son  of  God,  Son  of  the 
Highest.  And  having  had  reference  through- 
out his  second  address  to  this  miraculous  birlii, 
he  now  goes  on  to  give  a  positive  assurance  of 
the  possibility  and  certainty  of  the  wondrons 
event,  to  the  announcement  of  which  his  com- 
mission was  limited. 

"  A?id,  behold,  thy  cousin  Elizabeth,  she  hath  alsc 
conceived  a  son  in  her  old  age;  and  this  is  the 
sixth  month  with  her,  who  was  called  barren." 
That  which  was  incredible  to  Zacharias,  and 
yet  is  now  in  process  ot  fulfillment,  was  for 
Mary  a  confirmation  of  a  still  more  incredible 
event.  With  considerate  precision  the  angel 
specifies  the  sixth  month,  after  ■which  time 
pregnancy  is  no  longer  uncertain,  but  becomes 
obvious  (ver.  24).  The  Virgin,  indeed,  asks 
for  no  sign,  she  has  met  the  announcement  in 
faith;  but  for  the  strengthening  and  preserving 
of  this  faith,  and  in  order  that  she  might  re- 
main during  the  whole  time  of  her  pregnancy 
free  from  all  weakness  and  perfectly  sanctified, 
such  a  sign,  such  a  kindred  miracle  as  she 
could  rest  upon,  ■was,  we  may  believe,  essen- 
tial. It  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  her  relation- 
ship with  Elizabeth  was  by  marriage  only,  not 
one  of  blood ;  for  that  Mary  was  descended 
from  the  tribe  of  Levi  (as  from  ver.  5  we  know 
Elizabeth  to  have  been),  and  thus  that  the  de- 
scent of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Heb.  vii.  14),  and  the  house  of  David  should 
be  merely  nominal,  hingeing  upon  his  supposed 
relationship  to  Joseph,  is  a  very  foolish  opinion 
of  a  few  old  writers.  But  it  is  remarkable  that 
the  two  women  should  have  been  referred  to 
each  other,  by  a  hint  that,  judging  from  vers. 
39,  40,  Mary  at  once  obediently  acted  upon.' 
All  the  rest,  the  ordaining  and  the  appointing 
of  the  forerunner  of  her  son,  she  was  to  learn 
from  Elizabeth. 

But  because  even  the  pregnancy  in  old  age 
of  one  hitherto  barren  could  not  parallel  the 
wonder  of  a  maiden's  maternity,  Gabriel  before 
he  closes  his  reply  to  Mary's  question  adds  the 
strong  confirmation  which  the  most  univer- 
sally admitted  of  truths  lend  to  this  incompar- 
able mystery,  For  with  God  no  word  shall  be  im- 
possible. Certainly  we  may  render  the  passage 
with  equal  grammatical  propriety  "no  thing," 
only  Mary  uses  the  former  expression  in  her 
reply  :  "  Be  it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word," 
so  that  the  real  meaning  seems  to  be — No 
word  of  divine  promise,  statement,  or  announce- 
ment, is  impossible.  All  that  God  says  and 
wills  he  can  also  perform.  These  words  of  the 
angel  sound  in  Greek  like  those  words  of  the 
Lord  to  Sarah  (Gen.  xviii.  14),  and  of  these 
they  must  finally  have  reminded  Mary.  And 
now,  such  the  childlike  faith  in  which  she  has 
I'een  nurtured  and  lives,  in  the  Almighty  God, 
and  in  all  the  wonders  of  his  might,  from  an- 
cient times  till  now  ;  Mary  has  nothing  more 
to  ask  I  O  that  we  might  resemble  her  in  (his, 
and  learn  experimentally  to  understand  what 
Hamann  says  :  "  Philosophical  curiosity  :$ 
silenced  by  the  most  overy-dny  commonplace." 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  ANQEL  IN  A  DREAM  TO  JOSEPH. 


11 


"  How  shall  this  be?"  Mary  had  at  first  asked. 
Doi-s  slie  nnlcrslaad  any  better  now,  in  the 
lower  sense  of  the  word  undersianding,  Aoic  the 
Holy  Gho.st  is  to  come  upon  her,  and  the 
power  of  the  Higliest  to  overshadow  her?  By 
no  means  ;  the  mystery  only  deepens,  but  her 
faith  is  also  perfected. 

The  first  woman  was  taken  from  man  ;  the 
new  Adam's  humanity  is  to  be  born  of  woman  ; 
woman  in  her  pure  womanhood  has  conceived, 
borne,  and  given  birth  to  this  new  creature, 
even  as  it  was  enigmatically  prophesied  in 
Jeremiah,  "  The  woman  shall  compass  the 
man." 

"  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord;  he  it  unto 
me  according  to  thy  word."  So  speaks  the  chaste 
Virgin,  not  merely  silently  submissive,  but  at 
once  desiring  and  expecting.  Her  timid  bash- 
iulness  changes  into  a  tender  and  yet  fervent 
longing  which  speaks,  exclaims,  prays :  Be  it 
unto  me  as  my  Lord  speaks  and  wills.  And 
that  very  moment  it  is  done.  "The  moment 
that  Mary  gave  her  assent  was  that  in  which 
she  I.egan  to  be  great  with  the  holy  child," 
writes  Luther  ;  and  such  has  been  the  opinion 
of  many  early  writers  since  Irenaeus.  As  Dean 
Aiford  very  truly  observes,  Mary  was  no  un- 
conscious vessel  chosen  by  the  divine  will,  but 
(compare  ver.  45)  in  faith  and  humility  a  fel- 
low-worker with  God."  But  we  know  not 
wliere  Lange  finds  reason  for  supposing,  con- 
trary to  all  probability,  that  this  expression  of 
hers  implied  a  voluntary  submission  to  the 
disgrace  and  humiliation  she  forosaw  as  the 
consequence  of  her  altered  condition  ;  we  for 
our  parts,  believe  that  such  a  thought  was  far 
from  Mary's  mind  at  the  time,  and  could  only 
have  been  felt  to  be  disturbing  and  incongruous 
had  it  occurred.  The  last  fact  that  we  read  of 
satisfies  us  completely  as  to  the  character  of 
the  whole  transaction  being  simple,  encourag- 
ing, and  free  from  any  shadow  cast  by  conflict- 
ing feelings.  The  angel  departed  from  her  as 
he  had  entered  in.  This  was  very  different  to 
his  sudden  appearing  to  and  vanishing  from 
Z  icharias.  Mary  was  left  glad  and  blessed,  as 
her  song  of  praise  soon  tells  us.  What  after- 
wards followed  with  regard  to  Joseph  brought 
indeed  the  first  sorrow,  the  first  distress,  but 
doubtless  failed  to  disturb  or  weaken  the  light 
and  strength  of  faith  in  the  depths  of  the  Vir- 
gin's soul. 


CHAPTER  III, 

Appearance  of  the  Angel  in  a  Deeam  to 
Joseph. 

Matthew  i. 

The  lirth  of  Jesus  Christ  was  (or  came  to  pass) 
thus.  Grand  simplicity  of  the  brief  authentic 
narrative,  written  evidently  without  the  least 
idea  that  its  historical  truth  could  ever  come 
to  be  doubted.  "\Vliat  a  thus  this  is.  Contrary 
lo  all  human,  all  Jewish  expectation,  yet  ex.- 


actly  according  with  the  whole  of  prophecy, 
even  fnltiiliiig  its  very  letter  respecting  liio 
Virgin  more  completely  than  could  have  been 
comprehended  beforehand.  Matthew  confinea 
himself  to  this  one  main  point;  that  is  enough 
for  the  beginning  ol  his  Gospel.  He  tells  U8 
nothing  more  of  the  persons  or  their  circum- 
stances. ]\Iary  is  the  mother,  Joseph  her 
betrothed  husband;  we  only  hear  of  Beihleliena 
and  Nazareth  in  the  next  chapter,  and  they  are 
briefly  mentioned.  Much  that  seems  essential 
to  our  understanding  the  difficulties  that 
divided  the  betrothed  pair  before  the  angel 
smoothed  them  away  (especially  when  we  take 
the  narrative  of  L'-.ke  in  connection  with  that 
of  ^latthew),  is  left  by  this  last  Evangelist  to 
be  filled  up  by  our  own  reflection  and  surmise, 
leaching  us  thereby  that  the  true  value  of  his 
testimony  to  the  faith  by  no  means  lies  in 
minute  historical  details. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  believers — we 
speak  not  of  profane  misunderstandings — have 
explained  to  themselves  the  progress  of  these 
events  in  very  different  ways.  We  now  pro- 
ceed to  give  our  own  view,  and  our  reasons  for 
it.  We  cannot  possibly  assume,  as  some  have 
done,  that  all  that  is  here  related  by  Matthew, 
up  to  the  taking  of  his  wife  by  Joseph,  hap- 
pened before  Mary's  visit  to  Elizabeth.  For 
Luke's  expression  (i.  39)  is  certainly  to  be 
understood  as  implying  a  short  interval  be- 
tween the  arising  of  Mary  and  going  into  the 
hill  country,  and  the  hint  that  the  augel  had 
given  her  in  the  36th  verse  (of  course  allowing 
time  for  preparation  for  a  long  journey)  *  The 
question  that  oilers  so  much  difficulty,  and  has 
been  so  contradictorily  solved  is  this:  Did 
Mary  impart  the  angel's  annunciation  to 
Joseph  or  not?  We  refer  to  the  text  for  an 
answer.  When  we  see  Matthew  writing  (ver. 
18)  S/w  was  found,  icith  child,  and  connect  with 
the  expression  all  Joseph's  plans  and  perpleX7 
ity,  we  cannot  withhold  our  conviction  that 
Mary  had  not  spoken  at  all  on  the  subject  with 
him.  Still  less  had  she  done  so  before  her 
journey  to  the  city  of  Zacharias.  Not  only 
may  we  say  with  Olshausen,  "The  narrative 
of  Matthew  leaves  the  impression  that  Mary 
had  not  disclosed  her  state  to  Joseph  ;  "  but 
this  inference  follows  unavoidably  from  the 
text. 

No  one  speaking  of  a  fact  communicated  by 
the  very  person  most  intimately  concerned 
therein  would  have  used  the  expressisn,  "  she 
was  found  (was  discovered  to  be)  with  child." 
We  may  even  say  further,  Mary  could  not, 
dared  not  have  spoken  of  herself  except  in  the 
tone  of  her  song  of  praise,  and  for  this  very 
reason  we  may  conclude  that  she  had  not  as 
yet  done  so  to  Joseph.  It  was  a  mystery  too 
marvellously  tender,  high,  deep  to  touch  upon. 
No  doubt  the  betrothed  had  often  met,  often 
conversed  in  Nazareth,  belore  Joseph   took  his 

*  The  .Jewish  cnsti  m  prpcludinsj  an  unmarried 
womar  Irom  travolling  had  probably  I'al.eu  at  thiH 
lime  luto  desuetu.ie. 


12 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  ANGEL  IN  A  DREAM  TO  JOSEPH. 


wife  nnto  him,  but  Mary  kept  nilence,  and  this 
w.'  find  most  natural.  Our  conviction  differs 
from  tliat  of  the  commentators  who  beliere  her 
to  have  imparled  the  fact  to  Joseph,  and  he  to 
have  incredulously  rejected  her  account  of  it. 
We  hold  rather  that  Joseph  woidd  have  be- 
lieved, would  not  have  been  able  to  resist  the 
evident  stamp  of  truth  upon  the  words  that 
fell  from  ins  Mary's  lips.  Would  she  not,  as 
the  Evangelist  does  us,  have  referred  Joseph 
to  the  Virgin  foretold  in  I.saiah  ?  Would  she 
not  have  so  spoken  and  n  asoned  as  to  leave 
without  a  shadow  of  doubt  the  pious  bride- 
groom who  so  thoroughly  knew  her  character? 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  believe  that  Mary 
did  not  choose  to  do  this,  not  only  because  she 
left  every  thing  to  the  Lord,  but  because  she 
could  not  feel  peifectly  certain  that  Joseph 
would  believe  her  statement,  and  dared  not 
tiierefore  mention  it  to  him.  Thus  our  view 
takes  a  middle  conrse  between  two  extremes. 
We  hold  that  in  all  probability,  not  only  from 
his  knowledge  of  what  Mary  was,  but  from  the 
self-evident  truth  of  her  statement,  Joseph 
would  have  been  convinced.  He  would  not 
have  been  likely  to  suppose  her  an  "entliu- 
piasf  or  "  deluded  ;"  that  was  not  the  tone  of 
thinking  in  those  days.  And  as  to  her  being 
a  deceiver,  seeking  to  conceal  her  sin  against 
h  nisei f,  under  cover  of  an  angel's  promise  of 
the  highest  deliverer  Israel  had  to  expect,  nay, 
he  never  could  have  believed  her  at  once  so 
impious  and  so  foolish.  His  plans  (ver.  19)  by 
no  means  imply  a  previous  communication 
from  her.  Thus  much  seems  almost  indubit- 
able ;  Joseph  would  have  believed,  but  Mary 
did  not  speak  ;  and  this  was  most  fitting  and 
congruous.  Mary's  delicate,  correct  feeling, 
confidently  expected  and  implored  that  the 
discovery  miyht  be  made  to  him  from  above. 

"  Before  tliey  come  together."  This  expression 
of  the  Evangelist  raean^i :  Before  he  took  her 
home.  And  as  this  taking  home  usually  im- 
plied the  consummation  of  the  marriage  (Deut. 
XX.  7),  we  have  the  positive  assurance  of  the 
2oth  verse.  But  a  pregnancy  of  three  months 
(Luke  i.  56)  must  soon  liave  betrayed  itself 
after  Mary's  return,  must  have  gradually  be- 
come more  and  more  apparent;  and  then  the 
long  journey,  the  reason  for  its  being  unex- 
plained ;  the  long  visit,  and  it  is  thus  she  re- 
turns. And  she  says  nothing  about  it  to  me  ! 
Jo.seph  must  have  been  more  than  Joseph, 
must  have  been  even  more  than  l\Iary  herself,  if, 
without  the  aid  of  revelation,  ho  could  have 
discovered  the  only  solution  to  liis  paiiilnl 
doubts  :  "that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of  the 
Ilohj  Ghost."  For  as  to  speaking  on  the  sub- 
ject to  her,  openly  questioning  her,  he  could 
not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  do  that. 

What,  then,  was  to  be  done  ?  As  far  as  lay 
in  hi-s  power  he  decided  upon  the  best  and 
rnoHt  righteous  course.  He  was  a  yist  man. 
He  was  free  from  the  spirit  of  jealousy  which 
the  law  tacitly  condemns,  even  while  legislat- 
ing for  it  (Numb.  v.  14).  His  justice  is  of 
the  yenuiaekmd;  it  is  even  because  he  is  just, 


that  he  will  not  be  harsh  and  severe  to  the 
woman  he  has  loved,  and  whose  whole  previous 
conduct  and  character,  yea,  even  whose  present 
demeanor,  perplexing  though  it  be,  seem  to 
contradict  the  appearances  against  her.  At  first 
sight  Matthew  appears  to  give  the  justice  ot 
Joseph  as  a  reason  for  his  sparing  Mary,  but 
this  was  not  its  only  consequence  ;  it  was  the 
same  conscientious  spirit  that  led  him  to  fear, 
to  shrink  from  taking  her  to  himself,  as  the 
angel  goes  on  to  say.  Accordingly  he  hits  upon 
the  one  just  middle  course,  audi  certainly  no 
blame  could  attach  to  him. 

"  Bi  cause  lie  teas  a  just  man,  and  not  willing  to 
make  her  a  ptiblic  example,  he  was  minded  to  put. 
her  away  privily."  According  to  the  law  of 
Moses,  betrothal  counted  as  n»M-riage,  as  Deut. 
xxii.  26,  24,  sufficiently  proves,  the  betrothed 
damsel  being  called  the  "  neighbor's  wife." 
Thus  a  letter  of  divorcement  was  necessary  to 
the  putting  away  ;  nay,  if  once  the  case  were 
publicly  brought  forward,  the  adulteress  would 
be  liable  to  thepunishment  of  stoning  to  death, 
though  we  may  infer  from  John  viii.  that  it- 
was  no  longer  rigidly  enforced.  But  Joseph 
means  to  put  away  Mary  privily,  quietly, 
merely  by  means  of  a  letter  of  divorcement, 
properly  witnessed  by  two,  without  assigning 
any  cause  for  such  a  step,  preferring,  with 
touching  afTection  and  self-denial,  that  the 
blame  of  inconstancy  and  unkindness  should 
attach  to  himself;  for  it  would  be  left  un- 
certain whether  the  child  were  not  really  his, 
and  yet  the  mother  rejected  by  him.  Except 
that,  indeed,  as  has  been  sensibly  observed,  re- 
flective people  might  well  surmise  "  that  so 
right-minded  and  kind-hearted  a  man  must 
have  been  moved  by  some  strong  reason  to 
take  such  a  step." 

So  much  indeed  is  true:  "Jesus  bore  the 
sliame  that  attaches  to  all  illegitimate  children 
while  in  his  mother's  womb,  and  Mary  must 
have  had  her  portion  in  that  sliame."  But  a3 
to  what  is  usually  said  of  the  trial  to  faith,  the 
distress  and  sorrow  of  Mary,  is  for  the  most 
part  erroneous.  It  is  not  in  keeping  with  her 
character,  nor  would  it,  during  these  months 
of  pregnancy,  have  i)een  desirable  or  fitting 
with  reference  to  the  holy  child.  No,  Mary 
patiently  waited  and  prayed,  unshaken  in 
her  comfortable  conviction  that  God  himself 
would  solve  all  difficulties.  Nor  was  this  her 
faith  confounded.  Even  while  Joseph  was 
Ihinlcing  on  these  things,  the  divine  "vean". 
came  to  remove  his  perplexity.  Wo  learii  from 
this  expression  of  the  Evangelist,  that  Joseph 
had  not  spoken  of  his  intentions  to  Mary,  but 
only  matured  them  in  his  own  mind.  The  case 
has  been  well  put  thus:  "  Mary  said  nolhing, 
and  accordingly  Joseph  said  nothing  either, 
though  he  had  fully  maile  up  his  mind  what  to 
say."  But  when  the  commenti'or  goes  on  to 
finil  fault  with  Ihi.?  silence  of  Joseph,  and  to 
call  upon  us  to  dislinL'iiish  "  the  diiference  be- 
tween the  pure,  childlike  spirit  of  the  Virgin, 
wlio«e  womb  God  had  chosen  for  the  dwelling 
of  iiii  »Sun,  and  the  ri^|,hleuui>iius3  and  jusuca 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  ANGEL  IN  A  DKEAM  TO  JOSEPH. 


13 


of  a  man  under  the  law,"  this  is  an  uncalled- 
for  criticism.  Both  did  right;  no  pious  man 
in  Israel  could  have  behaved  more  gently  and 
justly  than  Joseph  purposed  doing  in  this 
unique  and  complicated  case. 

We  must  endeavor  still  further  to  realize 
the  whole  of  its  complication,  in  order  thor- 
oughly to  understand  the  angel's  words.  An 
angel  of  the  Lord — whether  this  was  Gabriel 
or  not  is  doubtful — appeared  to  Joseph  in  a 
dream,  which  was  a  lower  form  of  revelation, 
fitted  for  one  who  personally  was  of  inferior 
importance.  Olshausen,  however,  goes  too  far, 
when  he  says  of  Joseph,  "  The  Gospel  narrative 
does  not  define  his  character  at  all ;"  for  surely 
in  ver.  19  we  have  a  very  significant  sketch  of 
the  disposition  of  the  man.  To  have  inter- 
course with  angels  in  a  dream  is  of  itself  a 
high  distinction,  although  it  cannot  compare 
with  the  actual  appearance  in  broad  daylight 
of  angelic  messengers  to  chosen  souls ;  and 
though  conveyed  to  hitn  in  a  comparatively 
natural  manner,  still  the  message  ot  the  angel 
was  something  Joseph  never  could  have  im- 
agined himself,  something  quite  distinct  from 
tho.se  thoughts  or  dream-visions  that  occupied 
his  sleeping  mind,  connected  as  these  were  with 
the  decision  it  was  laboriously  working  out  in 
his  waking  hours. 

"  Josejih,  thon  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  talce 
unto  thee  Mary  thy  wife :  for  that  ichich  is  con- 
ceived in  her  is  of  the  Ho^y  Ghost."  Not  only  is 
his  name  given  in  full,  because  this  is  usual  in 
such  messages,  but  in  order  that  the  honorable 
title  "  son  of  David  "  should  recall  to  him  the 
great  promise  given  to  the  house  of  David. 
Fear  not,  as  though  thou  wert  wrong  in  so  do- 
ing (compare  Doubt  nothing,  Acts  x.  20).  Jo- 
seph's betrothed  is  here  spoken  of  to  him  as 
already  his  wife,  according  to  the  customary 
language  of  the  ^Mosaic  law  (see  Deut.  xxii. 
24) ;  just  as  the  Evangelist  had  before  called 
him  Mary's  husband  (ver.  19) ;  and  thus  the 
angel  shows  that  he  considers  the  marriage  tie 
as  still  retaining  all  its  original  sacredness  and 
rights,  and  Joseph  as  authorized  to  take  Mary 
home  in  the  characLf-r  of  wife  (see  Gen.  xxix. 
21).  And  further,  in  ver.  24,  the  Evangelist 
positively  shows  to  all  who  are  not  bent  upon 
escaping  from  the  natural  inference,  that  after 
the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  Joseph  became 
Mary's  husband  in  reality.  Lange  treats  this 
matter  very  arbitrarily.  He  maintains  that 
the  question,  whether  Mary  and  Joseph  lived 
together  as  man  and  wife  (which  he  himself 
cannot  avoid  owning  to  be  affirmed  by  the 
text),  and  the  question  whether  Mary  had 
other  children,  are  distinct,  and  to  be  kept  so. 
But  we  maintain  both  that  Joseph  did  really 
consummai>>  the  marriage,  aud  that  it  did  not 
remain  untdessed,  for  we  find  later  a  casual 
mention  maue  of  brothers  and  sisters,  together 
with  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  the  words  are  to 
be  simply  unoerstood  in  their  primary  meaning. 
Many,  indeeTt,  deny  this,  who  yet  feel  them- 
selves obliged  to  give  up  the  f  eqjetual  virgin- 


ity of  j\Iary,  but  we  see  no  manner  of  reason 
for  their  doing  so. 

"  That  which  is  conceived  /?i  her."  Compare 
Luke  i.  35  :  "  th'U  lo'iich  is  horn  of  ihee."  The 
message  goes  on  to  specify  more  distinctly  that 
this  is  a  son  ;  is  of  the  ll'ly  Ghost,  the  same 
enigma  as  for  Mary.  If  Joseph  had  any  ilis- 
position  left  to  inquire  how  this  could  be,  lie 
would  receive  from  Mary  the  only  possible 
answer  :  God  said  it,  and  it  has  come  to  pass. 
But  he  believed  at  once,  and  took  comfort  fiorti 
the  angel's  saying,  as  was  proved  by  his  ready 
obedience,  ver.  24.  Truly  this  obedience  also 
deserves  to  be  called  great. 

"  She  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt 
call  his  name  Jesus;  for  he  shall  save  his  j>eo]ile 
from  their  sins."  At  first  we  have  almost  the 
identical  words  used  to  Mary,  from  whence, 
however,  we  need  not  conclude,  what  is  other- 
wise improbable,  that  Gabriel  was  the  angel 
speaking.  Not,  she  shall  bear  thee  (as  in  Luke 
i.  13),  as  most  commentators  have  almost  un- 
necessarily pointed  out.  In  Isaiah  vii.  14,  we 
find,  according  to  the  best  translation,  she  shall 
call  his  name  Immanuel,  in  order  to  bring  into 
full  prominence  the  Virgin  as  only  parent  of 
the  child.  On  the  other  hand,  we  see  in  Luke 
i.  62,  as  well  as  in  Gen.  xxi.  3,  that,  generally 
speaking,  the  right  of  naming  the  child  be- 
longed to  the  father.  Thus  the  angel,  by  not 
only  conceding  to  Joseph  the  right  publicly  to 
bestow  this  divinely-appointed  name  on  the 
child,  but  enjoining  on  him  the  doing  so  as  a 
duty,  shows  that  this  son  of  David  was,  as 
husband  to  Mary,  to  stand  in  the  legal  position 
of  fath'^r  lo  the  child,  to  adopt  him  before  tlie 
world,  and  to  accept  the  charge  of  bringing 
him  up. 

The  interpretation  of  the  name  that  follows 
is  strikingly  more  full  and  clear  than  that  given 
in  the  annunciation  to  Mary ;  speaks  out  more 
plainly  that  this  Saviour  is  to  accomplish  a 
spiritual,  a  real  deliverance;  more  absolutely 
does  away  with  all  political  expectation  than 
even  the  inspired  song  of  Zacharias.  We 
would  recall  what  we  have  already  said  re- 
specting the  almost  universal  error  as  to  the 
etymology  of  the  name  of  Jesus,  because  here 
we  have  fuller  light  upon  the  subject,  The 
angel,  in  interpreting  this  name,  does  not  say, 
God's  or  the  Lord's  salvation  will  come  through 
him,  God  will  save  through  him,  but  merely 
and  emphatically,  he  himself,  who  bears  this 
name,  will  save,  will  bless;  he  himself  will  be 
in  his  own  person  what  he  is  called,  and  so 
this  ancient  name,  borne  by  so  many,  will,  for 
the  first  time,  be  thoroughly  fulfilled  in  him. 
The  same  meaning  is  to  be  found  in  Luke  ii. 
11,  and  is  repeated  in  the  Acts  of  Apostles  iv. 
12. 

But  what  is  this  full  deliverance,  this  per- 
fect help,  this  salvation  without  which  all  else 
so  called  is  unavailing  at  last?  "  Sais,"  the 
many  that  have  sprung  from  the  first  original 
sin,  these  are  our  enemies.  Not  only  is  pun- 
ishment here  meant,  but,  most  especially,  our 
siiii  themselves,  which  be  is  come  into   the 


14 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  CHRIST'S  BIRTH. 


world  to  lake  away  (1  John  iii.  5).  He  does 
not  save  us  loiik,  but  irom  our  sina.  This  can- 
not be  sulRciently  preached. 

That  this  child  already  conceived,  this  Jesus 
or  Saviour,  to  Lie  born,  should  save  alt  men,  all 
sinners,  the  angel  does  not  indeed  say  ;  the 
niy.-;tery  of  the  salvation  of  all  nations  (Eph. 
111.  5)  is  not  yet  to  be  clearly  revealed,  the  first 
brnjld  ray  of  this  new  light  is  to  proceed  from 
the  prophet  Simeon.  But,  at  least,  he  design- 
edly avoids  the  word  Israel,  giving,  in  its  stead, 
h\6  pto/ilf,  which  expression  will  come  to  in- 
clude all  men  under  heaven  (Acts  iv.  12). 
His  people  ;  this  emphatically  confers  the  same 
position  formerly  expressed  by  the  appellation, 
"  God's  people."  We  may  affirm  that  all  sin- 
ners who  desire  to  be  free  from  their  sins,  and 
to  submit  themselves  to  Jesus  in  faith,  have  by 
this  very  desire  become  his  people,  and  all  bis 
people  he  saves   from   their  sins.     This   glad 

Erophetic  import  of  his  most  holy  name,  Jesus 
as  fulfilled  ever  since,  and  will  go  on  fulfilling 
even  more  and  more,  so  that  the  words  of  the 
prophet  are  peculiarly  applicable  here  :  "  There 
is  none  like  unto  thee,  0  Lord  ;  thou  art  great, 
and  thy  name  is  great  in  might,"  (Jer.  x.  6). 

The  verses  22,  23  are  not  a  continuation  of 
the  angel's  speech,  as  might  at  first  be  supposed, 
but  the  Evangelist's  own  quotation  of  a  ful- 
filled prophecy,  as  the  expression,  "All  this  was 
done,"  unmistakably  proves.  The  closing  par- 
agraph tells  of  Joseph's  immediate  obedience 
to,  and  full  faith  in,  the  command  he  had  re- 
ceived in  sleep,  and  authorizes  us  to  imagine 
the  joy  with  which  the  betrothed  pair  would 
exchange  the  recital  of  the  special  revlations 
made  to  them.  Matthew  concludes  his  first 
chapter  with  the  impressively  repealed  name 
Jtsus,  sets  it  as  a  seal  to  the  close  of  this  his 
first  narrative;  the  second  closing  with  the 
once  despised,  now  honored  affix,  of  JS'azarelh. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Angels  that  Announce  the  Birth 
OP  Christ  at  Bethlehem. 


Lui 


In  treating  of  the  familiar  but  inexhaustible 
Christmas  text  contained  in  this  chapter,  we 
have  no  intention  of  preaching  a  sermon  ;  we 
only  wish  to  present  the  radiant  words  in  their 
simple  profundity  and  natural  sequence  to  the 
Christian  reader,  and  witli  exegetical  precision 
to  place  in  its  true  light  whatever  has  been 
imperfectly  understood  and  preached,  or  er- 
roneonsly  translated. 

"  Tiiere  tcere  in  the  same  coiintri/  shepherdx," — 
sij^'nilies  the  environs,  or  a  di.'^tnct  near  to 
Bethlehem  ;  shepherds  dwelling  with  their 
flocks  in  the  plains  or  open  country.  Their 
number  is  not  given  to  us  any  more  than  that 
of  tiie  wise  men  of  the  East,  "with  reference  to 
whom  tradition  will  not  be  satisfied  to  receive 


the  simple  Bible  narrative.  These  shepherds, 
humble,  if  not  poor,  were  more  favored  than 
all  the  great  and  wise  in  Israel,  nay,  than  all 
men  then  upon  the  earth.  Not  to  the  high- 
[iriest  and  doctors  of  the  law,  not  even  to  Mary 
and  Joseph,  does  the  glory  of  the  heavenly  pa- 
geant  appear. 

This  inacli  we  may  assert  of  these  shepherds, 
they  were  evidently  pious  men,  waiting  intel- 
ligently and  anxiously  for  the  redemption  of 
Israel.  On  this  subject  Schleiermacher  has 
justly  and  beautifully  observed,  as  Neander 
acknowledges:  "  This  satisfaction  of  individu- 
al desire,  not  infrequent  at  great  eras  such 
as  this,  is  truly  impressive  and  divine."  A 
thought  that  is  still  more  admirably  elabor- 
ated by  Van  Oo.sterzee :  "In  this  satisfaction 
of  the  private  and  concealed  desire  of  a  few 
individuals  at  the  very  moment  that  the  eter- 
nal salvation  of  millions  was  being  provided 
for,  there  is  something  indescribably  touching 
and  divine.  We  overlook  the  masses  in  the 
individual,  or  the  individual  in  the  masses; 
God  regards  both  at  once,  and  both  alike." 
Indeed  it  is  generally  the  manner  of  all  divine 
manifestations  as  unfolded  to  us  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  to  make  known  to  a  few  elect 
persons,  in  the  first  instance,  what  is  intended 
for  all;  so  that  the  facts  that  are  to  become 
most  universally  known  have  a  silent  and 
unnoticeable  origin.  "The  secret  of  the  Lord 
is  with  them  that  fear  him,  and  he  shall  show 
them  his  covenant"  (Psa.  xxv.  14),  and  accord- 
ing to  this  ancient  rule  the  first  recipients  of 
the  new  announcement  here  stand  in  the  place 
of  or  represent  the  whole  people  of  the  Lord. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Bethlehem  there 
was  in  olden  times  a  fortified  place  for  flocks, 
a  toicer  of  shepherds,  as  already  appears  in  Gen. 
XXXV.  21.  This  is  spoken  of  by  the  prophet 
Micah,  the  proper  rendering  of  chap.  iv.  8 
being:  "And  tiiou  toicer  of  the  Jlock,  thou 
strong  hold  (hill)  of  the  daughter  of  Zion, 
unto  thee  shall  it  come,  even  the  former  do- 
minion, the  kingdom  of  the  daugliter  of  Jeru- 
salem." Now,  this  hill  of  the  daughter  of 
Zion,  i.  e.,  the  tower  of  Ophel  at  Jerusalem,* 
may  represent  the  house  of  David,  and  be  at 
the  same  time  named  a  tower  of  the  flock  in 
remembrance  of  David's  original  character  of 
shepherd  of  the  sheep,  and  afterwards  shepherd 
of  Israel.  In  either  case,  since  the  prophecy 
concerning  iiethlehem  coines  from  Micah,  our 
thoughts  revert  not  only  to  the  tower  of  the 
flocks  that  stood  there,  but  discern  in  the  pas- 
sage an  allusion  to  the  future  announcement 
of  the  coming  kingdom  to  the  shephc-nls  near 
Bethlehem.  These  shepherds,  not  incorrectly 
viewed  as  types  of  the  shepherds  of  God'a 
flock,  were  found  faithful  to  their  calling  even 
in  the  hours  usnnlly  devoted  to  rest;  they 
were  keeping  watch  over  their  sheep  by  night. 
Then  tiiere  came  to  them,  or  rather  suddenly 
■stood  before  them  ("not  having  been  seen  either 


*2  Chron.  xxvii.  n-   xxvi  i.  14  j  Neh.  iii.  26, 
ii.  21  i  i>a.  xx\ii.  11  ;,lii.-b.). 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  CHRISTS  BIRTH. 


15 


to  walk  or  fly")  an  angel  of  ihe  Lord. 
Whether  this  was  again  Gabriel  we  are  not 
told,  and  do  not  therefore  venture  to  decide, 
though  it  seems  most  prooable,  from  chap.  i. 
19-26,  that  this  angel,  not  being  named  here, 
was  not  the  same  as  on  the  two  former  occa- 
sions. But  it  was  a  real  individual  angel,  and 
no  doubt  one  exalted  above  others,  as  he  was 
chosen  for  the  honor  of  bringing  such  a  mes- 
sage. We  know  not  why  Lange,  in  opposition 
to  the  literal  truth  of  the  narrative,  should 
persist  in  speaking  of  the  shepherds  having 
"a  vision  of  the  angel  of  the  covenant." 

The  birth  of  the  Lord  is  announced  and  cele- 
brated, we  observe,  in  a  manner  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  forerunner;  the  child  register- 
ed on  earth  as  a  subject  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
is  proclaimed  by  the  heavenly  hosts  as  the  Sav- 
iour of  all  mankind.  No  glory  streams  round 
his  manger,  but  the  shepherds  are  shone  round 
about  (as  in  Acts  xxvi.  13)  at  the  appearing  of 
the  angel  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  light 
of  God  referred  to  in  Psa.  civ.  2.  Not  like  to 
a  fire  as  in  Exod.  xxvi.  7,  but  in  mild  splen- 
dor shines  this  light  in  the  night  that  tells  of 
the  holy  birth  of  the  wondrous  child.  And 
yet  the  shepherds  were  "sere  afraid,"  till  the 
one  angel  commissioned  to  speak  first  of  all 
the  heavenly  host,  addresses  them  in  these  gra- 
cious words : 

"  Fear  not  /for,  hehold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings 
of  (,reat  jn/,  which  shall  be  to  the  whole  peojile." 
Of  all  the  exhortations,  "  Fear  thou  not,"  "  fear 
ye*  not,"  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  contain 
for  the  comfort  of  the  children  of  men,  surely 
this  is  the  most  significant,  the  most  glorious. 
Even  passages  like  that  in  Rev.  i.  17,  have  not 
quite  so  close,  so  full  a  relation  to  that  first  "/ 
was  afraid,"  in  the  mouth  of  fallen  Adam.  In 
the  same  way  the  noteworthy  prelude,  "be- 
hold," has  an  unparalleled  strength  of  emphasis 
laid  upon  it  here  ;  for  even  the  last  fiehold  in 
Rev.  xxi.  3,  5,  is  included  in  and  developes  it- 
self as  a  consequence  of  this.  The  message 
of  the  resurrection  even,  as  Bengel  observes, 
does  not  positively  express  the  joy  which  it  is 
destined  to  convey ;  but  here  the  child  in  the 
manger  is  from  the  first  designated,  as  we  par- 
ents delight  to  hear  our  children  call  him  in 
their  Christmas  games,  a  child  of  great  joy. 
Truly  the  word  joy  is  one  that  must  at  all 
times  be  welcome  to  the  fearful,  care-worn,  sor- 
rowful heart  of  humanity.  Here,  too,  it 
sounds  forth  as  the  real  fulfillment  of  the  pro- 
phetic words  (Isa.  ix.  3,  6).  No  doubt  the  Old 
Testament  often  gives  us  the  reassuring /ear 
not,  but  henceforth  more  than  the  joy  in  har- 
vest, more  than  the  joy  of  dividing  the  spoil, 
is  conveyed  by  the  great  joy  with  which  the 
Ciospel  begins,  when,  for  the  first  time,  it  is 
preached  to  the  poor.  Great  is  the  joy  Christ 
brings  to  all  those  who  sorrow  for  sin  ;  great  in 
its  height,  breadth,  depth  ;  so  great  that  to  all 
eternity  it  will  remain  unexhausted.  Yea, 
this  joy  not  only  removes  all  grief,  but  alone 
makes  earthly  "joy  to  be  joy  indeed.  The 
anj^el,  in  using  the  words  "  /  bring  to  you,"  re- 


fers primarily  to  the  shephenls  to  whom  ha 
speaks,  but  he  immediately  adds,  that  the  glad 
tiding  are  to  be  made  known  by  them  to  the 
wiiole  people,  or,  as  it  is  more  generally  ren- 
dered, to  aU]>enple.  And  not  incorrectly,  since 
the  message,  taken  as  a  whole,  borders  very 
closely  upon  the  disclosure  of  the  mystery 
(soon  to  be  revealed  by  Simeon,  vers.  31,  32). 
"Rejoice,  ye  Gentiles,  with  his  people"  (Rom. 
XV.  10).  Nay,  perhaps,  the  second  clause  (ver. 
11),  to  you  is  born,  may  be  understood  in  the 
same  comprehensive  sense  as  the  close  of  the 
angelic  song  of  praise — "  Peace  on  earth,  good- 
will to  men."  But  literally  the  angel's  speech 
begins  with  Israel,  as  it  was  meet ;  the  gra- 
cious offers  of  salvation  being  in  very  deed  first 
mad*  to  the  chosen  people.  The  fact,  how- 
ever, that  the  Lord's  people  would  subse- 
quently reject  the  one  now  Lorn  to  them,  and 
accordingly  come  short  of  the  great  joy,  is  not 
at  this  juncture  to  cloud  and  mar  the  glad 
tidings  brought. 

"For  there  is  born-  to  you  to-day  a  Saviour, 
lohich  is  Christ  the  Lord,  in  ihe  city  of  David." 
We  observe  a  harmony  with  the  order  of 
the  prophetic  words,  "For  unto  u«  a  child  is 
born  ;"  and  the  yet  more  profoundly  significant 
clause  that  immediately  follows,  "  unto  us  a 
son  is  given"  (given  to  us  all  as  our  own). 
But  Bi  our  text  the  word  born  stands  out  first 
with  a  stronger  emphasis;  the  ?m  of  the  prophet 
changes  to 2/ou,  applied  by  angel  lips  to  men;  (he 
great  to-day  is  come  which  divides  the  history 
of  the  world  into  two  mighty  epochs  before 
and  after  Christ.  To  the  angel  the  child  born 
is  already  the  Lord  whom  he  worships,  as  in 
Matt,  xxviii.  6,  where  the  same  words,  but 
still  more  simple,  without  any  affix  whalsover, 
are  spoken  by  an  angel  of  him  who  had  been 
laid  in  the  grave.  To  us  the  children  of  men 
he  is  born  a  Saviour,  which  expression  hitherto 
had  sometimes  in  its  lowest  sense  been,  as  we 
have  before  seen,  applied  to  sundry  human 
helpers,  deliverers,  redeemers;  sometimes  in  its 
highest  sense  had  been  used  as  one  means 
of  God  himself,  from  1  Sam.  xiv.  39;  2  Sam. 
xxii.  3  ;  Isa.  xlv.  15  ;  down  to  Luke  i.  47.  But 
here  the  name  of  Jesus  is  pointed  at,  and  to  it 
is  added,  "which  is  Christ."  Not,  however, 
specially  the  Saviour,  but  as  the  English  Bible 
correctly  renders  it,  «  Saviour,  a  born  child  of 
Adam's  race,  a  person,  a  man  to  whom  this 
name  belongs,  fully,  absolutely,  as  it  never  did 
to  any  other.  First  we  have  the  fact  itself, 
the  cause  of  the  great  joy,  salvation  for  the  sin- 
ner ;  then  the  person  in  whom  the  salvation  is 
contained.  He,  who  as  a  man  is  the  long- 
promised,  newly-born  Christ;  as  God  is  for  all 
angels  the  Lord.  This  is  the  only  place  where 
both  names,  Christ— the  Lord,  occur  in  this  ex- 
act connection,  which  essentially  distinguishes 
them  from  "  the  Lord's  Christ "  in  ver.  26.  We 
should  be  careful  therefore  in  no  way  to  di- 
minish or  obscure  the  lofty  meaning  of  the 
expression,  as  they  do  who  explain  it,  "  The 
great  deliverer,  the  God-consecrated  king." 
Whether  the  pious  shepherds  understood  the 


16 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  CHRIST'S  BIRTH. 


•fn1l  bearinc;  of  the  words  i?  anotlier  question 
which  lias  nothing  to  do  with  their  proper  ex- 
position ;  for  these  (xrd  the  words  which  have 
come  down  from  the  first  hearers,  and  have 
Bfiread  over  the  worUl.  At  all  events,  they 
nn.it  have  had  more  correct  ideas  concerning 
tlieexnected  Christ  than  the  Samaritan  woman 
had  (John  iv.  25),  and  they  would  probably 
(h-iiw  a  lolly  inlerence  from  the  expression, ^Ae 

Lastly,  we  have  the  specific  inl'ormation  con- 
reeled  with  the  directions  given  for  the  finding 
of  the  chdd  ( ver.  12),  "in  the  city  of  David." 
The  time  of  the  holy  birth,  to-day,  burst  forth 
in  the  angelic  message  first,  then  comes  the 
flace  which,  according  to  prophecy  could  in- 
deed be  no  other.  Not  only  were  the  chief 
priests  and  scribes  familiar  with  those  words 
of  the  prophet  ^Micah  (Matt.  ii.  4,  6),  but  some 
knowledge  of  them  had  even  spread  abroad 
among  the  people,  as  we  see  from  John  vii.  42. 
Accordingly  we  find  that  the  earliest  disciples 
were  in  no  way  scandalized  by  the  Messiah  be- 
ing of  Nazareth. 

it  appears  most  probable  from  the  angel's 
address  that  the  shepherds  were  well  acquaint 
ed  with  the  prophecy.  And  besides,  pious 
shepherds  in  Bethlehem  had  just  now  peculiar 
reason  to  remember  the  honor  and  dignity 
ascribed  in  Scripture  to  their  little  town.  No 
doubt  the  la.un(]  ]\.\^t  decreed,  reminding  per- 
sons so  vividly  of  tiieir  house  and  lineage,  had 
given  them  and  others  occasion  to  sigh:  Alas, 
how  lowly  and  obscure  are  the  descendants  of 
David  become !  0  that  the  son  of  David 
would  soon  come  to  his  kingdom  ! 

And,  lo  I  he  is  come  ;  he  is  born  in  his  own 
city!  That  the  shepherds,  as  soon  as  this  was 
made  known  to  them,  should  at  once  prepare 
to  go  to  Bethlehem,  to  see  that  which  was 
come  to  pass,  is  taken  for  granted;  they  are 
not  told  to  go.  But  their  first  impulse  would 
naturally  have  been  to  inquire  aloud  for  the 
new-born  king,  supposing  that  his  birth  was 
generally  known,  as  did  the  wise  men  in  Jeru- 
ealem.  To  prevent  them  from  doing  this,  the 
■angel  gives  them  a  sign  unasked,  not  as  confir- 
mation of  their  faith,  for  these  shepherds  had 
simply  believed  each  word  that  fell  from  his 
]i[m:  but  to  help  them  in  their  silent  seeking 
and  finding,  in  which,  indeed,  it  is  probable 
Ihey  were  still  further  assisted  by  a  divine 
leading. 

"And  </i/s  (shall  be)  to  yon  the  sign ,-  you  »?iaU 
find  a  chdd  wrajiped  in  mcaddling  clothes,  (and) 
lying  in  a  mango:"  Hero  only  one  sign  is 
specifically  given  to  them,  and  that  is;  in  a 
manger!  The  word  and  is  in  all  probability 
not  authentic;  the  passage  runs,  a.  swaddled 
child,  lying  (as  all  new-born  children  do,  but 
not  in  such  comfort  as  even  the  poorest  have  ; 
no,  but)  in  a  manger!  That  is  tlie  sign,  that 
is  t:ie  extraordinary  circumstance,  whereas  the 
swaddling  clothes  are  proverbial,  are  univer- 
eal.  Without  resi.fct  of  persons,  as  we  road  in 
the  r.o-.k  of  Wisdom  (vii.  3-6).  Neverthe- 
less, We  are  authorized   to   take  not  only  the 


swaddling  clothes  as  well,  but  more  especially 
the  child,  as  for  us  the  lovely  sign  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour.  A  child*  thus  is  Christ  the  Lord 
as  our  Saviour,  to  be  made  like  unto  us;  to 
take  our  poor  flesh  and  blood  on  him,  that  is 
his  first  sign.  Akin  to  this  are  the  swaddling 
clothes,  typical  of  helplessness  and  weakness 
(see,  in  addition  to  the  passage  of  Wisdom, 
Ezek.  xvi.  4),  and  common  to  all;  but  the 
unusual  circumstance  is  the  manger,  the  un- 
clean manger,  fitted  only  for  cattle,  a  sign  of 
poverty  and  humiliation  indeed.  But  as  shep- 
herds were  familiar  with  the  stali  and  the 
manger,  this  sign  was  one  peculiarly  calculated 
to  encourage  them  :  "  You  may  approach  this 
king;  he  is  not  come  in  worldly  pomp  and 
splendor."  Again,  there  would  certainly  be 
no  other  child  at  that  time  in  Bethlehem  lying 
in  a  manger,  they  would  not  therefore  make 
any  mistake  as  to  his  identity.  Some  have, 
indeed,  read  in  the  manger  (but  erroneously, 
see  ver.  7),  and  have  thence  concluded  that 
the  angel  referred  to  one  in  a  stable  belonging 
to  these  very  shepherds,  but  the  tone  of  the 
whole  narrative,  especially  of  ver.  8,  is  opposed 
to  such  an  idea. 

We  pass  onward  from  the  touching  picture 
of  the  swaddled  and  manger-laid  baby,  con- 
descendingly aflTorded  us  by  the  angel,  to  the 
lofty  hymn  which  followed  upon  the  lowly  de- 
tails just  given.  "  Heaven  alone  then  knew 
of  the  treasure  bestowed  on  earth,"  as  it  has 
been  well  and  truly  said.  Nay  more,  all  the 
angels  of  heaven  were  powerless  to  effect  what 
this  new-born  infant  brought  and  fulfilled; 
and  for  this  reason  the  "  heavenly  hosts  sing 
to  the  child  born  in  Bethlehem  such  a  cradle- 
song  as  never  was  sung  to  monarch's  son,  for 
in  tliose  swaddling  clothes  is  wrapped  a  mys- 
tery into  which  even  angels  desire  to  look." 
To  which  we  add,  that  for  men  and  angels,  the 
understanding  of  this  mystery  is  from  first  to 
last  limited  to  adoration,  "  Glory  be  to  God  in 
the  highest!" 

And  suddenly,  quite  unexpectedly,  there  loas 
(there  became  visible  with  the  angel  who  had 
just  spoken)  a  (great,  or,  it  may  be  rendered, 
the  whole)  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host.  If 
over  the  repentance  of  one  sinner  there  is 
joy  among  the  angels  of  God,  joy  throagh- 
out  heaven,  how  should  not  ali  the  angels 
have  rejoiced  with  and  over  us  in  this  great 
joy?  Certainly  we  do  not  find  it  so  specified 
in  the  original,  but  it  is  hardly  to  he  conceived 
that  the  whole  multitude  of  the  angels  was  not 
present;  how  should  any  of  them  have  tailed, 
as  though  unconcerned  in  this  great  event? 
If  at  the  first  creation  of  the  earth  the  morn- 
ing stars  sang  praise,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shouled  for  joy,  how  much  more  now  ? 

"  Glory  (be  now)  in  the  height  to  God,  and  on 
earth  peace,  to  men  (a)  good- will."  Th.is  is  the 
proper  construction  of  the  passage.  There  is 
indeed  a  different  reading,  authorized  by  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  gives  us,  to  men  of  good - 


'  Not,  as  geuerally  reudeied,  "  the  chilU, 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  CHRIST'S  BIRTH. 


17 


will,  but  tliore  are  positive  and  we'I-foun(]ed 
objections  to  it.  Ni'itlier  the  critical  investiga- 
tion of  ancient  MSS.,  nor  customary  idiom,  still 
less  the  general  meaning  of  the  passage,  au- 
thorizes such  a  limitation  of  this  full  Gospel 
and  comprehensive  song  of  praise,  such  an 
allusion  to  the  co-operating  good-will  of  men. 
Luther,  indeed,  while  still  fettered  by  the  tradi- 
tional interpretation,  understands  the  passage, 
gnad-wiU  of  men,  i.  e.,  their  praise  and  thanks- 
giving to  God,  and  their  entire  resignation  of 
themselves  to  his  will.  But  we,  for  our  parts, 
unbiassed  by  human  authority  however  high, 
determine  with  the  angel  only  to  give  glory  to 
God,  and  to  proclaim  and  celebrate  his  good- 
will to  man,  and  that  only. 

From  the  nature  of  the  three  clauses,  we 
may  infer  that  two  choruses  answered  each 
other,  alternately  speaking  of  heaven  and  earth, 
then  joined  in  one  common  song  to  express 
the  ground  of  the  union  of  heaven  with  earth, 
of  God  with  men.  The  very  words,  indeed, 
are  rightly  called,  not  so  much  a  song,  as  an 
ascription  of  i^raiae  to  God,  as  the  Evangelist 
says  in  ver.  13,  for  the  first  clause  is  the  main 
one,  which  iheothersonly  confirm  and  complete. 
The  best  and  clearest  illustration  of  its  mean- 
ing as  a  whole  is  given  by  Nitzsch,  when  he 
says  ;  "  This  song  rises  up  to  the  glory  of  God, 
comes  down  again  to  proffer  peace  to  earth, 
rests  with  good-will  on  men  ;"  and  proceeds  to 
paraphrase  its  contents  :  "  How  is  the  glory  of 
God  manifested  in  the  making  earth  peaceful, 
by  mercy  and  good-will  shown  to  sinful  man  ;" 
to  which  we  may  add  Beck's  beautiful  thought, 
"  The  angels'  song  soars  to  heaven,  then  stoops 
to  earth,  and  concludes  with  men,  as  though  it 
would  forever  echo  in  the  human  heart." 

Further,  we  may  remark  that  the  three-fold 
division,  as  is  almost  always  the  case,  assumes 
a  trinitarian  form  :  Glory  to  the  Father,  peace 
through  the  Spirit,  God's  good-will  manifested 
by  his  Incarnate  Son  ;  with  which  may  be 
compared  the  similar  sequence  in  Tit.  iii. 
4-6. 

Well  might  we  be  content  to  sing  after  <lie 
example  of  the  angels,  "  Glory  he  to  God  in  the 
highest,"  but  we  must  not  forget  that  the 
words  imply  not  merely  an  aspiration,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  an  announcemenl  of  what  actu- 
ally is  ;  how,  because  the  Saviour  is  born,  there 
does,  indeed,  arise  new  glory  to  God.  For  a 
prophecy  and  assurance  that  this  glory  will  be 
given  to  him  more  and  more,  is  contained  in 
the  fact  itself.  God's  glory,  the  foundation 
and  aim  of  all  things — what  is  it  else  than 
(according  to  the  closely  resembling  Greek 
and  Hebrew  words)  the  image  of  the  divine 
glory  in  the  creature?  But  the  full  glory  of 
his  love  stooping  to  the  lost,  now  first  appears 
in  all  its  completeness  in  Christ.  In  creation, 
indeed,  he  has  prominently  displayed  his  om- 
nipotence, wisdom  and  love;  but  here  he  has 
made  known  his  mercy,  his  everlai^ting  mercy; 
in  this  transaction  he  has  opened  out  to  the 
hosts  of  hearren,  a  new  infinity  of  his  perfec- 
tions 1    Accordingly  the  Church  sings  :  To  God 


I  in  the  highest  alone  be  praise,  and  thanks  be 
to  his  grace  ! 

But  the  position  of  the  words  is  not  quite 
correctly  given.  According  to  the  order  of  the 
original,  the  words,  in  the  hnght,  or  the  highest, 
belong  not  to  God,  but  to  the  glory  to  be 
given  ;  for  even  in  heaven  itself  sin  had 
troubled  and  disturbed  the  glory  of  God  (Col. 
i.  20),  which  was  now  to  be  restored  by  Christ. 
Thus  there  was  now  a  new  honor,  a  new  praise 
to  God,  that  broke  out  in  heaven  from  the  an- 
gels, just  as  there  was  a  new  peace  on  earth 
among  men.  Thus  it  is  not  here  meant  (al- 
though this  also  is  true)  that  God  dwells  and 
reigns  in  a  highest  height  to  which  the  angels 
can  only  look  up.  It  is  not  this  that  is  alluded 
to,  but  the  heavens  generally,  spoken  of  in  a 
plural  form,  and  in  opposition  to  the  earth. 
That  we  should  once  more  be  able  rightly  to 
honor  God,  is  the  subject  taken  up  by  the  sec- 
ond chorus,  after  the  first  chorus  has  sung  the 
praise  of  God  from  the  height;  the  angels 
giving  him  glory  for  his  omnipotence,  truth, 
faithfulness,  justice,  but,  above  all,  and  in  all, 
for  his  mercy. 

And  peace  on  earth  l  That  sounds  more  intel- 
ligible than  the  somewhat  obscure  cry  of  the 
people,  "  Peace  in  heaven"  (Luke  xix.  38). 
In  heaven  there  has  never  been  discord,  but 
the  ungodly  on  earth  have  no  peace,  no  well 
being.  The  earth  is  the  abyss  to  which  the 
peace-bringing  grace  descends  from  above.  In 
the  original,  it  is  true,  and  especially  in  the 
Old  Testament,  the  word  feace,  in  its  primitive 
meaning,  stands  for  salvation,  restoration, 
though  it  also  expresses  that  which  we  call 
peace.  But  here  it  is  more  than  peace  between 
man  and  man  that  is  meant ;  the  great  recon- 
ciler of  our  strifes,  puts  an  end  to  our  divisions 
by  first  of  all  reconciling  us  to  God.  Both  go 
together  ;  the  cause  is  seen  and  glorified  in  the 
efl'ect.  This  peace  on  earth  sounds  like  a  far- 
reaching  prophecy  ;  certainly  its  fulfillment  is 
still  distant,  and  advances  slowly,  but  it  will 
grow  and  increase  more  and  more.  The  angels 
themselves  have  made  the  first  beginning  of 
that  great  peace-preaching  of  the  peace-bringer, 
prophesied  in  Isa.  Ivii.  19,  and  referred  to  in 
Eph.  ii.  17.  the  angels  see,  in  the  new-born 
child,  the  prince  of  peace, at  whose  birth,  events 
being  so  overruled  and  rendered  typical  and 
prophetic  by  God's  providence,  the  Roman  em- 
pire had  peace  under  Cajsar  Augustus.*  And 
now,  throughout  Christendom,  and  in  missions 
to  the  heathen,  progress  is  being  made,  glory 
is  given  to  God  by  increasing  peacefulness,  till 
at  last  the  whole  perfect  good-will  of  God  shall 
be  fulfilled  toward  us  and  in  us ! 

And  so  gazing  onward  to  this  ultimate  goal, 
the  holy  angels  sing  at  the  birth  of  him  in 
whom  alone  we  are  well  pleasing  and  accept- 
able: To  men  a  good-will.  Thus  we  see  the 
three  clauses  are  closely  connected.  Wherelore 
is  this  glory  and  praise  to  God?   For  the  peace- 


*  Hence  the  coin  with  the  inscription  :  Fci£  orhii 
terrarum — iSW«s  ffencris  humam. 


18 


THE  ANGEL  RETURNS  TO  JOSEPH  IN  DREAMS. 


making  on  earfii.  But  wlience  this  peace? 
ThrDUgli  the  child  born,  in  whom  and  for 
wliose  sake  God's  good-will,  good-pleasure  is 
towards  men  (Eph.  i.  5,6;  Luke  iii.  22.), 
This  is  not,  indeed,  actually  said,  because  it  is 
&?lt-evident  when  we  turn  back  to  the  first 
clause  :  His,  or  God's,  good-will,  as  well  as  the 
restoration  of  men,  once  lost  through  their 
sin  ;  all  this  is  comprehended  in  the  many-sided 
whole.  Thus,  "  the  angels'  lips  blend  together 
God  and  t^le  highest  with  men  and  earth  in  one 
song  of  praise,  as  though  they  were  all  one 
whole,  one  holy  family"  (Beck).  Or,  to  be 
more  precise  still,  both  that  which  is  in  hea- 
ven and  on  earth,  really  is,  and  will  he  gathered 
together  in  Christ  (Eph.  i.  10).  Only  we  must 
cot,  with  over-subtlety,  interpret  the  word 
good-icill  as  Lange  would  have  us  to  do  when 
he  says,  "Amongst  men  the  good-will,  in  which 
God  accepts  and  blesses  humanity,  has  person- 
ally appeared."  Yet  there  is  a  certain  truth  in 
the  idea,  and  Bengel  says  very  truly,  "Until 
now  men  have  had  a  bad  name  among  the 
angels  ;  now  they  in  amazement  proclaim  the 
paradox,  the  seeming  contradiction  as  one  that 
is  solved,  'To  men  a  good-will ! '"  Or  as  Roos, 
in  his  naive  style,  carries  on  the  thought :  "  Sc 
cheerfully,  then,  do  angels  think  of  men,  and  it 
is  a  sin  that  men  themselves,  even  believing 
men,  should  not,  cannot,  always  think  alike 
cheerfully  of  themselves  and  others." 

Yea,  verily,  this  is  the  great  sin  which  can 
only  be  healed  by  the  repeated  going  in  faith 
to  Christ,  of  which  we  have  an  example  given 
by  the  shepherds.  The  Evangelist  writes : 
"  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  angels  were  gone 
away  from  them  into  heaven,  the  men,  the 
shepherds  said  one  to  another."  This  signifi- 
cant form  of  speech,  thus  linked  with  the  third 
clause  of  the  song  of  praise,  constitutes  these 
shepherds  the  representatives  of  all  men  for 
whom  Christ  is  born,  and  brings  their  words, 
"Let  m  now  go,"  into  prominence,  as  the  "  first 
words  spoken  by  men  in  Scripture  after  the 
birth  of  Christ."  They  came  with  haste  to 
the  spot,  to  the  manger  indicated, /t»u/i(/,  soon, 
■without  much  seeking  (this  is  almost  implied 
in  the  ex[)ression),  found  Mary,  Joseph,  and 
the  child  lying  in  the  manger.  For  a  moment 
they  forgot,  in  that  blessed  sight,  even  the 
angels  and  the  open  heaven,  and  then  they  re- 
lated, for  the  strengthening  of  Mary's  and 
Joseph's  laith — but  alas  !  only  for  the  wonder  of 
some  that  heard  them — the  sayings  which, 
had  been  so  miraculously  told  them  concerning 
the  holy  child. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Tee  Angel  Returns  to  JosErn  in  Dreams. 

Matthew  ii. 

Few  attentive  students  of  Scripture  will  be 
Bati.-fied  wiih  the  hypothesis  that  the  wise 
men  irom  the  East  arrived  at  Bethlehem  on 


lone  of  the  first  nights  after  the  birth  of  the 
'  holy  child  ;  and  that  both  the  flight  into 
Egypt,  and  the  return  thence,  took  place  he- 
Joic  the  presentation  in  the  Tem})le.  In 
"harmonizing  the  narratives  of  Matlhew  and 
Luke,  it  is  far  more  natural  to  receive  Luke's 
statement  (chap.  ii.  39)  as  a  rapid  gen- 
eral summary  of  events,  then  to  insist,  con- 
trary to  the  literal  meaning  of  ver.  22,  upon 
intercalating  there  the  whole  of  Matthew's  re- 
cord. That  so  diligent  an  inquirer  as  Luke 
should  have  been  unaware  of  the  visit  of  the 
wise  men,  and  the  flight  into  Eijypt  conse- 
quent thereon,  we  hold  to  be  most  improbable. 
But  according  to  the  plan  he  proposed  to  him- 
self in  writing  his  Gospel,  he  might  very  well 
pass  over  these  facts.  That  Joseph  and  Mary, 
with  the  child  born  to  them  in  the  city  of 
David,  should  remain  there  a  while,  seems  very 
natural  ;  but,  upon  closer  consideration,  we  see 
many  reasons  that  explain  the  purpose  of  God 
in  preventing  the  growing  up  of  the  child  at 
Bethlehem,  in  the  immediate  proximity  of 
Jerusalem.  And  the  manner  in  which  this 
purpose  was  fulfilled,  as  well  as  the  chain  of 
events  that  led  to  the  return  of  the  holy  fam- 
ily to  Nazareth,  are  given  us  only  by  the  first 
Evangelist  in  the  chapter  now  under  consider- 
ation. 

We  may  observe  that  it  was  in  a  house,  no 
longer  in  a  manger,  that  the  wise  men  toand 
him  they  sought  for.  The  first  divino  com- 
munication made  to  them  is  spoken  of  (ver. 
12)  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  that  to 
Joseph,  ver.  22.  A  divine  injunction,  of  which 
the  words  are  not  given,  warned  the  strangers 
against  returning  to  Herod;  a  similarly  divine 
injunction  is  given  three  times  to  Joseph,  and 
twice  the  actual  words  of  the  angel  are  re- 
corded. After  the  miraculous  testimony  to  his 
birth,  it  was  decreed  that  every  thing  connected 
wiih  the  wondrous  child,  born  as  he  was  to 
suffering,  not  to  splendor,  should  proceed  in 
the  most  simple  and  natural  manner,  with  this 
exception,  that  an  angelic  voice  was  twice 
more  to  point  and  mark  out  his  way.  The 
words  spoken  by  the  angel  apparently  confine 
themselves  merely  to  the  external  measures  he 
enjoined,  but  there  is  in  them  a  latent  reference 
to  much  that  is  prophetic,  pre-ordained,  and 
highly  signific.mt. 

it  is  not  said  whether  the  wise  men  were 
two,  three,  or  more,  but  merely,  with  a  grand 
indefinitcness,  careless  of  all  but  the  main 
point,  that  a  divine  command  was  given  to 
them  in  a  dream.  Hardly,  as  ]\Ienken  would 
have  us  over-literally  read  :  "  What  one  dreamt 
the  others  dreamt  also,  and  thus  it  was  impos- 
sible for  them  to  doubt  that  the  dream  and  the 
injunction  were  a  revelation  from  the  invisible 
world."  It  is  equally  satrsfactory  to  assume 
that  one  received  the  injuntion  for  the  rest.* 
Whether  they  were  themselves  suspicious  of 
Herod,  and  had  prayed  for  divine  guidance,  is 


♦Certainly  there  were  more  liieii  two,  or  tlio 
iudcliuiie  piural  could  not  correctly  be  used. 


THE  ANGEL  RETURNS  TO  JOSEPH  IN  DREAMS. 


19 


an  open  qnestion  ;  but  this  is  not  implied  in 
the  words  of  the  text,  and  to  us,  indeed,  it  ap- 
pears more  probable  that  it  was  their  simple- 
hearted  confidingness  in  the  tyrant  that  ren- 
dered the  divine  admonition  necessary.  If 
it  be  argued  that  an  angel  appeared  to  them 
also,  because  ver.  22  is  to  be  understood  like 
vers.  13,  19,  we  might,  on  the  other  hayd, 
with  belter  renson,  say  that  both  in  vers.  12 
and  22,  mere  twices  are  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  ajipcurance  of  the  speaker.  To  judge 
from  the  precision  with  which  the  different  de- 
grees of  spiritual  manifestations  have  hitherto 
been  indicated  by  the  Evengelist,  we  should 
say  that,  in  all  probability,  the  last  theory 
is  correct. 

It  was  to  Joseph,  not  to  Mary,  tliat  the  di- 
vine command  now  carae,  and  again  in  a  dream, 
as  in  chap.  i.  20.  His  paternal  and  guardian 
relation  to  the  child  was  established  ;  Mary, 
according  to  the  law  of  marriage,  was  now  in 
subjection  to  her  husband,  however  contrary 
to  all  the  human  imaginings  with  regard  to 
the  "  Holy  Virgin,"  the  "  Mother  of  God"  this 
may  seem. 

If,  as  is  probable,  the  wise  men  had  imparted 
the  divine  warning  they  had  received,  by  way 
of  explaining  their  return  home  by  another 
way,  contrary  to  Herod's  will,  Joseph  must 
have  surmised  some  threatened  danger  from 
Herod,  which  would  have  prepared  him  for  the 
angel's  injunction.  One  may  indeed  say  with 
Lange  :  "  He  saw  the  deep  seriousness  with 
which  the  wise  men  resolved  upon  the  other 
homeward  way.  The  consequent  excitement 
of  his  spirit  was  the  element  m  which  the  ray 
of  divine  revelation  kindled  into  flame."  But 
too  much  stress  is  not  to  be  laid  upon  these 
assumptions  of  peculiar  mood  and  suscepti- 
bility, especially  with  regard  to  so  simple  a 
character  as  Joseph's,  so  far  as  the  Scripture 
reveals  it  to  us.  Certainly  a  sincere  devotion 
on  his  part  to  the  child  must  be  pre-supposed 
as  the  very  condition  of  his  being  thus  teach- 
able by  visions  of  the  night.  But  to  go  with 
Lange  to  speak  of  Joseph's  four  prophetic 
dreams,  as  the  consequence  of  an  exalted  de- 
velopment of  his  sleeping  consciousness,  "and 
of  the  reciprocal  action  of  Joseph's  iidelity 
and  Mary's  anxious  spirit,"  does  appear  to  us 
simple-minded  ones  to  have  a  dangerous  ten- 
dency to  convert  the  fact  of  divine  revelation 
into  a  result  of  mere  human  moods,  evolutions, 
and  circumstances.  Rather  would  we  humbly 
hold  to  Scripture,  which,  for  the  most  part, 
does  not  speak  at  all  of  this  human  substratum, 
and  seldom  explains  any  thing  thereby. 

The  angel  now  appearing  in  a  dream  spoke 
in  the  following  words  :  "Uprisen  (or  uprising) 
take  to  thee  the  young  child,  and  his  mother,  and 
flee  into  Egypt,  and  remain  there  till  I  tell  thee 
(tell  thee  something  else),  for  Ilerod  intends  to 
seek  the  young  child  that  he  may  destmy  him." 
The  very  first  v/ord  enjoins  haste  ;  so  soon  as 
thou  hast  awaked  and  ari.sen  from  this  sleep, 
this  dream,  ■d^osoph,  no  doubt,  v/ould  wake 
iustantlv  to  rise  and  prepare  for  flight,  so  near 


ana  so  great  is  the  danger  threatened  to  that 
holy  life.  According  to  ver.  14,  it  was  thus 
that  Joseph  understood  and  acted  upon  the 
direction  given.  "  In  the  same  night,"  no  de- 
lay, not  even  that  of  a  single  day," but  imme- 
diately, he  prepares  to  obey,  to  flee  as  he  was 
commanded. 

In  their  humble  circumstances,  Mary  and  he 
would  have  but  little  to  lake  with  them  on 
their  journey;  they  would  willingly  leave  be- 
hind what  they  did  not  want.  Joseph  had 
already,  according  to  the  angel's  first  bidding, 
as  her  husband  and  her  guide,  taken  to  him 
the  mother ;  now  he  is  especially  to  take  the 
child.  Every  one  must  have  observed  how 
significant  the  prominence  given  by  the  Evan- 
gelist to  the  young  child  here,  and  in  ver.  11, 
differing,  as  it  does,  from  Luke  ii.  16.  The 
angel  neither  says  "  thy  child,"  nor  "  thy  son," 
nor  even,  on  this  occasion,  "  thv  wife,"  as  he 
had  done  before  (chap.  i.  20).  He  who  is  now 
immediately  concerned  is  Jesus,  the  new-born 
Saviour  of  men  and  the  King  of  the  Jews. 
For  such  a  flight  as  this,  Joseph,  though  he 
may  have  had  some  vague  fear  of  Herod's 
cruelty  and  cunning,  could  not  possibly  have 
been  prepared.  After  what  the  heavenly  host 
had  announced  and  sung,  after  Simeon's  pro- 
phecy and  the  wise  men's  worship,  after  all  this 
honor  done  him,  must  he,  whose  very  name 
is  "  God  with  us,"  flee  secretly  and  hurriedly  by 
night  into  a  place  of  safety,  that  he  may  not 
be  destroyed  in  his  infancy  ?  First  there  was 
no  room  for  him  in  the  inn  ;  now  there  is  no 
room  for  Immanuel  in  his  own  land  (Isa.  viii. 
8). 

"  But  wherefore  flee  ?"  As  Menken  observes  : 
"  Might  not  the  angel  who  brought  the  com- 
mand have  encamped  like  a  wall  of  fire  around 
the  child,  and  rendered  him  unapproachable? 
Could  he  not  have  overthrown  all  the  weapons 
of  human  and  devilish  malice,  like  that  angel 
who  wrought  such  destruction  in  the  Assyrian 
host?  Or  might  he  not  have  smitten  with 
blindness  the  men  commissioned  to  take  Jesus, 
like  those  who  came  to  take  the  prophet  Eli- 
sha?  Might  not  this  Herod  have  been  sud- 
denly smitten  by  an  angel  before  he  could  give 
his  murderous  behest,  as  was  the  case  with  his 
descendant  who  slew  James  with  the  sword?" 
Oh,  we  know  wqU  why  none  of  these  events 
happened.  It  was  that  Jesus,  from  beginning 
to  end  of  his  sufft-ring  career,  should  walk  in 
our  likeness,  and  be  at  once  our  atonement  and 
our  example.  As  at  his  life's  close  one  out  of 
the  legions  who  were  not  permitted  to  fight  for 
his  kingdom,  strengthened  him  for  the  death- 
agony,  so  now,  out  of  the  host  of  guardian 
and  guiding  angels,  one  is  appointed  not  open- 
ly to  wage  war  in  his  defence,  but  only  to  direct 
the  foster-father,  before  the  child  can  even  un- 
derstand the  direction,  "  Flee  with  him." 

And  not  only  flee  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Jerusalem  into  Judea  or  Galilee,  but  flee  to 
Egvpt.  That  had  been  once  before  a  land  of 
refuge  to  Israel,  and  was  now  the  most  con- 
venient place  for  the  holy  family  in  their  biiU- 


20 


THE  ANGEL  RETURNS  TO  JOSEPH  IN  DREAMS. 


isliment.  Herod's  jurisdiction  did  not  extend 
thither;  many  Jews  lived  there  in  civil  and 
religious  libertj\  Joseph  might  find  there  ac- 
quaintances whom  he  had  previously  made  at 
the  (east  of  the  Passover,  or,  at  all  events,  he 
wiiulil  easily  make  friends  among  his  country- 
ni"n  in  Egypt..  Thus  the  absence  from  the  land 
oi  israel  would  be  as  much  softened  as  possible, 
lint  under  cover  of  all  this,  we  discern  in  this 
11  ihtto  Egypt  aspecial  significance,  which  the 
iluly  Spirit,  speaking  through  the  Evangelist, 
discloses  in  ver.  15. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  passage, 
from  Hos.  xi.  1,  where  it  applies  historically  to 
Jsmd,  is  not  quoted  Irom  the  Greek  translation, 
then  ill  common  use,  which  here  obscures  and 
mutilates  the  prophetic  text,  but,  agreeably  to 
tiie  original  Hebrew,  where  it  may  be  para- 
phrased thus:  "  I  called  this  my  chosen  people 
(chosen  in  their  forefathers),  after  it  had  been 
hidden  in  Egypt  from  the  destroying  Canaanites, 
in  due  time  out  of  this  very  Egypt,  and  with 
a  special  calling,  it  being  first  in  Egypt  that  I 
named  the  people  of  Israel  7ny  so/i"  (Exod. 
iv.  22).  Thus  Israel,  out  of  which  the  prom- 
ised I\Iessiah  was  to  spring,  is  here,  at  its  very 
outset,  as  well  as  throughout  its  subsequent 
career,  a  type  of  Christ,  who,  in  Isaiah  xlix.  3, 
is  called  the  true  servant  Israel.  This  typical 
parallel  is  also  implied  in  the  choice  of  the 
texts  wherewith  Christ  answered  the  tempter 
in  the  wilderness.  Not  only  are  we  shown  in 
a  general  way  that  the  same  grief  and  tempta- 
tion-fraught way  which  Israel,  his  type,  had 
traversed  before,  was  now  to  be  trodden  by 
Christ  Jiimself,  as  forerunner,  as  pioneer,  of 
that  new  people  of  God,  who  were  to  be  ran- 
somed by  him  out  of  humanity  at  large,  and 
of  which  the  old  Israel  was  but  a  shadow — 
not  only  is  this  clearly  expressed,  but  the  land 
of  Egypt  has  a  peculiar  significance  liere.  The 
ransomed  people,  the  young  child,  are  both  to 
come  forth  Irom  the  house  of  bondage,  are  to 
be  prepared  under  the  yoke  of  affliction  for 
becoming  glorious  though  their  God.  Thus  it 
is,  too,  that  Israel's  God  still  calls  all  his  chil- 
dren out  of  Egypt;  and  thus  it  behooved  his 
own  Son,  in  so  tar  as  he  was  the  son  of  man, 
to  be  actually  called  thence  too.  Short  as  was 
the  stay  of  the  child  in  that  land,  it  testified 
to,  !ind,  as  it  were,  incorporated  this  truth. 

No  doubt  the  dwelling  in  Egypt  of  the  pa- 
rents with  the  chil.l  was  short,  vet  not  so  short 
as  (according  to  Wieseler)  to  "amount  to  lit- 
tle more  than  acoming  and  a  going."  The  chron- 
ological researches  of  learned  men  with  regard 
10  this  sulject  are  very  complicated,  and  lead 
to  various  deductions.  We  judge  it  safest  to 
hold  simply  to  what  is  made  certain  to  us  in 
Scripture,  winch  amounts  to  this  at  least,  that 
the  young  child  was  still  a  young  child  at  the 
time  of  his  return  ;  but  as  "to  limiting  the  pe- 
riod to  a  fortnight,  or  a  few  days,  that  again 
we  hold  to  be  incongruous  with  the  important 
nature  of  the  whole  transaction.  "  Remain, 
dwell,  be  there;"  surely  this  sentence  of  the 
angel's,  with  its  "1111111  I  tell   thee"  (bring 


thee  word),  conveys  the  idea  of  a  longer  space 
of  time. 

In  what  place  in  Egypt,  Joseph,  with  the 
mother  and  child,  was  to  dwell,  and  how  he 
was  to  support  them  there,  the  angel  does  not 
say;  but  in  his  very  command  there  to  stay 
till  another  command  be  given,  a  promise  and 
a  security  are  contained — in  the  land  to  which 
he  was  supernaturally  directed,  Joseph  would 
be  certain  that  he  might  safely  dwell.  Neither 
his  nor  Mary's  faith  could  doubt  that,  warned 
and  delivered  as  they  had  been,  they  would  be 
further  helped  and  guided. 

Certainly  without  such  a  revelation  a  compul- 
sory flight  like  this  with  the  child  would  have 
been  almost  too  painful  and  mysterious  for 
them  to  bear ;  for  we  can  hardly  suppose  that 
up  to  this  time  they  were  quite  free  from  other 
and  worldly  expectations  for  the  Messiah. 
But  now,  both  knew  with  certainty  from  the 
angel's  words,  that  though  the  way  lay  through 
humiliation  and  distress,  yet  that  it  was  lore- 
ordained  by  God's  wisdom,  and  guarded  by  his 
care.  When  Pfenninger  imagines  that  in  the 
first  inn  reached,  on  the  confines  of  Egypt,  Jo- 
seph saw  another  angel  who  told  him  whereto 
go,  and  to  whom  to  apply,  he  overlooks  the 
text,  "till  I  tell  thee"  (to  return  to  thy  coun- 
try). In  the  interim,  therefore,  there  was  evi- 
dently no  manifestation  to  be  expected.  But 
such  a  special  direction  would  not  be  needed 
amongst  the  Egyptians,  at  that  time  so  hospi- 
table to  Jews  ;  especially  by  those  who  were 
calmed  and  secured  by  the  first  behest,  and  indi- 
rectly under  divine  guidance,  as  were  the  shep- 
herds when  seeking  the  child  in  the  manger. 
While  Joseph  and  Mary  sleep  together  with 
the  young  child,  God  watches  over  that  child, 
and  for  his  sake  over  them  too.  Doubtless  till 
this  moment  no  one  knew  the  secret  purpose 
of  the  tyrant,  but  the  messenger  of  God  reveals 
it :  "  Herod  will  seek  the  young  child  in  order 
to  destroy  him."  This  aim  will  be  frustrated  ; 
but  the  search  for  the  child,  with  its  terrible 
consequences,  the  murder  of  the  innocents,  will 
be  permitted.  Thus  watches  the  providence  of 
God  over  the  children  of  men,  especially  over 
his  own  children  in  Christ  :  what  is  ordained 
by  him  comes  to  pass  ;  all  else  is  frustrated, 
and  the  course  of  events  invariably  fulfills  the 
settled  purpose  of  his  will,  let  man  struggle 
against  it  as  he  may  (Isa.  viii.  9,  10). 

Joseph  rises  up  and  obeys.  Mary  believes, 
and  obeys  also.  The  young  child  is  borne 
away,  sweetly  sleeping  perhaps  the  while  in 
that  unconscious  reliance  upon  his  God  pro- 
phesied of  in  Psa.  xxii.  10,  11.  For  the  ex- 
pense of  this  first  journey,  perhaps  for  other 
purposes  besides,  the  presents  offered  by  tiie 
wise  men  would  suffice.  The  road  through 
the  wilderness,  a  rough  one  indeed,  but  well 
known,  practicable,  and  much  used,  led  from 
Bethlehem  to  the  confines  of  Egypt  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days. 

"  B'lt  it/ien  Herod  loan  dead,  behold."  Tlip 
second  and  promised  announcement  is  made  in 
exactly  the  came  way  as  the  first,  which  the 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


21 


Evangelist  indicates  by  using  the  very  same 
words.  Probably  it  was  made  by  the  same  an- 
gel, for  his  address  begins  with  the  identical 
words  before  used,  only  that  from  the  nature 
of  the  case,  the  arise,  and  take,  and  go,  do  not 
now  imply  the  same  immediate  and  imperative 
haste.  Then  it  was  a  warning  cry,  "Flee!" 
Now  it  is  a  gracious  permission,  go,  travel, 
as  conveniently  and  leisurely  as  thou  wilt ! 
Now  it  is  a  homeward  journey  "  inlo  the  land  of 
Israel."  Tiiere  is  something  solemn  in  this  giv- 
ing of  the  old  name,  that  no  longer  politically 
appertained  to  it,  to  the  beloved  country  from 
which  Joseph  and  Mary  had  mourned  their 
banishment,  and  to  which  the  holy  child  by 
right  belonged.  The  expression  has  also  refer- 
ence, no  doubt,  to  the  typical  passage  quoted  by 
the  Evangelist  (ver.  iS),  as  the  context  still 
more  plainly  shows.  "  For  they  are  dead  who 
»night  the  young  child's  life."  But  why  have 
we  the  plural  pronoun  they,  when  Herod  only 
is  spoken  of?  Commentators  have  very  un- 
necessarily (disregarding  the  close  connection  of 
the  angel's  second  speech  with  his  first)  im- 
agined that  another  personage  was  here  point- 
ed out  besides  the  king,*  probable  his  son 
Antipater,  who  died  a  few  days  before  him. 
But  evidently  we  have  in  this  expression  a 
quotation  from  Exod.  iv.  9,  where  the  pas- 
sage occurs  in  close  proximity  to  that  which 
speaks  of  Israel  as  God's  first-born  son. 
Thus  Moses  in  his  own  person,  as  Israel  col- 
lectively, appears  as  a  type  of  Christ,  a  fact 
which  ihe  angel  brings  into  notice  by  using 
the  same  words  now  as  were  used  of  old.  He 
gives  the  well-known  proverbial  expression 
literally,  with  the  one  omission  of  the  word  all, 
an  omission  intended  to  show  that  the  history 
was  only  a  type  in  its  main  features,  not  in 
every  detail.  But  it  must  have  been  full  of 
comfortable  promise  to  Joseph  and  Mary  :  Je- 
sus delivered  as  Moses  was,  both  as  child  and 
man;  Herod  dead  like  Pharaoh.  The  reticent 
angel  says  nothing  of  the  horrible  disease  of 
which  Herod  died;  and  the  concise  Evangelist, 
too,  leaves  us  to  learn  it  from  the  secular 
historian,  Josephus.  Neither  does  the  angel 
vouchsafe  any  more  special  direction  as  to 
whither  in  the  land  of  Israel  the  holy  family 
must  betake  themselves;  except,  indeed,  that 
the  more  general  name  land  of  Liuel,  instead, 
of  land  of  Judea  (ver.  1)  might  have  seemed 
to  point  at  Galilee.  But  Joseph,  to  whom  not 
only  child  but  mother  were  entirely  subject, 
might  liave  thought,  on  the  contrary,  that  the 
holy  child  ought  not  to  belong  to  the  despised 
Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  (Isa.  ix.  1).  It  never 
;ould  have  occurred  to  his  unassisted  reason 
that  Nazareth  could  be  a  fitting  home  for  the 
Son  of  God. 

In  ver.  22  we  read  what  ought  not  to  sur- 
prise us,  that  on  hearing  of  the  succes-^ion  of 

*  Namely,  Herod's  son  An  ipater,  who,  afer  hav- 
ing removed  Uvo  of  tiis  bio. he' s  out  of  iiis  way, 
was  himself  executed  tive  days  before  his  talher  s 
den  ui. 


Archelaus  to  the  throne,  some  degree  of  fear 
again  mingled  with  Joseph's  faith,  not  in- 
deed on  his  own  account,  but,  arising  from  his 
tender,  and  by  late  events  intensified  anxiety, 
respecting  the  child  confided  to  his  care.  Shall 
they  return  to  Bethlehem,  near  as  it  is  to  Jeru- 
salem ?  That  does  not  seem  to  him  judicious, 
though,  perhaps,  Mary  may  have  urged  it ;  for 
we  find  Joseph  in  uncertainty,  waiting  no 
doubt  and  praying  for  guidance,  till  for  the 
third  time,  recorded  in  this  chapter,  the  divine 
will  is  made  known  to  him.  At  first  only  in  a 
general  way  ;  he  is  fearlessly  to  turn  aside  into 
the  farts  of  Galilee,  more  accurately  the  bor- 
ders, the  confines.  And  now,  as  we  see,  it  be- 
comes the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that 
he  should  return  to  his  former  home,  Nazareth. 
This  small  and  despised  town  becomes  the 
dwelling-place  of  him  whose  lowliness  and 
humiliation  the  prophets  had  in  many  different 
ways  foretold,  and  accordingly  he  must  be  call- 
ed Jesus  of  Nazareth.  In  this  Nazarelh  he 
grows  up,  lives  in  holy  mysterious  seclusion 
till  his  thirtieth  year,  without  any  further 
words  of  angels,  without  the  occurrence  of  any 
miraculous  events,  till  the  day  appointed  cornea 
for  his  showing  unto  Israel. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Angels  at  the  SEPULcnKS. 

Matt,  xxviii.  ;  Mark  xvi.  ;  Luke  xxiv. 

"  Henceforth  ye  shall  see  heaven  open,  and 
the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending 
upon  the  Son  of  Alan,"  such  had  been  our 
Lord's  words  to  his  disciples,  nor  can  we  sun- 
pose  they  were  merely  metaphorical.  But  they 
were  not  fulfilled  by  visible  appearances  of 
angels  to  men  ;  no  angel  during  the  whole  life 
of  Jesus  having  ever  in  his  presence  spoken  to 
man.  The  Master  being  by,  it  behooved  the 
servants  to  keep  silence.  When  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration,  as  once  before  at  Christ's 
bapti.*m,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  an  open  heaven, 
and  Moses  and  Elias  ia.[k  with  him  of  his  de- 
cease, the  voice  that  comes  down  from  the  ex- 
cellent glory  of  the  Father  directs  our  exclusive 
attention  to  the  words  of  Jesus:  "This  is  my 
beloved  Son,  hear  ye  him!" 

It  is  at  the  resurrection  that  we  meet  once 
more  with  the  angel  voices  that  proclaimed  the 
birth  of  the  Saviour.  When  the  time  came 
that  the  disciples,  cast  down  and  despairing, 
were  to  have  their  sorrow  turned  into  joy,  the 
heavenly  messengers  were  commissioned  to 
bring  the  glad  tidings  before  the  Lord  himself 
appears  to  them.  Once  the  words  "He  w  linrn  " 
were  joy  sutRcient  to  the  shepherds  to  incite 
them  to'  arise  in  haste,  to  seek,  to  find,  to  make 
known  to  all  around  the  saying  concerning  the 
child.  How  much  more,  then,  should  the 
words  "II'  in  linen,"  spoken  of  the  Crurifi-nl, 
1  have  puwur  Lu  change  uiouraiug  into  rapluie  1 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHnE. 


Yet  wp  fincl  tlif^ir  first  f^fTpct  to  be  "fear  and 
great  joy"  (M;xtt.  xwui.  8);  nay,  even  more 
tlian  fear,  doubt  also  (Marie  xvi.  8);  for  that 
which  they  are  called  upon  to  believe  is  too 
prpat,  too  good  for  their  belief,  and  would 
never  have  been  preached  abroad  throughout 
th<-  world  had  not  the  Lord  by  so  many  in- 
fa'hble  proofs  showed  himself  alive  after  his 
J)  i-siun. 

To  what  purpose,  then,  were  the  angelic 
messages  to  the  women?  We  answer,  in  the 
lirst  instance,  that  much  as  the  Lord's  heart 
yearned  towards  his  (bsciples,  it  was  necessary 
ihat  he  should  withhold  his  presence  from  them 
till  they  had  been  graduiilly  prepared,  else  the 
sudden  revulsion  would  have  been  more  than 
they  could  have  borne.  Again,  it  was  most 
desirable  that  the  future  Apostles  should  learn 
a  lesson  of  faith  without  sight;  both  to  humble 
them  now,  and  to  strengthen  their  patience 
hereafter.  And  also  there  were  reasons  in  the 
very  tenderness  of  woman's  nature  tliat  led  to 
women  first  receiving  the  tidings  from  the  an- 
gels, and  first  seeing  the  Lord.  They  were  the 
first  to  visit  the  sepulchre,  and  were  thus  re- 
warded. 

After  the  Sabbath  was  over,  it  was  natural 
that  all  who  were  not  too  completely  distracted 
and  overwhelmed,  as  Thomas,  for  instance,  and 
olhers  with  him,  should  proceed  to  visit  their 
Master's  grave.  And  we  may,  perhaps,  safely 
a.ssume  that  Peler  and  John  would  have  done 
t'us  even  without  the  summons  from  Mary 
jMagdaleiie.  At  all  events,  the  loving  women 
could  not  refrain  from  seeking  the  Crucified 
there  where  he  no  longer  was;  even  had  they 
not  ]iurposed  to  comnlete  the  burial  rites,  they 
Avould  still  have  gone  unto  the  grave  to  weep 
thr-re  (John  xi.  32).  In  order  to  escape  obser- 
vation they  neither  came  singly,  or  all  together, 
but  in  little  groups  of  two  and  three,  one  after 
the  other.  This  very  circumstance  helps  us  to 
harmonize  the  various  and  apparently  contra- 
dictory mnratives  of  the  Easter  morning.  In- 
deed, both  in  the  diversity  and  the  unity  of  the 
evidence  we  find  equal  proof  of  its  authenticity. 
The  Evangelists  did  not  copy  from  each  other. 
Each  of  lliem  narrated  according  to  a  system 
and  to  inl'ormation  of  his  own.  Neither  had 
they  any  intention  of  registering  every  thing 
that  happeneil,  and  how  exactly  every  thing 
happened  in  the  first  twilight  confusion  of  the 
Easter  dawn.  The  main  point  of  the  resur- 
rection, on  which  the  Cliurch  is  built,  was 
moreover  so  certain  a  fact  to  them  that  it  did 
not  even  occur  to  their  minds  to  lay  much  stress 
upon  the  details  of  its  announcement.  And 
ii,  indeed,  we  had  more  precise  information  as 
to  the  order  in  which  every  thing  connected 
with  the  angelic  announcement  was  said  and 
done,  what  would  it  avail  us?  Tiie  narrative, 
as  it  stands,  is  amply  suinoient  to  make  upon 
us  the  same  impression  the  actual  occurrence 
did  upon  the  women — to  point  ua  to  the  Lord 
himself 

Another  Icey  to  the  proper  harmony  of  the 
Gospel  accouuts  is  this  :  Tho  angels  were  not 


corporeally  objective,  in  the  sam'"  sen^^e  that 
our  fellow-men  are,  were  not  se(!n  ami  heard 
in  the  same  natural  way,  but  through  the  me- 
dium of  some  special  infiuence  upon  those  who 
saw  and  heard  them.  Thus  it  was  only  natu- 
ral that  on  this  occasion,  among  a  number  of 
persons  of  different  idiosyncrasies,  different 
impressions  should  be  received,  that  one  should 
see  what  another  saw  not, as  we  find  Magdalene, 
for  instance,  as  well  as  Peter  and  John,  seeing 
at  first  nothing  but  the  empty  sepulchre,  though 
afterwards  we  read  of  one  angel,  two  angels 
visible  there.  Perhaps,  as  Lessing  suggests, "  the 
whole  sepulchre  ;  the  whole  space  surrounding 
the  sepulchre  was  filled  by  invisible  angels." 
And  certainly  the  folding  of  the  linen  clothes, 
and  the  napkin  that  was  about  the  head,  not 
only  suggests  invisible  servants,  but  the  multi- 
tude of  the  heavenly  host  that  appeared  at 
Christ's  birth,  leads  us  to  infer  aa  equal  number 
present  at  his  resurrection. 

Lastly,  let  any  one  try  to  place  himself  in 
the  circumstances  of  these  women  at  the  sep- 
ulchre. The  shepherds  of  Bethlehem  received 
their  angelic  communication  in  silent,  calm  ex- 
pectation, but  how  different  the  case  is  here  ! 
After  the  first  hurried,  imperfect  burial  given 
to  the  sacred  body  by  Joseph  and  Nicodemus, 
these  loving,  sorrowing  women  are  come  to 
anoint  it ;  they  have  not  one  thought  of  the 
resurrection,  they  are  in  the  deepest  grief, 
occupied  only  with  the  idea  of  doing  honor 
to  their  Lord's  body;  what  a  tumult  of  ex- 
citement must  they  have  been  thrown  into 
by  what  they  found,  saw,  heard  !  Well  may 
Mark  speak  of  their  trembling  amazement! 
If  we  find  that  the  words  by  which  Christ 
stilled  the  storm  upon  the  water  are  given 
to  us  with  some  variation,  owing  to  the  ex- 
citement of  terror  under  which  they  were 
heard  interfering  with  their  literal  recollection, 
how  much  more  so  here  ?  but  yet  there  is  a 
close  agreement  between  the  angel's  speech,  as 
given  by  JMatthew  and  Mark  ;  Luke  records  a 
different  one,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

Matthew  expressly  names  two  of  the  Marys, 
Mark  adds  Salome  to  them;  Luke  (xxiii.  49, 
55)  only  speaks  generally  of  "  the  women," 
and  again  refers  to  them  (xxiv.  1),  with  the 
addition  of  "certain  others,"  specifying  in  ver. 
10  Joanna  as  well  as  the  two  Marys.  That 
not  only  his  brief  summary  of  what  the  women 
told  the  disciples  should  be  vague  as  it  is  but 
that  the  two  earlier  Evangelists,  aiming  as 
they  did  at  the  greatest  conciseness  possible, 
should  relinquish  all  idea  of  a  complete  narra- 
tive is  just  what  we  might  expect.*  The  Holy 
Ghost  allowed  them  to  speak  and  write  in 
their  own  human  fashion  ;  did  not  interfere 
with  their  customary  style  of  narrative. 

The  following  is  the  view  we,  for  our  parts, 
take  of  the  course  of  events.  No  human  eye 
witnessed  the  resurrection  itself;  nay,  no  angel 
dared  to  intrude  upon  its  first  solemnity. 
Not  one  of  the  four  Evangelists  tells  us  one 
word  ot  iiow  and  when  the  Lord  rose,  or  how 
he  lull  the  sepulchre;  the  first  intelligeace  v/e 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


23 


have  is,  the  I/trd  is  risen,  spoken  by  the  ang.>l. 
If  I  he  stone  were  rolled  away  from  the  rnoutli 
of  the  S('pul"hre  for  the  Lord's  egress,  we 
rniglit  expect  tc)  find  this  stated  in  Matt,  xxviii. 
2,  3,  which  ueems  the  natural  place  for  the 
mention  of  such  a  fact.  It  appears  to  us  to 
have  been  a  well-grounded  belief  of  >he  early 
fathers,  that  Christ  had  already  passed  through 
the  stone  (as  afterwards  through  the  closed 
doors)  in  ins  own  strength,  and  that  the  roll- 
ing away  of  the  stone  was  only  to  reveal  the 
opened  and  untenanted  sepulchre,  itself  the 
most  convincing  proof  of  the  resurrection. 
Then  came  Mary  Magdalene  first,  hurrying  on 
before  the  rest,  and,  not  being  in  a  proper  state 
to  discern  the  angelic  vision,  a  higher  one 
being  reserved  for  her,  she  sees  nothing,  no- 
tices nothing,  casts  one  glance  at  the  open  sep- 
ulchre, and  then  runs  back  in  dismay  to  the 
two  disciples,  Peter  and  John  (John  xx.  2). 
Then  came  the  other  women,  who  (as  the  close 
i-'intK^ction  in  Matthew  leads  us  to  believe)  had 
;ilready  heard  some  rumor  of  the  earthquake, 
perhaps  saw  some  traces  of  it,  as  well  as  wit- 
nessed the  terror  of  the  keepers,  who  do  not  ap- 
pear (ver.  4)  to  have  at  once  fled  avvay.  If 
the  angel  of  the  earthquake,  in  the  suddenness 
of  his  appearing,  had  re.sembled  a  flash  of 
lightning  to  the  eyes  of  these  keepers,  so  that 
they  could  not  look  at  him,  or  gain  any  dis- 
tinct idea  of  his  form  ;  to  the  women,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  showed  himself,  as  he  spoke  to 
them,  in  raiment  white  as  snow,  brighter  than 
the  rising  sun.  In  the  Oid  Testament,  the 
angels  resembled  flames  of  fire  (Dan.  x.  5,  6), 
but  after  the  resurrection  we  read  of  their 
milder  radiance,  and  their  being  clothed  in 
brightly-shining  garments,  white  as  the  light. 
This  angel  having  come  down  from  heaven, 
and  in  the  divine  might  triumphed  overall  ob- 
Ktacles  and  all  adversaries — the  triumph  of  life 
over  death — now  seats  himself  solemnly  and 
(^almly  upon  the  roUed-away  stone  and  the 
broken  seals,  an  emblem  of  conquest  hence- 
lorth  to  all  humanity,  but  primarily  to  the 
keepers,  and  through  their  report  to  the  frus- 
trated Jewish  and  Gentile  foes  of  the  risen  Lord. 
1-^ut  to  the  women  he  did  not  appear  thus,  for 
they  only  noticed  that  the  stone  was  rolled 
away  (Mark  xvi.  4).  Whether  he  had,  before 
he  spoke,  entered  into  the  sepulchre,  according 
to  Mark's  account,  or  whether  he  led  the 
women  in,  as  seems  probable  from  Matthew's, 
who  shall  say?  We  must  leave  this  and  other 
points  unsettled,  but  to  us  it  appears  most 
natural  to  suppose  that  this  angel  was  actually 
fitting  in  the  sepulchre  as  he  spoke,  near  the 
p. ace  where  the  body  had  lain,  just  as  the  two 
angels  mentioned  by  Luke  were  seen  stand- 
ing there.  At  all  events,  the  words  given  by 
Miitthew  and  Mark  are  the  same;  the  angel 
calls  the  v/omen  to  come,  and  see  the  place 
where  Christ  had  lain. 

These  women,  to  whom  this  first  speech  had 
been  addressed,  were  met  on  their  way  back 
l)y  the  Lord  himself,  but  not  till  after  the  ex- 
amination of  The  sepulchre  had  been  made  by 


Peter  and  John,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  linger- 
ing behind  them  when  they  went  their  wa.y, 
had  been  favored  with  the'first  siglit  of  tha 
risen  Saviour.  She,  on  this  occasion,  saw  tho 
other  angel  sitting  at  the  other  side,  though  he 
was  not  remarked  by  the  former  women,  pro- 
bably because  only  one  angel  spoke.  Lastiv, 
we  have  the,  "other  women"  mentioned  by 
Luke,  who  either  arrived  later,  or  returned,  or 
remained  behind,  to  whom  the  same  angel, 
now  in  a  standing  position,  or  two  others  stand- 
ing, addressed  other  words.  These  last  women, 
who  only  saw  angels,  but  did  not  see  the  Lord, 
were  those  specially  mentioned  in  Luke  xxiv. 
22,  as  we  see  from  ver.  9.  The  statement  in 
ver.  10  is  a  more  general  one. 

So  much  we  must  premise  to  clear  our  way ; 
having  done  so,  let  us  turn  in  all  security  to 
the  words  spoken  by  the  angels,  and  first  to 
those  recorded  by  Matthew  and  Mark. 

"  The  angel  answered."  This  does  not  mean 
here  merely,  as  in  some  other  places,  began  to 
speak  ;  but  we  have  it  implied  that  he  answer- 
ed the  terror,  amazement,  and  questions  put 
by  the  women,  when  they  saw  the  stone  rolled 
away.  "Fear  not  ye:  for  I  know  that  ye  seek 
,/e-ifS,  the  crucified."  In  this  emphatic  ye, 
which  Matthew  gives,  we  may  discern  a  mark- 
ed allusion  to  the  terror  that  the  tidings  of 
the  resurrection  would  occasion  the  Lord's  ad- 
versaries, and  adivsion  made  from  that  very 
hour  of  all  cognizant  of  the  event  into  two  par- 
ties, the  friends  and  the  foes  of  the  Crucified, 
parties  that  soon  developed  themselves  more 
fully,  and  openly  both  in  Jerusalem  and 
throughout  the  country.  "Fear  not  ye  (in 
Mark,  Be  not  afTrighted),  like  these  keepers, 
who  have  become  like  dead  men,  fit  representa- 
tives of  the  impotence  of  the  Lord's  enemies, 
and  who  will  soon  spread  abroad  these  tidings 
in  another  form,  as  to  them  tidings  of  terror. 
Fear  not  ye  as  they  do.  For  you  there  are 
good  tidings  prepared  ;  for  I  know  your  hearts, 
know  what  brings  you  here."  Thus  graciously 
and  soothingly  does  he  address  them,  and  by 
his  knowledge  of  their  purpose  and  their  feel- 
ings he  reveals  himself  to  them  as  an  angel : 
"  Ye  know  me  not,  but  I  know  you  !  Sor- 
rowing love  brings  you  hither  to  seek,  in  the 
sepulchre,  for  the  same  Lord  whom  we  angela 
worship  ;  we  are  friends  and  brethren  in  him  !" 
It  is  only  at  the  close  of  his  address  that  the 
angel  introduces  the  majestic  title,  "  the  Lord  ;" 
at  first,  as  if  by  way  of  transition  from  death 
to  life,  he  uses  the  more  familiar  name  of  Jesus, 
"  Jesus  the  crucified  !  "  The  contemptuous  ex- 
pression is  changed  to  a  title  of  honor,  will 
henceforth  sound  in  heaven  and  earth  as  the 
one  name  that  brings  this  Saviour's  salvation 
to  the  children  of  men  ;  so  angels'  lips  teach  us 
now  ;  so  Paul  will  hereafter  believe  and  confess 
(1  Cor.  i.  2).  Mark  gives  us  in  addition  the 
despised  name  the  Crucified  bore  throughout 
his  earthly  career,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;"  thus 
also  ran  the  writing  on  the  cross  ;  thus  the 
glorified  Lord  named  himself  when  speaking 
from  heaven  (  Acts  xxii.  8)  ;  thus    the  Holy 


24 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


Glio=t  ppol;e  of  him  hy  the  month  of  Peter  in 
Lis  fir-t  seriiKMi  on  the  day  of  Pentecost! 

"  You.  faiUilul  and  lovin^  souls" — so  might 
we  paraphrase  the  angel's  words — "you  seek 
the  despised,  the  Crucified,  with  an  enduring 
love,  stronger  tlian  disjrace  and  death;  the 
cross  has  only  bound  you  more  closely,  more 
ten(i('rly  to  your  Master,  True,  it  is  a  seeking 
in  thf  wrong  place,  but  you  are  not,  therefore, 
to  be  blamed  ;  nay,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  this 
may  be  commen<lcd  as  the  proper  way  to  in- 
Bi'.re  the  finding  of  him  who  is  risen.  With 
love  and  longing  to  seek  the  Crucified! — this 
is  liencet'orth  the  distinguishing  mark  of  those 
who  need  not  be  affrighted!  He  who  seeks  the 
Crucified  finds  the  risen  Saviour;  and  he  who 
would  find  the  risen  Saviour  must  still  seek 
the  Crucified."  Such  is  the  truth  the  angel 
proclaims. 

"  lie  is  not  here  ;  for  he  is  risen,  as  he  said." 
We  are  not,  indeed,  able  to  realize  the  whole  of 
the  impression  these  tidings  must  liave  made 
upon  the  women  ;  but  something  of  it  is  re- 
iiewei]  in  our  own  experience  whenever,  in  our 
fi^litot  faith,  we,  through  fellowship  in  Christ's 
sufferings,  attain  to  fellowship  in  his  life.  The 
words  not  here  are  placed  first  by  Matthew,  which 
seems  more  natural  and  appropriate  than  the 
transposition  in  Mark.  As  the  open  and  empty 
grave  was  to  bear  witness  before  all  Jerusalem 
— though,  alas!  this  witness  was  soon  covered 
up  by  fraud  and  unbelief— so  the  sight  of  it 
and  of  the  stone  rolled  away  were  the  first 
glad  signs  to  the  faithful  women,  seeking,  as 
they  were,  in  tlie  wrong  place  indeed,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  their  knowledge,  and 
soon  to  have  their  search  rewarded  in  a  way 
they  knew  not.  "  IL  is  nnt  ftere."  For  the  first 
and  only  time  Christ's  absence  a  source  of  un- 
speakable joy  ! 

How  can  this  be?  Because  in  very  deed  he 
was  not  absent.  No  doubt,  from  the  moment 
of  the  resurrection,  the  Lord  was  invisibly 
present  at  the  sepulchre,  and  amidst  his  faith- 
lul  ones  there,  their  eyes  being  hidden  the 
while  ;  only  he  was  not  there  as  thay  had  ex- 
pected to  find  him. 

"  Come,  see  the  p/trre  where  the  Lord  lay."  We 
may  remark  how  the  angel's  address  becomes 
even  more  and  more  convincing  to  the 
timid  and  faintly  believing  women,  referring 
them  not  only  to  Chn.it's  disregarded  and  hitli^ 
erto  forgotten  words,  but  to  the  evidence  of 
their  own  eyesight.  True,  that  evidence  was 
not  in  itself  decisive.  Peler  and  John  Iiad 
seen  the  empty  grave,  and  drawn  the  same  in- 
ference over  which  Mary  Magdalene  wept, 
namely  that  Christ's  enemies,  grudging  him 
the  riles  his  friends  desired  to  perform,  had 
carried  their  persecution  even  into  the  grave 
itself,  and  removed  his  body  elsewhere.  But 
when  an  angel  speaks ;  when  he  says,  Coine, 
tee;  then  the  words  n>t  /ier«  become"  positive 
proof  of  tlie  resurrection.  lie  is  not  here — 
that  you  see;  he  w  n^en— that  you  are  to  be- 
lieve ;  ashestiid — ye  now  recall  his  declaration 
and  understand  its  meaning.     Come  here — here 


wliere  I  am  sitting  (Mark  xvi.  5);  so  ran  llie 
encouraging  words:  come  nearer;  cast  away 
all  fear.  See;  see  for  yourselves,  not  him«elt', 
indeed,  but  the  proof  that  he  lives.  See  the 
empty  space  where,  for  a  while,  lay  the  lifeless 
body  of  him  whom  the  angels  also  worship  as 
Lord.  Magdalene  indeed  said,  speaking  of 
Jesus,  "  My  Lord,"  with  a  special  personal  ap- 
propriation, result  ever  of  a  true  faith,  as  evi- 
denced by  Thomas  on  a  later  occasion.  But 
here  the  angel  cannot  speak  to  the  women  of 
their  Lord.  Ue  also  must  acknowledge  and  do 
hiin  honor;  and  while  speaking  of  the  risen, 
living  Jesus,  as  the  Lord  of  men  and  angels,  he 
uses  the  cuslomary  expression  of  mankind 
(and  by  using  confirms  it)  which  attaches  per- 
sonality to  the  body  even  after  death.  He 
does  not  say  where  the  body  (only)  of  the 
Lord  lay.  Christ  is  still  a  son  of  man  in  his 
resurrection  as  well  as  his  death,  and  has  now 
risen  boddy  from  the  place  whers  he  lay. 

But  finally,  the  women  are  not  to  content 
themselves  with  seeing  and  looking,  the  angel 
commissions  them  at  once  to  make  known  tlie 
glad  tidings  to  others  :  "  Go  qnid-'y  and  teV^is 
disciples  (hat  he  is  risen  from  (he  dead."  iCe- 
main  not  here;  cling  not'tu  this  spot !  Thean- 
gel  in  no  way  makes  a  sanctuary  of  the  grave  ; 
nor  is  there  any  thing  in  tlie  New  Testament  to 
lead  us  to  suppose  that  any  thought  was  taken 
by  the  disciple  of  the  "  holy  places,"  as  they 
afterwards  came  to  be  called.  The  true  lite 
is  continued  unbroken,  all  the  external,  the 
dead,  may  be  put  away  ;  it  has  done  its  work. 
We  seek  the  living  amidst  it  no  longer, 
Apostolic  Christianity  and  the  worship  of  rel- 
ics are  wide  as  the  poles  asunder.  The  living 
won!,  the  going  and  stii.ing,  is  not  to  be  post- 
poned to  the  wooden  cross  and  stone  sepulchre  ; 
any  superstitious  value  for  these  is  a  mere  in- 
firmity of  faith. 

These  first  tidings  are  not  destined  for  tire 
high  priest  or  for  Pilate.  The  time  for  that 
will  come  later.  At  present,  the  consoling 
message  is  to  be  privately  carrie<l  to  the  disci- 
ples, that  (hiy  may  believe  and  be  prepared  to 
witness  the  truth  to  the  world.  When  the 
season  for  their  bearing  witness  should  come, 
another  angel  would  give  another  com  man.), 
Oo,  stand  in  the  (emj>le  (Acts  v.  20).  No  doubt, 
the  expression,  his  disciples,  included  all  who 
had  believed  in  Christ.  To  all  who  had  loved 
and  trusted  in  him,  the  women  were  to  give 
this  mes.sage  secretly,  to  comfort  therewith 
the  hearts  of  tlie  whole  troubled  and  dispersed 
little  flock  ;  but  more  especially  is  it  sent  to 
the  Apostles,  whose  faith  in  the  word  and  tes- 
timony of  others  is  demanded  now,  as  they 
afterwards  would  have  to  demand  the  faith 
of  others  in  their  preaclied  word,  and  upon  the 
authority  of  their  own  testimony.  The  official 
n.ime  "  Apostles"  was  no  doubt  fivmiliarto  the 
foresiglit  of  the  angel,  though  he  does  not  use 
it;  it  is  latent  in  the  more  general  term  "dis- 
ciples ;"  but  it  is  evident  that  the  future  Apos- 
tles were  to  receive  the  communicalion  first 
and  foremost  amongst  the  disciples.     This  wt 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


25 


Way  morcespfcially  gather  from  the  important 
Riiii  remarkable  aiidilion  given  to  us  b}'  Mark, 
who  probably  wrote  under  Peter's  dictation. 

"  Oo  gimr  way,  teU  hin  disciples  and  Piter." 
IF,  indeed,  this  mention  had  been  intended 
especially  to  do  honor  to  Peter  as  the  first  of 
the  Apostles,  as  some  have  erroneously  inferred, 
his  name  would  have  been  placed  first.  But, 
no  !  It  was  because  Peter,  the  denier  of  his 
Lord,  in  iiis  deep  sorrow  feared  not  only  to  have 
lost  his  office  of  Apostle,  but  even  his  very  char- 
acter of  disciple,  that  he  was  here  graciously 
restored  to  the  latter,  as  he  was  afterwards  in- 
vested with  the  Apostleship  by  the  Lord  iiim- 
self.  The  same  Lord,  wlrose  look  in  the  Judg- 
ment-hall had  brought  Peter  to  repentance, 
now  graciously  sends  him  this  greeting,  that 
he  may  not  despair.  But  what  must  not  Peter 
have  suffered  between  this  greeting  and  that 
look  I  Never,  indeed,  could  he  even  fully 
cfedit  the  greeting  till  the  Lord  himself  ap- 
peared to  him. 

But  the  angel's  message  is  not  yet  over: 
"  And,  behold,  lie  gndh  before  yon  into  Galilee  ; 
there  shall  ye  see  him."  In  Mark  we  have  no 
special  instructions  given  to  announce  the  res- 
urrection SPi)arati,'ly ;  but  the  passage  runs: 
TeU  his  dii>cij>les  and  Peter  that  he  goefh  before 
you  into  Galilee.  In  Matthew,  the  "  behold  •"' 
ushers  in  a  more  prominent  mention  of  the 
seeing  the  Lord  himself,  tor  which  the  hearts  of 
his  hearers  pined  more  and  more  as  the  angel 
went  on  speaking.  Many,  indeed,  we  know, 
saw  him  in  Jerusalem  on  the  very  day  of  the 
resurrection  ;  but  this  message  to  the  disciples 
collectively  does  not  allude  to  the  special  favor 
to  be  bestowed  first  on  a  few  individuals,  but 
to  a  general  promise  which  the  Lord  had  pre- 
viously made.  The  place  for  this  public  man- 
ifestation to  the  re-assembled  flock  was  to  be 
the  more  remote,  the  more  secluded  Galilee. 
Galilee,  sanctified  and  blessed  as  it  had  been 
by  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Lord,  and  pecu- 
liarly fitted  to  insure  the  safety  of  the  Apostles, 
was  to  be  the  place  where,  with  many  others, 
they  should  behold  their  Lord. 

There  is,  besides,  a  deeper  meaning,  a  spirit- 
ual meaning  in  the  promise  with  which  the  first 
Easter  message  of  the  angel  in  the  sepulchre 
concludes.  It  tells  of  a  direction,  nay,  a  going 
before  of  the  Lord,  for  the  disciples,  and  for  us 
all.  The  risen  Saviour  will  be  both  our  guide 
and  our  forerunner,  will  show  us  the  way  and 
lead  us  on  in  it  while  vve  walk  on  earth,  and, 
at  its  close,  will  gather  us  around  him  in 
heaven. 

But,  on  the  whole,  the  text  of  these  two 
Evangelists  does  not  diverge  so  much  as  to  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  they  treat  of  d liferent  ad- 
dresses by  the  angel.  Where  Mark  more 
expressly  alludes  to  the  precious  promise 
of  the  "Lord  (Matt.  xxvi.  32;  Mark  xiv. 
28),  we  have  in  Matthew  the  conclusion 
by  the  angel:  " Lo,  1  luim  told  you."  Now, 
both  sentences  may  have  been  spoken,  but 
the  first  may"  have  been  heard  and  special- 
ly noted  by  one  of  the  women,  the  last  by 


another.  What  we  said  of  Vwe^  appearance,  is 
also  trne  of  the  8|)epch  of  angels  ;  both  are 
dependent  upon  the  peculiar  condition  of  those 
seeing  or  hearing.  And  there  is  a  special 
meaning  in  both  sayings.  The  ly),  I haoe  told, 
you,  harmonizes  well  with  the  gracious  ar-d 
familiar  I  know  at  the  beginning  of  the  angel's 
speech,  as  given  by  Matthew.  It  is  as  though 
he  said,  "  All  this  it  is  my  glorious  commission 
to  make  known  to  you.  I,  the  angel  of  the 
Lr)rd,  have  told  you  ;  that  is  enough,  believe,  go 
quickly,  and  make  known  my  words,  till  you 
see  for  yourselves  that  the  Crucified  is  risen 
indeed."  The  other  conclusion  in  Mark's  Gos- 
pel, ^8  he  said  unto  yo>i,  we  also  gladly  accept, 
as  first  weighty  proof  that  not  only  what  he 
said  touching  the  resurrection,  but  that  all 
ever  spoken  by  Jesus  shall  surely  come  to  pass. 

This  last  thought  leads  us  naturally  to  the 
narrative  in  Luke,  where  a  similar  allusion  to 
the  Lord's  words  is  even  more  emphatically 
made.  We  have  before  stated  that  we,  for  our 
part,  consider  the  angel's  speech,  given  by 
Luke,  to  be  quite  a  different  address  from  the 
others,  and  to  have  been  delivered  either  to 
other  women  who  came  a  little  later,  or  to  the 
first,  who  had  returned,  or  to  such  of  them  as 
lingered  behind.  Their  return,  however,  is 
the  most  probable  hypothesis.  The  only  words 
that  this  speech  of  the.se  two  angels  has  in 
common  with  that  of  the  former,  are  the 
words  that  must  necessarily  have  been  spoken. 
"  He  is  not  here :  he  is  risen."  All  the  rest  are 
different.  We  have  not  six  different  angels 
speaking,  as  some  have  maintained,  but  perhaps 
three,  or,  with  equal  probability,  only  two. 
The  first  angel  of  the  earthquake  may  have 
been  alone,  in  which  case  the  two  men  in  shin- 
ing garments,  spoken  of  by  Luke,  were  other 
two,  and  the  same  that  Mary  Magdalene  saw. 
Or  the  second  angel  may  have  been  invisible 
or  unnoticed  at  first ;  now  he  may  have  be- 
come manifest,  and  have  risen  up,  together 
with  the  first,  to  deliver  this  second  address. 

More  solemn,  more  dignified  than  the  first 
simple  announcement  of  the  resurrection,  more 
teeming  still  with  hidden  meaning,  somewhat 
more  severe  in  its  direct  application  than  the 
first  soothing  address,  sound  out  the  solemn, 
spirit-stirring  words,  "  Why  seek  ye  the  living 
among  the  dead?"  We  are  tempted,  on  our 
part,  to  exclaim  to  commentators,  "  Wliy  do  ye 
not  on  your  part  notice  the  difference  be- 
tween the  tone  of  reproof  and  that  of  conso- 
lation ?  "  No  doubt,  it  is  friendly  reproof,  and 
fraught  with  consolation  as  well,  but  how  dif- 
ferent the  effect  of  this  question  to  that  of  the 
gracious  admission, "  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus." 
If  the  first  .seeking  were  praised,  here  the  seek- 
ing is  blamed.  Is  not  such  a  difference  as  this 
significant'?  We  can  only  understand  the 
words  as  an  expression  of  holy  impatience  on 
the  part  of  the  angel,  occasioned  by  a  later 
coming  of  women,  who  seemed  again  about  to 
seek  lor  the  risen  Lord  in  the  grave  they  knew 
to  be  empty.  But  whether  these  last  women, 
to  whom  the  angel^spoke,  came  after  the  others,. 


26 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


or  came  back  after  Marj  Magdalene  in  the  gar- ' 
den,  and  the  women  on  their  way  to  the  city, 
had  actually  seen  the  Lord,  we  will  not  ven- 
ture to  decide. 

There  are  some,  indeed,  who  would  limit 
tliese  glorious  words  tc  the  lowest  sense,  one 
they  might  bear  if  spoken  by  the  grave  of  any 
child  of  man  ;  would  interpret  them  as  saying, 
The  dead  still  lives  ;  nay,  the  real  man  is  not 
dead,  it  is  only  the  corpse  that  lies  here.  But 
the  "  mt  here  "  of  the  angel  has  a  very  different 
meaning,  and  is  to  be  understood  in  the  scrip- 
tural sense  of  the  words,  </OTiA  and  ^j/e.  Now, 
we  find  in  Scripture  that  even  immortal,  undy- 
ing, glorified  spirits  are  always  spoken  of  as 
the  dead,  before  the  resfirrection  of  their  body 
(Rev.  xiv.  13;  xx.  5).  The  allusion  to  the 
prophetic  words,/or  the  living  to  the  dead  (Isa. 
viii.  19),  which  many  have  pointed  out,  is 
rather  apparent  than  real,  for  the  angel  speaks 
here  of  the  living,  in  a  far  higher  sense  than 
could  apply  to  mere  mortals  who  had  not  yet 
died.  The  Crucified  is  still  the  living.  It  is 
not  merely  that  he  lives  again,  that  he  is  risen  ; 
this  is  mentioned  later,  and  is,  indeed,  but  a 
consequence  of  the  first  assertion  ;  but  that,  as 
ho  himself  says  (Rev.  i.  17,  18),  "  1  am  the 
firfit,  and  the  Inst,  and  the  hving  one.  I  was  d^ad, 
and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore."  They 
had  killed  the  Prince  of  Life,  but  he  who  is  the 
resurrection  and  the  life  could  not  be  holden 
bv  death,  and  he  is  risen.  That  Eternal  Life 
which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested 
unto  us  (1  John  i.  2),  stooped  indeed  to  death 
for  us,  but,  in  so  doing,  annihilated  death.  Of 
us  sinful  mortals,  the  term  dead  may  truly  be 
used.  He  ever  liveth  to  give  us  life.  The  an- 
gels' words  may  be  under^^tood  thus:  Had  you 
known  him  in  his  life  and  death,  as  he  revealed 
himself  to  you,  had  you  recognized  the  differ- 
ence that  separated  him  living,  speaking,  suffer- 
ing, and  dying,  from  all  others,  you  would  have 
distinguished  between  the  dead  Christ  and  all 
other  dead  whatsoever.  He  who  v/as  unlike 
you  in  your  sins,  errors,  failings,  was  unlike 
you  in  your  mortality.  He  who  was  free  from 
all  taint  of  human  vanif.y  or  selfishness,  was 
exempted  also  from  the  universal  yoke  of  death. 
The  Saviour  wa';  not  to  be  sought  for  among.st 
sinful  men,  neiilier  the  conqueror  of  death 
amidst  death's  victims.  Mary  the  mother  of 
the  Lord,  deeply  as  the  sword  had  gone  through 
her  heart  as  slie  stood  beneath  the  cross,  did  not, 
with  the  other  Mary's,  thus  seek  the  living 
among  the  dead.  Slie  (and  probably  Mary  of 
Beliiany  too)  awaited  the  resurrection  in  secret 
faith,  instead  of  running  to  the  sepulchre. 

True,  even  as  during  his  whole  life  of  humil- 
iation, Jesus  had,  in  a  certain  sense,  been  num- 
bered with  the  dead,  so  his  body  yielded  to  the 
power  of  death  while  it  lay  in  the  grave,  his 
B^iril,  while  it  descended  into  hades.  But 
now  tiif  bringing  again  from  the  dead  had  be- 
gun (H<'b.  xiii.  20),  It  was  completed  in  the 
asrension  (John  xx.  17).  Henceforth  his  word 
i«  ,>ccomplishi-d,  "  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live 
»l9i>,"     This  saying  had  noL  been  a'a  yet  rightly 


understood  by  bis  disciples,  nor  did  the  women 
who  came  to  the  sepulchre  remember  these 
words  and  others  of  like  import.  But  "  God 
will  not  have  us  seek  and  anoint  a  dead  Sa- 
viour." This  quotation  from  Rieger  points  to 
a  comprehensive  application  of  this  profoun.l 
angelic  saying,  superior  as  it  i-s,  indeed,  in  df*|Hh 
and  fulness  of  meaning  to  all  other  angelic  say- 
ings whatsoever,  which  are,  for  the  most  part, 
plain,  simple  and  human.  It  was  fit  that  such 
words  as  these  should  be  uttered  at  the  miracu- 
lously opened  sepulchre.  Even  Hegel  seems 
to  have  been  struck  by  them,  for  he  says  that 
in  the  Crusades,  this  answer  of  the  angels 
was  given  once  more  to  Christendom  at  Christ's 
sepulchre.  But  this  only  applies  to  the  actual 
sepulchre,  whereas  we  both  may  and  ought  to 
give  a  far  wider  application  to  this  solemn 
question,  in  order  fully  to  penetrate  its  mean- 
ing. Amongst  the  dead  of  all  ages  who  have 
bequeathed  their  memory,  their  words,  their 
works  to  mankind,  he  is  not  to  be  sought  and 
found  as  one  who  is  only  their  equal,  ior  he  is 
essentially  other  than  they;  in  himself  and  far 
humanity,  for  the  Church  especially,  he  is  the 
Living  One  !  We  have  an  actually  existing,  a 
present  Christ,  not  merely  a  historical  one. 
Neither  must  we  seek  for  him  in  the  wrong 
place,  least  of  all  in  our  own  natural  unre- 
newed selves.  No,  nor  yet  in  the  world,  or  the 
men  of  the  world,  who,  as  the  dead,  bury  their 
dead  (Matt.  viii.  22).  Nor  again,  in  dead 
Christians  or  a  dead  Christianity,  although  it 
possess  all  the  outward  semblance  of  truth. 
Nor  yet  in  the  dead  letter  of  traditional  teach- 
ing, nor  in  church-membership,  nay,  not  even 
in  the  literal  words  of  Scripture  itself.  He 
himself,  and  he  alone,  is  the  Living  One,  and 
will  be  sought  as  such.  He  is  in  nowise  to  be 
found  in  any  dead  thing,  though  he  may  once 
have  been  contained  therein  as  in  the  empty 
sepulchre. 

At  that  time,  indeed,  the  angel  had  not  pow- 
er to  say,  "  Seek  him  among  the  living !  "  But 
this  has  been  possible  for  us  ever  since  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  There  are  now  Easter-day  mes- 
sengers who,  though  they  do  not  wear  shining 
raiment,  yet  carry  about  within  them,  and 
bring  to  us  the  life  of  Christ.  Each  <rue 
Christian  is  in  his  measure  one  of  these.  Yea, 
those  who  seek  the  Crucified  have  been  secretly 
drawn  to  do  so  by  the  life  of  the  Living  One, 
though  they  themselves  have  been  unconscious 
of  it.  Thus  the  second  severer  address  of  the 
angel  is,  after  all,  reconcilible  with  the  first 
more  gracious  one.  To  seek,  that  is  the  main 
point.  Let  us,  thirsting  for  life,  seek  him,  the 
Living  One,  and  we  shall  find  him  as  for  us 
crucified,  for  us  risen  I 

"  He  is  not  here,  hut  he  is  risen  !  "  This  res- 
urrection fulfills  all  he  ever  testified  of  himself 
The  first-begotten  from  the  dead  is  also  reveal- 
ed as  the  faithful  witness  (Rev.  i.  5).  If  the 
first  address  of  the  angel  reverts  to  what  Ad 
siiid  to  the  women,  the  second  does  this  slili 
more,  in  order  gfntly  to  reprove  and  chasten 
the  foryclful,  dull  of  ucdcn-atauding,  unbeliev- 


THE  ANGEL'S  QUESTION  TO  MAGDALENE. 


27 


itig  hearers  of  these  encouraging  words.  "  0 
fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  understand  all  this 
prophet  who  was  more  than  prophet,  said 
to  you  ! "  The  women  who  followed  Christ 
believed  indeed,  as  did  the  disciples,  that 
Jesus  was  a  great  prophet ;  consequently  the 
angel  refers  them  to  the  past,  tells  them 
why  they  ought  to  have  known  enough  not 
now  to  seek  the  living  among  the  dead : 
"  Reinemher  how  he  spake  unto  you  when  he 
was  yet  in  Galilee,  saying,  Tlie  Son  of  Man 
must  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men, 
and  be  crucified^  and  tlw  third  day  rise  again." 
In  the  two  "former  Gospels,  we  had  a  prophetic 
intimation  of  Christ's  going  before  them  into 
Galilee.  Here  we  have  a  retrospective  allu- 
sion to  his  saying  when  in  Galilee.  This  is 
another  harmonious  difference  between  the  two 
angelic  addresses.  The  very  words  of  the  Lord 
are  reverently  given  by  the  angel,  who  had  lis- 
tened to  them,  and  faithfully  treasured,  while 
the  women  had  forgotten  them,  till  now,  when 
we  read  "  They  rememhered  his  words;"  reflected 
upon  them,  understood  them.  "  They  told  all 
these  things  unto  the  eleven,  and  to  all  the  rest." 
In  this  rapid  general  summary  with  which 
Luke  concludes,  we  have  included  what  the 
two  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  alluded 
to  when  they  spoke  of  the  vision  of  angels  seen 
by  certain  women  (Luke  xxiv.  22,  23).  These 
women  had  said  that  he  was  alive.  This  harmon- 
izes well  with  the  expression  tJie  living — who 
was  not  to  be  sought  for  among  the  dead  ;  nay 
perhaps,  but  for  the  fact  of  the  third  day  being 
brought  by  the  angel  to  the  recoUeclion  of  the 
women,  neither  these  men,  nor  those  still  more 
incredulous  disciples  who  had  treated  the  wo- 
men's vision  as  idle  tales,  would  have  called  to 
remembrance  that  the  day  on  which  all  this 
occurred  was  that  very  third  day  of  which  the 
Lord  had  spoken. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

The  Angel's  Question  to  Magdalene. 

John  xx. 

We  have  here  but  a  few  short  simple  words 
that  seem  scarcely  susceptible  of  further  eluci- 
dation ;  and  yet,  taken  in  connection  with  their 
context,  they  will  be  found  to  repay  our  medit- 
ation. This  Mary  Magdalene,  delivered  by  the 
miraculous  power  of  Jesus  from  a  condition  the 
most  abject  and  appalling  (Mark  xvi.  9),  and 
in  the  deep  devofedness  of  grateful  love,  per- 
haps, exceeding  all  the  rest  of  his  female  dis- 
ciples, was  on  this  Eiister  morning  the  sorrow- 
fulest  of  the  sorrowful,  and  for  this  reason 
was  chosen  to  receive  the  first  manifestation  of 
the  Lord.  She  had  come  earliest  of  all,  come 
■while  it  was  yet  dark,  to  the  opened  grave  ; 
and  at  the  very  first  sight  of  it,  the  only 
thought  thatrrose  in  her  grief-clouded  mind 
was  that  the    body   had   beea  taken  away, 


and  certainly  not  by  friends.  She  ran  to  fetch 
the  two  leading  disciples,  that  I  hey  too  might 
see  what  so  dismayed  her.  They  had  come, 
had  convinced  themselves  that  it  wa.s  even  as 
she  said,  and  had  gone  away  again.  Yes,  even 
the  loving  and  beloved  disciple  himself  had  re- 
turned home  with  only  a  deepened  sadness  in 
his  heart.  But  Mary  cannot  go  with  him. 
She  cannot  depart  from  this  mysteriously 
empty  grave.  In  the  depths  of  her  anguish 
there  is  an  unconscious  presentiment  that 
something  e!se  will  surely  occur  in  connection 
with  this  terrible  fact.  She  seeks  the  CrucifiHd 
with  all  the  intensity  of  a  nature  alike  earnest 
and  tender. 

And  so  "  s7ie  stands  without  at  the  sepulchre, 
weeping"  bitterly  weeping;  but  as  it  is  natural 
to  us  all  in  our  deepest  sorrow,  she  must  needs 
look  and  look  again  at  the  very  cause  of  her 
grief.  She  stooped  down  and  looked  into  the 
empty  grave,  as  Peter  had  done  before  (ver. 
5).  And  noio  she  sees  what  the  seeking  disci- 
ples had  not  seen.  In  the  increased  suscepti- 
bility of  her  ever-growing  sorrow,  she  sees  two 
angels  in  white,  sitting,  probably  the  two  of 
whom  Luke  writes;  but  this  we  cannot  pos- 
itively say.  Their  bright  shining  garments 
showed  them  to  be  angels;  and  John  de- 
scribes their  exact  position,  the  one  at  the  feet, 
the  other  at  the  head;  but  Mary  Magdalene, 
intent  only  on  the  body  of  Jesus,  pays  no  heed 
to  them,  though  she  clearly  discerns  them  :  for, 
alas  !  the  beloved  head,  "the  beloved  feet  are 
not  there.  And  now  both  shining  ones  speak 
at  once  to  the  weeping  woman  ;  and  their 
words,  short  as  they  are,  are  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  angelic  addresses;  the  most 
tender,  the  most  sympathizing  with  our  hu- 
manity. 

"  Woman,  why  weepest  thou?  "  In  this  ques- 
tion there  is  something  implied,  though  more 
gently  expressed,  akin  to  the  reproachful  ques- 
tion recorded  by  Luke,  "  Why  seek  ye  the 
living  among  the  dead?"  But  here  the  holy 
impatience  merely  shows  itself  in  an  anxiety  to 
comfort !  "  Why  weepest  thou  so  continuously 
and  so  causelessly?"  The  sentence  seems  to 
have  been  cut  short,  because  Mary  heeded  it 
so  little,  and  because  the  Lord  himself  appeared, 
repeating  the  very  question  of  his  angelic  ser- 
vants. We  might  almost  infer  that  on  this 
occasion  the  latter  had  had  no  commission 
given  them  to  speak,  but  that  they  followed 
their  own  kindly  impulse  to  address  the  sor- 
rowing woman.  For  angels  are  ever  willing 
to  succor  weeping  mortals;  and  these  might 
perhaps  have  proceeded  to  accost  the  woman 
still  more  graciously  by  name,  but  that  this 
was  to  be  their  Lord's  part,  and  they  therefore 
refrained. 

Mary  Magdalene  returned  a  hasty  answer, 
without  showing  any  fear  of  the  shining  forms 
in  the  sepulchre  ;  nay,  she  hardly  seems  to 
have  noticed  that  there  was  anything  superhu- 
man about  them,  for  she  is  reckless  in  her  grief. 
The  one  lamentation — her  first  (ver.  2)  lamen- 
tation— which   heaven   and  earth   shall  hear, 


'iHK  A  NOELS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


which  fills  hpr  bfart — tlie  only  tliiiij;!  which  she 
knows  and  cares  aboul,  cun^iiliiies  iier  reply 
to  the  angel.  It  is  as  though  s;,e  said,  "  How 
Bhould  1  nat  weep,  wreloh<-d  woman  that  I  am  ? 
They  have  taken  away  (not, only  the  Lord,  as 
slie'had  said  to  her  brother  discijjles,  she 
speaks  more  strongly  to  these  bright  stran- 
gers), they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  1 
know  nol  where  tiiey  have  laid  him  ;  let  me 
weep."  And  she  turns  away  from  the  .'^neak-er.s 
like  a  Rachel  who  will  not  be  comforted.  But 
there  is  comfort  in  store  for  her,  sorrow  as  she 
may.  We  have  an  example  given  us  here  of 
bow  only  the  Lord  himself  can  sullice  to  spirits 
like  that  of  Magrlalene.  The  Lord  sees  the 
heart,  and  none  shall  weep  for  bim  in  vain  ; 
but  even  the  angels,  gracious  though  their 
sympathy  be,  must  leave  the  task  of  comfort- 
ing the  deepest  sorrow  to  the  Lord. 


CHAPTER  VI IL 

The  Angels  at  the  Ascension. 

Acts  i. 

It  was  on  the  fortieth  day  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, that  the  Lord,  with  his  Apostles  and  the 
rest  of  bis  disciples,  assembled  by  appointment 
for  the  last  time  on  the  Mount  of  Olivet. 
When  they  were  come  togetiier,  the  disci [)les 
put  one  last  question,  prompted  by  the  Lord's 
discourse  on  the  things  pertaining  to  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  expressive  of  a  holy,  thougii 
rot  a  well-in'ormed  longing  on  their  part  for 
its  arrival.  This  question  was  to  the  following 
eiTi'Cl :  "Will  wha.  is  writ  ten  in  the  prophets 
concerning  thy  divine  king(h-)m,  under  the 
name  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  be  speedily  ac- 
cotujilished,  or  is  tins  accomplishment  still  lar 
off  ?"  And  the  Lord's  answer  to  this  question 
is  the  last  of  all  his  sayings  on  earth.  On  the 
point  of  ascending  from  them  into  heaven,  he 
refuses  to  his  disciples  any  further  information 
respecting  the  times  and  seasons  of  the  devel- 
opment and  fulfillment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  ;  withholds  all  dates,  all  numerical  state- 
ments as  to  epochs  or  persons.  But  instead 
of  these  he  gives  them  the  promise  of  soon  re- 
ceiving the  Holy  Ghost.  As  the  Gospels  have 
l^d  us  onward  from  the  first  to  the  second  ar- 
ticle of  our  belief,  and  the  whole  of  that  which 
Jesus  began  to  do  and  teach  may  be  summed 
ti[)  in  the  words,  "Ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me  ;"  so  now  we  are  about  to  be  led 
nnwiird  by  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (or,  as  we 
night  rather  call  the  book,  the  history  of  the 
"'lurch),  from  the  second  to  the  third  article 
"^  our  Christian  I'aith.  But  in  thus  referring 
^"'  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Saviour,  though  he 
viMs  about  to  asend  into  heaven,  directs  theal- 
'.enl;on  of  his  disciples  from  heaven  to  earth; 
to  earth,  where  bis  witnesses  were  to  begin  to 
found  and  establish  bis  kingdom,  by  building 
up    the   Church,   through   the  diviue  power 


working  v/ithin  them.  The  Lord  a>cpnd3  io 
heaven,  that  henceforth  he  may  live,  work  and 
reign  on  earth  through  his  people  and  in  his 
people. 

Such  is  the  meaning  of  his  la-t  words  ;  and 
as  he  sfioke  these  things  he  was  taken  up  be- 
Ibre  their  eyes,  with  lifted  hands  ;  hands  rai-;ed 
in  priestly  benediction  over  these  bis  disciplf-s 
— over  the  holy  city  and  the  chosen  land 
— over  the  whole  earth  "Wl>il.e  Iheij  hi-.lh'ld" 
he  was  taken  up.  Visibly  and  gradually  he 
began  to  ascend  towards  heaven  ;  not  sudden- 
ly vanishing  from  before  them,  as  he  bad  done 
several  times  since  his  resurrection,  but  nsing 
in  a  way  that  they  could  watch  ;  not  like  the 
prophet  Elijah,  swept  away  by  a  whirlwind 
and  in  a  chariot  of  fire.  For,  as  has  been 
very  well  observed  by  Baumgarten,"  The  in- 
terval of  space  betwixt  eartli  and  heaven  was 
not  overleapt  by  a  sudden  act,  but  measureii 
out  by  a  calm  and  continued  progress,  and  s-o 
the  past  earthly  career  of  Jesus  in  no  way 
cut  olFor  obscured,  but  retained  as  an  eternally- 
enduring  foundation,  and  glorified  by  a  heaven- 
ly light.  If  the  translation  of  Elijah  may  be 
likened  to  the  flight  of  a  bird  which  no  human 
eye  can  trace,  the  ascension  of  Jesus  is  like  a 
bridge  spanning  earth  and  heaven  for  tlie  ben- 
fit  of  all  who  have  been  led  to  bim  by  tlie 
beauty  of  his  earthly  life."  His  ascending 
form  was  first  concealed  by  a  cloud,  and  this 
cloud  only  gradually  and  slowly  rose  and  niejt- 
ed  out  of  their  sight.  "Ltwking  dtad/ndh/  «/> 
inlo  the  heavens"  that  had  received  him,  p-i  ri- 
fled, immovable,  the  Apostles  gazed  on,.'ind  on. 
as  thoii<;!i  they  could  still  see  their  vainshid 
Lord  ;  they  could  not  turn  their  eyes  or  tliou;jli!s 
back  to  earth  again!  Surely  the  conjfort  and 
guidance  of  .an  angel's  voice  was  never  nuro 
needed  than  at  a  moment  like  this. 

Whether  the  "  two  men  in  while  apparel."  that 
suddenly  ap]ieared  standing  beside  tliern,  were 
the  angels  that  announced  the  resurrect  ion, 
may  well  be  doubted,  when  we  consider  the 
multitude  of  the  heavenly  host,  ready  and  will- 
ing ever  to  minister  to  man.  In  Ijt'.lce  .xxiv.  -i, 
we  find  the  expression  used  slightlj  different, 
perhaps  designedly  so.  But  from  a  comparisoi) 
with  that  ]>assago,  as  well  as  with  Acts  x.  30, 
and  Dan.  ix.  21  ;  viii.  15 ;  x.  5,  we  feel  persuad- 
ed that  at  the  ascension  we  have  the  actual 
presence  of  angels  recordeil,  and  not  that  of 
(ilorified  saints,  like  those  who  appeared  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration. 

i  But  not  only  did  tliey  appearand  stand  by, 
but  they  spoke  ;  they  " alw  mid"  as  Luke  en'j- 
phatically  writes,  in  order  to  bespeak  our  at- 
tention to  tho  words  of  the  men  from  he.'iven 
to  the  men  of  Galilee  on  earth.  This  angelic 
appearance  to  the  disciples  must  have  been, 
as  Lange  observes,  "  a  merely  secondary  wonder, 
■^  '-^mmonplace  occurrence,  compared  to  their 
lust  siglit  of  their  glorified  Lord  ;  it  seems  us 
tauugh  angels  themselves  were  destined,  on 
this  occasion,  not  to  excite  their  astonishment. 
but  to  recall  them  to  tho  sphere  of  their  ordi- 

I  nary  cousciousuess^  sooutranceJ  and  abauioovl 


THE  ANGELS  AT  THE  ASCENSION. 


29 


were  they  in  j;azing  after  their  Lord."  Yea, 
verily,  alter  the  last  word  from  Jesus,  these 
heavenly  speakers  served  to  make  I  lie  transi- 
tion back  from  the  heaven,  where  they  would 
be,  to  their  continued  living  and  working  upon 
earth,  easier  and  more  intelligible  to  tlie  dis- 
ciples. Accordingly  the  angelic  words  run  as 
toliows:  "  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  s!niiii  ye  gaz- 
ing up  into  heaven  ?  this  same  Jems,  who  is  taken 
i/j>  from  you  into  heaven,  nhall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven." 

Three  times  in  succe-ision  the  word  heaven, 
and  this  in  order  to  recall  to  earth  !  Yet  this 
recalling  from  their  raptured  gazing  to  earthly 
consciousness  and  earthly  activity,  is  implied 
in  the  very  first  words  of  this  rousing  appeal, 
Ye  men  of  OaliJee  ;  for  certainly  most  of  those 
present  were  Galileans;  indeed,  we  may  almost 
infer  that  all  were  so,  Judas  of  Kerioth  (Josh. 
XV.  25),  the  traitor,  having  been  the  only  dis- 
ciple belonging  to  Judea.  This  calling  up  of 
all  their  Galilean  recollections,  graciously  re- 
minded them  of  the  low  commencement  of  their 
earthly  career,  of  their  being  found  and  called 
by  the  Lord,  of  the  time  when  they  became 
his  disciples  and  lived  with  him  ;  all  this  would 
be  comprehended  in  one  far-reaching,  retrospec- 
tive, glance,  like,  in  a  measure,  to  that  which 
Jesus  cast  upon  the  earth  that  he  left.  But 
these  men  are  to  remain  on  earth  as  the  Lord's 
Apostles,  chosen  out  of  that  highly-favored 
Galilee,  that  hitherto  had  had,  not  aa  the  doc- 
tors of  the  law  mistakenly  believed,  "no  pro- 
phet" (John  vii.  22),  but  only  Jonah  (2  Kings 
xiv.  25)  and  Nahum.  The  name  Galilean,  no\v 
a  term  of  ridicule  and  contempt,  should  be 
rendered  honorable  by  them,  as  the  name  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  been  glorified  by  the  re- 
surrection. 

And  now  again,  as  before  at  the  sepulchre, 
we  have  a  reproof  implied  in  the  question  put  : 
Why  stand  ye  gazing  thus  into  heaven  ?  Be- 
fore, the  women  were  admonished  to  look  away 
from  the  sepulchre,  and  now  the  disciples  must 
be  content  to  part  with  all  trace  of  their  Lord's 
visible  presence.  Since  Jesus  had  actually 
gone  away  from  them  into  heaven,  it  was  vain  to 
stand  and  gaze.  Enough  that  he  was  gone  to 
prepare  a  place  for  them  ;  while  for  them  there 
remained  a  walking  in  and  working  according 
to  his  commandments,  as  well  as  in  his  strength 
and  fellowship,  upon  this  earth  of  ours.  I'his 
pregnant  speech,  universally  applicable  to  dis- 
ciples as  it  still  is,  dissuades  from  and  chides 
all  idle  waiting,  all  inactive  longing  and  dream- 
ing, all  presumptuous  inquiries  that  transcend 
the  limits  of  our  world ;  and  constantly  enjoins, 
and  encourages  us  to  the  faithful  discharge  of 
our  appointed  duties  in  the  life  that  now  is. 
Thus  tlie  very  first  words  of  the  angels  are  a 
continuation,  as  it  were,  of  the  last  words  of 
the  Lord,  and  deeply  imbued  with  the  same 
spirit.  "  Why  stand  ye?  Remember  the  last 
question  ye  put  to  your  Lord.  You  know 
your  duty  already.  It  is  to  go  forth  out  of 
your  Galilee  into' all  the  world,  and  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.    Look  below  you; 


there  is  Jerusalem,  there  is  the  appointed  place 
tor  your  first  witnessing  of  Jesus,  for  the  exer- 
cise of  your  faith  and  obedience  ;  tarry  there, 
and  tarry  in  sure  and  certain  hope." 

And  now  comes  a  second  intimation,  which 
the  Lord  had  left  to  be  delivered,  on  this  nora- 
sion,  by  these  angelic  ministers  of  his.  Hf  had 
spoken  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  building 
up  of  the  Church;  they  point  to  the  end  of  all 
times  and  seasons,  to  his  second  coming  to 
judgment.  "  2'/as  same  Jesus  shall  so  come." 
Ye  men  of  Q alike  ;  this  same  Jtsus  ;  the  two 
are  bought  into  close  contract,  no  intervening 
mention  of  the  heavenly  messengers  them- 
selves. The  single  name  Jesus,  which  Gabriel 
announced  at  the  first,  is  here  emphasized,  in 
token  that,  although  withdrawn  from  their 
sight,  the  now  exalted  and  glorified  personality 
of  the  God-man  would  still  remain  unchanged 
in  its  essential  character.  He  is,  he  ever  will 
be,  the  same  Jesus  ;  there  \,s  here  a  profound 
truth,  an  infinite  source  of  consolation  and 
strength,  the  lull  appreciation  of  which  led 
Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  use  these 
very  words:  "Jesus  of  Nazareth;  him  ye 
have  crucified;  whom  God  raised  up;"  this 
Jesus ;  yea,  the  same  Jesus  still !  (ii.  22, 24—32, 
36).  "All  the  humanity,  and  all  the  divine 
power;  all  the  humiliation,  and  all  the  won- 
drous works  ;  all  the  truth  witnessed,  and  all 
the  love  shown,  by  this  same  Jesus,  would  rush 
back  upon  their  memories  at  once  at  the  words, 
and  they  are  spoken  now  in  connection  with  a 
new  fact,  "who  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven." 
From  you  men  upon  earth;  just  as  the  first 
words  to  the  sheplierds  were,  "  There  is  born  to 
you  a  Saviour"  (Luke  ii.  11).  There  is,  in- 
deed, a  taking  up,  a  taking  a,via,yfrom  m,  from 
earth;  the  heaven  into  which  our  Lord  has  en- 
tered being  not  merely  a  state  but  a  place,  but 
there  is  no  real  separation  from  him,  he  being 
by  his  spirit  still  present  with  us. 

He  will  "  so  come"  as  ye  have  seen  him  "  go" 
Both  events  are  equally  real,  and  between  them 
lies  the  whole  history  of  the  Christian  Church, 
the  first  part  of  which  Luke  was  now  about  to 
write.  The  passage  is  often  mistakenly  ren- 
dered, "  he  will  con.-)  again."  Eut  that  word 
"a^ain"  would  be  misplaced  here.  It  is  not 
lhe%nti  thesis  of  taken  tip  like  the  shall  descend 
in  1  Thess.  iv.  16.  And  also  we  find  that  hence- 
forth it  is  customary  with  the  writers  of  I  lis 
New  Testament  to  speak  emphatically  of  the 
coming  (not  coming  again)  of  the  Lord  in  glory 
to  judgment,  because  this  will  really  be  his 
first  perfect  coming,  the  fulfillment  and  proof 
of  his  lowly  coming  in  the  flesh.  It  was  thus 
the  Lord  himself  always  spoke  of  it  even  in 
the  parable  of  the  talents  (Luke  xix.  13-23). 
It  is  only  in  John  xiv.  3  that  a  co77ilng  again  \a 
definitely  expressed;  in  ver.  18  of  the  same 
chapter  the  word  again  is  omitted.  This  last, 
this  all-fulfilling  coming  of  the  Lord;  alas' 
how  sadly  have  many  Christians,  in  the  presetit 
day,  lost  sight  of  it  altogether  ;  and  yet,  it  is 
not  only  the  very  key-stone  of  all  nv.'n!pd 
truth,  but  faith  and  hope  therein  are  the  very 


so 


THE  ANGEL  OPENING  THE  PRISON  DOORS. 


life  of  all  Christian  character  and  activity. 
There  is  a  fictitious  looking  up  into  heaven,  in- 
deed, which  is  reproved;  but  the  true,  the 
right  looking  up  of  the  Christian  is  ever  com- 
mended ;  the  wailing  for  God's  Son  from  heav- 
en ( L  Thess.  i.  10).  But  now  as  to  the  question 
of  how  soG-n  or  how  late  he  will  corae  ?  Nat- 
urally the  angel  does  not  affix  any  time  after 
what  the  Loni  himself  had  said  (ver.  7).  So 
much  the  more  strongly  in  its  simplicity  runs 
the  promise,  "  He  will  come."  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  the  angel  should,  on  this  occasion, 
add,  as  he  said,  for  now  the  disciples  vividly 
remember  the  Lord's  words,  spoken  to  them  so 
often,  both  openly  and  in  the  form'Sf  parable, 
np  to  the  very  last  (John  xxi.  22  ;  Malt.  xxvi. 
24). 

But  though  we  are  not  told  when  he  virill 
come,  we  are  told  how :  "  In  lihx  manner  as 
ye  have  seen  him  go."  As  the  Son  of  Man, 
visible  to  human  sight,  as  the  same  Jesus, 
and  in  a  doud  (Luke  xxi.  27).  And  it  is  also 
probable  that  the  expression,  in  the  same  way, 
may  have  a  mysterious  reference  to  the  very 
place,  the  Mount  of  Olives,  as  certain  passages 
in  the  prophets,  agreeably  to  an  ancient  and 
well-grounded  exegesis,  might  lead  us  to  infer 
(Zech.  xiv.  4,5;  Joel  iii.  7).  Still  this  last 
point  remains  open  to  dispute,  but  one  thing  is 
certain  ;  the  coming  of  Jesus  will  be  visible  as 
was  his  departure,  and  incomparably  more  glori- 
ous, though  this  the  angel  leaves  unsaid,  because 
the  Lord's  own  words  had  established  the  fact 
(Luke  xxi.  27;  Matt.  xxiv.  30;  xxv.  31,  to 
which  we  may  add  1  Thess.  iv.  16).  Now,  of 
all  the  thousands  of  thousands  who  welcome 
him  to  his  throne  in  heaven  with  joy  and  rap- 
ture, only  these  two  men  in  shining  raiment  are 
visible.  Then  he  shall  come  with  all  the  holy 
angels  (Mark  viii.  38;   Matt.  xvi.  27). 

Another  clause  in  the  angel's  comforting,  re- 
assuring speech  deserves  our  special  attention. 
Pointing  as  it  does  from  heaven  back  to  earth, 
it  appeals  on  beiialf  of  all  other  men,  to  the 
experience  and  the  testimony  of  those  whom 
it  addresses  ;  "  As  ye  have  seen  him  !  "  Indeed, 
how  do  we  know  of  this  very  speech  of  the 
angel,  save  from  the  testimony  of  these  trust- 
worthy men  of  Galilee  who  here  record  what 
they  saw  and  heard?  If  there  be  any  who  se- 
riously incline  to  doubt  this  statement,  behold 
its  proof  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  the  history  of  the  Church  up 
to  this  very  day,  up  to  the  last  day  of  all.  Ye 
tJiall  be  viy  witiie.sses,  thus  said  the  Lord,  and 
they  were  and  are  so.  He  has  budt  up  his 
Church  before  our  eyes.  In  it  we  already  see 
him  coming  in  his  kingdom.  The  existence  of 
Christianity  proves  the  divinity  of  its  origin. 
Ami  not  only  the  history  of  the  Church,  but 
the  hi.-^tory  ot  the  universe,  of  heaven  and  earth 
ItutI),  is  ino'u  led  between  the  first  and  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  of  (hi*  Jcnus,  the  God-man, 
in  whom  the  earth  is  exalted  to  the  mercy-seat 
of  the  Highest.  Yea,  when  he  who  is  taken 
up  into  heaven,  he  whom  the  Apostles  saw  go 
iulu  h^aveu.  shall  coiue  down  from  heaven,  un- 


belief itself  will  be  forced  to  own  that  bis  first 
coming  was  from  heaven  also.  The  angels  do 
not  say  to  these  early  disciples  and  Apostles,  ye 
shall  so  see  him  come.  Yet,  doubtless,  though 
after  another  fashion,  they  shall  be  there,  and 
their  eyes  shall  see. 

And"  now,  what  do  we  learn  from  all  this? 
Are  the  words  of  these  angels  intended  to  pre- 
vent our  looking  up  into  heaven  ?  Far  other- 
wise; man,  in  the  obscurity  and  oppression  of 
his  present  limited  existence,  never  can  cease 
to  do  so  ;  nay,  an  earnest,  thoughtful,  upward 
glance  such  as  the  prophet  Isaiah  enjoins  (xl. 
26),  is  the  very  thing  to  awake  man's  belief  in 
the  existence  of  God.  But  faith  in  Christ,  in 
the  revelation,  comfort,  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  itself  the  real,  the  true  looking  into 
heaven  ;  faith  in  Christ,  as  having  entered  into 
heaven's  glory,  as  being  the  dispenser  of  the 
Spirit  to  his  kingdom  on  earth ;  as  the  all- 
accomplisher,  redeemer,  and  judge,  who  shall 
come  from  heaven  at  the  end  of  this  dispensa- 
tion. He  who  thus  looks  into  heaven  does  not 
remain  idly  standing  as  he  gazes.  His  glance 
will  not  remain  fixed  thereon  in  blank  aston- 
ishment, or  even  ardent  desire  such  as  that  of 
the  disciples,  still  less  will  it  sink  incredulously 
back  to  earth  to  fix  itself  there  like  that  of  the 
worldly-minded  ;  no,  it  will  be  the  heaven- 
strengthened  glance  of  the  witness  of  the  Lord 
on  earth,  who  lives  and  works  in  the  good  hope 
of  faith,  looking  for  the  time  when  this  same 
Jesus  will  re-un'te  earth  and  heaven.  Now, 
indeed,  the  throne  is  above,  the  kingdom 
below  ;  but  then  the  king  shall  dwell  with  his 
people,  in  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth 
which  we  look  for  according  to  his  promise. 

All  this,  then,  is  included  in  the  angelic  ad- 
dress at  the  ascension,  in  these  last  words  which 
angels  add  to  the  last  words  of  Christ.  And, 
as  answer  to  them,  there  arises  in  our  hearts 
and  to  our  lips  the  oft-repeated  cry  of  believers 
and  saints  from  that  time  to  this,  "  Even  so, 
come,  Lord  Jesus!"  For  this  is  in  no  way 
forbidden  us;  nay,  we  are  encouraged  so  to 
pray,  both  by  the  Lord's  parting  words  and 
those  of  his  angels. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Angel  OrENixo  tue  Pki.son  Doors, 

Acts  v. 

Since  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  witness  of  the 
Apostles  to  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
had  been  given  with  great  power,  the  Church 
began  to  count  its  numbers  by  thousands,  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  oifered  (o  all  who 
believed  and  were  baptized.  It  was  openly 
preached  that  the  Messiah,  (he  S-iviour  n-jected 
by  the  Jews,  although  ascended  into  heaven, 
was  sent  to  them  once  more  in  the  Spirit  to 
bestow  a  time  of  refreshing,  to  turn  away  every 
one  Irom  his  inicjuities  (in.  20-25).     This  i)ro- 


THE  ANGEL  OPENING  THE  PRISON  DOORS. 


3t 


voked  a  slight  persecution  which,  gathering 
strength,  began  openly  to  oppose  the  one  name 
through  which  men  can  be  saved  (iv.  12).  But 
the  unworthy  threats  to  which  this  opposition 
condescended  only  awakened  a  fresh  spirit  of 
prayer  in  the  Church,  an  increased  zeal  in 
speaking  and  teaching  the  word  of  God.  Such, 
indeed,  was  the  great  power  of  the  apostolic 
testimony,  and  the  great  grace  upon  all,  that 
the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  had  all 
things  in  common :  the  rich  not  esteeming 
what  they  possessed  their  own  ;  the  poor  lack- 
ing nothing. 

But  judgment  must  begin  first  at  the  house 
of  God  (1  Pet.  iv.  17).  The  Achan  of  the  New 
Testament,  with  his  wife,  had  to  be  cast  out 
and  sentenced  to  death,  so  that  great  fear  fell 
upon  all.  After  this  many  signs  and  won- 
ders continued  to  be  wrought  among  the  peo- 
ple, even  by  the  very  shadow  of  Peter  falling 
upon  the  believing  sick.  The  prayer  of  the 
Church  (iv.  30)  was  abundantly  fulfilled.  No 
emeny  nor  hypocrite  dared  to  join  himself 
to  the  congregation  ;  but  the  majority  of  the 
people  magnified  them,  and  believers  were 
more  and  more  added  to  the  Lord  (ver.  14). 

But  now  for  the  second  time  the  enmity  ex- 
cited bursts  with  redoubled  strength  though 
all  the  restraints  of  wonder  and  fear.  The 
high  priest  Ananias,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
Sadducees  which  were  with  him  (iv.  1,  2),  could 
endure  it  no  longer;  they  rose  up,  and  were 
filled  with  indignation.  They  were  not  per- 
haps, actually  authorized  in  so  doing,  by  a  de- 
cree of  a  regular  assembly  (ver.  17  does  not 
seem  to  imply  this)  ;  but  at  all  events,  they 
must  have  been  aware  that  the  council  was  on 
their  side  (ver.  27),  when  they  ventured  to 
lay  hands  on  the  two  Apostles  now  recognized 
as  the  leaders  of  the  party,  and  to  put  them 
in  the  common  prison.  For  on  this  occasion 
we  find  that  they  were  no  longer  put  in  hold 
till  the  next  day,  as  in  chap.  iv.  3,  but  thrown 
into  the  public  jail  for  malefactors  of  every 
kind.  This  the  high  priest  and  they  that  were 
with  him  ventured  to  do  in  spite  of  the  rever- 
ence of  the  people  (ver.  13),  though  later  we 
find  that  they  dreaded  lest  they  should  have 
been  stoned  of  them  in  the  event  of  their 
using  further  violence  against  the  Apostles. 

But  God's  time  was  now  come  for  adding 
another  sign  to  the  miracles  of  judgment  and 
of  healing  hitherto  recorded.  These  daring 
adversaries  with  whom  the  divine  patience 
had  so  marvellously  borne  were  not  indeed  to 
be  given  over  to  destruction,  but  to  receive  a 
most  emphatic  warning  to  refrain  from  these 
men,  and  let  them  alone,  lest  haply  they  be 
found  fighting  even  against  God.  The  inter- 
vention which  could  not,  agreeably  to  the 
counsel  of  God,  shield  the  Lord  Jesus  himself, 
since  his  death  was  to  procure  life  for  us,  now 
avails  in  the  case  of  his  witnesses  and  ambassa- 
dors. Out  of  the  willing  legions  of  angels  one  is 
permitted  to  stand  forth  and  rescue  the  Apos- 
iles  from  tlxfi.  false-hearted  rulers  of  Isreal. 
True,  he  does  not  fight  for  the  kingdom  of  grace 


and  mercy  with  aggressive  and  overwhelm, 
ing  migiit:  he  merely  protests  in  action,  simply 
and  quietly,  against  the  imprisonment  of  the 
servants  ot'  the  word. 

No  angel  interfered  on  behalf  of  Peter  and 
John  the  first  time  hands  were  laid  on  them  ; 
a  little  later,  too,  we  shall  see  Stephen  fall  be- 
neath the  stones  of  his  jealous  enemies,  as  well 
as  the  Apostle  James  by  the  sword  of  Herod, 
for  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  is  still  and  eve-r  the 
kingdom  of  the  cross.  But  at  intervals  tokena 
of  the  divine  power  will  be  made  manifest ; 
on  this  occasion  to  insure  to  all  the  Apostles  a 
further  period  of  undisturbed  preaching  ;  here- 
after to  insure  Peter's  flight. 

"Bid  the  angel  of  the  Ijord  hy  night  opened  tha 
prison  doors,  and  brougfit  (hem  forth,  and  said. 
Go  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple  to  the  peo])le  all 
the  words  of  this  life."  This  miracle  happened 
in  the  night,  that  its  nature  might  be  known 
to  the  faithful  alone;  its  efi'ects  merely  to 
others.  Probably  the  keepers  on  this  oc- 
casion neither  saw  nor  heard  any  thing  un- 
usual, at  least  this  is  the  impression  that 
vers.  22,  23,  makes  upon  the  mind.  The  an- 
gel had  invisibly  opened  and  closed  the  pri- 
son doors  "  with  all  safety,"  and  infringed 
no  further  upon  human  law  and  prison  disci- 
pline than  his  commission  positively  required. 
We  have  no  details  given  us  here  of  the 
manner  of  egress,  as  in  chap.  xii.  7,  8.  The 
stress  is  laid  upon  the  renewed  preaching. 
Later,  in  Philippi  (xvi.  26),  we  read  of  an 
earthquake,  and  of  all  the  prisoners'  bands  be- 
ing loosed.  Now,  there  is  nothing  recorded 
l)ut  the  quiet  bringing  the  Apostles  forth. 
Every  thing  has  its  due  season  in  the  ways 
and  works  of  the  Lord. 

There  is,  in  the  sacred  history,  a  close  con- 
nection between  one  stage  of  development  and 
another.  It  reveals  itself  as  a  well-ordered  and 
progressive  whole,  and,  accordingly,  the  same 
law  is  observable  thoughout  (he  smallest  details 
of  its  miraculous  events.  Thus  the  words  of 
the  angels  recorded  iri  I  be  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
seem  to  be  links  of  one  and  the  same  chain,  so 
(hat  each  suf^oeeding  address  appears  in  con- 
tinuation of  the  last.  That  which  in  the  ad- 
dress of  the  angels  at  the  ascension  (that  ad- 
dress being  itself  closely  linked  with  the  last 
words  of  Jesus),  was  left  unspoken  though  im- 
plied throughout,  now  shapes  itself  into  the 
general  command.  Go  and  bear  witness  on 
earth  to  him  who  is  in  heaven.  In  connection, 
again,  with  this,  we  have  (viii.  26)  the  angel 
pointing  out  to  Philip  a  special  occasion  for 
preaching  Christ  beyond  fhe  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
a  silent  perparation  this  for  spre;iding  the 
Gospel  among  the  Gentiles  also.  Then,  just 
as  Philip  was  expressly  sent  to  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch,  we  next  find  Cornelius  directed  by  an 
angel  to  the  Apostle  Peter.  Afterwards"^,  in 
chap,  xii.,  comes  a  second  deliverance  of  Peter 
from  prison  after  the  death  of  James,  that 
men  might  know  that  the  Lord's  witnesses 
were  rescued,  or  permitted  to  sutler  death  and 
bonds   according   to  his    own   good   pleasure. 


32 


THE  ANGEL  DIRECTING  PHILIP. 


Finally,  in  the  thoroughly  typical  narrative  of 
the  slnpwreck  of  the  other  great  Apostle,  Paul, 
an  angel  appears  for  the  last  time  recorded  in 
the  historical  books,  not  only  to  certify  that 
Paul  must  stand  before  Caesar,  but  to  show 
that  in  tiiis  hour  of  great  peril,  God's  protect- 
ing mercy  extends  to  all  the  companions  of 
his  servants  as  well. 

Thus,  then,  we  can  now  the  better  ander- 
etand  the  position  occupied  by  the  first  prison- 
opening  angel  in  the  record  of  Holy  Writ, 
taken  as  a  whole.  Thus  his  first  words  are  felt 
to  be  fraught  with  a  deeper  meaning  than  their 
simplicity  at  first  suggested  :  "  Go."  Spite  of 
all  the  threats  of  men,  the  angel  repeats  that 
command  given  by  the  Lord  just  before  his 
ascension,  Go  ye  therefore  (Matt,  xxviii.  19; 
Mark  xvi.  15);  refers  expressly  to  it,  as  Peter 
himself  does,  when  he  declares,  "  We  ought  to 
obey  God  rather  than  men  ;  we  are  his  wit- 
nesses of  these  things."  The  angel  does  not 
add,  "  Fear  not"  (as  in  xxvii.  24,  in  the  im- 
minent peril  of  shipwreck),  but  the  expression 
he  uses  has  something  of  the  same  spirit.  The 
Apostles  are  to  go  and  stand  ;  to  occupy  their 
former  place  boldly  and  confidently.  Stand 
forth  and  speak  out,  as  your  office  is.  We  find 
that,  in  the  united  prayer  of  the  Church  (iv. 
29),  "  all  boldness  to  speak  thy  word  "  was  the 
only  result  implored,  not  protection  aganst  its 
threatening  adversaries.  But  now  that  the 
Bough  t-for  signs  and  wonders  have  been  abund- 
antly granted,  boldness  and  freedom  in  speak- 
ing are  to  be  still  further  increased.  On  a 
future  occasion,  after  the  Apostles  have  been 
beaten,  and  received  further  fruitless  injunc- 
tions to  refrain  from  preaching,  we  find  no 
such  angelic  interposition  on  their  behalf,  nor 
do  they  then  need  it.  They  only  rejoice  that 
they  are  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  utterly  disregard  the  bodily 
pain  inflicted, 

"  In  the  iem]>\e  to  the  feojUe,"  so  the  angel's 
short,  rapid  injunction  runs.  In  despite  of  the 
rulers,  who  will  not  hear,  and  unto  the  people, 
•who  will,  are  the  words  of  salvation  to  be 
preached.  The  builders,  who  have  set  at 
nought  the  true  corner-stone,  are  now  rightfully 
deposed  from  authority.  Their  command  is 
nothing  worth ;  therefore  the  preaching  is,  in 
spite  of  all  the  policy  of  the  rulers  of^Israel, 
to  take  place  publicly  in  the  temple  as  before ; 
in  that  same  porch  of  Solomon,  in  which  once 
the  Lord  himself  had  gathered  around  him  the 
sheep  who  heard  his  voice  (ver.  12 ;  John  x. 
23).  "  All  the  words  of  this  life."  This  is  the 
main  as  well  as  the  final  point.  And  what  is 
this  life?  Plainly  the  new  life  brought  to 
hght  and  tiiumphant  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
liord  (iv.  33),  which  the  poor  etlorts  of  the 
feadducees  would  vainly  seek  to  bind,  and 
quench,  and  bury.  Compare  the  "  word  of  life  " 
(  Phil.  li.  16),  and  "  the  word  of  this  salvation  " 
(Acts  xiii.  2G).  Thh\\[Q;  the  expression  re- 
minds us  of  the  one  so  recently  used  by  an 
angel,  this  Jesus.  But  again,  this  great  word 
of  life  is  to  be  set  forth  now  m  many  words  ;  I 


of  all  the  words  of  this  life  tl  e  Apostles  are  nci 
to  keep  back  or  omit  one.  Such  was  the  decree 
from  above.  God's  word  is  not  bound  (2  Tim. 
ii.  9).  "Even  as  Jesus,  by  the  very  naming 
of  his  name,  cast  his  enemies  down  to  the 
ground  before  they  could  lay  hands  upon  him, 
thereby  giving  positive  and  palpable  proof  that 
he  submitted  to  their  power  of  his  own  free 
will,  so  now,  by  the  sending  of  his  angel,  the 
whole  council  in  their  utter  perplexity  (ver. 
24)  are  taught  that  they  could  have  no  power 
at  all  over  these  witnesses  of  Jesus,  except  it 
were  given  them  from  above."  Thus  Baum- 
garten  justly  interprets  this  sign  of  deliver- 
ance, which,  like  the  signs  of  healing,  was  ap- 
pointed to  give  free  course  to  the  words  of  the 
witnesses. 

"  Go  and  speaJc."  Obedient  to  the  command, 
the  Apostles  straightway  enter  early  into  the 
temple  and  teach  there.  The  fact  of  a  miracle 
having  been  wrought  is  so  proved  by  this  result, 
that  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel  take  good  care 
not  to  ask  the  Apostles  how  they  got  back  to 
the  temple,  through  prison  doors  shut  with  all 
safety,  and  keepers  standing  without.  The 
Pharisees  could  not  but  own  that  it  was  God's 
work;  the  Sadducees,  spite  of  their  skepticism, 
may  have  suggested,  "  An  angel  has  done  this." 
But  Peter,  however,  says  nothing  about  the 
angel ;  only  insists  positively  on  the  main  point 
which  the  council  have  reluctantly  to  hear  for 
the  second  time:  "Jesus,  whom  ye  slew,  is 
risen,  is  exalted  on  God's  right  hand,  to  give 
repentance  to  Israel,  and  remission  of  sins." 
And  when  the  council  reject  this  testimony, 
the  witnesses,  disregarding  threats  and  stripes, 
turn  obediently  to  the  people,  "and  daily  in 
the  temple,  and  in  every  house,  cease  not  to 
teach  and  preach  Jesus  Chirst." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Angel  Dip.ectino  Philip. 

Acts  viii. 

We  consider  th's  to  be  a  proper  place  and 
time  openly  to  express  our  opinion,  that  the 
angelic  appearancps,  services,  and  speeches  re- 
corded in  Holy  Writ  are  by  no  means  to  be 
considered  the  only  ones  ever  vouchsafed  to 
man.  How,  for  instance,  can  we  believe  that, 
during  the  long  period  of  time  comprehended  in 
the  Old  Testament  history,  angels  so  rarely  in- 
terposed on  the  behalf  of  God's  servants,  when 
we  find  so  many  passages  in  the  Psalms,  and 
80  many  more  expressious  useu  by  our  Lord, 
and  interspersed  tlirougliout  the  whole  New 
Testament,  that  tell  of  the  frequent,  nay,  the 
regular  and  persistent  interest  felt,  and  part 
taken,  by  them  in  the  destiny  and  history  of 
man  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  are  persuaded  i(i>it 
by  far  the  greater  portion  of  occurrences  oi  me 
kind  have  be"n  left  by  Holy  Scriptur*^  in  the 
background,  left  to  private   tradition   among 


THE  ANGEL  DIRECTING  PHILIP. 


■S3 


believers.  For  it  is  far  from  being  the  inten- 
tion of  Scripture  to  givelo  what  we  mortals 
call  "the  marvellor/s"  (which  skeptics  reject, 
and  the  superstitious  distort)  any  such  prom- 
inence as  might  obscure  the  moral  wonders 
wrought  by  the  Spirit  in  tlie  heart  and  minds 
of  the  children  of  men.  The  Apocrypha  in- 
vents much  that  is  contrary  to  historical  truth  ; 
the  Bible  keeps  back  much  that  actually  hap- 
pened ;  Raphael,  in  the  book  of  Tobias,  speaks 
more  then  all  the  angels  recorded  in  Scripture 
put  together. 

But  such  instances  of  angelic  interposition  as 
Scripture  does  select  for  our  instruction,  we 
shall  find  to  be  all  significant  and  representa- 
tive. In  how  many  judgments  may  not  God's 
angelic  servants  be  still  the  actors,  whether  to 
destroy  or  to  save  !  How  many  a  despairing 
man  of  God  may,  like  Elias,  have  been  roused 
and  admonished  by  an  angel,  more  or  less  evi- 
dently !  To  how  many  parents  and  guardians 
may  God's  will  concerning  those  committed  to 
their  care,  be  revealed  now  as  it  was  to  Joseph  ! 
And,  lastly  (as  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles), 
how  often  may  the  Lord's  witnesses  have  been 

Preserved  from  persecution  and  imprisonment; 
ave  had  a  way  opened  out  to  their  activity  ; 
have  been  comforted  and  upheld  by  these  hea- 
venly messengers — sometimes  openly,  as  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  here  recorded,  but  far  of- 
tener  secretly,  and  after  a  manner  of  which 
these  visible  instances  in  early  times  were 
but  the  type. 

After  the  contest  between  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  of  lile  and  the  opposition  of  the 
Jews  had  reached  a  climax,  a  new  way  had  to 
be  made  for  spreading  the  word  to  all  lands  and 
among  all  nations.  The  irresistible  wisdom 
and  spirit  by  which  Stephen  spoke,  having  been 
silenced  by  stoning,  the  persecution  broke 
forth  with  renewed  vigor,  its  results  being  only, 
by  scattering  abroad  the  Apostles,  to  diffuse 
their  doctrines  the  more  widely.  Jerusalem 
had  rejected  the  words  of  salvation,  according- 
ly they  were  now  to  be  sent  to  the  Gentiles. 
But  this  first  turning  from  the  uncircumci«pd 
in  heart  and  ears  to  the  uncircumcised  alter 
the  flesh,  which  caused  the  latter  to  rejoice  and 
filorify  God,  had  to  be  gradually  brought  about. 
The  offer  of  salvation  was  next  to  be  made  to 
the  Samaritans,  as  our  Lord  himself  appointed 
(i.  8),  then  to  the  proselytes.  The  Gospel  was 
to  be  openly  proclaimed  to  Cornelius,  but  pre- 
viously to  be  privately  preached  to  the  Ethio- 
pian eunuch. 

Thus  we  have  again  two  turning  poinls, 
which  required  the  aid  of  angels.  Cornelius 
and  Peter  were  mutually  directed  the  one  to 
the  other  :  the  Gentile  by  an  angelic  message  ; 
the  Apostle  by  a  vision,  and  a  voice  from  the 
Lord  himself  In  the  case  of  Philip,  we  find 
that  nothing  was  needed  but  a  mere  direction 
as  to  the  way  he  should  take  in  ordf-r  to  find 
the  ready  recipient  of  his  message.  The  public 
announcement  of  God's  purpose  respecting  the 
Gentiles  wa3_to  be  made  first  by  Peter  (xv.  7- 
II),  but  before  this  event,  a  less  distinguished 


servant  of  God  was  appointed  secretly  to  con- 
vert and  baptize  the  Ethiopian.  The  seven 
deacons,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  sixth  chapter, 
were  originally  chosen  not  merely  to  "  serve  ta- 
bles," but  had  other  gifts,  pnvileaes,  and  du- 
ties, and  were  entitled  by  their  office  to  speak 
the  word.  Accordingly,  we  find  Philip  taking 
the  place  of  the  martyred  Stephen  ;  preaching 
Christ,  however,  in  Samaria,  since  the  disper- 
sion of  the  Church  had  made  his  ministration 
in  Jerusalem  unnecessary.  Nor  was  he  preach- 
ing merely  under  the  control  of  the  Apostles, 
but  as  a  chosen  and  appointed  Evangelist,  un- 
der which  name  we  meet  with  him  later  in  Ces- 
area  (xxi.  8 ;  compare  viii.  40).  Yet  it  agrees 
perfectly  with  this  that  the  rite  of  baptism 
performed  by  him,  should  need  to  be  confirmed 
and  completed  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  of 
the  Apostles  before  the  Samaritan  converts 
could  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  Nor  was  Philip 
humbled  thereby,  but  rather  comforted  and 
honored  by  such  a  seal  set  to  the  success  of  his 
mission,  though  it  appears  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  lamentable  fall  from  the  faith,  of 
Simon  the  sorcerer,  whom  perhaps  Philip  had 
been  rather  premature  in  baptizin<?,  must  have 
deeply  afilicted  the  Evangelist.  We  think  we 
can  discern  traces  of  his  having  somewhat  lost 
heart.  While  the  Apostles,  on  their  return  to 
Jerusalem,  preached  the  Gospel  in  m.any  vil- 
lages of  the  Samaritans,  he  seems  to  have  lin- 
gered in  Samaria,  not  rightly  knowing  whither 
he  should  go  next,  or  what  he  should  do. 
While  in  this  condition,  the  angel  points  out 
the  way  he  is  to  take,  in  order,  according  to 
the  loving  purpose  of  God,  to  meet  with  a  rich 
compensation  lor  Simon's  defection  ;  the  Ethi- 
opian's humble,  teachable  spirit,  and  willing- 
ness to  believe,  affording  a  most  complete  con- 
trast to  the  insincerity  and  subtility  of  the 
sorcerer. 

Although  it  is  not  expressly  stated,  \ta  in- 
cline to  believe  that  the  angel  who  spoke  to 
Philip  at  the  same  time  visibly  appeared  to  him, 
the  intimation  he  afterwards  received  (ver.  29) 
being  spoken  of  in  different  terms.  The  first 
summons  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  one  wholly 
unknown,  was  doubtless  given  by  the  angel  in 
a  voice  from  without;  afterwards,  when  Philip 
saw  the  traveller  sitting  in  his  chariot  and 
reading  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  the  voice  of  the 
Spirit  within  him,  by  which  he  was  habitually 
guided,  would  be  sufficient  to  impel  him  to 
join  himself  to  that  chariot  and  to  help  the 
Ethiopian  to  an  understanding  of  what  he  read. 

"Arise,  and  go  along  toward  the  south,  on 
the  way  that  goeth  down  from  Jemmlcm  unto 
G'iza,  which  is  desirt."  Tiius,  we  take  the  an- 
gel's speech  as  a  whole,  and  believe  we  can  pen- 
etrate its  whole  meaning,  even  the  unexpressed 
hint  that  lies  beneath  the  simplicity  of  the  lit- 
eral words.  This  call  to  arise  and  go  along 
was  intended  to  rouse  and  cheer  the  downcast 
and  irresolute  spirit  of  the  Evangelist,  not 
merely  to  prefiice  the  angel's  further  directions. 
It  was  equivalent  to  saying  :  "Thoa  shalt  not 
return  to  Jerusalem  with  the  Apostles,  neither 


u 


THE  ANGEL  SENT  TO  CORNELIUS. 


ehnU  tbou  rpmain  in  tlie  city  of  Sninaria. 
Tliere  is  a  witiev  (ield  lie'^oie  ihee.  Arise  clieer- 
full}'  and  connigeoii.sly,  and  go  unto  tlie  place 
that  I  siiall  tell  thee."  Then  tlie  angel  pro- 
ceoils  lo  indicate  the  way  Philip  is  to  take  so 
precisely  that  he  cannot  possible  go  wrong; 
just  as  we  shall  presently  find  the  house  of 
Simon  the  tanner,  by  the  sea-side,  minutely 
de.sciibed  to  Cornelius. 

The  Evanizelist's  next  station  was  to  be  in 
•A'hat  was  formerly  the  land  of  the  Philistine.?, 
■..)r  we  read  that  he  was  found  in  Azotus  (the 
Ashdod  of  old).  But,  in  the  first  instance,  he 
Tiinst  bclake  himself,  not  indeed  to  Gaza,  but 
only  to  the  way  leading  down  to  it,  which  is 
cxprossly  specified  as  desert,  little  frequented. 
At  first  this  seems  to  be  a  mere  topographical 
description,  but  there  is  a  deeper  meaning  be- 
liind.  The  angel  is  not  here  commissioned  to 
speak  of  Gaza  and  its  desolation,  but  he  de- 
sciibes  the  road  thither  as  desert  compared  to 
the  populous  Samaritan  villages  (ver.  25);  des- 
ert beyond  all  other  roads  in  the  district.  There 
were  several  ways  from  Jerusalem  to  Egypt, 
and  this  was  used  the  least  of  any,  the  most 
golilary,  forsaken,  desert.  Baumgarten  rightly 
oliserves,  that  tiie  description  of  silent  desert- 
cil  road  by  the  angel  has  special  reference  to 
Piiilip's  appointed  office,  such  a  place  being 
wcl!  suited  for  his  undisturbed  ministerial  work. 
For  to  what  purpose  could  the  command  to 
arise  and  to  go  be  given  to  Philip  but  to  point 
out  to  him  a  way  of  fulfilling  hisoffice?  This 
is  srU-cvident.  Whenever  the  order  of  march 
is  given  to  a  soldier,  it  is  with  some  reference  to 
liis  S[>ecial  military  duties.  Thus  the  angel's 
Winds  might  be  understood  as  meaning, 
"  L'^ave  this  Samaritan  city ;  here  thy  task  is 
ended.  Go  down  to  the  desert  way ;  it  is  there 
that  thou  wilt  find  a  willing  hearer  who  is  re- 
turning from  worship|)ing  at  Jerusalem.  A 
secret  silent  (ask  lies  before  thee."  This  is  the 
lalent  meaning  of  the  angel's  words,  and  the 
v.-linle  ciiaracter  of  th.e  interview  with  the 
Eiliio]iian  is  conformable  thereto. 

Tims  how  exquisitely  every  thing  harmon- 
izes !  The  eunuch  has  chosen  this  solitary  road 
just  that  he  may  read  his  newly-acquired 
trea-ure,  a  chapter  of  Holy  Writ,  undisturbed, 
and  the  Lord  sends  him  the  very  expounder 
and  preacher  that  he  requires.  Thus  the  ways 
of  God  and  man  are  made  to  meet  together, 
whenever  salvation  hns  to  be  brought  within 
t!ie  reacli  of  a  soul  that  earnestly  seeks  for  it. 
Philip,  if  left  to  iiimself,  would  certainly  not 
have  set  out  on  his  journey  just  then,  or  he 
would  in  all  probability  have  betaken  himself 
el-ewhere.  But  now  he  has  his  definite  com- 
nii.ssion  given  him,  and  his  way  marked  out. 
Tiie  rest  is  all  clear.  The  moment  he  sees  the 
chariot,  he  runs  thitiier  ;  without  previous 
jiiveling  or  pieface  of  any  kind,  lie  has  c;)urage 
at  once  to  introduce  himself  to  the  distinguish- 
ed traveller  in  the  character  of  a  teacher. 
Thus,  nuil'-r  God's  special  guidance,  alter  the 
harvest  reatied  in  Samaria,  where  Jesus  him- 
eeli'  bad  ouce  sowu,  the  ilrst  seed  is  silently 


dropped  which  is   to  bring  forth  blessed  fruit 
in  Ethiopia. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

TuE  Angel  Sent  to  Cornelius. 

Acts  x. 

The  time  had  now  arrived  when  the  Gospel 
was  to  be  openly  proclaimed  to  the  Genii  Id 
world  ;  no  longer  preached  in  secret  to  one 
individual  convert  on  the  desert  way  ;  but  when 
it  was  to  come,  so  far  as  this  is  ever  true  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  "with  ob.-ervation." 

The  chosen  scene  was  the  city  next  in  im- 
portance to  Jerusalem  itself,  the  customary 
residence  of  the  governor  whenever  he  was  nut 
in  Jerusalem  (xxiii.  23,  33;  xxv.  1,  6,  13),  a 
city  named,  as  was  Cesarea  Philippi,  in  honor 
of  the  Roman  emperor.  This  city  was  known, 
in  contradistinction,  as  Cesarea  Siratoiiis,  Pal- 
ajstinre,  or  Pala;stina,  and  was  situated  on  the 
Mediterranean,  on  the  site  of  a  fortress  calh^d 
Strato's  Tower.  Tacitus  cursorily  mentions 
it  as  the  capital  of  Judea,  so  that  we  now  .see 
the  Gospel  gradually  making  its  way  to  all  the 
chief  cities  of  the  empire,  Antioch,  Philippi 
(xvi.  13  ),  Athens,  Corinth,  Ephesns,  Rome. 
At  this  time,  Cesarea  was  garrisoned  by  the 
Italian  band  or  cohort,  a  captain  (centurion) 
of  which  as  representative  of  the  warlike, 
world-wide  sway  of  Rome,  was  to  stand  at 
the  head  of  the  Gentile  converts.  For  this  he 
had  been  partially  prepared,  being  certainly  a 
proselyte  of  the  g'ate  (ver.  22)  ;  but,  neverthe- 
less he  was  still  an  uncircumcised  Gputile,  cut 
off  by  the  severe  restrictions  of  the  Mosaic  lav/ 
from  close  fellowship  with  the  Jewish  people. 
In  proof  of  the  earnest  piety  of  this  f)rose- 
Ivte,  Luke  adduces  some  further  particulars. 
He  served  the  true  God  according  to  his  know- 
ledge, tcilh  all  his  house,  as  we  may  see  proved 
in  ver.  7,  which  tells  of  the  beautiful  spirit  of 
confidence  that  existed  between  him  and  his 
servant.  He  gave  much  alms  to  the  }>o>ye, 
whom  he  recognized,  even  in  their  fallen  estate, 
to  be  God's  chosen  people,  like  that  other  cen- 
turion of  whom  Luke  tells  us  in  his  Gos]iel 
(vii.  5),  and  this  partly  in  token  of  submis- 
sion, Roman  as  ho  was,  to  the  God  of  Isri-al, 
and  parlly  from  the  dictates  of  true  bcnevcj- 
lence.  He  who  fears  God,  and  seeks  mercy  at 
his  liand,  is  sure  to  show  mercy  to  his  neigh- 
bors. Next,  Luke  gives  us  the  clue  to  the 
centurion's  excellence  in  the  all-expressive, 
and  all-revealing  fact,  "he  jirai/ed  to  «j'o<l  al- 
ways." It  might  Iiave  been  said  of  him,  lar 
more  truly  then  of  any  of  the  Phari-^et-s,  that 
he  abounded  in  works,  and  follov/rd  the  ad- 
vice given  by  Daniel  to  Nebuchadnezzar  (Dan. 
iv.  27).  And  yet  these  works,  which  did  not 
as  yet  deserve  the  appellalion  of  </"'>/  tcilrs, 
like  tiiose  of  the  female  disciple  Tabilha  (ix. 
36),  did  not  quiet  the  longing  of  his  iieiirt  l^r 
peace  and  forgiveness  of  sius  (chap.  x.  36-13), 


THE  ANGEL  SENT  TO  CORNELIUS. 


33 


nnd  IhereTore  he  continued  earnest  in  prayer, 
not  only  at  llie  hou?-3  appointed  to  the  Jews, 
wliicli  we  may  be  sure,  lie  reverently  observed, 
but  always,  at  all  times,  as  it  is  strongly  ex- 
pressed. Tlie  fact  of  the  preaching  of  salva- 
tion and  peace  through  the  Crucified  can  no 
more  have  been  unknown  to  him  than  the  his- 
tory on  which  it  was  based.  Of  both  alike  it 
was  true  that  this  thing  was  not  done  in  a  cor- 
ner (xxvi.  2G),  but  still  the  message  had  never 
been  addresst-d  to  him  personally.  Ho  must, 
indeed,  have  been  in  some  measure  acquainted 
with  the  prophets,  and  the  promises  contained 
in  them,  for  we  find  Peter,  in  his  subsequent 
discourse,  referring  to  the  testimony  of  the 
propheis  in  corroboration  of  his  doctrine.  But 
probably  he  was  less  intimately  grounded  m 
the  Old  Testament  then  the  Ethiopian  of  whom 
we  iiave  just  read.  Again,  whatever  the  in- 
clination of  his  heart  towards  the  God  of  Israel, 
lie  had  not  entirely  thrown  off  the  Roman. 
He  was  only  half  a  Jew.  The  severe  line  of 
demarcation  that  still  existed  between  the 
chosen  people  and  the  devout  heathen  must 
have  perplexed  him  considerably,  and  in  spite 
of  all  his  religious  anxiety  and  his  prayers,  we 
do  not  find  that  he  had  hitherto  taken  any  steps 
towards  embracing  a  Gospel  of  salvation  which 
was  destined  apparently  as  yet  for  the  Jews  ex- 
clusively. 

Such  seems  to  U3  to  have  been  the  real  posi- 
t'on  of  Cornelius.  Like  the  rest  of  the  prose- 
lytes, he  was  better  prepared  to  receive  Clirist- 
itnity  then  the  pharisaical  Jews  ;  but  this  was 
only  through  the  preparing  grace  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  and  companionship  with  that  people 
"  of  whom,"  fallen  as  they  were,  "  as  concern- 
ing the  flesh,  Christ  came."  To  sucii  Godfear- 
ing  and  God-seeking  men  as  he,  the  Gospel  had 
now  to  be  offered,  unincumbered  by  all  legal 
riLes  whatsoever,  previously  to  its  final  uni- 
versal extension  to  those  that  were  afar  off, 
even  to  the  most  idolatrous  and  most  unright- 
eous among  the  hoathen  world. 

Cornelius  was  favored  with  a  vision  even 
before  Peter  saw  his ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark that  the  account  of  each  of  their  visions 
ia  given  to  us  three  times  over  in  the  Acts, 
just  as  we  have  three  separate  narratives  of 
the  conversion  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  himself.  God  surely  is  the  God  of  the 
Gentiles  also;  God's  angels  do  not  merely  ap- 
pear in  Israel,  they  are  ministering  servants  to 
all  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  (lieb.  i.  14). 
The  heavenly  message  to  Cornelius  came  neither 
in  a  dieam  by  night  nor  in  a  trance,  as  in  the 
case  of  Peter  ;  and,  indeed,  there  are  some  per- 
leotly  new  features  in  this  instance,  which  we 
oi'glit  not  to  overlook.  At  three  o'clock  in 
Iho  day,  in  broad  daylight,  the  angel  ajijiears 
in  a  vision,  evidently.  It  is  most;  prolialije, 
though  not  positively  stated,  that  Cornelius 
having  chosen  this  particular  hour  for  prayer, 
out  of  reverence  for  the  ordinances  of  Israel, 
iliis  being  the  time  of  the  evening  sacrifice(iii. 
1),  the  angeLalso  chose  this  holy  season  for 
iii,-*  appearance,  as  ia  the  case  of  Daniel  and 


Zacharias.  Cornelius  was  fasling  at  the  time, 
as  he  mentions  in  ver.  '60,  so  that  three  worka 
on  which  the  Pharisees  laid  special  stress  were 
(xMatt.  vi.  2,5-16)  performed  by  him  without 
being  tainted  by  tlie  pharisaical  spirit;  but 
this  third  work,  fasting,  is  named  neither  by 
Luke  in  his  account  of  the  centurion's  char- 
acter, nor  in  the  angel's  assurance  of  accept- 
ance ;  that  it  may  be  recognized  in  its  true 
character  as  not  obligatory.  It  is  also  only 
from  Cornelius  himself  that  we  have  the  ac- 
count of  the  angel  standing  before  him  as  a 
man  in  bright  clothing  ;  whereas  the  inspired 
historian  begins  at  once  by  saying  that  it  w:i3 
an  angel  of  God  and  also  that  he  was  seen  by  the 
centurion  coming  in  to  him;  while  from  tan 
30th  verse,  we  might  almost  have  concluded 
that  the  vision  burst  upon  him  suddenly.  Wa3 
it  his  guardian  angel,  and  the  bearer  of  his 
prayer?  we  are  tempted  to  ask.  But  the 
Scripture  does  not  vouchsafe  any  specific  in- 
formation on  the  subject  ;  nor  does  the  angel 
say,  I  have  borne  thy  prayer  up  to  God  ; 
though  he  certainly  does  imply  that  he  was 
one  who  had  certain  knowledge  both  of  the 
nature  and  frequency,  as  well  as  of  the  result 
that  had  attended  the  centurion's  prayers. 

In  the  very  calling  of  him  by  his  namo 
Cornelius,  the  fact  of  his  acceptance  with  God 
was  in  a  measure  implied.  We  know  how 
significantly  in  Scripture  the  Lord  God  is  wont; 
to  call  those  that  are  his  by  their  name  (Isa. 
xliii.).  The  first  time  that  we  met  with  this 
form  of  address  from  the  mouth  of  his  angil.s 
was  on  the  occasion  of  the  consolatory  messiii;^ 
brought  to  Daniel  (Dan.  ix.  22).  Till  then  liie 
prophet  had  been  spoken  to  merely  as  son  of 
man  (viii.  17);  but  afterwards  still  more  em- 
phatically, as  "  0  Daniel,  greatly  beloved  "  (x. 
11);  and  again  in  chap.  x.  12;  xii.  4,  9.  Zecii- 
ariah  the  prophet  was  never  called  by  his 
name  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  at  the  very  begiu- 
ingof  the  New  Testament,  Zucharias  is  so  ad- 
dressed and  so  are  Mary  and  Joseph.  Piiilio 
and  i'eler,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  called 
by  their  names  (Acts  xii.  7).  But  Paul  in  the 
shipwreck  ia  comfortingly  named  by  the  angel 
(xxvii.  24).  Prom  this  glance  at  parallel  pass- 
ages we  at  once  see  that  the  very  word  dirne- 
lius  implies,  "Fear  not,  be  of  good  courage;" 
luiy,  that  in  it  is  latent  what  Peter  afterwards 
dfdared  (ver.  35),  "  Thou  art  chosen  by  God, 
and  acceptable  to  him." 

And  yet  this  pious  centurion,  readily  as  he 
was  wont  to  answer  to  his  name  when  com- 
manded by  Ilia  superiors,  or  applied  to  by  his 
subalterns,  does  naturally  feel  some  terror 
when  thus  addressed  by  the  vinii  inhright  clulh- 
iitj,  whom  he  at  once  forebodes  to  be  a  mes- 
senger of  God.  But  only  one  ready  answer 
sii'-";est  itself  to  the  weli-disciplined  soldier. 
"W/t<U  is  if..  Lord?"  i.  e..  What  are  thy  cotr.- 
mands  ?  Wnat  shall  I  do?  as  it  a[)pears  Ironi 
ver.  6,  that  the  angel  understood  the  words 
to  mean. 

"  Thy  iiraye.r  and  thine  nitm  are  come  vp  (ris  en  ) 
for  a  memorial  before   God,"     This  is   spukca 


86 


THE  ANGEL  SENT  TO  CORNELIUS. 


graciously  to  comfort  and  encourage,  before  the 
actual  command  is  given  ;  and  it  is  equivalent 
to  saying,  That  wliicli  I  am  commissioned  to 
bring  thee  is  good  news  from  God.  Wiiat  an 
assurance  for  a  seeking  and  praying  chdd  of 
man  !  and  how  often,  without  any  visible  ap- 
pearance, do  angels  secretly  and  inwardly  bring 
such  assurance  home  to  our  hearts  !  Indeed, 
we  may  boldly  say  that  this  very  assuring  us 
that  our  prayers  are  heard,  is  one  of  the  chief 
ofhees  of  these  ministering  spirits  ;  and  this 
not  merely  in  a  general  way — God  knows, 
names,  calls,  remembers  thee — but  they  give 
the  definite  corxifort  of  an  assurance  that  all 
o'lr  seeking  and  aiming  after  God  shall  be 
crowned  with  finding.  No  doubt,  Corneliu.s 
mu.sit  have  had,  ere  this,  reason  to  believe  that 
lie  was  heard,  else  he  would  not  have  con- 
tinued to  pray;  but  never  had  he  received 
such  bright,  positive  confirmation  as  now. 
Thy  2^1'ayerii  and  thine  alms.  The  angel  names 
both  together,  though  in  a  did'erent  order  to 
that  in  which  they  are  mentioned  by  Luke 
(ver.  2)  ;  for  here  was  no  question  of  mere  ex- 
ternal acts,  such  as  were  seen  of  men,  but  of 
the  state  of  the  heart  (manilested  in  conduct) 
before  God.  The  fasting,  as  we  before  observed, 
is  not  alluded  to;  it  is  a  mere  adjunct  of 
prayer,  proving  the  earnestness  with  which  it 
was  undertaken  ;  even  the  alms  are  only  of 
value  as  prayer  in  action,  as  a  proof  of  the  zeal 
with  which  Cornelius  sought  to  the  best  of  his 
power  to  follow  after  righteousness  be;ore  the 
Lord  That  the  motive  of  these  his  prayers 
and  alms  was  not  however  the  establishing  his 
own  righteousness,  but  the  obtaining  the  for- 
giveness of  sins,  is  evident  from  the  Apostle's 
discourse  (ver.  43j,  as  also  from  the  expression 
made  u.se  of  by  him  in  relating  the  circum- 
stances (xi.  14).  The  whole  history  affords  a 
striking  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  words 
uttered  by  the  man  born  blind  to  the  proud 
Pharisees:  "If  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of 
God,  and  doeth  his  will,  him  God  heareth " 
(John  ix.  31);  or  as  John  himself  authori- 
tatively states  :  "And  whatsoever  we  ask  we 
receive  of  him,  because  we  keep  his  command- 
ments, and  do  those  things  that  are  pleasing  in 
his  sight"  (1  John  iii.  22).  Without  humble 
and  earnest  prayer,  indeed,  no  works  can  be  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  but  neither  can  prayer  without 
a  corresponding  earnestness  and  perseverance 
in  good  works. 

In  Luther'3  version,  we  have  the  passage  a 
little  weakened  by  his  rendering  the  words  in 
the  singular,  "thy  prayer;"  fur  in  truth  the 
angel  sums  up  each  sigh  and  each  separate 
deed  of  charity  in  the  phrase,  thy  prayen  and 
thine  ahm.  Both  these,  the  alms  as  well  as  the 
prayers,  are  come  up  he/ore  GihI.  This  lofty  lan- 
guage is  used  only  by  the  ministering  servant, 
who  is  now  commissioned  by  God  to  answer  the 
centurion's  prayer.  Cornelius  himself,  iniieed, 
though  he  had  never  questioned,  as  the  ungodly 
do.  Does  God  know?  is  there  knowledge  with  the 
Most  High  ?  or  whether  it  was  in  vain  for  him 
to  cleanse  hii  heart  by  prayer,  or  to  wash  his 


hands  by  alms-giving  (Psa.lxxiii.  11-13);  yet 
relates  with  delight  the  positive  assurance  that 
had  been  given  to  him,  somewhat  dilTerently, 
as,  "  Thy  prayer  is  heard,  and  thine  alms  are 
had  in  remembrance  in  the  sight  of  God"  (ver. 
31).  These  differing  texts  in  the  same  chapter 
prove  to  us  that  we  must  not  lay  too  much 
stress  upon  tlie  mere  letter ;  and  yet  we  can 
hardly  refrain  from  asking  which  of  these  two 
versions  was  actually  used  by  the  angel.  We 
for  our  part  hold  that  the  account  given  by 
Cornelius  is  rather  to  be  understood  as  a  sub- 
jective paraphrase,  an  explanation,  as  it  were, 
of  his  own  ;  and  that  the  more  solemn  expres- 
sion come  vp  for  a  memorial  was  really  the  one 
used  by  the  angel.  True,  if  we  inquire  in  what 
way  Luke  could  have  known  what  the  angel's 
words  really  were,  except  directly  or  indirectly 
through  Cornelius  himself,  the  question  be- 
comes a  little  perplexing.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  we  might  just  as  well  ask  why  Luke 
should  himself  have  varied  the  words  without 
a  reason  for  doing  so.  According  to  our  theory, 
we  find  in  this  remarkable  deviation  a  slight 
trace  of  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  by  which  the 
inquiring  historian  was  led  ;  and  "believe  that 
when  Peter  (from  whom  Luke  |irobablv  derived 
his  information)  came  to  question  Cornelius 
more  closely,  and  repeatedly  to  discuss  the  t  c- 
currence  with  him,  as  it  was  most  natural  he 
should,  he  heard  from  Cornelius  the  original 
words,  and  at  once  recognized  them  as  such. 
Agreeably  to  such  a  supposition,  all  the  slight 
variations  of  the  angelic  address  may  easily  be 
explained.     Compare  ver.  32  and  chap.  xi.  14. 

And,  indeed,  m  whatever  way  we  explain 
these  variations,  we  shall  find  thai  each  expres- 
sion deserves  to  be  specially  noted.  In  the 
words,  "  come  up /or  a  memorial  hi  fore  QrA  '(as 
in  Mai.  iii.  16),  we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck 
with  an  allusion  to  Lev.  ii.  2,  9,  16;  Num.  iv. 
5,  26.  'i'his  phrase  comes  from  the  lips  of  the 
angel  with  peculiar  filness  and  beauty,  and  in- 
timates to  the  Gentile  that  henreforward  he 
stands  on  a  level  with  the  Israelite,  that  his 
prayers  are  as  incense  before  God  (Psa.  cxli.  2; 
Rev.  V.  8;  viii.  4),  and  that  his  alms  also  are 
a  sacrifice  with  which  God  is  well  pleased 
(Ileb.  xiii.  15,  16). 

"And  now  send  men  to  Jirjipa,  and  call  (to  thee) 
(a  certain)  Simon,  who  is  surtmmed  Peter;  he 
Uklgelh  with  one  Simon  a  tanner,  wJiose  house  is 
fiy  the  sea-side."  And  now  ;  these  words  com- 
ing after  the  first  clause  must  have  prepared 
Cornelius  to  expect  some  special  favor,  and 
with  good  reason  ;  but  it  was  now  to  come  in 
the  natural  order  of  God's  kingdom  on  earth. 
The  extraordinary  appearance  of  the  angel  is 
only  to  point  Cornelius  to  the  ordained  Apostle; 
ju.st  as  the  Lord  hiniselt",  speaking  in  glory 
irom  heaven,  directs  Paul  to  Ananias,  and  the 
angels  leave  it  to  the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem 
to  make  known  abroad  the  good-tidings  of  the 
Saviour's  birth.  W^e  find,  indeed,  angels  an- 
nouncing that  the  Lord  is  born,  is  risen,  will 
return,  but  the  Gospel  itself,  the  actual  tidings 
of  forgiveness  of  sins  by  faith  in  his  name,  tha 


THE  ANGEL  DELIVERING  PETER. 


37 


preaching  of  the  cross  in  short,  is  never  en- 
trusted to  them;  that  office  belongs  to  sinliil 
men,  who  can  speak  out  of  their  own  personal 
faith  and  experience  (compare  ver.  26  with  xiv. 
15).  These  ambassadors,  beseeching  men  in 
Christ's  stead,  are  also  angels,  messengers  of 
God  (Haggai  i.  U ;  Mai.  li.  7;  iii.  1).  Yea, 
this  office  is  higher  than  that  of  angels.  The 
angel  speaks  reverently  of  the  Apostle,  before 
whose  presence  he  retires  after  having  twice 
emphatically  referred  to  him  as  the  one  from 
whom  the  necessary  information  was  to  be 
sought  and  received.  " Ue  lodgeth  ;  he  shall 
tell  thee."  Cornelius  is  to  send  to  the  city  of 
Joppa,  eight  miles  from  Cesarea,  and  call 
Simon,  tchoae  surname  is  Peter.  This  distin- 
guishing surname,  the  orgin  and  meaning  of 
which  the  centurion  will  know  hereafter,  must 
not  be  omitted,  Simon  being  a  very  common 
name,  and  the  Apostle  living  at  that  very  time 
with  a  namesake,  Simon  the  tanner.  Again, 
the  position  of  the  house,  "  by  the  sea-side,"  is 
accurately  described.  And  this,  perhaps,  not 
so  much  to  insure  the  safety  of  the  message 
which  had  to  be  sent;  for  in  Joppa  we  cannot 
doubt  that  Peter,  who  had  so  recently  raised  the 
dead  (ix.  36-43),  was  universally  known,  and 
could  easily  have  been  found  ;  the  motive  was 
rather  to  give  Cornelius  a  correct  idea  of  the 
kind  of  man  he  was  to  send  for — "  He  is  only 
a  guest  in  Joppa,  waiting  for  further  directions, 
as  to  whither  he  is  to  carry  the  word  that  he  is 
appointed  to  preach;  he  will  at  once  recognize 
in  thy  summons  a  higher  voice  than  thine;" 
all  this  the  angel  would  signify  to  the  centu- 
rion. Yes  ;  the  dignified  Roman  is  to  receive 
God's  word  from  the  Galilean  fisherman.  No 
mention  is  made  of  the  apostolic  office  of  the 
latter;  he  is  simply  spoken  of  as  one  Simon 
Peter,  lodging  with  one  Simon  a  tanner  ;  but 
yet,  the  man  who  is  to  speak  the  word  must  be 
summoned  more  respectfully  and  solemnly 
than  merely  by  one  messenger,  consequently 
men  are  to  be  sent,  which  Cornelius  rightly  in- 
terpets  to  mean  the  number  three,  and  chooses 
two  of  his  household  servants  and  a  devout 
soldier. 

It  has  been  well  observed  that  the  centurion 
was  not  sent  to  the  Apostle,  but  that,  on  the 
con'trary,  the  Apostle's  office  was  to  carry  the 
Gospel  from  place  to  place.  Again,  Cornelius 
is  not  directed  to  go  and  join  himself  to  Israel, 
or  to  become  a  convert  to  Judaism,  but  the 
kingdom  of  God  through  the  Gospel  now  comes 
to  the  Gentiles.  Accordingly,  this  first  typical 
instance  required  that  the  whole  of  the  centu- 
rion's household,  and  his  near  friends,  should 
hear  it  as  well  as  he.  No  doubt  Cornelius,  in 
his  zeal,  would  naturally  have  wished  to  go  to 
Joppa  himself;  this  being  denied  him,  the 
same  zeal  makes  him  assemble  kinsmen  and 
friends  to  hear  the  promised  good-tidings  from 
the  servant  of  God. 

'He  will  tell  thee"  (will  speak  to  thee  accord- 
ing to  his  office,  which  is  to  teach  and  preach 
the  word;  -will  make  known  to  thee)  "what 
tlwu  oughtcd  Lo  do."     The  whole  life  of  the  cen- 


turion is  bound  up  in  this  question  that  he  has 
put  to  the  angel,  "  What  shall  I  do?"  (a  ques- 
tion we  heard  put  before,  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, chap.  ii.  37).  His  messengers,  to  whom 
he  has  related  every  thing,  when  they  reach 
Joppa,  express  the  matter  a  little  vaguely,  b\it 
very  well  in  their  way  ;  "he  is  to  hear  words  of 
thee"  (ver.  22).  He  himself  in  his  impatience 
both  tor  himself  and  his  friends,  to  hear  all 
things  that  have  been  commanded  of  God  to 
Peter,  rather  hurries  over  the  angel's  direction, 
quotes  it  thus  :  "  who,  whfn  he  coineth,  shall  speak 
unto  thee"  (ver.  32).  But  throughout  we  see 
great  stress  laid  upon  the  speaking,  the  preach- 
ed word.  Later,  Cornelius  must  either  have 
better  understood  the  full  meaning  oi  the  words 
of  the  angel,  or  recalled  them  more  precisely, 
and  imparted  them  to  Peter,  lor  we  find  the 
complete  sentence  given  (xi.  14),  "  who  shall 
tell  thee  words,  whereby  thou  and  all  thy  house 
shall  be  saved."  Hero  we  have  the  same  com- 
prehensive promise  which  was  repeated  in  the 
case  of  the  Philippian  jailer  (xvi.  31),  and 
contained  in  the  word  spoken  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  (ii.  39),  "you  and  your  children,"  as 
well  as  implied  in  the  salutation  prescribed  by 
Jesus  himself  (Malt.  x.  12;  Luke  x.  5  ;  xix. 
9),  ("  Peace  be  to  this  house"),  and  prefigured 
from  afar  in  the  spiritual  declaration  of  Joshua, 
"As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord." 

And  now  the  angel's  message  to  Cornelius  is 
over,  and  he  "  dejiarts  from  him"  in  human 
fashion,  as  probably  he  had  entered.  The  cen- 
turion at  once  prepares  to  obey,  and  gather.«, 
as  we  have  seen,  not  only  his  household  and 
soldiers,  to  whom  he  had  declared  all  these 
things,  but  also  his  kinsmen,  and  all  friends 
like-minded  with  himself.  The  resist  justifies 
his  believing  confidence;  the  Holy  Ghost  comes 
upon  all  these  hearers  of  the  word,  and  being 
baptized,  they  constitute  the  Lord's  first 
Church  gathered  out  of  the  Gentile  world. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Anqel  Delivering  Peteb. 

Acts  xii. 

At  the  time  of  the  second  persecution,  the 
churches,  as  they  were  called,  had  in  the  sight 
of  all  their  adversaries  firmly  planted  them- 
selves throughoutallJudea,  and  Galilee,  and  Sa- 
maria (ix.  13) ;  nay,  more,  the  Gentiles  had  been 
gathered  into  a  considerable  church  at  Antioch 
(xi.  22-27),  the  Apostles,  however,  still  having 
their  headquarters  at  Jerusalem.  About  this 
time  (compare  xii.  1  with  xi.  27-30)  the  Em- 
peror Claudius  at  length  gave  back  Judea  and 
Samaria  to  Herod  Agrippa  (the  elder),  so  that 
he  now  once  more  possessed  all  the  power  and 
authority  of  his  grandfather,  including  the 
power  of  life  and  death.  This  prince,  not  in- 
herently of  a  cruel  disposition,  had  no  higher 


THE  ANGEL  DELIVERING  PETER. 


aim  than  to  malce  him?clf  popular  both  with 
the  Romans  and  the  Jews  (compare  ver.  3  with 
22,  23),  an.i  the  favor  with  which  the  popu- 
lace had  at  first  regarded  the  Christains  (v,  13, 
26),  having  now  turned  to  a  fanatical  hah-ed, 
the  unhappy  king  thought  he  could  do  nothing 
BO  politic  as  to  become  the  minister  and  execu- 
tor of  tlio  popular  feeling.  Accordingly,  he 
"  sirclchcd  fi/rth  his  hands  to  vex  certain  of  the 
Church,"  and  naturally  chose  the  more  promi- 
nent characters  in  it,  going  so  far  as  to  pass 
sentence  of  death  without  even  the  formality 
o!  trial !  With  what  impressive  brevity  Luke 
announces  the  first  martydom  among  the 
poslles-.  James,  the  brother  of  John,  Herod 
lulled  with  the  sword  !  for  James  was  one  of 
the  leading  three  among  the  twelve,  and  was 
doubtless,  not  unknown  to  the  people  at  large. 
The  more  retiring  character  of  John,  perhaps, 
excited  less  enmity,  while  the  powerful  preach- 
er and  miracle-worker,  Peter  (whose  very 
shadow  healeU  the  sick),  may  have  inspired  a 
salutary  awe.  Thus,  then,  James  became  the 
mark  for  popular  hatred,  was  the  one  of  the 
sons  of  thunder  destined  first  to  share  the 
Lord's  cup  and  baptism,  as  predicted  by  the 
same  Lord  (Matt.  xx.  23) ;  while  John,  on  the 
other  hand,  agreeably  to  other  words  of  his 
Master  (John  xxi.  22),  lived  longer  than  any 
of  the  Apostles. 

'1  he  pleasure  shown  by  the  Jews  at  the  bloody 
deed  so  encouraged  the  king  to  proceed  in  his 
course  that  Peter  was  next  taken  ;  but  accord- 
ing to  the  newly-established  custom  among 
the  Jews,  his  execution  was  to  be  delayed  till 
alter  Easier,  was  not  to  be  hurried  on  as  that 
of  his  Lord  had  been.  Another  opportunity 
was  now  granted  to  him  for  making  good  his 
promise  ( i^uke  xxii.  33).  As  he  had  once  slip- 
ped away  from  prison  in  a  miraculous  manner 
the  Jews  required  that  this  time  he  should  be 
kept  safe  indeed  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  custom- 
ary watch  of  four  men  was  quadrupled,  one 
party  of  four  probably  relieving  the  other  at 
stated  times  (ver.  6),  to  being  always  inside 
with  the  prisoner,  and  two  before  the  door 
keeping  the  prison. 

James  was  put  to  death,  as  we  have  seen, 
suddenly.  Peter,  on  the  contrary,  was  impris- 
oneil  during  the  days  of  unleavened  bread, 
that  his  execution  might  afford  the  excitement 
of  a  public  spectacle  to  the  people  This  is 
reason  enough  why  we  should  read  only  in  his 
case  and  not  in  that  of  Jaines,  of  instant  and 
earnest  prayer  being  made  without  ceasing  of 
the  Church  unto  God  lor  him.  We  do  not 
need  to  suppose,  like  the  Catholics,  by  way 
of  lurther  explanation,  that  Peter  was  of  high- 
er value,  as  being  now  the  acknowledged  head 
of  the  Church.  We  read  merely  that  prayer 
was  made  for  him,  which  implies,  no  doubt, 
petitions  for  the  preservation  of  his  life  and 
lurther  witnessing  for  the  truth.  (Refer  to 
the  prayer  in  chap.  iv.  24.  30.)  Dut  prayer 
was  made  ;  a  little,  yet  here,  significant  word, 
implying  that  the  murderous  counsel  of  men 
bad  to  come  into  colhsioa  with  this  strong  ob- 


stacle. And  yet  we  would  not  lay,  as  do 
some  commentators,  a  quite  exclusive  stress 
upon  this  prayer  as  the  turning  point  in  the 
case,  for  we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  it 
was  God's  pre-determining  counsel  which  ex- 
cited this  fervent  prayer  for  what  he  intended 
to  grant,  and  who  ordered  the  whole  course  of 
events  according  to  his  will.  It  was  just  when 
James  had  succumbed  to  the  tyrant  that  God's 
power  was  to  be  effectually  displayed,  as  if  to 
sa.y,  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and  not  fur- 
ther. Peter  shall  not  be  thy  victim  as  well  i  " 
And  this  was  the  very  moment  for  a  fresh  an- 
gelic interference. 

We  for  our  part  are  almost  convinced,  from 
the  tone  of  the  whole  narrative,  that  the  Apos- 
tle was  kept  in  prison  duing  all  the  days  of  un- 
leavened bread.  So  long  up  even  to  the  eve  of 
the  execution  perhaps,  did  the  Lord  keep  silence 
and  hold  his  hand.  The  next  day  Herod's  sen- 
tence would  have  been  passed  and  executed  ; 
but  in  the  night  the  miraculous  deliverance  oc- 
curred. The  doomed  prisoner,  to  whom  very 
probably  the  hour  of  his  death  had  been  an- 
nounced, had  no  positive  reason  to  expect  a  dif- 
ferent fate  from  that  of  James  ;  did  not  indeed 
in  any  way  anticipate  the  divine  interposition 
on  his  behalf,  as  we  may  gather  from  iiis  sound 
sleep,  and  irorn  his  supposing  the  whole  trans- 
action to  have  been  a  dream.  He  slept  calmly 
and  courageously  in  the  near  prospect  of  mar- 
tyrdom; did  not  watch  the  night  through  in 
vague  and  anxious  suspense? ;  but,  as  it  would 
appear,  quietly,  perhaps  joyfully,  resigned  him- 
ssif  to  God's  will.  AccorJicg  to  the  custom  of 
the  Roman  Custodia,  with  even  more  than  the 
usual  precautions,  we  find  that  the  prisoner 
was  bound  with  two  chains  fastened  to  the 
arms  of  two  soldiers,  one  on  each  side  of  him, 
besides  the  watch  set  before  the  door,  "  the 
first  and  the  second  ward"  (ver.  10).  And 
thus  he  slept  between  his  keepers,  while  a  large 
portion  of  the  Church  was  assembled  in  the 
house  of  Mary  the  mother  of  Mark,  praying 
for  him  (ver.  12).  But  behold  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  suddenly  flashed  into  sight,  and  a  light 
shined  in  the  prison,  as  Peter  saw  in  waking, 
and  afterv.'ards  related.  Very  sound  must  his 
sleep  have  been,  since  this  light  did  not  disturb 
him  ;  so  sound,  indeed,  that  the  angel  had  to 
smite  him  upon  his  side. 

And  now  follow  three  separate  sentences 
spoken  by  the  angel,  plain  and  natural  sen- 
tences, relating  only  to  what  had  to  bo  done 
at  once— as  it  is  the  manner  of  these  exalted 
beings  to  speak,  in  the  course  of  their  faithful 
services  rendered  to  man,  but  yet,  as  we  gen- 
erally find  the  case,  these  sentences  have  a 
deeper  meaning  latent  in  them.  Grid's  mes- 
sengers to  men  deal  in  no  pious  prolix'ty,  such 
as  we  olten  hear  from  each  other;  use  no 
trong  language  regarding  what  is  in  no  way 
extraordinary  or  miraculous  to  them.  The 
angel  does  not  even  say,  "  Behold,  the  Lord 
will  not  have  thee  die;  the  prayer  of  the 
Church  13  heard  ;  I  am  sent  to  save  thco" — or 
any  thing  of  the  kind.     Neither  is  Peter  to  bo 


THE  ANGEL  DELIVERING  PETER. 


39 


wakened  up  on  this  occasion  by  the  naming  of 
his  name;  but  by  a  stroke  on  lua  side,  accom- 
panied by  the  most  simple,  and  yet  in  the 
mouth  of  the  shining  angel,  the  most  lofty,  the 
most  encouraging  command,  "  Rise  up  quick- 
ly." And  at  the  very  same  moment  the  words 
exert  a  miraculous  power,  the  chains  fall  from 
the  prisoner's  hands,  so  that  he  can  move  with- 
out waking  his  sleeping  keepers.  To  this  suc- 
ceeds another  command,  which  middle  clause 
of  the  divine  message  is  the  most  significant 
of  all,  "  Gird  thyself,  and  bind  on  thy  sandals." 
Thus  we  not  only  see  how  that  Peter,  expecting 
no  extraordinary  interposition  in  his  favor, 
had  calmly  and  comfortably  prepared  himself 
for  his  night's  rest;  but  also  that  now  that  he 
was  free,  and  risen  up  from  slumber,  he  was 
to  prepare  for  his  departure  in  the  same  leis- 
urely way.  If  the  first  words,  "  Rise  up,"  con- 
tained a  promise  'jf  deliverance  from  prison  and 
from  bonds,  tbis  was  still  more  strongly  ex- 
■  pressed  in  this  second  command.  We  do  not 
wonder  to  find  here  interpolated  by  the  Evan- 
gelist, and  so  he  did.  Possibly  at  the  moment 
Peter's  mind  took  in  little  more  than  the  im- 
mediate fact,  that  he  was  to  arise  and  go  out 
of  the  prison.  But  on  looking  back  and  re- 
flecting upon  the  whole  circumstances,  he  must 
haveijeen  struck  by  what  he  then  saw  to  be  an 
unmistakable  reference  to  those  prophetic  words 
of  his  Lord  by  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  re- 
garding his  being  girded  and  carried  by  others, 
previous  to  his  appointed  death  by  crucifixion 
(John  xxi.  18,  19).  The  angel  knew  of  that 
speech,  and  now  by  his  allusion  to  it  gives  the 
Apostle  to  understand  that  the  time  was  not 
yet  come  when  he  was  to  glorify  God  by  his 
martyrdom,  that  he  was  now  free  to  gird  him- 
self lor  a  return  to  the  duties  of  his  apostolic  of- 
fice. It  is  true  that  Peter  was  no  longer  required 
to  remain  and  preach  in  Jerusalem,  as  on  the 
occasion  of  his  former  deliverance  (ver.  20), 
but  rather  to  depart  and  go  into  another  place, 
as  we  learn  from  ver.  17.  Therefore,  he  is  not 
to  leave  half  apparelled,  as  one  escaping  for 
bis  life  might  be  expected  to  do.  No,  his  de- 
parture in  the  power  of  the  Lord  is  to  be  calm, 
dignified,  and  orderly.  lie  is  not  only  to  put 
on  his  sandals,  but  he  is  to  take  iiis  cloak  with 
him  that  the  night  air  may  not  chill  him,  sud- 
denly waked  out  of  sleep  as  he  has  been. 
What  a  gracious  condescension  we  have  here 
to  human  infirmity  ;  what  a  significant  atten- 
tion to  the  ordinary  in  the  midst  of  the  ex- 
traordinary ;  what  a  sense  of  perfect  deliver- 
ance, in  short,  there  is  in  this  third  direction, 
simple  as  the  words  are  :  Cast  thy  garment  about 
thee,  and  follow  me."  Peter  might  well  have 
thought.  Let  my  garment  lie  there,  so  only  I 
escape  with  life  and  limb.  And  in  spite  of  the 
rapid  succession  of  the  three  concise  commands, 
the  angel  allows  him  time  eno;igh  to  put  on  all 
his  apparel.  Finally,  the  words  "fdlow  me," 
though  immediately  referring  to  their  present 
passage  through  guards  and  bolts  and  bars,  and 
doors  and  gales,  seem  to  us  to  have  a  hilent 
reference  to  ttlat  "JolLw  me,"  spukcn  by  the 


Lord  to  his  servant  on  the  occasion  before  re- 
ferred to  (John  xxi.  22).  The  messenger  says 
so  here,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  wlio  has  com- 
missioned him,  not  merely  to  lead  the  Apostle 
out  into  the  street,  and  to  the  hou^e  where  the 
Church  was  praying  for  him,  but  to  send  him 
back  with  fresh  zeal  and  energy  to  tread  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  Master. 

Meanwhile,  the  four  keepers  have  heard  and 
seen  nothing,  as  ver.  18  proves.  This,  in- 
deed, does  not  surprise  us ;  but  we  find  that 
Peter  himself  does  not  at  first  know  that  his 
deliverance  is  actually  accomplished  by  angelic 
intervention ;  and  how  are  we  to  interpret 
this?  We  cannot  think  the  observation  made 
by  some  commentators,  that  every  ceh^itial 
apparition  leaves  men  beside  them.selves,  is  ap- 
plicable to  a  case  like  this,  where  so  much  pos- 
itive activity  was  required.  But  that,  in- 
stead of  a  vision  seeming  real,  we  meet  here 
with  a  reality  appearing  to  be  a  mere  vision 
of  sleep  to  Peter,  is,  we  think,  easily  explica- 
ble. We  find  in  this  very  fact  of  its  seeming 
unreality  the  strongest  proof  that  the  Apostle, 
although  once  before  delivered  by  an  angel  out 
of  prison,  had  not,  on  this  occasion,  the  slight- 
est expectation  of  divine  aid,  but  had  laid  him- 
self down  in  perfect  resignation  to  the  doom 
that  awaited  him,  since  otherwise  he  would 
have  kept_  awake  to  see  whether  the  Lord 
would  send'  his  angel  once  more.  Indeed,  we 
think  that  Luke  details  the  mood  of  the  Apos- 
tle with  so  much  distinctness,  in  order  to  lead 
us  to  this  conclusion.  At  all  events,  it  was 
\AiQone  that  dreams  (Psa.  cxxvi.),  one  who  can 
only  believe  in  the  reality  of  his  rescue  when 
it  is  fairly  accomplished,  that  the  newly-wak- 
ed Apostle  followed  his  heavenly  guide  (per- 
haps, like  him,  invisible  toother  eyes)  through 
the  first  and  second  doubled  watch,  till  they 
reached  the  iron  gate  that  led  out  of  the  prison 
into  the  city.  This  heavy  gate  opened  before 
them  of  its  own  accord,  it  was  not  bnrst  by 
an  earthquake,  like  the  gates  of  Philippi ;  it 
was  not  even  visibly  touched  by  the  angel's 
hand;  God's  own  liberating  might  being  most 
clearly  revealed  at  this  last  juncture.  After 
the  heavenly  leader,  and  the  Apostle  in  his 
train,  had  traversed  one  street,  silent  amidst 
the  darkness  of  the  night  (the  light  no  longer 
streaming  from  the  angel's  form),  his  celestial 
guide  vanishes  from  belore  Peter's  eyes.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  the  Apostle  is  thoroughly 
conscious  of  the  nature  of  the  whole  transac- 
tion, and  at  once  bursts  out  into  a  joyous  ex- 
clamation, "  Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  has 
sent  an  angel,"  not  merely  that  it  was  an  an- 
gel, but  that  he  had  been  sent ;  for  how  can 
Peter  help  looking  upward  from  the  servant  to 
the  Master?  Indeed,  in  ver.  17,  we  see  that 
he  overlooks  the  angelic  instrumentality  alto- 
gether. The  Lord,  he  said,  had  brought  him 
out  of  prison  I  The  hand,  or  the  might,  of 
Herod  is  the  next  thought  that  occurs  to  his 
mind;  from  that  he  is  delivered;  but  the  sad- 
dest refiection  to  his  faithful  apo:,lolic  spirit, 
13  on   the   expectation    of  the   people   of   the 


40 


THE  ANGEL  TO  PAUL  AT  SEA.' 


Jews;  tlieir  glad  expectation  of  his  death! 
Thus  we  discern,  througli  this  spontaneous 
burst  of  Peler,  as  soon  as  he  is  fully  come  to 
himself,  the  state  of  iiis  inward  feelings;  and 
6ee  that  he,  like  his  Master,  mourns  over  the 
sins  of  his  enemies  moi'e  ihua  over  hia  own 
liiisfortunes. 

We  will  not  follow  the  narrative  any  fur- 
ther, but  merely  glance,  in  conclusion,  at  the 
expression  used  by  those  gathered  together 
praying  in  Mary's  house,  when  they  heard  the 
voice  of  Peier  at  the  door:  "It  is  his  angel," 
said  they;  it  cannot  be  the  living  man,  it  is 
his  s/iiric ;  this  must  have  been  the  meaning 
of  this  remarkable  and  isolated  expression, 
which  shows  that  the  word  n?igel  was  used 
amongst  the  community  of  believers  in  more 
than  one  sense  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  Pi.ev.  i.  1,  xxii.  6,  16,  affords  an  illus- 
tration of  this. 


CHAPTER   XIIL 

TuE  Angel  to  Paul  at  Sea. 

Acts  xxvii. 

Before  we  proceed  to  lay  down  indubitably, 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  record,  in  the  Acts,  of 
any  angelic  appearance  or  speech  between  chap, 
xii.  and  xxvii.,  which  last  we  are  about  now  to 
consider ;  it  will  be  necessary  to  say  a  few 
words  in  explanation  of  the  Apostle  Paul's  vis- 
ion related  in  chap.  xvi.  9.  For  there  have 
been  commentators  who  think  that  in  this  sin- 
gular apparition,  which  preceded  and  brought 
about  the  first  preaching  of  the  word  in  Europe, 
they  detect  the  presence  of  an  angel  ;  nay,  we 
ourselves  were  formerly  of  the  opinion  that  the 
guardian  spirit  of  Macedonia,  in  the  attire  and 
speech  of  a  Macedonian  representing  the  Mace- 
donian people,  had  proffered  the  petition  to  the 
Apostle.*  But  when  we  came  to  give  the  sub- 
ject a  closer  consideration,  this  seemed  not  only 
doubtful,  but  positively  erroneous.  That  the 
Apostle  should  (probably  not  in  a  dream,  but 
as  an  answer  to  his  fervent  prayer)  have  seen 
Buch  a  vi.sion,  is  a  fact  to  be  classed  in  the  same 
category  with  the  supernaturally-imparted  in- 
junctions, or  (more  frequently  still)  prohibi- 
tions, which  had  throughout  attended  hia  mis- 
sionary career,  and  been,  in  chap.  xvi.  10, 
attributed  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  ver.  7,  if 
the  original  be  properly  rendered,  to  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  with  which  compare  again  "the 
Lord,"  as  the  words  stand  in  ver.  10.  If,  how- 
ever, in  spite  of  these  passages,  we  were  still 
intended  to  receive  the  impre.ssion  of  a  speak- 
ing angi'l,  it  would  be  difiicult  to  explain  the 
use  of  so  perfectly  unusual  a  form  of  speech  as 
we  here  hnd,  the  vision  being  mentioned  as 
though  it  had  only  a  subjective  reality — there 
ai'pcnrcil  (a  him  a  vision.  This  sounds  perfect  ly 
unlike  chap.  ix.  10;  x.  10,  13;  xviii.  9;  and  is 


So  GruL.us;  "  Aii^ili:s  JluicJv. 


much  more  in  keeping  with  chap,  ix,  12.  Just 
as,  there,  Saul  has  a  vision  granted  him  of  the 
very  man,  Ananias,  who  afterwards  really  came 
to  him  ;  so  here  we  have  a  visionary  represen- 
tation of  the  figure  and  voice  of  a  certain 
Macedonian,  and  we  may  reasonably  enough 
conclude  that  at  a  later  period  Paul  actually 
did  see  this  vory  man  also  in  the  flesh,  and 
recognized  him.  But  leaving  such  speculations, 
the  man  was  speaking  as  the  representative  of 
many  ;  either  of  the  whole  of  his  people,  or,  at 
all  events,  of  those  among  them  who  desired 
help  and  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  when  he 
said,  "  Jlf'i'p  us."  Now,  this  expression  alone 
is  sufTicient  to  show  that  even  if  there  were 
any  angelic  agency  in  the  case,  the  angel  here 
did  not  speak  as  an  angel,  and,  therefore,  the 
words  have  no  place  in  our  book.  Angels  need 
and  require  no  help  form  men  ;  and  if  we  were 
to  suppose  that  the  speaker  in  the  vision  was 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  Macedonia,  and  asked 
the  Apostle's  co-operation,  that  would  still  less 
support  the  theory  of  an  angelic  appearance, 
for  angels  do  not  preach  the  Gospel.  But  we 
turn  from  this  obscure  subject  to  dwell  upon 
the  last  actual  address  of  an  angel  to  man,  re- 
corded for  us  in  New-Testament  history. 

Luke  narrates  the  Apostle  Paul's  voyage  to 
Rome  (chaps,  xxvii.  and  xxviii.)  with  a  cir- 
cumstantiality amounting  even  to  minuteness 
of  detail,  which  is  unparalleled  in  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament,  and  which  only 
the  history  of  Joseph,  and  certain  portions  of 
the  life  of  David,  are  at  all  akin  to  in  the  Old 
This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  this  voyage 
being  most  inportant  as  a  historical  event,  to 
say  nothing  of  its  evident  and  instructive 
spiritual,  we  might  almost  say  its  allegorical 
character.  For,  although  the  sacred  historian 
appears,  at  first  sight,  to  be  simply  narrating, 
in  a  quite  human  way,  that  which  he  had  him- 
self experienced,  the  iloly  Spirit  was  in  reality 
so  overruling  his  choice  both  of  incidents  and 
expressions,  that  to  discerning  eyes  the  whole 
story  seems  to  be  an  almost  transparent  repre- 
sentation of  the  Christian's  voyage  across  the 
sea  of  this  earthly  life.  Danger,  discomfort, 
opposition  from  without,  and  yet  the  servant 
of  God  collected  and  calm,  while  wisely  deal- 
ing with  earthly  events,  in  full  confidence  of 
faith,  both  as  to  means  and  end  ;  the  whole 
being  so  overruled  as  to  fulfill  God's  promises 
and  purposes  concerning  him.  Paul's  journey 
may  be  very  profitably  spiritualized  thus,  and, 
indeed  often  has  been.  And  we  may  also  re- 
mark that,  according  to  the  wondrous  scheme 
by  which  the  whole  of  Scripture  is  connected, 
and  each  part  calculated  to  illustrate  some 
other,  this  narrative  of  Paul's  shipwreck  is  a 
striking  and  significant  contrast  to  that  of  Jo- 
nah's stormy  voyage,  a  contrast  well  worthy  of 
the  reader's  further  attention. 

Thtre  was  fear  and  anguish,  distress  and 
confusion,  utter  hopelessness  of  life  in  the 
h'-arts  of  all  on  board,  crew  and  passmgnrs 
;il;ki'  (for  even  Luke  numbers  himself  .iininig 
iiic   dc-paiiiii^,  Ver,   20).     Paul   alone  could 


THE  ANGEL  TO  PAUL  AT  SEA. 


it 


stand  firm  upon  the  reeling  ship,  had  light  and 
cood  cheer  in  the  darkness,  strength  to  come 
Ibrvvard  as  comforter,  counsellor,  deliverer. 
With  him,  too,  fiesh  and  blood  would  have 
given  away,  had  not  his  God  made  known  to 
him  by  an  arg^lic  messenger,  what  the  event 
■was  to  be,  which  he  is  now  about  to  announce. 
He  begins  in  ver.  21  with  all  humility,  but 
with  exquisite  wisdom  and  discretion,  to  put 
himself  forward,  in  a  favorable  light,  to  the 
worn-out  and  hungry  men  around  him,  so  that 
they  might  be  disposed  to  believe  his  words, 
and  be  strengthened  by  them. 

"  Sas,  ye  ahouhl  hate  hearkened  unto  me." 
It  is  thus  he  addresses  the  men  who  had  des- 
pised his  counsel,  and  brought  his  life  into  dan- 
ger by  their  perverseness.  Now,  in  their  time 
of  need  he  may  well  assume  this  dignified  tone, 
he,  hitherto  tiie  despised  prisoner,  one  of  sev- 
eral prisoners  who  were  malefactors  as  well  ; 
he,  accused  before  the  council  of  his  people,  as 
one  worthy  of  death  !  Having  thus  remiiuled 
them  of  the  correctness  of  his  previous  judg- 
ment, in  order  to  predispose  them  to  receive 
what  further  he  might  have  to  say,  he  goes  on 
to  express  a  hope,  a  bold  one  under  such  cir- 
cumstances ;  nay,  more  than  a  hope,  a  perfect 
confidence,  as  though  he  were  conversant  with 
the  decrees  of  destiny  :  "  Tkere  ahali  be  no  loss 
of  any  man's  life  among  you,  hut  only  of  the  ship." 
What,  then,  is  the  ship,  helplessly  driven  by 
the  waves,  to  sink  before  their  eyes,  and  yet 
are  they  to  be  saved?  This  seeming  impossi- 
bility is  now  to  be  confirmed  by  an  impressive 
word,  as  it  stands  here  :  For,  a  word  that 
ushers  in  the  account  of  the  revelation,  on  the 
strength  of  which  Paul  speaks, — "  P'oR  there 
stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of  Ood,  wltase  I 
am,  and  whom  I  serve."  How  different  to  this 
the  extorted  confession  of  the  prophet  Jonah, 
flying  rebelliously  from  the  behest  of  his  God  : 
"  I  am  an  Hebrew,  and  I  fear  the  Lord  the 
God  of  heaven,  who  has  made  the  sea  and  the, 
dry  land  "  (Jonah  i.  9).  On  the  other  hand, 
however,  we  may  observe  that  the  heathen 
mariners,  when  the  mighty  tempest  broke  on 
them  daing  their  way  to  Tarshish,  did  after 
their  fashion  evince  some  religious  sense,  did 
cry  every  man  unto  his  god  ;  here  we  read  of 
nothing  of  the  sort.  Glorious  the  trust  and  re- 
liance of  the  Apostle  amidst  the  horrors  of  the 
storm  !  "  My  Ood,  whose  I  am,  whom  I  serve  !  " 
Thus  in  the  presence  of  Jewish  and  Gentile 
sailors  both,  he  gives  praise  and  honor  to  the 
only  true  God,  of  whom  he  goes  on  to  speak 
(ver.  25)  in  all  simplicity,  as  the  God  whose 
creatures,  whose  property,  those  who  heard  h 
were,  as  well  as  he,  though,  alas  !  they  did  not 
serve  him.  He  proclaims  that  this  living  God, 
the  God  of  Israel,  is  able  to  deliver  those  who 
serve  him  form  every  danger  (Dan.  vi.  16,  20), 
and  appeals  to  coming  events  in  confirmation 
of  his  words.  He  also  gives  them  to  under- 
stand the  true  nature  of  his  office,  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  which  he  is  now  a  prisoner 
in  bonds  ■  tacitly  appeals  to  their  acquaintance 
with  his  open  avowal  of  his  religion  through- 


out the  voyage.  He  does  not  shrink  from 
ipeaking  to  the  Gentiles,  however  incredulous 
hey  may  be,  of  the  angelic  beings  well  known 
n  Jewish  theology,  of  those  heavenly  servants 
of  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  eartii,  one  of  whom 
had  that  very  night  spoken  with  him,  Paul^ 
their  prisoner,  standing  belore  them  now  with 
all  boldness,  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and 
storm. 

This  angel  had  said,  "  Fear  not,  Paul  ;  thou 
must  be  brorght  before  Cwmr  ;  and,  !o,  Ood  hath 
given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee."  It  ia 
even  thus  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  Holy 
Writ ;  from  Gen.  xv.  1,  to  Rev.  i.  17  ;  xi.  10; 
we  have  these  gracious  words,  "Fear  not," 
spoken  by  the  Lord  himself  to  his  people; 
spoken,  too,  so  readily  by  holy  angels  in  his 
name.  In  Corinth  (Acts  xviii.  9),  the  Lord 
spoke  thus  to  Paul  ;  in  Jerusalem  (chap,  xxiii. 
11),  the  same  meaning  is  conveyed  still  more 
gently.  Here,  on  the  stormy  sea,  the  words 
of  comfort  sound  from  angelic  lips — because 
on  this  occasion  the  appearance  of  the  heavenly 
servant  was  all  that  was  needed  by  him  who, 
on  other  occasions,  had  had  immediate  com- 
munications from  the  Lord  himself — and  sound 
out  definite  and  strong,  because  in  the  Apostle 
flesh  and  blood  had  really  been  alarmed,  not, 
of  course,  with  the  abject  fear  of  the  heathen, 
and  probably  in  a  less  degree  than  the  rest  of 
his  Christian  companions.  And  this  he  pub- 
licly avows,  both  that  no  one  may  think  of  him 
more  highly  than  he  deserves,  and  aho  by  this 
very  avowal  to  bring  himself  into  closer  fellow- 
ship with  the  men  whom  he  is  desirous  to 
comfort.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  I  also  am  a 
man  I  But  he  is  a  man  for  whom  God  has 
work  to  do,  with  which  no  storm  must  inter- 
fere. The  sailors,  for  whom  the  message  of  the 
angel  was  as  important  as  for  the  Ajiostle  him- 
self, must  have  learnt  from  it,  not  only  that  the 
prisoner  was  one  who,  in  his  conscious  inno- 
cence of  any  crime,  had  appealed  to  the 
highest  of  all  earthly  tribunals;  but  also  that 
he  was  one  who  had  a  lofty  part  to  play  before 
the  imperial  throne.  And  to  the  Apostle  him- 
self these  words  must  have  been  a  most  im- 
pressive confirmation  of  his  being  in  the  way 
of  God's  appointment.  His  words  in  chap. 
XXV.  10,  11,  spoken  under  strong  pressure,  and 
at  a  decisive  moment,  were  only  a  sudden  rec- 
ognition of  the  way  open  out  to  the  goal  which 
he  had,  in  chap.  xix.  21,  proposed  to  his  zeal ; 
and  that  bold  declaration  of  his,  I  must  alao  see 
Rome,  had  already  received  the  seal  of  God's 
approbation  in  chap,  xxiii.  11  :  "  Thnu  must 
also  bear  witness  at  Rome."  AH  this  and  more  ; 
his  very  first  calling ;  the  first  question  and 
answer  between  him  and  the  Lord  :  "  What 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?  " — "  It  shall  be  told 
thee  what  thou  must  do" — must  have  been 
recalled  to  his  mind  by  this,  probably  the  last 
supernatural  intimation  of  things  to  come, 
vouchsafed  to  Paul.  And  so  for  attentive  read- 
ers of  Holy  Writ,  these  words  throw  a  prophetic 
light  over  the  close  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostlea. 
"  Thau  must  sta}id  before  Cmarl"    These  are 


42 


THE  FOUR  LIVING  CREATURES. 


humble- sounding  words,  compared  to  those 
once  spoken  to  the  steersman  of  his  ship,  by 
one  in  like  peril  of  shipwreck  :  "  Remember 
that  thou  bearcst  CiBsar  and  his  fortunes  ! " 
But  if  we  consider  them  closely,  how  incom- 
parably more  sublime  they  seem,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  what  lollows.  The  lives  of  all  on 
board  are  linked  with  the  life  of  this  servant 
of  (jod,  and  saved  for  his  sake !  He  who,  in 
the  dignity  of  his  conscious  innocence,  had  said, 
when  standing  before  the  Governor;  "If  I  be 
an  offender,  or  have  committed  any  thing  wor- 
thy of  death,  I  refuse  not  to  die  ;  but  if  there 
be  none  of  these  things  whereof  these  accuse 
me,  no  man  may  deliver  (give)  me  unto  them" 
(xxv.  11),  13  the  same  to  whom  the  deliverance 
of  these  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  trem- 
bling souls  (ver.  37),  is  now  to  be  given.  In 
the  original,  the  word  is  the  same  on  both  oc- 
casions, and  no  doubt  the  Apostle  must  have 
been  struck  with  this  coincidence. 

The  angel  about  to  announce  this  marvellous 
gift  to  be  made  to  Paul,  prefaces  it  by  the  usual 
word  in  all  such  cases,  "  Behold,"  or  "  Lo !  " 
The  heathen  are  to  remark  the  infinite  love  and 
pity  for  all  poor  children  of  men — yea,  even 
lor  those  who  know  him  not — of  the  God  of 
Paul.  They  shall  understand  how  this  Paul 
has  borne  them,  even  them,  in  his  heart ;  has 
prayed  for  them — prayed  for  their  deliverance  ; 
lor  this  was  a  conclusion  they  could  not  fail  to 
draw.  Paul  would  never  have  cared  simply  to 
save  his  own  life,  while  sinners  were  swept  to 
destruction  before  his  eyes.  He  had  prayed  for 
himself  and  for  all  on  board  ;  and  consequently 
the  angel  has  brought  hiin  the  assurance  of  his 
piayer  being  accepted,  and  announced  to  him, 
with  a  subhme  certainty,  such  as  became  one 
conversant  with,  and  appointed  to  carry  out, 
the  counsel  of  the  Highest :  "  God  has  given  thee 
all."  To  thee,  the  Apostle,  and  with  what  pur- 
pose ?  Evidently,  "  that  thou  mightest  preach 
to  them  when  they  are  once  convinced  of  the  di- 
vine nature  of  thy  mission."  We  may,  therefore, 
assume  that  many  were  not  only  saved  from 
present  death,  but  that  their  souls,  too,  were 
given  to  the  Apostle  to  be  converted  and  saved. 
At  all  events,  Luke  in  ver.  44  narrates  the  es- 
cape af  all,  as  well  as  that  of  himself  and  Aris- 
tarchus,  as  the  immediate  consequence  of  the 
promise,  and  we  may  infer  that  the  divine  pur- 
pose here,  as  in  every  case  of  temporal  deliver- 
ance, had  a  further  reference  to  eternal  life. 

Tlie  speech  of  the  angel  is  thus  calculated,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  not  only  to  comfort  Paul, 
but  to  serve  as  encouragement  to  the  whole 
ship's  crew,  and  to  fix  their  reverent  attention 
on  tlie  honored  servant  of  God  from  whose  lips 
it  was  transmitted  to  them.  And,  accordingly, 
its  last  words  emphatically  honor  this  man  or- 
dained to  stand  before  Ca;sar,  this  man  whose 
nautical  counsels  they  had  indeed  despised,  yet 
who  was  now  ready  a^ain  to  give  them  counsel 
whereby  not  only  their  lives  but  their  souls 
might  be  saved  ;  those  on  board  are  spoken 
of  as,  "  All  wlw  mil  with  thee."  In  God's  sigiit 
Faul  IS  the  captaiu  and  steersman  ol  the  vessel ; 


all  the  others  are  mere  subordinates,  only  sail 
with  him.  Thus  pious  souls  are  ever  the  sup- 
port, the  pillars  of  the  world,  for  the  sake  of 
whom  alone  it  is  spared  and  preserved.  Again, 
spiritual  and  temporal  deliverance  both,  are 
invariably  linked  with  human  will  and  human 
obedience.  God's  purpose  is  never  an  uncon- 
ditional one.  If  the  sailors,  instead  of  listen- 
ing obediently  to  their  real  captain,  Paul  the 
prisoner,  are  determined  wilfully  to  let  down 
the  boat  and  flee  out  of  the  ship,  despite  the 
gift  of  which  we  read  in  ver.  31,  they  cannot 
be  saved.  The  murderous  purpose  of  the  sol- 
diers (ver.  42),  appears  only  to  have  been  pre- 
vented by  the  centurion's  well-grounded  un- 
willingness to  injure  Paul. 

It  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  this  state  of 
things  that  Paul,  in  ver.  25,  should  be  of  good 
cheer  himself,  and  exhort  the  rest  to  be  so  too, 
expressing  thus  his  own  confident  expectation, 
"  I  believe  God  that  it  shall  be  eveti  as  it  was  toUl 
me."  And,  in  order  that  those  who  heard  hira 
should  be  able  to  reconcile  the  apparent  contra- 
diction between  the  predicted  fate  of  the  ship 
and  of  the  men,  he  adds,  "  Hoiobeit,  we  must  be 
cast  vpon  a  certain  island."  Some  have  read 
these  words  as  a  prophecy  of  the  Apostle's,  but 
to  us  it  seems  that  he  accounts  for  this  know- 
ledge of  his  by  the  words  "even  as  it  teas  told 
me,"  and  that  the  mention  of  this  method  of 
deliverance  had  formed  part  of  the  angelic  com- 
munication. 

Let  us  also,  although  nothing  special  has 
been  predicted  to  us,  be  constant  in  our  com- 
fortable faith  in  our  God.  Without  an  angel's 
message  to  tell  us  so,  let  us  feel  assured  that 
on  the  stormy  sea  of  this  world  nothing, 
whether  in  life  or  death,  can  happen  to  us  but 
what  is  according  to  God's  purpose,  and  reveal- 
ed in  its  general  features  in  Gud's  word.  This 
will  be  enough  to  enable  us  not  only  to  be  free 
ourselves,  but  to  comfort  others,  with  the  com- 
fort wherewith  we  are  comforted  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Peaise  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures. 

KeVELATIOM  IV. 

We  have  already,  in  a  former  work,  given 
our  reasons  for  believing,  that  the  voice  spoken 
of  in  the  first  verse  of  this  chapter  is  not  that 
of  an  angel,  but  of  the  Lord  himself.  To  the 
Seer  of  Palmos,  who  is  henceforth  in  the  Spirit 
in  a  still  higher  degree  than  that  referred  to 
(i.  10),  the  Lord  is  about  to  vouchsafe  wonder- 
lul  and  mysterious  visions  of  Deity,  such  a.< 
Ezekiel  in  his  day,  heaven  being  in  like  man- 
ner opened  to  him,  had  been  permitted  to  be- 
hold ;  and  we  shall  find  that  the  symbolism  of 
these  later  visions  both  repeats  and  completes 
that  manifcFted  to  Ezekiel  and  to  Daniel  also. 
This  lourth  chapter  may  be  considered  as,  strict- 
ly speaking,  the  begiuuing  of  the  Apocalypse  or 


THE  FOUR  LIVING  CREATURES. 


43 


Revelation,  after  the  introductory  epistles  to 
the  seven  churches  have  been  dictated  by  the 
Lord  in  person.  We  are  now  entering  upon  a 
spiritual  domain  where  the  profoundest  and 
humblest  cautioa  is  requisite,  and  where  most 
commentators  have  erred  by  too  positive  ex- 
planations of  mysterious  images.  Our  part  be- 
ing; only  to  expound  the  voices  and  words  of 
angels,  we  do  not  purpose  to  write  any  com- 
mentary upon  the  Apocalypse  as  a  whole ;  we 
aim  only  at  expounding  so  much  of  the  context 
as  may  be  absolutely  necessary  to  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  the  passages  that  lie  within  our 
especial  province. 

The  throne  shown  to  John,  and  the  on«  that 
sat  in  glory  on  that  throne,  are  essentially  the 
same  that'Ezekiel  saw,  and  described  in  the 
first  and  tenth  chapters;  but  yet  we  have 
here — how  should  we  not? — a  New-Testaineut 
element  introduced — we  discern  more  distinct- 
ly the  new  creation  in  redeemed  humanity. 
If  that  which  Ezekiel  saw  (i.  28),  and  which 
we  also  find  alluded  to  in  Isaiah  Iv.  9,  10,  and 
Psa.  Ixxxix.  37,  was  the  rainbow,  the  sign  of 
the  covenant  of  grace,  round  about  the  throne 
of  glory,  we  can  still  less  doubt  that  we  have 
the  same  image  presented  to  us  here,  although 
the  lovely  emerald  green  now  predominates 
over  all  other  colors,  or  even  absorbs  them. 
And  it  is  in  strict  accordance  with  this  original 
symbol  of  grace,  that  here,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  throne  should  appear  surrounded  by 
men  sitting  upon  seats  or  thrones  with  crowns 
on  their  heads,  whom  Ezekiel  did  not  see,  but 
who  are  now  introduced  before  the  living  crea- 
tures (comp.  xix.  4).  These  elders,  or  ancients, 
in  the  council  of  heaven,  once  named  by  Isaiah 
in  a  moment  of  prophetic  inspiration  (xxiv. 
23),  represent  by  a  symbolical  number  the 
Church,  or  ransomed  humanity,  and  their  white 
garments  evidently  reter  to  iii.  4,  5,  18.  The 
lightnings,  thunderings,  and  voices  that  proceed 
out  of  ttie  throne,  are  the  revelations  and  the 
judgments  of  the  power  of  God.  The  Holy 
ISpirit  is  represented  in  his  manifold  offices  by 
tiie  seven  lamps  (compare  i.  4,  5,  6,  and  Zech. 
iv.  10).  The  sea  of  glass  like  unto  crystal  is 
a  very  comprehensive  symbol,  about  the  va- 
rious meanings  of  which  there  has  been  a  great 
deal  of  needless  controversy.  In  Ezekiel  i.  22, 
it  appeared  as  an  arch  of  crystal  overhead; 
here  it  is  significantly  represented  as  a  solid, 
sleadlast,  transparent  ocean  :  as  it  were  the 
glorified  (red)  sea  of  tribulation,  on  whose 
liappy  shores  the  ransomed  may  sing  Moses' 
song  ot  deliverance  as  a  new  song,  the  song  of 
the  Lamb  also  (xv.  2,  3)  ;  and  it  also  recalls  the 
sea  of  brass  in  the  temple,  that  replaced  the 
lavers  of  brass  m  the  tabernacle,  in  which  the 
priests  of  God  were  to  wash  ;  while  in  its  crys- 
tal clearness  heaven  is  now  mirrored,  the  sea 
of  tribulation  overpast,  the  cleansing  waters 
needed  no  longer  being  changed  into  beauty 
and  brightness.  The  image  is  a  more  complex 
one  than  that  in  Ezekiel,  through  it  has  much 
in  common  with  it. 

Amidst  the  many  added  or  further  developed 


symbols,  towards  the  expounding  of  which  we 
would  in  all  humility  offer  some  suggestions, 
we  may  specially  instance  the  living  creatures, 
whom  we  met  with  in  Ezekiel,  and  now  find 
again  here,  in  close  connection  with  the  elders, 
or  represtatives  of  humanity.  These  living 
creatures  are  one  with  the  cherubim.  They 
have  the  same  human  form,  though  not  human 
faces;  they  have  human  gestures;  they  fall 
down  (v.  8)  ;  they  use  their  hands  (xv.  7,  com- 
pared with  Ezek.  i.  5,  6,  8)  ;  they  are,  in  the 
same  way,  full  of  eyes  (Ezek.  x.  12);  they  are 
intimately  and  inextricably  united  with  the 
forces  of  nature,  and,  at  the  same  time,  they 
have  a  conscious  personality,  and  are  invaria- 
bly subordinated  to  the  angels.  In  chap.  xv. 
7  we  find  them  ministering  to  the  angels  hav- 
ing the  seven  plagues.  It  may,  indeed,  be  in 
a  measure  true  that  they  represent  the  elemen- 
tary forces  and  forms  of  spiritual  and  material 
nature,  so  to  speak,  the  creative  energies  of 
God  (in  verse  11  of  the  chapter  we  are  now 
considering,  we  have  an  especial  reference  to 
all  created  things)  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
these  beasts,  or  Living  ones,  speak  just  as  the 
cherubim  do  in  Ezekiel,  and  must,  under  this 
symbolic  appearance,  be  understood  as  personal 
beings,  having  an  actual  existence. 

What  they  say,  and  speak,  and  cry  is  not  de- 
scribed by  the  seer,  as  being  merely  said  once, 
or  even  repeated  over  and  over  again  ;  but  m 
his  state  of  rapture  he  was  miraculously  ena- 
bled, in  some  manner  of  which  we  can  have  no 
conception,  to  be  made  aware  of  eternal  dura- 
tion, eternal  continuance  in  the  heaven  opened 
to  his  gaze,  and  in  the  song  around  the  throne 
of  God.  "  They  rtst  not  (hiy  and  night!'  This  is 
equivalent  to  saying,  in  our  human  language, 
Taere  is  no  night  there  ;  no  need  of  the  alterna- 
tion of  a  season  of  rest.  We  poor  children  of 
men,  whose  mortal  bodies  are  doomed  to  the 
fatigue  of  waking  hours  and  the  inaction  of 
sleep,  may  well  sigh  and  vearn  to  enter  into 
tluit  rest,  that  blesse(^  unrcsL  of  ceaseless  adora- 
tion. How  that  wondrous  song  sounds  in  the 
language  of  angels  and  redeemed  spirits,  no 
human  being  in  our  present  state  can  properly 
express.  Even  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  could 
only  convey  some  approximation  to  John  by 
means  of  the  time-consecrated  phrase  man  owes 
to  the  condescending  revelation  of  God.  It  is 
the  same  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,"  which  the 
prophet  Isaiah  had  heard  from  the  seraphim, 
which  is  now  employed  by  the  cherubim; 
"  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God  the  Almighty, 
he  who  teas,  and  lie  who  is,  and  he  who  is  to  come." 
Here,  as  in  Isaiah  vi.  and  Psa.  xcix.  3,  5,  9, 
we  have  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  very  clearly 
referred  to.  Tlie  Lord  is  evidently  the  transla- 
tion of  "  Jehovah,"  and  the  added  expression, 
(Jod  the  Almighty,  is  generally  used  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint  for  "  the  Lord  (the  God)  of  Sabaoth  " 
or  "  of  hosts."  But  in  order  to  shed  a  tuUer,  a 
New-Testament  light  upon  the  name,  we  have 
in  addition  tiie  etymological  restitution  of  the 
Hebrew  Jehovah,  in  three  tenses  of  (he  eter- 
nal self-existence.     And  although,  in  chap.  i.  8, 


41 


WHO  IS  WORTHY  TO  OPEN  THE  BOOK? 


the  same  words  are  with  perfect  fitness  nsed  in 
epeaking  of  tlieeleinul  Son — he  who  cmidh  to 
judgment — yet  in  the  passage  we  are  now  con- 
sidering we  must  consider  tins  adoration  of  the 
Trinity  as  more  immediately  addressed  to  the 
Father,  since,  in  tiie  tilth  chapter,  the  Lnmb  is 
first  introduced  as  appf^aring  before  him  who 
sitteth  on  the  throne;  as  in  Dan.  vii.  the  Son 
of  Man  had  been  broiiglit  before  the  Ancient  of 
Days  (comp.  Rev.  vii.  10).  Indeed,  the  fourth 
and  lillh  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse,  as  first 
and  second  parts,  form  together  a'special  intro- 
duction to  the  visions  that  follow,  of  God  and 
the  Lamb.  We  may  further  remark,  that  the 
added  clause  in  Isaiah,  "  The  whole  earth  is  full 
of  thy  glory,"  which  the  seraphim  proclaimed, 
is  not  given  here  by  the  cherubim,  because  it 
is  to  be  kept  back  till  the  further  fulfillment 
Jolin  is  to  witness  (xi.  15-18 ;  xii.  10). 

That  which  follows  in  the  narrative  of  John 
(ver.  9),  the  "  glory,  honor,  and  thanks  "  of  the 
living  creatures,  refers  to  no  new  ascription  of 
praise  by  them,  but  manifestly  only  points  to 
the  one  before  given  in  ver.  8.  And  we  read 
that  when  they  thus  give  t'hanks,  the  elders  fall 
down.  In  this  harmony  of  praise  rendered  by 
the  angel-world  and  by  humanity  before  the 
eternal  throne,  there  is,  nevertheless,  one  very 
significant  difference,  which  Von  Gerlach  educes 
from  the  simple,  and,  alas  !  easily  overlooked 
letter  of  the  sacred  text—"  The  four  living 
creatures  (or  beasts)  turn  from  God,  the  el- 
ders turn  to  God,  and  say.  Lord  thou  art  wor- 
thy." The  primitive  creation  still  manifests 
God's  glory  and  speaks  to  man,  but  man  is 
God's  restored  image;  and  while  he  gazes  upon 
the  divine  glory  m  creation,  he  reflects  the 
radiance  that  beams  upon  him,  and  speaks  to 
God  in  his  praise,  "  Yea,  verily,  cherubim  and 
seraphim  hide  their  faces,  redeemed  sinners  f>e- 
hold  tcith  open  ft  tee  the  g!ory  aj  the  Lord  "  (see  2 
Cor.  iii.  18).  We  shall  find  the  same  instanced 
in  chap.  XI.  17,  as  well  as  chap.  v.  9.  This  lat- 
ter chapter  (vers.  9,  10)  describes  the  praise 
given  in  the  new  »ong  to  the  Lamb  for  the  re- 
demption wrought  by  him,  and  we  must  be 
carefid  to  observe,  what  has  been  often  over- 
looked, that  there  the  living  creatures  do  not 
fiing  and  give  praise  with  the  elders.  No ;  the 
words  thr)a  hnd  redeemed  lis  belong  exclusively 
to  those  redeemed  out  of  mankind,  though  the 
four  beasts  also  fall  down  before  the  Lamb. 
This  is  the  reason  why  here,  and  here  only,  the 
usual  order  is  reversed,  and  the  beasts  are 
mentioned  first.  The  angels  give  praise  togtVur 
Vith  us  for  our  redemption,  yea,  even  the  ciieru- 
bim  of  nature  sing  the  Holy,  holy,  holy  of  the 
kingdom  of  grace;  but  men  lead  that  strain, 
while  in  chap.  iv.  11,  we  have  man  joining 
with  the  angels  to  sing  the  praise  of  the  Creii- 
tor,  for  the  everlasting  Gospel  itself  is  intended 
to  re-proclaim  the  glory  of  him  who  created 
all  things  (xiv.  6,  7).  Praise  lor  our  redemp- 
tion leads  us  back  to  praise  for  creation,  ami 
includes  praise  for  our  preservation  as  well,  as 
we  have  before  said  elsewhere  :  and  hero  we  have 
an  instance  of  this,  since  we  find  the  neio  crea- 


ture, together  with  all  God's  praise-giviner  crea- 
tures (v.  lo),  praising  wilh  one  accord  at  oace 
the  Creator  and  the  Redeemer. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Vv^no  13  Wor.THT  to  Open  the  Book? 

Revelation  v. 

The  remarks  we  have  made,  concerning  an- 
gels and  men,  in  commenting  on  chap,  iv.,  ap- 
ply very  closely  to  the  following  chapter  also. 
An  angel  proclaims  aloud  the  question,  but  one 
of  the  elders  replies  in  the  name  of  humanity ; 
it  is  these  elders  alone  who  sing  the  neio  H/ng ! 
Thus,  in  ver.  12,  the  angels  join  in  their  degree ; 
in  ver.  13,  every  creature  has  part ;  afterwards, 
in  ver.  14,  the  four  beasts  say  a  mighty  Amen  ; 
but  the  last,  the  deepest  worship  is  that  of  the 
elders.  Such  is  the  alternate  song  of  heaven 
and  earth  to  the  glory  of  the  Lamb.  He  who 
knows  that  Lambslaiii  by  living  faith,  and  Ims 
been  redeemed  by  his  blood,  will  understand  the 
sweet  inmost  meaning  of  this  without  much 
interpretation,  will  not  venture  to  doubt  the 
divine  truth,  nor  to  resist  the  heavenly  author- 
ity with  which  John  here  speaks ;  no,  he,  too, 
will  fall  down  and  join  in  the  elders'  worship. 
They  who,  on  the  contrary,  do  not  possess  this 
key  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  marvel- 
lous words,  wiil  more  or  less  be  ollended  at 
them,  and  will  never  attain  to  their  full  mean- 
ing, be  their  erudition  or  their  science  what  it 
may. 

The  book  which  the  seer  beholds  in  the  right 
hand  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  carries 
us  back  once  more  to  the  visions  of  the  prophet 
Ezekiel.  There,  too,  we  read  of  the  roll  of  a 
book  likewise  held  in  a  hand  (ii.  10),  which 
contained  the  substance  of  his  prophecies.  It 
is  true  that  Rev.  x.  first  offers  the  lull,  the  ex- 
act counterpart  of  that  vision,  but,  nevertheless, 
the  first  book  described  in  chap.  v.  also  con- 
tains a  sublime  explanatory  reference  to  it. 
This  we  trace  in  the  very  first  descriptive  de- 
tails given,  the  book  in  the  present  case  being, 
as  well  as  that  Ezekiel  saw,  written  within  and 
on  the  back  side.  This  scroll  (Rev.  vi.  14), 
rolled  round  a  stick  after  the  manner  of  anti- 
quity, appeared  (a  thing  quite  unusual)  to  be 
written  on  both  sides,  and  was  sealed  with 
seven  seals.  We  can  easily  figure  to  ourselves 
its  outward  semblance,  but  the  important  point 
is  to  attain  to  a  right  view  of  the  meaning  and 
nature  of  this  book  with  its  sealed  scrolls.  In 
its  jirimary  sense,  we  believe  it  to  be  the  book 
of  the  futni-e.  which  is  mercifully  hidden  from 
us  men.  Tiius  in  Psa.  cxxxix.  IG,  we  read  of  a 
hook  of  God,  in  which  whatever  related  to  the 
luture  condition  of  each  individual  human  be- 
ing was  entered;  and  also  in  Dan.  xii.  1,  as 
well  as  in  x.  21  of  the  same  prophet,  we  liave 
mention  made  of  i\\e  Scripture  of'  (ruth,  which 
U  uadoubtedly  the  record  of  iaturQ  sveuLs. 


WHO  IS  WORTHY  TO  OPEN  THE  BOOK  ? 


This,  however,  agr-^es  still  more  closely  with 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Revelation,  where  we  read, 
in  ver.  7,  of  the  myitery  of  God  declared  to  his 
servants  the  prophets.  Tliis  b"nlc  of  God  in  the 
right  hand  of  hini  who  sat  on  'lie  throne,  the 
boolc  oi  the  future,  or  the  eal  I  up  among  his 
trmtiiires  (Deut.  xxxii.  34),  was  indeed  aheady 
in  some  measure  i<nown  on  earth  as  the  boolt  of 
prophec}'.  Therefore  Schmieder  is  correct  in  re- 
ferring here  to  Jesus  as  the  expounder,  or  opener 
out  of  the  prophecies:  "Wuo  could  be  better 
fitted  than  he  to  interpet  the  dark  prophecies 
of  the  early  ages,  which  are,  indeed,  nothing 
else  than  single  leaves  out  of  the  great  world- 
book,  the  book  of  the  future?"  But  there  is 
more  still  contained  in  the  symbol,  and  we 
should  be  very  wrong  to  content  ourselves  with 
this  primary  interpretation  of  it.  Therefore, 
pointing  out,  the  analogy  which  it  has  with  Isa. 
xxix.  11,  12,  and  Dan.  xii.  9,  we  go  on  to  ob- 
serve that  this  sealed  book,  in  order  to  the  lofty, 
profound,  comprehensive  meaning  John  in- 
tends it  to  convey,  must  further  stand  as  the 
look  ofunivei-sal  history,  as  well  as  of  the  whole 
series  of  events  in  which  God's  purposes  are 
first  hidden,  then  manifested — the  book  of  des- 
tiny, dark,  indeed,  to  the  blind  eyes  of  the  chil- 
dren of  men  ;  nay,  baffling  the  brighter  eyes  of 
angels  also.  Truly,  there  is  written  therein,  as 
Ezekiel  tells  us,  mourning,  lamentations  and 
woe  for  God-estranged  creatures,  with  their 
seeming  confused  and  unintelligible  ways.  Who 
shall  solve  the  riddles  of  this  book  for  us;  who 
can  still  the  lamentation  of  the  woes  it  con- 
tains?— the  equally  bitter  lamentations  of  the 
fruitless  search  after  the  plan,  the  meaning, 
and  purpose  of  the  whole.  Wlio  but  he  who 
has  made  known  to  us  the  eternal  counsel  of 
the  eternal  love  of  the  Father? 

If  it  be  going  somewhat  too  far  to  say  that 
"  but  for  Christ  the  idea  of  a  universal  scheme 
(according  to  which  the  whole  of  history  ap- 
pears as  the  progressive  work  towards  a  defi- 
nite aim  of  the  Lord  of  Fate  and  R,uler  of  the 
world)  would  have  been  unknown  among  men," 
since  this  were  to  overlook  the  Old  Testament ; 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certainly  true  that 
the  Old  Testament  itself  without  Christ  would 
be  an  unfinished  sketch,  an  unsolved  problem. 
Just  as  the  external  creation,  together  with  its 
history,  appears  a  defective  and  illegible  book, 
without  the  aid  of  the  revealed  word,  so  this 
revealed  word  itself  is  only  fulfilled  and  ex- 
plained by  the  salvation  brought  about  by  the 
incarnation.  And  finally,  we  would  point  out 
that  the  opening  of  this  sealed  book  not  only 
implies  foreknowing  and  understanding,  not 
merely  that  "  Christ  holds  the  faith  of  the 
world  in  his  hand,"  as  Tholuck  preaches  on  this 
text,  but  this  book  is  also  the  book  of  Provi- 
dence ;  it  includes  the  execution  of  God's  coun- 
sel, the  solving  all  difficulties,  the  reducing  to 
order  of  all  contusion  ;  the  actual  breaking  the 
seals,  in  the  sense  of  that  last  word,  from  the 
throne,  when  the  Lamb  is  seated  there,  "De- 
hold  I  make-all  things  new  "  (xxi.  5).  Facia  lo- 
jivuntur.    The  opening  of  this  book  is  the  tri- 


umph of  a  conqueror  who  has  already  con- 
quered, and  who  still  goes  forth  criii']iiering 
and  to  conquer  (vi.  2).  Throughout  the  whole 
of  history,  up  to  its  close,  one  seal  after  the 
other  will  be  opened,  the  mystery  contained 
beneath  them  all  being  the  mighty  work  of  the 
redemption  and  restoration  of  the  lost.  It  is 
this  alone  that  can  unravel  all  confusion,  clear 
away  all  darkness,  reveal  the  hidden  and  eter- 
nal purpose  that  has  run  throughout  the  ages. 
It  is  to  all  this  that  the  question  of  the  angel 
refers  when  he  demands  who  is  capable  ( because 
worthy)  to  open  this  book.  And  thus  we  are 
taught  that  the  history  of  humanity,  written 
on  the  outer  side  of  the  scroll,  is  to  be  gradually 
explained  by  the  writing  on  the  inner  side.  For 
we  cannot  possibly  suppose  that  the  book  was 
only  written  on  both  sides  merely  because  of 
the  amount  of  writing,  the  over-abundance  of 
its  contents.  God  had  no  need  to  use  his  ma- 
terials so  sparingly ;  and,  moreover,  both  ia 
Ezekiel  and  here  we  find  a  difference,  an  oppo- 
sition verbally  implied,  between  the  nature  of 
the  writing  within  (on  the  face  of  she  docu- 
ment) and  without  (on  the  back  side).  As  it 
has  been  well  and  simply  expressed,  "  The 
causes  of  the  external  events  of  history  lie  in 
the  writing  within  the  book." 

It  was  necessary  that  we  should  thus  nar- 
rowly scrutinize  the  nature  of  this  book  with 
the  seven  seals,  in  order  to  be  prepared  for  the 
proper  understanding  of  the  angel's  procla- 
mation. The  book  being  plainly  visible  in  the 
right  hand  of  him  who  sat  on  the  throne,  this 
question  amounted  to  an  open  challenge — was 
equivalent  to  saying,  If  there  be  any  present 
capable  of  opening  this  book,  let  him  appear. 
Thus  the  angel  gives  expression  to  God's  un- 
spoken will.  We  may  observe  that  John  ia 
now  said  to  have  see7i  his  proclamation,  as  we 
have  often  read  of  visions  being  heard.  And 
we  are  also  familiar  with  questions  such  as 
these,  put  by  the  angels,  merely  to  wake  a  re- 
sponse. The  angel  here  mentioned  is  a  strong 
angel,  as  in  chaps,  xi.,  xviii.  21,  that  with  a 
loud  and  mighty  voice  he  may  cry  throughout 
all  heights  and  depths  of  the  universe.  And 
yet  no  strength  of  his  may  avail  to  open  the 
book:  in  the  work  of  redemption,  patience 
takes  precedence  of  strength.  It  is  in  the  tried 
and  enduring  patience,  that  of  obedience,  that 
omnipotence  must  find  grounds  for  reconcilia- 
tion. "  Who  is  worthy  to  open  tlie  book,  and  to 
loose  the  seals  thereof?  "  Most  significant  the 
testimony  borne  in  these  words !  With  God 
the  question  is  ever.  Who  is  worthy?  With 
him  every  thing  is  ordered  according  to  the  ho- 
liest laws  of  justice.  The  emphatic  significance 
of  this  question  about  worthiness  includfs  the 
whole  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  close  connection 
between  Christ's  person  and  work  (too  olten, 
alas  !  forgotten  in  our  theology),  upon  which 
we  cannot  insist  further  at  present.  We  would 
simply  point  out  thr.t  the  answer  speaks  of  the 
frevading  of  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  to 
do  that  which  we  shall  see  performed  by  the 
Lamb.     This  reminds  us  that  certainly  the  an- 


46 


THE  PRAISE  OF  MANY  ANGELS. 


gel  did  not  proclaim  this  question  as  one  who 
was  himself  ignorant  of  who  this  prevailer 
•would  be  lound  to  be.  For  we  find,  in  1  Pet. 
i.  12,  that  it  is  a  joy  to  angels  (the  cherubim 
ever  remain  before  the  mercy-seat)  to  look  into 
the  mysteries  of  grace. 

John  weeps  even  though  he  has  been  caught 
op  into  heaven  (iv.  1),  because  the  mighty 
proclaiming  is  followed  (ver.  3)  by  the  silence, 
the  utter  silence  of  all  creatures  in  earth  and 
in  heaven,  and  thus  his  yearning  desire  for  fur- 
ther knowledge  seems  about  to  be  frustrated. 
But  now  comes  the  answer  from  the  mouth  of 
one  of  the  elders,  truly  one  of  the  sublimest 
passages  this  in  Holy  Writ!  It  is  finished,  it 
IS  done !  Thus  witness  the  redeemed  of  earth, 
in  heaven  itself,  nearest  to  the  throne!  Weep 
not,  behoU,  yea,  behold,  that  which  stands  be- 
fore thee.  He  has  prevailed  (overcome);  here 
we  have  the  first  significant  utterance  of  the 
actual  Apocalypse  linking  itself  impressively 
with  the  close  of  the  introductory  epistles,  as 
J  aUo  have  overcome  (in.  21).  We  know  that 
on  the  banner  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  the  lion 
was  to  be  seen  (Gen.  xlix  ).  This  is  the  lion 
who  has  risen  up  in  his  miyht ;  the  rod  out  of  the 
stem  of  Jesse  (Isa.  XI.  1,  10,  liii.  2),  which  has 
sprouted  and  grown  up  even  to  the  throne  of 
God.  Jesus  had  shortly  before  revealed  him- 
eelf  in  glorious  majesty  on  earth  (i.  13) ;  in 
heaven  he  shows  himself  as  a  Lamb  as  it  had 
hf-ea  slain,  but  who  lives  and  reigns  with  God. 
This  i.-5  another  form  of  expression  for  the  fact 
before  conveyed:  "I  am  he  who  was  dead; 
and,  behold,  I  live."  In  the  humiliation  of 
Lis  conllict  unto  death,  the  holy  decrees  of  God's 
will  were  not  entirely  unlolded  to  him,  the 
times  and  seasons  of  the  kingdom  that  was  to 
succeed  his  season  of  sutlering  were  hidden 
from  him.  But  now  that  the  Father  has  given 
to  the  glorified  Son  all  power  in  heaven  and 
earth,  the  book  with  seven  seals  is  delivered  to 
him  also.  This  signifies  that  he  takes  in  his 
own  right,  and  receives  as  a  gift  from  the  Fa- 
ther, the  book  whose  seals  he  through  his  vic- 
tory iias  already  unloosed.  And  now  there 
sounds  ouu  before  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb  (xxii.  1)  the  eternally  new  song  of  the 
redeemed,  with  whom  also  the  cherubim  fall 
down,  yea,  each  brings  his  own  harp,  and  sings 
Lis  own  special  song  of  praise.  Ay,  and  each 
too  sees  his  own  name,  and  his  everlastingly 
Lappy  destiny,  written  in  the  opened  book. 
We  cannot  tail  to  observe  how  fully  our  inter- 
pretation of  the  elders,  as  the  representatives 
of  the  whole  of  redeemed  hunianily,  is  borne 
out  by  the  exi)ressions  in  vers.  9,  10,  especially 
in  the  original,  where,  in  ver.  10,  the  toe  passes 
into  the  third  person,  the  passage  running  thus, 
"and  had  >/i«fie  Tiiic.M  (all  with  us,  and  like  us) 
unto  our  God  kin/js  awL  priestH  ;  ami  tlurj  shall 
reign  on  Uie  e<irth."  Thus  the  four-and-twenty 
lo.se  their  personality,  being  merged,  as  it  were, 
in  the  great  multitude  of  redeemed  souls  out 
ol'  every  kiudred  and  every  tongue. 


CHAPTER  XVr. 

The  Praise    op   Many  Angels,  akd  the 
Amen  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures. 

RkVEIiATIOS  v. 

In  verse  11  of  this  chapter  we  have  not  the 
expression  "all  the  angels,"  as  in  chap.  vii.  11, 
but  merely  many  angels,  although  the  number 
of  the  living  creatures  still  significantly  re- 
mains the  same.  There  is,  indeed,  some  quite 
mysterious  peculiarity  about  these  living  ones, 
since  they  alone  stand  between  the  throne  and 
the  elders,  and  then  come  (let  this  be  especially 
noted)  all  the  other  angels.  That  the  number 
of  these  last  given  here,  as  in  Dan.  vii.  9,  10, 
represents  the  innumerable,  or,  at  all  events, 
numbers  far  transcending  human  calculation, 
we  for  our  part  willingly  believe.  The  pass- 
age in  chap.  ix.  16,  with  its  definite  duplica- 
tion, differs  from  the  indefinite  plural  used 
here,  and  thus  we  are  taught  not  even  to  at- 
tempt to  reckon  these  countless  hosts.  Again, 
we  are  not  told  why  all  the  angels  do  not  give 
praise  and  worship  here  as  well  as  in  chap.  vii. 
11,  although  all  creatures  are  mentioned  as  so 
doing.  It  is  as  though  the  seer  gave  us,  in 
this  first  passage,  the  first  impression  he  receiv- 
ed ol  the  multitude  ;  it  was  so  great  that  he  in 
his  language  could  only  describe  it  first  by  the 
large  number,  ten  times  ten  thousand,  and  then 
by  indefinite  thousands  ;  in  chap.  vii.  his  more 
positive  expression  is  intended  to  convey  the 
assemblage  of  the  whole  hosts  of  heaven. 

"  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive 
power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and 
honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing."  Here,  as  before, 
it  is  evident  that  the  angels  comparatively 
worship  from  afar,  do  not  address  the  Diety  as 
do  the  redeemed  of  Adam's  race.  They  have, 
indeed,  their  own  share  ;  it  is  not  only  by  sym- 
pathy with  us  that  they  claim  their  portion  in 
the  blessings  of  salvation  (see  Eph.  i.  10;  Col. 
i.  20),  but  they  have  not  the  same  near  and  im- 
mediate right  of  access  behind  the  veil  as  we. 
Wherever  the  creature  gives,  or,  in  other  words, 
acknowledges,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  its  God,  he 
is  proclaimed  worthy  to  receive  that  which  in 
fact  inherently  belongs  to  him  ;  we  find  this 
significant  expression  throughout  Scripture 
(especially  in  Psa.  xxix.  1,  2 ;  Ixvii.  35 ;  1 
Chron.  xxii.  28).  For  since  created  beings 
have  no  otlier  words  to  employ  but  such  as 
they  derive  from  themselves,  their  attributes 
and  their  possessions,  they  must  needs  give 
back  to  their  Creator,  in  the  form  of  thanks- 
giving and  praise,  what  he  has  given  to  them, 
just  as  in  Rev.  iv.  the  elders  cast  down  their 
crowns  before  the  throne  of  him  who  is  King 
of  all.  In  the  same  way  all  the  strength,  tha 
riches,  the  treasures  of  every  kind,  all  the  wis- 
dom, etc.,  that  exist  in  the  world,  all  spring 
Irom  him,  all  revert  to  him,  all  belong  to  him. 
Every  where  in  such  heartfelt  praise  as  God 
will  accept,  we  find  the  same  fulness  of  lan- 
guage that  we  have  eminently  here.    The  dox« 


THE  FOUR-FOLD  CALL-COME  AND  SEE. 


47 


ology  in  1  Cliron.  xxx.  11,  contains  five  words  ; 
in  Rev.  iv.  11,  all  possible  ascriptions  of  praise 
are  included  under  a  three-lold  heading  ;  here, 
in  this  filth  chapter,  we  have  the  mystic  num- 
ber seven,  as  in  the  case  of  the  lamps,  the  seals, 
the  horns,  the  eyes;  and  in  chap.  vii.  12,  wo 
find  the  same  number  repeated  in  blessing  God 
that  is  here  used  in  blessing  the  Lamb.  We 
will  not  attempt  any  closer  analysis  of  each 
separate  word  ;  this  has  been  often  attempted, 
but  never  with  success. 

And  now  every  creature — not  merely  that 
which  has  breath  or  spirit,  but  even  the  inor- 
ganic creation  (see  Psa.  cxlviii.),  each  after  its 
kind,  and  by  its  own  actual  service  (its  fulfill- 
ing God's  purpose)— joins  in  proclaiming  the 
glory  of  the  Lamb,  the  divine  majesty  of  the 
Conqueror.  The  division  into  three  of  the 
whole  range  of  created  existences,  which  we 
find  in  Phil.  ii.  19,  as  well  as  here  in  ver.  1  and 
ver.  3,  may  be  traced  back  to  the  beginning  of 
Holy  Writ,  and  appears  first  on  the  tables  of 
the  law  (Exod.  xx.  4).  There  in  its  original 
position  we  at  once  discern  that  the  water  un- 
der the  earth  has  the  same  significance  as  these 
words,  added  in  Revelation,  "  and  such  as  are 
in  the  sea  ;"  and  that  these  latter  in  no  way 
imply  an  additional  division,  a  different  order 
of  existence,  but  that  the  sea,  as  being  a  visible 
contrast  to  the  habitable  earth,  is  used  as  an 
illustration  for  the  depths  of  the  underworld. 
It  is  true  that  the  whole  of  creation  ascribes  a 
four-fold  praise,  but  this,  as  not  being  especially 
the  utterance  of  angels,  does  not  come  within 
our  province. 

And  now  to  the  praise  of  the  whole  creation 
is  added  the  Amen  of  the  lour  living  creatures. 
What  a  celestial  liturgy  we  have  here  I  How 
striking  and  simple  the  adoption  of  the  long- 
consecrated  form  of  worship  among  the  Jewish 
people  (as  now  of  the  Christian  Church),  in 
order  to  enable  us  more  clearly  to  conceive  of 
the  glorious  reality.  The  most  exalted  ser- 
vants of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  add  their 
Amen  to  the  hymn  of  the  redeemed  and  of  the 
restored  creation,  as  if  congratulating  them  on 
their  perlect  joy.  Can  any  thing  be  more  sub- 
lime than  this  Amen?  Yes,  one  thing,  the 
silent  worship  that  succeeds,  of  the  four-and- 
twenty  elders,  representatives  of  that  ransomed 
humanity  which  has  a  fuller  portion  in  this  joy 
than  even  cherubim  or  seraphim,  a  worship 
tliat  recalls  the  words  written  in  Psa.  Ixv.  1, 
concerning  the  earthly  Zion,  "Praise  is  silent 
for  thee."  With  this  silence  of  the  prostrated 
and  adoring  elders  the  chapter  concludes,  the 
genuine  text  running  thus,  "  And  the  elders  fell 
d/wn  and  wornhijqjed  ;"  in  profoundest  silence 
worship,  as  before,  in  chapter  iv.  10,  11,  they 
had  joined  with  the  angels  in  praising  the  Cre- 
ator. What  an  exquisite  order  we  find  every 
where  observed  in  this  book  !  What  an  oratorio 
this  filth  chapter  would  afford,  with  its  angelic 
proclamation  and  its  human  tears,  its  com- 
lorting  Behold,  and  its  triumphant  song,  its 
solemn  Amen  .echoing  on  throughout  the  still 
moreeolema  silence.     But  who  could  worthily 


set  it  to  music?  Better,  too,  it  should  not  be 
so  set,  for  then  it  might  be  desecrated  by  pro- 
fane singers  ;  better,  far,  that  it  should  remain 
as  it  is,  a  subject  for  earthly  aspiration  and 
heavenly  performance. 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

TnB  Four-fold  Call — Come  and  See. 

Revelation  vi. 

The  contents  of  the  sealed  book  appear  at  its 
opening  in  the  form  of  successive  visions,  pass- 
ing before  John's  eyes  as  prophetic  pictures  of 
things  to  come,  representations  acted.  The 
seven  seals,  opened  one  after  the  other  by  the 
Lamb,  are  divided,  as  is  often  the  case  with 
this  mystic  number,  into  four  and  three.  It 
has  been  almost  universally  and  very  properly 
remarked,  that  these  four  first  seals  deal  with 
visible  events  passing  upon  the  earth  ;  the 
three  last  relate  to  the  region  of  the  invisible 
world,  pointing  to  the  worship  of  sainted  spir- 
its, the  ju(igment  of  sinners,  and  the  service 
of  angels  in  heaven. 

The  rider  upon  the  white  horse  (foreshadow- 
ing chap.  xiv.  14;  xix.  11),  we,  with  many 
other  commentators,  hold  to  be  Christ,  who 
very  significantly  himself  appears  as  the  first 
seal.  The  riders  generally,  and  their  horses, 
seem  to  be  modelled  upon  those  in  Zech.  i.  6, 
yet  not  to  have  any  special  resemblance  of 
meaning.  The  conqueror  on  the  white  horse 
stands  out  in  beautilul  contrast  to  the  second, 
third,  and  fourth,  e.  g.,  war,  famine,  and  pesti- 
lence, which  not  only  succeed  but  spring  from 
one  another.  Further,  he  who  is  their  leader 
and  ruler  in  chap,  v.,  has  already  been  named 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  according- 
ly he  is  appropriately  ushered  in  by  the  thun- 
der-tones of  ths  first  cherub — "  The  first  beast 
like  a  lion."  He  is  already  crowned  with  the 
crown  of  triumph  of  his  former  overcoming, 
and  yet  he  slowly  and  progressively  carries  out 
this  victory.  Tnis  is  the  plan  upon  which  the 
whole  Apocalypse  is  constructed.  This,  its 
first  part,  which  we  are  now  considering,  does 
not  foretell  certain  isolated  and  definite  histori- 
cal events  :  rather  it  delineates  a  course  of  his- 
tory duing  which  such  general  events  will  be 
frequently  repeated.  The  seals,  according  to 
Von  Meyer,  "  prefigure  the  general  tenor  of 
events  during  the  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era;  the  good  and  evil  that  awaits  Christen- 
dom, and  has  to  be  gradually  evolved,  in  order 
that  they  who  wait  for  the  glorious  close  of 
the  dispensation,  may  not  expect  it  too  soon, 
and  so  be  disappointed,  and  make  shipwreck 
of  their  faith."  And  since  Christ  precedes, 
nay,  as  conquering  warrior  is  himself  included 
in  the  number  of  the  seals,  and  especially  be- 
longs to  the  first  four,  we  are  not  justified,  by 
the  connection  in  which  this  image  appears,  in 
explaining  it  as  the  spiritual  triumph  of  the 


48 


THE  ANGEL  HAVING  THE  SEAL  FOR  THE  SEPwVANTS  OF  GOD. 


word  of  truth  (Psa.  xlv.  4-6),  or  even  more 
especially  the  first  success  of  the  apostolic 
])reaching.  Rather  find  it  prefigured  and  cer- 
tified that  all  the  succeeding  plagues — all  war, 
all  human  conquests  and  triumphs  whatsoever 
(as  for  example,  those  of  Trajan  in  the  first  in- 
stance, but  also  all  others  to  come  to  pass 
throughout  the  course  of  history) — only  sub- 
serve his  triumphs  who  is  the  one  true  warrior 
and  conqueror,  in  and  through  all. 

Now,  then,  we  shall  be  able,  without  further 
exposition  of  the  words,  simple  in  themselves, 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  four-l'old  call 
of  the  four  living  creatures.  In  our  Bibles,  we 
have  in  all  four  passages  the  very  same  words 
used,  "  Come  and  see."  But  there  are  various 
readings  of  the  original,  and  the  latest  criticism 
gives  simply  the  word  come  in  all  the  verses 
alike,  whereas  other  authorities  would  read  it 
in  this  abbreviated  form  only  with  regard  to 
the  second  seal,  while  others,  again,  would  do 
so  in  connection  with  the  three  last  seals.  But, 
at  all  events,  the  meaning  remains  much  the 
same.  We  hold  that  the  first  call  is  decidedly 
Come  and  see,  and  the  last  only  repetitions, 
perhaps  abbreviated  repetitions  of  the  complete 
sentence.  In  chap.  iv.  1,  the  first  voice  had 
already  called,  in  the  name  of  all  the  rest,  Co7ne  ; 
and  since  now  we  have  another,  a  separate 
summons,  it  can  only  imply  a  coming,  nearer  in 
order  more  plainly  and  distinctly  to  see  the  im- 
ages now  about  to  appear :  an  almost  necessary 
turning  away  of  the  seer's  eye  trom  the  throne 
of  glory  to  the  series  of  pictures  about  to  un- 
fold themselves  before  it.  The  same  imperative 
see  is  still  more  strongly  emphasized  (xvii.  1  ; 
xxi.  9),  "  I  will  show  thee."  It  is  the  very 
same  invitation  wliich  the  Divine  I\Iajesty  in 
the  days  of  humiliation  gave  (John  i.  39)  ;  a 
simple  phrase,  available  lor  the  common  pur- 
poses of  life,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  sacred 
form  of  speech  applied  in  Holy  Writ  to  the 
loftiest  subjects,  as  we  see  in  Psa.  xlvi.  8 ; 
Ixvi.  5;  and  Joel  iii.  11.  We  would  derive 
from  it,  and  from  the  voice  of  thunder  form 
out  the  throne,  the  impressive  warning:  Let 
no  one  seek  to  see  heavenly  visions  orfuture 
events  without  the  right  vo'ice  calling  to  him, 
"  Come  and  see." 

But  that  we  may  overlook  nothing  on  the 
way,  there  is  that  voice  rising  from  (he  midd 
of  the  four  living  creatures,  which  graciously 
interferes  to  set  limits  to  the  horrors  of  famine. 
In  this  wonderful  book  are  many  voices  which 
prompt  our  questionings,  but  permit  of  no 
confident  answer.  Here,  however,  it  appears 
to  us  (I hough  we  would  not  dogmatize  on  the 
point)  that  it  is  neither  that  of  Jesus  himself 
— as  many  think,  who  compare  the  passage  with 
chap.  v.  (3— nor  yet  some  special  angel,  but 
merely  a  visioaary  voice  interposed  as  accom- 
paniment ami  explanatiun  to  the  appearance 
of  the  third  rider.  It  is  sometimes  (iifficuit  to 
determine  exactly  where  the  voices  of  angels 
occur,  but  we  prel'er  to  keep  always  within  the 
limits  of  certainty  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  ap- 
prehend tiiem. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Angj:l   H.wino-  the   Seal   fob    the 
Sehvants  of  God. 

Revelatios  vn. 

After  the  appalling  prospective  glance  at  the 
•  liy  of  wrath,  the  wratn  of  the  Lamb,  the  open- 
ing of  the  seventh  seal,  with  its  seven  trum- 
pets, docs  not  immediately  follow.  We  have 
an  interlude,  as  in  the  case  of  the  seven  trum- 
pets, only  less  long;  an  interlude  which  pre- 
pares us  for  the  plagues.  The  holding  of  the 
winds  previous  to  the  impending  storm  of 
judgments,  is  something  different  indeed,  from 
the  solemn  silence  in  heaven  which  accompa- 
nied the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  and  yet  it 
has  a  certain  connection  with  it.  There  has 
been  a  good  deal  of  very  unnecessary  contro- 
versy as  to  whether  a  time  of  refreshing  rest  or 
of  distressing  sultriness  is  hereby  intended,  lor 
in  the  nature  of  things,  the  one  must  inevitably 
pass  over  into  the  other,  and  we  have  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  the  latter  condition.  The 
period  of  rest,  viewed  under  one  aspect,  ap- 
pears certainly  favorable  for  the  sealing  or 
securing  from  hurt  of  God's  servants;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  such  a  preternatural  stillness 
always  contains,  for  understanding  minds,  a 
prophecy  and  threat  of  woe  to  come.  Experi- 
enced sailors  tremble  when  the  wind  goes  en- 
tirely down,  and  in  the  garden  of  the  King, 
mentioned  in  the  Song  of  Solomon  (iv.  16), 
the  living  water  and  tlie  sunshine  are  not  more 
necessary  than  the  blowing  of  the  north  and 
south  wind  in  order  that  the  spices  may  flow 
out. 

The  four  winds  from  the  four  corners  or  ends 
of  the  earth  (the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  ilk. 
8),  or,  as  in  Zech.  vi.  5,  of  heaven  (compare 
also  Dan.  viii.  8 ;  xi.  4).  appear,  in  their  pri- 
mary sense,  to  be  a  natural  image,  like  the 
winds  that  scatter  the  people  of  Isreal  (Jer. 
xlix.  36),  or  the  four  striving  winds,  in  Dan. 
vii.  2.  But  in  the  Apocalypse,  such  images 
have  always  a  latent  reference  to  the  powers 
of  the  spiritual  world  ;  we  see  this  exemplified 
in  the  four  angels  who  hold  or  loose  the  winds 
(for  we  find  in  the  second  ver.  that  this  latter 
office  is  equally  theirs)  ;  and  the  comparison 
of  this,  their  restraining  of  the  hurling  influ- 
ences, with  the  fact  of  the  four  angels  bound 
( ix.  14),  seems  actually  to  point  not  certainly  to 
firnl  angels  having  some  immediate  sway  over 
the  forces  of  nature  and  the  events  of  history, 
but  to  that  agency  of  angels  of  wrath  and  woe, 
ministering  servants  to  the  Lord's  displeasure, 
which  this  book  so  often  reveals  to  us.  If  this 
be  so,  then  the  four  winds  held  by  the  four  an- 
gels, are,  in  point  of  fact,  four  other  angels  not 
bound  as  being  in  themselves  had,  only  prohib- 
ited for  a  time  from  exercising  the  power  to 
hurt,  which  they  had  previously  received  from 
God  as  a  general  commission.  Tlie  earth,  or 
land,  may  perhaps  signify  Christendom,  as  the 
more  immediate  object  of  iaterest ;  V^  sea,  the. 


THE  ANGEL  HAVING  THE  SEAL  FOR  THE  SERVANTS  OF  GOD. 


49 


heathen  and  distant  nations  ;  and  to  these  are 
added  the  trees,  which,  according  to  the  sym- 
bolical language  of  prophecy,  may  here  stand 
•for  kingdoms  or  kings. 

Every  where  in  the  Apocalypse  we  have 
abundant  illustration  of  difference  of  rank  in 
the  spirit  and  angel  world.  In  this  particular 
passage,  we  have  the  command  (enforced  in 
action),  by  some  angels  to  others,  not  to  begin 
their  work,  further  enforced  by  a  loud  voice 
heard  by  the  seer,  the  voice  of  another  angel, 
one  still  higher  in  nature  and  office.  He  now 
ascends  in  visible  majesty,  shining  from  the 
east,  as  one  of  the  four  corners  of  the  heaven  ; 
from  the  east,  out  of  which  the  Sun  of  salva- 
t.jn  has  shone  out  upon  the  earth,  and  utters 
his  express  command  by  a  loud  cry,  "  Hold ! 
not  yet."  He  it  is  who,  before  the  activity  of 
those  subordinate  angels  begins,  has  work  of 
his  own  given  him  to  do  ;  he  it  is  who  holds 
in  his  hands  the  seal  of  the  living  God.  Not 
indetid  that  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  that  in 
reality  an  individual  angel  did  accomplish  this 
sealing:  but  he  was  appointed;  and  this  re- 
mark applies  to  all  the  similar  features  of  the 
vision — appointed  to  afford  John  a  visible  rep- 
resentation of  a  spiritual  reality.* 

"  And  the  angel  said,  Hart  noi  the  earth,  neither 
the  sea,  nor  the  trees,  till  icehave  sealed  the  ser- 
vants of  our  God  in  their  foreheads!"  This 
sealing,  which  is  also  in  a  certain  degree  a  se- 
curing or  defending  against  hurt,  a  sealing  up, 
signities  primarily  a  seal  of  confirmation,  a 
mark,  a  distinction,  such  as  it  was  customary 
in  the  East  in  days  of  old  to  confer;  and  here 
the  seal  of  the  living  God  is  placed  in  holy  con- 
trast to  the  idolatrous  and  blasphemous  mark 
ot  l.ie  beast;  and,  as  in  chap.  xui.  17,  this 
mark  is  interpreted  as  the  name  of  the  b^ast, 
or  ihe  numLier  of  his  name,  so  in  chap,  xiv  1, 
(lii.  12),  and  again  in  chap.  xxii.  4,  we  read  of 
the  name  of  the  Lamb,  and  of  his  Father, 
written  on  the  foreheads  of  the  saints.  And, 
as  in  Ezekiel  ix.  4,  we  read  of  a  mark  set  upon 
the  foreheads  of  the  men  that  sigh  and  cry  for 
all  the  abominations  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  in 
Eph.  iv.  30,  find  that  believers  generally  are 
spoken  of  as  sealed  unto  tiie  day  of  redemp- 
tion ;  so  here  we  have  a  more  special  and  re- 
stricted sealing  for  a  certain  number  of  the 
elect  before  the  impending  judgment.  Com- 
pare Matt.  xxiv.  31  ;  Psa.  cvii.  3.  Whether 
and  how  this  was  to  be  historically  fultilled, 
will  come  later  under  consideration.  The 
words  of  the  angel  are  at  first  quite  general, 
being  applicable  tj  all  the  servants  of  God,  to 
those  who  are  faithful,  submissive,  active  in 
their  obedience — as  this  honorable  Old-Testa- 
ment appellation  implies  in  the  Book  of  Reve- 
lation, lioin  tir.<t  to  last,  from  chaps,  i.  1,  ii.  20, 
to  xxii.  36  ;  and  there  is  a  remark  of  Harms, 
when  preaching  on  the  prophecies  of  Daniel, 
which  we  may  very  prolitably  apply  to  this 
passage :  "  They  that  are  sealed  are  not  future 


*  We  read-in  ver.  1,  not  "  After  tliese  things  it 
eaine  to  pass,"  but  "  After  these  things  J  saw." 


servants  of  the  Lord,  not  those  who  will  after- 
wards become  so,  but  who  actually  are  so  now- 
Let  this  sink  into  our  own  hearts.  L«t  us  ask 
ourselves,  '  Am  I,  are  we  sealed?'  " 

We  go  on  to  read  :  "  TiU  we  seai."  Thus 
speaks  the  mighty  angel,  like  to  a  prince  hav- 
ing many  servants  and  helpers  at  command, 
yet  humbly  numbering  himself  among  them, 
which  is  an  image  of  much  holy  signiticance. 
T/ie  sei'vants  of  our  God,  for  the  angels,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are  all  fellow-servants 
with  us  of  the  God  whom  we  alike  adore.  On 
their  foreheads  (as  in  Ezekiel),  the  mark  and 
seal  of  God  is  to  be  thus  stamped  on  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  because  it  is  the  face,  especially 
the  brow,  on  which  individual  character  is  most 
clearly  read  by  the  beholder,  so  that  the  ex- 
pression written  on  his  forehead  is  become  cur- 
rent in  our  daily  speech.  The  beast  indeed 
has  his  servants  "marked  in  their  right  hand-?, 
as  well  denoting  thus  their  outward  conduct; 
but  the  living  God  distinguishes  his  own,  as 
formerly  the  high  priests  ot  Israel  were  distin- 
guished by  the  golden  inscription  upon  the 
brow,  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord."  True,  it  often 
remains  unknown  and  unread  by  men,  a  secret 
they  do  not  share.  "The  Lord"  (and  the 
Lord  only)  "  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  the  case  of  many  and 
many  an  elect  soul,  the  departing  from  iniqui- 
ty, because  they  name  the  name  of  Clirist  in 
sincerity  and  truth,  is  open  and  manifest  to 
the  world.  And  thus  the  holy  seal  is  still  seen 
shining  out  of  the  East,  preserving  from  hurt, 
and  commanding  reverence. 

But  all  this  is  merely  a  general  application 
of  the  angel's  speech.  The  thorough  exposition 
of  its  special  meaning  now  demands  a  few  words 
regarding  the  sealed  ones  enumerated  in  Vers. 
4-8,  the  number  of  whom  h^  heard,  as  well  as 
their  names  called  over  to  him,  in  all  probabili- 
ty by  the  same  angel.  And  first  of  all  we  protest 
against  exegetical  subtleties  which  would  con- 
tradict the  evident  meaning  of  the  text,  by  con- 
founding the  hundred  andtorty  and  four  thou- 
sand, who  are  represented  as  still  living  on  the 
earth,  and  sealed  against  the  impending  plagues 
that  are  to  desolate  it,  with  the  worshippers 
before  the  throne  spoken  of  in  ver.  9  ;  and  the 
more  that  whereas  the  first  are  "  of  all  (he  tribes 
of  (he  children  of  Israel,"  the  second  are  gath- 
ered out  of  all  nations  and  kindreds  and 
tongues.  Nor  ia  it  possible  to  amalgamate  the 
two  passages  by  supposing  that  tribes  only 
typfied  the  spiritual  Israel,  since,  in  the  former 
case,  John  gives  a  definite  number  to  the  sealed; 
m  the  latter  he  speaks  of  the  worshippers  asi  a 
multitude  which  no  man  could  number.  And 
although,  indeed,  the  Rt-velation  of  John  makes 
no  distinct  mention  of  the  restoration  of  tiie 
Jews,  and  their  latter-day  glory  in  their  own 
land,  yet  a  distinction  between  Israel  and  the 
others  nations  is  recognized  as  enduring,  as  by 
no  means  utterly  abolished  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Certainly,  it  is  not  in  their  cliaracter 
of  Israelites,  but  as  the  servants  of  Goi  that 
these  chosen  ones  are  sealed;  but  still  they  ara 


50 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  ALL  THE  ANGELS— THE  THREE-FOLD  WOE. 


clearly  dpscribed  as  being  of  Israel  after  the 
flesh.  We,  (or  our  part,  maintain — although 
fully  to  substantiate  our  views  would  require  a 
commentary  on  the  whole  of  the  Apocalypse — 
tliat  it  is  not  only  the  plagues  of  the  latter 
times  that  are  here  spoken  of,  and  that  the 
sealed  are  not  those  exclusively  who  are  to 
survive  the  "end  of  days,"  but  that  we  are 
simply  to  understand  by  these  sealed  ones  the 
remnant  of  Israel  (Rom.  xi.  5),  which  the 
^even  thousand  reserved  in  the  days  of  Elijah 
typified.  According  to  Bengel,  "Soon  after 
the  time  of  John,  great  calamities  fell  upon  the 
earth,  especially  upon  the  Jewish  people  ;  but 
there  was  a  remnant  chosen  out  of  them,  which 
was  to  endure,  and  to  be  preserved  through 
those  and  through  all  succeeding  calamities 
unto  now."  In  the  same  spirit  Von  Meyer  ob- 
serves, "  This  sealing  has  a  prophetic  reference 
to  all  future  time  of  earthly  storm  and  tribu- 
lation, such  scenes  being  present  to  the  seer  in 
his  visions."  Yes,  we  are  here  assured,  in  a 
marvellous  manner,  and  one  that  abases  our 
presumptuous  conjectures,  that  the  Lord  has 
not  only  watched  over  and  led  his  people 
Israel  throughout  all  ages — of  which,  indeed, 
we  have  historical  evidence  before  our  eyes — 
but  that  he  also  recognizes  and  registers  the 
posterity  of  those  still  existing  ten  tribes, 
which  are  so  mixed  up  with  other  nation  as  to 
be  undiscoverable  by  us.  The  order  in  which 
the  twelve  tribes  here  stand  differs  from  that 
elsewhere  observed  in  Scripture,  which  leads  us 
to  infer  some  special  reason  for  this  particular 
arrangement.  First,  we  have  the  two  brothers, 
L'.-ah's  sons,  Judah  the  prince  taking  prece- 
dence of  Reuben,  the  first-born  ;  then  the  two 
Ki>ns  of  Leah's  maid  ;  then  Naphtali,  son  ot 
Rachel's  maid,  Bilhah,  with  Manasseh  put  in 
the  place  of  Dan  ;  then,  again,  two  of  Leah's 
fhier,  and  her  two  younger  sons;  lastly,  the 
brotliers  borne  to  Jacob  by  his  beloved  Rachel, 
Joseph  standing  in  the  place  of  Ephraim,  as  in 
Amos  vi.  G,  and  Psa.  Ixxx.  1. 

That  Levi,  after  the  removal  of  his  priest- 
hood, should  appear  in  the  list  of  the  tribes, 
was  necessary.  But  the  reason  why  Dan 
should  be  the  one  omitted,  in  order  that  the 
r umber  be  kept  to  twelve,  and  yet  Joseph's 
d'.)ul)le  claim  preserved,  is  as  yet  a  mystery. 
Finally,  we  would  just  state  here  our  convic- 
tion that  (he  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
virgin  souls  who  appear  following  the  Lamb 
in  chap,  xiv.,  are  not  to  be  identified  with  the 
fame  number  of  sealed  out  of  the  tribes  of 
Israel. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Worship  of   all   the   Angels. 

Revelation  vii. 

One  of  the  most  intelligible,  yet  plorious 
passages  of  th;8  book,  one  that  requires  com- 
mentary less  than  any  other,  is  this,  which 


relates  to  the  countless  hosts  of  the  blessed  be- 
fore the  throne,  to  their  glorious  apparel,  and 
their  songs  of  praise.  The  Christian  Church 
has  always  appropriated  this  lofty  .strain  to  it3 
most  sacred  uses.  As  in  chap.  iv.  10  we  saw 
the  crowned  elders  cast  their  crowns  of  gold 
down  before  the  throne, so  here  the  great  mul- 
titude of  the  saved  and  redeemed  ascribed 
their  salvation,  their  redemption  out  of  great 
tribulation,  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb. 

It  is  true  that  all  theangeU  cannot  praise  and 
thank  God  in  quite  the  same  way  as  this,  but 
they,  too,  after  their  manner,  do  thank  and 
praise  him  with  us  and  for  us,  do  take  delight 
in  and  return  thanks  for  our  blessedness  here, 
as  before,  in  chap.  v.  11,  12.  There  they  wor- 
ship the  Lamb  ;  here,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
read  God,  our  God.  But  both  are  one;  the 
worship  and  its  objects  are  essentially  the  same. 
Still,  that  we  may  not  imagine  the  fulness  of 
celestial  liturgies  to  be  adequately  represented 
by  an  unvarying  formula,  we  here  find  some 
differences  in  the  order  of  the  seven-fold  ascrip- 
tion of  praise.  In  the  fifth  chapter,  the  hymn 
concluded  with  "  honor,  and  glory,  and  bless- 
ing;" here  it  begins  with  "  blessing  and  glory." 
Wisdom,  power,  and  might  we  have  in  both, 
but  here  honor  precedes  power  and  might. 
And  here,  too  (instead  of  riches),  we  have  a 
new  word  of  praise  in  the  middle  of  the  sen- 
tence, thanksgiving  precedes  honor.  Also  the 
solemn  "  Amen"  of  the  four  living  creatures  in 
chap.  V.  is  here  spoken  by  all  the  angels,  and 
the  elders  as  well;  and  it  is  also  doubled,  used 
at  the  beginning,  as  well  as  at  the  close  of  the 
doxology,  or  in  all  probability,  according  to 
the  most  correct  reading  of  the  original,  at  the 
beginning  only,  thus  leaving  the  strongest  em- 
phasis to  dwell  on  the  closing  words,  "Jorecer 
and  ever." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Three-fold  Woe. 

Revelation  viii. 

In  heaven  itsrlf,  so  full  of  the  melody  of 
praise  and  the  activity  of  immortal  life,  silence 
prevails  for  a  while,  the  silence  of  expectation, 
while  the  Lamb  opens  the  seventh  seal — the 
last.  Whether  (here  was,  or  ever  will  be,  a 
corresponding  period  of  repose  upon  earth  we 
may  indeed  ask.  but  the  text  affords  us  no  cer- 
tain answer.  We  merely  n  ad  of  what  further 
happened  in  heaven,  not  certainly,  as  many 
have  supposed,  during  the  silence,  but  after 
this  preparatory  pause,  and  as  the  beginning 
of  the  events  consequent  upon  the  opening  ot 
the  last  seal.  "  The  ntven  angelswhirh  dand  lie.fvrt 
G(mI  "  (possibly  archangelsj,  are  seen  by  John, 
and  to  these  exalted  angels  seven  trumpets  ore 
given,  with  whose  contents  or  consequences  the 
whole  remainder  of  his  revelation  is  more  or 
less  concerned. 

These  trumpets  are  not  to  be  understood,  as 


THE  THREE-FOLD  WOE. 


51 


iome  have  supposed,  to  be  merfly  an  image  of 
the  far-sounding  and  world-wide  notoriety  of 
the  impending  events,  akin  to  the  trumpet  at- 
tributed to  lame  in  classical  language.  The 
angels  are  not  to  be  employed  in  making  known 
on  earth  what  has  already  taken  place,  but  in 
giving  the  signal  for  what  is  yet  to  happen. 
The  signal  is  derived  from  the  sacred  imagery 
of  the  Old  Testament,  where  we  find  that  the 
trumpets  of  Israel  were  alike  sounded  to  gather 
together  the  congregation  of  the  Lord,  and  to 
give  the  signal  for  battle.  In  the  New  Testa- 
ment, we  find  both  these  applications  of  the 
image.  In  Matt.  xxiv.  Si,  our  Lord  uses  it  in 
the  first  sense  when  he  speaks  of  the  gathering 
of  the  elect;  Paul,  again,  applies  it  to  illustrate 
the  preparation  for  conflict  at  the  call  of  the 
word,  while  in  chap.  xv.  22,  and  1  Thess.  iv. 
16,  we  read  of  the  last  trumpet  that  heralds 
the  resurrection.  John,  in  the  Revelatioi., 
however,  generally  employs  the  symbol  as  the 
signal  to  battle  and  distess,  woe  and  judg- 
ment. 

And  now  all  proceeds  with  slow  and  solemn 
deliberation,  between  the  giving  of  the 
trumpets,  and  the  preparing  of  the  angels  to 
sound  them,  we  have  an  interlude,  during 
which  aiioLher  angel  appears  in  heaven,  which 
continues  to  open  out  more  and  more  widely  to 
the  gaze  of  the  seer.  A  golden  altar  before 
the  throne,  an  altar  of  incen-seand  burnt-offer- 
ing, resembling  the  earthly  types  in  the  origin- 
al temple,  now  becomes  visible. 

The  office  of  this  other  angel,  is  fi:  st  of  all  to 
add  the  offering  of  much  incenae  to  the  prayers 
of  the  saints  (v.  8),  which  accompany  the 
divine  judgments,  thus  lending  them  new 
strength  out  of  the  sanctuary.  Next,  he  takes 
fire  Irom  tlie  altar,  fills  the  c&nser  with  it,  and 
casts  it  upon  the  earth,  thus  symbolizing  the 
burning  fire  of  the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
as  well  as  the  praying  zeal  of  his  people,  and 
thus  solemnly  announcing — accompanied  by 
voices,  thunderings,  lightnings,  and  an  earth- 
quake— the  divine  judgments  about  to  fall 
upon  the  earth. 

Tlie  first  four  trumpets,  like  the  first  four 
seals,  are  the  most  intimately  connected,  and 
they  rapidly  succeed  each  other.  Between 
these  four,  and  the  last  three,  the  terrors  and 
horrors  that  take  place  are  brought  to  a  mighty 
climax  by  the  dread  interlude  of  a  special  an- 
gelic cry,  which  we  now  proceed  to  comment 
upon.  This  cry  is  that  of  an  angel,  for 
although  the  literal  words  of  the  seer,  in  the 
original,  imply  that  what  he  saw  and  heard 
was,  in  point  of  fact,  an  eagle,  yet  on  conipar- 
inu'  the  passage  with  chap.  xiv.  6,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  we  cannot 
suppose  that  between  visions  so  solemn  as 
these  the  image  of  merely  a  speaking  animal 
would  be  introduced.  No  ;  it  is  an  angel  of 
jndginent  represented  under  this  figure,  with 
relerence  to  the  significant  mention  ot  the  eagle 
Ihrougliout  Holy  Writ  (the  vulture  being  in- 
cluded under  that  name),  as  the  appointed 
devourer  oPall  that  is  vile  and  refuse.     See 


Job  ix.  26;  xxxix.  30;  Hab.  i.  8;  and  even 
Deut.  xxviii.  49.  Compare  with  these  passages 
that  in  Matt,  xxiv.,  where  the  Lord  himself 
reveals  the  meaning  of  the  emblem  by  the  fun- 
damental law  of  all  God's  judgments,  which 
only  strike  at  what  is  already  corrupt,  and 
remove  that  which  is  ready  to  vanish  away. 
Perhaps  there  may  also  be  in  these  words  of 
our  Lord  some  allusion  to  the  influence  of 
avenging  angels,  exerted  under  cover  of  the 
Roman  legions,  against  Jerusalem,  as  well  as 
against  a  corrupt  Christendom,  under  cover  of 
other  human  instruments ;  whereas,  in  Rev. 
xix.  17,  48,  on  the  contrary,  the  flesii-devour- 
ing  birds  gathered  to  the  great  supper,  are  to 
be  understood  as  human  executors  of  the  dread 
judgments  of  God. 

Through  the  midst,  or  in  the  height  of 
heaven,  fp.r  above  the  doomed  earth,  with  his 
keen  glance  ranging  over  it  far  and  wide,  the 
awful  angel  flies,  and  utters  his  hoarse  cry, 
which  sounds  like  that  of  some  ominous  bird 
of  prey,  "  Woe,  woe,  woe,  to  the  inhabilers  of  the 
tnrth,  by  reason  of  the  other  voices  of  the  trum])et 
of  the  three  angels,  which  are  yet  to  sound." 

The  loving  and  gracious  Lord  himself  had 
oftentimes  denounced  woe  to  the  rebellious,  a 
seven-fold  woe  to  the  Pharisees,  a  more  em- 
phatic sentence  still  against  Judas  his  betray- 
er ;  how,  then,  shall  we  dare  to  wonder  that  we 
find  an  angel  doing  likewise?  We  are  here 
taught  to  lay  aside  all  that  sentimental  tender- 
ness which,  in  defiance  of  the  plainest  state- 
ments of  Holy  Writ,  would  endue  our  Father 
in  heaven  with  no  other  attribute  than  that  of 
mercy. 

Further,  this  eagle-like  angel  does  not  speak 
in  the  language  of  exhortation,  like  the  one  in 
chap.  xiv.  6,  7,  having  the  everlasting  Gospel 
to  preach  before  the  hour  of  judgment  come; 
he  only  cries  out.  Woe  to  the  earth — woe  to 
\he  inhaJntcrs  oi  the  earth,  having  their  home 
there,  minding  earthly  things,  without  care  or 
interest  for  the  better,  the  heavenly  country. 
Woe  to  them  as  being  the  enemies  to  the  saints 
(vi.  10;,  they  shall  perish  with  the  earth  ;  they 
are  men  who  have  not  God's  seal  upon  their 
foreheads  (ix.  4);  whose  names  are  not  writ- 
ten in  the  book  of  life  (xiii.  8).  Again,  the 
expression  inhaUters  of  earth  is  used  (xiii.  12, 
14;  xii.  12)  in  direct  opposition  to  the  dwell- 
ers in  heaven.  This  three-fold  woe  proclaimed 
by  the  angel,  precedes  the  three  last  trumpets 
which  herald  more  dreadful  judgments  still 
than  those  which  came  before,  judgments  which 
themselves  have  the  name  of  wues :  chap.  ix. 
12,  "  One  tnoo  is  jaat,"  after  which  come  two 
others  :  chap.  xi.  14,  "the  second  woe  is  fast,  the 
third  Cometh  qiiickly  ;"  hsily ,  \n  chap.  xii.  12, 
"  Woe  to  the  earth  and  to  the  sea,"  as  well  as  in 
chap,  xviii.  10,  16,  19,  the  thrice-repeated  woo 
over  the  fallen  Babylon,  so  that  we  have  a 
seven-fold  woe  in  all.  And  as  we  find  that 
these  three  last  woes  follow  one  upon  another, 
and  that  one  prepares  and  announces  1  he  other, 
we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  these  trumpets, 
at  all  events,  signify  closely-linked  historical 


52 


THE  ANGEL  WITH  THE  LITTLE  BOOK  OPEN. 


events,  whether  the  first  four  do  so  or  not. 
From  this  tinie  we  find  a  marking  ot  time  by 
mystic  dates  (see  ix.  5,  15;  xii.  14;  xiv.  5), 
and  yet  I  Irankly  confess  that  not  one  of  the 
commejEtftries  written  up  to  the  present  hour 
commends  itself  to  me  as  altogether  satisfactory 
or  conclusive,  and  I  am  almost  ready  to  main- 
tain that  it  is  best  to  postpone  our  systematic 
exposition  of  this  mysterious  book  till  the 
Lord  himself,  by  his  coming,  open  out  the 
■whole  course  of  history  to  our  retrospective 
glance.  Meanwhile,  we  have  enough  for  our 
edification  and  our  strengthening.  The  funda- 
mental idea  of  the  whole  book,  and  the  grand 
previsions  it  awakens  in  us,  are  fraught  with 
practical  inslruction,  even  though  we  relin- 
quish the  attempt  to  arrive  at  any  chronologi- 
cal order,  or  to  make  the  visions  fit  in  with 
any  definite  series  of  historical  events. 


CHAPTER  XXL     . 
The  Angel  with  the  Little  Book  Open. 
Revelation  x. 

We  have  seen  that  before  the  opening  of  the 
eeventh  seal,  which  contained  the  seven  trum- 
pets, there  was  a  preparatory  interlude,  and 
we  now  find  that  the  sounding  of  the  last 
trumpet  is  in  like  manner  preceded  by  a  still 
fuller  episode.  "  Another  mighty  angd."  The 
combination  in  this  expression  has  something 
in  common  both  with  the  strong  angel  with  the 
book  (v.  2),  and  the  other  angel  (vii.  2) ;  which 
may  also  be  compared  with  chap,  xviii.  1  : 
"  another  angel  having  great  jmcer."  The  pres- 
ent angel  comes  down  from  heaven,  descending  out 
of  the  sphere  of  God's  hidden  counsels  to  bring 
a  little  book — part,  no  doubt,  of  the  contents  of 
the  former  book  which  we  saw  opened,  and  call- 
ed little  in  contradistinction  to  it.  This  book, 
as  might  indeed  almost  have  been  inferred  after 
the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal — had  we  not 
an  express  statement  of  the  fact  given — is  an 
<yi)en  lx)ok,  which  means  that  hencelorth  the  rev- 
elation will  be  comparatively  less  mysterious. 
Heaven  (with  its  archetypal  temple,  xi.  1), 
more  widely  opened,  is  the  scene  of  visions 
more  sublime  in  their  heaven  and  earth  em- 
bracing scope,  while  events  hurry  on  more  and 
more  rapidly  to  the  appointed  end. 

This  angel's  visible  form  and  clothing  bor- 
ders, indeed,  upun  the  majesty  of  the  Lord's 
own  appearance  in  chap,  i.,  but  yet  he  is  only 
what  he  is  called,  an  angel.  "  He  w  clothed  with 
a  cloud,"  and  thus  all  his  briahtness  is  not  per- 
mitted to  appear,  as  later,  in  chap,  xviii.,  we 
ehall  find  to  be  the  case  with  regard  to  another 
angel  ;  for  as  yet  the  plagues  and  dread  judg- 
ments still  in  part  obscure  the  glory;  but  yet 
<he  rainbow — type  of  reconciliation  (which  in 
<;]iap.  iv.  3,  we  first  saw  encircling  the  thorne  of 
--'d) — and  the  sun-like  lustre  of  his  face,  tes- 
*'iy  to  the  breaking  forth  of  grace  through  all. 


We  are  told  that  the  righteous  shall  &].ine  like 
the  sun  in  their  Father's  kingdom,  and  there- 
fore do  not  wonder  that  an  angel's  face  should 
have  an  equal  brightness,  liis  feet  also  are 
described,  as  in  chap.  i.  15,  as  glowing  with  a 
less  radiant  light,  "  his  feet  are  a»  pillars  of  fire." 
Tiius  the  angel  may  be  said  to  appear  abov*, 
like  the  sun  ;  below,  like  the  heavy,  lightning- 
rent  storm  cloud — fit  semblance  of  his  office, 
as  annunciator  of  the  last  fearful  judgments. 
Akin  to  this  is  the  meaning  of  this  mighty  one 
being  represented  with  "  his  right  foot  upon  the 
sea  and  his  left  the  upon  earth,"  as  we  find  it  writ- 
ten in  Pea.  Ixxxix.  25,  of  the  great  King,  that 
his  hand  or  might  shall  be  set  in  the  sea  and  in 
the  rivers.  In  a  general  way  this  means  the 
whole  globe,  but  it  has  also  a  special  reference 
to  the  triumphant  spread  of  God's  kingdom 
throughout  the  t«/a/icZ«  of  prophetic  speech,  those 
coasts  most  remote  from  the  land  of  Asia. 
Perhaps  the  expression  also  may  secretly  have 
some  slight  connection  with  the  two  beasts,  the 
one  rising  out  of  the  sea,  the  other  out  of  the 
earth  (xiii.  1,  4),  which  are  to  be  overcome  by 
the  divine  might.  The  angel  further  asserts,  by 
this  setting  of  his  feet  on  land  and  sea,  that 
both  are  God's  territory,  however  his  enemies 
may  for  a  season  occupy  them. 

For  the  rest,  we  think  it  advisable  here  to 
remind  our  readers,  in  connection  with  these 
symbolic  forms  assumed  by  angels  in  prophetic 
visions,  that  the  difference  between  this  mode 
of  manifestation,  and  that  of  the  angels  we 
read  of  in  the  historical  books  of  Scripture,  is 
not  to  mislead  ua  into  supposing  the  historical 
angels  to  be  mere  symbols.  On  the  contrary, 
they  throw  light  upon  these  later  appearances, 
and  we  are  to  learn  to  recognize  a  real  per- 
sonal existence  under  the  symbolic  representa- 
tion, else  the  word  angel  would  not  be  applied 
in  the  Scriptures  of  truth  to  such.  When  we 
consider  the  infinite  number  and  infinite  varie- 
ty of  angelic  life  and  agency,  and  that,  accord- 
ing to  Bible  teaching,  heaven  and  earth  are 
full  of  these,  and  when  we  reflect  how  spar- 
ingly their  appearance,  whether  in  fact  or  in 
vision,  is  recorded  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
sacred  volume,  with  the  exception  of  this  its 
last  book,  we  shall  feel  no  surprise  at  the  prom- 
inence into  which,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
Apocalypse,  they  are  brought  before  us  in  its 
pages. 

"  The  mighty  angel  cries  icith  a  loud  voice,  as 
when  a  lion  roareth"  (Isa.  xxi.  8  ;  Amos  iii.  8). 
We  are  led  by  these  words  back  to  the  mention, 
in  a  former  passage,  of  the  Lion  of  Judah, 
who  had  already  conquered,  and  was  further  to 
conquer.  This  cannot  have  been  a  mere  cry  or 
scream  without  articulate  words,  though  ichai 
it  was  tliat  he  cried  to  the  seven  thunders  is 
no  more  actually  recorded  than  in  the  case  of 
the  voices  of  the  thunders.  The  definite  article, 
the  seven  thunders,  implies  some  definite  refer- 
ence, and  we  find  this  reference  made  to  Psr.. 
xxix.,  that  hymn  of  praise  to  God  in  the 
storm,  which  recfives  its  full  prophetic  and 
symbolic   commentary  lu  this  passage  of  the 


THE  ANGEL  WITH  THE  LITTLE  BOOK  OPEN. 


53 


Apocalypse.  All  mighty  things  praise  the 
Mightier;  nay,  the  alone  Mighty,  who  mani- 
fests himself  m  these  tremendous  world-con- 
vulsing judgments,  with  this  one  and  only  pur- 
pose, that  in  his  temple  every  one  shall  speak  of 
his  glory,  and  that  after  the  flood  of  sin  his  re- 
gal throne  may  be  the  more  firmly  established, 
the  happy  result  of  which  will  be  his  giving 
strength  to  his  people,  yea,  his  giving  to  them 
the  blessing  of  peace.  According  to  this  view, 
it  will  be  evident  that  the  seven  thunders  which 
John  heard,  are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  mys- 
teriously marking  seven  periods  of  time,  still 
less  as  mere  curses,  as  Herder  has  very  mis- 
takenly supposed ;  but  are  rather  celestial 
ascriptions  of  praise  to  the  mighty  God  latent 
even  in  the  chastening  and  destroying  exhibi- 
tions of  his  power.  To  which  we  would  add 
Von  Meyer's  beautiful  remark:  "These  thunder 
voices  have  not  each  special  words  of  their  own, 
they  speak  with  one  sound,  one  comprehensive 
harmony,  into  the  ear  of  the  Spirit." 

John,  in  accordance  with  the  general  instruc- 
tions he  had  received  (i.  11,  19),  was  about  to 
write  what  he  had  heard,  but  the  command- 
ment now  came  :  "Seal  vp"  those  things  which 
the  seven  thunders  uttered,  and  write  them 
not.  In  connection  with  this  sealing  up,  which 
implies  a  forbidden  unsealing  (see  Dart.  xii.  4, 
9),  we  would  only  here  observe,  that  this  voice 
from  heaven  is  certainly  not  that  of  the  angel 
who  stands  on  sea  and  land,  and  neither  is  the 
command  given  in  ver.  8  his,  but  (as  we  .also 
find  in  chap.  xi.  12)  the  very  voice  of  the  Lord 
himself. 

Finally,  however,  we  have  a  speech  of  the 
mighty  angel  written  down  for  our  instruction. 
It  is  an  oalh  by  him  who  liveth  forever,  as  in 
Dan.  xii.  7  ;  and  as  we  find  there  it  is  intended 
to  mark  out  the  duration  of  the  time  before 
the  final  fulfillment,  with  this  difference,  that 
here  only  the  right  hand  is  lifted  up  to  heaven, 
the  left  holding  the  little  book.  Again,  John 
only  gives  us  the  former  part  of  the  speech  in- 
directly, quoting  the  direct  words  of  the  angel 
only  in  the  7th  verse :  "And  sware  by  him  thai 
liveth  in  the  eternities  of  eternities,  who  has  created 
heaven,  and  the  things  that  tfierein  are,  a)id  the 
earth,  and  the  things  that  thei  ein  are,  and  the  sea, 
and  the  things  tchich  are  therein,  that  a  time 
shall  no  more  be."  Here  we  have  an  already 
familiar  formula;  and  on  the  phrase  "heaven, 
earth,  and  sea  "  (as  also  xiv.  7),  we  have  al- 
ready commented  (v.  13).  Nor  does  the  sub- 
limely-solemn expression,  "in  the  eternities  of 
eternities,"  require  any  explanation  either; 
nay,  it  even  delies  it.  The  proper  translation, 
however,  is  the  one  we  have  given,  though  the 
nature  of  these  seons  or  eternities,  spoken  of  as 
periods  of  time  in  unending  time,  transcends 
our  present  powers  of  comprehension.  To  these 
vinending  eternities  is  opposed  the  contrast  of 
a  time,  which  is,  indeed,  the  most  important 
feature  in  the  angel's  speech,  a  time  slowly 
passing  away,  according  to  the  laws  of  time, 
and  bringin_g  about  the  end.  In  mysterious 
words,  to  be  uudcrtitood  according  to  the  mea- 


sure of  eternity,  the  oath  of  the  angel  certifies,  ".4 
time  shall  be  no  more,  but  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of 
tlie  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  sound,  the  mystery 
of  God  isfinitiked,  as  he  hath  declared  lo  his  servants 
the  prophets."  That  this  passage  does  not  lit- 
erally mean  the  final  cessation  of  time,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  expression  in  the  days  of  the  voice 
of  the  seventh  trumpet.  Consequently,  the 
phrase  must  have  some  special  sense  of  its  own, 
nor  is  it  difficult  for  us  to  discover  it  in  a  book 
so  abounding  in  parallel  passages,  and  therefore 
so  self-explanatory,  as  that  of  Revelation.  The 
Greek  word  chronos  applies  equally  to  a  long 
interval,  a  respite,  a  delay,  a  postponement, 
and  we  have  already  had  several  instances  in 
which  it  has  been  so  used,  as,  for  instance,  in 
chap.  xi.  21,  where  we  find  it  rendered  ".space 
to  repent,"  and  chap.  vi.  11,  where  it  stands  for 
a  further  period  of  rest  and  expectation.  There- 
fore the  meaning  is  simply  this,  that  whereas 
the  angel  with  the  seal  demands  an  interval  of 
time  before  the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal, 
which  interval  is  to  be  employed  in  sealing  the 
servants  of  God,  so  this  angel,  on  the  contrary, 
denies  any  further  space  for  repentance,  any 
respite  for  the  ungodly  before  the  sounding  of 
the  seventh  trumpet.  He  afSnns  that  stroke  is 
to  succeed  stroke,  and  that  in  a  certain  limited 
period  all  will  be  finished.  This  period,  how- 
ever, may  still  seem  a  long  one  measured  by 
our  human  standard ;  but  in  relation  to  that 
season  of  waiting  in  which  God  has  spoken 
through  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets  sinca 
the  world  began  (Acts  iii.  21),  it  is  so  sliort 
that  it  can  hardly  be  called  any  time  at  all. 
Accordingly,  in  chap,  xiv.,  the  warning  angels 
are  quickly  succeeded  by  the  reaping  angels. 
But  all  attempts  at  exact  reckoning  are  wor^e 
than  useless  here. 

The  angel'a  expression,  the  mystery  of  God, 
has  a  verbal  reference  to  one  of  the  most 
striking  passages  in  Old-Testament  prophecy  : 
"'The  Lord  God  will  do  nothing,  but  he  reveal- 
eth  his  secrets  unto  his  servants  the  prophets  " 
(Amos  iii.  7).  All  that  God  has  spoken  must 
and  shall  he  finished;  the  restitution  will  be  com- 
plete (Act  iii.  21):  the  words  of  God  in  pro- 
phecy will  all  be  fulfilled  (xvii.  17).  Here,  in 
the  passage  immediately  under  consideration, 
however,  we  have  not  tlie  future  tense,  shall  be 
finished,  but  the  positive  and  present,  is  fin- 
ished. And  it  is  luther  said,  with  a  signifi- 
cance we  should  err  in  passing  over,  that  it  is 
to  be  finished  as  God  had  declared  the  mystery 
of  his  holy  will  and  counsel ;  declared,  or  liter- 
ally evangelized,  made  known  as  good  tidings  to 
his  servants.  For  even  the  final  judgment — 
the  goal,  the  very  essence,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
divine  purpose  and  prevision — will  secure  for- 
ever the  salvation  of  his  redeemed  people,  and 
the  glory  of  God's  triumphant  justice  and  holi- 
ness. Not  only  are  we  here  assured,  from  the 
lofty  lips  of  an  angel,  how  far-reaching,  even  to 
the  final  fulfillment,  and  how  comprehensive 
are  the  words  of  the  prophets  of  old,  but  we 
also  learn  here  that  these  prophets  (more  or 
less  clearly  indeed)  had  already  themselves  re- 


64 


THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


ceived  a  Oospd,  as  the  very  essence  of  the  pro- 

fhecies  they  were  coinmissioneil  to  deliver  (see 
Pet.  i.  11,  12,  where  the  Apostle  says  the  very 
same  thing  in  other  words). 

We  may  observe  that  the  Revelation  of  John, 
which  we  have  found,  and  shall  further  find, 
r>^''ti;:g  almost  throughout  on  ancient  prophecy, 
and  evolved  thence  ;  for  that  very  reason  avoids 
individual  quolations,buthere,in  itsmidst.gives 
us  a  general  and  comprehensive  quotation  once 
tor  all,  thus,  as  it  were,  endorsing  and  com- 
pleting all  loregoing  prophetic  utterances  what- 
ever, though  unable  evidently  to  refer  specially 
to  ihem  ail.  Thus,  for  example,  the  return  of 
the  Jews  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  many  other 
prophecies  of  specific  facts  which  John  does  not 
particularly  touch  upon,  are  yet  included  in 
this  mystery  of  God  which  shall  be  finished. 
It  is  ours  to  seek  out  the  instances  in  which 
this  last  prophetic  book  coincides  with  forme: 
prophecies,  and  where  we  fail  to  discover  llif 
coinciilence,  patiently  to  wait  for  the  fulfill 
ment,  which  will  make  clear  the  whole. 

In  verse  8,  we  read  that  the  voice  from  hea- 
ven is  again  heard  by  John,  but  we  find  thai 
although  he  is  commanded  by  it  to  take  th(- 
little  book  out  of  the  angel's  hand,  he  timidly 
approaches,  and  prays  the  angel  to  give  it  him. 
And  the  angel  mid  unto  him,  perhaps  not  quite 
unexpectedly,  since  John  must  have  been  re- 
minded of  a  like  occurrence  in  the  history  of 
Ezekiel  :  "Tike,  and  eat  it  vp ;  and  it  shall 
viake  thy  belly  hitter,  hut  it  shall  he  sicecl  as  honey 
in  thy  mont'i."  Thus  Ezekiel  had  also  been 
commanded  in  a  vision  to  eat,  yea,  io  fill  him- 
telf  with  a  certain  book,  in  order  that  he  might 
prophesy  its  contents;  and  this  is  one  of  the 
most  com.plete  images  of  the  personal  effects 
of  inspiration,  %\w\s\\\'-;l.  it  to  be  a  very  difTerent 
matter  from  mere  dictation,  or  mere  sh-owing, 
such  as  we  find  mentioned  elsewhere. 

We  know,  indeed,  that  inspiration  is  some- 
thing different  from  actual  personal  experience; 
nay,  does  not  even  imply  a  perfect  understand- 
ing of  the  very  inspired  words  themselves,  but 
it  does  point  to  a  degree  of  sympathy  in  the 
prophets, upon  which  we  are  apt  nol  to  lay  suffi- 
cient stress.  Though  Ezekiel  merely  tells  us 
that  the  book,  written  within  and  without  with 
mourning,  lamentation,  and  woe,  was  sweet  as 
honey  in  his  mouth,  we  cannot  doubt  that  he 
too  had.  like  the  seer,  his  share  of  after  bitter- 
ness. Here  we  find  that  John,  who  is  by  this 
eating  of  the  book  expressly  as.sociated  with  the 
old  prophets,  also  experiences  at  first  a  sen^e 
of  sweetness  and  joy  in  receiving  divine  com- 
munications, but  soon  sorrow,  on  account  of 
their  mourn:ul  nature,  succeeds.  And,  indeed, 
the  evangcliz'ng,  to  the  pro|)liets,  must  alwnys 
have  been  fraught  with  a  certain  degree  of  bit- 
terness to  human  nature.  "  For  in  mucii  wis 
dom  there  is  much  grief,  and  he  that  in- 
creaseth  knowledge  increasclh  sorrow  "  (Eccles. 
i.  IS).  The  angel  had  announced  this  bitter- 
ness fir.^t,  that  John  might  neither  wonder 
nor  Iwir.  but  the  seer  himself  luvti is  ihi.'-  order. 


and  names  first  the  sweetness  of  honey  in  the 
mouth. 

Once  more  the  same  angel  speaks  (ver.  11). 
and  declares  the  meaning  of  the  eating  of  the 
little  open  book.  It  implies  fresh  preparation 
and  in.spi ration  for  further  prophecy  :  "  Thou 
must  pro}ihesy  again  l^efore  many  peoples  and  na- 
tions, and  tongues,  and  kings." 

.Ezekiel,  we  are  expressly  told,  was  not  sent 
to  strange  nations  of  hard  languac:e  (Ezek.  iii. 
5),  but  to  the  house  of  Israel.  John,  on  the 
contrary,  has  no  immediate  commission  for  Is- 
rael after  the  flesh  ;  rather  he  is  again  (begin- 
ning, as  it  were,  anew)  to  receive  and  write  as 
before,  prophecies  for  all  manner  of  people  and 
nations  whatever.  He  is  to  announce  wrath  and 
punishment  to  the  enemies  of  God,  salvation 
and  triumph  to  believers  who,  during  the  space 
of  time  to  which  his  future  prophecies  particu- 
larly refer,  are  the  people  of  God  contained  in 
the  midst  of,  and  to  be  assembled  and  delivered 
from,  every  nation  and  kindred,  and  people  and 
tongue,  as  we  have  already  read  in  chap.  vii. 
9.  But  here  we  have  ki^igs  added  to  the  list, 
not  in  the  sense  of  kingdoms,  but  rather  (see 
the  mention  of  them,  chap.  vi.  15)  the  hostile 
kings  of  whom  we  hear  so  much  from  chaps, 
xvi.  to  xix.,  till,  in  chap.  xxi.  24,  we  read  of 
their  final  submission  to  the  King  of  kings. 

That  thoughout  the  eleventh  chapter  we 
have  not  the  continued  address  of  the  angel, 
but  the  voice  of  the  Lord  himself  (already 
beard,  chap.  x.  4,  8),  is  unmistakable,  from  the 
expression  made  use  of  in  verse  3,  "  Iwdl  give 
my  two  witnessfs."  But  that  the  angel  who 
swore  by  him  who  was  greater  than  himself,  is 
to  be  understood  as  meaning  Christ,  we  posi- 
tively deny.  There  are  marvellous  transforma- 
tions in  the  vision,  manifold  diflerences  of  kind 
and  degree.  There  are  alternations  of  appear- 
ances and  voices,  perhaps  in  order  that  John 
should  not  be  weaned  by  uniformity,  and  so  iiis 
mind  be  unable  to  grasp  and  retain  the  whole. 
Thus,  for  instance,  in  chap,  xi.,  we  may  observe 
— and  the  remark  is  applicable  to  many  other 
passages — that  in  verse  11,  the  hearing  of  what 
is  spoken,  evidently  changes  into  a  beholding  of 
what  is  announced,  as  though  it  were  nctually 
happening  before  the  seer's  eyes;  and  thus  the 
interlude  "leads  again  to  the  visions  of  the 
seventh  trumpet. 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

Tub  Three    Angels    that    Heeald    the 
Fall  of  Babylon. 

Revelation  xiv. 

New  thanks  and  praise  resounding  through 
h.-aven,  the  mysteries  of  whose  sanctuaries  are 
more  and  more  revealed  to  the  seer.  Tiie  great 
wonder  of  liie  woman  clothed  with  the  sun, 
nnl  cnuvnej  witli  stars,  and  having  tlie  moon 
uiiili-i  lii'r  ;eet;  thee.imiLy  of  the  dragon  against 


THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


55 


this  woman  and  hor  unborn  son  :  the  victory 
ot  Michael  over  the  old  serpent,;  the  women's 
flight  and  rescue  ;  the  two  beasts  to  whom  the 
dragon  gave  power  and  cunning  ;  their  blas- 
phemy and  cruel  tyranny  exercised  on  the 
earth; — such  have  been  the  contents  of  the  in- 
tervening chapters,  in  which  no  words  ot"  the 
angels  hav«  demanded  oar  notice  ;  the  voices 
in  chaps,  xi.  15,  xii.  10,  evidently  not  being 
angelic  voices.  All  that  is  said  in  these  chap- 
ters on  this  mysterious,  atheistical,  and  anti- 
theistical  power,  especially  its  climax  as  an 
actual  kingdom,  under  tlie  first  and  second 
beasts  (the  last  of  whom  we  shall  later  find 
designated  as  the  false  prophot,  chap.  xvi.  12) 
— reminds  us  strongly  of  the  visions  of  Daniel 
the  prophet.  In  strong  contrast  to  the  horrors 
taking  place  on  the  earth,  and  comfortably  pre- 
figuring the  certainty  of  eventual  victory,  we 
have  now  the  repeated  appearance  ot  Lh-a  Lamb, 
as  the  text  ought  to  be  rendered,  the  true 
Lamb  (in  contradistinction  to  xiii.  11),  who 
stands  in  triumph  upon  the  heavenly  Mount 
Zion  (Heb.  xii.  22),  with  another  great  mulli- 
Uide  of  elect  and  undeliled,  who,  instead  of  the 
name  of  the  beast,  have  the  seal  of  the  divine 
name  on  their  foreheads,  first-fruits  of  the 
saints,  whose  eternally  new  song  sounds  at 
first  in  the  ears  of  John  like  the  sound  of  many 
waters;  then  being  heard  more  nearly  and  dis- 
tinctly is  as  the  voice  of  a  great  thunder ;  and 
lastly,  as  a  heavenly  song  of  harpers  harping 
with  their  harps. 

According  to  the  system  of  alternation  pur- 
sued in  the  book  of  Revelation,  we  are  allowed 
this  intermediate  consolatory  glance  at  the 
glory  of  heaven,  between  the  dark  records  of 
earthly  rebellion,  "as  when,  round  the  base  of 
a  mountain,  lightnings  flash  and  thunders  roar, 
and  pestilential  vapors  gather  thickly,  while 
above  its  far  peak  shines  out  a  very  paradise, 
full  of  light  and  song,  and  blessed  peace  and 
harmony"  (Herder).  The  exquisite  vision 
in  the  beginning  of  chapter  xiv.  succeeds  to 
the  account  of  earthly  conflict  and  war,  and 
prefaces  the  terrible  events  of  that  portion  of 
the  Apocalypse  which  we  are  now  about  to 
consider.  The  seventh  trumpet  of  the  seventh 
seal  introduces  the  seven  vials  of  the  last 
plagues ;  but  these  are  in  like  manner  preceded 
oy  an  announcement  and  warning,  on  the  part 
of  three  angels,  of  a  different  character  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  one  angel  with  the  three 
woes;  but  parallel  in  some  measure  to  the  two 
reaping  angels  of  tne  double  harvest  who  fol- 
low, and  whose  cry  and  actions  alike  contain  a 
forewarning  and  probably  an"  image  also  of  the 
end,  history  having  run  its  complete  course. 
Lideed,  the  whole  of  chap,  xiv.,  let  commen- 
tators adix  to  it  whatever  special  historical 
meaning  they  will,  is  rather  to  be  understood 
an  a  general  outline  of  the  near  approaching 
and  all-deciding  future  ;  a  comprelieiisive  out- 
line in  the  first  place,  followed  by  a  more  precise 
progressive  development ;  being  the  plan  upon 
which  all  the  visions  in  this  bo»k  proceed. 
The  first  three   angels  here  meutioaed  are 


connected  with  the  fall  and  judgment  of  Baby- 
lo.i.  One  of  these  brings  salvation  once  more 
within  the  reach  of  all  who  give  glory  to  God 
and  fear  him  ;  the  second  announces  the  fall  of 
the  great  ''ity  ;  and  the  third  the  terrible  pun- 
ishment of  those  who  would  not  let  themselves 
be  redeemed. 

As  for  interpreting  the  first  angel  to  mean 
any  one  celebrated  man  in  the  annals  of  Church 
history,  whether  Wycliffe,  Huss,  or  Luther,  we 
might  almost  call  the  idea  absurd,  but  for  our 
respect  for  the  godly  men  who  have  entertained 
it.  If  the  first  angel  be  indeed  to  be  under- 
stood in  such  a  way,  whom  may  the  second  and 
the  third  angels  be  supposed  to  represent? 
This  is  an  instance  of  the  difficulties  attending 
that  minute  and  positive  system  of  exegeMs 
which  we  have  throughout  treated  as  a  mistak- 
en one.  How,  when,  or  through  whose  agency 
any  historical  lact  answering  to  this  vision  has 
been  brought  about,  or  may  be  brought  aV-out, 
are  questions  we  can  safely  deal  with  in  very 
general  terms. 

We  hold  that  such  magnificent  symbols  as 
those  seen  by  John,  can  in  no  way'be  under- 
stood to  represent  any  individual  human  be- 
ings, but  that  a  great  succession  of  events  was 
thus  prengured  to  him,  and  in  every  case  (aa 
we  have  before  stated  in  our  exposition  of  the 
little  book)  by  actual  and  by  different  angels. 

"  An.l  I  saw  another  angel  (not  the  angel 
of  the  last  trumpet,  nor  any  of  the  former)  ;?y 
in  the  midst  of  luaven  (or  high  up  in  heaven, 
like  the  eagle,  viii.  13,  only  this  angel  wears  a 
human  form),  having  an  everlnsting  Goftpel  to 
preach  to  them  that  sit  and  dwell  in  earth,  and 
over  all  nations,  and  kindred,  and  torgxLes,  and 
fieoyle."  These  words  of  John  do  not  indeed 
directly  contain  the  very  speech  of  the  nngel, 
that  follows  in  the  next  verse  ;  but  yet  they 
require  our  consideration  as  in  a  measure  es- 
sential to  it,  for  it  is  probable  that  this  explan- 
atory introduction  to  his  loud  cry  was  given  by 
the  angel  himself  to  the  seer.  This  preaching 
IS  to  all  men  alike,  though  the  heathen  seem  to 
be  more  peculiarly  pointed  out,  as  those  for 
whom  this  old,  unchangeable,  everlasting  Gos- 
pel would  be  new;  so  that  we  may  here  have 
some  special  reference  to  the  era  which  began 
at  the  Reformation,  an  era  to  which  belong  the 
activity  of  missionary  enterprise  and  the  spread 
of  the  Bible  in  all  portions  of  the  earth.  It 
may  also  have  a  reference  to  that  preaching  of 
the' Gospel  of  the  kingdom  foretold  by  Jesus 
(Matt.  xxiv.  14)  before  the  end.  But  it  is 
quite  evident  that  Christendom  cannot  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  advantages  of  this  universal 
preaching. 

"  FMr  God,  and  give  glory  to  him,  for  the  h'^ur 
of  his  judgment  is  come.  And  worship  him  thai 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  tlic  fo'in- 
tains  of  water."  This  hardly  sounds  like  the 
message  ot  salvation,  the  glad  tidings,  or  Go.9- 
pel.  Nevertheless,  the  proffered  salvation  is 
the  very  ground  of  the  accejilanr.e  by  God  of  tho 
fear,  glory,  and  worship  of  sinners,  and  the  in- 
truduolory  passage  is  intended  to  teach  us  thia. 


56 


THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


"  Qlury  to  him," — this  is  the  beginning  and  end 
of  all  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  every  fresh 
hearer,  and  this  truth  was  the  fundamental  idea 
o!  the  Reformation.  The  doctrine  of  the  crea- 
tion iind  the  judgment,  the  first  and  the  last, 
are  here  connected,  as  in  the  speech  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  at  Athens  (Acts  xvii.  24-31). 
For  tliese  are  the  two  fundamental  truths  that 
constitute  the  knowledge  of  the  true  living  and 
holy  God,  and  between  these  stands  the  Gospel 
of  grace,  to  save  fallen  creatures  from  the  ter- 
rors of  the  judgment.  To  the  heathen,  this 
primary  knowledge  of  God,  forgotten,  obscured, 
wholly  lost,  as  it  often  is,  in  their  case,  is  to  be 
brought  forward  once  more.  They  are  to  fear 
the  God  who  created  them;  and  that  they  may 
do  this,  they  are  to  know  that  this  God  will 
judge  them.  But,  alas  !  even  in  Christendom 
Itself,  these  two  fundamental  truths  are  often 
denied  or  ignored,  and  thus  is  is  necessary,  in 
times  of  ut.belief,  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  should  return  to  first  principles,  and 
emphatically  represent  God  under  the  character 
of  Creator  and  Judge,  in  order  that  the  ever- 
lasting Gospel  may  protest  with  fresh  earnest- 
ness against  a  prevalent  apostacy.  In  opposi- 
tion to  the  false  philosophy  of  nature,  God  is 
here  prominently  set  forth  as  the  Creator  of  all 
things;  not  only  is  the  sea  the  work  of  his  hands, 
but  also  the  fountains  of  water,  "  fountains  ot 
the  great  deep,"  whence  once  already  judgment 
has  sprung.  And  again,  this  God  asserts  himsel! 
as  judge,  not  merely  though  the  agency  of  tiie 
human  conscience,  but  through  temporary  con- 
sequences as  well.  That,  as  regards  Babylon, 
the  hour  of  his  judgments  is  nearly  come,  is 
evident  from  the  pride  that  goeth  before  a  fall. 
Babylon's  haughty  defiance  prophesies  her  ap- 
proaching ruin.  For  the  era  of  missions  and 
revivals  is  also  the  era  of  Rome's  renewed 
energy,  and  the  revolutionary  eflbrts  of  anti- 
Christianity. 

"  And  another  (a  second,  this  is  implied  in  the 
original)  angel  followed,  mying,  Babybn  the  great 
is  fallen,  is  fallen,  because  she  made  ail  nation 
diunk  with  the  wine  of  t/ie  wrath  of  her  fornica 
lion."  To  state  what  in  our  opinion  Babylon, 
or  Babel,  signifies  from  beginning  to  end  of  the 
Apocalypse,  and  to  assign  all  our  reasons  for 
that  opinion,  would  be  a  longer  task  then  we 
have  at  present  undertaken.  We  will  merely 
Eay  that  the  typical  name  of  Babel  may  be 
found  given  throughout  tlie  whole  Bible  to  va- 
rious powers  inimical  to  the  people  of  God,  from 
the  time  of  the  first  presumptuous  attempt  to 
build  the  heaven-scaling  tower  on  the  plain  of 
Slunar,  down  through  the  historical  career  of 
Babylon,  which  the  prophets  and  the  Psalmist 
alike  treat  of  as  symbolizing  the  future,  to  the 
very  last  vision  seen  by  John. 

Doubtless,  the  Roman  empire  (1  Pet.  v.  13), 
and  the  ecclesiastical  dominion  that  succeeded 
to  its  fall,  is  to  be  understood  as  being  this 
Bahylon,  but  it  has  not  yet  completely  fulfilled 
the  type,  nor  will  it  do  this  standing  alone.  The 
perfect  antitype  is  yet  to  come,  and  will  be  pre- 
sented by  a  tremendous  union  of  the  powers 


of  the  Church  and  State.  The  woman — the 
great  whore — is  to  ride  upon  the  beast ;  and 
after  a  long  course  ot  hypocrisy  the  beast  will 
at  length  openly  conclude  the  last  alliance  with 
her  against  God.  I  have  already  said  in  my 
sermon  on  the  occasion  of  the  tri-centenary  of 
the  Reformation,  "  Look  to  Rome  and  Paris 
both,  if  you  seek  for  Babylon."  The  impending 
and  near-approaching  fall  of  this  Babylon  is 
now  assumed  by  the  warning  of  the  angel  in 
hi:?  cry,  which  is  a  summary,  as  it  were,  of  the 
history  contained  in  the  eighteenth  chapter. 
Babylon  is  said  to  befallen — an  expression  of 
which  we  have  already  had  examples  in  Isa, 
xxi.  and  Jor.  li.  8.  "  Oreat  Bibylon."  Thus  it  is 
called  literally,  according  to  the  proud  boast 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  (Dan.  iv.  27).  That  this 
mother  of  harlots  and  abominations  of  the 
earth,  in  her  latest  phase  of  development,  will, 
not  so  much  by  external  violence,  as  by  the  be- 
wildering influence  of  her  lying  wonders,  se- 
duce to  spiritual  fornication,  i.  e.,  apostacy,  had 
been  already  signified  by  the  way  in  which  the 
old  jirophets  had  spoken  of  her  toitchcraft,  and 
we  find  the  .'■ame  fact  here  expressed  by  her 
making  the  nations  drunk  with  her  intoxicat- 
ing wine  (chap.  xvii.  4),  which  wine  we  have 
alterwards  characterized  as  the  wine  of  the  wrath 
of  Ood  (ver.  10).  And  hence  we  have  in  thb 
word  hecame  the  connection  marked  out  be- 
tween her  sin  and  her  fall. 

Such  is  the  preaching  of  the  second  angel, 
from  which  we  may  deduce  for  our  edification 
the  eternal  truth  of  God's  word  applicable  to  all 
Limes  alike.  The  world  and  the  lust  thereof 
passes  away,  the  world  and  its  might  will  be 
overthrown,  the  apostacy  indeed  is  virtually  a.\- 
reSidy  fullen. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  beast  is  allied 
with  Babylon  ;  and  it  is  only  after  her  fall  that 
his  last  display  of  strength  is  made,  and  that 
his  final  doom  takes  place  (chap.  xix.  19,  20), 
The  second  of  the  three  angels,  whose  words 
we  are  now  considering,  dwells  upon  the  fate 
of  the  great  city  ;  the  third  testifies  to  the 
fearful  and  everlasting  punishment  that  is  to 
belall  the  adherents  of  the  beast.  His  words 
are  as  follows  :  "  If  any  maji  worship  the  beast 
and  his  image,  and  receive  the  mark  in  his  fore- 
head, or  in  his  hand,  the  same  shall  drink  of  the 
wine  of  God's  tcralh,  which  is  poured  out  without 
mixture  in  the  cup  of  his  icrath,  and  he  shall  he 
tormented  wiih  fire  and  brimstone  in  the  presence 
of  tlie  holy  angels,  ami  in  t/te  presence  of  the 
Lamb."  Ihis  spef'ch,  which  we  do  not  give  en- 
tire as  yet,  may  well  be  considered  the  most 
.severe,  the  most  awful  threat  in  the  whole  of 
Scripture  ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  the 
purpose  of  its  very  terror  is  to  warn  and  save. 
Great  as  we  find  (in  chap.  xiii.  14-17)  the  num- 
ber of  the  worshippers  of  the  beast  to  be,  who 
accept  his  mark  on  their  brow  and  hand  ;  yet 
to  each  and  all  individually  these  words  of 
warning  are  addressed,  with  the  ancient  and 
lamiliar  formula,  //'  any  man.  "  If  any  man  ;" 
these  words  were  customarily  used  by  the  Sa- 
viour himself  as  a  prelude  to  a  merciful  prom- 


THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


57 


ise ;  now,  they  are  applied  to  threaten,  the  word 
of  truth  being  a  two-edged  sword,  a  savor  of 
life  unto  life  indeed,  but  a  savor  of  death  unto 
death  also. 

"  If  any  man  worship" — not  the  living  God, 
as  the  first  angel  has  exhorted  them  to  do — 
but  the  bead :  mere  man,  in  his  degeneracy  and 
apostacy,  on  account  of  his  lying  wonders  of 
power  and  pleasure ;  why,  this  is  a  horrible 
sin,  and  will  bringdown  a  like  horrible  punish- 
ment. So  we  are  here  told.  Cup  for  cap, 
wrath  for  wrath ! 

The  impious  rage  of  intoxicating  rebellion — 
the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication,  as  the 
second  angel  says — contains  within  itself  the 
wine  of  God's  wrath.  This  image  of  a  cup  is 
very  frequently  used  throughout  Scripture. 
There  is  a  wholesome  cup  of  affliction,  which 
is  even  in  Psa.  cxvi.  called  the  cup  of  salvation. 
There  is  the  cup  of  wrath  of  severe  chastise- 
ment, with  a  view  to  reformation  (Isa.  li.  17  ; 
Jer.  viii.  14  ;  Psa.  Ix.  5,  15)  ;  and  there  is  a  cup 
of  unmitigated  temporal  destruction  (Psa.  Ixxv, 
9;  Jer.  xxv.  15).  But,  whereas  in  the  cup  of 
salvation  there  is  a  flavor,  so  to  speak,  of  dis- 
pleasure and  judgment,  and  ttie  cup  of  heaviest 
temporal  visitation  is  invariably  mingled  with 
some  proffer  of  grace,  some  remnant  of  mercy 
— this  cup  on  the  contrary  is  called  the  cup  of 
eternal  indignation,  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of 
God  poured  oid  witfwut  mixture;  a  cup  of  deadly 
wine  (compare  the  kindred  image  in  Deut. 
xxxii.  33).  This  final  sentence,  tins  unending 
anger,  dooms  the  irrevocably  lost  to  the  lake 
of  fire  (chap.  xix.  20,  xxi.  8)— (literally,  in 
the  original,  the  permanent  swamp  or  slough 
of  the  world),  which  is  at  the  same  tinxe  the 
Tophet,  or  place  of  burning  (Isa.  Ixvi.  24,  xxx. 
33  ;  Dan.  vii.  11),  and  will  retain  a  place  in  lieu 
of  1-he  depths  of  the  sea,  and  of  hades,  in  the 
central  abyss  of  the  glorified  earth.  This  lake, 
with  its  fire  and  brimstone  (prefigured  by  the 
doom  of  Sodom),  will  resemble  the  element 
and  the  substance  which  we  now  know  by  these 
names,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  jewelled 
foundations  of  the  New  Jerusalem  do  our  pres- 
ent precious  stones.  The  torments  there  in- 
flicted will  be  in  the  presence  of  all  the  holy  an- 
gels, who,  with  the  saints  and  all  other  blessed 
intelligences,  will  exclaim  at  the  sight:  "Even 
80,  Lord  God  Almighty,  just  and  true  are  thy 
wavs"  (chap.  xvi.  7  compared  with  chap.  xix. 
1,  2).  But  lastly  comes  the  fact  which  more 
than  any  other  denotes  the  utter  hopelessness 
of  this  condition — they  shall  be  tormented  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lamb! — of  him  whose  aspect 
will  ever  remind  the  doomed  that  they  might, 
that  they  ought  to  have  been  saved  !  In  pres- 
ence of  the  same  Lamb  whose  wrath  (chap, 
vi.  16)  must  bring  with  it  the  torturing  recol- 
lection of  his  wasted  patience  and  his  despised 
love. 

But  the  fearful  words  are  not  ended  ;  they 
reach  their  climax  in  the  positive  statement 
that  these  torments  are  of  endless  duration,  let 
the  theories  ofjiipn  upon  this  subject  be  whn' 
they  may.     "  And  the  smoke  of  tluir  tonncni  as- 


eendeth  up  forever  and  ever  (in  the  eternities  of 
eternities),  and  they  have  no  rest  day  nor  night, 
who  worship  the  beast  and  his  image  (s*il  do  so, 
persist  in  doing  so  despite  this  solemn  warning), 
and  whosoever  receiveth  the  mark  of  his  natne." 
This  scripturally  characteristic  whosoever,  set- 
ting forth  as  it  does  the  perfect  freedom  of  each 
individual  to  receive  or  not  to  receive  the  fatal 
mark,  closes  the  sentence  as  its  equivalent  "  It 
any  man"  began  it.  "  The  smoke,"  in  the  last 
of  the  historical  images,  implies  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  city  (xvni.  18,  xix.  3)  ;  but  here, 
where  eternity  i-s  treated  of,  it  is  the  myste- 
rious symbol  to  all  creation  of  the  unquench- 
able fire  of  which  the  Lord  Jesus  himself  as 
well  as  the  Baptist  had  before  spoken.  Even 
in  Isaiah  xxxiv.  10  we  have  a  hint  given  of 
the  abiding  nature  of  the  doom  there  presaged. 
In  chap.  IV.  8  the  worshippers  around  the 
throne  are  represented  as  nesting  not  day  nor 
night;  here  we  have,  in  fearful  contrast,  the 
very  same  words  used  for  the  tormented.  There, 
ceaseless  day,  unclouded  light,  in  the  presence 
and  glory  of  God ;  here,  the  blackness  of  dark- 
ness and  the  fiery  torture. 

Proceeding  to  verse  12  we  find  it  written, 
"  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints  ;  here  are  they 
that  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  Vie  faith, 
of  Jesus."  We  might  indeed  here  plausibly 
enough  observe,  that  the  warning  angel  had  a 
solemn  but  encouraging  and  gracious  final  word 
to  address  to  the  saints,  so  that  the  fearful  threat 
he  had  just  uttered  might  not  be  the  last  word 
to  fall  from  his  lips.  But  when  we  come  to 
compare  chaps,  xii.  17  and  xiii.  10,  it  does  not 
appear  very  likely  that  the  angel  should  only 
repeat  here  what  John  had  already  received  to 
be  written  down  as  a  comment  upon  hi-j  former 
visions;  and  we  are  ready  to  believe  that  this 
was  an  expression  intercalated  by  the  holy  seer 
himself,  a  deduction  of  his  own  from  the  words 
just  spoken  by  the  angel.  And  yet,  again,  such 
an  intercalated  remark  of  John's  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly remarkable,  just  between  the  im- 
Eressive  angelic  sentence  and  the  voice  from 
eaven,  ver.  13,  with  nothing  to  divide  it  from 
the  former,  nothing  to  specify  its  real  character. 
I  confess,  for  my  own  part,  that  I  cannot  decide 
whether  the  passage  forms  part  of  the  angel's 
words  or  of  the  seer's;  but  be  this  as  it  may, 
it  contains  a  most  profound  meaning,  a  divinely 
given  message  to  us.  The  keeping  the  com- 
mandments (xii.  17)  is  identified  with  patience 
and  faith  in  chap.  xiii.  10,  and  finally,  in  chap, 
xxii.  14  (where  the  expression  his  (Je&us')  com- 
mandments  occurs  between  verses  13  and  16,  in 
both  of  which  verses  he  speaks  in  his  own  per-^ 
son  as  /),  this  keeping  the  commandments  ia 
given  as  the  only  distinctive  mark,  and  decisive 
proof  of  the  actual,  the  practical,  sanctification 
of  the  saints.  What,  indeed,  is  the  use  of  pure 
doctrine,  and  an  orthodox  belief,  unless  these 
be  accompanied  by  the  doing  the  will  of  God 
also  ?  Here,  indeed,  in  chap,  xiv.,  the  words 
(whether  of  the  angel  or  of  John  himself)  lead 
us  back  to  the  ground  of  external  obedience 
1  and  Chuatian  activity  ;  they  specially  contrast 


58 


THE  TWO  ANGELS  THRUSTING  IN  THE  SICKLES. 


with  the  yielding  To  the  power  of  the  beast, 
and  the  persecuting  in  his  name,  the  patience  or 
endurance  of  the  saints  (i.  9),  as  their  distin- 
guishing mark.  For  in  what,  indeed,  was  this 
endurance  displayed  but  in  keeping  the  com- 
mandments of  God  against  all  the  opposition  of 
man — the  worshipping  of  God  alone  in  sincerity 
and  truth  ;  while  this  again  was  only  rendered 
possible  by  the  strength  that  springs  irom  faith 
III  Jesus,  as  we  see  explicitly  stated  in  Acts 
xxvi.  17.  In  conclusion  we  may  remark,  that 
ia  the  original  the  word  "  faith  of  Jesus  "  seems 
here  to  have  some  meaning  beyond  that  of 
"  faith  in  Jesus  " — to  be  akin  to  the  expression 
in  chap.  i.  9,  "  the  patience  of  Jesas  Christ." 
It  is  indeed  our  great  Forerunner's  own  faith 
(Heb.  xii.  2),  v/hich  (unless  we  resist  it)  awak- 
ens ours,  and,  according  to  the  measure  of  our 
faith,  lives,  works,  and  perfects  itself  therein  ; 
and  for  further  meditation  on  this  truth  we 
refer  our  thoughtful  leaders  to  Gal.  ii.  20,  iii. 
23,  and  to  Eph.  iv.  13.  The  whole  passage, 
with  its  introductory  here,  may  be  understood 
to  say,  Here,  where  so  iearful  a  doom  is  threat- 
ened to  the  worshippers  of  the  beast,  is  scope 
for  the  exercise  of  the  "  patience  of  the  saints." 
The  voice  from  heaven  (ver.  13),  which,  by  its 
sublime  and  universally  applicable  declarati*on, 
strengthens  the  holy  and  believing  for  further 
patience,  ay,  even  unto  martyrdom — forms,  if 
we  suppose  the  angel  to  have  spoken  ver.  12,  a 
grand  and  completing  sequel  to  his  words. 
Here,  however,  it  is  more  than  an  angel,  it  is 
the  Spirit  himself  who  speaks. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Two  Angels  at  toe  Tn rusting  in  of 
THE  Sickles. 

Rkvelatioh  XIV.  15-18, 

TKat  these  two  angels,  with  the  two  holders 
of  the  sickles,  to  whom  they  call,  constitute 
one  four-fold  symbol,  just  as  the  three  angels, 
in  the  preceding  verses,  give  in  different  ways 
one  warning  of  tlie  impending  judgments,  we 
have  already  indicated.  For  we,  for  our  part, 
cannot  look  upon  the  first  (ver.  14) — whose 
white  cloud  recalls  the  white  horse  (vi.  2,  xix. 
11),  but  is  not  identical  with  it— to  be  other 
than  a  symholicat  representation  of  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest  himselt  (liJce  un'o  the  Son  of  Man, 
but  not  he),  to  whom  the  angel,  representing 
the  servant  of  that  Lord,  points  out  the  ripe- 
ness of  the  harvest  and  summons  liim  to  reap. 
For  us  not  only  is  the  expression  another  angel 
in  ver.  15  decisive,  although  some  have  en- 
deavored to  explain  it  as  meaning  anothe/  who 
was  an  angel,  &a  in  Luke  xxiii.  32;  but  still 
more  so  the  exact  parallel  of  the  other  sickle- 
kolder  in  ver.  17.  Thus  the  first  here  men- 
tioned does  not  in  our  estimation  in  any  way 
occupy  the  same  place  relatively  to  the  three 
who  succeed  him,  which  the  rider  on  the  white 


horse  (vi.  2)  holds  relatively  to  the  three  other  ri« 
ders  who  follow  him.  Nor  would  it  be  easy  to  un- 
derstand why  Christ  should  himself,  personally, 
here  undertake  the  reaping  of  the  corn  harvest, 
while  he  left  the  gathering  of  the  vintage  to 
an  angel,  whereas  we  have  in  other  passagoa 
the  contrary  declaration  that  the  Lord  senda 
his  reapers,  the  angels,  but  that  he  treads  tho 
wine-press  of  God's  furv  alone.  Rather,  ho 
does  both  here  equally  through  bis  servants. 
As  Hofmann  very  truly  observes,  we  have 
seven  angels  in  this  chapter,  three  who  foretell, 
and  four  who  fulfill.  But  still  so  much  is  true, 
the  first  angel,  here  described  as  gathering  hia 
servants  to  hira,  o?i  that  account,  specially  rep- 
resent the  Lord  himself. 

And  for  the  same  reason  we  have  to  declare 
our  belief  that  this  harvest,  generally  speaking 
a  figure  of  judgment  and  final  separation  of 
good  and  bad,  for  garnering  and  rejecting,  is  a 
judgment  that  precedes  and  typifies  the  last 
judgment,  and  that  because  it  does  this,  we 
have  the  comprehensive  expression  twice  used, 
harvest  of  the  (whole)  earth,  vine  of  the  (whole) 
earth.  As  to  the  further  meaning  of  the  wine- 
press of  blood  without  the  city,  we  shall  have 
to  discover  it  by  a  reference  to  other  passages. 
We  find  that  while  in  the  parable,  Matt,  xiii., 
the  harvest  is  described  as  a  two-fold  one,  wheat 
and  tares  being  alike  reaped  and  gathered, 
though  for  different  purpo.ses  (in  Mark  iv.  29, 
on  the  contrary,  the  reaping  with  the  sickle  is 
spoken  of  only  in  relation  to  the  wheat),  so  we 
have  here,  too,  a  double  harvest;  first  the 
reaping  of  the  wheat,  then  of  the  vintage,  and 
the  fundamental  idea  of  this  second  reaping, 
that  of  the  vines,  originates  (as  isso  constantly 
the  case  in  this  book  of  Revelation)  in  the  pro- 
phecies of  Joel  (iii.  13),  while  that  of  the 
treading  of  the  wine-pres?  is  to  be  found  in 
Isaiah  (Ixiii.) 

It  is  out  of  tlio  leir^pte  in  heaven,  which  was 
first  implied  in  chap.  vi.  9  viii.  S,  and  has 
since  (xi.  19)  been  repeatedly  spoken  of,  re- 
maining visible  in  nil  probability  till  chap.  xvi. 
17,  that  the  angel  comes  whose  cry  to  the 
reriper  is  as  follows  :  "  Thrust  in  thy  sickle  and 
r-'aji ;  fur  the  time  to  reap  is  come,  for  the  harvest. 
Of  th^  earth  is  ripe."  Literally,  send  thy  sickle, 
but  this  Hebraism  is  well  rendered  by  the 
words  "  thrust  in."  Men  do  not  lay  hand  on 
the  sickle  or  scythe  till  the  time  be  come,  till 
the  harvest,  till  that  which  is  to  be  reaped  has 
grown  ripe,  an  expression  we  also  find  in  Joel. 
Those  who  hold  the  first  angel  to  be  Chirst, 
understand  this  cry  in  the  light  of  a  prayer. 
Come  sooii  to  judgment ;  or  else,  since  it  is  not 
very  easy  thu.^  to  distort  simple  words,  they 
read  them  as  inlormation  given  to  the  Lord  in 
heaven — highly  improbabl-e  this  I  the  hour  ap- 
pointed by  the  Father's  counsel  and  will  beinq 
now  come  !  But  as  we  have  already  stated, 
our  interpretation  of  the  symbolic  vision  di- 
vides the  angels  into  two  separate  classes,  thoso 
who  announce  the  ripeness  (  f  the  harvest,  and 
those  who  reap  it.  And  this  preparatory  ful- 
fillment may  bo  justly  understood  as  the  fre- 


THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  WATERS  PRAISES  GOD'S  JUSTICE. 


59 


qnont  gathering  or  removal  of  the  righteous  I 
before  the  breaking  out  of  further  judgment, 
they  having  become  already  ripe  by  previous 
tribulation.  Compare  with  a  reference  to  this 
V.  view  Isa.  Ivii.  1,  as  well  as  Isa.  xvii.  5,  and  Job 
23.  Perhaps,  too,  Jcr.  li.  33  may  also  be  alluded 
to  (as  well  as  Isa.  xxi.  10,  though  Micah  iv. 
12  seems  opposed  to  it),  as  indicating  that  even 
in  the  fallen  Babylon  itself  a  small  harvest 
mav  have  remained  for  this  gracious  reaping. 

The  other  angel  next  seen  coming  out  of  the 
temple  had,  we  read,  also  (the  original  word  is 
even  more  emphatic)  a  sharp  sickle  or  vine- 
cutter's  pruning-knife,  as  it  might  be  equally 
well  rendered.  To  him  there  comes  another 
announcing  or  summoning  angel  out  from  the 
altar,  namely,  the  altar  of  bumt-offering,  where 
we  have  seen  the  souls  of  martyrs  crying  for 
judgment  and  avenging  (vi.  9),  whence  also 
praise  is  ascribed  to  the  just  judgments  of  the 
Almighty  (xvi.  7)  ;  where,  again,  the  prayers 
of  all  saints  on  earth,  ascendmg  blended  (viii. 
3,  4)  with  the  incense  from  the  altar,  implore 
the  completion  of  God's  judgments.  This  an- 
gel has  power  otxrfire  (just  as  we  read  in  chap. 
xvi.  5,  of  another  who  has  power  over  water), 
because  the  judgments  are  to  be  executed  by 
the  fire  of  wrath  (viii.  5). 

The  vintage  which  is  to  follow  the  corn  har- 
vest succeeds  in  like  immediate  manner  to  the 
loud  cry  of  the  angel.  "  Thrust  in  thy  sharp 
sickle  and  reap  the  dusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth, 
for  the  grapes  are  fully  ripe."  This  time,  how- 
ever, there  is  a  difference  of  phrase  ;  the  sickle 
is  characterized  a.s  sharp,  and  the  grapes  a.s  fully 
ripe.  It  is  nothing  new  in  Holy  Scripture  to 
find  the  vine  and  its  fruit  spoken  of  in  a  bad 
sense  as  well  as  a  good,  but  only,  let  this  be 
well  observed,  with  a  reference  to  the  degeneracy 
of  the  once  noble  plant,  see  Deut.  xxx.  32  ;  Jer. 
li.  21 ;  Isa.  v.  1,  2  (as  also  xviii.  5  rightly  ren- 
dered). We  are  to  understand  by  the  expres- 
sion vim  of  the  earth,  that  neither  Israel  nor 
Christendom  is  exclusively  meant  by  this  vint- 
age, the  results  of  which  are  so  fearful.  In 
Joel  we  have  the  expression,  "  the  press  is  full, 
the  fats  overflow,  for  their  wicJced/iess  is  great." 
In  the  same  manner  we  have  the  great  wine- 
pivss  spoken  of  here  (vers.  19,  20),  and  men- 
tion made  of  its  being  troilden,  according  to  the 
custom  of  antiquity.  But  here  the  juice  is 
llood  (Gen.  xlix.  11;  Deut.  xxxii.  14),  as  in 
that  most  significant  and  impressive  prophecy 
of  the  great  wine-press  treader  in  Isa,  Ixiii. 

1-4 

"Without  the  city."  Perhaps  this  also  may 
have  reference  to  Joel  iii.  17,  19,  so  that  on  this 
occasion  (unlike  chap.  xi.  13)  Jerusalem  may 
be  intended,  but  even  if  so,  only  (compare  chap, 
xi.  8)  in  a  typical  sense.  For  ver.  20  here  ap- 
pears to  have  some  connection  with  the  great 
wine -press,  when  the  Lord  prepares  a  ghastly 
supper  of  wrath,  and  a  great  sacrificial  slaugh- 
ter (xix.  9,  15,  17).  Further,  let  the  manner 
— which  Isaiah  (xxxiv.  6)  seems  already  to 
have  in  view  (Ixiii  ) — be  considered  as  an  ex- 
ample of  the  way  in  which  the  threads  of  pro- 


phecy blend  towards  the  close  of  the  Rerela- 
tiou  of  John. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

The  Angel  of  the  Waters  Praises  Gor  b 

Justice. 

Revelation  xvi. 

The  gi-eat  voice  heard  out  of  the  temple  (ver. 
1)  is  the  voice  of  God,  as  chap.  xv.  8,  and  chap, 
xvi  7,  prove  beyond  a  doubt.  After  the  pre- 
paration of  which  we  read  in  chap.  xv.  1,  6-8, 
Ihe  command  is  positively  given  for  the  out- 
pouring  the  vials  of  God's  wrath,  and  this  must 
have  been  done  in  quick  succession,  if  not 
simultaneously,  since,  in  ver.  11,  the  noisome 
sores  are  spoken  of  as  enduring  from  the  first 
to  the  fifth  plague.  These  seven  last  plagues 
appear  to  have  some  reference  to  the  plagues 
of  Egypt,  but  they  are  not,  for  this  reason,  to 
be  merely  understood  literally,  as  several  com- 
mentators suggest.  They  precede  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  people  of  God,  as  the  plagues  of 
Egypt  preceded  the  Exodus,  but  they  e3peciai}y 
affect  the  beast  and  his  worshippers,  his  throne 
and  his  city,  not  merely  natural  objects  in 
themselves.  We  find  it  difficult  to  decide  how 
far  these  viaJs  of  wrath  are  to  be  understood 
physically  (that  is,  literally)  or  figuratively,  or 
as  both  together,  but  we  incline  to  think  that 
they  have  a  double  significance.  For  while 
their  reference  to  the  history  of  Egypt,  and, 
still  more,  the  actual  retribution  of  blood  for 
blood,  would  lead  us  to  believe  in  a  literal  ful- 
fillment ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  ia 
ver.  13  the  frogs  used  evidently  as  a  figure, 
being  explained  as  meaning  unclean  spirits,  and 
the  sea  referred  to  would  appear  to  be  the  same 
out  of  which  the  beast  was  seen  to  rise  (xiii. 
1).  The  mere  fact  of  the  parallel  passages  of 
the  sign  in  heaven,  in  chap.  xv.  1,  and  the  great 
wonder  in  heaven  of  the  woman,  in  chap.  xii.  1, 
is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  make  us  pronounce 
in  favor  of  a  merely  figurative  interpretation. 
So  much  we  must  premise,  in  order  to  sub- 
stantiate our  view  of  the  angel  of  the  waters.  If, 
indeed,  with  regard  to  this  passage  especially, 
we  are  sometimes  tempted  to  doubt  whether 
all  the  angels  of  the  Apocalypse  may  not  be 
merely  prophetic  images,  we  must  at  the  same 
time  remember  that  in  the  case  of  the  similar 
visions  of  Daniel  and  Zechariah,  sur'i  a  theory 
is  untenable,  since  there  the  actual  personal 
appearance  of  Gabriel  was  repeatedly  recorded. 
And  if  we  have  hitherto  been  right  in  inter- 
preting John's  visions  as  we  did  those  of  these 
older  prophets,  and  assuming  the  real  speech 
of  real  angels  to  be  contained  therein,  we  shall 
find  that  the  angel  of  the  waters  may  claim  an 
actual  and  individual  existence,  as  well  as  the 
seven  angels  with  the  trumpet?,  who,  in  chap, 
viii.  2,  are  very  precisely  described  as  standing 
before  God,  and  the  other  seveu  with  the  seven 


60 


THE  ANGEL  WHO  SHOWS  THE  MYSTIC  BABYLON. 


golden  vials.  The  question  is  thus  reduced  to 
one  point  only,  namely,  whether,  in  the  passage 
we  are  now  considering,  we  are,  as  many  do 
(Grotius,  lor  instance),  to  understand  the  lliird 
angel  (ver.  4)  to  be  the  one  described  in  ver. 
5,  to  whom  God  had  committed  the  e.xecution 
of  his  sentence  upon  the  waters.  Now,  there 
are  many  objections  to  such  a  theory.  In  the 
first  place,  it  would  lead  us  to  see  in  ver.  3,  as 
well  as  ver.  12,  other  angels  of  tiie  water,  three 
in  all,  whereas  one  only  is  expressly  mentioned, 
the  other  seven  being  rapidly  enumerated  in 
the  original,  as  the  first,  second,  third,  the  word 
angtl  being  implied,  not  expressed.  Again,  we 
have,  in  chap.  xiv.  18,  the  analogous  .position 
of  the  angel  of  the  fire,  and,  in  chap,  vii.,  of 
the  angels  of  the  winds.  Thus  the  angel  of  the 
waters  in  John's  vision  may  have  as  real  an 
existence  as  the  angel  who  troubled  the  Beth- 
esda  pool,  as  recorded  in  John's  Gospel.  But 
further,  this  comparison  of  one  passage  with 
another  leads  us  in  no  way  to  conclude  that  we 
have  here  the  one  only  angel  set  over  all  the 
waters  in  the  world,  but  rather  one  of  many  ; 
one  who,  on  this  occasion,  speaks  in  the  name 
of  theae  waters  which  have  been  turned  into 
blood,  as  being  appointed  to  have  power  over 
them,  as  an  intermediate  agent,  in  the  same 
way  that  in  chap.  xiv.  we  read  of  the  angel 
having  power  over  the  fire  of  wrath  and  judg- 
ment. And  we  may  be  very  sure  that  if  there 
were  not,  in  point  of  fact,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  very  nature  of  our  world,  angels  set 
over  the  winds,  the  fire,  the  water,  John  would 
not  have  adopted  such  as  symbols.  The  only 
sense  in  which  v/e  can  accept  a  figurative  in- 
terpretation must  always  be  one  which  assumes 
a  fact  as  foundation  for  the  figure,  a  reality  be- 
neath the  type.  Thus,  under  whatever  sym- 
bolic disguse,  we  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  a  real 
angel  who  is  speaking  in  this  passage,  and  that 
bf^  is  in  some  way  connected  with  the  waters. 
Clore  narrowly  considered,  this  angel  seems  to 
be  one  set  over  the  rivers  and  fountains  of 
water  named  in  ver.  4,  and  hence  the  plural, 
angel  oj  the  waters,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
8c-a,  in  ver.  3.  Thus  this  usually  beneficent 
ministering  spirit,  the  angel  of  liie-sustaining 
and  salubrious  fountains  (as  representative  or 
director  of  luany  other  such),  benda  low  in 
acknowledgment  of  the  justice  of  the  Highest 
which  devastates  his  originally  healthful  do- 
main. And  we  see,  further,  that  these  last 
plagues  exceed  in  terror  tho-e  Egyptian  ones| 
they  so  much  resemble,  insomuch  as  now  nuij 
only  the  river,  but  i\\Q  fountains,  are  corrupted, 
so  that  pure  water  can  no  longer  be  dug  for,  asl 
in  Exo(i.  vii.  24. 

"  Rghteous  art  thou,  which  art  ami  wast,  thel 
JI>hf  One  (or,  thou  Ilobj  One),  that  thou  ha^b 
j  edged  thus."  Thus  the  saying  of  the  angel 
s:ii)uld  stand,  if  correctly  rendered.  It  is  not 
here  necessary  to  add,  "  ichich  art  to  come,"  be- 
cause the  time  of  this  coming  in  the  last  judg- 
lu'^uts  is  here  anticipated;  the  words  are 
snol;en,  as  it  were,  in  their  very  midst.  "  Holy" 
is  hero  the  chosen  epithet  of  praise,  aa  elsewhere, 


but  yet  in  a  slightly  varied  sense,  and  the  wiioTe 
passage  may  be  paraphrased  thus:  "Equally 
righteous  in  thy  fierce  judgment  art  thou,  tha 
same  in  all  time,  thou  whose  nature  and  prop- 
erty is  first  of  all  to  be  holt/,  i.  e.,  gracious." 

Thus  we  discern  here  a  very  important  and 
significant  assurance  of  the  close  connection, 
nay,  the  essential  oneness  of  love  and  wrath  in 
the  holiness  of  God. 

"  Fur  theij  hate  shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  pro- 
phets,  and  bhod  hast  tliou  given  them  to  drink  ; 
they  are  tcorthtj  of  it!"  In  God's  judgments 
there  ever  prevails,  but  sometimes  more  evi- 
dently known  and  seen  of  all  men,  the  great 
law  of  Retribution.  As  in  chap,  xviii.  6,  we 
have  cup  for  cup,  so  now,  blood  for  blood  (com- 
pare chap.  xvii.  6;  xviii.  24).  As  at  the  pour- 
ing out  of  the  first  vial  of  wrath,  the  noisome 
and  grievous  sore  (perhaps  inflicted  on  the  very 
same  place)  answers  to  the  brand  of  the  mark 
of  the  beast,  so  in  the  case  of  the  woman,  as 
well  as  the  beast,  we  have  repealed  what  the 
Book  of  Wisdom  (chap.  xi.  5,  6)  had  already 
found  true  with  respect  to  the  plagues  of  Egypt. 
The  pouring  out  of  the  blood  of  \he  saints  like 
water  had  been  prophetically  described  in  Psa. 
Ixxix. ;  now  the  image  is  to  be  reversed  ;  now 
the  water  is  not  only  to  be  like  blood,  but,  ac- 
cording to  the  precise  text  in  ver.  4,  we  find 
that  they  {ihQ  rivers  and  fountains)  l/ecame  blood. 
But  it  IS  not  added  here  :  as  the  blood  of  a  dead 
man,  not  clotted  decomposed  blood,  for  the 
transformed  water  spoken  of  in  the  present 
case  is  icatei'  to  f>e  drunk.  And  yet  one  might 
be  justified  in  regarding  ver.  4  as  identical  in 
meaning  with  ver.  3,  and  this  giving  them  blood 
to  drink  an  ironical  way  of  expressing  that 
what  was  wont  to  quench  their  thirst  was  now 
undrinkable — a  figurative  illustration  of  the 
horror  of  the  pouring  out  of  such  a  vial,  which 
we,  for  our  part,  prefer.  Finally,  we  have  the 
abrupt,  brief  conclusion  (without  the /yr) — 
they  are  worthy  of  it,  they  deserve  it — a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  same  words  (blessed  words) 
used  by  Christ  with  regard  to  the  faithful  (iii.  4.) 

This  exclamation  of  the  angel  has  (as  we  con- 
stantly find  in  this  book,  both  with  regard  to 
the  words  of  angels  and  men)  its  confirmatory 
counterpart  or  echo  in  the  words  which  John 
now  hears  proceed  out  of  the  altar  (ver.  7): 
"Even  so,  Lord  God  Almighty,  true  and  right- 
eous are  thy  judgments."  Thi.s,  the  voice  evi- 
dently of  the  martyred  saints  under  the  altar 
(vi.  9,  10),  is  (being  a  voice  of  the  sanctuary) 
attributed  to  the  altar  itself. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Angel  who  Snows  the  Mystio 
Babylox. 

Revelatios  xvii. 

For  the  first  tim  ■  in  the  course  of  the  Reve- 
lation of  John,  we    meet  wuh  a  contmuoua 


THE  ANGEL  WHO  SHOWS  THE  MYSTIC  BABYLON. 


61 


speech  of  the  angel  whose  office  it  is  to  show 
and  to  explain  ;  a  speech  containing  the  whole 
prophecy  with  which  the  prophet  was  inspired, 
as  in  the  case'of  Daniel  and  Zechariah.  This 
seventeenth  chapter  is  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant, certainly  the  most  conclusive  as  to  the 
character  of  the  whole,  that  the  Apocalypse 
contains,  and  we  must  limit  ourselves  to  the 
consideration  of  its  main  features. 

The  judgments  of  Babylon,  positively  fore- 
(old  in  chap.  xvi.  19,  as  well  as  warningly  an- 
nouxrced  by  the  an^-el's  cry  in  chap.  xiv.  8,  was 
only  presented  as  fully  accomplished  to  the 
seer  in  chap,  xviii. ;  meanwhile,  in  conformity 
with  the  plan  invariably  maintained  in  this 
book,  we  have  a  vision  intercalated  in  this  pre- 
ceding chapter,  which  he  tranquilly  beholds; 
only  that  on  this  occassion  the  accompanying 
speech  of  the  angel  enters  specially  into  histo- 
rical details,  alluding  retrospectively  to  certain 
events,  as  well  as  anticipating  the  details  of  the 
final  evolution  of  others. 

One  of  the  seven  angels  which  had  the  seven 
vials — the  passage  runs  as  that  in  chap.  x.xi.  9. 
It  is  purposely  left  unspecified  which  angel  it 
was,  aa  tLat  we  must  be  content  not  to  attempt 
to  dPOide  with  any  certainty  whether  it  was 
the  first  or  the  last,  or  the  chief  among  them. 
But  the  probable  tiieory  really  seems  to  be, 
that  it  was  the  seventh  as^gel  who  now  drew  near, 
and  detailed  more  lull;  what  ho  had  announc- 
ed in  ch3.p.  xvi.  19.  However,  the  vague  ex- 
pression, *' (yiie  of  the  angeh,"  leaves  this,  as  we 
have  said  before,  quite  an  open  question,  that 
the  main  point  may  alone  occupy  all  our  at- 
tention. For  Vaejact  that  the  seer  announces, 
namely,  that  one  of  these  mighty  angels  of  the 
fierce  wrath  of  God  talked  with  him — confi- 
dentially, and  as  a  friend,  one  favored  and  con- 
secrated, and  deemed  worthy  to  receive  suoh 
revelation — is  far  more  important  than  the  ex- 
act description  of  the  angel.  The  text  goes  on : 
"  Snymg  to  me,  Come  hither  ;  I  will  show  unto  thee 
the  judgment  of  the  great  whore  that  si'Mh  on  many 
waters;  with  whom  the  Mngs  of  the  earth  have  com- 
mitted fornication,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
have  been  made  drunk  with  the  wine  of  her  forni- 
cation." The  closer  description  of  this  de- 
graded woman  will  come  later,  but  we  have  a 
remark  to  make  on  the  introductory  sentence. 
The  angel  speaks  this  invitation  "Come,"  with 
even  stronger  emphasis  than  the  living  creat- 
ures from  the  throne  (chap,  vi.)  ;  for  he  says, 
•■'  .orae  hither,"  and  also  adds,  with  greater 
olemnity  and  fulness  ^instead  of  the  mere 
,;ord  "see"  ),  I  will  show  thee,  which  was  the 
language  of  the  first  voice  (chap.  iv.  1),  with 
ni%?iice  to  the  whole  series  of  these  visions. 
Thas  we  have,  as  it  were,  a  fresh  commence- 
ment made  ;  and  with  this  showing,  an  explain- 
ing and  expounding  is  bv  implication  promised. 
T/ie  many  watei's  which  John,  accordmg  to  ver. 
15,  appears  to  have  seen  without  vnderslanding 
their  nature,  evidently  refer  to  the  sea  in  a 
former  vision  (chap.  xiii.  1),  in  which,  as  yet, 
only  the  beast  and  not  the  woman  associated 
with  bim,  was  mentioned.    That  this  sea  means 


peoples  the  angel  himself  declares  ;  and,  indeed, 
throughout  Scripture  this  symbol  has  run,  and 
the  restless  raging  and  tossing  of  rebellions  and 
sinful  humanity  been  described  under  the  image 
of  the  great  deep,  the  outburst  of  which  was 
the  cause  of  the  first  destruction  of  a  degen- 
erate race.  (See  Isa.  Ivii.  20 ;  Psa.  lxv.8  ;  Ixxxix. 
10,  etc.)  Even  in  the  description  of  the  typ- 
ical Babylon  the  "  many  waters "  are  men- 
tioned by  Jeremiah  (li.  13),  with  a  hint  at 
their  real  meaning. 

"  So  he  carried  me  (away)  in  the  spirit  into  a 
wilderness,  and  I  saw."  This  follows  upon  the 
promised  showing.  "  In  the  spirit,"  as  in  chap. 
1.  10,  and  iv.  2,  only  in  a  renewed  and  exalted 
sense.  But  wherefore,  we  may  ask,  into  a 
wilderness  ?  Why  not,  as  in  chap.  xxi.  10,  on 
a  great  and  high  mountain?  It  maybe  sug- 
gested that  we  have  here,  as  in  Isa.  xxi.  1 
(corap.  xiv.  23),  the  effect  of  the  desolating 
judgment  (ver.  16)  prefigured.  But  yet  this 
can  hardly  be,  since  the  woman,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  is  shown  in  all  her  might  and 
splendor.  A  more  simple  reason  seems  more 
correct :  it  was  in  order  that  this  vision  might 
appear  quite  detached  from  chap,  xvi.,  and  also 
that  it  might  be  more  distinctly  seen  ;  for  as  to 
the  explanation  that  the  woman,  representing 
the  Church  of  God,  being  left  in  the  wilderness 
(xii.  14),  this  degenerate  Church  was  also  to  be 
found  there,  will  not  satisfy  us  at  all,  since  we 
cannot  possibly  assume  the  identity  of  these 
two  women. 

No  doubt,  is  it  true  that  the  woman,  with 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  is  the  invisible ;  the  har- 
lot, the  visible  Church  ;  or,  to  state  the  case 
more  plainly  and  severely,  the  one  is  the  true, 
the  other  the  apostate  Church,  Still,  the 
simplest  explanation  is  best.  John  was  placed 
in  a  desert,  or  empty  space,  thence  to  contem- 
plate from  afar  the  woman  shown  to  him;  lor 
he  who  would  rightly  judge  of  any  object,  must 
himself  stand  without  it,  and  even  in  oppo- 
sition to  it. 

That  which  John  now  saw,  he  described  in  a 
very  graphic  manner,  before  the  angel  spoke 
further  in  explanation,  for  the  visions  them- 
selves speak  "  in  the  spirit "  to  the  prophet, 
and  expound  themselves,  so  that,  according  1o 
ver.  6,  the  seer  actually  saio  that  the  woman 
was  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints.  We 
shall  proceed  to  explain  the  purport  of  his  vis- 
ion, in  so  far  as  we  comprehend  it,  with  all 
brevity,  before  we  apply  ourselves  to  our  spe- 
cial subject,  the  speech  of  the  angel. 

In  chap.  xxi.  9, 10,  thehride,  the  Lamb's  wife, 
is  shown  under  the  similitude  of  a  city  ;  here, 
on  the  contrary,  where,  from  chap.  xvi.  19,  wa 
are  prepared  to  meet  with  a  city,  we  have  a 
woman,  and  she  is  a  whore  !  Nay,  on  account 
of  her  many  adulteries,  she  is  called  the  great 
whore  {'\n  the  same  way  we  have  great  Babylon), 
in  the  most  emphatic  sense  of  the  word.  This 
adulteress  is  here  placed  in  opposition  to  the 
bride  of  the  Lamb,  the  woman  clothed  with  the 
sun,  who  is  the  true  Church — ^^just  as  we  have 
the  beast  contrasted  with  the  Lamb — and  sha 


THE     AXGEL  WHO  SHOWS  THE  MYSTIC  BABYLON. 


is  to  be  understood  in  a  quite  general  sense,  as 
the  apos'nte  and  secularized  Church,  otherwise 
she  could  not  be  also  spoken  of  as  woman.  It 
is  very  true  that  in  the  Old  Testament  Israel 
and  Jerusalem  appear  most  prominently  as  an 
adulterous  wile — three  of  the  greater  prophets, 
and  one  of  the  lesser,  beginning  their  books 
with  a  declaration  of  the  whoredoms  of  Israel 
(Isa.  i. ;  Jer.  i.  ii.  iii. ;  Ezek.  li.  ;  Hos.  i.  ii.  iii., 
to  which  we  may  add,  Isa.  Ivii. ;  Esek.  xvi. 
xxiii.,  where  Samaria  is  included,  and  many 
other  passages).  But  Babylon,  Nineveh,  and 
Tyre  appear  under  the  same  character,  with 
this  addition,  that  they  are  like  the  woman 
here  mentioned,  specially  charged  with  seduc- 
ing the  nations  bv  their  encliantments  (Isa. 
xlvii.  23  ;  xvi.  17  ;  Nah.  iii.  4) ;  and,  indeed,  all 
these  are  alike  included  in  the  woman  of  the 
Apocalypse,  the  Jahe  city  of  God  is  become  a 
Babylon.  This  woman  sits  on  the  least,  i.  e., 
the  apostate  Church  has  united  itself  with,  and 
Becularized  itself  by  its  union  with  the  tempo- 
ral power,  which  temporal  power  at  first  sus- 
tains and  serves  her,  while  she,  for  her  part, 
wears  the  color  of  the  beast,  till  finally,  in  chap, 
xviii.,  we  find  only  Babylon,  and,  in  chap,  xix., 
only  the  beast  remains.  No  doubt,  this  beast 
"  is  the  very  same  temporal  power  described 
by  the  seer  in  chap,  xiii.,  but'he  wears  now  a 
difTerent  color,  and  is,  according  to  chap.  xii.  3, 
more  dragon-like  in  form "  (Zeller).  And 
whereas  the  woman  enchants,  intoxicates,  and 
befools  to  the  end  with  blasphemous  hypocrisy, 
the  beast  finally  makes  a  display  of  his  brute 
lorce  in  open  rebellion  against  Gad. 

And  now  who  is  it,  uho  is  revealed  in  the 
vision,  and  still  more  accurately  in  the  course 
of  history,  as  this  great  whore  ?  There  is  noth- 
ing that  we  hold  more  certain  than  that  Rome 
is  primarily  meant,  and  certainly  not  heathen 
Eoine,  but  the  nominally  Christian  Eome  in 
her  decline  and  fall.  And  it  is  equally  certain 
that  the  beast,  according  to  the  precedent  in 
Daniel,  can  only  be  understood  as  a  temporal 
power  and  kingdom.  The  seven  hills  (ver.  9), 
as  well  as  the  description  in  ver,  18,  make  the 
first  conclusion  inevitable. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  less  certain 
that  "  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  true 
and  false  Church  is  not  a  local  one  ;  no,  nor  one 
of  mere  confession  of  faith,  that,  in  fact,  there 
is  no  outward  and  visible  line  to  be  drawn  ;  the 
difference  is  a  spiritual  one,  and  must  be  spirit- 
tally  judged  of."  Such  is  Auberlen's  view,  to 
which  we  would  add  a  quotation  from  a  difler- 
enl  source:  "  We  ought  not  too  exclusively  to 
look  without  and  around  our  own  selves  in 
considering  this  subject.  For  within  our  hearts 
there  may  also  be  seated  a  like  deluding  influ- 
cnc<',  a  mystic  Babylon."  Alas!  an  undue 
conl'ormity  to  the  world,  a  disloyal  alliance 
nju.ie  wilh  the  power  and  the  deceitfulness  of 
the  prince  of  this  world,  is  to  be  found  in  some 
f'<'f;ree  in  the  majority  even  of  those  people  of 
God,  not  mf-rely  without,  but  actually  inifhin 
the  visible  Babylon,  who  are  here  exhorted  in 
cbap.  xviii.,  as  well  as  in  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah, 


and  also  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  2  Cor.  vi., 
"  Come  out  of  her,  my  people." 

Scarlet  color  is  that  now  assumed  by  the  sec- 
ond beast  in  his  full  development  (like  that 
of  the  dragon,  xii.  3),  and  he  has  also  his  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns  as  the  first  beast  had. 
But  while  we  only  read  with  regard  to  the  first, 
that  he  had  on  his  heads  the  name  of  blas- 
phemy, the  present  beast,  on  the  contrary,  was 
full  of  the  names  of  blasphemy,  i.  e.,  full  of  blood- 
guiltiness  and  impiety.  In  conformity  with 
him,  the  woman  also  is  here  represented  as  ar- 
rayed in  purple  and  scarlet  color,  which,  taken 
in  connection  with  her  being  decked  with  gold, 
and  precious  stones,  and  2-)earh,  represents  no 
doubt  in  mortal  eyes  a  haughty  pomp  and 
splendor:  but  to  the  all-seeing,  all-discerning 
eye  of  God,  stands  rather  for  guilt,  the  guilt 
of  blood  (Isa.  i.  18).  Under  a  similarity  of 
outward  appearance,  what  can  be  more  unlike 
than  the  royal  pomp  of  the  sanctuary  and 
Satan's  fiery  red  ?  What  further  removed  than 
the  papal  scarlet  and  the  red  Republic,  the 
bloody  Revolution?  What,  again,  can  seem 
in  stronger  contrast  than  this  revolution,  and 
the  despotism  of  a  Napoleon?  Nevertheless, 
all  hang  together,  the  one  contains  within  it- 
self the  germ  of  the  other,  and  in  due  time 
makes  way  for  it. 

The  golden  cup  full  of  (idolatrous)  abomina- 
tions and  filthiness  had  already  been  pointed 
at  (xiv.  8).  and  leads  us  back  to  Jer.  li.  7.  The 
strong  delusions  that  seduce  and  inflame  all 
who  do  not  hold  fast  the  love  of  the  truth,  are 
at  the  same  time  the  intoxicating  cup  in  the 
hand  of  Babylon,  and  the  cup  of  wrath  and 
judgment  in"the  hand  of  God,  who  punishes 
sin  by  sin  ;  yea,  by  giving  men  over  to  their 
sins.  If,  in  2  Thess.  ii.  9,  we  read  of  a  mystery 
of  iniquity  (in  contradistinction  to  the  mystery 
of  godliness,  1  Tim.  iii.  16,  or  of  the  faith,  ver. 
9),  here  we  have  it  unveiled  for  the  warning 
of  believers.  The  name  that  in  lieu  of  the 
seal  of  God  is  written  on  the  forehead  of  the 
bold  adulteress  (of  which  she  is  herself  uncon- 
scious, but  which  was  shown  to  the  eye  of  the 
seer),  is  in  another  sense  a  secret  name,  i.  e.,  a 
symbolical,  a  typically  prophetic  name,  not  to 
be  understood  as  the  ancient  Babylon.  For 
this  woman  is  the  real,  the  peculiar  great  Baby- 
lon, above  all  former  ones,  the  very  climax  of 
apostacy  and  arrogance,  and,  therefore,  she  is 
called  the  mother  of  harlots  and  abomination  of 
the  earth.  There  is  a  special  reference  here,  no 
doubt,  to  the  Catholic  Chuich.  sunk  as  it  is  in 
the  elenents  of  this  world  ;  idolatrous  not  only 
in  her  practice  but  her  principles,  she  has  the 
unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  nearest 
realization  of  this  scarlet  woman,  the  metropo- 
lis of  all  such  apostate  and  adulterous  churcnes 
or  communities. 

This  fearful  form,  riding  upon  the  equally 
fearful  beast,  John  saw,  and  the  vision  revealed 
its  own  nature  to  him,  for  he  saw  her  drunken 
with  t/ie  blood  of  the  saints,  tcith  the  blood  qfth« 
mnrtj^rs  of  Ji sus  !  Drinking  is  in  itself  a  griev- 
ous sin,  but  it  is  infinitely  increased  by  the 


THE  ANGEL  WHO  SHOWS  THE  MYSTIC  BABYLON. 


63 


hellish  nature  cf  the  intoxication  in  this  ca=e, 
the  enmity  against  the  saints,  ihe  persecuting 
of  them  even  unto  death.  "  What  a  disgust- 
ing spectacle  is  a  drunken  woman  at  any  time  ! 
But  how  horrible  if  the  drunkenness  proceeds 
from  human  blood  ;  how  appalling  if  this  blood 
be  that  of  saints,  and  of  the  witnesses  of 
Jesus!"  (Zeller.)  Therefore  John  wondered 
(was  horrified,  aghast),  wondered  with  great 
admiration,  even  though  he  was  in  the  Spirit. 
This  is  the  only  occasion  throughout  the  whole 
series  of  his  revelations  on  which  he  manifests 
any  wonder.  But  behind  the  hideous  spectacle 
lay  a  thought  that  made  it  more  awful  still. 
How  fallen,  how  degenerate!  Sunk  to  this 
depth — this  woman  now  in  the  place  of  her 
■who  was  clothed  with  the  sun  ! 

At  this  evident  wonder  of  John's  the  angel 
■who  has  shown  him  the  sight,  begins  to  utter 
his  prophetic  speech  respecting  the  woman's 
further  career,  and  the  judgment  that  was  to 
overtake  her,which  pre-supposes  that  John  was 
already  aware  of  as  much  as  we  have  hitherto 
said  on  the  subject,  that  is,  he  understood  in  a 
general  way  who  this  woman  riding  on  the  beast 
was.  To  which  the  angel  now  adds  certain 
special,  positively  defining  details,  after  the 
manner  of  those  earlier  prophecies  in  Daniel, 
to  which  these  form  the  key. 

We  would  here  remind  the  reader  of  two 
things  which  appear  throughout  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ;  finst,  that  angels  are  conversant  with 
future  historical  events,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
appointed  in  God's  name  to  communicate 
them  to  us  ;  and  secondly,  that  they  willingly 
condescend  to  adopt  earthly  symbols  and  figures 
of  speech,  which,  indeed,  are  the  only  ones  in 
■which  prophecy  could  be  clothed,  and  the  most 
many-sided  medium  of  communication  possible 
in  the  case. 

"Wherefore  didst  thou  marvel?  "  This  is  not 
a  question  that  requires  an  answer,  neither  is 
it  a  reproach  or  censure,  but  merely  a  custom- 
ary form  of  human  speech,  intended  to  intro- 
duce Kie  further  details  still  to  be  given  ;  it  is 
tantamount  to  saying,  "Yea,  verily,  there  is 
more  to  marvel  at  yet."  First  of  all  we  had, 
"I  will  show  thee;"  now  comes,  " I  will  tell 
thee,"  only,  in  the  original  the  /is  further  em- 
phasized. But  that  which  the  angel  proceeds 
to  say  is,  and  must  remain  until  the  time  of  its 
accomplishment,  in  great  part  a  mystery  for 
us ;  we  can  only  speak  positively  as  to  some  of 
its  more  general  features,  which  the  progress 
of  events  has  thrown  some  light  upon ;  we 
even  doubt  whether  the  seer  himself  fully 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  words  he  wrote 
down.  The  passage  that  occurs  between  ver. 
8-11  has  been  truly  named  the  most  perplex- 
ing, most  obscure  in  the  whole  Apocalypse ;  we 
can  only  venture,  in  deep  reverence  for  the 
mysterious  words  of  the  lofty  angel,  to  indi- 
cate some  of  their  comparatively  intelligible 
clauses. 

With  a  very  different  wonder  to  that  of  John 
— such  is  evidently  the  train  of  thought  here 
expressed — wiFT  those  that  dwell  on  the  earth 


tconder,  whose  names  were  not  wrlW'n  in  th« 
Lamb's  look  of  life  from  the  foundation  of  the 
worll,  wlien  they  behold  the  bcasf,  in  the  lullesfc 
display  of  his  lust  greatness.  Thus  we  are  re- 
ferred back  to  chap.  xiii.  3,  8;  the  angel's 
speech,  although  intended  to  reveal  the  mysery 
of  the  woman  and  the  beast,  yet  beginning  with 
the  beast,  because  he  is  to  be  the  agent  in  her 
final  judgment.  We  have  repeatedly,  in  the 
course  of  this  book,  met  with  this  lolty  name 
of  "  He  that  is,  and  that  was,  and  that  will  be," 
applied  to  God  and  to  Christ;  and  here  we 
have  as  it  were  a  parody  of  it,  applied  in  fear- 
ful irony  to  the  false  pretender,  the  Antichrist. 
For  those  who  are  misled  by  mere  first  ap- 
pearances, the  lofty  title  given  might  even 
seem  to  transcend  the  divine,  the  words  being, 
"  ichen  they  behold  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  7iot, 
and  (nevertheless)  will  be."  (Such  is  the  cor- 
rect rsndering,  not  yet  is,  as  in  the  English 
Bible.)  But  the  angel  himself  had  already  re- 
vealed the  truth  ;  "  he  was,  and  is  not ;  and 
will  ascend  out  of  tlie  bottomless  pit,  and  go  into 
perdition."  Thus  the  appellation  is  rather  the 
antithesis  than  the  counterpart  to  Jehovah's 
name.  The  true  distinguishing  mark  of  the 
devil  and  all  devilish  things  being,  lie  teas,  and 
is  not  ;  he  will  indeed  tome  again,  but  he  will 
also  (JO.  Out  of  the  bottomless  pit  into  prydi- 
tion  !  The  fundamental  idea  is  fearfully  evi- 
dent, but  hoio  this  diabolical  characteristic  is  to 
be  disclosed  by  special  historical  events,  re- 
mains as  yet  veiltd  in  obscurity.  We  can,  in- 
deed, understand  that  the  beast  may  already 
have  had  an  actual  existence,  in  pagan  Home 
with  her  world-wide  sway;  nay,  long  before 
her,  in  all  the  despotic  empires  and  barbarous 
powers  of  antiquity.  This  suits  well,  on  the 
whole,  with  the  general  description  of  the 
beast,  and  runs  parallel  with  his  having  been, 
and  \\\?,  future  return,  which  latter  fact  we  shall 
find  (ver.  11)  predicated  of  one  individual  king. 
At  all  events,  this  re-ascending  out  of  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  of  which  we  read  in  this  chapter, 
is  no  way  to  be  confounded  with  the  rising  out 
of  the  sea  (i.  e.,  peoples,  ver.  15),  and  in  order  to 
prove  this,  let  chap.  xi.  7  be  compared  with 
the  healing  of  his  deadly  wound,  chap.  xiii.  3. 

"  I'he  mind  which  hath  wisdom"  (ver.  9)  is, 
according  to  chap.  xiii.  18,  to  be  understood  as 
an  exhortation  to  consideration  and  inquiry, 
contained  in  this  assurance  that  beneath  the 
literal  words  there  is  something  mysterious  and 
important  concealed.  The  seven  heads  have  a 
double  meaning  ;  this  is  a  very  notable  feature 
in  biblical  images;  the  seven  hills  on  which 
the  woman  (the  great  city,  ver.  18)  sitteth, 
signify  also  seven  kings,  kingdoms,  powers,  so 
that  these  seven  hills  of  the  harlot,  these  kings, 
resemble  the  seven  heads  of  the  beast. 

On  the  whole,  the  onl"  interpretation  of  the 
mystery  that  harmonizes  with  the  rest  of  the 
prophetic  Scriptures  (chap.  x.  7),  appears  to  us 
as  well  as  to  some  other  eminent  commentators, 
to  be  the  following:  The  five  fallen  powers, 
(ver.  10),  are  the  Assyrian,  Chaldean,  Persian, 
Grecian,   and  that  of  Antiochus   Epiphanes. 


64 


THE  TWO  ANGELS  AT  THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


The  Roman  Emperor  is  the  om  that  is  (the 
sixth  whom  John  enumerates) ;  the  seventh, 
he  writes,  h(u  not  yd  came.  To  bring  about  the 
final  and  special  fulfillment,  however,  which 
ver.  8  anticipates,  we  seem  to  have  a  repetition 
of  this  series  of  seven  kinqs.  So  long  as  the 
beast  still  carries  the  woman,  so  long  as  the 
temporal  power  still  serves  the  false  Church,  the 
nature  of  the  beast  does  not  fully  display  itself, 
as  it  will  do  when  Ihehcad  himt^lf,  as  the  eighth, 
appears  with  the  seven,  as  the  actual  Anti- 
christ, of  whom  Daniel  (chap,  xi.)  and  Paul 
(2  Thess.  ii.)  prophesy.  This  is  to  be  a  last 
undi.sguised,  complete  display  of  Atheistic 
power,  imaged  by  the  same  daring  wickedness, 
without  idolatry,  tliat  preceded  the  deluge. 
We,  as  well  as  many  others,  are  fully  con- 
vinced that  both  here  and  elsewhere  an  indi- 
vidual, a  personal  Antichrist,  as  the  final  incar- 
nation of  anti-Christianity,  is  pointed  at ;  but 
■whether,  as  has  been  supposed,  an  actual  arising 
of  this  per.'on  from  the  chad  is  meant,  we  for 
our  part  think  very  doubtful,  especially  from 
chap.  xiii.  3,  where  it  is  said,  that  one  of  his 
heads  was,  as  it  ictre,  wounded  to  death,  which 
is  quite  compatible  with  the  further  announce- 
ment, that  tins  deadly  wound  was  healed.  But 
as  to  who  it  is  in  the  eleventh  verse  of  whom  it 
is  written,  that  he  is  the  eighth,  or  an  eighth  and 
of  the  seven,  this  we  acknowledge  to  be  the 
very  climax  of  the  mystery,  and  beyond  our 
power  to  solve. 

The  ten  kings  that  appear  in  ver.  12,  under 
the  image  of  the  ten  horns,  being  expressly 
stated  to  have  received  no  kingdom  as  yet,  would 
seem  to  prefigure  only  vice-kings,  and  indeed, 
it  is  very  probable  that  after  the  last  great 
revolution,  and  the  political  changes  to  be 
brought  about  by  the  alliance  of  the  woman 
and  the  beast,  there  may  be  a  kind  of  confed- 
eration of  ten  powers,  over  which  the  beast 
•will  rule  in  his  character  of  Antichrist.  In  ver. 
16,  correctly  rendered,  we  read  the  ten  horn^ 
which  thou  saweit  and  the  head,  for  tlie  horns  are 
not  like  the  heads,  which  could  not  be  thus 
spoken  of  as  apart  fiom  him.  The  horns  are 
powers  subordinate  to  the  beast  (ver.  17),  of 
■which  he  will  make  use.  In  ver.  14,  we  have 
separate  mention  made  of  the  called,  and  chosen, 
and  faith/id,  for  these  are  indeed  three  different 
degrees,  first  comes  the  call,  then  the  preserva- 
tion, then  the  reward  of  the  fidelity  unto  death. 
(See  chap.  ii.  10.)  Zeller  says  beautifully,  in 
speaking  of  the  triumph  of  the  Lamb,  and  here 
■we  have  a  fulfillment  of  the  saying:  "The 
Christian  triumphs  in  succumbing;  the  anti- 
Christian  succumbs  in  its  very  triumph." 

Next  we  see,  that  even  as  Jerusalem  and 
Samaria  were  destroyed  by  those  with  whom 
in  the  language ,of  Scripture  they  had  commit- 
ted 8|.iritual  adultery  ;  even  so  the  beast  with 
his  ten  horns  at  length  turns  against  the  wo- 
man he  had  carried,  hates  and  destroys  her. 
"  Each  has  used  the  other  as  a  means  to  his  or 
her  own  ends,  and  so  they  have  come  to  ruin. 
In  God's  just  ju('-gnu'nts  the  one  is  ordained  to 
punish  tlie  other,  the  seeming  holy  Church, 


through  the  seeming  holy  temporal  power' 
(Zeller). 

"  They  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked,"  i. 
e.f  they  shall  deprive  her  of  the  j^eoples  and  mul- 
titudes, those  tliat  streamed  in  and  out  of  the 
city,  they  shall  strip  her  of  the  pomp  of  her 
pride  and  the  adornment  of  her  hypocrisy. 
Will  eat  her  Jltsh  (in  the  original  here,  as  in 
chap.  xix.  18,  the  word  is  given  in  the  plural, 
her  imich  or  whole  Jhsh),  i.  e.,  they  will  take 
possession  of  her  rank  and  her  property,  attack 
all  her  ecclesiastical  wealth,  and  finally  burn 
the  dry  bones  of  the  still  living  victims  with 
fire,  i.  e.,  give  her  over  to  a  shameful  and  well- 
deserved  death,  such  as,  according  to  Lev.  xxi. 
9,  was  the  doom  of  the  priest's  daughter,  who 
profaned  herself  by  unchastity.  Since,  how- 
ever, the  scarlet  ■woman  does  not  denote  any 
individual,  it  is  evident  that  this  language  is 
merely  figurative,  intended  to  convey  a  general 
idea  of  absolute  ruin  and  extermination,  al- 
though it  is  very  possible,  that  in  many  partic- 
ulars there  may  be  an  actual  fulfillment  of  the 
very  letter. 

According  to  ver.  17,  it  is  God  who  puts  into 
the  hearts  of  these  ten  last  powers,  this  singu- 
lar unity  of  purpose  already  alluded  to  in  ver. 
13,  with  which  they  accomplish  the  destruction 
of  the  apostate  Church,  for  although  the  spirit 
of  hatred  is  not  from  God,  yet  he  overrules  its 
direction  and  manifestation,  so  as  to  bring  about 
the  events  pre-determined  by  his  will.  The 
following  sentence,  until  the  words  oj'  Ood  he 
fuljilltd — that  is,  according  to  chap.  x.  7,  the 
Scripture  prophecies  accomplished — reminds 
us  tiiat  this  judgment  executed  by  the  beast 
upon  Babylonian  Rume,  as  described  in  chap, 
xviii.,  is  not  actually  the  end.  Chapters  xix. 
and  XX.  have  still  much  more  to  reveal  before 
the  new  heaven  and  the  the  new  earth  are  for- 
ever established.  But  the  last  verse  in  chap, 
xvii.  sets  a  final  seal  to  that  interpretation  of 
the  woman,  wiiich  we  have  already  spoken  of, 
as,  in  our  opinion,  incontrovertible  in  the  main, 
i  e.,  that  John  referred  to  the  world-wide  em- 
pire* of  the  Rome  of  his  age ;  in  later  times  to 
develope  into  a  despotism  of  another  character, 
which  should  claim  all  the  privileges  of  pagan 
Rome,  nay  more,  and  loftier,  for  the  pseudo- 
Christian. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Two  Angels  at  the  Fall  of  Babtlo^i 

Eevelation  xviii. 

When  we  speak  of  the  actual  fall  of  Babylon, 
it  must  be  evident  that  we  understand  by  this 
the  representation  of  it,  as  the  la.st  of  a  series 
of  future  events  that  had  already  been  beheld 
by  John  in  his  vision — events  revealed  to  him 


*  Tako  for  instance  the  !nsori[ition  on  ilio  Go'den 
Bull :  Rutna  caput  mundi  regtt  orbit  frmt  lutundi. 


THE  TWO  ANGELS  AT  THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON. 


65 


as  present  by  anticipation.  We  find  in  ver.  4, 
that  the  voice  which  summons  the  people  of 
God  out  of  Babylon,  that  they  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  follows  upon  the  repeated  cry  in 
ver.  2,  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen  ;  and  indeed 
throughout,  we  have  the  consciousness  that, 
vivid  as  is  the  description,  and  apparently  real 
and  present  the  circumstances  to  the  speaker's 
mind,  yet  that  the  whole  chapter,  from  ver.  8, 
is  in  fact  a  prophecy  of  far-distant  events. 

The  other  angel  wlio  now  appears  in  ver.  1, 
resembles  the  angels  spoken  of  in  chap.  x.  1 ; 
but  in  conformity  with  the  more  immediate 
nature  of  his  communication — dealing  as  it 
does  more  with  outward  events,  and  with  these 
as  more  nearly  impending — he  is  no  more 
clothed  with  a  cloud,  but  the  earth  is  lightened 
with  his  glory,  an  expression  almost  literally 
resembling  the  passage  in  Ezek.  xliii.  2,  where 
the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  on  its  way  from 
the  east  is  spoken  of.  On  this  occasion,  how- 
ever, we  have  not  merely  the  words,  "another 
mighty  angel,"  as  in  chap,  x.,  but  the  same  idea 
amplified — another  angel,  having  great  power. 
And  he  cried  mightily  with  a  strong  voice;  or  as 
it  might  be  even  belter  rendered,  "  he  cried  in 
(his)  strength,  with  a  great  voice."  The  pur- 
port of  his  cry  very  closely  resembles  those 
two  clause  in  chap,  xi.,  telling  of  sin  and  pun- 
ishment, which  are  now  to  be  more  fully 
opened  out  In  connection  with  the  latter,  we 
are  to  have  additional  particulars  of  the  deso- 
late and  desert  state  of  Babylon  after  her  fall ; 
in  connection  with  the  former,  a  more  minute 
description  is  to  be  given  of  "  all  nations,"  as 
kings  and  merchants. 

The  increased  light  that  accompanies  this  an- 
gel brings  out  not  only  the  fact  of  the/«//,  it- 
self the  token  of  judgment  and  tiie  proof  of 
guilt,  but  reveals  what  had  before  existed  con- 
cealed in  the  fallen  city,  shows  her  openly  as 
the  ghastly  hold  of  foul  spirits.  Thus,  in  this 
last  comprehensive  announcement  we  have  the 
key  to  the  meaning  of  the  old  prophets  in  in- 
variably particularizing,  when  speaking  of  the 
destruction  and  desolation  of  Babylon,  Ednm^ 
Nineveh,  the  wild  beasts  and  doleiul  creatures 
that  would  inhabit  its  ruins.  "  Fallen,  fa. Itn 
is  Babylon  the  grtat!  "  Thus  runs  the  terrible 
angelic  cry,  "  And  slie  is  become  the  habitation  of 
devds,  and  the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage 
of  every  vnclean  and  hateful  bird."  If,  in  the 
prophetic  pictures  to  which  we  allude,  there 
are  mingled  with  the  names  of  birds  and  beasts 
other  words,  whose  two-fold  meaning  points  at 
spiritual  existence,  this  is  not  to  be  expounded, 
as  some  commentators  would  suggest,  as  mere- 
ly the  result  of  Jewish  superstition.  We  have 
high  authority,  in  the  chapter  we  are  now  con- 
sidering, for  recognizing  a  reality  beneath  this 
so-called  superstition.  Plere  we  have  unclean 
and  baleful  or  predatory  birds,  such  as  owls, 
ravens,  vultures  spoken  of,  as  well  as  still 
darker  inhabitants.  In  their  company,  perhaps 
under  their  form,  demons  and  sjnrits  are  also 
found  inhab,iting  the  desolate  site,  the  heap  of 
utter  ruins  ;  parily  perhaps  because  of  the  pre- 


ference of  their  reprobate  nature,  partly  be- 
cause the  sentence  passed  upon  them  dooms 
them  thereto  (Matt.  xii.  43).  Whether,  under 
this  expression  demons,  there  may  also  be  pre- 
figured the  departed  spirits  of  unclean  men,  we 
leave  to  the  consideration  of  the  reflective 
reader,  but  for  our  own  part,  consider  it  im- 
probable. We  may  further  observe,  that  in  all 
such  imagery  as  this,  fraught,  as  it  invariably 
is,  with  many-sided  meanings  and  reterences, 
we  may  always  trace  a  literal  fulfillment,  by 
the  facts  of  earthly  history,  of  the  truths  of  a 
spiritual  and  invisible  world;  of  which  these 
facts  are,  as  it  were,  the  outward  and  visible 
sign.  Here,  for  instance,  we  have  the  city  de- 
scribed to  us  (ver.  2);  then  in  ver.  3  there  is  a 
return  to  the  metaphor  of  the  degraded  woman. 

"  For  all  nations  have  drunk  of  the  wine  of  the 
wrath  of  htr  fornication,  and  the  kings  of  the 
earth  have  committed  fornication  icithher,  and  the 
merchants  of  the  tarlh  have  waxed  rich  through  the 
abundance  of  her  dtlicacies."  The  three-fold  guilt 
of  Babylon,  in  which  she  has  involved  the  na- 
tions, may  be  described  as  apostacy  (ir  idolatry, 
the  foundation  of  all  the  rest — worldliness,  taken 
in  connection  with  its  kindred  iufiuences — 
pride,  gluttony,  luxury,  in  the  mi.sused  posses- 
sions she  has  made  instruments  of  sin.  x\.n  in- 
ordinate delight  in  these  perverted  things  is 
implied  in  the  charge  of  fornication,  as  cov- 
etous and  over-reaching  in  the  pursuit  of 
selfish  ends  are  implied  in  ihe  allusion  to  tiie 
arrogance  of  the  nierchant.s.  Ebraid  is  right: 
"It  is  not  only  the  position  of  nierchanis,  as 
such,  which  is  now  indicated,  but  all  that  lit-lps 
to  promote  tlie<4iowth  of  luxury,  and  tooccuj/y 
the  heart  entirely  with  earthly  trulhc  and 
earthly  gain. 

The  voice  that  in  the  following  verse  is  heard 
from  heaven,  and  which  speaks  from  ver.  4  to 
ver.  20,  does  not  proceed  trom  an  angel,  what- 
ever interpreters  may  have  atlvanced  on  the 
subject.  We  are  convinced  that  we  have  been 
right  hitherto  in  receiving  such  voices  as  this, 
spoken  of  in  the  Kevelation,  as  the  voice  of 
God  himself;  and  here  we  have,  in  confirmation 
of  our  views,  "rny  people,"  as  in  chap.  xi.  3  we 
had  "  my  witnesses."  Nor  is  this  view  weakened 
by  the  fact,  that  in  the  long  speech  (as  often 
occurs  in  the  prophets),  God  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  in  the  third  person  (vers.  5,  8),  while 
sometimes  the  passage  appears  to  be  the  de- 
scription of  a  mere  prophetic  vision,  for  in 
John's  mouth  such  expressions  as  those  in  vers. 
6,  7,  20,  would  be  quite  out  of  place.  Neither 
can  we  adopt  Von  Gerlach's  suggestion,  that 
under  ihe  image  of  the  overthrow  and  desolation 
of  a  great,  overgrown,  rich,  and  proud  city,  at 
once  capital  and  chief  seat  of  trade,  wh  are 
simply  to  understand  the  fall  of  the  Aniichnst- 
ian  spiritual  power;  Ibr,  as  we  have  already 
explained,  this  spiritual  power  is  represented 
as  actually  incorporated  with  a  real  cily.  Nor 
can  we  refrain  from  briefly  pointing  out  here, 
how,  according  to  vers.  6,  7,  the  children  of  God 
are  to  take  nart  in  her  chastisement,  if  only  by  I 
approving  lue  sentence  gone  forth  against  her; 


€6 


THE  ANGEL  REFUSING  TO  BE  WORSHIPPED. 


or,  perhaps,  by  actually  invoking  it,  as  in  V^a. 
cxxxvii.  7-9.  "  The  closing  words  (ver.  20)  are 
again  taken  from  Jer.  li.  48,  so  specially  does 
tiie  Spirit  of  prophecy  delight  to  refer  to  its 
former  utterances. 

"  And  a  mighty  angel"  (as  in  chap.  v.  2)  em- 
phazises  his  saying,  by  accompanying  it  with  a 
visible  action.  *  He  "  took  up  a  stone  like  a  great 
luilUlone,  and  cad  it  into  the  sea,  saying,  Thus 
tri/h  violence  *A  til  that  great  city  Babylon  be  throicn 
down,  and  shall  be  found  no  more."  Hence  we 
see  that  even  this  is  not  the  actual  fall,  but 
only  the  most  precise  and  last  announcement 
«n(i  representation  of  it  that  the  eeer  is  to  re- 
ceive, a  concluding  sign  vouchsafed  in  confir- 
niation  of  the  truth  of  all  that  has  gone  before, 
euch  as  was  once  given  with  regard  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  Chaldean  Babylon  (Jer.li.  43), 
bv  the  throwing  of  a  stone  into  the  Euphrates. 
On  the  present  occasion  the  symbol  is  more 
majestic;  the  stone  is  thrown  into  the  sea  (the 
fluod  of  nations),  and  the  fact  of  its  being  a 
m'dldone  may  have  reference  to  the  custom  of 
drowning,  by  means  of  this  weight,  to  which 
cur  Lord  alludes  (Matt,  xviii.6);  thus  remind- 
ing us  of  this  threatened  punishment  to  those 
who  cause  others  to  offend.  Whether  the  fall 
ol  tliii  stone  into  the  sea  denotes  an  earthquake, 
as  in  chap.  xvi.  18,  19,  cannot  be  positively 
Icnuwn,  but  the  still  existent  ruins  of  the  city 
(ver.  2)  would  seem  to  argue  that  it  does  not. 
Enough,  the  great  city  s^tall  no  mm-e  be  found, 
wliicli  means  even  more  thaa  the  parallel  pass- 
age in  Detit.  xrii.  16. 

"And  the  voice  of  harpers,  and  musicians,  ami 
of  ]iptrs,  and  of  trum)ieters,  shall  l)e  heard  no 
vinre  at  all  in  thee  ;  and  no  craftsman,  of  what- 
soivir  craft  he  be,  shall  be  found  any  mm-e  in  thee  ; 
and  /lie  huund  of  a  millstone  shall  be  heard  no  more 
at  all  in  thee  ;  and  the  light  of  a  candle  shall  shine 
iio  mo  eat  ail  in  thee  ;  and  (he  to:ce  of  tlie  bride- 
fji-min  and  of  (he  bride  shall  be  heard  no  more  at 
all  in  thee."  Most  simple,  most  sublime,  most 
poetical  this  rendering  of  the  actual  fact,  in  the 
tone  and  in  the  words  of  ancient  prophecy.  The 
Apostle  John,  in  his  own  human  personality, 
liud  indeed  no  gilt  of  eloquence  equal  to  thi.i, 
but  the  Spirit  now  takes  possession  of  his  mind 
as  a  vessel  o[ien  and  ready  to  receive  it.  The 
ang'l  .=eenis  etiU  to  see  and  hear,  while  the 
tlone  is  falling,  the  many-sounding  capital  of 
the  world  ;  addresses  once  more  the  city  no  more 
found  in  words  of  terrible  wailing,  as  we  might 
address  a  corpse,  whose  life  and  activity  were 
over;  rcneats  the  cry  no  more  in  five  separate 
forms.  Let  this  passage  be  compared  with  Isa. 
xxiv.  8;  Jer.  vii.  34 ;  xvi.  9;  xxv.  10;  Ezek. 
xxvi.  13.  Not  only  the  sound  of  harp  and 
Bong,  flute  and  trumpet,  but  even  the  low  grind- 
ing of  the  millstone  (hand-mills  were  at  that 
time  used)  would  be  over,  as  well  as  the  light 
of  a  candle,  necessary  for  the  lowest  domestic 
avocation,  put  out !  All  is  silent,  all  is  extinct ! 
From  the  loudest  tone  of  pleasure,  to  the  low- 
est, all  are  included.  Even  the  silent  work  of 
the  craft.sniun  mu.-^t  end,  the  little  ray  of  his 
fciiiglo  candle  be  quenched.     lu  Jeremiah  the 


voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  of  the  bride  seems 
associated  with  festal  voices  of  mirth  and  glad- 
ness, but  here  it  seems  to  die  down  to  a  mourn- 
ful murmur.  All  other  sounds  are  over;  now 
there  is  no  little  spot  left,  no  spot  however  dark 
(for  all  lights  are  quenched),  where  one  loving 
pair  even  may  whisper  their  farewell  any  more; 
that  faint  sound,  as  well  as  the  voice  of  musi- 
cians, shall  be  heard  in  her  no  more ;  a  fit  close 
to  the  sorrowful  beginning  ! 

And  now  we  have  the  guilt  that  has  called 
down  such  a  sentence  again  introduced,  as  in 
ver.  5,  by  the  significant /or.  "  For  thy  mer- 
chants were  the  princes  of  the  earth  ;  for  by  tliy 
sorceries  (oh,  great  hall  of  enchantment)  jr<;re  all 
nations  deceived!"  The  Romish  Babylon  in 
her  early  state,  still  more  in  her  latest,  is  full 
of  art,  pleasure,  trade,  and  traffic  !  There  may 
be  an  allusion  here  to  the  spiritual  traffickers 

I  in  church  wares  of  every  kind  (relics,  indulg- 
ences), but  there  is  also  a  literal  exactness. 
According  to  Isa.  xxii.  8,  the  merchants  of  Tyre 

'  were  princes,  and  her  traders  nobles  of  the  land, 
and  with  a  kind  of  play  on  that  fact,  it  is  here 
even  more  strongly  stated,  the  princes  of  the 
earth  were  at  the  same  time  thy  merchants. 
Thus  kings  and  merchants  are  classed  together 
as  in  ver.  3;  whereas  in  vers.  9  and  11,  they 
are  only  named  in  close  succession.  Finally, 
the  spiritual  unchastity  is  here  spoken  of  as 
sorcery,  sorceries  (compare  chap.  ix.  21)  in  re- 
membrance of  Jezebel,  that  early  type  (chap, 
ii.  20),  of  who.se  great  enchantments  and  whore- 
doms we  read  in  2  Kings  ix.  22. 

"  And  in  her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets, 
and  of  saints,  and  of  all  llutt  were  slain  vpon  the 
earth."  This  is  the  last,  the  most  fearful  por- 
tion of  the  funeral  song  over  the  condemned  and 
annihilated  city!  The  angel  addresses  her  no 
more  ;  his  words  now  resounds  over  her  !  Som* 
she  misled  and  intoxicated,  others  she  perse- 
cuted and  slew.  We  read  of  the  blood  of  the 
saints  in  chap.  xvii.  6,  Now  it  is,  found  in  her 
as  blood-guiltiness,  discovered,  fearfully  aveng- 
ed;  as  it  was  written  in  Ezek.  xxiv.  8,  of  Je- 
rusalem ;  Jer.  ii.  34,  of  Israel ;  Jer.  !i.  35,  of 
Babylon.  Yea,  in  like  manner,  as  the  Lord 
spoke  of  Jerusalem  (Malt,  xxiii.  35),  so  in  this 
case  all  the  murders,  all  blood-guiltiness  what- 
ever on  earth,  shall  be  required  of  this  great 
Babylon. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
The  Angel  Refusing  to  be  WoKsnirPED. 

i     ReVELATIOM    XIX. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  apparent  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  to  whom  the  different  voices,  in 
this  chapter,  belong,  whether  to  angels,  or  to 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  or  to  a  still 
higher  source;  but  with  careful  consideration 
we  shall  be  able  to  solve  this  difficulty.  The 
connection  between  it  and  the  preceding  chapter 


THE  ANGEL  REFUSING  TO  BE  WORSHIPPED. 


67 


is  especially  clear.  As  Herder  has  obesrved, 
after  tlie  very  last  and  lightest  sound  in  great 
Babylon  has  been  hushed :  "  All  around  and 
above  her  there  is  a  silence  like  that  of  the 
grave,  she  has  sunk  out  of  sight  and  is  no  more 
found,  though  her  smoke  ascends  forever ;  the 
song  of  lamentation  dies  away,  a  heavenly 
strain  of  triumph  is  heard."  According  to  the 
behest  of  the  angel  (xviii.  20),  heaven  rejoices 
over  her,  that  is  to  say,  the  avenged  saints  in 
heaven.  Thus  the  much  people  whose  great  voice 
we  hear  (xix.  1-3),  are  (as,  indeed,  ver.  2  fur- 
ther proves)  the  same  who  cried  for  judgment 
in  chap.  vi.  9,  10;  and,  finally,  the  same  who 
are  named  (xviii.  24)  as  those  whose  blood  was 
found  in  Babylon  ;  with  which  accords  also,  in 
a  general  way,  chap.  xi.  15.  This  is  the  only 
place  in  the  whole  New  Testament  where  the 
solemn  hallelujah  occurs  (but  here  it  occurs 
four  times),  which  we  hear  for  the  first  time  in 
the  Old  Testament,  Psa.  civ.  35,  after  the  dec- 
laration of  the  wicked  being  consumed.  Now 
comes  the  fulfillment  of  chap.  vi.  10,  after 
the  Church  in  heaven,  as  well  as  the  Church 
on  earth,  has  long  cried  in  the  language  of 
Psa.  xciv.,  "  Lord  God,  to  whom  vengeance 
belongeth,  show  thyself  1  "  Now  he  has 
avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants,  according  to 
his  promise  of  old  (Deut.  xxxii.  43).  Another 
hallelujah  rises  from  the  same  multitude  over  the 
just  e/d/7ii7?/of  the  sentence  passed,  the  smoke  of 
the  torment  of  the  ungodly  honoring  God  after 
its  kind,  as  does  the  incense  of  the  praises  of 
the  blest;  nay,  more,  only  they  who  can  sing 
hallelujah  over  it  are  worthy  of  eternal  bless- 
edness !  In  ver.  4,  this  is  confirmed  by  an 
Amen  added  to  the  hallelujah,  spoken  by  the 
four-and-twenty  elders,  and  the  four  beasts, 
who  fall  down  and  worship  togetJier  on  this  oc- 
casion, so  that  tiiese  words  are  not  peculiarly 
the  language  of  angels.  We  have,  indeed,  seen 
the  elders  fall  down  thus  on  two  former  occa- 
ions,  but  is  is  only  here,  and  in  chap.  v.  8,  that 
the  living  ones,  living  creaturus,  or  beasts,  fall 
down  with  them. 

But  whose  is  the  voice  we  meet  with  in  ver. 
5,  the  voice  coming  out  of  the  throne ?  Is  it  that 
of  the  Spirit  piercing  through  the  very  seat  of 
Deity  ?  We,  for  our  part,  do  not  think  so ;  we 
liold,  rather,  that  verses  1-4  contain  the  words 
of  the  blessed  dead,  i.  e.,  the  elders,  together 
with  those  of  the  beasts,  v/hereas  ver.  5  is 
spoken  only  by  the  four  living  creatures  that 
bear  up  the  throne  ;  and  lastly,  tliat  ver.  6  in- 
cludes the  whole  multitude  of  all  God's  servants 
in  heaven,  answering  the  call  made  upon  them 
by  ver.  5  to  praise  God,  by  a  voice  like  that  of 
the  many  waters  of  earth  and  the  thunders  of 
heaven,  bursting  out  into  a  fourth  grand  and 
united  JLillebijah!  To  which  is  immediately 
joined  (ver.  7)  the  further  announcement  that 
the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  another 
cause  for  the  universal  gladness  and  rejoicing 
ot  heaven.  Tiie  mystic  Babylon  thus  made 
place  for  tiie  true  bride,  the  wife  who  has  made 
lirt-self  ready  !  And  now  we  have  in  ver.  8 
John's  ovvifwords,  describing  what,  he  actually 


himself  saw  and  understood,  ana  could  explain 
to  his  readers,  the  fine  linen,  white  and  clean, 
the  pure,  shining,  priestly  apparel,  in  contrast 
to  the  blood-red  vesture  of  the  condemmed 
harlot. 

Thus,  then,  all  appears  to  be  intelligible,  and 
we  come  to  the  ninth  verse,  where,  for  the  first 
time  in  this  chapter,  we  have  the  voice  of  an 
angel,  whose  words  are  introduced  by  the  inde- 
finite but  frequently  occurring  phrase,  "and  he 
saith  unto  me."  Many  have  considered  that 
this  was  the  same  angel  whom  we  saw  come 
down  from  heaven  (xviii.  1),  but  his  office  evi- 
dently ended  with  the  judgment  of  Babylon, 
and  we  hold  it  more  probably  that  it  is  the  one 
described  in  chap.  xvii.  as  one  of  the  seven, 
who  now  proceeds  to  say,  "  Write,  Blessed  (are) 
tliey  who  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb."  And  with  the  emphasis  of  a  fresh  be- 
ginning, "he  saith  unto"  John  again,  "  These 
are  the  true  sayings  of  0>d."  The  repeated  in- 
struction to  write  was  necessary  for  the  wholly 
entranced  seer,  wholly  participating  and  ab- 
sorbed as  he  must  have  been  in  the  marriage 
gladness  of  heaven.  Accordingly,  the  dictation 
of  a  lofty  speech  is  prefaced  by  this  Write,  just 
as  in  chap.  xiv.  13  the  same  ascription  of  bless- 
edness to  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  was  to  bo 
written  down.  But  we  cannot  think  that  this 
passage  is  to  be  understood  as  the  antithesis  to 
the  other,  as  referring  to  the  blessedness  of 
those  who  are  found  alive  at  Christ's  coming, 
in  contradistinction  to  that  of  the  dead  who 
died  before  it,  for  hath  are  alike  called  to  the 
marriage  (1  Thess.  iv.  15),  both  are  to  be  tlvie. 
The  called  mean  the  invited,  that  is,  the  wed- 
ding-guests, so  that  we  see  the  guests  and  iho 
bride  are  one.  Here,  as  in  chap.  xvii.  14,  wo 
have  it  implied  that  these  called  were  not  called 
in  vain,  but  that  they  obeyed  the  call,  were 
called  and  chosen  and /aithful.  But  we  have 
also  a  general  encouragement  and  exhortation 
contained  in  this  reference  to  the  univer.sality 
of  this  call.  The  wedding  proclaimed  in  ver. 
7  is  indeed  only  actually  to  take  place,  chap, 
xxi.  2,  but  after  the  decisive  victory  over  Baby- 
lon, the  glad  event  is  so  much  nearer  that  it  is 
spoken  of  as  at  hand,  as  already  come,  for  so, 
indeed,  in  a  certain  sense,  it  is  brought  before 
the  eyes  of  those  invited  by  the  very  first  call 
they  hear.  0  that  we  had  more  faith  in  tho 
truth  of  God's  words,  so  that  we  might  by 
anticipation  enjoy  their  certain  fulfillment  more 
than  we  do  !  To  this  the  angel  exhorts  us  ex- 
pressly, by  this  assertion,  "  These  are  the  Irm 
sayings  of  Ood."  We  have  here  an  almost  cer- 
tain proof  that  it  is  the  angel  of  chap.  xvii.  who 
is  speaking  here,  for  these  words  sound  like  an 
echo  of  those  he  made  use  of  in  ver.  l7,  "  until 
the  tcords  of  God  ihall  he  fulfilled,"  with  which 
we  may  compare  the  alter  assertion  of  the  in- 
termediate speaker  in  chap.  xxi.  5.  These  say- 
ings of  God  which  are  to  be  fulfilled,  mean  hero 
(as  in  chap,  xvii.,  though  witli  a  slight  difi'er- 
ence)  not  only,  though  primarily,  the  proinisei 
through  which  we  are  called,  invited,  and  en- 
couraged.    The  judgment  and  coudeumat/on 


THE  ANGEL  KEFUSING  TO  BE  WORSHIPPED 


of  nnblest  souls  are  also  inevitably  included, 
but  llie  tiue  end  and  aim  of  the  whole  purpose 
of  God  is  joy,  holiness,  happiness  forever. 

John  now  falls  down  at  the  feet  of  the  angel 
to  worship  him.  Some  commentators  have 
singularly  enough  supposed  that  John  was 
under  tlie  impression  that  this  was  the  close  of 
the  Revelation,  and  thus  desired  reverentially 
to  return  thanks  and  take  his  departure.  But 
no  ;  he  must  have  known  how  much  of  judg- 
ment and  glory  still  lay  behind.  Auberlen's 
suggestion  deserves  more  attention  when  he 
attributes  to  the  seer  at  this  juncture  a  quite 
overwhelming  emotion.  "This  outward  ex- 
pression of  a  spirit  deeply  moved,  is  a  charac- 
teristic contrast  to  the  great  wonder  that  John 
had  evinced  (xvii.  6).  When  the  destiny  of 
God's  Church  is  concerned,  the  seer  cannot 
withhold  his  intense  sympathy,  he  wonders 
with  profound  amazement  at  her  deep  fall,  he 
worships  at  the  tidings  of  her  future  glory."  To 
which  we  might  add,  with  somewhat  more  pre- 
cision, that  the  childlike  spirit  of  John  must 
have  been  even  more  penetrated  with  joy,  by 
the  certainty  that  he  himself  was  one  of  the 
called,  than  by  the  announcement  of  the  glory 
of  the  Church  as  a  whole.  As  though  the 
blessed  fact — though  indeed  known  long  ago — 
now  burst  upon  him  for  the  first  time  in  all  its 
magnitude,  he  is  ready  to  worship  the  angel 
who  confirms  it;  in  the  same  way — let  us^be 
permitted  the  homely  simile — as  a  child  long 
absent  from  his  father's  house,  might  kiss  the 
hands  of  one  of  his  father's  servants  who  came 
commissioned  to  convoy  him  home. 

But  the  angel  rejects  his  worship,  and  says, 
*' See  (thou  do  it)  not!  lam  thy  fdlow-servant, 
and  of  Lhy  brethren  that  have  the  testimony  of  Je- 
im :  wm-ship  God."  In  the  same  manner  that 
we  find  Peter  refusing  to  allow  in  Cornelius  the 
prostration  which  had  been  customary  in  east- 
ern countries,  because  it  was  no  longer  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  new  dignity  and  liberty  of 
Christianity  conferred,  we  find  the  angel  who 
converses  with  John  twice  reminding  him 
(here  and  in  chap,  xxii.)  that  in  the  presence 
of  angels,  man,  the  worshipper  of  God  alone, 
was  to  be  conscious  of  his  own  dignity  as  their 
fellow-creature  and  fellow-servant.  Nay,  the 
actual  wording  of  the  passage  implies  even 
more;  not  thou  art  my  lellow-servant,  but/ 
am  thine.  This  reminds  us  of  ver.  5,  "Praise 
our  God,  all  ye  his  servants."  Let  it  be  ob- 
served that  the  angel  very  wisely  avoids  say- 
ing, I  am  thy  brother,  for  these  heavenly  ser- 
vants are  not  the  children  of  God  in  the  same 
full  sense  that  we  men  are,  and  also  their  dif- 
ference of  nature  forbids  that  fraternal  relation- 
ship which  one  human  being  bears  to  the  other. 
The  precision  of  this  scriptural  language  is 
otten  improperly  overlooked  and  passed  over. 
"Thy  fellow  servant,  and  of  thy  brethren;" 
this,  no  doubt,  means  all  human  beings  that 
Berve  and  worship  God,  but  refers  here  more 
especially  to  believers  in  Jesus,  disciples  such 
as  John  himself.  We  shall  see  [)resently  what 
ia  meant  by  the  testimony  of  Jesus;  but  we 


must  here  observe  that  the  angel's  address  is 
equivalent  to  saying,  "  I  also,  as  thou  and  all 
those  like-minded  with  thee,  only  testify  of  Je- 
sus," which  was  indeed  the  especial  office  of  the 
heavenly  fellow-servant  on  this  occasion.  Wor- 
ship Ood  alone  I  And  truly  this  fundamental, 
this  earliest  lesson  that  we  learn  as  children  in 
our  catechism,  is  one  that  we  need  to  have  re- 
peatedly recalled  to  us  all  our  lives  long,  lest 
in  our  thoughtlessness  or  precipitation  we 
practically  forget  it.  More  especially  in  the 
last  times,  when  the  last  assembling  of  the 
guests  called  to  the  wedding  takes  place,  there 
is  need  for  peculiar  stress  being  laid  on  this 
great  truth  (as  in  chap.  xiv.  7,  at  the  proclaim- 
ing of  the  everlasting  Gospel)  in  opposition  to 
the  teaching  of  them  who  worship  the  beast 
and  demons,  and  the  work  of  men  s  hands  (ix. 
20).  This  warning  to  the  seer  is  given  for  our 
learning. 

The  additional  explanatory  clause  that  fol- 
lows is  written  by  John,  not  spoken  by  the  an- 
gel :  For  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  which  is  a  parallel  passage  to  the  in- 
tercalation by  hiiu  in  ver.  8.  According  to 
chap.  vi.  9,  and  xii.  17  (a  similar  idea  being 
also  conveyed,  chap.  xx.  4),  this  testimony  of 
Jesus  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  prophets, 
but  equally  attributed  to  all  believers  who  have 
borne  witness  to  Jesus  by  suffering  and  death 
for  his  sake.  And  now  here  we  have  the  tes- 
timony defined  as  the  spirit  of  prophecy! 
How  can  this  be?  Are  all  evangelists,  wit- 
nesss,  and  confessors  prophets  too  ?  The  in- 
quiry is  natural,  but  the  answer  too  is  evident 
enough,  and  has  been  given  long  ago  by  our 
best  commentators.  Von  Meyer,  for  instance, 
writes:  "  In  order  that  we  may  not  doubt  that 
all  true  Christians  are  granted  some  share  of  a 
holy  and  divine  insight,  be  it  ever  so  weak  and 
clouded,  we  are  expressly  told  that  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus  is  (in  itself)  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy." This  does  not,  indeed,  mean  that  we  are 
all  actual  prophets,  gifted  with  an  unerring 
faculty  of  prediction,  but  that  the  Spirit  will 
open  out  for  us  the  meaning  of  already  exist- 
ing prophecies,  in  so  lar  as  we  require  to  know 
it ;  always,  at  all  events,  with  regard  to  their 
fundamental  idea  and  main  application,  with- 
out which  degree  of  understanding  there  can 
be  no  faith,  properly  so  called,  in  God's  word. 
And  in  the  latter  days,  this  is  to  hold  good, 
especially  with  regard  to  the  prophecies  of  the 
Apocalypse.  "The  spirit  of  understanding  of 
these  will  afford  the  children  of  God  a  comfort- 
able evidence  of  their  belonging  to  Jesus" 
(Ebrard).  But  more  than  this,  it  may  be  said, 
that  he  who  can  understand  and  expound  pro- 
phecy virtually  prophesies  himself;  having  the 
indwelling  light  of  God's  word  in  his  heart,  and 
seeing  alike  present  and  future  things  in  this 
light.  The  testimony  of  Jesus  is,  as  Hamann 
well  observes,  "  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  his 
heavenly  faculty  of  vision,  not  the  polity  of 
the  beast  and  the  scarlet  woman,  nor  mero 
scholastic  and  critical  learning."  And  thus  we 
are  not  only  fellow-workers,  but  on  an  equal- 


THE  GREAT  VOICE  OUT  OF  HEAVEN. 


69 


tty  with  angels,  who  have  a  commission  to  un- 
fold the  future  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
inasmuch  as  we,  through  our  Lord  Jesus,  by 
means  of  faith,  regeneration,  and  heavenly  illu- 
mination of  the  Spirit,  have  positively  a  cer- 
tain spirit  of  prophecy  with  regard  to  these 
subjects.  Lastly,  in  order  thoroughly  to  ap- 
preciate the  truth  of  this  saying,  in  which  John 
modestly  enrolls  himself  amidst  the  rest  of  the 
brethren,  we  must  invert  it,  and  read,  "  The 
spirit  of  pro))hei-y  is  the  witness  of  Jesas."  This 
is  what  Harnann  does,  and  he  then  proceeds  to 
observe  :  "  This  rule  serves  as  corner-stone  to 
the  whole  of  Scripture,  and  must  be  the  touch- 
stone of  all  expositors."  Yea,  verily,  the  whole 
mystery  of  God,  which  he  has  made  known  to 
his  servants  the  prophets,  is  grounded  on,  and 
fulfilled  in  the  person  and  kingdom  of  Jesus,  it 
has  for  its  final  goal  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  ; 
and,  accordingly,  the  very  least  Christian,  to 
whose  heart  witness  is  so  borne  to  Jesus  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  he,  on  his  part,  can  also  bear 
witness  to  hira,  has  more  of  the  understanding, 
light,  power,  and  spirit  of  prophecy  in  him, 
than  all  those  learned  ones,  who  are  learned 
merely  in  the  letter  of  the  Bible. 


CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

The  Angel  in    the  Sun   SuMMONiNa  the 
Birds  to  the  Great  Supper. 

Revelation  xix. 

The  book  of  Revelation  unfolds  to  us  a 
three-fold  judgment — that  of  Babylon,  of  the 
beast  with  the  false  prophet,  and  of  Satan.  The 
second  of  these  judgments  will  be  executed,  ac- 
cording to  2  Thess.  ii.  8,  by  the  immediate  power 
of  the  Lord  himself  coming  as  conqueror,  which 
appearance  (vers.  11-16) — his  so-called  second 
coming — will  occupy  a  middle  position  between 
his  first  coming  as  the  man  of  sorrows  and  his 
last  coming  to  judgment — a  truth  that  we  have 
now  more  plainly  revealed  than  heretofore,  but 
on  which  the  plan  of  our  present  book  does  not 
permit  us  to  dwell.  Visible  in  his  majesty, 
and  accompanied  by  all  the  armies  of  heaven, 
the  Lord  iiimself  now  actually  appears  to  John, 
in  token  that  this  vision  approaches  more  ex- 
actly to  reality  than  has  hitherto  been  the  case. 
The  final  defeat  of  Antichrist  and  his  armies 
is,  no  doubt,  in  a  measure  effected  by  both  heav- 
enly and  earthly  instruments  of  the  divine 
will;  but  it  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
Lord's  appearing,  to  the  sharp  sword  that  goeth 
out  of  his  mouth,  i.  e.,  to  the  rapidly  executed 
word  of  his  power. 

Hut  before  the  groat  slaughter  that  lays  the 
hosts  of  Antichrist  low,  we  have,  in  a  typical 
vision,  an  invitation  to  supper  given  to  a 
strange  and  ghastly  company  of  guests,  in  ver- 
bal conformity  with  the  prophecy  in  Zeph.  i.  7  : 
"  The  Lord  Jaath  prepared  a  Facrifice  ;  he  hath 
bid  his  gaesta."     John  now  sees  an  angel  stand- 


ing in  the  sun  ;  that  is,  with  the  brightest  glory 
imaginable  (greater  even  than  the  glory  de- 
scribed in  xviii.  1),  proclaiming  his  great  mess- 
age all  over  heaven,  and  crying  to  all  the  fowls 
that  fly  in  its  midst :  "  Come  and  gather  your' 
selves  together  unto  the  tupper  of  the  great  God  ; 
that  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings  and  tliefcsh  of 
captains,  and  the  fksh  of  mighty  men  and  the 
fiesh  of  hQrses,  and  of  them  that  sit  on  them,  and 
the  flesh  of  all  men,  free  and  bound,  both  small 
and  great."  The  giving  the  flesh  of  the  con- 
quered to  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  the  beasts  of 
the  land,  is  an  ancient  form  of  speech  that  very 
often  occurs  in  Scripture.  (See  Deut.  xxviii. 
26  ;  1  Sam.  xvii.  44  ;  Jer.  vii.  33  ;  also  Jer.  xii. 
9,  properly  rendered.)  But  the  angel's  cry 
resembles  more  especially  the  expression  used 
by  Ezek.  xxxix.  4,  17-20,  from  which  we  have 
another  quotation  in  Rev.  xx.  8.  The  whole 
passage  in  the  old  prophet,  no  doubt,  has  an 
ultimate  reference  to  Antichrist,  inasmuch  as 
all  judgments  prophetically  mirror  each  other ; 
but  it  is  here  much  abbreviated,  and  yet  there 
is  an  addition  made  to  it,  i.  e.,  the  enumeration 
of  free  and  bond,  small  and  great,  in  allusion 
to  chap,  xiii,  16,  as  well  as  vi.  15. 

But  the  most  striking  new  feature  here,  is 
the  appalling  expression,  the  great  supper  of 
God,  in  fearful  contrast  to  the  marriage  supper 
of  the  Lamb.  "  It  is  a  sad  necessity,"  says 
Herder;  "  first  an  impure  feast  of  birds,  before 
the  pure  and  glad  least  of  the  bride  of  the 
Lamb  can  take  place."  This  is  the  treading 
out  of  the  vine  of  the  earth,  this  is  the  great 
battle  of  Armageddon  (xvi.  16).  The  birds 
may  typify  the  angels  of  wrath  and  judgment 
like  that  eagle  which  we  have  before  heard 
croak  out  his  three-fold  woe,  or  perhaps  swarms 
of  barbarians,  or  more  probably  the  expression 
has  an  actual  reference  to  birds  of  prey  as  well, 
who  will  here  eat  flesh  for  the  last  time  before 
the  thousand  years  come,  when  all  creation 
shall  be  made  new.  Thus  the  kings  of  the 
earth  and  their  armies,  great  as  their  gathering 
round  the  beast  have  been,  to  make  war  with 
him  against  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords, 
against  the  Lamb  whose  supper  and  whose  love 
they  have  despised,  will  now  experience  the 
wrath  of  that  same  Lamb,  will  form  a  supper 
or  banquet  to  vultures  and  other  carnivorous 
birds,  who  will  sate  themselves  with  their  flesh, 
"  while  their  souls  are  the  sport  and  prey  of 
evil  spirits."  For  although  this  last  fact  is  not 
expressly  declared,  it  looms  darkly  in  the  back- 
ground of  this  terribly  significant  picture. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Great  Voice  out  op  Heaven  • 

Revelation  xxi. 

Throughout  the  twentieth  chapter  the  pro- 
phetic vision  of  future  events  is  seen,  described, 
and  written  down  by  the  seer  himself.     No 


70 


THE  GREAT  VOICE  OUT  OF  HEAVEN. 


other  voice,  no  words  of  the  angels  are  heard  ; 
it  is  true  that  an  angel  does  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  a  great  chain  destined  for  Satan  in  his 
hand ;  but  Salan  is  bound  before  the  eyes  of 
Jolin,  and  cast  into  the  abyss  without  an  au- 
dible word.  The  earthly  instruments  of  the 
vvoat  adversary  having  all  been  done  away 
with,  the  last  triumph  over  the  devil, alone  and 
powerless  now,  is  easier  than  any  former,  as  is 
very  evident.  After  the  thousand  years  are 
over,  he  is  to  be  loosed  out  of  prison  again  to 
deceive  the  nations,  but  there  are  no  explana- 
tory details  vouchsafed  respecting  the  last  con- 
flict and  last  victory.  Only  we  read  at  its 
close,  of  eternal  torment  for  Satan  and  all  his 
angels ;  of  the  last  judgment  of  all  the  dead ;  of 
the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth.  The  mil- 
lennial reign,  and  the  final  and  eternal  glory, 
which,  in  the  last  chapters,  are  treated  of  to- 
pether,  are  here  spoken  of  as  separate  epochs. 
Chapters  xxi.,  xxii.  speak  only  of  the  completely 
new  and  eternal  lad  dispensation  ;  of  all  that 
went  belore  it  is  said,  Jt  is  done  !  The  new  earth, 
one  with  the  new  heaven,  has  instead  of  its  van- 
ished sea,  the  stream  of  living  water  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb. 

Here  then  our  feeble  exposition  would  will- 
ingly give  place  altogether  to  the  simple  sub- 
limity and  unfathomable  profundity  of  the 
words  of  the  holy  text  itself,  but  still  we  are 
bound,  in  so  far  as  we  are  able,  to  continue  it 
to  the  end.  After  John's  vision,  and  vision 
only,  in  chap.  xxi.  3,  we  once  more  hear  a  great 
vuice  out  uj  heaven,  or  as  it  might  perhaps  be 
even  more  correctly  rendered,  out  of  the  throne 
^as  in  vi.  6  ;  xvi.  1  ;  xix.  5).  That  it  cannot 
be  the  voice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  himself  is  made 
clear  by  ver.  5,  which  introduces  him  that  sat 
oil  the  throne  as  beginning  to  speak.  Neither 
can  it  be  the  voice  of  the  blessed  dead,  who  are 
now  inhabitants  of  the  holy  city,  for  there  is 
reference  made  as  from  above  to  the  tabernacle 
of  God  with  men,  and  also  it  is  said,  "  God  shall 
be  toith  them,  shall  be  their  God."  Shall  we 
abstain  entirely  from  pronouncing  on  the  na- 
ture of  this  voice,  as  we  did  with  reference  to 
those  in  chap.  vi.  6?  Not  so,  for  we  believe 
that  wo  have  here  another  angelic  utterance 
though  whether  it  be  that  of  one  or  more 
angels  we  must  not  venture  to  decide.  The 
voice  utters  most  inexpressibly  glorious  words, 
rising  even  higher  than  vers.  1,  2;  discovering 
proiouiKlcr  depths  ;  still  more  clearly  connect- 
ing the  end  ot  God's  ways  with  the  beginning 
of  his  gracious  purpose.  Here  is  their  first 
clause  :  "  Bjhold,  the  tabcrnac'e  oj  Ood  sluiU  he 
irith  men,  and  lie  will  dicell  with  them,  and  Ood 
hiiii'ielf  Khali  lie  icilh  tliem,  their  God." 

This  is  the  last  (with  its  eternal  emphasis 
surviving  all  the  rest),  the  last  "Behold"  we 
bear  from  angels'  lips.  As  the  New  Jerusalem 
borrows  its  eternal  name  from  its  earthly  and 
typical,  as  a  memorial  of  the  beginning,  so 
also  the  actual  fulfillment,  the  true  tuhernadc, 
the  perfect  temple,  is  hero  not  once  culled  a 


temple ;  nay,  in  ver.  22  it  is  expressly  said, 
that  there  is  no  temple  in  the  city,  because  she 
herself  ia  become  the  tabernacle,  the  Almighty 
God  in  the  person  of  the  Lamb  being  its  Holy 
of  Holies,  to  whom  there  is  constant  access. 
As  early  as  chap.  xiii.  6,  we  meet  with  a  deeply 
significant  sentence  respecting  the  tabernacle 
of  God,  or  his  indwelling  through  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  one  perfected  tabernacle  and  city 
is  something  more  than  the  temple  that  we 
have  hitherto  seen  opened  in  heaven  to  the 
gaze  of  the  seer  as  the  archetype  and  antitype 
of  Israel's  earllily  sanctuary  (Heb.  viii.  2;  ix. 
11-24).  It  is  the  continuing  city  spoken  of 
in  Heb.  xiii.  14 ;  xi.  10-16),  and  more,  the 
habitation  of  God  as  described  under  the  New 
Testament.  Von  Meyer  observes  in  connec- 
tion with  this  subject :  "  Only  when  the  inner 
and  outer  life  perfectly  correspond  will  a  third 
and  complete  dispensation  be  entered  upon. 
In  the  second  dispensation  (the  present  or  New 
Testament  dispensation)  there  is  only  a  spirit- 
ual temple  without  any  external  form  or  come- 
liness, while  on  the  other  hand  that  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  incomparably  costly.  For  its 
external  aspect  typified  the  splendor  of  the 
glorified  temple,  and  its  sacred  services,  the 
spirituality,  grace,  and  truth  of  both  succeeding 
dispensations,  which  are  indeed  essentially  one, 
the  spiritual  influence  of  the  former  being  the 
type  of  the  full  perfection  of  the  latter." 

It  is  to  this  goal  that  all  tends  from  the  very 
beginning.  The  indelible  yearning  for  fellow- 
ship with  God  which  existed  in  man  from  the 
hour  of  his  creation,  and  even  survived  his  fall 
— that  tendency  which  the  lost  criminally  ex- 
tirpated from  their  nature — finds  here  its  satis- 
faction, its  rest,  its  accomplishment.  This  is 
the  spiritual  sense  of  the  measure  of  a  man 
(ver.  17).  Redeemed  humanity  is  not  merely 
a  people — the  one  people  gathered  out  of  all  na- 
tions; but  it  resembles  one  glorified  man  in 
whom  God  dwells.  At  the  same  time,  though 
this  is  meant,  the  expression  used  is  not  in 
them,  but  with  them,  in  order  that  the  last  may 
be  linked  with  the  earlier  prophecies.  How 
many  a  time  throughout  the  whole  Old  Testa- 
ment have  the  words  that  sound  out  here  been 
applied  to  the  dwelling  of  God  with  man  :  he 
their  God  ;  they  his  people  (refer  especially  to 
I'Jxod.  xix.  6  ;  xx.  24  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  12  ;  Jer.  xxiv. 
7;  XXX.  23,  xxxi.  1,  33),  But  it  is  in  the 
prophet  Ezekiel,  above  all,  that  such  expres- 
sions are  found.  Compare  chap,  xxxvii.  27, 
with  xlviii.  35.  AVe  must  not  overlook  the 
New  Testament  echo  (2  Cor.  vi.  16),  which 
refers  to  the  spiritual  fulfillment  of  these  pre- 
cious promises.  But  now,  observe  how  free 
from  all  envy  is  the  joy  in  heaven  over  all  the 
saved,  all  the  found  again,  the  joy  with  which 
the  holy  angles  humbly  proclaim  the  prefer- 
ence given  to  77jen.  It  is  they  who  are  God's 
people,  who  are  God's  dwelling.  In  Rev.  vii. 
15,  we  had  the  expression  (rightly  rendered) 
"  dwell  over  them  ;"  now,  it  is  "  with  them  ;" 
it  is  a  complete  indwelling,  in  which  body  and 
soul  share.     The  glorified  earth  is  the  home  of 


THE  INTERPOSING  VOICE. 


71 


the  great  body  of  saints  who  alone  are  called 
men  now.  The  lost  are  put  out  of  sight,  have 
lost  the  very  name  of  men,  are  in  the  lake  of 
fire  with  devils.  Now  the  holy  name  of  Im- 
manuel  is  indeed  fulfilled.  He  who  bore  it 
will  be  God  with  them,  as  their  God  in  the  full- 
est sense  of  the  word. 

As  yet,  it  has  been  truly  said  by  Zeller, 
"  there  is  no  where  on  earth  a  perfect  people 
of  God,  no  where  on  earth  a  perfect  Church  of 
God  ;  yea,  not  one  single  perfect  man  of  God 
to  be  found  on  the  earth."  Moreover,  we  so 
little  apprehend  the  positive  nature  of  full  com- 
munion with  God,  of  perfect  blessedness  and 
glory,  that  the  heavenly  voice  proceeds  nega- 
tively to  describe  it,  making  it  in  some  meas- 
ure intelligible  to  us  under  the  aspect  of  an 
immunity  from  earthly  woes.  "And  Ood 
ihall  wipe  aicay  all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and 
there  shall  he  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor 
crying  ;  for  the  former  things  have  passed  away." 
In  chap.  vii.  17,  we  had  the  same  melodious 
strain.  The  passage  in  the  old  prophets  most 
closely  resembling  it  are  Isa.  xxv.  8  ;  xxxv.  10  ; 
Ixv.  19.  We  are  also  reminded  of  Psa.  cxxvi. 
5 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  55.  Alas  !  how  many  tears  which 
we  have  no  power  to  wipe  away  for  ourselves 
must  still  be  wept,  before  the  former  things  are 
thus  completely  done  away  with.  Sin  has 
brought  in  death  as  climax  of  all  sorrow ;  grace 
has  conquered  death,  and  swallowed  it  up  in  the 
triumph  of  an  eternal  existence.  If  all  tears 
(literally  and  emphatically  each  tear)  is  to  be  en- 
tirely wiped  away,  the  promise  at  the  same  time 
conveys  a  satisfactory  future  conviction  of  their 
necessity,  their  utility  in  ripening  the  good 
seed  for  the  harvest.  Were  it  not  so,  there 
would  remain  some  sting  of  sadness  in  the  very 
memory  of  sorrow.  But  all  tears  are  to  be 
wiped  away  ;  the  often  spoken  tceep  not  at  length 
has  all  its  divine  power  and  efficiency,  includes 
even  all  tears  of  melancholy  and  of  yearning 
— those  "  tenderest  buds  of  the  tree  of  sorrow." 
The  memory  indeed  remains,  of  the  way  through 
much  tribulation  to  glory ;  but  there  is  no 
longer  any  pain  in  the  memory,  only  the  thanks- 
giving and  praise  and  joy  of  salvation,  only  a 
looking  back  to  the  way,  as  what  indeed  it  ever 
was,  "  a  way  through  a  sea  of  mercies." 

Are  we,  however,  in  opposition  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  word  of  God  on  the  subject,  still 
anxiously  to  surmise  that  at  least  compassion 
and  sorrow  for  the  lost  must  trouble  the  bless- 
edness of  the  blest,  so  long  as  there  still  is  a 
lost  condition  ?  Or  shall  we  be  wise  above 
that  which  is  written,  and  comfort  ourselves 
with  the  idea  of  a  universal  restoration,  as 
many  dear  children  of  God  have  done.  Von 
Meyer,  for  instance,  who  persists  in  that  opin- 
ion, and  writes  with  respect  to  this  passage  ■. 
"  It  is  no  where  said  that  this  lost  estate  is 
the  very  last  of  all."  Rather,  we  hold  that 
throughout  Holy  Scripture  it  is  so  said,  that 
the  actual  end  is  described,  as  well  as  the  act- 
ual beginning.  Even  in  the  Revelation  of 
John  everlasting  misery  is  incontroverlibly  es- 
tablished, especially  in  the  two  last  chapters 


(see  chap.  xxi.  8;  xxii.  15).  But  the  savpj 
will  learn  to  say,  "  Amen,  hallelujah,"  over  the 
judgments  of  God,  when  God  himself  in  al'. 
his  holiness  and  justice  dwells  within  them,  and 
this  great  truth  is  implied  in  the  very  worda 
we  have  beeu  considering. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Inteeposinq  Voice. 

KeVELATIOS  XXI. 

Here  I  nave  only  to  insert  what  I  have  al- 
ready written  elsewhere,  respecting  the  closing 
speech  from  the  throne  (vers.  5-8),  in  order  to 
distinguish  from  ii  the  interposing  voice,  which 
comes  within  my  present  province.  He  who  sit- 
teth  on  the  great  white  throne,  before  whom  the 
earth  and  the  heavens  fled  away  (xx.  11),  the 
Lord  of  glory  himself,  has  begun  to  speak,  his 
words  being  introduced  by  another  6<rAtf/iZ,  which 
explains  the  hehold  of  the  foregoing  great  voice  : 
"  i  have  done  it,  I  do,  I  make,  I  work  all  things 
new."  All!  not  only  the  city,  but  heaven  and 
earth  as  well.  Now,  why  should  John  inter- 
rupt the  high  sayings  of  the  Highest,  mutilate 
them  by  a  twice  recurring  "  Arid  he  said  wito 
me,"  if  the  speech  were  all  one?  We  cannot 
suppose  that  he  would  have  done  this ;  nay, 
the  very  words  themselves  that  form  the  second 
clause  in  ver.  5,  and  which  we  are  about  to 
consider,  do  not  seem  appropriate,  coming  from 
Ilim  who  is  himself  yea  and  amen,  and  who 
has  just  announced  the  final  accomplishment 
of  ail.  Does  it  appear  probable  that  having 
done  this,  he  would  intercalate  here  the  assur- 
ance that  his  words  are  true?  Now,  we  have 
once  before  received  a  similar  assurance  from 
the  mouth  of  an  angel  (xix.  9),  and  we  shall 
again  hear  the  same  for  the  third  time  from  the 
last  angelic  speaker,  in  chap.  xxii.  6.  Nothing 
more  natural,  therefore,  than  that  we  should, 
on  the  present  occasion,  read  and  understand, 
And  he  said  -unto  me  (interposing,  as  it  were), 
he  being  the  angel  whom  we  read  of  in  chap, 
xix.  9,  whom  we  assume  to  have  been  present 
with  John  ever  since,  his  words  being  succeeded 
by  another  utterance  from  the  speaker  on  the 
throne ;  to  whom  John  refers,  when,  in  ver.  6, 
he  writes,  "  And  he  said  unto  me." 

"  Write  !  for  these  words  are  true  and  faith' 
fill;  "  not,  as  some  have  proposed  to  render  it, 
write  that  these  words  are  true  and  faithful,  an 
indeed  the  comparison  of  the  three  parallel  pas- 
sages shows.  And  also  the  repeated  injunction. 
Write  (uttered  by  the  Spirit,  chap.  xiv.  13  ;  and 
by  the  angel,  xix.  9)  stands  out  here  for  the 
third  and  last  time,  with  a  difference  of  expres- 
sion. Whereas  in  chap.  xix.  9  it  was  simply 
said,  "  These  are  the  true  saying  of  God  ;  "  both 
here  and  in  chap.  xxii.  6  we  have  the  phrase  in- 
tensified with  respect  to  the  last  and  highest 
promises  ;  they  are  said  to  be  faithful  (certain, 
worthy  of  all  confidence  and  acceptance)  and 


THE  LAST  ANGELIC  SPEECH, 


true.  0  that  the  faith  of  all  of  us  might  so  lay 
hold  on  their  trulli  as  to  have  ex^erieuce  of 
their  reaiily  1 


CHAPTER  XXXL 

The  Angel  Showing  the  Bbids. 

Revelation  xxi. 

As  an  additional  proof  that  we  have  been 
correct  in  believing  the  saying  in  chap.  xix.  9 
to  be  that  of  the  angel  who  first  appeared  in 
chap.  xvii.  1,  and  has  been  present  ever  since, 
we  nave  the  repeated  description,  "  One  of  the 
seven ;"  and  not  only  so,  but  to  make  it  still 
more  plain  to  our  comprehension,  it  is  added, 
"  Who  had  the  seven  vials /mW  of  the  lait  seven 
plagues."  This  reference  to  the  former  passage 
proves  plainly  that  it  was  the  same  angel,  and 
his  words  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  as- 
Bumption. 

"  Come  hither,  I  will  »hote  fhee  the  Bride,  the 
Lamb's  uife" — "I  will  show  her  thee  more 
closely  and  more  precisely  than  thou  hast  yet 
seen  her;"  for  already,  in  ver.  2,  John  had  not 
only  seen  the  city,  but  recognized  her  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband.  The  very  same  an- 
gel of  wrath  and  judgment  who  showed  the 
great  whore  of  Babylon  now  shows  the  bride. 
As  it  has  been  well  observed,  "The  minister 
of  wrath  is  to  be  a  minister  of  grace  as  well. 
But  eveiy  thing  must  take  place  in  due  order. 
The  bride  cannot  appear  till  the  vials  of  wrath 
have  first  been  poured  out.  The  angel  who 
showed  the  mystic  Babylon  is  also  to  show  the 
bride  ;  the  mystery  of  Christ  cannot  be  known 
unless  the  mystery  of  Antichrist  is  known  also. 
We  must  be  equally  ready  to  receive  truth  of 
every  kind." 

If  the  mystic  Babylon  was  spoken  of  as  a 
woman,  the  woman — with  reference  to  that  cov- 
enant with  the  Lord,  which  she  had  adulter- 
ously  broken— so  now  the  hide,  the  adorned 
and  prepared,  is  already  spoken  of  as  a  wife, 
because  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  was  come 
(xix.  7),  and  also  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  Jewish  law,  which  considered  the  betrothed 
as  actually  married  (Matt.  i.  19,  20  ;  Gen.  xxix. 
21).  In  the  case  of  the  great  harlot,  we  had 
the  vision  of  a  woman  explained  as  a  city ; 
here,  however,  we  have  no  female  semblance 
of  the  bride,  for  the  holy  eity  is  a  brigiit  and 
certain  reality,  which  can  and  ought  to  be  more 
openly  prophesied  than  the  dark  mystery  of 
Babylon.  It  was  in  a  desert  that  the  seer  be- 
held the  latter ;  it  is  from  the  top  of  a  great 
and  high  mountain  that  his  eye  now  rests  upon 
the  New  Jerusalem.  It  has  been  asked  wheth- 
er the  city  of  God  was  actually  itself  on  the 
mountain,  or  whether  it  was  only  beheld  from 
thence;  while  others,  again,  have  chided  the 
question  as  irrelevant  to  such  a  subject,  and  as 
removing  it  out  of  its  holy  and  supernatural, 
to  our  e  very-day  sphere.     As  though  the  prom- 


ised, the  revealed  city  for  which  we  wait,  had 
not  as  actual  an  existence  as  that  of  the  Qev 
heavens  and  new  earth  ! 

We  must  not  merely  spiritualize  the  text, 
■jse  it  as  an  illustration,  say,  as  it  has  been  said, 
"  In  order  to  behold  the  city  of  God  you  must 
elevate  yourself;  you  must  leave  the  mists  of 
the  valley  ;  the  mountain  that  you  must  ascend 
is  that  of  faith."  No  doubt  this  is  a  truth, 
but  to  such  a  question  as  that  proposed  we  pre- 
fer to  answer  that  the  primary  meaning  of  the 
passage  seems  indeed  to  be  that  John  was  raised 
on  the  great  mountain  in  order  to  look  into  the 
holy  city,  not  merely  to  have  it  spread  out  be- 
fore him  ;  but  beneath  this  statement  there  is 
also  another  fact — which  w^e  cannot  indeed  de- 
duce solely  from  the  use  of  the  word  mountain 
in  this  place,  but  from  many  other  passages  in 
Scripture,  as  well  as  from  the  cubic  measure- 
ment, in  ver.  16,  of  the  city — the  fact,  namely 
that  the  city,  rising  as  it  does  from  earth  given 
to  heaven,  uniting  both,  must  be  a  city  set  on  a 
hill,  resembling  its  type,  the  hill  of  Zion.  And 
indeed,  in  Ezekiel  xl.  2,  of  which  we  are  here  re- 
minded, not  only  by  the  mention  of  the  moun- 
tain but  the  measuring-reed,  we  have  it  very 
positively  stated  that  the  "  frame  of  the  city  " 
was  set  upon  a  very  high  mountain.  All  that 
follows  however — regarding  which  it  is  only 
once  said  in  ver.  22,  I  saw,  and  in  chap  xxii.  1, 
/le showed  me,  &s  well  as  the  hint  in  chap.  xxi.  15, 
that  the  angel  who  showed  &ho  talked  wUh  John, 
explaining  or  visibly  bringing  before  him — all 
this  refers  to  the  last,  the  eternal  tabernacle  of 
God  with  men,  and  no  longer  to  the  Jerusalem 
of  the  millennial  reign  (chap.  xx.  9  having 
quite  a  different  meaning  fro.m  chap.  xxi.  2). 
But  it  is  quite  consistent  with  this  view  to  sup- 
pose that  the  earthly  New  Jerusalem,  as  the  last 
type,  may  have,  though  in  a  less  degree,  many 
of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  Eternal 
City. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

The  Last  Angelic  SpEEcn. 

Revelation  xxii. 

Properly  speaking,  this  closing  chapter 
should  begin  with  ver.  6.  The  angel  who  now 
addresses  John  is  the  one  who  had,  in  the 
former  chapter,  and  in  chap.  xix.  9,  asserted 
the  truth  and  faithfulness  of  the  words  of  God. 
This  assertion  he  here  repeats  for  the  third 
time.  To  what  words,  it  may  be  inquired, 
does  this  angel  refer?  In  the  first  place,  no 
doubt,  the  reference  is  to  what  John  has  seen, 
and  been  commanded  to  write,  concerning  the 
marriage  of  the  Lamb,  the  new  heaven  and 
the  new  earth,  and  the  glory  of  the  eternal 
city.  But  this  is  not  all ;  we  have  a  final  dec- 
laration made  here  of  the  truth  and  faithful- 
ness of  the  whoh  look,  of  all  the  Revelation  of 
John,  which,  in  spite  of  the  dotibt  and  oppo- 
sition that  of  late  have  increasingly  assailed 


THE  LAST  ANGELIC  SPEECH. 


73 


the  Christian's  faith  on  this  head,  certifies  to 
Qs  its  divine  origin.  Harms,  preaching  on  the 
ilose  of  this  book,  observes,  "  Here  and  there 
it  always  has  been  and  still  is  the  means  of 
awaking  some  hitherto  careless  soul,  who,  be- 
ing attracted  by  certain  words  of  incontestable 
value  and  beauty,  says  to  himself,  "  Since  I  find 
this  there,  all  the  rest,  proceeding  as  it  does 
form  the  same  source,  must  also  be  true,  for 
truth  and  falsehood  cannot  go  together.'  " 

The  general  nature  of  the  expression  here 
used  by  the  angel,  "  these  sayings,"  is  in  harmo- 
ny with  his  first  assertion  (xix.  9,  "the  true 
sayings  of  God  "),  and  further  enforced  by  his 
now  going  on  to  say  :  "  And  the  Lord  God  of 
the  holy  prophets  sent  his  angel  to  show  unto  his 
servants  the  things  tchich  must  shoi  tly  he  done." 
We  find  Moses  describing  the  Almighty  as  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh  (Numb, 
xxvii.  16;  xvi.  22;  compare  Job  xii.  10). 
Here  we  have  a  more  restricted  and  exalted 
description,  referring  to  the  manifestation  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  prophets.  For  al- 
though the  same  Spirit  dwells  and  works  in 
them  all  (1  Pet.  i.  II ;  2  Pet.  i.  21),  yet  in  the 
same  way  as  the  breath  of  God  individualizes 
itself  in  "the  persons  and  spirits  of  humanity 
at  I,arge,  so  we  read  of  separate  and  various 
spirits  of  the  prophets  (1  Cor.  xiv.  32).  Again, 
in  this  comprehensive  conclusion  of  the  whole 
book,  we  have  another  and  clearer  proof  af- 
forded us  of  what  had  already  been  brought 
forward,  in  what  we  called  the  general  quota 
tion,  in  chap.  x.  7.  We  are  taught  that  in 
these  words,  "  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this 
■  look"  (vers.  7,  10),  God  has  comprehended  all 
former  prophecies,  has  united  all  l^e  spirits  of 
the  old  prophets  in  this  latest,  this  final  utter- 
ance. In  testifying  this  great  truth,  the  angel 
verbally  refers  to  the  expression  at  the  com- 
mencement (chap.  i.  1),  or  rather  John,  who 
only  began  to  write  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
vision  seen  and  voices  heard,  borrowed  that 
expression  from  these  last  angelic  words.  Nor 
does  it  necessarily  follow  that  the  angel  sent  by 
God  was  actually  the  angel  speaking  at  the 
time  (one  of  the  seven),  who,  in  this  case, 
would  be  speaking  of  himself.  Had  this  been 
the  case,  it  is  most  natural  to  conclude  that  he 
would  have  simply  said,  "  The  Lord  God  sent 
me."  The  other  explanation  which  we  would 
attach  to  the  angel  especially  named  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  i.  e.,  the  message,  the  an- 
nouncement, appearance,  and  revelation  of  the 
Lord,  agree?  well  with  the  tenor  of  the  sen- 
tence. One  of  the  personal  angeXs,  in  speaking, 
designedly  uses  this  distinguishing  word,  his, 
to  teach  us  the  difference  between  himself  and 
"  this  angel  "  of  the  Lord  God.  "  To  show  unto 
his  servanls."  In  a  general  sense,  these  are  all 
the  brothers  and  fellow-prophets  with  John,  who 
are  enlighented  by  means  of  this  prophecy,  and 
themselves  prophesying,  or  having  a  clear  in- 
sight into  what  is  shortly  to  come  to  pass, 
shortly  to  be  dotie,  as  we  read  in  the  very  first 
verse  of  this  book. 
"  Shortly^'  this  isto  be  understood  like  the 


words,  "  I  come  quieMy,"  and  that  ofhf r  expres- 
sion, "  The  time  is  a<  Aan'i,"  according  to  the 
prophetic  standard,  and  the  prophetic  sight. 
All  that  is  to  come,  will  come—all  events  or- 
dained to  come  to  pass  will  rapidly  follow  each 
other  in  their  necessary  sequence  of  cause  and 
eflfeci;.  Very  rapid  indeed  is  the  course  of  time 
to  the  mind  of  the  seer,  fixed,  as  it  is,  on  the 
revealed  horizon  of  eternity. 

In  the  opinion  of  many,  it  is  the  same  angel 
who  goes  on  speaking  in  ver.  7,  i.  e.,  says  in 
the  name  of  Jcsus,  "Behold,  I  come  quickly." 
But  we  must  repeat  our  former  explanation, 
and  point  to  the  frequent  change  of  persons  and 
of  voices  thoughout  the  whole  of  this  closing 
chapter.  Nor  can  we  find,  as  some  think  they 
do  here,  a  "gradual  return  from  a  state  of 
trance  or  rapture  to  the  normal  waking  condi- 
tion." On  the  contrary,  the  tone  is  increased 
in  sublimity  at  the  very  last,  by  "  the  final 
harmonies  of  a  general  utterance  ;  "  as  it  has 
been  well  said,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  unite 
their  voices  there  for  the  first  time  "  (ver.  17). 
And  in  the  closing  verse  we  have  a  most  inti- 
mate dialogue  between  the  Lord  and  all  his 
saints — his  whole  Church,  afler  which  John  in- 
deed closes  this  book,  with  the  simple  custom- 
ary benediction  which  closes  other  books  and 
epistles. 

But  we  must  express  our  conviction  that  the 
7th  verse  does  not  rank  amongst  the  express 
utterances  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven. 
Rather  we  hold  that  the  Lord  is  speaking  to 
John,  by  the  spirit  of  inspiration,  both  in  ver. 
7,  12,  16-20 ;  and  thus  sets  again  a  three-fold 
seal  to  those  former  words,  so  often  resounding 
thoughout  his  epistles  to  the  Churches,  "Behold, 
I  come  quickly"  (iii.  11).  It  is  only  in  ver.  8 
that  John,  in  a  simple,  touching  alternation, 
names  himself,  as  he  did  at  the  beginning  (i. 
19)  :  "  And  I  John  saw  these  things  and  heard 
them."  Further,  he  has  to  own  his  repeated 
human  weakness  :  He  fell  down  before  the 
feet  of  the  angel  who  showed  him  these  things 
— showed  him  the  mystic  Babylon,  as  well  as 
the  bride,  the  heavenly  city  ;  who  thus,  we  see, 
as  the  last  of  the  seven  last  angels,  remained 
with  him  to  the  end  ;  so  that,  according  to  the 
plan  of  the  book,  it  is  actually  out  of  the  last 
vial  of  wrath,  or  rather  (as  we  saw  in  chap, 
xvii.  l)out  of  the  vials  collectively,  that  the 
glory  has  sprung.  And  now  we  proceed  to  the 
last  angelic  address,  which  includes  vers.  9,  10, 
and  possibly  ver.  11  also. 

Again,  John  is  ready  to  worship  ;  again  the 
angel  forbids  it,  repeating  his  former  words, 
though,  as  we  shall  see,  with  some  alteration. 
Let  it  be  duly  observed  how  impressively  this 
second  refusal  to  be  worshipped  occurs  here. 
In  the  last  words  uttered  by  an  angel  in  Holy 
Writ,  he  places  himself  on  a  perfect  equality 
with  us,  in  the  sight  of  that  God  whom  he  and 
we  alike  worship. 

"  See  thni  do  it  not  ;  for  I  am  thy  fellow-ser- 
vant, and  of  thy  brethren  the  jiroj^hets,  and  of 
them  which  keep  the  sayings  of  this  l)ook  ;  worship 
God."     instead  of  those  who  have  the  testi- 


74 


THE  LAST  ANGELIC  SPEECH. 


mony  of  Jcsn?.  we  liave  here  the  more  brief 
expression,  akin  to  ver.  9,  tlie  prophets,  whereby 
this  future-revealing  angel  modestly  intimates 
that  he  also  may  be  classed  among  the  prophets, 
among  those  whom  John  calls  his  brethren  the 
prophets.  But,  in  order  to  extend  as  widely 
as  possible  this  fellowship  and  equality  in  the 
siglit  of  God,  he  adds,  and  of  those  tcho  keep, 
hold  fast,  and  more  (as  a  consequence),  obfy, 
put  into  practice  the  words  of  this  book,  which 
again  reminds  us  of  the  interpolated  words  of 
the  Lord  in  ver.  7.  Thus  the  whole  chapter  is 
one  chain,  with  alternate  voices  as  its  sei)arate 
links.  We  now  see  how  correctly  we  inter- 
preted the  angel's  speech  in  chap.  xix.  10,  as 
including  the  understanding  of  the  prophecies 
in  the  testimony  to  Jesus.  But,  finally,  we 
have  also  to  learn  that  this  prophetic  under- 
standing must  spring  from  the  keeping,  the 
keeping  close,  the  cherishing  the  words  which 
are  written  here  ;  or  to  speak  with  still  greater 
precision,  that  this  book  of  the  Revelation  of 
John  is  the  key  to  all  the  prophets,  and  that 
thus  they  who  read  it  correctly  are  made  hrotho-s 
to  those  former  prophets,  and  to  John  also. 

Again  we  have,  "And  he  saith  unto  me;" 
because  each  word  is  now  a  special  termina- 
tion. If  in  chap.  x.  4  we  heard  the  voice  from 
heaven  command  the  exceptional  sealing  up  ; 
the  angel,  on  the  other  hand,  has  twice  remind- 
ed John  not  to  seal  up,  i.  e.,  to  write.  It  is 
announced  with  regard  to  this  book,  that  all 
seeing  and  hearing  is  now  at  an  end,  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  injunction  given  at  first,  and 
often  repeated,  the  writing  down  may  begin. 
But  to  the  three-fold  command  already  given 
(see  chap.  xiv.  13;  xix.  9;  xxi.  5),  the  angel 
will  not  add  the  same  word — icrite.  Rather, 
he  will  express  the  same  meaning  by  a  reference 
to  the  end  of  that  prophetic  book  of  the  Old 
Testament,  which  is  more  closely  related  to  this 
book  of  Revelation  than  any  other,  i.  e.,  the 
book  of  Daniel,  As  we  find  there,  in  chap.  xii. 
4,  9,  that  the  angel  commanded  the  prophet 
to  seal  up  the  words  till  the  time  of  the  end, 
so  here,  on  the  contrary,  this  New-Testament 
end  of  time  being  come,  the  angel  now  says  : 
"  Seal  7iot  the  sayings  of  tlie  projihecyof  this  hook, 
for  the  time  is  at  ?iand."  To  Daniel  it  is  said, 
"  Shut  thou  up  the  vision,  for  it  shall  be  for 
many  days"  (viii.  26);  but  here  we  read,  the 
time  is  at  hand — in  what  sense  we  have  already 
explained. 

There  remains  now  the  following  verse,  re- 
specting which  it  is  not  easy  to  decide  very 
positively  whether  if  is  a  continuation  of  the 
angel's  speech,  or  whether  it  belongs  to  that  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  twelfth  verse.     If  the 
•word  and  which  we  find  both  in  the  German 
aiid  English  translations  were   correct,  there 
could  be  no  doubt  upon  the  subject,  but  we  I 
believe  it  to  be  an  erroneous  reading,  and  tlrnt ! 
in  point  of  fact,  ver.  12  begins  with  "Behold,"  j 
in  the  same  way  as  ver.  7 ;  to  which  it  may 
be  added,  that  ver.  11  as  well  as  ver.  6,  both 
appear   to  accoid  with   Daniel,  whereas  ver. 


12  seems  to  have  its  origin  in  Tsa.  xl.  10; 
Ix.  11. 

According  then  to  thisexposition,  wehaveaa 
theZasi  words  recorded  in  Holy  Writ  as  spoken 
by  an  angel  to  the  sons  of  men  :  He  that  is  un- 
just, let  him  do  injustice  still;  and  he  that  is 
filthy,  let  him  he  filthy  still ;  and  he  that  is 
righteous,  let  him  do  righteousness  still ;  and  he 
that  i»  holy,  let  him  le  holy  still.  This  in  its 
fundamental  idea  resembles  Dan.  xii.  10,  and 
although  its  close  connection  with  the  following 
verse,  which  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  the 
word  and,  is  such  as  to  occasion  some  perplex- 
ity, we  believe,  as  we  have  before  said,  that 
the  angel  is  permitted  to  go  on  speaking  these 
words  till  the  Lord  himself  finally  breaks  in 
with  might  in  the  twelfth  verse.  The  wicked 
who  will  not  be  converted  will  wax  worse  and 
worse  (2  Tim.  iii.  13),  in  like  manner  as  the 
righteous  and  the  holy  will  become  increasingly 
so  by  doing  righteousness. 

In  this  last  expression  we  have  an  idiom  pe- 
culiarly characteristic  of  John's  own  style  (1 
John  ii.  29;  iii.  7).  That  the  pure  angel  should 
speak  of  sinful  men  as  impure,  filthy,  seems  to 
be  exceedingly  natural,  and  in  so  doing,  he 
probably  intends  to  contrast  them  with  the 
cleanliness,  the  purity  which  we  find  specially 
dwelt  on  in  chap.  iii.  4,  5;  vii.  14.  The  un- 
righteousness, which  at  fii*st  appears  to  refer 
more  especially  to  offences  against  others,  is  at 
the  same  time  impurity  with  regard  to  its  in- 
fluence on  a  man's  own  character ;  lie  who 
doeth  unrighteousness  stains  and  defiles  himself 
reflectively,  just  as  he  who  doeth  righteousness 
purifies  himself,  sanctifies  himself  still  further 
tlrereby.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  passage 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  the  parable 
(Matt.  xiii.  30),  "Let  both  grow  together  until 
the  harvest! "  Not  indeed,  that  it  is  to  be  re- 
garded merely  in  the  light  of  a  prophecy,  for 
the  two  last  clauses  doubtless  contain  both  ex- 
hortation and  encouragement  for  the  righteous. 
Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sinner  is  not  to 
suppose  that  he  is  any  way  here  exhorted  to  go 
on  sinning,  although  the  words  contain  an  in- 
timation that  the  unrighteous  and  impure,  who 
will  not  turn,  will  be  suffered  to  go  on  in  their 
own  way,  left  to  reap  the  punishment  which  is 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  sin. 

In  like  manner  we  find  the  Apostle  Paul 
writing  (1  Cor.  xiv.  3S),  "  If  any  man  be  igno- 
rant, let  him  be  ignorant  I  "  That  John  him- 
self uses  this  language  ironically,  we  cannot 
for  a  moment  suppose.  Bat  the  holy  severity, 
the  uncompromising  truth  of  the  words  in  the 
mouth  of  the  gracious  and  condescending  angel, 
afford  us  a  most  decisive  testimony  to  the 
freedom  of  the  human  will,  and  so  to  the  right- 
eousness of  God's  judgment.  This  is  also  illus- 
trated on  its  brighter  side  by  the  appeal  in  the 
seventeenth  verse,  where  the  loving  invitation 
of  Jesus  given  at  the  last  to  all,  whosoever 
they  be,  who  will  come  and  take  freely,  harmon- 
izes with,  and  completes  the  significance  of  the 
solemn  worda  that  close  the  angelic  sayings. 


I 


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The  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus  :  the  risen 

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